Describes and analyzes the search conference--a participatory planning methodology--by exploring its roots in direct realism and characterizing it as a theory-building activity. Develops a classification matrix based on the nature of the task (problem solving or futures creative) and type of system (organizations, communities, ecologies,…

Describes a future search conference that addressed the future of school library resource centers and their role in enhancing student learning in Washington State. Highlights include whole systems analysis; and participative planning that included teachers, administrators, librarians, parents, students, business representatives, and consultants.…

States that administrators must be innovative and responsive during the strategic-planning process, and draw upon a wide range of knowledge and expertise. Describes the Future Search conference, which brings together individuals from a variety of backgrounds to collect information and design a "road map" for the future, as a recommended…

Discusses the process of future search conferences and describes one held to consider the future of school library media centers and information services in the state of Washington. Highlights include participation by students, librarians, teachers, administrators, and others; strategic and participatory planning; and change processes. (LRW)

A researcher observed older adults participating in planning meetings and a Search Conference to identify community needs. Participants were successfully engaged in addressing important health and social needs. Participant observation was validated as a flexible, effective means of collecting data on older persons whose circumstances might make…

Compares the assumptions, strengths, and weaknesses of seven approaches frequently used in the public sector to involve large numbers of people in planning and implementing change. The approaches are real-time strategic change, search conferences, future searches, strategic options development and analysis, strategic choice, technology of…

A search through the 2015 annual conference program of the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) turned up a dozen sessions focusing on the topic of study abroad, demonstrating that a growing number of honors programs and colleges are encouraging or requiring study abroad. Many programs now offer and support honors semesters abroad or…

The practices of mathematics education can be investigated at a wide variety of levels: from the actions of individual students or teachers through classroom interactions, school structures, curriculum specifications and materials, teacher development programmes and local, national or international systems of instruction and assessment. These…

Identity and diversity in all its forms present major challenges to countries seeking to best equip citizens with the skills to participate effectively in their diverse societies. This investigation into citizenship education in Trinidad and Tobago produced information about: the type, nature, and variety of programs being offered; the topics…

Background: Systematic review refers to a growing set of research methodologies intended to critically appraise and synthesize research to inform policy and practice. Systematic review methods, widely used in fields such as medicine, psychology, and education, are being applied in engineering education. Analysis of current systematic review…

The issue of how to react quickly to the educational needs arising from technological change has been deemed a central problem facing Technical and Further Education (TAFE) in Australia. Therefore, a national study examined various curriculum research methods that hold promise for speeding up the curriculum research and development process. The…

This paper presents a tool for creating student models in logistic regression. Creating student models has typically been done by expert selection of the appropriate terms, beginning with models as simple as IRT or AFM but more recently with highly complex models like BestLR. While alternative methods exist to select the appropriate predictors for…

Identity and diversity in its forms present major challenges to countries seeking to best equip citizens with the skills to participate effectively in their diverse societies. An exploratory study was conducted using the search conference methodology to explore the extent to which government and non-government education programs promote and…

Describes the advantages and drawbacks to high-speed conference searching and outlines the procedure for a standard conference search. (FM)

Does behavioral voice therapy effectively improve voice quality and eliminate or reduce the size of vocal fold pathology in school-age children who have vocal nodules? An evidence-based practice intervention review was conducted to answer this research question. The following resources were searched: Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health…