This primer introduces 23 practices designed to support students inside and outside of the classroom and increase their community college success. These case studies illustrate the five themes for effective student support that emerged from Student Support (Re)defined--a multi-year study performed by the Research and Planning Group for California…

Four literacy experts lay out the evidence in this compelling book, based on the well-known Home-School Study of Language and Literacy Development that inspired the landmark resource "Beginning Literacy with Language." Following a group of children living in low-income families from preschool through high school, the authors charted the students'…

A course option in abnormal psychology involves students in interviewing and observing the activities of individuals in the off-campus community who are concerned with some aspect of abnormal psychology. The technique generates student interest in the field when they interview people about topics such as drug abuse, transsexualism, and abuse of…

Reports research in which 66 Black inner city students in grades 3 to 6 were interviewed about their perceptions of themselves as math learners. Focuses on student responses to questions about the causes of problem difficulty and the effects of that difficulty on their inner speech, feelings, and motivation to learn. (CB)

Michael McAndrew, director of educational services, Capital Cities Television Productions in Philadelphia, is interviewed about his development of the Television Reading Program, which employs television scripts to improve student reading. (RK)

The commonly-occurring mismatch between second language student and course level, resulting in student boredom or intimidation, is due to overreliance on standardized language tests. These tests emphasize passive skills, such as recognition of grammatical structures and translation, and they ignore the element of communicative competence. As a…

In preparation for the medical school admission interview, prospective students should be able to explain why they chose medicine as a profession and to relate experiences that confirm their interest, be aware of the economic/ethical atmosphere in which medicine is practiced and its challenges, display good communication skills, and convey…

The high cost of compulsory admissions interviews and the lack of proven effectiveness in predicting academic success is discussed. Selective interviewing is seen as an effective compensatory device for overcoming culturally/racially biased test scores or grade point averages and as a recruitment mechanism. Suggestions for essay questions are…

Presents a brief but fascinating discussion of a high school junior's use of primary sources for her presentation at History Day in California. She contacted black athletes who gave the black power salute at the 1968 Olympics and conducted several hours of interviews. These interviews were incorporated into a paper. (MJP)

Communication-based teaching techniques are described that lead German language students from input to output in a stimulating and motivating learning environment. Input activities are most useful for presenting speech acts, vocabulary, and grammar; output activities, for fine-tuning those areas as well as for expanding students' productive…

Discusses a history professor's attempt to awaken students' interest by assigning an oral history project rather than a traditional research paper. Reports that adding to the personal dimension to the project increased students enthusiasm and introduced them to problems of historical research and historiography. Includes problems of reliability…

The first (exploratory) phase of the Learning in Science Project focused on science teaching/learning in the Form 1 to 4 level (ages 10 to 14) and sought to identify problems and difficulties in several areas. Provided in this paper are comments obtained during structured interviews (from students, ex-students, teachers, headmasters, science…

Examines teaching methods in elementary social studies classrooms. Interviews fifth and sixth grade students regarding their perceptions of social studies. Finds instruction relies heavily on textbooks. Shows half of the students dislike social studies. Includes students' verbatim comments. Designs teaching approaches based on students' preference…

In one high school French department, videotaping began to be used as part of a final examination. It was found that the students wanted to see their tapes and began to critique their own and others' performances. The next year, taping was done earlier in the school year so that the tapes could be used as performance models. Students were more at…

Although the emphasis elsewhere is on learning disabilities and attention deficit disorder as possible causal factors for high dropout rates and associated student deficiencies in adult education (AE), a project explored an alternative etiology: intention deficit disorder. The hypothesis was that higher level "executive" regulatory…