Questions posed about the practicality of postsecondary education have led many institutions to survey the graduates themselves. The Southern Regional Education Board report cites studies conducted by the University of North Carolina and the Tennessee Higher Education Commission. The surveys concern the age of graduates, the type and amount of…

Delaware County Community College (DCCC) in Pennsylvania is in the process of developing an external degree program for working adults. This study was designed to examine the internal political structures within which the policies and procedures of assessing experiential learning were developed by other colleges, and to recommend a course of…

An attempt to diversify the classroom experience at Simon Fraser University's Department of Geography has taken two thrusts: the large classroom integrative media use, and the student prepared multimedia "essay." The traditional lecture technique, which ignores the entire media revolution, is deplored. The first of two ways of conveying more…

A model of the decision-making process for college choice that has three phases (predisposition, search, and choice) is proposed, and the implications of this model for college and government policy formation are examined. (MSE)

Describes the Rising Senior Program at the Georgia Institute of Technology, which is a cooperative education program designed to provide student interns with an opportunity to apply engineering principles to real problems related to the business interests of the Milliken textile manufacturing company. (TW)

An ethnographic study explored the university experiences of American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) graduate and professional students at a West Coast research university. The study consisted of interviews with each participant, observations of students participating with other AI/AN students in 15 public events, and a meeting with the entire…

It is suggested that the value of education is due to student life more than to college instruction. Samplings of studies of college life are delineated for the validity of student traditions as a field of research, and the aid of sociologists and anthropologists is solicited. (Article originally published in 1935.) (AF)

A preliminary analysis of questionnaire data indicates, along with academic outcomes, a significant impact of work and study abroad programs on subsequent behavior. Educational and job decisions were influenced, as well as thinking about values and American identity. Focus is on the Antioch Education Abroad program and its participants.…

The effects of prior beliefs on student teachers' construction and utilization of new educational knowledge bases were investigated. Students participated in either conceptual change or direct instruction programs. Although conceptual change outperformed direct instruction, results suggest that conceptual change can improve performance but only…

Six essays submitted to Harvard University (Massachusetts) by applicants for the class of 2000 are presented. Topics include a refugee's experiences, a football player's passion for musical theater, the death of a sister, a mother's influence, living in China, and a renaissance-English poetic lament about being a dog. (MSE)

Two urban Australian nursing students' stories of their experiences in clinical placements in rural and Aboriginal communities indicate their interest in and enthusiasm for returning to rural nursing after graduation. Unfortunately, many urban students are disadvantaged financially by the added expense of their rural clinical rotation. Assisting…

A study of 1,789 female and 1,870 male students at college entry and exit compared self-ratings of abilities, social and political views, and goals and aspirations. Results show gender a contributing factor in all three areas. Gender differences in student attitudes were evident at both college entry and four years later. (MSE)

Two college courses, one in literary analysis and one designed to help students apply prior learning, were redesigned to incorporate time for students to tell the class about their own learning experiences. It was found that the narratives enriched faculty and students' understanding and awareness. (MSE)

A survey of 117 freshman and 113 junior women investigated their perceptions of the personal adjustment issues they faced and the solutions they arrived at during their experience at a university. Four areas of adjustment are discussed: underestimation of financial expenses; unfamiliar teaching techniques; large classes; and disillusionment with…

Changes in America's undergraduate students (cultural diversity, age, expectations of college and career, psychological and social background, patterns of socializing) add up to the demise of traditional residential college life. Colleges can address these shifts by focusing their efforts, using all available opportunities to educate student,…