Previous research has found the field of higher education, particularly in the United States, is dominated by functionalist approaches, a preponderance of survey data, and the ubiquitous use of advanced quantitative methods to investigate educational phenomena. This descriptive study aims to illuminate why the field is constructed in this way.…

Contemporary curricula of preschool education are the result of the improvement of pedagogical and didactic theories. They imply a technical plan with which it is possible to achieve measurable objectives of preschool education. The curriculum is also defined as a tool for quality and equal education for all. It represents a reflection of the…

The growing interest in researching and documenting young children's perspectives and experiences, has led to an increasing use of visual methods, such as photographs and videos. Studies to date, however, have seen artifacts as neutral tools, and have not revealed the differences between the functions of visual artifacts in the research process,…

This paper discusses the emergence of international advisory councils (IACs) at universities around the world and introduces the concept of internationalization of governance. Global trends in the field of higher education, such as the quest to create world-class universities and advance in global rankings, the rise of new public management, and…

This chapter explores how critical lenses can be used to conduct transfer research and proposes a new methodological approach to understand the complex experiences and success of diverse transfer students.

Autoethnography is a form of qualitative inquiry intended to connect the lived experience of a researcher to the larger social and cultural world (Ellis, 2004) and it can be a valuable methodological tool for adult educators and learners. This paper explores the use and value of autoethnography as a qualitative methodology and explores the…

Two new methods for the meta-analysis of factor loadings are introduced and evaluated by Monte Carlo simulations. The direct method pools each factor loading individually, whereas the indirect method synthesizes correlation matrices reproduced from factor loadings. The results of the two simulations demonstrated that the accuracy of…

This paper, of theoretical nature, explores the levels of approach and abstraction of research in the field of education policy: description, analysis and understanding. Such categories were developed based on concepts of Bourdieu's theory and on the grounds of epistemological studies focused on education policy and meta-research. This paper…

This paper argues that learning analytics (LA) can make contributions to learning research, in addition to aiming for improvements in learning and teaching practices in a solely applied sense. Indeed, there is potential for transforming learning research if certain approaches developed in LA were used more extensively to study learning. The…

This research ethics article focuses on an unexpected finding from my Master's thesis examining bereaved participants' experiences of taking part in sensitive qualitative research: some participants wanted their real names used in my written dissertation and any subsequent empirical publications. While conducting interviews for my thesis and…

In this article I reflect on my experiences of using Facebook as a recruitment tool. Although there were many benefits associated with using this method of recruitment, there were also several unanticipated ethical dilemmas that arose. This article reflects on these dilemmas, locating them within some broader concerns around online research and…

This case study exemplifies the design of a formative evaluation project concerned with the implementation of a new school form in Austria. The purpose of this case study is to show how multiple methods were implemented in the research project NOESIS ("Niederösterreichische Schule in der Schulentwicklung"; Lower Austrian Middle School in…

This series of studies began with a grant proposal focused on students classified with learning disabilities which was successfully funded by the National Science Foundation. Although the main emphasis of this National Science Foundation program was science, technology, engineering, and math, we were also interested in broader educational and…

This case study provides an overview of an Action Research project that examines effective instruction-giving in the language classroom. The case describes each of the various phases of the Action Research cycle from identifying a researchable pedagogic puzzle or critical incident, collecting and analyzing classroom data about it, bringing about…

In my doctoral program, students are immersed in research from the onset. This study was my second-year team study, intended to provide me with experience designing and implementing single case design research. Building on a study from the previous year, I developed an idea to further examine methods for promoting listening comprehension for…