Access to authentic research is limited at the 7-12 science education level. At the same time, many local restoration projects would benefit from, but don't have access to a long-term system of monitoring. This project seeks to unite those two needs by developing a protocol for 7-12 classrooms to be able to participate in authentic research…

This research note discusses opportunities and challenges of using online survey engines for social network analysis (SNA) data collection and assessing sample size and representativeness. The discussion is based on a case study of SNA data collection for a pilot research on health-relevant policy networks in Canada. Our approach demonstrates how…

Biased sampling occurs frequently in economics, epidemiology, and medical studies either by design or due to data collecting mechanism. Failing to take into account the sampling bias usually leads to incorrect inference. We propose a unified estimation procedure and a computationally fast resampling method to make statistical inference for…

Differential test functioning, or DTF, occurs when one or more items in a test demonstrate differential item functioning (DIF) and the aggregate of these effects are witnessed at the test level. In many applications, DTF can be more important than DIF when the overall effects of DIF at the test level can be quantified. However, optimal statistical…

Engaging in an online course has traditionally been perceived to be a lonely experience, with students busy viewing video lectures, working on problem sets and interacting intermittently with others using asynchronous technologies. More recently, over the past 6-7 years, online courses have become recognized as viable delivery vehicles for online…

Purpose: There is little research into small higher education institutions and international students' choice in selecting these institutions. The purpose of this paper is to understand the factors that influence international student choices in selecting a small institution. In particular, this study compares the differences between Chinese…

A qualitative research approach was chosen to analyse the conceptions of pupils attending elementary school from Canada (N = 135), France (N = 30) and Morocco (N = 92) between 10 and 12 years of age. Their conceptions were identified while being mobilised on energy transformations during the working of a simple electric circuit made of a battery,…

Community of inquiry (CoI) is the conceptual framework which describes critical prerequisite factors for deep and meaningful learning in online learning environments. Based on the literature concerning the CoI framework, it can be observed that studies in which three factors in the model (cognitive, social and teaching presence) were investigated…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe a study that explores the discreet activist strategies of educational leaders who promote social justice. Design/methodology/approach: Part of a larger project, this study employed qualitative methods. In particular, researchers interviewed 26 leaders--principals, vice principals, department heads,…

"Methods and Procedures in PIRLS 2016" documents the development of the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) assessments and questionnaires and describes the methods used in sampling, translation verification, data collection, database construction, and the construction of the achievement and context questionnaire…

The International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) studied the extent to which young people have developed computer and information literacy (CIL) to support their capacity to participate in the digital age. Many countries recognize the importance that education in information and communication technologies (ICT) has for enabling…

We surveyed researchers in the health and exercise sciences to explore different areas and magnitudes of bias in researchers' decision making. Participants were presented with scenarios (testing a central hypothesis with p = 0.06 or p = 0.04) in a random order and surveyed about what they would do in each scenario. Participants showed significant…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe how researchers from four large Canadian distance education or dual mode institutions conducted a survey aiming to describe the use of and interest in social software and Web 2.0 applications by distance education students and to measure their interest in collaborating with peers.…

A defining characteristic of current U.S. educational policy is the use of data to inform decisions about resource allocation, teacher hiring, and curriculum and instruction. Perhaps the biggest challenge to data-driven decision making (DDDM) is that data use alone does not automatically result in improved teaching and learning. Research indicates…

Background: There is growing interest in identifying changes in ways of practice associated with the growth of professional expertise. Research on highly experienced or expert teachers and therapists (i.e. occupational, physical and behavioural therapists) can provide insights into how they approach practice, providing guidance for new…