Explores undergraduate student withdrawal behavior in the business school of a new university. Examines the complex interplay of forces-personal, institutional, and contextual/external-which lead up to the decisions by a student to leave or to stay. A comparative study is made of experiences of students who left, and of those who experienced…

Compares three methods of teaching keyboard sight-reading to 69 undergraduate music majors enrolled in six piano classes were randomly divided among three conditions: (1) error-detection practice plus "shadowing" (EDS); (2) shadowing only; and (3) unguided independent practice. Indicates that the EDS subjects achieved moderate overall…

This article uses student feedback to explore student attitudes towards the use of lecture breaks. The survey illustrates that undergraduates genuinely value such breaks, finding them educationally useful and enhancing their enjoyment of the lecture experience. By comparing and contrasting the perceived value of different types of lecture breaks,…

This report summarizes important developments and trends in education using the latest available data. The report presents 43 indicators on the status and condition of education. The indicators represent a consensus of professional judgment on the most significant national measures of the condition and progress of education for which accurate data…

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of the use of contingent faculty on undergraduate education. This study presents three research questions: (1) To what degree do contingent faculty members engage students in good practices less frequently than their tenured and tenure-track counterparts?; (2) What effect does the proportion of…

This paper reports on a study to develop a scale of stress measurement and its use with undergraduate students (N=269) at a large land grant mid-Atlantic university. Students, within the classroom setting, were given a questionnaire containing 52 potentially stressful hypothetical situations and were asked to indicate the degree of stress they…

Characteristics of disciplines that affect undergraduate lecturing and teaching approaches were studied in the fields of the physical sciences, life sciences, humanities, and social sciences. A 1981 questionnaire on the lecture method of instruction was completed by a random sample of 820 teachers in the undergraduate liberal arts divisions of…

The method presented is a means of determining the communality of the content of two or more texts in the same knowledge domain. The discipline studied was physics. Undergraduate curricula at 59 colleges were studied to determine consensus among the textbooks with respect to general program requirements and specific course offerings. Chapter…

This study evaluated and compared two models of teacher education, a traditional certificate-only and a fifth-year Master of Arts in Teaching program, to determine their effectiveness in producing desirable outcomes in preservice teacher candidates. The salient characteristics of each of the programs are described. Most of the subjects of the…

To determine the adequacy of undergraduate teacher preparation in composition, questionnaires were distributed to a representative sample of Florida's English teachers, and a survey was made of the major teacher-training universities in Florida. Teachers were asked to indicate courses in language and composition that were included in their…

The purposes and methods behind Gourman's rankings of American colleges and universities, including undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs, are outlined and discussed, and the controversy surrounding his publications, which have had a significant impact in education, is examined. (MSE)

Presents evidence of a substantial decline in undergraduate degrees in economics from 1992 through 1996 in Australia, Canada, Germany, and the United States. Finds no correlation between decline and degree cost, tightened grading standards, or degree requirements. Finds increased interest in business education to be the predominant cause. (RLH)

A table that shows most of the money that states spend on student aid is presented. Need-based assistance and non-need-based assistance for both undergraduate and graduate and professional education are identified. (MLW)

A study compared evaluations of undergraduate students' oral presentations by groups of peers and faculty teams. Students (n=210), in assessment teams, rated quality of content and presentation using a 22-point guide. Comparison of peer and faculty scores showed no significant difference in averages but did show significant differences in standard…

Explores the similarities and differences between the disciplines of history and archaeology. Examines the standards and principles recently proposed for teaching history and archaeology to determine the areas of difference and commonality. Addresses the issues of historical and archaeological thinking describing each in detail. (CMK)