Introduces the articles in this issue on AIDs in various minority groups, with implications for social workers to improve prevention and education stategies. There is significant knowledge about AIDS, and attitudes related to the illness are more positive in the 1990s than in the 1980s. Suggests that having this information does not necessarily…

Surveyed approximately 600 secondary students in rural southeast Nebraska about AIDS knowledge and attitudes. Rural students were considerably more knowledgeable about AIDS transmission and severity than urban students in a similar survey in San Francisco. The overwhelming majority of rural students considered AIDS a serious problem and wanted to…

Epistemological beliefs of 146 male and 252 female university students were examined as a function of their educational level and field of study. Epistemological beliefs can be represented in terms of five factors. Students' beliefs about learning are a product of the activity, the culture, and the context. (SLD)

This article, written in French, describes and evaluates the first phase of a program to prevent drug addiction among 110 fifth-grade girls with behavior problems in Montreal (Quebec, Canada). Evaluation of the instructional program showed positive results for student knowledge level, attitudes, and behaviors and supported program continuation…

Self-regulation of 32 college students learning from instructional texts was studied through computer display and online assessment of self-regulatory activities. Online measures of self-regulation were associated with both text comprehension and knowledge applications, but offline verbal reports on self-regulation activities did not correlate…

A survey of 46 states found that about half the states are using or studying special education teacher competency tests. The paper analyzes survey results by specific content areas being tested, including basic knowledge, identification and characteristics of special needs students, processing skills, assessment, learning theory, teaching…

The study, with 26 junior high learning-disabled students, found that students' predominant conception and application of revision to written work was correction of errors. Fewer than half of all revisions were rated as improvements. The only type of revision that positively affected overall quality was addition of T-units. (Author/DB)

Compared the agricultural knowledge systems (AKS) of the Netherlands and Israel; analyzed the features that made the systems effective and applicable to other countries. The analysis discovered eight elements that explain the success of these AKSs and demonstrated the value of comparative case studies. (JOW)

To explore the mathematics knowledge of teachers from two alternative certification programs, researchers analyzed interview data from the beginning of the programs and the end of the first teaching year. Most subjects could use algorithms, but many could not explain them. They appeared ill-prepared to help students develop mathematical…

Instructional materials on hypoglycemia, foot care, and exercise were developed and field tested with 98 diabetes patients who had low vision and/or low literacy. A pretest and posttest revealed an 81% reduction in wrong answers overall and a 72% reduction in wrong answers by a subset with low vision. (Author/DB)

Examined preservice teachers' ability to use component-specific feedback to positively influence elementary students' performance on overhead throw. Researchers developed an instrument to record teachers' verbal behaviors concurrent with student performance. Analysis of videotapes indicated teachers had content knowledge but limited ability to…

Two studies involving 274 Air Force recruits and 163 college students, respectively, investigated the relationship between priming effects and declarative knowledge acquisition within repetitive practice models. Individual differences in repetition-priming effects uniquely predicted learning differences relative to other cognitive measures.…

The performance of candidates in Northern Ireland "A" level Chemistry in 1989 and 1990 was compared to investigate whether the change from "O" level to the General Certificate of Secondary Education at 16 had any significant influence. The main influence identified was the introduction of the assessment of coursework in 1990.…

The roles that knowledge, motivational variables, and approaches to study play in academic success were explored for 104 undergraduates. A path model was proposed and tested, providing a basis for beginning to understand how the approaches to study students select may mediate between knowledge, beliefs, and achievement. (SLD)

Shares a model for a teacher education portfolio, presents reasons why portfolios might be useful for assessment in teacher education programs, delineates characteristics of an educational portfolio, and describes how to design and develop portfolios. Also includes case examples. (SM)