Discusses the importance of research on the use of mathematical, logical, and formal methods in information retrieval to help enhance retrieval effectiveness and clarify underlying concepts of information retrieval. Highlights include logic; probability; spaces; and future research needs. (Author/LRW)

Draws on research in cultural anthropology and cultural psychology to place the current movement toward qualitative methods of inquiry in historical perspective. Asserts that a new methodology of achievement motivation--one that seeks to identify the cultural and personal meanings of educational performance through methods that clarify its…

Reviews research on transformative learning and competency analysis, pointing out areas from which those involved in leadership and management development could benefit. Identifies where more research is needed. (Contains 17 references.) (SK)

The limited existing research on service learning suggests that it connects young people to communities and gives them rich learning experiences that enhance academics and career choices. Research on long-term effects is needed. (JOW)

Introduces this special issue topic by asserting that empirically powerful and theoretically guided educational research needs to be designed with the teacher in mind. Provides rationale for research focus on real-world knowledge and reasoning, and reasons for selecting research projects on inductive reasoning, mathematical reasoning, map skills,…

Survey responses from 212 physicians were compared with previous research. Results were used to attempt to validate rules they used to identify educationally influential physicians with whom to consult. The important construct of informal influence appears to need further study. (Contains 27 references.) (SK)

This article reviews the research suggesting gifted girls are motivationally disadvantaged as well as research on the task, social, and motivational conditions that may explain these differences. A feminist critique of the gender differences research suggests some research strategies that can address and redress some of the problems in research…

Describes the creation of SeniorSage, an eight week facilitated online learning community for older adult volunteers in a Florida learning center. Discusses how members were prepared to participate in the community, explains the instructional design theory that guided the development of SeniorSage, and recommends future research. (Author/LRW)

Extends the growing literature in the field of environmental communication that focuses upon citizen involvement in environmental decision-making. Suggests that there are substantive challenges that constrain citizens from having effects. Notes the importance of research that explores the nature of subsequent negotiations between citizens and…

After informally studying his first grade class, a teacher tentatively concluded that some students are phonetic learners and some are not. A faster method of identifying phonetic and nonphonetic learners is needed. No study that fails to consider differences in learning styles can possibly yield valid results except by chance. (MLH)

Discusses ways in which sentences may be represented in a condensed form in graphic displays of a sentence dependency structure. A prototype of a text structure management system, TEXNET, is described; a quantitative evaluation of automatic abbreviation schemes is presented; full-text compression is discussed; and additional research is suggested.…

Discussion of visual media and television literacy focuses on a course that was developed to improve the visual literacy of 12- and 13-year-old students in the United Kingdom. Testing for the experimental and control groups is explained, and implications for the development of television literacy are suggested. (23 references) (LRW)

This article presents a reinterpretation of Gerald Coles's 1987 book "The Learning Mystique," viewing it as making a positive contribution to the learning disabilities field in both practical and theoretical ways, by offering the possibility of different treatment options and expanding the intellectual base for researchers. Potential research…

Calls for a new research agenda, one that makes explicit the connection between academics and the objects of their research. Argues that the research agenda itself must be scrutinized in the hope of expanding and sharpening an understanding of what questions to raise. (DB)

Contends complexity of rehabilitation practices and adjustment processes in individuals will be better encompassed if experimental and multivariate methods are considered part of a spectrum that includes systematic case-study research. Claims recognition of potentialities of full methodological spectrum will yield more comprehensive body of…