Synopses & Reviews
This Handbook is designed to help cooperative education and internship professionals and employers design, carry out, and disseminate quality research and evaluation studies of work-based education. It offers examples of current, leading-edge studies about work-based education, but with a practical twist: The chapter authors frame their studies within a specific key research design issue, including finding a starting point and a theoretical framework; fitting research into one's busy practitioner workload; deciding on particular data-gathering methods and an overall methodological approach; integrating qualitative and quantitative methodologies; and disseminating results. Also addressed are questions and concerns that are relevant throughout the course of a research project: the use of theory in research; the role and relationship of program assessment to research; and ethical considerations in research.
By combining descriptions of exemplary research and evaluation studies with practical advice from top researchers in the field, this volume is a useful tool for educators and employers who are designing and carrying out their own studies, as well as a resource for what current research is discovering and affirming about the field itself. Educators from other fields, such as study abroad and service-learning will also find this book an indispensable reference in conducting research on experiential learning and teaching.
Synopsis
This Handbook is designed to help cooperative education and internship professionals and employers design, carry out, and disseminate quality research and evaluation studies of work-based education. It offers examples of current, leading-edge stud
Table of Contents
PART I. COOPERATIVE EDUCATION AND INTERNSHIPS IN CONTEXT --Cooperative education and internships at the threshold of the twenty-first century /Adam Howard --Theories about learning and devlopment in cooperative education and internships /Patricia L. Linn --PART II. BEGINNING PHASE OF RESEARCH PROJECTS --Getting started and achieving buy-in: co-op education is continuous, contextualized learning /Garnet Grosjean --Identifying resources: ethics in cooperative education /Frances Ricks --Researching in cooperative education: how a practitioner met the challenge /Chris Earnes --PART III. METHODS AND ANALYSIS --Combining quantitative and qualitative data: a lifespan study of cooperative education /Patricia L. Linn --Choosing a research instrument: investigating the benefits of cooperative education /Geraldine Van Gyn --Analyzing data with statistics: business internship effects on postgraduate employment /Patricia Gochenauer,Anthony Winter --How to measure complex learning processes: the nature of learning in cooperative education /Nancy Johnston,Nello Angerilli,Natalia Gajdamschko --Correlation analysis in a natural experiment design: seeking the opportune grade point average cutoff for internships /Michael L. Maynard --Issues in case study methodology: examining the influences of class status on cooperative education experiences /Adam Howard,Tom Haugsby --PART IV. DISSEMINATION, USE, AND APPLICATION --Considering the needs of different stakeholders: the impact of co-op job quality on post-graduation earnings /Neal Fogg,Mark Putnam --Program evaluation in a business environment: an employer's journey with cooperative education /Marilyn Mayo --Dissemination of research to reform practice: fishing (and lawyering) to learn /Brook K. Baker --Writing for publication: preparation of the research report /Patricia M. Rowe --PART V. OVERRIDING CONSIDERATIONS --Using theory in research I: understanding the learning experienced in structured internships in construction engineering /Robert K. Tener --Using theory in research II: atypical cross-cultural experiences that lead to growth /Eric Miller --Program assessment I: a focused approach to measuring learning outcomes /Cheryl Cates,Brenda LeMaster --Program assessment II: cooperative education objectives nestled in ABET EC2000 criterion 3: a-k /Gwen Lee-Thomas,Arleen Anderson --Ethical issues in experimental and qualitative research /Adam Howard --PART VI. IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH AND PRACTICE --Implications for research and practice /Patricia L. Linn,Eric Miller.