Since 1996, our research team has conducted 15 focus groups with 169 middle-school youth in small communities as formative research for campaigns against alcohol, tobacco, drugs, and violence. Some key findings of a synthesis of focus-group results are that girls and boys perceive different risks to alcohol and tobacco use; peer relationships are…

Traditional instructional methodology in the Information System Design (ISD) environment lacks explicit strategies for promoting the cognitive skills of prospective system designers. This contributes to the fragmented knowledge and low motivational and creative involvement of learners in system design tasks. In addition, present ISD methodologies,…

This article explores a qualitative evaluation of student and tutor perceptions of the educational aims, methods and impact of undertaking a new medical humanities student selected module (SSM) within one medical school in the United Kingdom. The findings of the study build on previous work within this subject area and provide insight of learning…

This study examined community adults' conceptions of successful early adult outcomes for rural African American adolescents from 2 low-resource communities in the Deep South. Focus groups were conducted with parents, teachers, and community leaders. Parents also completed semistructured phone interviews. The focus groups identified 2 general types…

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to evaluate the diffusion of and user response to an information technology support system (ITSS) which was designed to facilitate inter-organisational coordination and collaboration in the professional development of officers employed by local authorities (LAs). Design/methodology/approach: An action…

Within primary and secondary school technology education, engineering has been proposed as an avenue to bring about technological literacy. Different initiatives such as curriculum development projects (i.e., Project ProBase and Project Lead The Way) and National Science Foundation funded projects such as the National Center for Engineering and…

This compendium is a companion document to the Maryland Sailor Online Public Information Network assessment final report, and contains detailed study findings, study data collection activity write-ups, detailed methodologies, data collection tools, and consultant notes on the uses of the study's data collection instruments. The purpose of the…

This project analyzed results of 16 focus group interviews with 144 special and regular education teachers concerning inclusive education of students with disabilities, including their concerns, obstacles they had encountered, effective strategies, inservice training they found helpful, suggestions for addressing inclusion in teacher preparation…

This monograph describes results of focus group interviews with 53 regular and special education teachers in Tennessee concerning their experience with inclusion of students with disabilities in regular education classrooms. An introduction notes the trend toward inclusion of students with disabilities in regular programs while providing needed…

White, Black, and Hispanic students were studied during their transition from school or work to a community college. Students (N=71) at the College of Lake County (CLC) in Illinois attended focus groups formed according to race or ethnic group (White, Black, or Hispanic) in the spring and fall semesters to discuss their goals, experience, and…

The 18-month Skills Today for Advancement Tomorrow (STAT) program, a partnership among St. Louis Community College, the St. Louis Public Schools' Adult Basic Education Program, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Missouri, had the following objectives: (1) provide counseling and training for 370 current Blue Cross and Blue Shield workers; (2)…

This report summarizes several group discussions with parents of high school students, high school students, and nursing students regarding the world of work and the advantages and disadvantages of a youth apprenticeship program. Section I is an executive summary that describes the methodology, summarizes key attitudes toward youth apprenticeships…

An exploration of health professionals' perceptions of the concept of shared learning and of the belief that shared learning can improve professional relationships in practice. A shared learning event was arranged as a forum for information exchange within an NHS trust. Ten per cent of total staff (87 people) attended. Questionnaires were…

Assessing students' language needs is the indispensable first step in EAP (English for Academic Purposes) curriculum development. In this article, we report a portion of the results from a needs assessment study whose ultimate purpose was to inform curriculum development in EAP contexts. We used the focus group methodology to examine learner needs…

The "Formative Evaluation of the Canada Student Loans Program" was undertaken to assess issues of program relevance, design and delivery and for the purposes of examining the early impacts of changes made to the program since 1998. The evaluation also reviewed the Performance Measurement Strategy contained in the July 2002 Results-Based…