Mobile devices, applications and services have become integrated into people's daily lives on a personal and professional level. Although traditional research methods are being used to understand the use of mobile devices and applications, methodological challenges still exist. Researchers have responded to these challenges in a variety of ways, with an emphasis on developing methods that enable new ways of accessing, making available and collecting data about mobile technology use. This paper identifies, defines, describes and presents, a preliminary framework for understanding the methodological responses emerging in current Mobile Human Computer Interaction (Mobile HCI) research.

University-led STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) outreach forms one potential avenue to address the continuing decline of tertiary student enrollments. Yet to-date the impact of these programs is not well understood, due to an historical emphasis on 'delivering the goods' that obscures debate on which outreach programs to deliver, why and to whom. At a time in which the academy faces growing pressures to 'perform,' it is argued that explicit consideration of program purposes and efforts to assess efficacy may facilitate discussions about the possible role of university-led outreach in attracting school students to STEM careers. This article reports on findings from a study of the outreach efforts at nine Australian universities, revealing two key barriers: limited institutional support structures; and limited explicit consideration of disparate, and at times, competing outreach stakeholder needs. These barriers problematize the contribution that universities can currently make toward raising future STEM aspirations.

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This paper addresses the positioning of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) outreach programmes within universities' operations. Though universities in many respects form a rather homogenous international community, there is wide diversity in regard to the provision of STEM outreach by different institutions. To explain this diversity, a conceptual framework was developed by using the Theory of Legitimacy as an organising concept. The framework considers two opposing scenarios that form a continuum between them, namely: 'top-down' initiative by the university governance versus 'bottom-up' grass-roots initiative. Using the Theory of Legitimacy, internal and external outreach relationships are characterised and explained under the two scenarios. The framework was applied to two settings chosen due to their essential differences in outreach provision, namely, Australia and Israel. The differences that were found in internal and external legitimacy provide a useful lens for examining the low-performing, fragile system in Australia as compared with the high-performing, thriving system in Israel.Higher Education Quarterly, 0951-5224