For use by those preparing statewide competency testing programs and those developing basic skills examinations at the postsecondary level, this paper provides guidelines for writing items for tests of basic reading skills. Following a discussion of how to choose appropriate items, how to word items, and how to select appropriate reading passages,…

A study skills course at the University of Minnesota Technical College Reading Center involves students by having them determine how study skills work for their situation, by using materials relevant to their academic classes, and by getting them to apply critical thinking to the learning process. Students conduct surveys, develop programs on good…

Remedial writers tend to be students who have never written very much, who come from families or neighborhoods in which more than one language may be spoken, and who have sensed their problems but have been unable or unwilling to do much to alleviate the difficulties. Unfortunately, the environment and attitudes of many college remedial programs…

Teaching grammar to freshman composition students can be accomplished without turning the class into a remedial course or expending an undue amount of either student or teacher energy. Before grammar can have meaning for students, however, writing itself must become important to them. The teaching of the mechanics of language, therefore, should…

Describes a regimented competency-based program for teaching writing to underprepared students; a controlled system with short term goals and clear, objective standards. (DD)

A skills program aimed at maintenance and custodial staff addresses often-neglected needs through a collaborative process using undergraduate student teachers as tutors. (Author)

A recent study of colleges and universities reports that there no longer exists anything resembling a common curriculum for all students. The report attributes this occurrence to a shift from colleges to universities with few basic course requirements and to the fact that institutions of higher education are now competing for students. (CP)

Summarizes 10 basic exam questions relating to distance, direction, time, and world interest that have confounded college freshmen entering a professor's geography classes over the past 15 years. Students bewildered by the pretest usually did not pass or even finish his course. Also, foreign students performed better than American students. (MLH)

This study investigated the performance of Alabama College System (ACS) students on a Basic Skills Test (BST) and compared it with non-ACS students' scores to determine whether there were significant differences in achievement. The Alabama Basic Skills Test is required of all students seeking admission to teacher education programs at Alabama…

Any debate about general education is seen as a debate about culture, curricula, and proportion; common or not so common values; the nature of knowledge and the desire and necessity of transferring traditions from one generation to the next; and the degree to which undergraduate study should emphasize specialization. (MLW)

Argues that teaching reading and writing is not a matter of correcting errors or teaching the five-paragraph essay. Claims that it is instead a process of interdependence between the public and private, the individual and the group. Calls for a recognition of the role of interpretation in all meaning-making. (HB)

Presents a description for an undergraduate course designed to ensure that all science students have access to basic abilities early enough to apply them in their major. Focuses on scientific writing, speaking, literature searching, career planning, and other valuable skills that can prepare students for upper-level courses and entry into the job…

Discusses how the development of communication curricula and content for basic communication courses represents a challenge for the field. Provides: an overview of the historical development of communication curricula as an integral dimension of higher education; recommendations of start points for developing departmental curricula; and resources…

A competency test for writing that tests writing competency as an interdisciplinary skill called "academic writing" has been developed at The American University. The test focuses heavily on the subject and lightly on the writer or on the writer's sensibility. It avoids asking the student to write introspective "meditations," to take and defend a…

A model basic speech communication course is described in this paper, along with guidelines for developing and maintaining a cognitive-basic skills approach to such a course. The course outline describes the university environment where the course is taught; the structure of the department offering the course; the philosophy and course objectives;…