This paper presents best practices for conducting survey research using Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Readers will learn the benefits, limitations, and trade-offs of using MTurk as compared to other recruitment services, including SurveyMonkey and Qualtrics. A synthesis of survey design guidelines along with a sample survey are presented to help…

Collective impact is an increasingly popular approach to addressing persistent social problems. It takes a place-based systems approach to social change and compared with other forms of collaboration is meant to be more structured and strategic. Such an approach is intuitively appealing, and it has the support of stakeholders at the local level,…

Quality data allow programs to provide context and meaning to research, evaluation, and accountability efforts and provides evidence to evaluate and demonstrate the effectiveness of programs. Data integration, the process of taking data from disparate systems, combining them, and transforming them into something meaningful, can increase data…

In this case study, I describe the process of data gathering using vignettes in both interview and focus group contexts. Vignettes offer multiple possibilities when researching sensitive topics in which participants may experience vulnerability. This research examines understandings of sexuality in childhood. As a child and family counselor…

This study aimed to investigate pre-service pre-school education teachers' data representation activities in terms of their relation to real life, the appropriateness of the data that the children can collect, the conformability of the graphs required for the data representation to the children's level, and the clarity of open-ended questions…

After the 2008 housing loan crisis, many houses were foreclosed/abandoned in Michigan, and specifically Grand Rapids (GR). Our study provides a collaborative and scalable model for collecting parcel-level housing data, in a southeast GR neighborhood within 15 U.S. Census Blocks. Grand Valley State University Geography faculty and students…

Although research and policy suggest science and mathematics teachers should attend to their student's thinking during instruction, our field has inadequately defined what that means in relation to our ultimate goals for the practice. Here I present a theoretical argument that, in making their definitions, researchers should leverage the ways…

This qualitative study focuses on capturing students' understanding two visualizations often utilized by learning analytics-based educational technologies: bar graphs, and line graphs. It is framed by Achievement Goal Theory--a prominent theory of students' academic motivation--and utilizes interviews (n = 60) to investigate how students at risk…

Big data analysis involves the examination of large sets of data in order to uncover patterns and trends. Within the social studies or history classroom, such analyses can be effective for gaining insights into historical trends over time or across geographical regions. For instance, using simple technology tools, students can perform word…

Micrometeorites originate from small pieces of rock from space colliding with the Earth's atmosphere at high velocity, such as the Perseid meteors which hit the atmosphere at 60 km/s. When they do so, they burn up, causing a flash of light that we see as a meteor. Many groups have been successful collecting these particles using various devices.…

This study examined the impact of an intervention, focused on professional noticing of children's conceptual development in whole number and arithmetic reasoning, on preservice elementary teachers' (PSETs') professional noticing skills, attitudes toward mathematics, and mathematical knowledge for teaching mathematics. A video-based professional…

Objective: Despite significant attention from federal and state policy makers, postsecondary completion rates in the United States remain stratified across race and socioeconomic background. This study examines a community-based college readiness program for underrepresented students from low-resource neighborhoods in Chicago, Illinois. Method:…

Students who are at risk for or show low-intensity behavioral problems may need targeted, Tier 2 interventions. Often, Tier 2 problem-solving teams are charged with monitoring student responsiveness to intervention. This process may be difficult for those who are not trained in data collection and analysis procedures. To aid practitioners in these…

Data collection is a fundamental skill in science education, one that students generally practice in a controlled setting using equipment only available in the classroom laboratory. However, using smartphones with their built-in sensors and often free apps, many fundamental experiments can be performed outside the laboratory. Taking advantage of…

In this paper, the authors address learning analytics and the ways academic libraries are beginning to participate in wider institutional learning analytics initiatives. Since there are moral issues associated with learning analytics, the authors consider how data mining practices run counter to ethical principles in the American Library…