This paper was a keynote address at the Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA) conference held in Canberra in April 2012. The author notes that industry is arguably the key stakeholder in the Australian vocational education and training (VET) sector, but is not a single actor nor a disinterested consumer of…

Response to Intervention (RtI) has gained increased attention with the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act. Since RtI was introduced at the policy level as a mechanism for use in the learning disability identification process, much of the implementation work has focused on this application. School-based…

More than a decade after Prensky's influential articulation of digital natives and immigrants, disagreement exists around these characterizations of students and the impact of such notions within higher education. Perceptions of today's undergraduate learners as tech-savvy "digital natives" (Prensky, 2001a), who both want and need the…

Despite the growing volume of research on data use systems or data use activities in which teachers engage, micro-process studies--investigations of what teachers and others actually do under the broad banner of "data use" or "evidence-based decision making"--remain substantially underdeveloped. Starting with a review of the…

Hong Kong's ageing population is growing at an unprecedented rate. Over the past two decades, the government has implemented policies and innovative engagement activities for elders in areas including lifelong learning and community participation. This paper aims to discuss conceptual, policy and practical issues relevant to the participation of…

We explore the benefits and limitations of traditional academic research, collaboration, and knowledge dissemination, and discuss the potential of blogs towards better meeting the higher education research community's needs. We present possible parameters of use, reward structures, and how the field can model this innovative means of academic…

Involvement in productivity roles such as work, volunteerism, and personal projects plays a central role in the lives of most adults and is associated with enhanced physical and mental health. This study examined the meaning of productivity to adults with intellectual disabilities, their satisfaction with the roles they held, and contributors and…

The distinct political lives and lifestyles of young people provide a rich arena for social research. This paper traces the origins of contemporary definitions of political participation, which are often at odds with the real experiences and aspirations of young citizens. Despite a growing body of empirical evidence in this field, researchers are…

Do researchers make a difference with the research they conduct? Most people would like to think so. In this paper, the author argues that much of the research conducted by researchers is guided primarily by personal interests and needs and not because of professional needs or identified gaps in knowledge. The author also argues that experiential…

Neuroscience offers more than new empirical evidence about the details of cognitive functions such as language, perception and action. Since it also shows many functions to be highly distributed, interconnected and dependent on mechanisms at different levels of processing, it challenges concepts that are traditionally used to describe these…

The authors respond to comments made by David G. Altman in his article, ""Challenges in Sustaining Public Health Interventions," Health Education & Behavior, v36 n1 p24-28 Feb 2009[see EJ826344]. They state that Altman provides a cogent and thoughtful perspective on the many challenges inherent to sustaining public health interventions. His…

Youth activity involvement has received increasing research and theoretical attention and should be of particular interest to social development investigators. Involvement has been correlated with a wide range of positive developmental indices, although not for all activities nor for all children. However, our ability to interpret such findings…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to assess the relationship between ethical project management and information technology (IT) project success. The success of IT projects is important for organizational success, but the rate of IT projects is historically low, costing billions of dollars annually. Using four key ethical variables…

Unsolicited bulk email received by business users has increased exponentially in volume and complexity since the introduction of email. However, the factors that influence managers to purchase spam filters have never been fully documented or identified, only assumed. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify, understand and document…

Internships, practica, and field experiences have been touted as essential to prepare effective school leaders. Borrowed from the field of medicine, educational leadership internships are intended to help practitioners gain experience near the completion of their formal preparation (Milstein, Bobroff, & Restine, 1991). Over the years, a variety of…