The driving force of process education is its focus on students'"learning to learn." This paper describes an approach to teaching computer science which includes classroom management; the adaptation of four different courses to follow the process education approach; successes achieved; and students' responses. The courses are conducted in closed…

For several semesters, a professor of higher education at the University of Memphis, in Tennessee, has incorporated electronic mail and the Internet into assignments and classes, including a course on community colleges. At the beginning of courses, a list of e-mail addresses is compiled and distributed to students to enhance communication.…

This digest focuses on verbal and nonverbal communication behaviors in the college classroom. The digest reviews research on the kinds of behaviors instructors, many of whom are graduate teaching assistants (GTAs), exhibit, and students' reactions to and attitudes about those behaviors. The digest also reviews research on teacher immediacy…

In language arts classes a "composition" generally refers to a written text. Semiotic theory based on C. S. Peirce's work suggests that writing is only one of many forms of composition available for mediating thought and activity. According to J. V. Wertsch (1991), writing should be one tool in a tool kit of mediational means available…

The Swassing-Barbe Modality Index (SBMI) uses visual, auditory, and tactile inputs, but only reconstructed output, to measure children's modality strengths. In this experiment, the SBMI's three input modalities were crossed with two output modalities (spoken and drawn) in addition to the reconstructed standard to result in nine treatment…

A study examined student responses to teacher comments on a student essay. First-year students at the Citadel, an all-male military school, imagined they wrote a paper on which a teacher had made 16 comments (eight positive and eight negative, eight having implied answers, eight having open-ended answers) and then rated those comments based on how…

Study-abroad programs are among the many academic programs being evaluated in the assessment of colleges and universities. One evaluative tool is the survey of students who participate in these programs. This paper discusses the use of such surveys by St. Mary's College (Indiana) during the past decade to gather information regarding program…

In the spring semester of 1997 an ethnographic study of the teaching of personal narrative at Boston College was conducted. A doctoral student worked with an undergraduate who wrote a personal narrative about her alcoholic father. Two issues arise when teaching autobiographical writing: potential problems with psycho-cognitive distance between…

This study presents students' responses to the question: "Why do you think they teach you American history in school?" It also provides responses to a second related question: "How might learning history help you in your life away from school?" The study also discusses the types and nature of the rationales students offered and places them against…

This study examined whether individuals in higher education who are exposed to a hiring rationale based on a diversity value (minority group differences are valuable and should be relevant criteria for employment decisions in higher education) will rate affirmative action as fairer than those exposed to a compensation rationale (minority status is…

Graduate perceptions were examined in a study that was part of an ongoing assessment project at the University of Central Texas. The study, in which 201 graduates from 5 areas were surveyed, was designed to do the following: provide descriptive data about each student; determine what activities the graduates had participated in since graduation as…

In 1991, as part of a sabbatical leave project and in response to increasing enrollments of Hispanic students at Morton College (MC), a survey was conducted to determine the extent of cultural interference in the learning process, both in the student and in the instructor. The survey sought to check for areas of common concern among educators and…

This paper discusses the results of a randomly selected standing poll panel implemented at Saint Mary's College at Notre Dame, Indiana, called PRISM (Prompt Response to Improve Saint Mary's). PRISM is designed to quickly ascertain the attitudes and opinions of a panel of 120 college students. Sample topics of PRISM surveys have included campus…

A study explored how ethnically diverse students in an urban high school worked collaboratively to conceive and execute original theater pieces that addressed issues of relevance to them. Subjects, 29 of the original 51 seniors in the theater institute program at Hillcrest High School, New York City, completed pre- and posttests, written…

This study examined the attitudes of undergraduate and graduate nursing students (N=282) towards caring for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) patients. A 57-item Likert type AIDS attitude questionnaire focused on the following questions: (1) Is there a difference in the comfort level of juniors, seniors, or graduate students caring for…