This manual is a practical training guide for graduate and undergraduate research assistants (RAs) working in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary. It may also be applicable to research assistants working in other fields or institutions. The purpose of this manual is to train RAs on how to plan and conduct focus groups for…

In the English-speaking world, university Schools of Education are usually heavily involved in the professional preparation of teachers. Yet, in England and the USA in particular, the role of universities in teacher education has increasingly seemed under threat as alternative providers of training have come on the scene, often with the overt…

The goal of this volume of "Research in Science Education" is to examine the relationship between science education policy and practice and the special role that science education researchers play in influencing policy. It has been suggested that the science education research community is isolated from the political process, pays little attention…

This study attempts to define the contradiction between cooperative learning, which has an important place in science education, and the relative evaluation system. The fixation of the situation which was done with the data obtained from the literature also has been supported with a semi-structured interview study conducted with eighteen science…

The "Special Ability Selection Examination" (SASE), which is used to select appropriate students for the music education departments of educational faculties in Turkey, has many subsections and must evaluate highly competitive cohorts of students according to a broad range of criteria. The test consists of three subsections, with a large…

When it comes to teacher preparation, the support provided to new teachers, and ongoing professional development for working teachers, Grades K-12 and the field of early care and education (ECE) are two very different worlds. While both worlds assume that teachers' classroom skills and behavior can be influenced at multiple points in time (through…

Examines two research orientations for departments of education--the craft-based model using generalists and former practitioners and the discipline-based model using specialists grounded in the humanities or social sciences. Criticizes weaknesses of both approaches and proposes a third model--the disciplined study of problems of practice.…

Research generally influences state policy only indirectly. On the other hand, research is not utterly without influence. For example, research findings about schools and colleges which have influenced policy include: the appendices that accompanied "On Further Examination," the College Board report on the SAT score decline; the Southern…

Cites the need for scholarly activity in instructional technology and argues that it should be shifted from education, with its focus on teacher preparation, to technology, where there would be more freedom to explore the consequences of techniques, methods, instruments, and processes inherent in the field. Thirty-two references are cited. (MBR)

Essential job competencies for curriculum materials center directors in teacher-education institutions were identified and analyzed through a questionnaire survey of 183 current center directors and 100 educators in the fields of educational media and technology. library and information science, or educational curriculum. Also investigated were…

Following a brief survey of relevant literature on concept of learning materials center (LMC), this article describes the innovative approach to LMC organizational design recently adopted at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. It features a joint administrative structure and shared staffing between university library and college of education.…

Questionnaires and interviews were used to study the selection of initial teacher training applicants at Scotland's 7 colleges of education, which handled 5,455 applications for 1,657 positions in 1982. Results showed diversity of selection approaches, uncertainty of purpose among selectors, and reliance on a short interview for assessing…

Compares science preparation requirements of preservice elementary teachers with standards set by NSTA. Questionnaire was sent to 321 AACTE institutions. Most colleges do not require recommended 12 semester hours (18 quarter hours) of science, and only 20 percent of schools have science content courses designed for elementary education majors.…

This pilot study explored the efficacy of a concept of multicultural organization and of a survey self-study guide designed for colleges of education in research institutions. The survey study guide was distributed to Holmes group board members who are generally deans of colleges of education at the 27 institutions targeted. Sixteen surveys were…

This paper presents a descriptive analysis of preservice secondary social studies teachers' perspectives toward teaching in general and social studies education in particular. Twenty-five students majoring in social studies education at a large midwestern university during 1984-85, representing four major phases of the teacher education program…