Handbook for Research in Cooperative Education and Internships

<p>This <i>Handbook</i> 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. <br><br> 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.</p>