This project evaluated a program for enhancing student motivation as evidenced by improved academic growth and increased work completion. The targeted population consisted of fifth graders in a small school in a medium-sized rural community in the Midwest. The problem of lack of achievement motivation and lack of student concern about academic…

This volume on quality learning in higher education discusses issues of good practice particularly action learning and Total Quality Management (TQM)-type strategies and illustrates them with seven case studies in Australia and the United Kingdom. Chapter 1 discusses issues and problems in defining quality in higher education. Chapter 2 looks at…

An academic teacher at a maximum-security prison in Virginia conducted a study to determine how to improve instruction and motivate adult learners in a correctional facility. Data were collected through a survey that was distributed to 22 individuals and completed by 20 of them (2 academic teachers, 1 vocational instructor, 6 students, and 11…

How different evaluation formats affected test scores for different tracks of high school biology students was studied in an action research case study. For purposes of the study, "A" tracked students were generally college-bound; "B" tracked students were those who had no desire to attend college, especially those in vocational education, or who…

Problems in students completing homework may be related to lack of parental involvement and support, student attitudes and priorities, and the assigning of inappropriate and irrelevant homework. This action research project implemented and examined the effectiveness of increased communication with parents regarding homework, cooperative learning…

An interdisciplinary unit designed to modify racial attitudes of primary school students was implemented in a multicultural setting. The target group was a class of 27 second-grade students representing nine countries: the United States, Haiti, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Mexico, Ecuador, Pakistan, and China. Classroom problems included…

Background: The options for technology in an educational setting is growing exponentially. But the question remains, how can technology be used to improve reading instruction in an elementary classroom? It has been proposed that using an LCD projector to enable all students to see the text and pictures could increase reading comprehension.…

This action research study examines student reactions to a sixty-hour community service graduate requirement at an all-girl, Catholic high school; identifies reasons for the apathy and disdain with which students view the requirement; and suggests creating a service learning environment that will increase students' investment and interest in…

For seven years, the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE) was the primary standardized assessment instrument used by the adult education program of the Midwestern Intermediate Unit IV (MIUIV) of the Pennsylvania Department of Education Bureau of Adult Basic and Literacy Education. While reviewing its current assessment procedures, the MIUIV's…

The new Science and Technology Curriculum Framework recently issued in Taiwan advocates the teaching of integrated science and technology with greater emphasis on basic skills. Science teachers are not used to teach in this way, they need different abilities and skills in order to do so. Using various effective professional development strategies,…

A teacher who teaches General Educational Development preparation to at-risk teenagers in a nonprofit alternative education program called FutureWorks conducted a study to identify those elements of FutureWorks that keep students coming to the program. The study included the following data collection activities: a consensus-building activity to…

This action research study examined the problem of the loss of commitment to schoolwork by middle level students as evidenced by missing assignments; late work, incomplete work, or both; and an attitude of indifference on the part of the students. The study also reviewed a variety of strategies to improve student learning and students' view of…

This series of five short papers describes an interdisciplinary, community action research project in Newfoundland that sought to enhance and extend the traditional and technological literacy of adults. The papers were part of an action research project conducted by the directors and tutors which made computers available in community resource…

Issues surrounding teaching competencies in family literacy programs were examined in a study of two well-established Even Start sites in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The program, which served 34 ethnically diverse adult learners, offered 25 hours of adult basic education, general educational development (GED), and…

Because an English-as-a-second-language (ESL) teacher in Pennsylvania observed from the intake questionnaires completed by her students that many ESL students lack short- and long-term goal-setting skills, she undertook an action research project to help ESL students develop the short- and long-term goal-setting skills needed for educational,…