The authors of this paper examine the use of formative assessment as a tool to assist teachers of mathematics to become more mindful developers of curricula. They focus on instructional design that is based on careful examination of student answers to questions. Empirical studies have shown the effectiveness of formative assessment for students, and recent theoretical work indicates that the positive feedback aspect of formative assessment stimulates self-regulation and transformation,...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Mathematics Teachers, Instructional Design, Feedback, Formative Evaluation,...
Childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the U.S. University health and physical education programs have a unique opportunity to assist in childhood obesity prevention through service-learning programs. However, prior to the implementation of service-learning curricula, it is imperative to gain insight in the unique needs of the selected community. The purpose of this study was to understand a service-learning community through exploring parent, teacher, and student perceptions...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Prevention, Physical Education, Health Education, Focus Groups, Family Involvement,...
Since language is socially mediated and context dependent, it would be expected that learners' use of language learning strategies may vary with the environment. Using the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) (Oxford, 1990), this study examines the language learning behaviors and thought processes of two geographically and socio-educationally different groups by comparing learning strategy use as reported by 428 monolingual Korean and 420 bilingual Korean-Chinese university students....
Topics: ERIC Archive, Comparative Analysis, Language Usage, Monolingualism, Metacognition, English (Second...
The study describes the extent of change in students' cognitive expectations after going through an Introductory Physics course. Cognitive expectations are beliefs about the learning process and the structure of knowledge. Using the Maryland Physics Expectations (MPEX) survey, the students' responses reflected the highest level of agreement with the "experts' response" in the following clusters: independence, math link, reality link, and effort link. The study has shown that students...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Liberal Arts, Physics, Business Education, Introductory Courses, Student Attitudes,...
This paper investigates the questions and considerations that should be discussed by administrators, faculty, and support staff when designing, developing and offering a hybrid (part online, part face-to-face) degree program. Using two Web questionnaires, data were gathered from nine instructors and approximately 450 students to evaluate student and instructor perceptions and opinions of hybrid instruction and activities. In comparison to prior research, the results of this study offer larger...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Technology, Distance Education, Program Development, Curriculum...
Growing perceptions that students exploit information technology to evade academic assignments prompted surveys of student attitudes about unethical uses of information technology (e.g., cutting and pasting excerpts from Web sites without attribution) at two institutions. Students at a private church-affiliated college rated cheating behaviors as more offensive than their counterparts at a regional campus of a major research university. However, ordinal rankings of academically dishonest...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Student Attitudes, Personality Traits, Research Universities, Ethics, Cheating,...
We further evaluated the Virtual Lecture Hall (VLH) (Cramer, Collins, Snider, & Fawcett, in press), an instructional computer-based platform to deliver PowerPoint slides threaded with audio clips for later review. Students from either an in-class or online section (ns = 810 and 74 respectively) of introductory psychology had access to live recorded lectures via the VLH, made available through the course Web site. Approximately 45% of in-class and 78% of online students used the resource...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Psychology, Lecture Method, Online Courses, Introductory Courses, Web Sites, Student...
Scores on a vocabulary test given at the beginning of two semesters in a large entry-level course predicted performance on multiple-choice exams more strongly than pre-course knowledge and critical thinking. Words on the vocabulary instrument were derived from multiple-choice exam items in the course. Although commonly used in the course, these words were not specific to the technical content of the course. Students took the vocabulary instrument at the beginning and end of the semester, with...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Vocabulary Development, Multiple Choice Tests, Scores, Introductory Courses, Critical...
This two-phase study integrated quantitative and qualitative research methods to investigate the relationship between success outcomes of two-year college students with disabilities and self-determination, and how students with higher and lesser degrees of self-determination understand and describe the outcomes of their post-secondary experience. The "ARC Self-Determination Scale" (Wehmeyer & Kelchner, 1995) and the "Demographic and Outcomes Survey" (researcher...
Topics: ERIC Archive, College Students, Disabilities, Research Methodology, Qualitative Research, Self...
Knowledge of the strategies used by English as a foreign language (EFL) or second language (ESL) readers can help instructors teach these techniques and thereby enhance their students' reading comprehension. The present study compared three categories of reading comprehension strategies (metacognitive, cognitive, and socio-affective) to determine their effects on 31 EFL students' reading comprehension. A standard reading comprehension test taken from the First Certificate in English (FCE) and a...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Inferences, Metacognition, Reading Comprehension, English (Second Language), Second...
In a previous article published in the "Journal of College Reading and Learning," we presented the results of a self-study of our commitment as faculty and staff members to providing a multicultural learning experience for our students. This follow-up article provides the findings of a study conducted during spring semester 2004 to explore student perceptions of their multicultural experiences within the same academic unit. In the discussion that follows, we also address differences...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Cultural Pluralism, Student Attitudes, Student Surveys, Individual Differences,...
Group work is a widely used learning approach in higher education where it is seen as encouraging the development of collaborative skills and attitudes while producing an assessable product. Group assignments can, however, create dilemmas and tensions for both staff and students. Students often seek academic intervention in the form of support and dispute arbitration; and the types of interventions employed to deal with issues arising during and after group work, and the effectiveness of the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Countries, Intervention, Assignments, Cooperative Learning, Higher Education,...
The goals of this project were to 1) assess obesity status and body satisfaction among African American college students, and 2) to compare differences in these variables between students at a predominantly white university (PWU) and a historically black college and university (HBCU). Four hundred and two undergraduate females completed a self-administered survey (199 HBCU and 203 PWU). The mean BMI for all respondents was 25.24 plus or minus 5.56. There was no significant difference between...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Housing, Females, Wellness, Obesity, Black Colleges, African American Students, Data...
Adolescents and young adults are likely to be sexually active and interested in sexual ethics. In order to tap into this interest and assist in their intellectual development, a sexual ethics continuum teaching strategy was developed during four semesters with six sections of two different college courses. A total of 52 behaviors of interest to students were identified and rated by students as ethically ideal, ethically allowed, or ethically forbidden. A combination of quantitative and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Teaching Methods, Educational Strategies, Adolescents, Young Adults, College...
Conducted for the Bringing Theory to Practice project, this literature review examines the theoretical and research bases for linking engaged learning, student mental health and well-being, and civic development. The findings of this review are discussed briefly in this article. Current prevention literature recommends a shift from targeted interventions toward community-level approaches in addressing students' mental health concerns. In this article, the author presents a definition of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Practices, Mental Health, Well Being, Time on Task, Learning Processes,...
The widespread use of student evaluations to rate faculty has raised the question of whether high student evaluations can be gained simply through the process of faculty giving higher grades to students, or whether learning of students is a critical factor in such evaluations. Four different models were tested which represented different relationships between students= expected student grades and student evaluations of the quality of instructors, with and without student motivation, ability,...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Program Effectiveness, Comparative Analysis, Motivation, Student Evaluation, Grades...
Some women have various misconceptions about technology careers. Some of them think that one has to be a geek in order to become a computer scientist. When the Women in Computing Group at Indiana University (WIC@IU) was looking for ideas on how to increase the number of women in computing majors at IU, the authors realized that women were turning away from technology careers before they arrived at college. The authors realized that the solution in convincing women to pursue technology careers...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Womens Education, Careers, Majors (Students), Females, Computer Science,...
Self-regulated learners engage in self-generated thoughts, actions, and feelings while pursuing academic goals. The most successful learners use appropriate learning strategies and maintain high levels of motivation. Few studies on the self-regulation of learning have examined individual differences such as gender and ethnicity among college students. The study examined gender and ethnic differences in the relationships between academic performance, self-regulation, motivation, and delay of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, College Students, Delay of Gratification, Self Efficacy, Academic Achievement,...
The focus of this study was art therapy students' and professionals' perceptions of their preparedness to understand and deal with technology as an art media and work tool within the practice of art therapy. To study the need for training in technology, surveys were sent to 177 current art therapy students and practicing art therapists resulting in a 32.2% return rate. The survey targeted American Art Therapy Association (AATA) members who were either current students or practicing art...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Art Therapy, Professional Training, Computer Literacy, Attitude Measures, College...
This inquiry examines the strengths of male art therapists and art therapy students using the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS) survey that measures character strengths. Among this sample of 21 men, two signature strengths emerged most often and had the highest total scores: "curiosity and interest in the world" and "appreciation of beauty and excellence." Connections are made between these signature strengths and assumptions in the literature regarding...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Males, Art Therapy, Counseling Techniques, College Students, Individual...
The present study investigated the satisfaction of international students. The factor analysis revealed the three factors of "learning and research", "living and adaptation" and "Japanese language ability". The ten variables were used to predict the satisfaction of international students and found five significant variables in predicating the satisfaction of international students. These were suitability of curriculum, progress of research, having a good friend,...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Part Time Employment, Language Skills, Path Analysis, Language Aptitude, Factor...
Many statistics educators believe that few students develop the level of conceptual understanding essential for them to apply correctly the statistical techniques at their disposal and to interpret their outcomes appropriately. It is also commonly believed that the sampling distribution plays an important role in developing this understanding. This study clarifies the role of the sampling distribution in student understanding of statistical inference, and makes recommendations concerning the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Statistical Inference, Learning Strategies, Sampling, Statistics, College Students,...
This paper focuses on the construction, development, and use of mathematical models by prospective science and mathematics teachers enrolled in a university physics course. By studying their involvement in an inquiry-based, experimental approach to learning kinematics, we address a fundamental question about the meaning and role of abstraction in modelling when such approaches involve students encountering and resolving experimental error. We use a "tensions" framework to explore the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Teaching Methods, Physics, Mathematics Teachers, Science Teachers, Mathematical...
Each generation of students inevitably must confront anew the fundamental questions of meaning and value that have vexed human beings down through the ages. As students have struggled with these "Big Questions," individually and collectively, liberal education has traditionally sought to provide them with a variety of cultural and historical perspectives, as well as to foster their analytical ability to confront and explore answers, necessarily provisional and often competing, for...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Student Interests, Liberal Arts, Religion, Social Values, General Education, College...
According to a study of student religiosity conducted by the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), 80 percent of students express a strong interest in spirituality. They are not only spiritual, but they are also religious. Over half of all students attend religious services at least once per month. Indeed, according to the UCLA study, eight students in ten attended religious services during the past year. Almost eight students in ten believe in God. The recent proposal by Harvard...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Religion, Religious Factors, College Students, Spiritual Development, Moral Values,...
In this article, the author talks about big questions of meaning and value that young people pose and how to respond to their concerns about big questions. He relates the story of his granddaughter, Charlotte, who, at the age of one, would climb up on the stairs not from choice or whim, but "because they're there." For her, it was not play, but work, obligation, and a necessity that is programmed, hardwired into her developing brain. Watching Charlotte climb leads the author to...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Education Work Relationship, Student Development, College Students, Teacher Role,...
The authors' goal is to personalize some concerns of diverse student populations and encourage faculty to intentionally incorporate cultural inclusion into their pedagogy and their courses. Here, they share Julian's story, which is a composite of perspectives shared by the 219 participants in the National Black Male College Achievement Study, many of whom described similar approaches to assuming cultural ownership for their learning in classrooms on thirty predominantly white campuses. In light...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Teaching Methods, Classroom Environment, College Faculty, Cultural Awareness, African...
In recent years, there has been an increasingly pervasive discourse regarding the need for high levels of post-secondary education for life course success in a knowledge economy. Correspondingly, most Western industrialized nations have seen a drastic increase in university enrolment. Although we do know that access to university continues to be constrained by social class, we know little about factors contributing to dropping out of university. Using qualitative data obtained through...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Access to Education, Social Class, Correlation, Dropouts, First Generation College...
Social mobility carries with it a sense of loss. To be socially mobile is to move from one place, economically, culturally, personally, to another. One consequence of that loss, sometimes, is immobility--a paralysis brought on by the violent, forceful, uncertain rush of social mobility itself. The immobility of fear, the feeling stuck, the not being sure what educational successes have been hard-won and what scholarly failures should have been easy to swallow: these have been an integral part...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Social Mobility, Working Class, Social Class, Personal Narratives, College Faculty,...
In this description of a learning community for "at-risk" and basic writing students at the University of Wyoming, I outline the reasons our students resist academic writing prior to their entry into college--reasons largely unrelated to typical perceptions of at-risk students as "lazy" or intellectually less capable. For students who come from family or community cultures that are far removed from academic discourses and hierarchies, accepting a new form of writing--and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, High Risk Students, Critical Reading, Critical Thinking, Writing Processes,...
Given that student retention is now one of the leading challenges faced by colleges and universities, research seeking to understand students' reasons for attrition is of critical importance. Two factors influence students' underachievement and subsequent dropping-out of college: self-efficacy and goal orientation. Self-efficacy refers to peoples' judgments about their abilities to complete a task. Goal orientations refer to the motives that students have for completing tasks, which may include...
Topics: ERIC Archive, School Holding Power, Guidance, College Students, Self Efficacy, Grade Point Average,...
The study uses individual data from the Canadian Labour Force Survey to consider economic factors in university participation decisions by persons aged 17-24 from 1976 to 2003. The level of real tuition is one economic factor that may affect the university participation decision. There is also regional variation in the opportunity cost of university attendance; in the reduction in the probability of unemployment after obtaining a university degree; and in the proportion of university budgets...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Countries, Decision Making, Probability, Paying for College, Economic...
This research reports on college students' attitudes regarding alcohol abuse and rioting and beliefs about university- and community-based environmental management strategies to quell riotous behavior. Using a primarily qualitative research technique, the researchers explored attitudes toward recent rioting at a northeastern Big Ten University using a 16-item questionnaire containing mostly open-ended items. A selected sample of 150 students majoring in education or health and physical...
Topics: ERIC Archive, College Students, Antisocial Behavior, Qualitative Research, Student Attitudes,...
In higher education, competing demands for accountability and innovation in the face of globalization, technology, and budget cuts cause us to consider how best to prepare learners who will learn for a lifetime. We contend that a shift in our understanding of curriculum design to accommodate learner-centeredness will provide the framework for preparing graduates for a lifetime of learning. Learner-centered curriculum proposes to create highly developed individuals, providing them the skills to...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Curriculum Development, Curriculum Design, Global Approach, College Students,...
Results of a Canada-wide and a Quebec based study of students with a variety of disabilities in Canadian postsecondary education are presented. Study 1 involved 156 professionals. They represent 80% of the population of professionals who provide on-campus disability support services. Results indicate that (1) 8% of postsecondary institutions reported not having any students with disabilities, (2) overall, 2% of students are registered to receive disability related services from their...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Disabilities, College Students, Postsecondary Education, Distance Education,...
In an effort to assess student writing in a way that reflects current views of writing (i.e., as a social process supported by the interaction of a number of cognitive sub-processes), and yet still seeks to determine what students can do independently, it has become a common practice to include timed essays in student portfolios. However, this practice adds to the already heavy cognitive load, identified by Hamp-Lyons and Condon, that the assessment of portfolios places on readers. Here, I...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Portfolio Assessment, Student Evaluation, Essays, Writing (Composition), Revision...
In 1996, the State University of New York at New Paltz developed the Supplemental Writing Workshop Program for its basic writing students in response to public pressure to discontinue the offering of so-called remedial writing courses at four-year institutions. Our primary purpose in this article is to describe the design of the SWW Program, which we envision as a Seamless Support model of instruction. In this model, basic writing students receive extra support in the form of integrated writing...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Basic Writing, Writing (Composition), Graduation Rate, Writing Workshops, Tutoring,...
To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the publication of Mina Shaughnessy's groundbreaking book, "Errors and Expectations," a roundtable discussion was held at the March 2007 Conference on College Composition and Communication in New York City. This article, based on the earlier discussion, examines the question of CUNY's multiple identities within the legacy of Shaughnessy, who coined the term "basic writing" and founded the Journal of Basic Writing in 1975. Composition...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Basic Writing, Writing (Composition), Democracy, Open Enrollment, Urban Schools,...
A critical race analysis could provide both Aboriginal students and their university student advisors with knowledge to understand and potentially challenge the effects and processes of racialization that have historically, legally, and politically divided Aboriginal communities and families. Coalition and alliances can be made within and across the diversity within Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples' lives through a common understanding and commitment to anti-racist education. A critical...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Race, Multicultural Education, Racial Identification, Social Justice, Indigenous...
How can one teach a course about multiculturalism to a broad spectrum of university sophomores in a way that is research-based, pedagogically sound, and appealing--all in ten weeks? In this article, the author states that a course he teaches, "Multiculturalism in Education," examines cultural differences as they relate to social inequalities in schools and in other educational sites. He teaches the course with the following goals: (1) to explore different analytical orientations...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Multicultural Education, Role Playing, Perspective Taking, Cultural Pluralism,...
High on any required reading list for college-level student affairs officers and high school counselors is "Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation" by Neil Howe and William Strauss (2000). Experts on generational change in the United States, the authors contend that the current generation of college-age and pre-college-age students possesses many unique qualities that will both delight and challenge professionals working at various stages of the educational continuum. According...
Topics: ERIC Archive, School Counselors, Educational Trends, Cohort Analysis, Student Personnel Workers,...
The number of students with learning disabilities enrolling in colleges and universities is increasing each year. Affirming effectiveness of resources and programs meant to support students' integration into the campus community involves multilayered research, because the subjects must be self-advocating to get the full advantages the resources and programs provide. To test the development of these students, the researchers looked at the programs through students' success in three design...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Learning Disabilities, Academic Achievement, Academic Accommodations (Disabilities),...
This article presents two stories that represent a common paradigm shift at the community college level. The life journeys of Tony and Mary Ann are very different. Tony, a traditional-aged student, reluctantly entered his local community college because he was unable to prove, scholastically, that he was capable of handling the coursework at his choice flagship institution in the state. After spending four semesters at the community college, he not only proved he was able to compete...
Topics: ERIC Archive, College Students, Community Colleges, Adult Education, College Transfer Students,...
Red states, blue states. Maybe in politics there are differences, but when it comes to progressive transfer policies, the color-line division disappears. From the Northeast to the mid-Atlantic states to the Florida peninsula, across the Great Plains to the Southwest and on to California, state public higher education systems have made, and continue to make, great strides in recognizing the value of community college education. More importantly, they are taking leading roles in demonstrating how...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Higher Education, Community Colleges, Articulation (Education), Transfer Policy,...
The ability of students' social supports, such as friends from high school and family, to effectively lessen stress often wanes during students' transitions to postsecondary institutions. College, most often the best years of a student's life, at its first bloom (choosing a school) carries with it with high anxiety about changing location, routine and study habits; separation from friends; the learning environment; managing finances; and much more. On the positive side, college marks a period...
Topics: ERIC Archive, College Students, Gender Differences, Social Support Groups, Peer Relationship,...
First-generation and rural college students are considered by many retention theorists and practitioners to be an at-risk population. This study examined the details of the first semester in postsecondary education from the perspective of a group of students who met the demographic criteria of being first-generation to go to college, from rural geographical areas, and from agricultural backgrounds. It focused on the first semester experience, during its occurrence, and how six students of this...
Topics: ERIC Archive, First Generation College Students, At Risk Persons, Rural Education, Agricultural...
This research study examines the major obstacles low-income rural youth face in preparing to attend college and how to overcome these obstacles through the participation in an Upward Bound program. The data for this study are from a single-site of the regular ("Classic") Upward Bound program at a public university in a rural New England state and include surveys and interviews with students, guidance counselors, and parents and/or guardians of Upward Bound students. The results of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Rural Youth, Income, Eligibility, School Counselors, Rural Education, Disadvantaged,...
Survey data from 8,594 students in 55 randomly chosen colleges and universities finds that those having passed an AP science exam earn somewhat higher college science grades, but not enough to assume prior mastery. Moreover, half of this performance difference appears to be related to demographics and high school coursework and not to students' AP coursework. (Contains 4 figures, 4 tables and 26 footnotes.)
Topics: ERIC Archive, High School Students, Advanced Placement, Physics, Chemistry, College Credits,...
In this article, the author talks about the disproportionate gap in the graduation rates in colleges and universities, which highlights the need for the higher education community to rethink strategies for improving the retention of students of color. To increase the graduation rates of students of color, the author suggests addressing the issue of the hidden curriculum, the unwritten and unspoken values, dispositions, and social and behavioral expectations that govern the interactions between...
Topics: ERIC Archive, First Generation College Students, Higher Education, Graduation Rate, Affirmative...
According to Warren Bennis, professor at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business and a recognized authority on organizational development, leadership and change, becoming a leader is synonymous with becoming oneself. It is precisely that simple, and it is also that difficult. In career and technical student organizations (CTSOs), students are taking on that difficult challenge. These young people are still growing--"becoming themselves" as Bennis says--but...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Community Leaders, Health Occupations, Student Organizations, Leadership Training,...