Two problems are encountered by faculty when teaching introductory social science courses. First, most students are only passive recipients of the information made available to them; second, they seldom appreciate the relevance of this information to their own lives. The primary objective of the project described in this paper is to involve…

The model of experiential learning at Warren Wilson College (North Carolina) is described, with attention to the triad of work, service, and academic study and The Center for Applied Student Research (The Center). Student are required to work 15 hours per week on one of 76 work crews; they assume adult responsibility for their work products and…

Assumptions that many academic psychologists have concerning the undergraduate research experience are reviewed, and comparisons are made to the educational process in the physical and natural sciences. In addition, the development of undergraduate research conferences is discussed in terms of some general assumptions about science education in…

Solutions to the problems associated with the establishment of a world government offer opportunities for empirical research and informed reflection. A world government of some kind will very likely supersede the existing international order within the next few decades. Only two possible forms of world government currently appear to be possible:…

Studies conducted since the early 1950s have identified manual workers, low income groups, those with less education, and residents of urban areas as likely to be Democratic Party voters and those from higher income groups, the better educated, those with white-collar or professional jobs, and rural residents to be more likely to vote Republican.…

A study of 28 high school journalists who had accepted the United States Army's invitation to visit Fort Knox was conducted to discover what their attitudes were toward military service, how those attitudes changed as a result of the tour, and how their attitudes were reflected in stories written upon returning from the trip. The students were…

Describes an undergraduate research program in biomedical engineering at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Includes goals and faculty comments on the program. Indicates that 58 percent of projects conducted between 1976 and 1980 have been presented at meetings or published. (SK)

Presents preliminary results from a study of an information need identification system for interactive information retrieval for undergraduates researching a history topic. Concludes that the query taxonomy must include levels of topic specificity because while general topic-based queries are inappropriate as query terms, more specific topic-based…

To effectively study the political, socioeconomic, and cultural effects of the media, it is important to examine the context of the community in which the media operates. To do this, students must think critically and develop a historical perspective of the changing role of each media within this community. The term community is used in the…

Teachers who are looking for new ways to approach the research paper, and to use cooperative learning in the classroom, can employ the "we-search" paper--a combination of cooperative/collaborative learning and Ken Macrorie's (1988) "I-search" paper. To get started, teachers should: (1) introduce the project and explain its…

English courses should help students recognize the interrelationships among creative and expository writing, literature, and language. By helping students understand literary elements such as point of view, for example, creative writing courses can produce better student narratives. Required composition courses should replace sterile exercises in…

This controlled research report writing curriculum was developed for 10th grade students by an interdisciplinary team led by the library media specialist and the chairperson of the English Department of Wayne Central High School. The purpose of the program is to give students a highly structured experience in research report writing, with…

A study surveyed 99 teacher education students from the Instituto de Educacao de Nova Friburgo (Brazil) by asking open-ended and private questions to know the number and/or the access of students to existing artistic and cultural languages. The research was divided into two stages: (1) an investigation about the information brought by the students…

The process from information to knowledge is discussed as part of the learning process students must go through to achieve a successful and effective outcome of the process. In a school situation models for the information-seeking process are too general, rational and linear to give indications for practice. Four didactic dilemmas are discussed in…

At Villanova University, the Senior Projects Course is designed to serve as a capstone course. Students are required to integrate the pieces of the discipline acquired from previous course work into a comprehensive, fully developed research project. This paper looks critically at one aspect of effectively managing a group project course: conflict…