A new multi-year effort to promote the health, positive development, and well-being of children has been established in the midwest Great Lakes region. The working name of this project is the Kellogg Pre-Birth through Age Three initiative. The first phase focuses on cross-site participation in the development of an overall design. Phase 2 will…

Between January and April 2000, Mount Royal College in Calgary, Alberta, Canada piloted an anonymous online faculty-administered teaching assessment tool. Five instructors volunteered to participate, and 5 students from classes taught by each instructor joined them in focus groups, for a total of 30 focus group participants. The quantitative and…

An unprecedented and growing number of postsecondary students report psychiatric disabilities. This issue brief examines current research and practice efforts that have been addressed in meeting the needs of individuals with psychiatric disabilities within the postsecondary setting. While there is only limited research on this issue to guide…

Vocational educators in Swaziland identified professional competencies in focus group workshops. These competencies and additional ones identified in a literature review were refined into 11 competence areas needed by teachers of practical studies (agriculture, commercial, home economics, and technical). (SK)

Recounts how one scholar went about researching the subject of a women's university and later realized the error of her methods and used a focus group to research her topic. Finds that the group began with a free-flow discussion of general qualities for a women's university, moved on to collaborative learning, and to holistic collaboration across…

Describes research aimed at providing educational organizations with practical strategies for implementing electronic learning (e-learning), based on focus group discussions at an elementary school in Taiwan. Considers the strategic role of digital libraries in electronic learning environments, library collections, digital technology, human…

Examines the use of focus group interviews in understanding staff perceptions of training to work with drug users in the Therapeutic Community model. Discusses methodological issues relevant to the use of focus groups and the individual responses to the training program and the content and structure of the training program are also discussed.…

Describes the use of a professional marketing and opinion research firm at Brown University Library to conduct focus group meetings with users and to provide data analysis. Highlights include a review of library literature on focus group use; focus group methodology; benefits of employing professionals; logistics of focus group preparation; and…

Interviews with four co-op students as well as parents, cooperating teachers, and workplace supervisors were analyzed as multiple-perspective cases, by stakeholder groups, and across cases. Focus groups provided additional data from seven co-op students. All stakeholders believed that co-op broadened the school curriculum. Adults were more…

This article describes a focus group interview conducted with a group of therapists in a large-scale, comprehensive family service agency in an Arab American community. The interview format was semistructured, and the results confirmed what little was already known about the population and supplemented that body of knowledge with updated…

Discussion of information literacy focuses on a study conducted by the Information School of the University of Washington that surveyed librarians in the state through mail, email, telephone, and focus groups, concerning their views on information literacy. Discusses implications for education and training needs of librarians. (Author/LRW)

Explains how to conduct an information audit for an established corporate library that will be useful to determine whether any changes are needed. Highlights include establishing goals; obtaining management support; deciding whether to hire consultants; and possible techniques, including interviews, focus groups, and surveys. (LRW)

Explores secondary school students' ideas and perceptions about learning, including how they learn best and what approaches and teaching strategies they find most conducive to learning. Results of interviews, questionnaires, and focus groups suggest students can engage in metacognitive activity, identify strengths and difficulties in learning, and…

The Children's Health Awareness Project is presented as a case study in using focus groups for gathering sensitive information from children. General focus group techniques and advantages and limitations of the method are described. Recommendations are offered for use of the technique with children when sensitive topics are addressed. (SLD)

Focus group discussions with 14 participants in the University of Pittsburgh's Semester at Sea (a global education and travel program) showed most students did not change dramatically on five dimensions of global perspective: fear/openness, same/different, naivete'/cross-cultural understanding, nationalism, and ethnocentrism/globalcentrism. Some…