In an effort to examine the usefulness of adult learning research for improving college teaching, this study investigated tenets of adult learning research which may be manifest in effective college teaching and sought the perceptions of administrators, faculty and students. The study incorporated a multi-site, integrated research design combining…

The classifications of 11 attributions according to dimensions of locus, stability, controllability, predictability, and globality by participants in 7 countries (China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, Spain, and the United States) were compared in a cross-cultural study. The attributions were: (1) bias; (2) help; (3) luck; (4) ability; (5)…

By the age of 4, children typically have separate schema for relating events in the physical world and for relating events to associated mental states. Generally, these schema cannot be coordinated until around 6 years of age, when the ability to use them together yields a structure for assigning intentionality. This intentional structure develops…

This paper discusses the development of a learning approach based on the unique needs of adult learners who are required to learn and use new information technologies. It establishes how the "Inquisitivism" learning approach has evolved from a synthesis of key cognitive learning theories into one cohesive approach and how the…

This study examined ways in which teachers use their own experiences and those of their colleagues to become better teachers, based on case studies of a group of eight physics teachers engaged in collaborative action research. Two perspectives on teaching that have framed other inquiries are first discussed: the teacher knowledge perspective,…

This study examines whether behaviorally withdrawn children differ from aggressive and prosocial children in their attributional styles, social goals, and self-efficacy perceptions. Fourth and fifth-grade students (n=506) responded to a set of hypothetical situations involving ambiguous provocation. Specifically, they interpreted the protagonist's…

This paper reports the findings of a year-long study of 11 preservice teachers' perceptions of the first year of a teacher preparation program. These students were interviewed individually at least four times, and reported that learning concrete teaching methods was one of the most valuable aspects of their preparation because these methods could…

Development of an instrument to measure baseline levels of applied Total Quality Management (TQM) practices in South Dakota before the introduction and dissemination of TQM theory to the state's educational leaders is described. Using the interpretation of Deming's 14 points that was developed by J. J. Bonstigl, a 115-item initial item pool was…

A study of biliteracy focuses on discourse as the unit of analysis needed to understand the task facing bilingual students. It investigated the way in which 22 high school students representing six different language groups in a bilingual basic skills course struggled with scientific language in an experiment on the community's drinking water.…

Item response theoretic methods are applied to the measurement of achievement of students from various instructional backgrounds. This extended item response theory (IRT) approach serves as a tool for studying instructional bias, or instructional sensitivity. The model maintains the form of an IRT model, but has parameters that quantify the extent…

We are becoming a service based society. Changes in our society all point to the move to a service based society which demands a new educational approach. In such a society human service professionals will be consumer-oriented, cooperators with the citizen, and judged by the citizens and consumers they serve. These workers will serve, advocate for…

This paper discusses problems the author encountered in attempting to conduct a study of teacher motivation as influenced by a combination of participative decision-making and financial rewards. Over a 3-year period, teacher motivation was to be viewed as influenced by two independent variables--participative decision-making and financial rewards;…

The structure and function of the California Educational Research Cooperative (CERC), a collaborative action research organization designed to link research to educational practice, is described in this paper. A brief history of school-university partnerships and a review of the status of these partnerships is provided, followed by a description…

The usual ways of thinking about organiztions represent them as physical or biological entities that respond to their environments as whole, integrated systems existing apart from individuals. Such images omit human will, imagination and moral choice. If we think about organizations in human terms, we must think about the capacity of individuals…

This paper presents a history of educational administration among Canada's provinces, discusses the status of university preparation programs, and explores theories of formalized and alternative approaches. Before the 1950's, little interest existed in administrators' formal preparation. Consolidation of schools led to graduate programs, but the…