In August 2011, the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) celebrated the accolade of university title, becoming Scotland's newest university. Modelled on a federal, collegiate university based on a number of existing and geographically dispersed Further Education (FE) colleges and research institutions, the UHI has clearly abandoned the…

Academic research in the areas of educational technology and media is often portrayed to be limited in terms of its use of theory. This short paper reports on data collected from a survey of 462 "research active" academic researchers working in the broad area of educational technology and educational media. The paper explores their use…

Studies indicate that very few teachers entering disadvantaged contexts feel prepared academically or professionally to teach effectively. This study focuses on the impact of a model for professional learning, the RoleM Professional Learning model (RPL), situated in a disadvantaged context over a three-year period. The participating teachers (n =…

This project aimed to create a descriptive map of international research which explores the notion of the continuum of educational provision for children with special educational needs. It also aimed to determine and examine the nature of how the continuum of provision is conceptualised, operationalised and enacted in a sample of selected…

Objectives: With the emergence of physician-manager (PM) curricula in medical education, more effective assessment tools are needed to evaluate psychiatry trainees in this role. The aim of this study was to determine psychiatry residents', program directors', and PM educators' perceptions about PM role-assessment. Methods: Psychiatry residents at…

Advocates of rural education emphasize the need to examine supports which may promote rural educators given the challenging contexts of which they face. Teacher visioning has been conceptualized as a navigational tool to help sustain and promote teachers given high-challenging contexts. The current study explored 10 public school teachers from…

This study explores barriers and success factors of Hmong students in American colleges by interviewing five Hmong graduate students from refugee families in the US. Emerging themes revolve around academic, cultural and financial barriers. Professors, advisors, classmates, academic support programmes, family, financial aid and their own…

This study explored the single mothers perceptions of social support relative to raising a child diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. It used a qualitative framework with grounded theory methods. Two well-researched stressors exist that affect the lives of single mothers of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder: parenting a child…

The Individual with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) 2007, a federal special education law, states that students with disabilities requiring special education services can use accommodations or adaptations of the curriculum to access the general education curriculum. A shortened assignment, as an accommodation, can help learning disabled…

This dissertation study examined how teachers in four newcomer schools conceptualized and implemented social studies education for newcomer Latino/a youth. I designed this multi-site, collective case study to examine the perspectives and decision making of four social studies teachers' enacted pedagogy for Latino/a newcomer students. I…

This dissertation describes and explores elementary teachers' perspectives on the influence of context on the quality of teachers. Utilizing a conceptual framework developed from a reading of the extant literatures and situated participation theory, this qualitative multiple case study of four nominated elementary teachers, who have switched…

As part of human development, technology plays an important role in many children's lives. As digital technologies continue to permeate aspects of many children's everyday lives, educators are integrating digital technologies into classroom practices and, as such, have created a need to examine the ways in which children use technologies in their…

This study investigated the experience of engaging the disengaged learner. Specifically, it sought to more fully understand what conditions, curriculum, and programmatic components in the words of students themselves had a hand in drawing students into the learning endeavor. Chapter One introduced the problem. With the current educational tone in…

The mixed heritage population is one of the fastest growing in the United States. With mixed heritage youth doubling in the past ten years, higher education institutions can expect an increase of this minority group. Historically higher education has responded to underrepresented student needs and designed student services for monoracial students…

Mathematics is of utmost importance in engineering courses but studies on engineering students' conceptions of understanding in mathematics learning are found lacking in the literature. Therefore, this research attempts to address the above issue by answering the research question: "What are engineering students' conceptions of understanding…