Considers the complete ethnographic project as a strategy for teaching qualitative methods. Describes an undergraduate class where students chose an ethnographic setting, gathered and analyzed data, and wrote a final report. Settings included Laundromats, bingo halls, auctions, karaoke clubs, and bowling leagues. (MJP)

This article reports results of a case study of text-based online and CD-ROM databases that identified design characteristics that are important to high school students' use for higher-level learning as well as for information access and retrieval. Implications for the design of databases are suggested. (Contains 62 references.) (LRW)

Current issues in educational communications and technology are addressed in this collection of 31 papers, in which research reports predominate. Topics discussed include factors related to the learner, e.g., aptitude, recall, computer anxiety, field dependence/independence, reading ability, learning strategies, and cognitive style. Presentation…

A case study was conducted in which a teacher followed the progress of a first grade boy over the course of a semester, collecting samples of his written work and observing his interaction with peers. The teacher came to understand how the boy expressed his uniqueness in his writing, and how important it is for all students to be allowed to use…

The effects of cooperative learning on students' perceptions of themselves and their roles in academic settings are explored. A group of 28 students from seven intermediate classrooms in an urban school system were selected to be videotaped while participating in a cooperative problem-solving lesson and were subsequently interviewed. The students…

This book focuses on documenting and understanding the nature of environmental changes observed by indigenous residents of the Arctic. Common themes include increasing variability and unpredictability of the weather and seasonal climatic patterns, as well as changes in the sea ice and the health of wildlife. Nine papers focus on these changes,…

This curriculum guide was developed for use with public television's Nature series. The materials in the guide are designed to help students actively participate in the study and experience of nature. Students are encouraged to view the programs as naturalists would, observing animals in their environment, noting their behavior, and drawing…

Investigates the ethical issues arising out of a field research project on the educational experiences of Muslim girls in a private Muslim girls' school and a single-sex state school. Argues for a feminist and poststructural approach to the research process with the subjectivity of the researcher explicitly acknowledged. (MJP)

How students' ethnicity perceptions affect the educational process is ethnographically studied through interviews of about 50 students attending a multiethnic high school in a California city. Ethnicity's relevance varies depending on social situations and students' interpretations of events. Denial of one's ethnic identity centers around…

This study sought to determine how retained first grade students function in a whole language classroom after meeting with failure in a traditional first grade setting. Data collection for the five retained students, plus six "at-risk" students, involved naturalistic observation. Reading began from language experience stories that the students…

An investigation focused on communication demands of the workplace, specifically those placed on checkout operators at a supermarket in Queensland, Australia. Key questions organized the investigation: What is the nature of communication in this workplace? How can this information be obtained? and How can the information be used to develop…

This final report documents the findings of a study designed to evaluate the quality and efficiency of early education programs for handicapped children in Louisiana during 1985-86. More than 400 classes in 65 formal programs (residential, home-based, and center-based) serving approximately 5,000 handicapped children ages 3-5 were studied. The…

The purpose of this report was to explore one way in which quantitative and qualitative paradigms in program evaluation can be employed to reinforce each other. An evaluation was conducted of a large number of special education programs for preschoolers with handicaps in Louisiana. Since 1978, Louisiana has funded programs in 65 public school…

The Infant/Toddler Program of the Louise Child Care Center began providing full time day care to young children of working parents in the fall of 1978. While delivering this service, the Center conducted a longitudinal, exploratory investigation into the responses of children and their families to a group-home day care setting. The study was…

The Naturalistic Evaluation Methodology presented here rests on a transactionist theory of child development, an ecological view of human behavior and the quasi-clinical method of inquiry. It is intended that the procedures will lead not only to the improvement of the quality of preschool education but will generate knowledge about children's…