A description is given of an ongoing collaborative research effort consisting of a series of studies with 3- to 5-year-old children, designed for the purpose of: (1) identifying factors contributing to motor learning/performance during the development years, i.e., psychological, sociological, and experiential variables; (2) determining the…

A checklist of characteristics of effective mail questionnaires was developed that reflects some degree of consensus among experts in survey research and that can serve as a guide to novices designing a questionnaire. Journal and book sources of information about mail questionnaires were reviewed to yield 83 items in 7 categories that comprised…

Since about 1962, researchers have explored the effectiveness of educational software in the schools under various conditions, and many have concluded that computer assisted instruction (CAI) is effective. Many of the studies reviewed to support this conclusion, however, had design flaws. Reviews of educational software effectiveness studies have…

Developmental models currently used by child behavioral toxicologists and teratologists are inadequate to address current issues in these fields. Both child behavioral teratology and toxicology scientifically study the impact of exposure to toxic agents on behavior development: teratology focuses on prenatal exposure and postnatal behavior…

Despite years of litigation the desegregation of United States public schools remains unfinished. Even after court-ordered desegregation, a school district may remain segregated through various practices such as ability grouping and selective discipline of minority children. These second generation discrimination or resegregation practices have an…

Bronfenbrenner's ecological paradigm is well suited for research on school effectiveness. Criteria for identifying effective schools should be thought of as indicators of learning occurring in a context of school practices and other influences. Use of the term "outcomes" implies a linear cause and effect relationship between school…

Studies of job satisfaction among community college faculty use a variety of theoretical constructs and measure widely different dimensions of satisfaction. Research on the effects of working conditions on faculty attitudes has shown consistently that interaction with students and peers and privacy within the classroom are major sources of…

This paper describes the development of a conceptual framework for conducting research using computer based interactive video and a generic disc as research tools. It is argued that computer based interactive video represents the beginnings of a truly computer based learning system. An altered version of the 1984 Grabowski and Whitney conceptual…

This document provides an overview of the research program of the Swedish National Board of Education (NBE) since 1962. The following subjects are discussed: (1) budget; (2) duration of the various projects; (3) fields of research; (4) transmission of knowledge; (5) transition from management by command to management by objectives; (6) research in…

The linking of research and action, basic methods of social research, and the uses of research in distance teaching are examined, with examples drawn from the Lesotho Distance Teaching Centre and other distance teaching programs. Ways in which research can be useful and early stages of research design and planning are discussed. An explanation of…

The study of teachers as decision-makers is a recent paradigm in educational research. This decision-making approach considers the teacher as an active professional engaged in various decision-making activities prior to and during instruction. This paper describes a naturalistic research design employed in a recent dissertation that investigated…

This discussion traces the legislative, fiscal, and programmatic history of Project Follow Through and analyzes the many problems and controversies that have surrounded it. It is argued that problems have been largely a result of the attempt to combine research and development (R & D) and social action service programs. Lessons learned as a…

This School Research Newsletter presents the research program of the National Swedish Board of Education (NBE), as adopted by the NBE Board of Directors in June 1982. The successive decisions on decentralization taken in the educational sector since 1976 have led also to a decision to alter the thrust of the research and development work within at…

This paper describes the methodology used in a study assessing the health needs of the Asian population, specifically the Chinese, Cambodian, and Vietnamese populations, in Santa Clara County, California. The study by the Santa Clara County Health Department is part of a wide-ranging needs assessment project primarily intended to guide…

Because self-directed learning behaviors are inherently interwoven within a foundation of lifespan cognitive and contextual characteristics, researchers must examine the theory and application of self-directed learning not just as an externally-defined or self-perceived process but also as an internal process of continual development grounded in a…