ABSTRACT
This chapter is based on work undertaken by teachers in the Pupil Autonomy in Learning with Microcomputers Project (PALM). This was an action research project involving around 100 teachers investigating ways in which the use of computers can enable greater autonomy in learning. The combined research outcomes of the project represent a substantial body of theory, capable of generalisation, subject only to tests of validity. By re-examining the ways in which teachers validate their knowledge this chapter opens the door to generalisation of the project's outcomes, while at the same time re-examining the purposes and importance of generalisation from research findings per se.
