An analysis of the use of English by some Chinese postgraduate students and visiting scholars in Britain, in terms of the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing), identifies the frequency and level of difficulty of certain activities that involve the use of English and the most helpful activities for improving a given…

This report results from studies that tested two variations of Bloom's decreasing variability hypothesis using performance on successive units of achievement in four graduate classrooms that used mastery learning procedures. Data do not support the decreasing variability hypothesis; rather, they show no change over time. (SM)

Reports and interprets the results of a survey of international graduate students' attitudes toward English. The functions and varieties of English are considered and the worldwide role of English is discussed. Research suggests that students lack awareness of issues such as nativization of English. (Author/JL)

Explores ways in which expert and novice roles are constituted and maintained in an academic counseling encounter. Characterizes the meeting as a socializing, problem-solving event and uses functional linguistics and discourse analysis to describe how the counselor and student mark stance through linguistic choices such as polarity, modality,…

Explores communication technology as an instructional tool in relationship to quality of interaction, individual productivity, group productivity, and satisfaction with the learning environment. Discusses collaborative learning skills and examines differences in graduate students' perception using groupware versus face-to-face learning.…

Describes a preliminary test on graduate students of a software tool designed to perform computations required in event sequence analysis, that will enable researchers to measure and empirically test student interactions and critical thinking in threaded discussions. Explains the Discussion Analysis Tool (DAT) and suggests implications for…

Explores the creation of a computer laboratory that was built for the graduate program in planning, policy, and leadership studies. Provides background information and a description of the laboratory. Discusses the training and orientation of the users, general maintenance of the laboratory, the personnel, and the maintenance costs involved. (CMK)

Uses a corpus of spoken English from an Irish university setting to examine how engaged listenership is signaled in meetings between tutors and graduate students. Three strategies examined include minimal response tokens, non-minimal tokens, and simultaneous speech and interruptions. These were found to differ quantitatively and functionally and…

Presents a study that explored the relationship between music and nonmusic majors' real-time responses to a piece of twentieth century music. Explains that the undergraduate nonmusic majors and undergraduate and graduate music majors manipulated a Continuous Response Digital Interface dial. (CMK)

Studied how performance on a standardized writing assessment might influence graduate admissions decisions if, along with test scores, test takers' essays were made available to admissions committees. Results for 27 test takers(2 essays each) suggest that the availability of examinee essays would have little, if any, influence on admissions…

Makes sense of the performance of Steve Taylor's play, "Ties That Bind," from the perspective of the actors, 14 faculty members, and doctoral students from various universities in the United States by using the interpretive lens of Erving Goffman's Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. (SG)

This experimental study used graduate student participants to investigate the comparative perceptibility of hypertext navigation buttons in various configurations, using pictorial symbols and text labels. Findings indicate that buttons with both pictorial symbols and text labels resulted in significantly less user confusion. (Author/LRW)

A survey of graduate students enrolled in computer-mediated conferencing courses and a follow-up analysis of help seekers who used a dedicated hotline found that many students had encountered computer communication difficulties. Students varied in their ability to solve these problems and in their attitudes toward them. (Author/LRW)

Highlights some of the foci that emerged from the Speech Communication Association's 1996 summer conference on graduate education in communication. Discusses communication and the higher education scene; the job market; preparing future faculty; recruitment, retention, and diversity; quality of programs; and other issues. (SR)

Explores how the understanding of graduate students' special needs and circumstances enhances counseling of this population. Looks at stress factors, educational preparation, delayed gratification, achieving autonomy, intellectual development, and the counseling process. Emphasizes the importance of establishing trust in the therapeutic dialog so…