This content analysis examines the topics, trends, and issues impacting developmental education and its professionals as evaluated by interviews that have appeared in the "Journal of Developmental Education" ("JDE") between the issuance of Volume 1 through Volume 39. A total of 76 interviews were analyzed with attention to…

This paper offers ideas towards a solution of some of the problems that arise due to the extension of higher education to an ever wider range of students: especially student drop-out. It suggests that, as far as is practical, the design and delivery of higher education should be based upon the major changes or transitions which the students…

This paper discusses the results of the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI) administered to college students in order to identify similarities and differences between time of diagnosis of a learning disability and the development of learning strategies related to will, self-regulation, and skill components. Findings indicate that early…

Discusses ways that the Learning Assistance Center (LAC) at California State University, Long Beach, has developed to assist large numbers of students to develop learning skills. Describes LAC's classroom learning skills workshops; time management workshop; study/reading workshop; and management strategies used to elicit and maintain faculty…

Describes the developmental studies learning program at Georgia State University (GSU), focusing on two services: supplemental instruction, or extra tests and study groups directly related to course content, and adjunct course offerings, or learning-strategies instruction related to courses. Provides 10 steps for expanding the role of academic…

Reports on a study of first-year college students who received instruction in metacognitive awareness for reading and writing. Describes metacognitive teaching strategies such as use of reflective journals or "reading logs," in which students recorded their thought processes as they read text and wrote papers. States that analyses of logs…

Argues that instructors involved in academic assistance must become familiar with the academic demands their students face in different content courses. Discusses four methods to gather such information, and shows how to identify relevant strategies for students to practice with actual course texts. (SR)

Presents examples of developmental students who support each other both personally and academically during the transitional first year of college. Describes the learning communities program, in which linked developmental classes specifically encourage cross-disciplinary learning and peer collaboration. Emphasizes the necessity for students to take…

Stresses the importance of questioning as a key element in the art of learning. Defines three types of questions: (1) multisystem, which considers more than one relevant viewpoint in thinking through a problem, issue, or question; (2) one-system, which can be tested with a multiple-choice format; and (3) no-system, which are matters of sheer…

Describes administration of the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI) to three groups of United States Military Academy students in order to evaluate changes in student performance as a result of taking a student-success course (RS101). LASSI measures students' affective growth upon completion of the RS101 course and their growth in…

Examined the effects of goal instability on performance of students enrolled in learning skills courses (N=60). Results showed students with high goal instability had lower grade point averages than students with low goal instability. (BH)

Results of a study involving 55 developmental studies college students indicate that regardless of reading competency levels, prior knowledge activation plus advance warning of possible inconsistencies in the text apparently facilitate students' comprehension of counterintuitive science text better than activation alone. (IAH)

Reports on a study at North Carolina State University that examined the use of electronic mail to encourage critical literacy among college developmental reading students. States that randomly selected students were paired with professionals who served as online mentors. Reports that, after one semester, this group scored higher than the control…

Compares the effects of explicit instruction of the Preread-Read-Organize-Review (PROR) textbook reading strategy in a course-based context (where students apply reading strategies to their own college textbooks) versus a content-based context (where students apply reading strategies only to texts provided in the reading class). Draws no…

Concludes that the keyword method is effective means of vocabulary learning in the college classroom. (FL)