Traces the history of virtual reality (VR), or cyberspace, and describes some of the research and development efforts currently being carried out in the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States. Applications of VR in interactive computer-aided design (CAD), the military, leisure activities, spaceflight, teleconferencing, and medicine are…

Recent changes in the New Zealand government's research funding system are discussed, and the resulting system is detailed. Remaining structural problems, some of which are seen as constraining progress toward government priorities, are identified and likely solutions and trends indicated. (Author/MSE)

Educators at all levels should participate in the process of making public policy concerning access to and quality of information technology, particularly in the following areas: strategic planning, telecommunications, regulation, resource allocation and training, technology development, and market determination and standards. (MSE)

Asserts that, although research can be a powerful resource in guiding and fueling grass-roots social change, the community-based research enterprise often is contentious. Recommends collaborative research studies in which the researchers and practitioners work together from the project's inception. (CFR)

Research and development activities of the last decade in the areas of assessment and effective instructional programs in mathematics for students with disabilities are reviewed. Encouraged by federal funding, a pervasive theme has been the use of an information processing framework. Automaticity, conceptual development, and cognitive modeling…

Compares constant dollar spending on research with constant dollar spending on libraries 1960-1995. Evaluation of the indirect cost policy by which library costs are reimbursed as a function of science grant management suggests it has failed to promote cost-effective research. Evaluation of the impact of various information technologies finds…

Addresses issues of advances in medical technology as related to deafness, including different meanings of the term "medical technology" and the relationship between ethics and the scientific method, production and use of the cochlear implant, and sign language versus aural/aural-communication methods with prelingually deafened children…

Highlights social work legacies and how they will impact 21st-century practice. Provides several examples to help inform integrative social and economic foundations for practice, policy, and human well-being. Importance of these and other income-support and capacity-building strategies is featured against the challenges associated with welfare…

Examines the current state of user interface design for information seeking. Topics include technology push and interdisciplinarity; research and development; literature trends; user-centered interface design; information seeking in electronic environments; online information retrieval system interfaces; online public access catalog interfaces;…

Thirteen California K-12 teachers of bilingual education and English as a second language participated in a 3-year program to create new teaching strategies based on the Natural Approach theory. Their involvement in research-informed teaching enhanced their bilingual education practices and renewed their confidence and enthusiasm in their teaching…

To illustrate the impact of research on the performance and quality of life of individuals with disabilities, this article highlights three research areas supported by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): (1) at-risk infant programs; (2) learning strategy interventions for adolescents with learning disabilities; and (3)…

Considers social cognitive career theory as a point from which to view the school-to-work transition process. Focuses on developmentally linked themes that unfold throughout school years. Emphasis on these themes (formation of self-efficacy and outcome beliefs, interest development, interest-goal linkages, translation of goals into action,…

Discussion of the research-to-practice gap in special education focuses on the dissemination problems of scale, school politics, and social and institutional contexts, including schools of education. Recommendations include improving access to a teacher friendly research knowledge base, improving preservice education, creating broader staff…

Leadership education has become the public education reform strategy of the new century. Spotlighting leadership education presumes that improved leadership preparation and development will yield better leadership, management, and organizational practices which, in turn, will improve teaching, student learning and student performance in schools…

Local innovation in agriculture and natural resource management is the process through which individuals or groups discover or develop new and better ways of managing resources, building on and expanding the boundaries of their existing knowledge. Prolinnova (Promoting Local Innovation) is a NGO-led global partnership programme that is being built…