Universities have been forced to confront the increasing placement of students into developmental courses and the subsequent lack of success students encounter. In an effort to better understand how students' attitudes and dispositions towards mathematics impact this trend, we explored the differences in nine characteristics between students in…

This longitudinal study examines community college students' evolving perceptions on the value of developmental education. Through a series of semi-structured interviews, students described what they perceived of the advantages of beginning their college careers in developmental reading and writing classes. These advantages included becoming more…

This two-year case study summarizes the views of students, instructors, and administrators toward a learning community program that served first-year developmental reading students at a public two-year college. One-on-one interviews and focus groups revealed that semester-long learning communities helped students overcome obstacles toward academic…

Students at a large urban community college enrolled in fourteen sections of a developmental algebra class. While cognitive variables are often used to place students, affective characteristics may also influence their success. To explore the impact of affective variables, students took ACT's Engage survey measuring motivation, academic-related…

In a program called "College Immersion," middle grades students spend up to one week on a local college campus, attending specially designed college classes and experiencing collegiate activities. This research study reports on findings related to two different college-middle school partnerships involved in a College Immersion program.…

This study brings together the theoretical and empirical practices of traditional informative education, radical transformative education, and sustainable education reform. An analysis of learning disability and constructivist learning are used to elucidate the socio-complexity of historic academic constructs concerning educational leadership for…

This qualitative study aims at explaining reading beliefs and behaviors of college students taking a developmental reading course through analyzing components of the students' self-systems. A student's self-system is comprised of many different factors that may or may not develop in tandem through experiences in and out of school (Borkowski, Carr,…

Being a student in an Australian university involves more pressure, and makes more demands on that student and his or her support networks than ever before. The variety in the configurations of pressures, demands and responsibilities faced by students means that it is impossible to characterise a "standard" student. Qualitative research…

Describes a continuing education course designed to develop students' confidence by equipping them with the skills needed for serious study. (JOW)

Compares qualitative and quantitative research in developmental program evaluation. Reports on a small-scale, field study evaluating the academic self-esteem of students in an academic skills program. Concludes that the exploratory and indicative nature of qualitative research can provide information on students' affective development and enhance…

This case study describes steps for implementing innovative learning communities that build basic skills and foster self-confidence in students at the developmental level. (Contains 1 figure and 1 table.)

Over a 27-year teaching career in schools in North London and the Zambian bush I have relished the challenge of helping the disaffected or reluctant learner. Most of my teaching was in the area of business and vocational education, where learners have often been placed not through choice but because they were not seen as high enough achievers to…

The phenomenon of student attrition is an increasingly challenging problem confronting American higher education. Unfortunately, there exists virtually no consensus on root causes; and disagreements continue over what intervention strategies might help to reduce the rates with which young collegians abandon their studies and leave campus. Data…

To take math anxiety out of math instruction, teachers need to first know how to easily diagnose it in their students and second, how to analyze causes. Results of a recent study revealed that while students believed that their math anxiety was largely related to a lack of mathematical understanding, they often blamed their teachers for causing…

The City University of New York (CUNY) New York City Technical College (New York) piloted an "immersion" developmental-studies program for CUNY applicants who failed one or more of three admissions assessments (reading, writing, mathematics). If successful, the program may serve as a case study for remediation reform. The program…