This article provides the reader with insight into what research and development (R&D) work specifically entails. The various stages in development processes are described from the research question and analyses that have current practice as the point of departure to consolidation and new practice based on the testing of concrete teaching…

This article focuses on the theoretical frame of action research and the teacher as researcher, working through a Norwegian Research Council-funded project in a school that explored learning strategies for pupils' subject and social development. Action research is here called research and development (R&D) work as the term envisages that…

Design-based research is a burgeoning research paradigm holding the promise of introducing more socially responsible studies to transform education. However, there is a lack of methodological standards and established research processes to inform this type of study. Although there are general principles and procedures on design-based research,…

One of the most problematic issues in the field of social work is the gap between practice and research. This paper describes the roles of the social work clinical practitioner and the social work researcher, and explores the role discontinuity that occurs as social work doctoral students' transition between these roles. A model illustrating the…

Notes that family therapy research and psychotherapy research in general have been criticized for their lack of relevance to clinical practice. Presents five-stage model, based on marketing and developmental perspective, that family therapy researchers can follow to increase relevance of their work for clinicians and other consumers of family…

This paper suggests directions, based on the scientist-practitioner model, toward which counseling psychology should move in response to the dramatic increase in the number of stepfamilies in contemporary society. "Stepfamily" is defined as a household that includes a parent-child relationship that pre-dates the couple relationship, thus…

Contends that values and assumptions of family researchers affect their approaches to understanding families and that examination of one's values may be necessary prerequisite for study of culturally diverse families. Sees examination possibly leading to understanding limitations of existing models which are based on cultural values and…

A framework to aid in estimating the impact from educational research and development (R&D) products was developed at the National Center for Research in Vocational Education at the Ohio State University. The dimensions of the framework (product development, distribution, implementation, utilization and effects) are explained in detail. The…

The paper deals with the contribution of empirical psychology to the problems of instruction and proposes a conceptual framework to promote helpful interactions between experimenters and teachers of children with learning difficulties. Both groups share a common concern, the definition of tasks by testing instructions in action. (Author/DB)

The Minnesota Adaptive Instructional System research program investigates variables and conditions that improve learning through adaptive instructional strategies. The macro- level component of the system includes a learner model, knowledge base, and expert tutor model. At the micro-level there are nine variables which form the possible…

An attempt was made to test the assumption that a wide variety of institutions and agencies have the fiscal and managerial capability to house a programmatic research and development effort for education. To this end, interviews were conducted with the staff director or principal investigator of four Follow Through programs affiliated with member…

The videodisc, audiodisc, overlapping instruction, mapping, adaptive testing strategies, intricate instructional branching, and complex media selection models are common expectations for quality courseware today. A two team development structure, consisting of an instructional development team and a test development team, is proposed. This paper…

Identifies six needs assessment procedures applied in educational and other organizations, provides examples of how each is used, and discusses the relationship of needs assessment to problem solving. Kaufman's Outcomes Model is described and the Organizational Elements Model is presented as a pragmatic approach to contemporary decision making and…

In response to a previous article, the paper finds weaknesses in the mechanistic worldview represented by the emphasis on information processing research in constructing a metatheory for learning disabilities. An alternative--contextualist--world view is proposed which is holistic, social, and developmental providing insight into processes of…

In response to articles concerning the author's earlier paper, the paper responds to criticisms concerning contextualism, the role of metatheory, distinctions between basic and applied research, cognitive components and specificity, the science of learning disabilities, neurological indices, model validation, and the nature of learning…