Carefully designed evaluations of informal science events are key to gaining insights into their efficacy and impact on audiences. However, traditional approaches to evaluation, such as interviews and questionnaires, can be disruptive to the audience experience of science events. There is therefore a need to develop and implement new evaluation…

This article provides a conceptual framework for considering both the theoretical and methodological factors that underpin the successful validation of a competency framework. Drawing on educational assessment literature, this article argues that a valid competency framework relates to an interpretive judgement of the credibility of the claims…

When conceived of as both a research strategy and mode to present findings, vignettes can be combined with various qualitative methodologies in higher education research. Rather than being a discipline unto itself, higher education research is best understood as a multi and cross-disciplinary field of study that, we contend, is made richer by its…

In March 2020, Advance CTE and the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) convened a Shared Solutions Workgroup of state and national experts to explore strategies for effective Career Technical Education (CTE) data reporting and communication. Over a series of meetings, the workgroup co-designed a set of tools and resources to help…

The Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) pushes states to improve the public accessibility of Career Technical Education (CTE) data. According to the law, state agencies, as well as local recipients, must share data on the performance of all CTE students, and subgroups of learners, and make this…

To propose recommendations to implement outcomes-based assessment program review in a California Community College District, a grounded theory analysis was performed within the district. The findings generated were cross-referenced with findings from a multi-institutional case study analysis. A key finding from the cross-reference was the need for…

Although students must understand the rhetorical medium that they use to present their proposals to their fellow classmates, they must also understand how audiences shape the rhetorical medium and shape how they create texts. Surveying audience members can help students figure out the best strategies to present their proposals and, in doing so,…

This dissertation takes a discursive approach to Hawai'i stand-up comedy, which is a highly dramaturgical genre, and it examines the cultural specificity of Hawaii comedy in an explicitly interactional context. This culturally-specific performative genre is a discursive site where comedians and their audiences jointly construct multivocal humor…

Assessment research is at its best when it packages research results and data so that they can be digested by multiple audiences. Too many assessment researchers spend all their efforts planning and executing the research project with little attention to closing the loop at the end. If assessment findings are not communicated effectively, the…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide an introduction to the various web metrics tools that are available, and to indicate how these might be used in libraries. Design/methodology/approach: The paper describes ways in which web metrics can be used to inform strategic decision making in libraries. Findings: A framework of possible web…

The director of the Office of Communication Research, Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), replies to a critical analysis of the CPB's report, "A Fresh Look at the PTV Viewer." The definition of what constitutes a public television viewer (PTV) is discussed in detail. (ER)

In these times of high-stakes accountability, all professional educators must learn how to gather, analyze, and use data to improve teaching and learning, becoming efficient generators and consumers of data. The intended audiences for this book are school and district administrators and teacher leaders who recognize the need to use data to…

Populations where free access is denied pose special problems to the survey researcher. In attempting to make general estimates of the size of the composition of the audience in the USSR to Western radio broadcasts, a simulation technique (Mostellerization) has been developed which provides estimates of underlying data from aggregate results. (PD)

What do people think about school library media centers and the library media program? While it seems like a query to which it would be hard to find the answer, it is important that library media specialists take time to investigate and research this question about the program because it is one of the most important factors to the library media…

Shows why newspapers should use live telephone interviewers instead of automatic telephone interviewing devices to collect marketing/readership data. (RL)