Teachers from an urban public high school and from a preK-12 private school in one metropolitan area discussed selections from John Dewey's works on education, art, and experience, in small study groups between 1996 and 1998. I facilitated these study groups as a joint inquiry with teachers about connections between Dewey's aesthetics and thinking…

This paper reports on an investigation into learning through discussions by undergraduate social work students. Second-year students studying psychology for social work experienced discussions began with face-to-face tutorials, and then continued for some time after online. This study used closed-ended questionnaires to investigate what students…

This paper uses the example of an extra-curricular Graphic Novel Reading Group in order to explore the institutional critical reading practices that take place in English classrooms in the senior years of secondary school. Drawing on Stanley Fish's theory of interpretive communities, it questions the restrictive interpretive strategies applied to…

Blogging, if you truly inhale its essence, will give you a calling, renewal, and purpose as you have never seen before. Here, the author shows how to blog like a king or a queen. These techniques include: (1) Write a meaningful comment; (2) If you have written about it, hyperlink to your post; (3) If you have a blog, share some information about…

The program for the march by librarians on America's capital for the American Library Association (ALA) conference is predictably loaded with lobbying, legislation, and DC tours. It also abounds with professional opportunity and reflects the impact of Leslie Burger, one of the most activist ALA presidents in recent history. Her "Transformation"…

Professional development with proven positive effects on vocabulary instruction and student achievement: that's what reading teachers are looking for, and that's what the Teacher Study Group (TSG) model delivers. With the nine complete TSG sessions in this book, K-8 teachers will form dynamic in-school learning groups with their fellow educators…

Introduction: Report of a study to discover and describe job vacancies for information professionals available online at specific sites and discussion lists between January 2005 and February 2008. Method: The study uses Bardin's content analysis technique and the following analysis criteria: information source, institutional type, professional…

For generations of educators who grew up on the printed word (as compared to the electronic one), books remain an enjoyable activity that can contribute to knowledge building for professional educators with wide-ranging responsibilities. Yet they have broader value beyond personal consumption. In many school districts throughout the country, books…

Challenging some of the current predominantly negative representations of the effects of religion on young people requires further research into faith and family life, particularly from the perspective of young people themselves. This article presents a preliminary report of a study of 40 young people, mostly Christians and Muslims, aged 13-15…

This study explores cross-age peers' tutoring behavior to support freshmen collaborating online. The study fits in with the need to inquire into the process of peer facilitation in CSCL-environments and focuses on types of peer support and on the evolution over time. The study was conducted with 19 pairs of fourth-year students, each tutoring one…

The Internet's defining characteristic is its interactivity, and one of the oldest tools for this America Online recently decided to drop Usenet from its services. This, generating howls of protest from some, has led others to question the viability et as a useful tool for individuals and businesses. Created in 1979 by two Duke University graduate…

My only experience with politics took place several years ago, when I helped write some campaign literature for my son, a novice politician who was running for the state legislature against a popular incumbent. It wasn't much of a race; my son lost the election by a huge margin. But what impressed me was the civility of the campaign. In their…

Describes the dialogue in an informal discussion group and asserts that because the group is interactive, dynamic, and applied it is an embodiment of the nature of evaluation knowledge. Discusses ways in which this group teaches about evaluation. (SLD)

This article is part of The Weekly Qualitative Report's occasional series on "How-To Collect Qualitative Data." The qualitative data collection method described is that of focused discussion groups (FDG's). This method involves the moderator, or scripter as is the preferred term in focused discussion groups, to move beyond that of a…

A recent survey by the new PIBA SIG suggests strong support for licensure among behavior analysts. This editorial will explore some of the common arguments against licensure and present some factual information to support or counter those arguments. The four common arguments are (1) licensure will hurt the science of behavior analysis (2)…