Action research Action research is a type of applied research characterized by intervention in real world systems followed by close scrutiny of the effects. The aim of action research is to improve practice and it is typically conducted by a combined team of practitioners and researchers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_research [Accessed 10/03/05]
Active learning This is a process whereby learners are actively engaged in the learning process, rather than "passively" absorbing lectures. Active learning involves reading, writing, discussion, and engagement in solving problems, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_learning [Accessed 09/07/05]
Academic acheivement (outcome). Outcomes were coded as academic achievement if the results were presented in terms of student performance on exams or if students' grades or GPAs were used to describe the outcomes.
Amount of time This is the amount of time (e.g., weeks, months, terms) an individual student received the intervention.
Anecdotal Articles were coded "anecdotal" when the "study" was simply a description of an intervention along with the author's impressions of the outcomes.
Animation A visualization technique that graphically illustrates complex concepts, theories, and principles.
Assessment This category provides information on the method(s) used to evaluate the impact or efficacy of the intervention. Because the methods used to evaluated an intervention vary by type of intervention, the category is divided in to three distinct subcategories by type of intervention.
Asynchronous Communciation technologies and learning environments/technologies that allow users to communicate with each other and/or work on problems together at different times.
At-risk Students in danger of not passing a course or completing a program and in need of extra support by faculty. Students with class or grade-point averages in the C range are often considered at-risk.
At-risk/high-risk An article was coded "At-risk/high-risk," if the study targeted at-risk or high-risk students. Selecting "at-risk/high-risk" will produce outcomes for articles coded "at-risk/high-risk," however, because many articles contain many results, the result shown in the output may not necessarily refer to at-risk or high-risk students. Website users should consult the original article for more specific results.
Attitude Outcomes were coded as attitude if the results had to due with student attitudes in a general, that is, there did not fall within the more specific categories of change in attitude to positive attitude.