There is a current crisis in computer science teacher certification in US, which primarily centers around a growing confusion in licensure requirements. Some universities have created Computer Educator Licensure (CEL) programs to better address this confusion and to help train the next generation of K-12 computer science educators. The authors of…

The Research and Planning Group for California Community Colleges (RP Group) launched Leading from the Middle (LFM) Academy in 2013 as a professional development experience for community college educators--faculty, administrators, and staff--who have formal or informal leadership responsibilities. Over the first three years, close to 150…

Teacher education provided in U.S. colleges and universities has been routinely criticized since its inception in the early nineteenth century. These programs are uneven in quality and can be improved. Advocacy groups and self-proclaimed social entrepreneurs are working aggressively to deregulate the preparation of teachers and to expand…

Problem: Interdisciplinary teaming has been noted as a critical element of the middle school model associated with higher student achievement. Yet, research on middle school teams' use of common planning time suggests that the majority of meeting time is spent discussing student behavior/issues, discussing student learning problems/issues, and…

In this case study, I explain how community-based research can be an effective means of engaging graduate students in an applied practicum that challenges them to apply their knowledge of statistics, psychometrics, and research design in addressing important social problems. Students in our industrial/organizational psychology master's program use…

The 4-H youth development program of the nation's 109 land-grant universities and the Cooperative Extension System is one of the largest youth development organization in the United States serving approximately six million youth. The 4-H Healthy Living initiative began in 2008 to promote achievement of optimal physical, social, and emotional…

This paper introduces a model to guide the process of designing and evaluating study abroad programs, addressing particular stages and influential factors. The main purpose of the model is to serve as a basic structure for those who want to develop their own program or evaluate previous cultural immersion experiences. The model is based on the…

Process use refers to the ways in which stakeholders and/or evaluands change as a function of participating in evaluation activities. Although the concept of process use has been well discussed in the literature, exploration of methodological strategies for the measurement and assessment of process use has been limited. Typically, empirical…

The primary focus of this article is ''advocating for the results of a specific evaluation.'' To some extent, all evaluators are advocates, however the author notes, "there is no great mystery in how to use evaluations for advocacy, especially with respect to influencing policy making within federal and state…

As government resources for community programs diminish, it is vital that Cooperative Extension make greater efforts to show program efficacy. Assessing the appropriate amount of an intervention optimal for reaching desired outcomes can help inform program development and provide for a more efficient use of limited resources. The current pilot…

Triangulation is a commonly used term often associated with enhancing the validity of findings from your research study. In this case, we identify both the merits and challenges of drawing on multiple forms of triangulation, particularly when a mixed-methods design is a suitable methodology. We draw on our experiences with a mixed-methods research…

In the main, evaluation in CALL has focused on the assessment of the individual use of technology in accord with the principles of second language acquisition. Now that CALL focuses on the full integration of technology in language programs, evaluators are urged to take into account a wide range of factors that span institutional policy,…

Background: Graduate training is a high-risk period for worsening mental health. Previous research reported the effectiveness of a classroom-based self-care intervention for graduate students. Purpose: The study evaluated the effectiveness of an online self-care intervention for graduate-level students to prevent worsening mental health. Methods:…

Medical programs are under pressure to maintain currency with scientific and technical advances, as well as prepare graduates for clinical work and a wide range of postgraduate careers. The value of the basic sciences in primary medical education was assessed by exploring the perceived clinical relevance and test performance trends among medical…

The development of business English (BE) program cannot separate from that of its closely-related discipline. However, little is known about business English disciplinary development from the angle of postgraduate education in China. Through questionnaires and interviews on 64 postgraduate students of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies…