This book is an essential resource for academics managing a large and complex research project. It provides important practical insights into the processes that inform such research projects and delivers insights into the delicate balance between industry, stakeholder and academic needs. It gives practical advice about developing relationships with diverse partners and colleagues and managing the expectations of the various parties involved and on avoiding pitfalls. This book uses examples from Australian research projects, but it contains insights relevant to researchers all around the world.

Researcher Coach has been written with a sole purpose in mind: to give researchers sufficient theoretical and practical support so that they gain a sense of self-direction and autonomy in the process of formulating and conducting their research. From the core notions of paradigm, ontology, epistemology, axiology, methodology, methods, and research questions; researchers are guided through the fundamental elements involved in planning and executing their research. This book is not only concerned with supporting researchers in the process of formulating a valid and sound inquiry that is viable and methodologically rigorous, but it also emphasizes the importance of community impact. The reader will learn how to conduct the literature review that grounds their inquiry as well as provides context and justification for the execution of the study. Qualitative and quantitative methodologies, including methods and data analysis techniques, are presented in great detail as well as describing the sequential approach for presenting the study's results and how to support those with tables and/or figures. The book closes with chapters devoted to the interpretation and discussion of the results, as well as general items related to formatting and project completion for publication.

Through qualitative research methods, this book engages in a holistic understanding of cultural, economic, and institutional forces that interact to produce the underrepresentation of women as school teachers in four sub-Saharan African countries.

Comparative case studies at the national level, using a common research design, show that teaching, despite being an attractive civil service job, offers low salaries and many challenges, especially when it takes place in rural areas. Combining professional duties with demanding family responsibilities further diminishes women’s ability to stay in the teaching profession. The studies in this book attempt to bridge research findings with policy by developing action plans in cooperation with ministries of education of the respective countries.

Women Teachers in Africa will be of interest to academic researchers, undergraduate and postgraduate students in the relevant fields, as well as development professionals, aid agency staff and education policy experts.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Gustavo E. Fischman

List of Abbreviations

Introduction

Nelly P. Stromquist

1. Increasing Female School Teachers in African Countries: Effects,

Barriers, and Policies

Caitlin S. Haugen, Steven J. Klees, Nelly P. Stromquist, Jing Lin,

Truphena Choti, Carol Corneilse

2. Women Teachers in Liberia: Social Forces Accounting for Professional

Underrepresentation

Nelly P. Stromquist, Jing Lin, Carol Corneilse, Steven J. Klees

Truphena Choti, Caitlin Haugen

3. Women Teachers in Tanzania: Barriers Encountered and Policy

Recommendations

Jing Lin, Penina Mlama, Anna Swai

4. Women Teachers in Uganda: Voices from the Field

Steven J. Klees, Elizabeth Nyivuru Jawoko, Nansozi K. Muwanga

5. Women Teachers in Togo: Tradition and Power in the Construction of

Gender

Nelly P. Stromquist, Jeannine Agounké, Ibitola Tchitou

Conclusions

Nelly P. Stromquist

Epilogue: A Note on Teacher Salaries

Steven J. Klees

Fully updated since publication in 2007, How to succeed in Exams & Assessments will allow a student to assess and address their particular weaknesses in revising, preparing for and succeeding in academic exams and assessments and delivers detailed tips, techniques and strategies to enable them to significantly improve their abilities and performance in time to make a difference.

Navigating research careers is often highly challenging for early career researchers (ECRs) in the social sciences. The ability to thrive in research careers is complex and requires "soft" people and management skills and resilience that often cannot be formally taught through university coursework. Written from a peer perspective, this book provides guidance and establishes emotional rapport on topical issues relevant for ECRs in academia and industry. The authors are ECRs who have been successful in navigating their careers, and they seek to connect with readers in a supportive and collegial manner. Each chapter includes elements of story-telling and scientific thinking and is organized into three parts: (1) a personal story that is relevant to the topic; (2) key content on professional and personal effectiveness based on evidence in the psychological, sociological, and/or management sciences; and (3) action points and practical recommendations. The topics covered are specifically curated for people considering undertaking research careers or already working in research, including: Work Hard, Snore Hard: Recovery from Work for Early Career Researchers Networking and Collaborating in Academia: Increasing Your Scientific Impact and Having Fun in the Process Accelerating Your Research Career with Open Science Engaging with the Press and Media Make Your Science Go Viral: How to Maximize the Impact of Your Research Exploring the Horizon: Navigating Research Careers Outside of Academia Thinking like an Implementation Scientist and Applying Your Research in Practice Survival Guide for Early Career Researchers summarizes relevant evidence-based research to offer advice in strategic but also supportive ways to ECRs. It is an essential go-to practical resource for PhD students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty. This book will also benefit senior researchers who are serving as mentors or delivering professional development programs, administrators and educators in institutions of higher learning, and anyone with an interest in building a successful research career.

This book focuses on the use of the Rasch measurement model in validation studies and in analyzing the psychometric properties of a variety of test instruments, questionnaires, and scales in international contexts. It broadly examines the development and application of Rasch modeling, providing in-depth analyses of the properties of various scales used in the fields of education, and humanities and social sciences research. The book includes exemplary works on educational research and practices that highlight recent and innovative applications, as well as theoretical and practical aspects of Rasch modeling. Readers will find it helpful to understand the latest approaches to Rasch measurement in educational research, as well as practices for future studies and quantitative research. 'This book provides a diverse set of perspectives on Rasch models from scholars across the globe. The volume is both theoretical and applied. The first section of the book provides an overview of Rasch modeling and explains the theoretical and conceptual framework underlying the Rasch model. The remainder of the book highlights multiple applications of the Rasch model within educational assessment as well as several examples of how Rasch modeling can be used for validation studies. This volume showcases the wide variety of ways in which Rasch modeling can be applied to assessment data to provide insights into students' achievement and learning and to improve instruction.'-Betsy McCoach, University of Connecticut, USA. 'A well-written collection of articles. Grouped by the theoretical and applied aspects of Rasch measurement, each chapter in this edited volume makes notable contributions to knowledge and practice. Written by leading scholars in the field, these chapters were written in a clear, succinct, and assertive manner, providing readers with up-to-date information, analyses, and debates. This book should be found in the core collection of emerging researchers and established scholars in educational measurement.'-Timothy Teo, Murdoch University, Australia.

The Generic Qualitative Approach to a Dissertation in the Social Sciences: A Step by Step Guide is a practical guide for the graduate students and faculty planning and executing a generic qualitative dissertation in the social sciences. Generic qualitative research is a methodology that seeks to understand human experience by taking a qualitative stance and using qualitative procedures. Based on Sandra Kostere and Kim Kostere's experiences of serving on dissertation committees, this book aims to demystify both the nuances and the procedures of qualitative research, with the aim of empowering students to conduct meaningful dissertation research and present findings that are rigorous, credible, and trustworthy. It examines the fundamental principles and assumptions underlying the generic qualitative method, then covers each stage of the research process including creation of research questions, interviews, and then offers three ways of analyzing the data gathered and presenting the results. With examples of the generic qualitative method in practice to show students how to conduct their research confidently, and chapters designed to walk the researcher through each step of the dissertation process, this book is specifically tailored for the accessible generic method, and will be useful for graduate students and faculty developing dissertations in Psychology, Education, Nursing and the social sciences.

This edited book brings together an international cast of contributors to examine how academic literacy is learned and mastered in different tertiary education settings around the world. Bringing to the fore the value of qualitative enquiry through ethnographic methods, the authors illustrate in-depth descriptions of genre knowledge and academic literacy development in first and second language writing. All of the data presented in the chapters are original, as well as innovative in the field in terms of content and scope, and thought-provoking regarding theoretical, methodological and educational approaches. The contributions are also representative of both novice and advanced academic writing experiences, providing further insights into different stages of academic literacy development throughout the career-span of a researcher. Set against the backdrop of internationalisation trends in Higher Education and the pressure on multilingual academics to publish their research outcomes in English, this volume will be of use to academics and practitioners interested in the fields of Languages for Academic Purposes, Applied Linguistics, Literacy Skills, Genre Analysis and Acquisition and Language Education.

This open access volume explores peer review in the scientific community and academia. While peer review is as old as modern science itself, recent changes in the evaluation culture of higher education systems have increased the use of peer review, and its purposes, forms and functions have become more diversified. This book put together a comprehensive set of conceptual and empirical contributions on various peer review practices with relevance for the scientific community and higher education institutions worldwide. Consisting of three parts, the editors and contributors examine the history, problems and developments of peer review, as well as the specificities of various peer review practices. In doing so, this book gives an overview on and examine peer review , and asks how it can move forward. This is an open access book.

This book examines the global movement of putting more emphasis on students' social and emotional development in education. It provides some order in the unstructured multitude of desirable socio-emotional educational objectives and ambitions that have resulted from this movement and builds on a careful conceptual analysis. It starts out by examining the roots of the movement and discusses different emphases. Next it makes use of instructional and psychological constructs and theories to arrive at meaningful categorizations of major domains and types of social-emotional "skills". One of the key assumptions is that social and emotional attributes are malleable by means of educational interventions. The book reviews available research evidence for this assumption, taking into account psychological studies and meta-analyses. It then creates new evidence based on a new meta-analysis, which concentrated on the effects of educational interventions on skills associated with the conscientiousness factor of the Big5 taxonomy. In the final chapter, the book discusses the implications for educational policy and practice; a discussion in which attention is given to political and ethical questions about the desirability of treating social and emotional attributes as educational goals.

Proven and practical strategies for success on the Math Skills section of the SAT-completely revised and updated for the latest version of the exam There are many comprehensive SAT prep books out there, but if you're looking to master specific skills and increase your score, Top 50 SAT Math Skills, Third Edition offers most effective study strategy available. The first book of its kind to present the heart of each of the 50 most important SAT concepts, this essential guide provides exercises that show you exactly how each math concept is tested on the SAT. Written by a renowned educational counselor, this book was created specifically for visual learners, with small bits of information to aid in quick, concentrated study. Within each topic, solved problems of gradually increasing difficulty help you build your problem-solving skills. Features: 50 essential skills, each presented clearly on a two-page spread, offer quick targeted review; the content was created specifically for the visual learner A pre-test designed to identify weaknesses in the critical math concepts on the SAT that students often struggle with Visually appealing, two- to four-page spreads with lessons that boost knowledge in the 50 essential skills, with step-by-step sample exercises A post-test designed to track your progress in each specific skill A full answer key with helpful explanations 2 extra tests online

This book explores the pedagogical applications of critical thinking in art education and scholarship. In the first part of the book, the author delves into the ways that arts-based educational research has incorporated critical thinking in order to illuminate the context for the subsequent study. The second half of the book focuses on the essay as a genre used in creative nonfiction and film in order to enact the concept of critical thinking in art education. In this way, the book sheds light on a new landscape of thinking arts education and thinking scholarship through the essay that is practiced in creative nonfiction and cinema.

This book guides the student reader in preparing their dissertation or major project, including both report and presentation, and explains how to use them as a bridge to the "next big thing" - the graduate's first job, or their next degree.The dissertation is the single most important component of an engineering degree, not only carrying the most marks, but bridging from academic study to professional practice. Achieving Success with the Engineering Dissertation describes the different types of dissertation, how to pick the best project and how a student can prepare themselves to succeed with their own dissertation. The authors explain how best to plan and execute the project, including the roles of the student, supervisor and project sponsor, and what they should expect from each other. Further material includes details of competitions that can be entered with dissertation projects, presentation of data, using the dissertation in job interviews, and creating research publications. Achieving Success with the Engineering Dissertation will be of use to both undergraduate and postgraduate students in all fields of Engineering, and to their supervisors.

This book presents several metascientific strategies and explains how they can be used to improve research about the autism spectrum. It begins with an introduction to the field of metascience and the benefits that it brings to academic disciplines and society. It then outlines recommendations that researchers can adopt so that they do not incorporate specious autism research from predatory publishers into their research activities. An introduction to reproducibility and strategies that can improve the reproducibility of autism research are then outlined. This is followed by chapters about improving the peer review process and reducing the prospect of questionable research practices from occurring. This book concludes with a chapter about strategies that researchers can use to improve the participation of autistics in research. Such knowledge will equip academics, regardless of their experience, with the skills and expertise they need to produce high-quality and inclusive research about the autism spectrum.

The place of emotion in legal education is rarely discussed or analysed, and we do not have to seek far for the reasons. The difficulty of interdisciplinary research, the technicisation of legal education itself, the view that affect is irrational and antithetical to core western ideals of rationality - all this has made the subject of emotion in legal education invisible. Yet the educational literature on emotion proves how essential it is to student learning and to the professional lives of teachers. This text, the first full-length book study of the subject, seeks to make emotion a central topic of research for legal educators, and restore the power of emotion in our teaching and learning. Part 1 focuses on the contribution that neuroscience can make to legal learning, a theme that is carried through other chapters in the book. Part 2 explores the role of emotion in the working lives of academics and clinical staff, while Part 3 analyses the ways in which emotion can be used in learning and teaching. The book, interdisciplinary and wide-ranging in its reference, breaks new ground in its analysis of the educational lifeworld of situations, communities, actors and interactions in legal education.

This edited book brings together contributions from scholars in different international and educational contexts to take a critical look at the design and implementation of second language Study Abroad Research (SAR). Examining data sources and types, research paradigms and methods, and analytic approaches, the authors not only provide insight into the field as it currently stands, but also offer recommendations for future research, with the aim of revitalizing inquiry in the field of SAR. This book will be of interest to applied linguists, as well as educators and education scholars with an interest in researching international study.

This book explores the issue of graduate employability in rural labour markets. European higher education institutions are expected to be crucial players in terms of regional innovation, contributing through research, education and formation of human capital. The author asks how this role be played out equally in urban and rural areas. In rural areas, the most educated young members of society often find it impossible to contribute to the local economy and feel forced to seek better prospects in urban centres. The author examines the roles of higher education in rural centres, as well as the transitions from education to work by taking the point of view of students and graduates. Finally, the book offers advice for pedagogies that support the increase of employability potential for rural economies.