A survey instrument was sent to all doctorate-granting institutions and all institutions identified as offering doctorates in plant biology. Doctorate-granting institutions were identified using the U.S. Department of Education's Higher Education General Information Surveys (HEGIS) listings. Responses were received from plant biology program…

This paper describes the impact on preservice teachers of an education course entitled "Teacher as Change Agent" which was inaugurated in 1991 at Union College (Schenectady, New York). The course represents a concerted effort to help beginning teachers bridge the gap between the real and ideal in public education without losing their…

This study examined the student characteristics, affective or cognitive, which predict academic success in undergraduate and graduate business statistics courses. The issue was found to be important because most business curricula require courses in business statistics and because both undergraduate and graduate students come to business programs…

Providing a variety of instructional methods and materials, developing unique and effective communication systems, and continually evaluating the process are the keys to the effective delivery of field-based programs in graduate education offered by Nova University (Florida). It has become a leader in distance-education programs by offering…

Long-term care administration often involves care for older adults. Yet, in California, neither academic training required for licensure in this area, nor continuing education for maintaining licensure, specify any knowledge of geriatrics or gerontology. A formal standardized approach to academic preparation for licensing would help ensure quality…

Individual and group assessments of quiz accuracy and students' discrimination of what they know and what they do not know regarding course material were examined using confidence ratings from 22 graduate students, 47 undergraduates, and their 23 heterogeneous learning groups over 6 quizzes. Students first took each multiple choice quiz as…

This paper describes a coding system devised to analyze conversations of graduate students in applied linguistics at Edinburgh University. The system was devised to test the hypothesis that as shared knowledge among conversation participants grows, the textual density of in-group members has more cues than that of strangers. The informal…

A preliminary study examined how collaboration could be successfully incorporated as an instructional strategy in a class of adult learners. The study was conducted in a graduate-level class on technology for teachers. The class was composed of 10 current and preservice teachers. The principal content of the class was how to select, design, and…

A growing number of graduate students are career changers who are seeking second careers as teachers. This paper focuses on 20 novice teachers, graduates of a program specifically designed to recruit and meet the needs of those who enter teaching from other careers. Two questionnaires, biographical in nature, were distributed to participants upon…

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…

The notion that reasoning develops in distinct phases of thinking as individuals progress from simplistic learning of facts to predicting integrated relationships was explored as subjects considered housing issues. Suggestions for developing and instructing housing programs are presented. Subjects included 13 students and faculty members at three…

This booklet discusses the nature of learning disabilities and their impact for learning-disabled college students considering attending graduate school or entering the workplace. The information is presented through the personal stories of two learning-disabled young adults, one who was identified as learning disabled in elementary school and the…

A brief overview of the recommendations of the National Commission on Student Financial Assistance is presented. The Commission was asked to answer 24 congressionally determined questions, and to report its findings on each within 2 years. Major findings and recommendations are presented concerning: satisfactory academic progress, the in-school…

The beneficiaries of state grant programs, the amount of aid students receive, and policies that affect the utility of aid are considered, based on the 1982-1983 report of the National Association of State Scholarship and Grant Programs. For both need-based and non-need-based programs, attention is directed to eligibility criteria for students,…

Introduction: We analyse how academic status and discipline influence the major search methods used by university academic staff for obtaining electronic articles for teaching, research and keeping up to date in their field. Method: The data consist of a nationwide Web-survey of the end-users of FinELib, The Finnish National Electronic Library.…