This essay presents the reflections of four Education Doctorate (EdD) students on the pilot testing strategies used during an online research methods course. Rigorous questionnaire and interview development skills are challenging to acquire. Pilot testing is an under-researched stage of instrument design, yet it is crucial to ensure validity and…

Design interviews with stakeholders are an important source of information that engineering designers can use to identify stakeholder needs and develop solutions that meet stakeholder requirements. However, engineering students often struggle to conduct effective design interviews. In this study, we investigated changes in engineering students'…

Sensitive topics evaluation presents both a maze and a minefield to qualitative evaluators due to their complexity and their potential to create areas of misanalysis. For novice and experienced qualitatve practitioners alike, the evaluator can find the task of broaching complex content and developing trusting relationships to be serious…

Background: The research interview is a valuable tool for collecting data in qualitative studies. All education researchers, whether novice or experienced, need to prepare carefully when planning to conduct interviews. Thus, how best to assist newer researchers to acquire interviewing skills for the purpose of collecting research data remains an…

For many instructional designers (ID), subject matter experts (SMEs) are viewed as a necessary evil. Depending upon their day job, SMEs can be challenging to work with due to their schedules and responsibilities outside the ID's project. They can be unaware of the eLearning process, learning models and theories, and expensive -- a SME can easily…

Public libraries in Hamilton provide countless services to different users, particularly older immigrants. The library system proves to be an inclusive learning space, promoting lifelong learning for all. The paper explores the relationship between public library use, lifelong learning and community development. In addition, it demonstrates the…

Background: Developing self-directed learning (SDL) skills in engineering students is critical to support life-long learning. This research was conducted at Iron Range Engineering (IRE), an innovative, problem-based learning (PBL) engineering program, which has suffused the concept of metacognition throughout its curriculum. Purpose/Hypotheses:…

Principals are essential in any institution of learning. Great schools do not exist in the absence of a great principal, which demonstrates the importance of strong leadership. However, due to complexities and the demanding nature of their jobs, there has been an increasing deficiency in the supply of these professionals. Schools have recorded…

Teachers spend a lot of time talking about students: They talk about how students learn, how to best plan lessons for them, and how to understand their written work using different protocols. Instead of hypothesizing about what a student might do on a task or why a student made a certain mistake, why aren't teachers just asking the student?…

This dissertation in practice focused on the use of Motivational Interviewing in the school environment between school staff and families. More specifically, this program evaluation sought to see if the use of Motivational Interviewing by school staff could improve parent participation rates in student attendance improvement conferences (SAICs).…

A 7-month mathematics proficiency program was conducted in a primary Australian Indigenous community school. This paper focuses on outlining the specific methodologies employed to explore how students' mathematical proficiency changed throughout the implementation of the program in Years 2 to 4 (~ 7 to 9 years old). A mixed methods research design…

With unemployment rates for adults with autism as high as 85%, it is important for young adults to learn necessary prevocational skills (e.g., interviewing) to help them succeed in their search for employment. There is little research showing that individuals with autism can be taught to respond appropriately during an interview to secure future…

Purpose: The primary purpose of this systematic review was to investigate the ability of admission measures to predict clinical skills in graduate students from a variety of health sciences fields. Method: Online databases were searched for research using application measures to make predictions regarding clinical skill development in graduate…

Intellectual capital (IC) is a vital to the functionality of information technology (IT) businesses. Many companies recognize that enhancing and maintaining IC is critical to sustainability. The problem is that Fortune 500 IT businesses lack human resources in the United States needed for innovative development, resulting in an overreliance on…

This article examines how Finnish universities and other higher education institutes have responded to the challenges posed by rapid changes in the world of work and societies all over Europe, particularly with reference to the development of generic skills. The data were collected by means of individual and group interviews at three Finnish…