Putting the Case for the Case Study

This paper sets out to review the on-going case study debate. We do not aim to enter the qualitative/quantitative discussion, nor do we suggest that the case study is the ultimate or only form of research. We suggest that case studies should be used in conjunction with other forms of research. What is important is that the techniques selected are appropriate for any proposed research undertaking so that quantitative and qualitative strategies can meaningfully co-exist within the same research project.

We do, however, suggest that in certain sectors the case study approach is misunderstood and under-utilized. The focus of the paper is an objective discussion of a number of issues which have been raised about the case study strategy. The discussion does not assume that there is ‘one type’ of case study, rather it refers to the multitude of case study approaches which can be classified under the case study label.

In addition to a review of the case study debate and some research strategies associated with the approach, the paper discusses a number of pertinent issues which continue to generate much debate. The issues of procedure, a multi-method strategy, objectivity, generalizability and presentation are reviewed in relation to case study research.

The case study approach has weaknesses, and its share of critics, but has become an established and respected form of research. Issues involved in case study research still need to be considered as it becomes more accepted as a viable and insightful form of research.     

Emerging Principalship Collaborative Style: Towards Research in Mentoring

An earlier exploratory study (Chong, 1991) suggest that a collaborative style of principalship is expected to emerge from the mentoring process. This paper highlights aspects of the environment of school management in Singapore which are beginning to support this emerging style that future principals are learning to adopt. It also identifies some possible areas for further research. Implications for policy and management are discussed. Mentoring episodes in Singapore could provide a unique opportunity for research that explicate a theory of morphogenesis.     

Reflection‐Impulsivity in Retarded Adolescents and Non‐retarded Children

This study examined the responses to Kagan's Reflectivity‐Impulsivity test (and its relevance to temptation to steal dilemmas) of mentally retarded and non‐retarded subjects matched for both MA and CA and for sex. Retarded subjects were less reflective than non‐retarded children when matched on the basis of CA but showed no difference when matched on the basis of MA, confirming findings by Borys and Spitz (1978).     

Observations from the classroom: When analogies go wrongi

Specializations: teachers' pedagogical knowledge, analogical reasoning, conceptual change.     

Chronicling decentralization initiatives in the Philippine basic education sector

The Philippine school system is considered as one of the largest in the world with 41,989 public elementary and secondary schools and 7790 private schools under the supervision and regulation of the Department of Education (DepEd Fact Sheet, 2005). This paper chronicles various decentralization initiatives carried out by the basic education sector in the country specifically along the areas of education financing, teacher effectiveness, curriculum development, textbooks and instructional materials, and school–community dynamics and student learning and assessment. This discourse culminates with the discussion of the lessons learned from a decentralized system of education for better school operation and management.     

Factors that prevent learning in electrochemistry

Electrochemistry plays an important role in curricula, textbooks, and in everyday life. The purpose of the present study was to identify and understand secondary‐school students' problems in learning electrochemistry at an introductory chemistry level. The investigation covered four areas: (a) electrolytes, (b) transport of electric charges in electrolyte solutions, (c) the anode and the cathode, and (d) the minus and plus poles. Written tests were given to high‐school students in five cycles. The population from which random samples were drawn totalled 15,700 subjects. Students were asked to select the correct answers and to justify their choices. It was found that students based their reasoning on four alternative concepts: (a) During electrolysis, the electric current produces ions; (b) electrons migrate through the solution from one electrode to the other; (c) the cathode is always the minus pole, the anode the plus pole; and (d) the plus and minus poles carry charges. The results suggest a teaching strategy in which students first experience and learn about electrochemistry concepts. In the second step, appropriate concept terms are added, and students then are confronted with the alternative concepts described in this article. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 44: 258–283, 2007