The National Center on Inclusion Toward Rightful Presence sought out schools that provide effective support in general education curriculum and settings for students who benefit from intensive instruction and support. The Center used knowledge learned from these sites to develop and inform its model for advancing rightful presence in schools,…

Data collection in qualitative research is intended to capture the participant experience in relation to defined phenomena. Whilst attention is given to the different ways of gathering qualitative data, the presence of the researcher is a common feature. However, the researcher does not hold an inert position in the data collection process and may…

It is known that first-year retention rates are a cause for concern within higher education. One way in which to tackle this is to consider how institutions can best prepare new students for the transition to university. The current paper details a project from the University of the West of Scotland where first year psychology students enrolled on…

Positive effects of Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS) frameworks have been reported in juvenile justice facilities but have not yet been extended to adult prisons. As part of initial PBIS development in a large prison in the United Kingdom, this study utilized focus groups to investigate the valued outcomes considered most…

This article reports on an inquiry that explored how a school management team (SMT) in a rural school in Limpopo Province, South Africa, understood their role in creating a school climate conducive for improving teaching and learning. I used a qualitative case study design to investigate how their understanding informed their practices. A single…

This study explores the challenges of students who identify as LGBTQ+ in six secondary schools in the south of England. Drawing on survey data from five schools (n = 257), and focus groups in six schools with 33 students, this study looks at the way that school culture and school climate operate and how these impact on the experiences of LGBTQ+…

In this study, we explore the perceived affordances of simulation-based learning (SBL) among online student teachers in Norway. We investigated how simulations mediate professional learning when coupled with educator-led debriefings and peer-led focus groups. Using an exploratory qualitative design, we examined 21 pre-service teachers'…

Qualitative researchers often turn to focus groups as an efficient and effective way to gather data in a collective context. A common critique is that they play into power dynamics present at the site, privileging dominant, high status, and more vocal participants. Traditional focus group structures also rely on participants to trust the…

Talking circles, also known as sharing circles, have been used in ceremonies for hundreds of years. Rooted in Indigenous values and knowledge systems emphasizing interconnectedness and responsibility to community, participants share power through storytelling, empowering each participant to share what they want in a non-judgmental environment,…

This study used the Community of Inquiry framework to examine how university instructors designed, facilitated, and supported social and cognitive processes in online courses, and how instructors and students experienced these processes. In early 2021, 25 online focus groups were organized with instructors (n = 52) and students (n = 44) from all…

Previously bullied students are at risk of severe negative consequences related to academic performance and development of mental health problems. Little is known about organizing and building capacity in schools to facilitate follow-up work that may reduce this risk. This study explored how schools can work systematically to follow-up after…

This Scholarship of Teaching and Learning study evaluates a digital storytelling project that taught students in a university class on youth programming to apply research on youth work to the practice of working with diverse, underserved youth. The study examines the project's learning outcomes, which targeted the higher levels of Bloom's taxonomy…

All people vary in their needs and abilities; however, typical research practices do not consider these variations, which likely impacts who participates in research studies. Additionally, few PER studies have investigated aspects of disability or reported disability identity. Combined, this means that PER researchers typically do not seek out the…

Using video-elicitation focus group interviews, this study aims to reveal pre-service science teachers' perspectives and reasoning on artificial intelligence as a socioscientific issues-based scenario. Hence, it illustrates the ways the video data were used in the focus group elicitation interviews to understand their interpretations of how their…

Curricular guidelines promote standardized approaches to coverage of essential knowledge and skills in undergraduate education. The American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Curriculum Guidelines for Undergraduate Microbiology were developed in 2012. Continuous, rapid growth of knowledge in science and a dynamic, changing world necessitate updates…