This study conducted in the Netherlands examines the role of student-generated learning issues in a problem-based curriculum. The first questions was in which way students make use of the learning issues generated (as strict guidelines or as global guidelines) and does this differ between years of training? The second questions was what the…

Block scheduling has grown rapidly in recent years. In North Carolina, 77 schools started block scheduling in 1995-96, bringing the total number of blocked schools in the state to 207. A previous evaluation compared 1995 End-of-Course (EOC) Test scores for block-scheduled (blocked) and nonblocked schools. This report presents results of the…

This document outlines the proposals in Chapter 738 of Assembly Bill 420, including: (1) the California Postsecondary Education Commission should conduct a comprehensive study of the part-time faculty, employment, salary, and compensation patterns of the California Community Colleges; (2) the schedule of salaries should be paid based on a uniform…

This digest presents information for parents regarding science and math homework. The benefits of homework are discussed and guidelines for gauging the amount of time spent on homework are given. Suggestions for family policies and procedures for helping children complete homework assignments are also presented. (WRM)

Research indicates that students whose parents did not attend college are more likely than their non first-generation counterparts to be less academically prepared for college, to have less knowledge of how to apply for college and for financial assistance, and to have more difficulty in acclimating themselves to college once they enroll. They are…

Many small nursing homes can neither justify nor afford the services of a full-time inservice educator. But one nurse, functioning independently and serving a number of homes on a part-time basis, may be the solution to the problem. (Editor)

Few colleges and universities are utilizing the computer to its full potential or to fulfill the needs of higher education. (IR)

The decision to computerize operations in the DeAnza Community College bookstore was followed by a number of decisions about financing options (purchase, lease/purchase, lease, timesharing). A timesharing agreement was reached with a local bank, with no capital outlay and at a cost equivalent to an accountant's position. (MSE)

It is contradictory to expect all students to achieve certain marks and to master given course content and simultaneously to call some students low achievers to accommodate test distribution curves. Mastery learning, emphasizing students' learning rates and presentation of material, can help resolve this contradiction. (PP)

A study of continuing education programs in Pennsylvania community colleges identified and analyzed differences in personnel policies and procedures between institutions whose collective bargaining agreements extend to adjunct faculty and those that don't. Response to affirmative action for adjunct faculty is also discussed. (MSE)

Discusses the history and evolution of measurement standards from 3000 BC to the modern metric system. Traces measurement techniques from comparisons with the human body to use of atomic clocks and lasers to establish the length of a meter. (JM)

These two reaction papers provide a synthesis of the issues raised by the papers presented in this issue of the "Elementary School Journal." Each reaction paper approaches student variables from a different vantage point, and each brings a novel and imaginative perspective to the study of students in the classrooms. (MP)

Data collected in 1977 from 992 households in 37 fast-growing nonmetropolitan counties in the Upper Great Lakes Region show that newcomers over time tend to become as involved in their new communities as the oldtimers and socioeconomic status positively affects levels of formal community participation for both migrants and residents. (LC)