The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America's Leading Design Firm

The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America's Leading Design Firm
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Kudos to Ideos

Innovation for All

Innovation and creativity "how-to" guide

El arte de innovar estilo IDEO

Skip it and go right to 10 Faces

The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America's Leading Design Firm
Tom Kelley , Tom Peters , and Tom Peters
Manufacturer: Currency
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Similar Items:

The Ten Faces of Innovation: IDEO's Strategies for Defeating the Devil's Advocate and Driving Creativity Throughout Your Organization

Thoughtless Acts?: Observations on Intuitive Design

Harvard Business Review on Innovation

Designing Interactions

Making Innovation Work: How to Manage It, Measure It, and Profit from It

ASIN: 0385499841
Release Date: 2001-01-16

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IDEO, the world's leading design firm, is the brain trust that's behind some of the more brilliant innovations of the past 20 years--from the Apple mouse, the Polaroid i-Zone instant camera, and the Palm V to the "fat" toothbrush for kids and a self-sealing water bottle for dirt bikers. Not surprisingly, companies all over the world have long wondered what they could learn from IDEO, to come up with better ideas for their own products, services, and operations. In this terrific book from IDEO general manager Tom Kelley (brother of founder David Kelley), IDEO finally delivers--but thankfully not in the step-by-step, flow-chart-filled "process speak" of most how-you-can-do-what-we-do business books. Sure, there are some good bulleted lists to be found here--such as the secrets of successful brainstorming, the qualities of "hot teams," and, toward the end, 10 key ingredients for "How to Create Great Products and Services," including "One Click Is Better Than Two" (the simpler, the better) and "Goof Proof" (no bugs).

But The Art of Innovation really teaches indirectly (not to mention enlightens and entertains) by telling great stories--mainly, of how the best ideas for creating or improving products or processes come not from laboriously organized focus groups, but from keen observations of how regular people work and play on a daily basis. On nearly every page, we learn the backstories of some now-well-established consumer goods, from recent inventions like the Palm Pilot and the in-car beverage holder to things we nearly take for granted--like Ivory soap (created when a P&G worker went to lunch without turning off his soap mixer, and returned to discover his batch overwhipped into 99.44 percent buoyancy) and Kleenex, which transcended its original purpose as a cosmetics remover when people started using the soft paper to wipe and blow their noses. Best of all, Kelley opens wide the doors to IDEO's vibrant, sometimes wacky office environment, and takes us on a vivid tour of how staffers tackle a design challenge: they start not with their ideas of what a new product should offer, but with the existing gaps of need, convenience, and pleasure with which people live on a daily basis, and that IDEO should fill. (Hence, a one-piece children's fishing rod that spares fathers the embarrassment of not knowing how to teach their kids to fish, or Crest toothpaste tubes that don't "gunk up" at the mouth.)

Granted, some of their ideas--like the crucial process of "prototyping," or incorporating dummy drafts of the actual product into the planning, to work out bugs as you go--lend themselves more easily to the making of actual things than to the more common organizational challenge of streamlining services or operations. But, if this big book of bright ideas doesn't get you thinking of how to build a better mousetrap for everything from your whole business process to your personal filing system, you probably deserve to be stuck with the mousetrap you already have. --Timothy Murphy

Book Description

IDEO, the widely admired, award-winning design and development firm that brought the world the Apple mouse, Polaroid's I-Zone instant camera, the Palm V, and hundreds of other cutting-edge products and services, reveals its secrets for fostering a culture and process of continuous innovation.

There isn't a business in America that doesn't want to be more creative in its thinking, products, and processes. At many companies, being first with a concept and first to market are critical just to survive. In The Art of Innovation, Tom Kelley, general manager of the Silicon Valley based design firm IDEO, takes readers behind the scenes of this wildly imaginative and energized company to reveal the strategies and secrets it uses to turn out hit after hit.

IDEO doesn't buy into the myth of the lone genius working away in isolation, waiting for great ideas to strike. Kelley believes everyone can be creative, and the goal at his firm is to tap into that wellspring of creativity in order to make innovation a way of life. How does it do that? IDEO fosters an atmosphere conducive to freely expressing ideas, breaking the rules, and freeing people to design their own work environments. IDEO's focus on teamwork generates countless breakthroughs, fueled by the constant give-and-take among people ready to share ideas and reap the benefits of the group process. IDEO has created an intense, quick-turnaround, brainstorm-and-build process dubbed "the Deep Dive."

In entertaining anecdotes, Kelley illustrates some of his firm's own successes (and joyful failures), as well as pioneering efforts at other leading companies. The book reveals how teams research and immerse themselves in every possible aspect of a new product or service, examining it from the perspective of clients, consumers, and other critical audiences.

Kelley takes the reader through the IDEO problem-solving method:

>Carefully observing the behavior or "anthropology" of the people who will be using a product or service

>Brainstorming with high-energy sessions focused on tangible results

>Quickly prototyping ideas and designs at every step of the way

>Cross-pollinating to find solutions from other fields

>Taking risks, and failing your way to success

>Building a "Greenhouse" for innovation

IDEO has won more awards in the last ten years than any other firm of its kind, and a full half-hour Nightline presentation of its creative process received one of the show's highest ratings. The Art of Innovation will provide business leaders with the insights and tools they need to make their companies the leading-edge, top-rated stars of their industries.

Customer Reviews:

Kudos to Ideos.......2007-08-28

Excellent book with good insights. If you are in the business of innovation, this is one book that you shouldn't miss. I also recommend EIGHTSTORM: 8-Step Brainstorming for Innovative Managers.

Innovation for All.......2007-06-29

Through anecdotes, Kelley demonstrates how stumbling blocks to innovation can be overcome. He shows an appreciation for experimentation, momentum, and embraces failure as a true path to knowing. Failed prototypes are wonderful learning tools. Kelley's perspective keeps spirits high. He leaves much of the innovative process open ended - nearly encouraging innovation on innovating.

Interestingly, Kelley notes how medicine is becoming personalized and that the future can not be perfectly predicted. Still, he says we must aim at it. This was an important nugget of wisdom for me, a research coordinator at a think-tank-like public health research group, the Healthcare Innovation and Technology lab at Columbia University. On a daily basis we deal with innovation to improve healthcare and need to effectively innovate. Given that we tread a very specific territory - health and technology - and that Kelley's book could be so useful to us, it is obvious that he really has something to offer to everyone.

Innovation and creativity "how-to" guide.......2007-06-07

The Art of Innovation explains many of IDEO's creative techniques and in so doing paints a picture of the physical context in which all that creativity occurs, namely IDEO's office, your average geek's idea of paradise brimming with high-tech prototypes, foam cubes, "tech box" caddies with giant Post-Its and coloring pens ... and yes, it does look more like a playschool than Dilbertesque gray cubicle-land. Teamwork, friendship and a shared passion for helping clients innovate is clearly what binds people together and stimulates their creativity, while a supportive and forgiving management structure doesn't just tolerate weirdness, it actively encourages it. IDEO seems to have taken Tom Peters' advice "If you want to do weird, hire weird people" to the next level. In IDEO-land, "normal" people would probably stand out a mile.

Two creative techniques - brainstorming and prototyping - are particularly well described, in a way that encourages the reader to try something different. I've learnt some new tricks and even started applying them since reading the book.

El arte de innovar estilo IDEO.......2007-06-01

IDEO ha hecho de la innovación un arte, el cual es un proceso sistematizado, con pasos muy definidos, congruentes y faciles de llevar por las personas que conforman dentro sus empresas los equipos de innovacion y diseño.

Skip it and go right to 10 Faces.......2007-03-19

I recently read both this book and the Ten Faces of Innovation. My recomendation is to skip this book. It is written more like an advertisement for IDEO and was left feeling like Tom has crossed the line into arrogance. If you read it as a stand alone book there is a lot of useful information. However most of the concepts are covered in Ten Faces. If you have time read both books but if time is of the essence then jump right into the Ten Faces, you won't be disappointed.

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

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Calculations are only as good as your numbers
Pants on fire?
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
Very Interesting
History as Science Fiction

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
History: Fiction or Science? Astronomical methods as applied to chronology. Ptolemy's Almagest. Chronology III
Discovering the Mysteries of Ancient America: Lost History And Legends, Unearthed And Explored
Before the Pharaohs: Egypt's Mysterious Prehistory
They Cast No Shadows: A Collection of Essays on the Illuminati, Revisionist History, and Suppressed Technologies

ASIN: 2913621058

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Average customer rating:

For the fellow students in KOREA
Not for the graduate student/professional
Great for those working on a dissertation

The Art Of Case Study Research
Robert E. Stake
Manufacturer: Sage Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

Case Study Research: Design and Methods, Third Edition, Applied Social Research Methods Series, Vol 5
Qualitative Research And Study Applications In Education (Jossey Bass Education Series)
Applications of Case Study Research Second Edition (Applied Social Research Methods Series Volume 34)
Multiple Case Study Analysis
Writing Up Qualitative Research (Qualitative Research Methods)

ASIN: 080395767X

Book Description

"The book is a concise and very readable guide to case study research. It includes a good introduction to the theoretical principles underlying qualitative research, and discusses a wide range of qualitative approaches, namely naturalistic, holistic, ethnographic, phenomenological and biographic research methods. . . . Stake offers some useful practical advice, for example, on how to conduct in-depth interviews, how to analyze qualitative data and on report writing. . . . Stake writes in a rather unusual and very personal style but this makes the text very readable. The authorâ€™s obvious passion for research makes the text even more enjoyable and stimulating. . . . the book. . . seems particularly appropriate for those undertaking this type of research in the fields of education and social policy."

--Ivana La Valle in Social Research Association News

"It is gratifying to encounter a text so cogently advocating the case study method (aka: naturalistic fieldwork) as a legitimate knowledge-enhancing endeavor."

--Sala Horowitz in Academic Library Book Review

"I have just finished a qualitative case study based almost entirely on interviews with engineering students. The two sources on which I depended most heavily were Robert E. Stakeâ€™s The Art of Case Study Research and Harry F. Wolcottâ€™s Writing Up Qualitative Research. I have heard others sing the praises of different works and I have referred to them, but favor the two mentioned."

--Terry C. Hall, Ed.D., Independent Scholar

"This volume consolidates and elaborates ideas Robert E. Stake articulated in earlier journal articles and chapters in a form that is useful and readily accessible to both practitioners and students of educational research methods. His unusually personal presentation style and innovative format for sharing practical tips through authentic examples add to the main treasure of his new book: an incomparable sophistication about research epistemology and practice. . . . His vast experience in the field and in the classroom and his intimate knowledge of the literature intersect, providing the reader with an unusually comprehensive portrayal of a specialized field. . . . The Art of Case Study Research is a significant contribution to research methodology literature and will undoubtedly assume quick popularity as a text."

--Linda Mabry, Indiana University, Bloomington

"A concise and readable primer for doing case study research, the fruit of many years of experience and wisdom. Robert E. Stakeâ€™s book is also valuable as a genuine attempt to integrate, rather than pick arguments with, the best there is of contending approaches to qualitative inquiry."

--A. Michael Huberman, Harvard University and The Network, Inc.

" The Art of Case Study Research is most useful to novices in qualitative inquiry. I could see using it in combination with other texts or readings in an introductory course to qualitative research methods or in a research methods survey course. Because of its readable style and wellspring of examples and helpful suggestions, both graduate and undergraduate students will find the book useful. Researchers seeking to more fully understand the case study approach as perceived by one of the leaders in case study work will also pick up this book. Researchers and policymakers in social service agencies may also be interested because case studies are increasingly part of evaluation strategies."

--Corrine Glesne, University of Vermont

Unique in his approach and style, Robert E. Stake draws from naturalistic, holistic, ethnographic, phenomenological, and biographic methods to present a disciplined, qualitative exploration of case study methods. In his exploration, Stake uses and annotates an actual case, at Harper School, to demonstrate to readers how to resolve some of the major issues of case study research; for example, how to select the case (or cases) that will maximize learning, how to generalize what is learned from one case to another, and how to interpret what is learned from a case. Uniquely, this book legitimizes direct interpretation as a case research method. It covers such topics as the differences between quantitative and qualitative approaches to case study; data gathering, including document review; coding, sorting, and pattern analysis; the roles of the researcher, triangulation; and reporting a case study. Also provided are end-of-chapter "workshops" that help students focus on new concepts.

Written with the inspired and thought-provoking style of a master storyteller, The Art of Case Study Research helps readers chart their way through the labyrinth of case study research.

Customer Reviews:

For the fellow students in KOREA.......2004-04-05

I am a high school teacher of physics in KOREA and also working on science research as a graduate student.
We choose this book as a text book in the class named advanced research of physics class at graduate course for the education.
This book doesn¡¯t have complete and detailed guide into conducting case study research and not so many example as well. But the contents are delivered in synchronized order and style. And it's goal and reasons for why we doing case study research are clearly mentioned and referred, and more over it includes workshop activities at the end of each chapter.
In that respect this book is right on target for academic researchers using a case study approach.

Not for the graduate student/professional.......2003-01-08

Availability of books on case study methodology remains limited. Case study as a method of research - used particularly among social scientists - is still developing as a reputable approach. This book was appropriate for lower division, undergraduate students - but woefully inadequate for the upper division or graduate student and/or practitioner.

Related to the content, this book failed to provide a comprehensive listing of research appropriate for case study methods - especially over other methods. Qualitative methods were adequately covered, but appropriate uses of available quantitative data often found within case studies were not addressed. The book covered triangulation principles but did not regonize other uses of data in case study research - in particluar the essential role of documentation of protocol to ensure replicability of methods by other researchers. The discussion about sources of data was incomplete and failed to illustrate the relative strengths and weaknesses of each and potential remedies to reduce weaknesses. The author only provided a few common modes of analysis without covering other legitimate means. Throughout the book, the author provided little reference to prior research done on the subject under discussion for a researcher to explore further nor was there any particluar recognition of the contribution of other theorists to the field.

Related to the style, this book used a lot of reference symbols throughout that were distracting to the reader without adding any particular benefit. All of the examples used were from the education field making it difficult for the reader to draw parallels to other fields and maintain interest. The book did not use adequate illustration or presentation of information in tables and formats usually successfully presented in simlar materials. The information was presented in a "lecture" and "exercise" teaching style that is to simple for a learned student or professional.

I gained no "new" knowledge from reading this book and it was a frustrating waste of my time, money and effort. Your mileage may vary!

Great for those working on a dissertation.......1999-05-10

If you're looking for a practial book on completing a case study this is it! The chapters are organized in such a way that the process is laid out and easily understood. The book is reader friendly and doesn't spend much time in the technical aspect of case study. It allows the reader to understand and then sit down and get to work. I've read several books dealing with case study and this one I found most useful. It is written during the authors time of teaching a course. The benefit of the book for the reader is that you most likely don't have time to take a course specifically on case study and can read the book in place of taking the course!I am much further ahead in the completion of my own dissertation case study since I've read the book. I recommend it to anyone moving in this direction and believe that you will find it understandable, useful, and key in your successful completion of a case study. Wow - what a find!

Sustainable Development in Practice: Case Studies for Engineers and Scientists

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Sustainable Development in Practice: Case Studies for Engineers and Scientists

Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0470856092

Book Description

This ground-breaking text looks at the ways of integrating sustainability aspects into science and engineering. In providing an all-round sustainability education, it teaches students within engineering and environmental science the implications of their decisions on the environment.

Taking a life cycle approach to address economic, environmental and social issues, the book presents a series of practical case studies drawn from a range of industrial sectors, including water, energy, waste, chemicals, glass and mining and minerals. The key features of the book include:

Case studies that provide real-world and practical examples for readers to work through
Coverage of various sustainability issues in both developed and developing countries
Exploration of the scientific and technical aspects of each issue together with consideration of the economic, environmental and social ramifications

Sustainable Development in Practice: Case Studies for Engineers and Scientists is essential reading for all engineers and scientists concerned with sustainable development. In particular, it provides key reading and learning materials for undergraduate and postgraduate students reading environmental, chemical, civil or mechanical engineering, manufacturing and design, environmental science, green chemistry and environmental management. This book’s accessible style also makes it of interest to the general reader who is engaged with the sustainability debate.

Visit the NEW Companion Website, offering comprehensive tutor's notes for each case study:

http://www.wileyeurope.com/go/azapagic

Download Description

Case studies that provide real-world and practical examples for readers to work through
Coverage of various sustainability issues in both developed and developing countries
Exploration of the scientific and technical aspects of each issue together with consideration of the economic, environmental and social ramifications

Visit the NEW Companion Website, offering comprehensive tutor's notes for each case study:

Book Description

Groundbreaking when first published, The Art of Classroom Inquiry has become the classic book on the subject, helping tens of thousands of preservice and inservice teachers discover successful ways to conduct research in their classrooms. Thoroughly updated to reflect current thinking and technologies, this revised edition continues to show teachers how they can carefully and systematically ask and answer their own questions about learning. In crisp, jargon-free prose, Ruth Shagoury Hubbard and Brenda Miller Power present the nuts and bolts of classroom research strategies - interviewing and notetaking techniques, methods for categorizing data, online support, hands-on activities for testing research methods and honing skills, plus much more.

Hubbard and Power have worked for 15 years with teacher-researchers from across the country. In The Art of Classroom Inquiry they give teacher research a human face, from preservice and beginning teachers at work in their classrooms to veterans with suggestions and examples to share. The stories of individual growth demonstrate why and how teacher research is transforming the ways teachers view themselves and their classrooms. And each chapter of this book shows how to get there, including:

getting started - deciding what to investigate and how to frame questions
designing the research to fit your area of investigation
gathering data in the midst of teaching
making sense of that mountain of data
reviewing the literature and the implications of others' research on your findings
converting research for sharing with a wider audience
creating a teacher-research network and support group.

The Art of Classroom Inquiry can help any aspiring teacher-researcher develop observation and analytical skills. But it is much more than a collection of research techniques - it is a celebration of what is possible in classrooms when teachers pursue answers to their own questions about learning.

Customer Reviews:

Good Starting Point .......2006-02-25

I purchased this text for a graduate course. It is a good resource to help teachers get started. If you feel clueless how to hone your questions and develop action research, this will help you get started from zero. However, I agree with the comments of "This book is backwards". The book does not get into the details of data collection.

This book is backwards!.......2005-09-21

This book has already put me to sleep twice! The authors spend too much time on how to take notes and write a paragraph, which we should already know how to do. However, they spend little or no time talking about *real* research -- what makes a good research project? How do we formulate a hypothesis? What kinds of anecdotal information should we be looking for? This is the only one of my education textbooks that I will be selling back!!

readable for a text book.......2005-07-23

I bought this book for a class I was taking. Interesting book and fairly easy to read and understand for a text book.

Avoiding Thesis and Dissertation Pitfalls: 61 Cases of Problems and Solutions

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Avoiding Thesis and Dissertation Pitfalls: 61 Cases of Problems and Solutions
R. Murray Thomas , and Dale L. Brubaker
Manufacturer: Bergin & Garvey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Doing A Literature Review: Releasing the Social Science Research Imagination (Published in association with The Open University)
Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches (2nd Edition)

ASIN: 0897898222

Book Description

Being aware of thesis and dissertation pitfalls can help the graduate student make efficient use of resources available to him or her and bring precision to research and writing of that important project. The authors present 61 cases cast as an envisioned conversation between a student and a professor whom the student consults about a problem. The cases are presented within ten chapters that proceed through a sequence of typical stages in the production of a thesis or dissertation. Chapter titles include Choosing and Defining a Research Topic, Searching the Professional Literature, Developing a Proposal, Getting Help, Devising Data-Collection Procedures, Organizing the Collected Information, Interpreting the Results, Writing the Report, Defending the Finished Product, and Publishing the Study.

Seeking Meaning: A Process Approach to Library and Information Services Second Edition

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How students do their research

Seeking Meaning: A Process Approach to Library and Information Services Second Edition
Carol Collier Kuhlthau
Manufacturer: Libraries Unlimited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning
Integrating Information Literacy into the Higher Education Curriculum: Practical Models for Transformation (JOSSEY-BASS HIGHER & ADULT EDUCATION SERIES)
Theories of Information Behavior (Asist Monograph)
Information Literacy and Information Skills Instruction: Applying Research to Practice in the School Library Media Center 2nd Edition (Library and Information Problem-Solving Skills Series)
Youth Information Seeking Behavior: Theories, Models, and Issues

ASIN: 1591580943

Book Description

Seeking Meaning was first published in 1993. It has since become a widely used professional resource and required reading in library and information science schools in the United States and abroad. This book offers essential knowledge for anyone providing library and information services. Library and information services for intellectual access--the interpretation of information and ideas within sources--and the process of seeking meaning are detailed. Presented is a theoretical framework for a process approach to library and information services, which was developed in a series of studies of the Information Search Process of users. The framework has helped to illuminate the user's perspective of information seeking, and has offered insights into pressing problems of seeking meaning in an overabundance of information. This second edition incorporates the original research and series of studies that underlie the model of the Information Search Process, including the articulation of an uncertainty principle for library and information services and the concept of a zone of intervention for implementing a process approach. New chapters reflect the authors' studies and ideas in the ten years since the previous publication. Also described are recent studies on the implementation of a process approach to library and information services in education; an investigation of these concepts in the workplace; and a treatment of systems and systems design. A summary of the conceptual perspective and the development of process-oriented services and systems that enable the constructive process of users seeking meaning, with recommendations for further research, make this important contribution an essential text to understand the seeking of meaning through information.

Customer Reviews:

How students do their research.......2001-04-11

Carol Kuhlthau, in her book, 'Seeking Meaning-a process approach to library and information services', describes clearly her theory about the methods students use when they research a topic.The book, covers step by step, the development of her study and the methods she used to validate her theory.

She details the stages of the search process, emphasizing that the stages are not necessarily linear. Students initially suffer anxiety when faced with an assignment.She claims that at this point of time they need to have an invitational mood which will enable them to cope with the new ideas as they jostle with their own personal world view. Some students then begin to form a focus.For students who find a focus, the search process becomes more directed.At this point the anxiety lessens.The search then moves into the closure phase.

Book Description

A casebook of research articles with editorial analysis. Appropriate for advanced undergrad and graduate courses in communication research methods, as a supplement.

Paradigm Shift: The New Promise of Information Technology

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The Shift is Real
Good but sometimes dry.
This book explains all about mergers and joint ventures.

Paradigm Shift: The New Promise of Information Technology
Don Tapscott , and Art Caston
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Companies
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Creating Value in the Network Economy
Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything
Paradigms: Business of Discovering the Future, The

ASIN: 0070628572

Book Description

Based on a widely-publicized multimillion dollar study of over 3000 companies and government agencies, this easy-to-read, non-technical book examines and synthesizes the lessons of leading edge companies grappling with seven revolutionary IT changes. According to the authors, these changes have combined to create an entirely new paradigm for competitive information processing-now and for the future. Fascinating and provocative yet practical, this important book zeros in on changes such as the shift from proprietary to open systems, and stand-alone to integrated software applications. General managers and information managers alike will need to understand all these developments in order to lead the transition to a new way of doing business-and now they can profit from the lessons of actual companies who have succeeded-and failed-in this high stakes game.

Customer Reviews:

The Shift is Real.......1999-06-06

A classic! Frankly, if you're just now buying this book, you've already been swept up by the Paradigm Shift. So why should you buy this book? Because it will help you understand why the shift is happening and what should be done to prepare for it.

You can do nothing to stop the shift no more than you can stop a tidal wave. You can, however, refuse to change your paradigm as some have opted to do. In this case, good information will not erase the effects of a bad strategy.

Written in 1993, the shift Tapscott and Caston writes about is not over-not complete. But this book is complete and lacking nothing.

Good but sometimes dry........1998-08-24

One selection from a required reading list for grad. school, initially looked quite interesting but since written in '93 it does not include much Internet technology. This book is rather good with an explanation of Era I and Era II computer technology and how companies need to transition but if you are dealing with present day Internet concepts this book is limited. I would suggest this book as a precursor to any other book which may get into the next Era of computing, dealing specifically with the Internet. Looking for ideas about reengineering an IT department, then this is a good start.

This book explains all about mergers and joint ventures........1997-12-31

This book was required reading for a recent graduate course I took. The book explains where corporations, businesses, and governments are heading in the second era of computer technology. The explanation of the intergrated enterprise is the best I've ever read. This book will serve as the cornerstone of my future career development.

Crisis Communications: A Casebook Approach, Student Workbook (Communication)

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Crisis Communications: A Casebook Approach, Student Workbook (Communication)
FEARN-BANK
Manufacturer: Lawrence Erlbaum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Crisis Communications: A Casebook Approach (Lea's Communication)
On Deadline: Managing Media Relations
SoundBites A Business Guide for Working with the Media
Responding to Crisis: A Rhetorical Approach to Crisis Communication (Lea's Communication Series)
Ongoing Crisis Communication: Planning, Managing and Responding

ASIN: 0805839194

Book Description

A casebook approach to studying crisis communications means learning from the actions of those who have experienced crises. What did they expect? What actually happened? Were they prepared? What were their strategies? What were their challenges, pressures, and problems? Were the news media adversarial or supportive? If they had to do it again, what would they do differently? These and other questions are answered in the case studies of this second edition.

Presenting organizational and individual problems that may become crises and the communication responses to these situations, this revision of Fearn-Banks' very successful text:
* presents crisis communication theory, including a critique of the communications of White Star Lines after its Titanic sank on its maiden voyage;
* describes ways of determining the most likely and most damaging crises that may strike an organization;
* centers on causes of crisis--rumor, "gotcha" television news and the non-expert expert, and crises caused by the news media;
* gets into the 21st century and cyberspace-caused crises, including mini-cases of rogue Web sites and e-mail rumors;
* explains how to communicate with the news media, lawyers, internal publics or audiences, and external publics; and
* includes narrated case studies illustrating how spokespersons and managers used communication in several kinds of crises.

The text is supplemented by a workbook, enabling students to test their knowledge and develop their skills. Written as a primer for crisis communications, public relations, and communications management, Crisis Communications serves as an essential resource in the practice of public relations and corporate communications.

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