The evidence continuum is a five-domain model for building evidence through needs assessment, program theory, process evaluation, outcomes and impact evaluation, and optimization studies. In this conceptual article, the first two domains of the evidence continuum are used to design a learner centered course on advanced research methods, and…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a framework intended to guide students and novice researchers in learning about the necessary dimensions for assessing the rigour of qualitative research studies. The framework has four dimensions -- (T)rustworthiness, (A)uditability, (C)redibility and (T)ransferability. The development of TACT is…

A long-standing disconnect between social work practice and research exists that begins with our current education model. When taught separately, students often think they are distinctly different areas of social work that do not have to coexist. This conceptualization of research and practice as separate could contribute to the dearth of research…

In January 2014, I began working as an evaluator on an education reform project being implemented by faculty in science and engineering departments at my university. The core goals of the project were for participating faculty members to improve students' learning, engagement, and recruitment and retention in selected introductory-level courses…

This article describes the development, implementation, and systematic evaluation of a public health pedagogy course for first-time graduate student instructors in a Health Behavior doctoral program at a Midwestern School of Public Health. The pedagogy course focused on intensive pedagogical training in the first 8 weeks of a 16-week semester and…

Null hypothesis testing (NHT) is the most commonly used tool in empirical psychological research even though it has several known limitations. It is argued that since the hypotheses evaluated with NHT do not reflect the research-question or theory of the researchers, conclusions from NHT must be formulated with great modesty, that is, they cannot…

This article examines definitions, rationales, and calculations associated with higher education performance measures: persistence, retention rate, attrition rate, drop-out rate, and graduation rate. Strengths and limitations of these measures are scrutinized relative to online master's programs. Outcomes of a sample of students (N = 96) enrolled…

This article aims to interrogate possible assessment problems arising from a community-based-research mode of research and consider some of the assessment approaches that generate scepticism among some examiners, and endorsement from others. The article explores specific challenges in supervising, accommodating and evaluating diverse candidates…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify and rank the SWOT issues of India's veterinary and animal science education. Design: The data were collected at the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) from 168 post-graduate students. The two surveys generated 72% (N = 121) and 68% (N = 114) response rates, respectively. In the first…

Evaluation of programs that address the lingering effects of human rights abuses during times of conflict is necessary to improve program sustainability and create a knowledge bank about the effectiveness of strategies. Outcomes, however, are hard to measure. Evaluators have to gain understanding of the roots of a conflict, surrounding events,…

Programme evaluation is essential for quality assurance in education. In this paper, we describe our evaluation strategy for the first year of a new medical programme. Although we used multiple methods in the evaluation, the use of the focus group method was core. This paper reports our experiences of focus groups for this purpose. We describe the…

This article discusses, from various vantages, Ryan Tweney's (this issue) pedagogical technique of employing historical replications of psychological experiments with graduate students in psychology. A "prima facie" perspective suggests great promise for this sort of academic "ancestor analysis," particularly given the enthusiasm and skill…

Thanks in part to groundbreaking work by companies such as Apple and IDEO, there has been growing interest in design as a way to improve the odds of new product success. This paper describes a user-centered design workshop developed for a new product marketing course. The workshop included exercises designed to explain and illustrate the…

Study uses art to evaluate an all day seminar for graduate students on research methods, to explore students' feelings about research concepts, and to foster understanding of these concepts. Results suggest that the seminar was able to reduce most participants' anxiety about research without a loss of creativity and energy. (Author/GCP)

Reviews major paradigms that differ from positivistic research tradition of reductive experimentation. Describes naturalistic-ethnographic, phenomenological, and cybernetic paradigms in terms of their conceptual base, methodological characteristics, applications, types of research questions they can address, and strengths and limitations. Proposed…