Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss the critical realism (CR) philosophical viewpoint and how it can be applied in qualitative research. CR is a relatively new and viable philosophical paradigm proposed as an alternative to the more predominant paradigms of positivism, interpretivism and pragmatism. This paper reviews the concept, its…

Contemporary industry practices must be appropriately reflected in designing modern-day teaching and learning programmes. Existing studies are limited to systematic methodologies for accumulating contemporary practice requirements and using that data to inform the design of educational programmes, even though various, local approaches for doing so…

Universities are under pressure to produce work-ready graduates. This study analyzed 130 job advertisements to identify skills required by environmental science employers in Australia. For degree-related criteria, the most frequently required were content knowledge, a tertiary qualification and experience. Other desired skills were an…

Inclusive education (IE) and the special education services related to it are relatively new in Oman. Efforts to manage special/inclusive education face many challenges due to a number of culturally rooted factors. Further, empirical research on IE in Oman is scarce and there is a need to advance IE discourse based on empirically validated…

We report on the implementation experience of carrying out data collection and other activities for a public health evaluation study on whether U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) investment improved utilization of health services and health system strengthening in Uganda. The retrospective study period focused on the PEPFAR…

For those receiving funding from the UK HEFCE-funded Open Educational Resource Programme (2009-2012), the sustainability of project outputs was one of a number of essential goals. Our approach for the hosting and distribution of health and life science open educational resources (OER) was based on the utilisation of the WordPress.org blogging…

This paper presents an empirical exploration of the effectiveness of scientific teams and the role of an external CEO in the spin-off formation process. The paper contributes to the literature by focusing on the role of the experienced or "external" entrepreneur (their commercial resources and capabilities) in the early phase of spin-off…

A framework is presented for the programming of research within the context of the objectives of the Foundation for Educational Research (SVO) in the Netherlands. The memorandum is divided into three sections. Section one deals with the actual initiative leading to programming. In the second section the framework is sketched in which the…

This document is intended to assist individuals responsible for managing staff development in adult and community learning (ACL) in the United Kingdom. The guide presents step-by-step advice for designing and implementing an approach based on the belief that staff development should do the following things: (1) relate holistically to the…