This book is the third volume of the paperback versions of "The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research, Third Edition." This portion of the handbook considers the tasks of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting empirical materials, and comprises the Handbook's Parts IV ("Methods of Collecting and Analyzing Empirical Materials") and V ("The Art and…

This action research paper dealt with how to increase motivation towards English language learning through cooperative work in a public school in Medellín, Colombia. It was necessary to explore the concepts of teachers' beliefs, social teaching, collaborative and cooperative learning, to understand the conditions and activities that favored…

American culture glorifies the self-made man and this self-making extends to individual identity. The United States celebrates geographical and social mobility and the very anomie this produces is also the site of secular rebirths. In this essay, the author examines a literary genre that draws upon the American faith in self-transformation in an…

The purpose of this comparative case study was to explore English language teachers' beliefs, assumptions and knowledge about learner-centeredness and to see how they implement learner-centeredness in their classrooms. The study was conducted at one public and one private primary school in Istanbul. Focus group interviews were held in each school…

This research focused on students' learning of mathematical rules with reasoning. A small group of students (age 11-12 yrs) was observed closely by the first author as she taught them fraction rules. The area of focus was fractions and activities were designed pertaining to the four rules of fractions: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and…

Action research involving curricular integration of Math and reading is described in a personal account. Research supporting the benefits of subject integration is illustrated. An Action Research project in a third grade classroom of 26 participants was designed to determine and analyze students' connections between math and literature. The…

In recent times, it has become difficult for even the best conservatorium graduates to achieve the traditional goals of concert performance or secure orchestral positions and this has profound effects on the work practices of musicians. There are important implications for teaching in a conservatorium, in terms of providing a learning experience…

This study evaluated the validity, reliability, and utility of five of the six subtests of Clay's (2002) Observation Survey of Early Literacy Achievement (OS), including Letter Identification, Word Reading, Writing Vocabulary, Hearing and Recording Sounds in Words, and Text Reading. In addition to a review of studies providing assessment of the…

This study examined the validity of Korean students' self-assessments of their oral performance in English in a Foreign Language at the Elementary School (FLES) level. We examined the validity of 2 types of assessments: an off-task self-assessment and an on-task self-assessment. The off-task assessment asked students to evaluate their overall…

This paper discusses an innovative programme of collaborative EFL teaching in Hong Kong primary schools, involving team-teaching shared between imported native-speaking English teachers and their local counterparts. First it analyses the way in which the scheme has evolved from previous experiences. The paper then draws on an open-ended…

Early life experiences can powerfully impact attitudes toward learning and later achievements in education. The chances for optimal development of children with special needs, including the gifted and talented, can be enhanced with identification and intervention at an early age. This paper reports on investigations into the lives of five gifted…

Prospective teachers and teacher educators both confront practical and philosophical issues in attempting to integrate technology into their practice. This paper describes a case study of a science teacher educator, a novice in instructional technology, who integrated technology into an elementary science methods course, with the support of a PT3…

The Maryland Gun Violence Act, enacted into law in 1996, explicitly authorized courts to order batterers to surrender their firearms through civil protective orders. It also vested law enforcement with the explicit authority to remove guns when responding to a domestic violence complaint. In order to assess how these laws were implemented, we…

Purpose: Few definitions in the HRM literature have reached as much consensus as the term "devolution". However, devolution is a phenomenon that has been defined from the perspective of HRM specialists, with little or no contribution from middle managers. This paper seeks to explore what is behind the commonly shared definition of…

Whilst there is broad consensus that the emotional responsiveness and sensitivity of staff are of high importance in interactions with babies and young children in nursery, there is not consensus about how far interactions should be organised to facilitate attachments with particular staff. This paper brings the "child's voice" into this…