The state of bachelor's level study and recommendations for improvement are addressed, along with policy issues concerning college missions, based on the work of the Project on Redefining the Meaning and Purpose of Baccalaureate Degrees. Attention is directed to: the decline and devaluation of the undergraduate degree, faculty responsibility,…

Teaching and learning of the humanities at the baccalaureate level were assessed by a blue-ribbon study group of 31 nationally prominent authorities on higher education convened by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Some attention was also given in the context of the humanities to how secondary and graduate education have affected…

The effectiveness of formal mentoring programs for high-risk undergraduate students was examined. Formal mentoring is defined as a deliberate matching of university personnel with high-risk students, a group which may include people of color, women, low-income persons, the physically challenged, and first-generation college students. Formal…

Describes the process by which objective tests utilizing an optical mark reader (OMR) were introduced into a number of first-year geography courses at the University of Plymouth (England). Presents the results of various statistical tests including a comparison of student performance in the objective and the traditional essay examinations. (MJP)

An evaluation was conducted of the implementation by public universities and community colleges in Illinois of state policies on student scholarship and achievement in undergraduate education. The policies were proposed in 1986 and revised in 1990 by the Illinois State Board of Higher Education in the context of state and national education…

This study examined the educational quality and student satisfaction with the undergraduate program in professional management at Nova Southeastern University (Florida). This program focuses on the needs of working adults, and classes are offered evenings and weekends at multiple sites in a distance education format. A survey of nearly all of the…

This report presents the results of a recent survey of teacher preparation courses in Queensland, Australia, an analysis of the literature on course content, and recommendations. Recommendations address course content, the nature of practical training experiences, the need for institutions of higher education to reconceptualize teacher preparation…

A study investigated indicators of student academic performance in six samples (n=911 each) of men and women students from 19 baccalaureate, 27 master's, and 29 doctoral granting institutions. Measures of achievement gains associated with three good educational practices (faculty-student contact, cooperation among students, active learning) were…

This study employed multiple linear regression and decision tree analysis to examine the correlates of overall satisfaction with undergraduate education for white, Asian American, Latino and African American seniors enrolled at 17 doctoral/research universities. Satisfaction with the overall quality of instruction and social involvement were the…

This paper explores democratic learning and global citizenship through a study of one university's implementation of one-unit seminars. Specifically, the authors examine qualitative outcomes from faculty and students participating in one-unit seminars focused on the events of September 11. The authors conclude that such seminars have the potential…

This paper demonstrates how teacher education follow-up studies can be designed and used to promote responsive teacher education programs. Using a recently completed study of alumni from an undergraduate teacher education program as a model, the paper presents substantive findings relevant both to the design of future teacher education follow-up…

Oral/aural skills (1) are a major vocational requirement for a student graduating in the language field, (2) are an essential, academically valid element in the language learning process, and (3) enhance the student's overall intellectual development. If a communicative language curriculum is designed carefully, it will integrate all of these…

Interpreting, or oral translation, deals exclusively and intensively with language in action. The process develops and exercises intellectual, personal, and linguistic skills. However, its introduction into second language curricula would require changing expectations and strategies. The syllabus for a course component in interpreting should have…

A working paper in the final report of the Arizona Board of Regents' Task Force on Excellence, Efficiency and Competitiveness, this study provides information on the debate about "research versus teaching" in the modern American university and, specifically, in Arizona's three universities. The Arizona universities' alumni survey,…

This Digest is a summary of the principal policy implications from Medical Education Financing: Policy Analyses and Options for the 1980s, comprehensive policy analyses of options for financing both undergraduate and graduate medical education. Five general classes of options are evaluated: (1) reimbursement reforms, (2) loan programs, (3)…