Some Guidance on Conducting and Reporting Qualitative Studies

This paper sets out to address the problem of the imbalance between the number of quantitative and qualitative articles published in highly ranked research journals, by providing guidelines for the design, implementation and reporting of qualitative research. Clarification is provided of key terms (such as quantitative and qualitative) and the interrelationships between them. The relative risks and benefits of using guidelines for qualitative research are considered, and the importance of using any such guidelines flexibly is highlighted. The proposed guidelines are based on a synthesis of existing guidelines and syntheses of guidelines from a range of fields

Some LIS Faculty Indicate Reservations about Open Access [Evidence Summary]

A Review of: Peekhaus, W., & Proferes, N. (2015). How library and information science faculty perceive and engage with open access. Journal of Information Science, 41(5), 640-661. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0165551515587855 Objective – To examine the awareness of, attitudes toward, and engagement with open access (OA) publishing, based on rank and tenure status among library and information science (LIS) faculty in North America. Design – Web-based survey distributed via email. Setting – Accredited library and information science (LIS) programs in North America. Subjects – 276 professors and professors emeriti. Methods – Researchers collected email addresses for 1,017 tenure-track, tenured, and emeriti professors from the public websites of the LIS programs. Researchers sent an email invitation to participate in the survey by accessing a URL, with the survey itself delivered using Qualtrics software. The survey included 51 total questions, some with additional sub-questions, and most items used Likert-type rating scale. The researchers analysed the data using SPSS software, and indicated using chi-square tests to measure significance, with a stated intent to get beyond the descriptive statistics commonly seen in other publications. Main Results – This study’s results draw on 276 completed responses, for a response rate of 27%. Researchers reported that 53% of respondents had some experience with publishing in a peer-reviewed OA format. When asked whether they agreed that scholarly articles should be free to access for everyone, pre-tenure assistant professors were most likely to agree (74%), followed by tenured associate professors (62%), full professors (59%) and then emeriti professors (8%). However, they found less likelihood that associate professors would have actually published in an OA format, highlighting a “disconnect between beliefs about accessibility of research and actual practice with open access” (p. 646). Researchers also discovered a connection between faculty awareness of institutional and disciplinary repositories and faculty publishing in OA journals, though a relatively low number (35%) had deposited their output in a repository within the previous year. That increases to 50% of respondents when timeframe is ignored. Faculty who had never published in OA journals ranked several barriers to doing so, barriers common across disciplinary boundaries. These include objections to paying OA fees; perceptions of slow time to publish, low research impact, and venue prestige when compared to traditional subscription journals; an inability to identify an appropriate OA journal; and an inability to pay OA fees. However, the researchers note that a majority of these respondents who had never published in an OA format would do so if these barriers were removed. Those participants who had some previous experience with OA were more likely to have positive perceptions of OA journal quality and impact, as well as the overall publishing experience, as compared to publishing in traditional journals. As in other disciplines, LIS faculty are conscious of the connection between OA and tenure and promotion processes. For example, this study reveals that non-tenured faculty are more likely to agree that publishing in OA venues may affect their career progress. Researchers report uncertainty about OA even among tenured LIS faculty. Of all respondents, only 34% agreed that a tenure or promotion committee might consider an OA publication on par with a traditional publication, while 44% of respondents were of the opinion that an OA publication would be treated less favourably than a traditional journal. A mere 1% of respondents believed that an OA publication would be treated more favourably within the tenure and promotion process. Despite this unfavourable perception of OA, the researchers report that 38% of respondents planned to publish in an OA journal regardless of whether their tenure and promotion committees might treat that OA publication unfavourably. Conclusion – The researchers report a connection between publishing in an OA journal and academic rank, with full professors more likely to publish OA or to have previous experience in publishing in an OA journal as compared to assistant professor colleagues, who perceive publishing in OA as a potential impediment to career progress. The researchers note that there is significant opportunity for LIS faculty involved in tenure and promotion committees to consider and clarify how OA publications are treated, and the impact of OA publishing with regard to career progress. Moreover, given the levels of uncertainty and equivocacy among faculty respondents as a whole regarding certain aspects of OA, the perceptions around quality and rigour, there is room for further research into LIS professors’ perceptions and attitudes toward open access, and how these change over time

Research on ICT in K-12 schools e A review of experimental and survey-based studies in computers & education 2011 to 2015

International audienceWhat is the role of a journal? Is it to follow the research or lead it? For the former, it is to serve as an archival record of the scholarship in a field. It can serve to permit the research community to engage with each other via the written record. But, for the latter, it can serve the research community by pointing out gaps in the research based on the archival record. This review is intended to do just that

Transdisciplinary or Pedagogically Distinct? Disciplinary Considerations for Teaching Certificates in Higher Education

This research provides an analysis of disciplines and disciplinary differences regarding the pedagogical value and content of post-graduate teaching certificates in higher education. Findings and recommendations are based upon a survey (N = 450) of department heads and doctoral students at Canadian research-focused universities. Participants were surveyed regarding their perceptions of the value of a credentialed teaching certificate for new academics seeking employment, as well as whether they believe the pedagogical knowledge and skills that typically comprise teaching certificates are valuable. Examining whether a strongly held disciplinary identity in more senior academics contributes to these differences, the survey results demonstrate significant differences between disciplines for the overall value and, in some areas, the content of teaching certificates, especially in department head responses. Relatedly, the open-ended survey comments show a deeply ingrained disciplinary identity, particularly for those holding the department head roles, which in turn reflected several participants’ perceptions of disciplinary teaching and learning knowledge and skills as holding superior value to generic, transdisciplinary programs. Recommendations include a renewed focus in educational development initiatives on linking transdisciplinary approaches to specific disciplinary contexts, further connecting overarching pedagogical theories to pedagogical content knowledge as it is translated in practice

Teaching during the pandemic: An exploratory study in Portuguese and Brazilian secondary education teachers

The present study takes as a starting point the COVID-19 lockdown to which Portuguese and Brazilian schools were confined during 2020, to trace the scenario regarding the training needs of secondary education teachers in terms of digital skills. The research questions seek, firstly, to understand how the transition from face-to-face environments to digital environments was carried out in those countries and, secondly, to assess how to improve digital skills in education when considering a post-pandemic future. The results, obtained from responses by 300 teachers to a questionnaire survey, are in line with the conclusions of the intense research that has been conducted in this area: the COVID-19 pandemic has made teachers’ digital training more urgent, and has highlighted the importance of integrating digital environments in education, both as a strategy for the continuity and sustainability of education itself, and as a fluid space that allows the development of practices that enhance quality learning. The analysis also allows us to perceive the differences and similarities in terms of education between two countries that share the same language and have historical proximity, but different socioeconomic indices.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Transdisciplinary or Pedagogically Distinct? Disciplinary Considerations for Teaching Certificates in Higher Education

This research provides an analysis of disciplines and disciplinary differences regarding the pedagogical value and content of post-graduate teaching certificates in higher education. Findings and recommendations are based upon a survey (N = 450) of department heads and doctoral students at Canadian research-focused universities. Participants were surveyed regarding their perceptions of the value of a credentialed teaching certificate for new academics seeking employment, as well as whether they believe the pedagogical knowledge and skills that typically comprise teaching certificates are valuable. Examining whether a strongly held disciplinary identity in more senior academics contributes to these differences, the survey results demonstrate significant differences between disciplines for the overall value and, in some areas, the content of teaching certificates, especially in department head responses. Relatedly, the open-ended survey comments show a deeply ingrained disciplinary identity, particularly for those holding the department head roles, which in turn reflected several participants’ perceptions of disciplinary teaching and learning knowledge and skills as holding superior value to generic, transdisciplinary programs. Recommendations include a renewed focus in educational development initiatives on linking transdisciplinary approaches to specific disciplinary contexts, further connecting overarching pedagogical theories to pedagogical content knowledge as it is translated in practice

Uncontrolled Workplace Breaks and Productivity

Behaviors that may waste time in the workplace, like surfing the Internet for personal purposes (cyberloafing) or smoking breaks, may be the root antecedent for poor productivity. The purpose of this correlational study was to examine whether there was a relationship between the independent variables: time spent cyberloafing and time in uncontrolled smoking breaks, and the dependent variable: employee productivity. Procedural justice theory was used to frame the study. The population consisted of 34 employees working in a multinational engineering company in Jordan who have official smoking policies, but not cyberloafing policies. Correlations and multiple regression were computed using a Cyberloafing Scale and time spent smoking (independent variables) and The Endicott Work Productivity Scale (dependent variable). The results of the correlations indicated no significant relationship between Internet surfing and employee productivity. Smoking breaks were not a significant source of wasted time during the workday (the subsample and frequency of engaging in smoking were low); therefore, smoking did not have an effect on productivity. The findings of this study support the theory that using the Internet at work does not affect employee productivity. These findings have implications for positive social change that are also supported by existing research. Employees who engage in personal Internet activities at work tend to meet private demands and obligations. This connectivity may help to facilitate work-life balance

Percepciones de autoeficacia y conocimientos TPACK en profesores en formación

Este artículo presenta los resultados de un estudio que evalua las percepciones de autoeficacia para integrar las Tecnologías de Información y Comunicación (tic) en el aula y los conocimientos tecnológicos, pedagógicos y de contenido (tpack) en profesores en formación. Así mismo, pretende identificar asociaciones entre estas percepciones, con la edad y los efectos del género en su valoración. Se realizaron análisis de correlación y de comparación de medias, a un total de 274 estudiantes de último año de quince programas de Licenciatura de la Universidad Pedagógica Nacional de Colombia. Los resultados indican asociaciones significativas entre las percepciones de autoeficacia y los conocimientos tpack y correlaciones negativas entre los grupos etarios y los conocimientos pedagógicos y tecnológicos del contenido. No se encontraron diferencias significativas con respecto al género