The "DATAWave" is a biweekly publication of the Assessment Resource Office (ARO) at Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU). Its purpose is to inform the campus community and broader constituencies on assessment issues and practices at ENMU. The university's 10-year history of outcomes assessment is reflected in the topics of the 6 editions…

Attitudes about the University of Minnesota and characteristics of 384 students who applied to transfer to the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) were studied. It was found that 285 of the respondents enrolled in CLA for fall 1982, and 57 did not. When asked their reasons for enrolling or not enrolling, respondents most often cited the availability of…

This study investigated the effects of three aspects of language testing (test task, familiarity with an interviewer, and test method) on both tester and tested. Data were drawn from several previous studies by the researcher. Concerning test task, data were analyzed for the type of topic students wanted most to talk about or preferred not to talk…

Brief analyses are provided of presentations made at a conference, held at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, which addressed questions and answers relating to research and education. Conference sessions explored the role of research in relation to educational practices with special focus on theory, research, issues and application.…

The characteristics and experiences of college freshmen who entered private black colleges in 1976 and 1985 were compared, based on data from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program's "The American Freshman: National Norms." Attention was focused on socioeconomic status (SES), academic preparation and confidence, reasons for…

Papers on foreign language education include: "Beliefs About Language Learning: A Study of Korean University Students Learning English" (Susan N. Truitt), which looked at the influence of cultural background and experience on language learning attitudes; "Motivation as a Two-Sided Coin: Motivational Differences Between College-Level…

Four papers on second language learning are include. "Comparing Native and Nonnative Speakers' Error Correction in Foreign Language Writing" (Catherine A. Jolivet) examines differences between native and nonnative French speaking teachers in their error correction on students' compositions. "ESL Students' Opinions About Instruction in…