Scale construction is a common technique in the behavioral and social sciences. There are various techniques researchers use to construct a scale such as the use of focus groups or modifying existing scales. These techniques are not without their challenges. One technique that is not as well discussed in the social science literature is the use of…

The demand for marketing researchers is at an all-time high and continues to grow. Yet a disconnect exists between marketing research in industry and in academia; qualitative research is standard in the former, but often is overlooked in the latter's curricula. I argue that qualitative marketing research is an ideal topic for applying experiential…

Traditional classroom assessment practice often leaves students out of the conversation, exacerbating the unequal power distribution in the classroom. Viewing classrooms as autonomy-inhibiting is known to influence students' psychosocial wellbeing as well as their academic achievement. This is especially relevant in STEM fields where marginalized…

The research design of a study involves continual refinement through experiential processes. This case study demonstrates the importance to novice researchers of conducting a pilot study to test the feasibility of the study's research design and practice data collection (in this instance, interviewing skills). The case study is based on an…

Pair programming is a collaborative programming practice that places participants in dyads, working in tandem at one computer to complete programming assignments. Pair programming studies with Computer Science (CS) and Software Engineering (SE) majors have identified benefits such as technical productivity, program/design quality, academic…

This paper reports on the design of a pilot doctoral study into the online support of pre-service teachers. It highlights the significance of a consequential, rather than deontological, perspective in guiding the development of a study's design. The study initially aimed to explore pre-service teachers' perceptions and use of social media on their…

The gradual commodification of higher education in the context of an increased focus on graduate employability attributes together with evolving labour markets is creating challenges for universities and students alike. For universities, there has been significant investment in careers services and, through institution-wide initiatives,…

The study was aimed at understanding the EFL Indonesian students' perspective on the writing process. The pilot study involved two male Indonesian postgraduate students in Universiti Utara Malaysia. The Indonesian students were selected based on the following criteria: (1) had enough knowledge in English writing, indicated by the completion of…

Students often struggle with learning about statistics, which encompass a large proportion of a psychology degree. This pilot study explored how first- and final-year students reflected on their experiences of being taught this topic, in order to identify needs that could be addressed in a project to improve their learning. First-year students…

Open courses have received a lot of attention in the last two years; however, the question of whether they serve learners has yet to be determined. This paper explores the challenges and potential in assessing the impact of open educational initiatives, particularly those that produce and share Open Educational Resources (OER). We use a…

Training health professionals within university environments has traditionally focused on face-to-face methods. Practitioners working within the UK National Health Service (NHS) have found it difficult to gain leave from work to attend for study due to the demands of the NHS and staff shortages. In response, the authors developed a distance…

This is a third and final paper on aspects of multiracial education, derived from data collected by the National Foundation for Educational Research in England and Wales for the Department of Education and Science. (Author/RK)

Within the Mathematics of Finance classes at the Smeal College of Business Administration at Penn State University, lectures are developed using Asymetric's Toolbook program and are presented through a computer system. This approach was implemented because it has the potential to convey effectively concepts that are ordinarily difficult to…

This paper is a preliminary report of a pilot study done at the University of Northern Colorado in 1984 using PHOENIX, a mainframe computer based education (CBE) system in a teacher education program. The study deals with the instructional tutorial and a computer based test generation system related to those tutorials. Data on the physiological…

In designing the "Study of Schooling" research project, it was decided that seven regions in the United States would be studied, and for each region, "triples" would be the focus of the research. A "triple" consisted of a senior high school, a feeder junior high or middle school, and a feeder elementary school.…