Students in college developmental reading classes were given a questionnaire about the experiences they had had in reading during their elementary and high school years. They were asked questions about (1) the materials they used in former reading classes, (2) books or stories they had found particulary memorable, (3) the effectiveness of…

This study examined W. Doyle's notion of academic task as content representation in the college setting, examining the products students were asked to produce, the operations they were required to use in order to produce those products, the cognitive operations required and resources available, and the accountability system involved. Interviews…

The introduction of nontraditional teaching techniques into a solid framework of traditional teaching can greatly increase student motivation and attention. Nontraditional methods involve students as dynamic actors in the educational process in three ways: by increasing student motivation, maximizing the level of subtlety or detail achieved, and…

A survey of 219 Ohio State University students before and after freshman year investigated the relationship between retention and changes in freshman perspectives on social and academic issues. Results indicate faculty contact may play a significant role in student attitudes but may not affect retention. Retention may be only indirectly related to…

Describes a program of summer study in Nepal that exposes students to a multicultural and international perspective. Examines the content, goals, and objectives of the program. The objectives include active learning, structuring learning communities, and developing higher-order thinking skills. Provides suggestions for setting up similar programs.…

Guidelines are offered and suggestions made for creating a student recruitment video that captures and keeps prospective students' attention. Illustrations are provided from the experiences of colleges, universities, and private schools. Topics, techniques, style, and cost control are discussed. (MSE)

Reports on a study of the influence of harmonic context on the sight-singing skill of middle school choral music students. Finds that students in the melody-only treatment group showed more improvement in sight-singing than those in the vocal-harmony group. Also finds no differences between the melody-only and the piano-harmony groups. (CFR)

Factor analysis of a survey of 2,072 students in 176 courses in 4 departments of an Israeli community college revealed similarities in student satisfaction among departments with the teacher and interpersonal relationships between students the major contributing factors. Results suggested that an evaluation tool appropriate for many courses or…

A high school teacher and four students restructured the curriculum for a shop math class based on Foxfire practices. The students, former underachievers, gained support and raised monies for building a gyroplane by writing grants, meeting with school administrators, and taking part in community speaking engagements. (LP)

This paper discusses the campus climate as a critical element in the academic development of college students, with emphasis on minority and women students pursuing engineering and other technical degrees. Reforming the campus climate to make it more receptive to minority and women students requires: (1) a clear mandate from top administrators to…

An instructional activity is educational only when students understand its meaning and apply their understanding to future situations. Outdoor educators seek to improve teaching and learning through direct experience but, if such experiences are to be meaningful and applied to life situations, teachers must help students learn from carefully…

Inviting high school students to be a part of Close Up Washington, this brochure describes a program in which students from across the United States and around the world travel to Washington, D.C., to learn about the workings of the U.S. federal government. The brochure explains benefits of participating in the program and discusses activities in…

Two case studies of student writers of English as a Second Language (ESL), interviewed and observed over a period of two semesters focused on the ways that the students' different experiences affected their reflections about and attitudes toward writing. Teachers and tutors were also interviewed. The three students began the study enrolled in the…

Two freshman classes and two senior classes at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill were surveyed with the College Student Experiences Questionnaire (CSEQ). The data showed that high levels of student/faculty contact coincided with high student scores on quality of effort measures. It is noted that this may be due to the contact,…

An institutional model to measure effect of student financial aid on matriculation and persistence was found to be both workable and potentially useful for college planning. It examines first-time attendance, within-year persistence, and year-to-year persistence of the entering class at an urban, public university, factoring in student background,…