The effects of orienting activities and practice on performance and student behaviors in a cooperative learning environment were studied with 80 graduate education majors in an educational psychology course. A 2 x 2 factorial design was used, with orienting activity (advance organizer versus objectives) and type of practice (verbal information…

A program plan was developed at Butler University (Indiana) which responds to the call for teacher education reform. The Butler response incorporates research of the professional educational community; reflects the direction of the university at large and the college of education in particular; addresses the needs of students at the university;…

A directory of 173 doctoral dissertations in progress or completed in the early 1980s at 36 universities is presented that covers 7 areas related to the study of higher education. The directory was compiled by the ASHE Committee on Graduate Students, based on a survey of U.S. and Canadian professors of graduate programs in higher education. Each…

A study compared perceptions of institutional climate among four categories of female education students at the University of Utah: traditional age students (age 24 and under) who are Latter Day Saints (Mormons) or non-Latter Day Saints (non-LDS); and older students (age 25 and over) who are LDS or non-LDS. It was hypothesized that older students…

In the 1980s, American educators face a leadership challenge in a society which is in the process of converting from an industrial to an information based economy. The Educational Computer Consortium of Ohio has provided a network for teachers to learn about and share computer uses and public domain software. In the spring of 1980, the Department…

The analogy of "Spaceship Earth" is used to suggest the necessary elements of a teacher education program that is future-oriented and that can be effective in changing and maintaining desired attitudes and behavior, particularly in relation to dealing with significant global issues and processes. Rationales are provided for a global education…

This paper reports on the major findings of a 1982 national survey of personnel preparation programs in the field of special education. Initial goals of the study were to identify and classify existing programs (of 698 identified, 516 returned surveys) and to determine the percentage of special educators prepared in "small" programs. Results…

A survey of University of Tennessee College of Education graduate students (N=353) examined their attitudes toward faculty, curriculum, personal satisfaction, facilities, and administration. Students in all seven departmental groups rated faculty as most satisfactory and administration as least satisfactory. One administration item was rated…

This report on the supply of newly qualified teachers (NQTs) is based primarily on data from the Recent College Graduate Study of 1987. The survey, which was originally designed to provide information on NQTs alone, was expanded to cover graduates in all major fields of study; however, it continues to emphasize graduates qualified to teach at the…

The factor structure and reliability of an instrument for measuring attitudes of preservice teachers toward science were studied as part of a 5-year project at the University of Wyoming (Laramie) to improve the teaching of science at the elementary school level. The Attitudes towards Science and Scientists Scale (ATSSS) of J. R. Cummings (1969)…

Beginning teacher education students in two colleges and three universities were asked to describe their knowledge and perceptions of teaching and schools in the following areas: (1) the quality of K-12 schools; (2) characteristics of good and poor schools; (3) levels of school funding; (4) the quality of K-12 teachers; (5) characteristics of K-12…

This study sought information on the relationship between cognitive styles (conceptual level and field-independence/field-dependence) and entrance examination criteria of those accepted to teacher education at the University of Helsinki in 1980. The 96 subjects represented prospective class teachers and teachers of handicraft and home economics.…

The responsibility for ensuring that beginning teachers are competent to teach in the nation's classrooms should be that of teacher education institutions, according to the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE). Teacher education institutions must employ an assessment system that: (1) assesses specific competencies as…

This study compared the demographic characteristics and career aspirations of teacher education elementary and secondary school candidates. A sample of 174 elementary education majors and 178 secondary education majors completed the "Entering Teacher Candidate Survey," a 210-item questionnaire investigating high school background and activities,…

Courses taken for the bachelor's degrees are examined for specific majors and overall fields of study (i.e., education, humanities, social sciences, quantitative fields, and business). Analyses are based on college transcripts of 4,440 participants in the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972. Majors in quantitative fields…