Shared databases are used for knowledge exchange in groups. Whether a person is willing to contribute knowledge to a shared database presents a social dilemma: Each group member saves time and energy by not contributing any information to the database and by using the database only to retrieve information which was contributed by others. But if…

The conditional intervention principle is a formal principle that relates patterns of interventions and outcomes to causal structure. It is a central assumption of experimental design and the causal Bayes net formalism. Two studies suggest that preschoolers can use the conditional intervention principle to distinguish causal chains, common cause…

Single-case design and progress monitoring methodologies are efficient and cost-effective strategies for increasing accountability for indirect service provision. Single-case design conceptualizes the treatment of an individual as an experimental process that can be monitored over time and evaluated for effectiveness. Increasingly in clinical,…

This article presents a discussion of mixed methods (MM) sampling techniques. MM sampling involves combining well-established qualitative and quantitative techniques in creative ways to answer research questions posed by MM research designs. Several issues germane to MM sampling are presented including the differences between probability and…

Although acquisition criteria are a fundamental issue for SLA research, they have not always been adequately defined or elaborated in the literature. This article critically scrutinizes one such criterion, the emergence criterion, proposing an explicit, operational definition. After discussing emergence as a theoretical construct, the article…

This article outlines the planning towards a research design to learn about leadership as it is constructed, experienced and developed in schools. It is intended that the research would go beyond an individual's account to gain an insight into the relationships and social dynamic within the organization. The hypothesis is that the degree of…

National studies of science education have unanimously concluded that preparing our students for the demands of the 21st century workplace is one of the major goals. This paper describes a study of student activities in introductory college physics labs, which were designed to help students acquire abilities that are valuable in the workplace. In…

This paper outlines the methodological dimensions of the secondary literacy research evaluation that is the focus of this special issue-the New Zealand-based Secondary Schools' Literacy Initiative (SSLI). We argue that these methodological dimensions are an example of the type of contextualised and critical research that might be usefully applied…

Should the Russians be included in the evaluation and, if so, how can that be done? Based on the axiological assumption that the social justice theory of ethics leads to an awareness of the need to redress inequalities by giving precedence, or at least equal weight, to the voice of the least advantaged groups in society who may not have sufficient…

Numerous studies have been conducted on the internationalization of higher education institutions. Yet, little is known about the prevalence and types of institutional plans for internationalization. Even less is known about how higher education institutions develop and monitor internationalization plans. This paper presents the results of a study…

Qualitative research is a type of research process that is widely used to give people a voice while researching a particular subject matter. In using this research process, one must understand how important it is to develop research questions within the qualitative research process. The purpose of this article is to aid researchers in the…

Although recent evidence suggests that non-cognitive skills such as engagement matter for academic and economic success, there is little evidence on how key educational inputs affect the development of these skills. We present a re-analysis of follow-up data from the Project STAR class-size experiment and find evidence that early-grade class-size…

This report is an analysis of the role of assessment portfolios in teacher learning. Over 18 months, 19 experienced science teachers worked in grade-level teams to design, implement, and evaluate assessments to track student learning throughout a curriculum unit, supported by semi-structured tasks and resources in assessment portfolios.…

Bilingual education has been a focus in Taiwan especially alter the educational reform in 2002 (Ministry of Education, 2003). With the educational reform, many teaching methods and approaches had been explored and implemented recently to enhance English as a Foreign Language (EFL) education. The traditional teaching approaches focused on the…

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to ascertain students' perceptions on quality of services provided by private universities in Thailand and Japan and how these affected decisions selecting a university. A comparative study aims to focus on how cultural and economic factors affected their decisions. Design/methodology/approach: Research design…