Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program has been around for over 30 years and is seen as "one of the most important means for students to foster mentoring relationships with faculty and research staff." By analyzing data obtained through semi-structured interviews and survey results, a…

If teenagers do not find support at school, home, or in the community, then they will find it with peers, gangs, or other means. Subsequently, the importance of extra-curricular involvement for at-risk youth is reported in this paper; to what extent this involvement had potential to influence performance in academics is also examined. Involvement…

With teacher assistance and computer availability, composition students may use the World Wide Web as a valuable learning tool in the networked composition classroom and during personal studying time. The paper offers a list of six online providers and the number of subscribers for each. The paper then presents 118 selected web sites, including:…

Recommendations over a decade ago from the National Institute of Education have led to a paradigm shift in the teaching profession, based on changes in how knowledge is acquired, what role students play, and what purpose faculty members serve in the process. In the old paradigm, knowledge was transferred from faculty to student in what was…

As part of the research for a dissertation on composition at Bryn Mawr College during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, hundreds of student essays and daily themes were read. Over and over students affirmed the essential worth and significance of events in their daily lives and of their college education in general. More often than not,…

This book presents three models for teaching social studies to young children, each of which is based on use of the senses, concrete experiences, and opportunities to discuss observations. The models can be used as needed with children at differing levels since each addresses a particular level of development. The book focuses on a cognitive…

The Early Childhood Prevention Project (ECP) is an innovative effort to integrate psychosocial and educational approaches for promoting children's healthy development in elementary school. ECP takes a holistic approach to the prevention of academic and psychosocial problems and the promotion of students' educational and interpersonal development.…

This final report describes accomplishments of Project Discovery, a 3-year project in Kentucky to assist teachers in creating an innovative learning environment for gifted and talented primary-aged children. Major goals focused on and achieved by the project included: (1) increasing the percentage of disadvantaged students identified as gifted in…

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a variety of academic intervention programs designed to improve the success of "at risk" students at one university. Most programs were designed to either help students in a particular course (such as calculus or chemistry) or in a particular major. The performance benchmark used to assess…

This symposium paper reviews the literature on adult students in higher education and offers a model of their collegiate experiences. The review is organized according to the following themes: adults' experiences in higher education, social and psychological concerns, the role of the classroom, adult cognition, the adult-world surroundings, and…

This study investigated how six mentor teachers understood and negotiated their roles as mentors in an elementary professional development school (PDS). Data were collected over 18 months from mentor and intern journals, field notes, interviews, e-mails, meeting minutes, and transcripts from PDS meetings. Each teacher participated in interviews…

This study examined the impact of diversity on students' self-perceived improvement in the abilities necessary to contribute positively to a pluralistic democracy. It noted how such diversity-related campus activities as exposure to multicultural curricula and opportunities to study and interact with diverse peers affected student development. The…

As the guidance and counseling profession moves through the 1980s, diversity and contradictions within the profession endanger any major sense of mission. Discusses a number of separate, distinct movements that have marked the history of guidance in American education and a corresponding number of unique movements within counseling. (RC)

A survey of (N=423) community colleges showed 44 percent had human development/human relations classes. Results found a strong impact on improving self-concept, and modest impact associated with increasing retention and student employability. Little improvement of opportunity for student input into curriculum development was noted. (JAC)

Provides some facts about humanistic education programs and suggests parents and critics be aware of them. Discusses benefits including preventing drug abuse and improving academic achievement. Cites several studies which show benefits to both students and school personnel. (JAC)