This paper examines the nature of University Continuing Education (UCE) part-time instructors and their needs with respect to professional development and renewal activities. It also casts light on the kinds of experiences that can shape positive professional development and renewal activities. Survey and focus group methodologies were used to…

In this article, we present a novel way to integrate psychological theories and research methods in an applied social psychology course as a means to foster engagement in a university-community partnership. We taught an advanced course on the application of social psychological theories and research methods to junior and senior undergraduates. Our…

As Illinois higher education looks forward to a stronger state economy and subsequent improved state support, it is time to plan for the next recession. There have been five recessions in the past 35 years, but few higher education systems have been able to develop the processes and resources for weathering the storm. At risk are the quality of…

This resource guide provides information on community service-learning activities for rural students. The guide is based on focus-group sessions in which participants from five rural Appalachian counties identified community service activities that would enhance students' academic success, improve their transition from school to work, and address…

A study investigated the characteristics and behaviors of college students learning a third language. Four groups of students with backgrounds in Slavic second languages and enrolled in a variety of Slavic and non-Slavic third languages courses were studied using ethnographic techniques, including open-ended questionnaires, focus groups, classroom…

This study examined the personal and professional experiences of African American women before, during, and after earning a graduate degree in education. An initial survey was sent to approximately 110 African American women, with questions on family background, sources of support, and deterrents to graduate study. From this group, a second survey…

This study examines the nature of the initial implementation of a new multicultural sociology curriculum by eight teachers in the 11th- and 12th-grades of seven Israeli high schools. The study examined: (1) the extent and ways in which teachers reframe their theories of action as they learn to implement the new curriculum; (2) the factors that…

In 1997, the San Diego Community College District conducted a self-evaluation study of their continuing education programs to assess the program's compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Ten focus groups revealed their knowledge and views of the ADA. Students cited the availability of special instructional accommodations, but…

This report discusses the outcomes of a study that sought to identify the particular problems Canadian parents caring for children with disabilities face in trying to make the transition to work in terms of their child care arrangements and employment-related factors, and best practices in child care arrangements and employment accommodations.…

This report describes how the Parent Services Project (PSP) is being implemented in the communities of Bushwick and Washington Heights/Inwood in New York City, focusing on the progress made and the challenges encountered in the first 18 months of the program's implementation. Information for the report was obtained through on-site observations as…

The assumptions and practices underpinning the pedagogy of online delivery of vocational education and training (VET) in Australia were examined. Data were collected through a literature review, workshops at three participating technical and further education institutes, and a survey that elicited response from 200 teachers and 110 students.…

A survey of 91 medical schools found most recognize the importance of revising curricula to meet the managed care challenge; most were developing such programs. Focus groups identified core competencies for managed care practice but differed on whether classroom or care setting was most appropriate to teach them. Basic objectives for premedical,…

A University of North Carolina study using focus groups of dentists and patients found dentist-patient interactions play an important role in treatment decision-making, and are predicated on non-clinical factors, including dentists' intuition and judgment and patient impressions of dentists' examination styles, personalities, and interpersonal…

What might add quality to life during the last period of the life cycle? In study I, five focus groups of elderly participants representing different ages and socioeconomic backgrounds provided descriptions of quality of life (QOL) from their own perspectives. These descriptions formed the basis of a questionnaire that was administered to a…

It has been proposed that situated cognition theory, in which learning is conceptualized as induction into a community of practice through the activity of legitimate peripheral participation, offers an appropriate theoretical perspective for examining issues of gender in science education. This study critically engages with this proposal by means…