Drawing from a design and development research approach, specifically model research, this study investigated the perspectives of higher education faculty and administrators regarding their experiences with a university-wide electronic portfolio implementation initiative. Participants in the study were fifty-two faculty and administrators at a…

Some years ago, bringing up peak oil--the concept that oil production will crest and then decline, leading to all sorts of trouble in society--might have made one seem like the kind of person who frequents Web sites that sell survival books and freeze-dried food. Today such discussion has pretty much hit the mainstream. Last month The Wall Street…

This paper presents methodology and findings from three product efficacy studies that verify the quality of life benefits resulting from prior research, development, and transfer activities. The paper then discusses key lessons learned with implications for product evaluation practice. The studies assessed the quality of three assistive technology…

School improvement without will and moral purpose--without a genuine commitment to all students--is an empty exercise in compliance that, in the authors' experience, can do more harm than good. The authors have seen educators use data to "more accurately" track students, further widening the opportunity-to-learn gap. In response to achievement…

This study examined how 498 elementary and secondary educators use student response systems in their instruction. The teachers all completed an online questionnaire designed to learn about their goals for using response systems, the instructional strategies they employ when using the system, and the perceived effects of response systems.…

This review provides a summary of the main theoretical arguments and empirical results available in literature dynamics. Discusses studies of growth, diffusion of information, epidemic theory, and fast-growing literatures. Deals with methodological problems of publication counts, the time factor, and converging indicators, and discusses two…

Introduction: Evidence-based medicine (EBM) integrates published clinical evidence with patient values and clinical expertise, the output of which is informed medical decision making. Key skills for evidence-based practice include acquisition and appraisal of clinical information. Faculty clinicians often lack expertise in these skills and are…

Proposes a set of elements that can be taken to constitute the social context of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and digital information. This "digital information environment" can be useful in guiding research into the structure of the social context and its influences on ways in which people in different social and…

Interest in strengthening the impact and value of education research has been growing around the world. Here I outline a view of the nature of "impact" and point to instances where research has had a positive impact in education, but always within a larger social and political framework. A three element "model" of research impact is developed and…

Demonstrates the benefits and problems of using Web log analysis to extract information about the global information customer. The Web logs examined were those of "The Times" and "Sunday Times." Highlights include the measures and metrics; the data and its meaning; and analyses with potential (AEF)

Explores the implications of articulating the bridges that are built, usually implicitly, between metatheory and method, and between these and their ultimate interests, the doing of research; the purpose is to articulate the uses of methodology. Suggests that there is lacking a vocabulary for talking about methodology which attends to the…

Performance technology (PT) is complex, drawing theory from instructional design, organizational development, communications, industrial psychology, and industrial engineering to name a few. The Standards of Performance Technology developed for the certified performance technology designation codified the processes used in the practice of…

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) software research and development project described explores information seeking behavior of end-user energy experts and develops software offering tutorials on front-end use of DOE/RECON databases and active help in performing online searches. Software development is described and results of prototype testing…

Presents a synopsis of the results of the first phase of a study project sponsored by the National Science Foundation that examined trends, opportunities, and problems in the dissemination of scientific and technical information in the United States. Findings that are summarized concern the use of information, information technologies, and…

Prepared under contract with the International Council on Archives (ICA), this study is intended to assist archivists and information specialists in creating, developing, and evaluating modern archival systems and services, particularly with reference to the concept and the role of the user in such systems and services. It ranges over a wide field…