While the quality and quantity of research on service-learning has increased considerably over the past 20 years, researchers as well as governmental and funding agencies have called for more rigor in service-learning research. One key variable in improving rigor is using relevant existing theories to improve the research. The purpose of this…

In this monograph, the authors identify milestones in the journey toward self-authorship based on the theoretical work of Kegan (1982, 1994) and Baxter Magolda (2001b, 2008, 2009a), as well as the empirical findings from Baxter Magolda's longitudinal study (2001b, 2009a) and the qualitative longitudinal portion of the Wabash National Study of…

The American Council on Education's Office of Research has instituted a large-scale data bank for research in American higher education. This cross-sectional and longitudinal data bank is available to the general community of scholars and administrators interested in student characteristics, student development, comparative institutional effects,…

A study compared three methods for measuring college student growth and development in the course of a college education: (1) gain scores; (2) residual scores; and (3) repeated measures. Analyses indicated that all three are seriously flawed, although repeated measures offer the greatest potential for adequately representing student change.…

The current status of research on experiential learning (primarily at the postsecondary level) is discussed, based in part on responses from a seven-member panel. Methodological considerations and proposed research agendas are also covered. Current research on experiential learning, which focuses on program design and impacts on the learner, falls…

An approach to higher education research that focuses on characteristics of and changes in the college student population in different countries and their effects on higher education is described and recommended. (MSE)

The good news is Strange's propositions offer a sharper focus to researchers of student development. The bad news is that the propositions imply a need to reconsider the ways researchers regard student change and the designs adopted to study it. Revisions in each area will challenge researchers' conceptual and methodological predictors. (BF)

Discusses student-teachers' awareness of research and its potential role in their work as teachers, both as methodology for themselves as practicing researchers-in-action and as material developed by others. Some of the influences that led to the rise of the "teachers as researchers" program are included. (KR)

This study predicted student achievement based on need for developmental study, investigating different students' types of censoring; variables influencing student achievement; and whether developmental study was appropriate for realizing student achievement. Participants were 403 community college students. Achievers were students who within four…

Five studies on college students are examined for their variety and meaning, and methodological advances leading to increased knowledge of factors affecting student progress are discussed. Researchers are challenged to overcome barriers to student growth identified in previous research. (Author/MSE)

British and U.S. preschool intervention projects are now reporting dramatic long-term follow-up findings that appear to vindicate the claim that preschool can serve as an "innoculation against failure," especially with disadvantaged children. However, important questions remain about the generalizability of these effects in other…

An input-output model for studying student outcomes is examined, along with the results of a longitudinal study using this approach. An Entering Student Survey was designed to measure characteristics of incoming students, including demographics, expectations, and aspirations. A Follow-up Survey measured outcomes that were relevant to the college's…

The Six Performance Characteristics rating, An Alverno College assessment technique used in the outcome-centered liberal arts curriculum, is discussed. The technique provides a means for faculty to judge students in a systematic way over time on developmental characteristics that apply to their performance across disciplines and across competence…

This report summarizes and documents the major technical aspects of the High School and Beyond First Follow-Up survey. Student data were collected (through questionnaires and tests) from samples of the 1980 High School and Beyond Base Year survey sophomore and senior cohorts, and school data from administrators. High school transcripts for a…