This Policy Research Brief explores the strengths of qualitative research and the types of information it can make available to policymakers concerned with issues affecting persons with disabilities. The naturalistic methodology employed in qualitative research is described. Three specific studies using qualitative methodology are excerpted and…

As part of the Professional Development Workshop at Calhoun Community College, the Department of Natural Sciences conducted the third annual Spring Wilderness Pilgrimage in March 1989, a week-long environmental awareness field trip for faculty and staff. Designed as a study of the plants and animals on a barrier island off the coast of Florida,…

Research related to environmental education has consistently indicated that many students and young adults attribute a large amount of their knowledge of environmental concepts, problems, and issues to out-of-school (non-formal) educational settings and experiences. Data also indicate that students and young adults attribute much of their…

Extended field trips have the potential to provide students with direct experience in learning about the natural world, as well as opportunities for the development of group cohesiveness. This document describes a program developed by a community college in which general biology students spend 3 days in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The…

Personality and a social support system are two factors that may influence women medical students' choice of a rural primary care specialty. The 2-year study of 11 University of New Mexico School of Medicine women students engaged in 4-month rural primary care preceptorships included interviews and a personality inventory. Three women had…

This report, representing the second half of a comprehensive study, presents descriptive data on the structure, functions, and services of the Social Services Component in Title IV-A Day Care in Philadelphia. Data were based on extensive interviews with 67 respondents representing 35 agencies. Two interviews, one each with a supervisor and a…

In this paper, a college economics professor shares his ideas and experiences related to teaching a regional economics course for seniors at Bucknell University. In an attempt to depart from the traditional content and the passive teaching procedures prevalent in such courses, the professor implemented a course in a regional, political, economic…

Historical documents and interview data are compiled to develop a chronology of critical events used in studying the impact of the Applications Technology Satellite educational demonstration (ATS-6) in Alaska. This method of evaluation was implemented as a parallel approach to that of gathering data in the villages from Native informants and from…

Ethnography as a classroom observation method addresses itself to the situations, events, patterns, and contexts that exist in a classroom at a given time. A priori categorical observation and evaluation systems measure what the system is designed to "see," and may fail to record anomolies and salient events that affect teaching and learning in…

The project reported here was done in Kentucky to develop, field test, evaluate, and revise 300 competency-based vocational education (CBVE) instructional modules in five occupational areas. These areas are automobile mechanics, air-conditioning and refrigeration, court and conference reporter, alterationist, and gardening and groundskeeping. This…

This study was the first phase of a three-phase study to develop, adopt, and implement competency based curriculum for Illinois agricultural occupations programs at the secondary level. As a procedural field test, phase I developed an occupational matrix for one of the U.S. Office of Education agricultural occupation program areas (horticulture)…

PROJECT MODELS IS A COOPERATIVE PROJECT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN R/D CENTER ON COGNITIVE LEARNING, LOCAL SCHOOL SYSTEMS, AND THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT. THE PROJECT'S AIM IS TO INCREASE THE EFFICIENCY OF STUDENT LEARNING AND TO FACILITATE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES BY REORGANIZING THE STRUCTURE OF THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL INTO…

The methodology used during the 2-year project involving 14 case studies of rural education improvement programs consisted of 4 sets of overlapping activities: (1) gearing up and completing the study design; (2) site visits, data collection, and case study write ups; (3) data analysis; and (4) technical assistance. The gearing up period was…

As part of the evaluation of the Bay Area Writing Project (BAWP), two field studies were conducted to analayze the effects of BAWP training at the school district level. In one field study, three school districts were examined to explore the conditions and context for BAWP training and to identify the resulting impact on school district programs.…

Project Information Packages (PIPs), kits distributed by the U.S. Office of Education to facilitate the replication of programs, were developed for 6 exemplary supplemental educational programs and tried out in 17 different schools. The PIP field tests determined whether the PIP model in general, and each of the six original PIPs in particular,…