The purpose of this hermeneutical phenomenological study was to develop a deeper understanding of the perceptions of students, faculty, administration, and visiting Southern authors of the effectiveness of Chattanooga State Community College's Writers Work program for encouraging composition student writing and learning about Southern culture.…

This article provides an overview of the nature and quality of research supervision and mentorship practices employed by supervisors and mentors of interns in a South African research council in an attempt to increase the pool and change the face of researchers in the country. Through a series of studies conducted by the research council, the…

This study examined the effectiveness of a children's museum program designed to support young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and their families. The program offers specialized materials, financial incentives, an exclusive time, and trained volunteers to increase the comfort level, enjoyment, and learning opportunities of attendees.…

The social, emotional, psychological and mental health needs of young people are highlighted in the social agendas of many Western countries. While a range of youth programs have been developed, there are pervasive difficulties achieving young peoples' sustained attention and positive participation in these programs (Santisteban et al. 1996;…

Peer mentoring is a topic that has been prevalent in the literature for the past several decades and plays a significant role in the learning experiences of many students. This study investigated the experiences of peer mentors in one specific mentoring project, in order to learn how the mentors describe and understand those experiences. Eighteen…

Many children today spend little time outdoors exploring the natural world and a great deal of time inside viewing the television or playing video games. This new condition of childhood has many negative ramifications, such as poor social development, childhood obesity, and a lack of feeling connected to the environment. One instructional tool…

This paper investigates the implementation and outcomes of "Growing Better Beginnings": a family literacy program for four and five year olds. The program builds on "Better Beginnings: Birth to Three" launched in 2005. Parents, teachers and librarians were surveyed and interviewed to ascertain their perceptions of the program.…

Lack of knowledge in the conventional use of vocabulary and multiword patterns in one's respective field of expertise causes Taiwanese students to produce academic writing that is markedly "non-nativelike." This is because Taiwanese students are first and foremost second language readers and often have difficulty "picking up…

System models are commonly used in tertiary education as a mechanism for describing the interacting components of educational phenomena, but have hitherto been uncritically accepted. This paper provides a critical review of existing systems models, including the 3P model defined Biggs, and outlines their conceptual challenges. A revised model…

In Sweden and elsewhere, students permanently excluded from school are removed from their local environment, and sometimes their parental home, and moved to a rural residential care home. Thus "home" and "school" are clearly considered places where problems exist, but it is the young people themselves who are scrutinised and…

The purpose of this companion, qualitative case study was to examine the degree to which the residential professional development model at the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT) possibly influenced the retention of experienced teachers. The researcher sought to discover the ways and to what degree NCCAT had discharged…

This article considers the possible contribution of the "kids in parks" programme offered at Golden Gate Highlands National Park to the professional development of teachers. Focus group interviews were held with teachers who participated in the programme, and an interview with open-ended questions was held with a learning facilitator…

This study examines the feasibility of recruiting and retaining adolescents and young adults with frequent cannabis use for a 2-week momentary sampling study of cannabis use. Participants responded to random signals on a handheld computer with reports of their use. Participants also initiated reports pre- and post-cannabis use. Participants had…

This article is concerned with parents' experiences and perceptions of being involved in a family literacy programme. The research, which was conducted from November 2007 to July 2009, involved interviewing 101 parents from 74 family literacy programmes in England around 12 weeks after they had completed their courses. The aim of these qualitative…

Teacher professional development (TPD) can benefit teachers in classrooms. This study contributes to an understanding of TPD processes where there is sufficient technology integration through teacher participation in a school-based community. It assesses the effectiveness of TPD and its potential problems. Qualitative research methods are used to…