As change agents, Extension educators may begin their program planning by identifying the audience's perceived barriers and benefits to adopting some behavior that will benefit the community. Extension professionals and researchers have used in-person focus groups to understand an audience, and they can also administer them as…

In this article we present and discuss the process of developing and implementing a PBL-based course entitled Moving Images in Teaching and Learning that was held at the University of Lapland, Finland. In the course of the project, this fairly traditional face-to-face course was redesigned into a blended PBL course by integrating Web 2.0…

To engage recipients of Extension science-based video programming involves understanding what behaviors and decisions the recipients may be considering that can be affected by the programming. Such understanding may be developed through interviews, focus groups, and surveys, which should provide guidance for elements of the style and content of…

In general, youth whose parents are involved in their schooling experience better academic outcomes. Yet some parents, especially those with few resources in low-income urban communities, face barriers to becoming engaged in school and community. This report from the field describes the "Neighboring Project Parent Empowerment and Volunteer…

Professional doctorates were introduced in the 1990s for practitioners to research "real-world" problems relevant to their respective workplace communities and contexts. An array of difficulties faces professional doctoral students as they transition from professionals to practitioner researchers. This study sought to understand the…

In the 70 year history of Islamic schools in North America, there is yet to be an accredited teacher education programme to train and professionally equip Islamic school teachers with an understanding of an Islamic pedagogy. Arguably, there has been an imbalance of energy placed on curriculum development projects over the considerations of teacher…

This article explores the impact of language policy issues on program development and management at the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich Language Center. Based on the analysis of the language policy approach of the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, the article reflects both current practices and policy elements with the help of the…

In these days where "accountability" is the byword, organizations more and more frequently seek to evaluate their programs. They often hire outside evaluators to help them assess the effectiveness of their programs, to find out what works and what doesn't, and to determine what programmatic changes would be beneficial. ActKnowledge, a…

This article is an initial evaluation of a motor skills assessment for primary aged children. The Manchester Motor Skills Assessment (MMSA) is designed to be quick and easy for teaching assistants to complete, with the dual purposes of informing group programme planning and demonstrating an individual child's progress following a period of…

Service-learning opportunities are prominent on many college campuses. The process of designing and implementing service-learning experiences, especially for students of gerontology, however, has rarely been addressed. The current article briefly reviews the background and utility of service-learning in gerontology courses, describes our…

Scratch the surface of any successful organization and readers will likely find systems designed to evaluate how well it runs. The approach to evaluation presented in this book can be applied in a variety of contexts, but the focus here is on the evaluation of leadership development initiatives. Effective evaluations keep leadership development…

Experienced librarians understand the importance of involving their patrons in the development and evaluation of the programs and services they offer. Finding out about the needs and expectations of patrons, especially children and young adults, however, is often viewed as too time-consuming, expensive and staff intensive to perform on a regular…

Early career special educators must be engaged in conversations with developers of preservice teacher preparation programs to co-construct initial teacher education programs which meet their needs. The process of listening to the teachers themselves could serve to ensure that teachers are an explicit element of program design. This article…

This study explores the impact of an alternative teacher preparation program development from the "inside out" or through the voices of second career teachers, known as "Career Switchers," at a mid-size state university. The major objective of this study was to probe into their perceptions to inform program development with reporting framed in…

This paper addresses the question: how can e-learning be embedded in traditional universities so that it contributes to the transformation of the university? The paper examines e-learning strategies in higher education, locating the institutional context within the broader framework of national and international policy drivers which link…