Beginning users often exhibit confusion about what it means to be "on" the Internet, and they would likely benefit from a discussion of the scope and structure of Internet connectivity. The problem lies in creating a meaningful visual which would accompany the verbal information. This document discusses an exercise whereby graduate…

This study demonstrates the advantages of using a constrained optimization algorithm to explore the optimal number of prompts, modes of discourse, and raters for achieving an acceptable level of reliability during a direct writing assessment. Writing samples elicited from 50 college students were rated by 3 graduate students and the scores…

In response to the difficulties of many masters degree students, this on-going project aimed, first, to identify cognitive and metacognitive skills needed for masters level study; second, to develop an instrument to determine students' readiness for masters level work; and, third, to design bridge courses to prepare prospective students. An…

This study analyzed personal and collaborative reflective activities and their effect on the development of a graduate student as both a learner and a teacher. As a learner, the graduate student kept a reflective journal for 5 consecutive quarters (15 months). Collaboration with colleagues took place in both formal and informal settings and…

Five universities in New York State (SUNY--State University of New York at Stony Brook, Syracuse, Cornell, Binghamton, and New York Universities--are involved in a 3-year project to better prepare graduate students to become teachers. The State University of New York, Stony Brook, English Department is providing graduate teaching assistants with…

In a creative writing workshop of seven male and nine female graduate students, two female students became increasingly aware of a sexual bias. Though the male instructor made an effort to create a non-hierarchical, student-centered environment, informal hierarchies developed among students that granted the male instructor and the male students…

The continuing small number of social work students who enter the concentration of social administration poses conditions that have potentially negative results for the field of social work. This study surveyed 131 graduate social work students at a large, public Midwestern university to determine the factors they considered important in making a…

This research investigated the prevalence of mystical experiences and how these experiences relate to beliefs about drug addiction, drug use, and spiritual practices. Subjects were 300 undergraduate and graduate students at a large midwestern university who filled out self-report scales on mysticism (Ralph W. Hood, Jr.'s Mysticism Scale) and drug…

Although Chinese-speaking men and women constitute the largest group of international graduate students in the United States, contrary to expectations, some China-born communication scholars have had difficulties publishing their China studies in the United States. If a China-born scholar conducts two studies, one based on data from China and one…

The reason for the huge surge in classes taught by graduate students is financial: their services are cheaper than those of "regularly qualified instructors." Recent critics have complained that the high percentage of classes taught by graduate students is a major act of fraud by universities and has contributed greatly to educational…

This study investigated the relationship between graduate grade-point-average (GGPA) and the total score, as well as the scores on each part, of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). It also investigated the relationship between GGPA and the total score, as well as the scores on each part, of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The…

A study of the perceptions of Western trained Korean faculty regarding the implications of their cross-cultural training for their careers in academe was done. Personal interviews were conducted with 27 Western-trained faculty members now teaching at 3 private research universities in Seoul, Korea. Principles inherent in the naturalistic inquiry…

A project was conducted to help adult educators in graduate education courses to examine their notions of adult learning, to be lifelong learners, and to engage in self-directed learning. The course was conducted in small self-formed learning groups, and 19 adult learners were observed from various perspectives: through a survey measuring the…

This study investigated the interaction of variations in color realism on pictorial recall memory in order to better understand the effects of variations in color realism, and to draw comparisons between visual recall memory and visual recognition memory in terms of color information processing. Stimulus materials used were three sets of slides,…

Arguing that photo-interviewing yields richer data than that usually obtained from verbal interviewing procedures alone, it is proposed that this method of data collection be added to "standard" methodologies in instructional development research and evaluation. The process, as described in this paper, consists of using photographs of…