The University of California San Diego (UCSD) Libraries User Survey was designed to have its results in machine-readable form. Library management, anticipating the need for detailed statistics for future decision making, required that the survey results be manipulatable by library managers. Responses to the 1996 use survey were solicited from…

Electronics Engineering Technology majors in the Industrial and Engineering Technology department at Central Michigan University have developed many real-world projects that represent the type of problem-solving projects encouraged by industry. Two projects that can be used by other educators as freestanding projects or as the core for further…

C-SPAN videotapes provide an innovative database that promises to be a significant benefit to researchers of public figures and issues by allowing researchers to analyze public figures in their own words, without journalistic interpretation. Such analysis was applied to Ross Perot's 1992 campaign in addressing his perceived insensitivity to…

This paper explains why knowledge utilization has become so important and why so many perspectives on knowledge utilization exist. The field of research on knowledge utilization is immense and continues to grow rapidly. The reason for this, according to the paper, is that developed nations around the world are now in the so-called Knowledge Age.…

This brief paper defines participatory action research, reviews the literature on its use, and offers examples of how researchers and practitioners are applying principles of participatory action research data to select effective practices and support change and innovation in schools. Generation of data-based strategies in natural environments is…

Educational planners and policymakers are rarely able to base their decision-making on sound information and research, according to this book. Because the situation is even more difficult in developing countries, educational policy often is based on research conducted in others parts of the world. This book provides a practical framework that can…

Web-based statistical instruction, like all statistical instruction, ought to focus on teaching the essence of the research endeavor: the exercise of reflective judgment. Using the framework of the recent report of the American Psychological Association (APA) Task Force on Statistical Inference (Wilkinson and the APA Task Force on Statistical…

This historical paper focuses on improving the dissemination of research results to persons with disabilities and their families. It discusses how to determine the nature and form of the information to be disseminated, as well as the methods for reaching intended audiences. Recommended state-of-the-art methods of dissemination for making research…

This paper argues that the standards for reporting and interpreting educational research should be raised. It suggests the need for a higher standard is urgent in fields such as beginning reading, in which public interest is intense, because findings can quickly become distorted or misinterpreted and enshrined through misinformed policy decisions.…

This literature review discusses the need for rehabilitation organizations to become culturally competent and for rehabilitation research to reach and be utilized by minority populations. Sections address the incidence of disability in minority populations, the socially constructed nature of race, culture, and disability, cultural power and the…

The Stanford/San Jose (California) Teacher Corps project employs school district-university collaboration to carry out research adaptation efforts that bring about changes in curriculum and instruction. Case studies of math, reading, and bilingual education project components are included. (PP)

In answer to the suggestion that policymakers, researchers, and teachers unanimously agree that research is hardly taken into account by its potential users, the author provides an overview of educational research in Western Europe. Projects involve disciplines, history of education, and curriculum. (KC)

Professors of methodology and curriculum in teacher education are the most effective conduit to bring research findings to the practitioner. More involvement of methods teachers in research funded by the National Institute of Education, particularly in reading research, would have a greater effect on classroom research. (PP)

Asserting that the position of England's universities in teacher training is growing less certain, the author suggests that University Schools of Education define a new role for themselves in the pursuit and dissemination of practice-oriented educational research. (Part of a theme issue on teacher education for the 1990s.) (SJL)

Education courses can make a difference in classroom practices. Research indicates that the application of educational concepts has improved teaching in several areas: understanding child behavior, constructing and interpreting tests, monitoring and increasing academic learning time, and applying principles of child growth and development.…