Describes techniques for clarifying goals, improving organization, and evaluating students in research courses that are typically unstructured. Includes methods for assisting students in designing experiments, creating evaluation tools, and monitoring student progress throughout the course. These simple methods are appropriate for courses with an…

A study investigated the ability of educationally disadvantaged and limited-English-proficient University of Cape Town (South Africa) students to write about science research projects. Analysis of students' reports showed a strong relationship between task presentation methods, specific task-completion guidelines, and quality of writing. Poor…

This article describes the governmental and cultural contexts for educational research in Botswana and the important role research plays in the development of educational policies. The effects of limited resources are illustrated in several examples regarding special education and other services for children and adults with disabilities. (Contains…

Reviews education and social-science literature concerning intergenerational influence and outlines an approach to guide future efforts in research and program development aimed at encouraging students to act as catalysts of environmental communication and learning beyond school boundaries. Contains 115 references. (DDR)

Student teachers' learning about teaching can be substantially enhanced through teacher preparation if a student teacher as researcher stance is adopted. Through this approach, student teachers can develop more meaningful and sustained ways of focusing on their learning about teaching by extending reflection into more systematic inquiries into…

This article presents a summary of the results from phase 1 of a two-phase research project. Drawing on the principles of problem-based learning (PBL), the aims of phase 1 were to design, develop and evaluate a set of flexible online teaching resources for use within a virtual learning environment. Participants in the project (n = 10) were…

In this paper, the authors first give a brief account of their work with teachers to develop formative assessment practices, including a brief outline of the quantitative results and the impact of formative assessment project. They give a full account of the changes in classroom practice that the project schools developed, together with some…

The Animation Tutor[TM] is a curriculum project that uses software to supplement instruction in courses such as intermediate algebra. Its purpose is to ground mathematical reasoning in concrete experiences through the use of interactive animation and the virtual manipulation of objects. This article summarizes how the project has progressed from…

Anthea Asprey and Tricia Nash both belong to the Children's Hospice South West Research Group, based at the University of Exeter. In this article, they report one aspect of a research project designed to determine the adequacy of support for young people with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions in the education system. They describe here…

Studies in gender have offered many reasons for the differing attitudes and skill levels that male and female undergraduate students possess when it comes to learning technology skills. Male and female students have differing learning styles influenced by such experiential factors as biology, historical inequalities, inconsistent political rights,…

The National Science Foundation and others have made compelling arguments that research be incorporated into the learning of undergraduates. In response to these arguments, a two-hybrid research project was incorporated into a molecular biology course that contained both a lecture section and a laboratory section. The course was designed around…

After determining the perceptions of postgraduate students at a distance education institution of the guidance they had experienced, a research project was launched to determine "lecturers'" views on supervision at the same institution. Data collection methods included focus groups, individual interviews and document analysis. Findings…

The Multi-Site Teacher Education Research project (MUSTER) explores initial teacher education in five countries--Ghana, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, and Trinidad and Tobago. National research teams collected and analysed data on key dimensions of the training process, which included the characteristics of those selected for training, the…

As a part of the teacher licensure program at the graduate level at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC), the M.Ed. Licensure candidate is required to complete an action research project during a 3-semester-hour course that coincides with the 9-semester-hour student teaching experience. This course, Education 590 Culminating…

The purpose of this action research project is to improve student social skills through the use of cooperative learning, in order to develop a positive classroom environment that is conducive to learning. The action research project will involve approximately 95 students, 95 parents, and 200 teachers. It is the intent of the teacher researchers to…