An innovative mixed-methods approach to exploratory focus group design is presented using a case study conducted with smallholder rice farmers in Vietnam. Understanding human decision-making under the uncertainties of a complex and changing social and environmental context requires a flexible yet structured and theoretically grounded approach.…

With today's technology, Extension professionals have a variety of tools available for program evaluation. This article describes an innovative platform called VoiceThread that has been used in many classrooms but also is useful for conducting virtual focus group research. I explain how this tool can be used to collect qualitative participant…

The purpose of this explanatory mixed methods study was to examine the perceived value of mixed methods research for graduate students. The quantitative phase was an experiment examining the effect of a passage's methodology on students' perceived value. Results indicated students scored the mixed methods passage as more valuable than those who…

Although focus group discussions (FGDs) represent a popular data collection tool for researchers, they contain an extremely serious flaw: FGD researchers have ultimate power over all decisions made at every stage of the research process--from the conceptualization of the research, to the planning of the research study, to the implementation of the…

The context of this article was that, after researching issues of classroom management for a number of years, I was asked by managers at different institutions to speak to their staff about strategies for helping to counteract the problems tutors faced in many classes on a day-to-day basis. The question that emerged was how might managers in the…

Evaluation research focusing on educational initiatives that impact on the learning and lives of young people must be challenged to incorporate 'student voice'. In a context of conventional evaluation models of government-led initiatives, student voice is a compelling addition, and challenges the nature of traditional forms of evaluation. It…

In this article, we present our findings regarding the course "Research Methodology," offered to 22 first-year undergraduate students studying Administration at the Federal University of São Paulo, Osasco, Brazil. The course, which combined community-based research and project-based learning, was developed during the second semester of…

Technology integration in K-12 classrooms is usually teacher-centered and has insufficient impact on students' learning. The purpose of this project is to facilitate science teachers' use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) as cognitive tools to shift their practices from teacher-centered methods to constructivist,…

In an ideal world, university teaching and research would be valued equally; however, this is not currently the case. The notion that university reputation should be judged predominantly by research metrics has been challenged by a global trend towards a demand-driven system that encourages widening participation, student choice and social…

Critical thinking is frequently proposed as one of the most important learning outcomes of a university education. However, to date, it has been difficult to ascertain whether university students in low-income contexts are improving in their critical thinking skills, because the limited studies in this domain have relied on instruments developed…

The government and society are increasingly questioning the value of libraries and higher education institutions (HEIs). While there is no one agreed upon standard of value or a way to measure it, both Library and Information Science (LIS) and Education research have suggested that library and educational resources and services should demonstrate…

This paper illustrates the use of exploratory focus groups to inform the development of a survey instrument in a sequential phase mixed-methods study investigating differences in secondary students' career choice capability. Five focus groups were conducted with 23 Year 10 students in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Analysis of the focus…

While numerous studies examine perceptions of research held by university researchers, studies examining perceptions held by school pupils are rare. To address this gap and following analysis of questionnaire data (N = 2634, KS3/4/5 pupils), we conducted 11 group interviews with 100 pupils in England to investigate their experiences of research…

The purpose of this research study was to determine if trial and error learning was an effective, practical, and efficient learning method for Technology, Engineering, and Design Education students at the post-secondary level. A mixed methods explanatory research design was used to measure the viability of the learning source. The study sample was…

Background/Context: Mixed methods research conveys multiple advantages to the study of complex phenomena and large organizations or systems. The benefits are derived from drawing on the strengths of qualitative methods to answer questions about how and why a phenomenon occurs and those of quantitative methods to examine how often a phenomenon…