Few descriptions of the graduate school experience are taken from the viewpint of the graduate student. The comments and real life experiences presented in this paper are not intended to dissuade potential students but to promote a serious discussion about the role and expectation of the graduate student. The paper opens by sharing thoughts on…

Traces the relationship between human development and education through various philosophies. Explores differences in early forms of understanding, the goals of education, and the kinds of knowledge that specific fields require. Encourages a form of apprenticeship to provide students with a model for bridging the gap between scholastic and…

Using identified factors that affect students' musical outcomes, this research study examined how instrumental music students attending "good" rural Appalachian high schools compared to other instrumental students. "Good" refers to those 12 Appalachian rural school districts identified as the best out of 46 rural county school…

Researchers on the Lasting Benefits Study (LBS) are tracking students who participated in Tennessee's K-3 Student/Teacher Achievement Ratio (STAR) Project (1985-89) as they continue into later grades. Project STAR was a statewide experiment conducted to demonstrate the effects of reduced student/teacher ratios (15:1) on student achievement…

This study examined the internal/external (I/E) frame of reference model of self-concept (Marsh, 1986) with higher education students in Hong Kong (n=274). Structural equation models relating English and math achievement (both requirements for university entrance) to English and math self-concepts replicated the I/E model in that paths leading…

This paper suggests that instruction in general and lecturing in particular are too often characterized by dogmatic approaches to content definition and selection. The methods employed by many teachers tend to suggest to students that the teacher is the primary source of knowledge in a given subject area, that answers are either right or wrong,…

This investigation at a southern Texas school district examined three factors that bear on teachers' decisions to recommend first- and second-grade students for retention: (1) criteria used by teachers, (2) degree to which criteria are common among teachers, and (3) relationship of recommendations for promotion or retention to objective measures…

The purpose of this report is to describe, evaluate, and validate a pilot assessment center (AC) established in the Center for Leadership and Personal Development at the U.S. Military Academy to develop cadets on job skills needed by newly commissioned officers in the U.S. Army. The AC programs employ a leadership evaluation development method…

A variety of departmental and student outcomes data was obtained and analyzed from faculty and graduating seniors in 27 academic departments located at a university classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a Research II institution. The purpose of the study was to determine: (1) whether strong research orientation by an academic department…

Teachers have the paradoxical dual responsibility of fostering children's personal autonomy while ensuring that the children follow necessary rules affecting their health, safety, and educational development. Unfortunately, it is not always easy to determine when children should be allowed freedom and when they need regulation, and on occasion…

An analysis was done of methods for dealing with cultural insensitivity found on predominantly white university campuses and of strategies for remedying the dissatisfaction of students from minority groups with their college experience. The analysis used Arthur Chickering's vectors of development theory and Alexander Astin's theory of student…

This study attempted to validate the use of academic growth and development items from Tennessee alumni surveys as measures of program quality and effectiveness at the University of Tennessee (UTK), Knoxville. The argument is made that it is essential that the instruments used to assess students educational outcomes be valid measures of the goals…

Researchers of performance assessment in social studies have contrasted authentic assessment, which is characterized by contextualized, complex intellectual challenges, with multiple choice tests of achievement, which are characterized as fragmented and static. In calling for the need for authentic assessment, this paper outlines a plan for the…

This paper addresses the issue of the equitable participation of minorities in higher education. Evidence of the magnitude of the problem is presented in discussions which address: (1) enrollment trends; (2) the persistence of minority students in academic study; and (3) the time required of minority students to complete their academic studies. It…

Although much has been written in support of a student development role for the student affairs professional, research documentation is lacking on the contributions made by student affairs staff to the development of students. A simple research methodology, which could be easily replicated on college campuses, to begin providing these missing data…