This research focused on the context of educational leadership, which sought to explore the possibilities of leadership opportunities for students with disabilities in a Malaysian secondary school. We utilized a phenomenological case study approach. We were keen on exploring this niche area as often leadership opportunities for students with…

Case study has been one of the most often used qualitative research methodologies in the field of education at all levels -- from preschool to adult. Yet the number of available resources for case study researchers--be they emerging or experienced--is still limited. This paper will review the definition of the case study method as well as some of…

Purpose: This paper aims to present a review of case studies on the use of learning analytics in Science, Technology, Engineering, (Arts), and Mathematics (or STE[A]M) education. It covers the features and trends of learning analytics practices as revealed in case studies. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 34 case studies published from 2013…

The "Forum Guide to Metadata" presents and examines the ways in which metadata can be used by education agencies to improve data quality and promote a better understanding of education data. Supported by metadata-related case studies from state and local education agencies, the guide highlights the uses of metadata from a technical point…

In this article, we call for Canadian digital literacies researchers to invest in designs and research methods that centralise in-the-moment insights, embrace complexity, and that are informed by a deep commitment to authentic, ethical reciprocity that serves the communities in which our work is placed. We present three cases that offer multiple…

Institutional researchers are often tasked with assessing why college-wide initiatives succeed or fail. This can be a difficult task: researchers need to discriminate between multiple feasible explanations, work with limited data, and produce compelling narratives. Process tracing is a qualitative methodology that enables researchers to make valid…

This account describes my research experiences as a doctoral student in education, seeking to understand what transition to Higher Education was like for undergraduate students. I was supported throughout the process by my colleague and supervisor Dr Jane Tobbell. I conducted ethnographic research and the case study provides an account of the…

Americans share an expectation that government will serve the common good, creating inescapable pressure for public agencies--especially those that serve young children--to perform well. Yet education and human services agencies continually struggle to respond to the complex conditions in which children are born. How can they address the practical…

Classrooms are complex environments. Ethnography can help researchers understand these complexities as they gather information by watching and talking with people, reading available reports and records and mapping out the environment. This case adds to existing literature on ethnography as we share our own experiences of what we refer to as…

The analysis of data collected from the interaction of users with educational and information technology has attracted much attention as a promising approach for advancing our understanding of the learning process. This promise motivated the emergence of the new research field, learning analytics, and its closely related discipline, educational…

Learning analytics is an emerging field in which sophisticated analytic tools are used to inform and improve learning and teaching. Researchers within a regional university in Australia identified an association between interaction and student success in online courses and subsequently developed a learning analytics system aimed at informing…

"Education data science" is an emerging methodological field which possesses the algorithm-driven technologies required to generate insights and knowledge from educational big data. This article consists of an analysis of the Lytics Lab, Stanford University's laboratory for research and development in learning analytics, and the Center…

The aim of this paper is to propose a research tool in the field of education--the "metaphorical collage." This tool facilitates the understanding of concepts and processes in education through the analysis of metaphors in collage works that include pictorial images and verbal images. We believe the "metaphorical collage" to be…

During the 2014-2015 academic year, WestEd hired us as research interns at the West Comprehensive Center in Phoenix, AZ. As PhD students, our task was to conduct a collective case study on two local education agencies in Arizona that participated in a 2-year school turnaround specialist program. The goal of the project was to gain a deeper…

Intended to guide scholars who are new to qualitative research, this methods brief focuses mostly on what reviewers look for in manuscripts submitted for publication. The author acknowledges that reviewers' preferences likely reflect their theoretical perspectives, research-oriented coursework, mentors, and research and writing experiences. The…