This interim report was abstracted from the many research efforts conducted at Fox Valley Technical Institute and the Center for Vocational, Technical, and Adult Education, Univ. of Wis Stout. At Fox Valley, it was attempted to identify learning styles relevant to vocational-technical education, survey students and faculty concerning…

Describes a study of the attitudes of adult education instructors and administrators toward educational innovation in individualized learning, computer assisted instruction, curriculum change and innovation, and instructor and learner roles. While instructors accept potential value of innovations, they resist when there is vague policy,…

The introduction of computer and communications technology, and particularly the internet, into education has opened up some new possibilities for teaching and learning. Courses designed and delivered in an online environment offer the possibility of highly interactive and individually focussed teaching and learning experiences. However, online…

After determining the perceptions of postgraduate students at a distance education institution of the guidance they had experienced, a research project was launched to determine "lecturers'" views on supervision at the same institution. Data collection methods included focus groups, individual interviews and document analysis. Findings…

This guide explores using Total Quality Management/Developmental System Education (TQM/DSE) as a framework to improve educational outcomes in the classroom. Within the Total Quality paradigm, students and society are viewed as the customers of education; all programs provided at the school focus on meeting customer needs, resulting in improved…

This report presents stories, written by teachers in the northwestern United States, about their experiences with curriculum over the years. The stories come from several groups, including four teachers who wrote as individuals, one pair of close colleagues, and one interview with a team of educators. The teachers responded to questions about how…

Analyzes problems which inhibit group learning and considers factors which, in the perceptions of students and teachers, contribute to effective group learning, within the context of an academic library simulation for teaching library management to students. Practical strategies to develop educators' and trainers' skills in managing group learning…

This paper focuses on learner autonomy, noting that learner autonomy is not a matter of institutional mode but of learners' internal attitudes, and that learner autonomy entails an awareness of both self-direction and collaboration between the teacher and students and between students and students. The paper suggests that a teacher's attitude…

Observations and questionnaires were used to explore attitudes and behaviors of school staff that might influence student behavior differentially in secondary schools with high and low suspension rates. Students, teachers, and administrators in low suspension schools all judged school climate more positively than did their counterparts in high…

Describes teachers' understanding of individualized instruction by presenting data collected from interviews with seven elementary school instructors. Finds a positive relationship between teachers' understanding of individualized instruction and their moral development as measured by the Defining Issues Test. Provides a number of interpretations…

Investigates how clinical psychology graduate students and faculty at nine universities perceive the student role and student control over the academic environment. Despite high correlation between student and faculty attitudes toward student characteristics needed for success, students rated stress management significantly higher. Suggests that…

An ethnographic, multiple case study research design was used to examine factors that support a successful high school distance education program. Three classrooms from different high schools, each taking the same nationally-offered distance education physics course during the 1994-95 school year, participated. The course was delivered live, via…

A detailed description is provided of the variable, constructivism versus behaviorism (CVSB), which is part of the analysis in phase I of the Evaluation of Practices in Individualized Schooling. The variable is defined; the questionnaires on which the variable is based are listed; the procedures used to scale the variable are explained; the…

Twenty primary grade teachers of inner-city, lower class, Afro-American students and 20 primary grade teachers of suburban middle class white students were interviewed using George A. Kelly's 'Rep Test' technique, in order to elicit the categories or constructs through which they customarily perceived their students. Two judges applied content…

The author examines innovative governance patterns in 25 independent schools around the country. Among student concerns are student councils, honor committees, students in advisory capacities, faculty-student senates, all-school meetings, and constitutions. Faculty concerns cover faculty associations, salary scales, faculty representation on…