This handbook is designed to help educators understand program evaluation processes so that they will be able to carry out evaluation tasks and talk knowledgeably to evaluators about what they want to find out from a program evaluation. The book reviews the purposes and uses of evaluation to help the reader identify the scope and direction of the…

This paper reports on a planned 4-year longitudinal study in Adelaide, South Australia, that seeks to trace the development of student teachers' constructs about becoming a teacher in three settings, namely, day care, preschool, and early primary school, in low-income and middle-to-high-income areas. Thus far, the study has focused on 20 student…

The Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) of the National Center for Education Statistics provides periodic, timely data on public and private elementary and secondary schools in the United States. Data collected include: school and teacher characteristics; school operations, programs, and policies; teacher demand and supply; and the opinions of…

This practical guide is one of a series aimed at assisting academics in higher education in researching specific aspects of their work. Focusing on small-scale insider research in colleges and universities, the handbook covers contemporary issues, research methods, and existing practice and values in the area of assessment and evaluation. Issues,…

This technical report provides the results of a study on the calculation and use of generalized variance functions (GVFs) and design effects for the 1990-91 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS). The SASS is a periodic integrated system of sample surveys conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) that produces sampling variances…

A paradigm for the recalibration of teacher-made assessment that assesses and evaluates in one operation is formulated. The effort to make the classroom the primary source of educational research activity is contingent on redefining educational research as empirical and not experimental. This emphasizes that the empirical analysis of instructional…

Typically, teacher research is conducted because teachers want to have some questions answered. Starting effective teacher research begins by framing the question in a way that will yield the best research. Three important suggestions when framing teacher research questions are as follows: the question needs to be open ended enough to allow…

A project conducted in Tennessee from 1984 through 1989, Student Teacher Achievement Ratio (Project STAR), serves as a context for a discussion of educational research. The decisions required in major research projects and the problems in carrying out research are seldom discussed in conferences that present research results as completed efforts.…

This paper offers concrete examples from recent policy research about how qualitative and quantitative methods can be combined to better address research questions. Using a conceptual framework developed by Rossman and Wilson (1985), later expanded by Greene, Caracelli, and Graham (1989), the paper discusses how the design and analysis phases of…

Studies of self-directed learning (SDL) have generally concentrated on who self-directed learners are and what/how they learn. In 1980, Gibbons et al. used biographies of 20 "expert" self-directed learners to explore the principles and determinants of SDL. Tough (1967), Guglielmino (1977), and Spear and Mocker (1984) have respectively…

The development of case study training materials for an experimental research strategy is described, and the effects of such training are discussed. The theoretical foundation for learning strategies training was a social-cognitive/expectancy value model of college learning and teaching. In a posttest-only 2-group design, 54 students in an…

A critical analysis is presented of the literature as it relates to survey research, including personal interviews, telephone interviews, and mail questionnaires. Additional research concerns are explored, and a code of ethics for survey researchers is presented. Focus groups, interviews, long interviews, telephone interviews, and mail surveys are…

This paper describes a framework for research in Information Systems/Information Technology (IS/IT) instruction that is grounded in existing theory and research from education literature. A recently developed model that integrates instructional design and learning motivation theories provides a theoretical basis for future efforts of researchers…

This book is designed to provide knowledge about educational research and to help graduate students in education organize and conduct their own research. No prior familiarity with the principles, procedures, or terminology of educational research is required. Chapters are: (1) "Educational Research: Its Nature and Rules of Operation"; (2) "Types…

In U.S. colleges and universities, much attention has been focused on the need to improve teaching quality and to involve students in the learning process. At the same time, many faculty members are faced with growing class sizes and with time pressures due to research demands. One useful technique is to divide the class into small groups and…