Most distance-education programs involve getting students in small, rural schools, or schools with limited resources, hooked up with teachers in large districts or in community colleges and universities. Schools need to keep a close eye on possible implementation problems and document results. Sidebars list six suggestions for distance teachers…

Presents an upper-division Spanish class combining theoretical readings on literacy and hands-on tutoring at reading programs for Spanish-speaking adults as a model for a course with service learning. Undergraduates gain both theoretical and practical knowledge of key issues concerning literacy while providing a needed service to a neglected…

Reviews research on proficiency levels attained by foreign language students, and describes an advanced Russian conversation course, which is geared toward students who have achieved intermediate-mid or intermediate-high oral proficiency and who are striving towards advanced level speech according to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign…

Project ProBase (problem-based technology curriculum) is a National Science Foundation funded project designed to develop an innovative curriculum that more adequately prepares high school technology education students for success in advanced technical studies at the community college level. The purpose of the project is to design and test…

This article reports results of an exploratory study examining factors that might be associated with achievement in mathematics and participation in advanced mathematics courses in Canada, Norway, and the United States of America (USA). These factors, which were not directly related to schooling accounted for large degrees of variability, 24% to…

This study examines an innovative course pedagogy developed to increase learning of advanced financial concepts and positively affect attitudes of non-traditional graduate students toward the discipline of finance in a non-traditional Master of Business Administration program. The hypothesis tested is that use of innovative instructional methods,…

Black and Latino students are still underepresented in upper-level math classes in the United States, a fact which has serious implications for their academic achievement and futures. Walker provides six suggestions for how educators can encourage more black and Latino students to successfully take higher level math courses: (1) Expand our…

A qualitative, ethnographic investigation of a Canadian, undergraduate, advanced Hebrew course composed of heritage language learners of diverse backgrounds examined the fluctuating notion of the target language (TL) community in second language teaching. Data collection techniques of participant observation, in-depth, semi-structured focus group…

This study examined whether offering daily extra credit quizzes predicted exam performance in an advanced psychology course (n = 36). Results revealed that extra credit performance was a strong predictor of exam performance, above and beyond gender, college grade point average, and ACT scores. In addition, results suggested that nearly half of the…

This discussion describes standards developed by Villa Julie College (Maryland) to avoid arbitrarily designating courses as "upper-level." Initially the school established a double concept of quality: either the absolute or "floor" sense (taken from minimum standards of accreditation) or the relative or "ceiling"…

Distance learning provides special or advanced classes in rural schools where declining population has led to decreased funding and fewer classes. With full-motion video using digital fiber, two or more sites are connected into a two-way, full-motion, video conference. The teacher can see and hear the students, and the students can see and hear…

Bringing journals into upper-level foreign language classes painlessly involves students in the exploration of the second language and the writing process. The unstructured nature of journal writing allows for a free range of writing exercises that upgrade student language proficiency and help increase their control of grammar, structure, and…

An examination of translation and conference interpretation as well-established academic professions focuses on how they should be taught in order to maintain the integrity of the two professions and the highest standards in their exercise. An introductory section answers the question, "Can translation and interpretation be taught?,"…

In 1985-86 several small school districts in rural New York State began cooperating to offer advanced high school courses via audio-graphic telecommunications. Evaluation of the Tele-Learning project's second year used a case study approach to examine four diverse programs: advanced placement English, advanced placement calculus, Spanish III, and…

Observation and investigation indicate that academic writing tasks are generally quite different from those required in standard English composition courses, with respect to both process and product. Writing instruction in English as a second language should prepare students for subject-matter writing tasks, focusing less on pure composition.…