Students (N=78) enrolled in either the Fall, 1989 or Spring, 1990 semester of an urban university campus were studied to determine their preference for either the Personalized System of Instruction (PSI or Keller Plan) or the traditional lecture class in an undergraduate self-paced statistics class. (This was also the first self-paced course that…

This study compared the personality, cognitive style, and descriptive preferences of 79 preservice undergraduate education students who chose independent study instead of traditional teacher-directed study. Self esteem, field articulation, locus of control, cognitive style preference, and need for achievement tests were administered and…

Independent Study (IS) at Brigham Young University (Utah) enrolls nearly 17,000 high school students and 13,000 college students each year. Results of student evaluations are used to help determine to what extent the IS courses and instructors are meeting student needs. IS administrators decided to redesign the student forms to provide a better…

This study stems in part from a desire to correct the misapprehension that Japanese students are somehow less autonomous than learners from other cultural backgrounds. The view that Japanese learners tend to be passive, obedient, and quiet is commonly accepted. Much of this "evidence" is anecdotal and comes from teacher observation of…

Recently, there has been a large amount of research in the area of self-access language learning (SALL) showing that students around the world react favorably to SALL (Gardner and Miller, 1997; McDonough and Shaw, 1993; Richtcrich and Chanceril, 1980; Sheerin 1989; 1991). There have even been a few reports showing positive results with students in…

In this practical, user-friendly, and comprehensive guide, two experienced online instructors explain the history and methodology of distance learning and cover everything an online instructor needs to know--from designing a course, to using technology, to assessing students and more. Throughout the book, the authors demonstrate how to use…

Active student involvement in the educational psychology classroom through project-based learning promotes student growth toward autonomy and academic success. Guidelines for teaching through project-based learning are as follows: (1) examining your own educational philosophy; (2) allowing students the freedom to proceed as they best function; (3)…

Basic information about selecting an educational opportunity abroad is presented. While the chief focus is academic programs, information is included that is relevant to work, travel, and volunteer service opportunities in other countries. Questions are posed to help the student judge the suitability and quality of programs. Procedures to follow…

This handbook was first planned for use by the teacher and students of two experimental introductory Spanish classes of the University of South Carolina, employing the materials "Espanol a lo vivo" during the 1971-72 and 1972-73 academic years. One group followed a traditional approach to instruction having class four times weekly, while the other…

Some of the students in Southern Illinois University's introductory zoology course were deficient in certain skills. The design of self-instructional modules that would be educationally sound and help overcome some problems encountered in this course is discussed. (MLW)

Focuses on the efficacy of computer use for learning Kanji characters and improving Japanese vocabulary levels, with reference to software designed to improve Kanji learning in a self-access learning mode. Findings reveal that all the students in an Australian university using the computer to learn Kanji increased their grades and that those most…

A studyware comprising a set of interconnected modules on human physiology has been developed and used to improve undergraduate students' achievements. Study results show the scores of students who used the optional computer laboratory sessions were enhanced over those who did not use the studyware. Presents examples from the modules. (LZ)

In an effort to link information literacy and resource-based learning to cultural pluralism, faculty and librarians at Seattle Central Community College (Washington) revised an English composition course and a library skills course, linking their content of documented writing and literary research methods. Students must enroll in both courses.…

Technological advances have changed our definitions of literacy and our ways of preparing academically literate individuals. Over four years, formal evaluation of a Cornell University (New York) library-based information literacy instruction program and experiments using different instructional models has increased understanding of the concept and…

In this chapter, a college teacher describes the use of personal projects in a class on mathematics teaching for preservice teacher-education students. The personal project required students to learn something new or to do something they had never done before, and to document their learning through a journal or other reflective record. In…