Increasingly, emphasis is being placed on meeting students' learning and support needs in higher education, initially through the induction process. Academic staff have limited contact with distance students, compared with campus-based students, and thus may not fully appreciate their particular expectations and perceptions. This study sought to…

In 1997, the Ontario government, like many other jurisdictions, undertook systemic reform of their elementary school mathematics programme, developing a new mathematics curriculum, report card, and province-wide assessment. The curricular reform embodied a new vision of mathematics learning and instruction that emphasized instruction using…

Due to increasing job insecurity, businesses and employees are looking increasingly to the community college system to provide assistance through immediate, on-the-spot training. This is happening as community colleges are redefining their own missions and purposes, and at a time when they are trying to do more with less and to expand the…

Recent Census Bureau statistics indicate that the two-paycheck family is now the norm, even among families with young children. This study examined the effects during their childhood on their own career and family expectations of college students' (N=170) mothers' employment status. Subjects were divided into three groups on the basis of maternal…

Students (n=424) who transferred to a large public urban university in fall 1989 were surveyed at the time of their matriculation and 131 students were surveyed again in March 1993 to discover their perceptions of 12 institutional characteristics. Characteristics included quality of academic programs, variety of courses and programs, faculty…

This study was conducted to explore the impact of several aspects of self-efficacy expectations in relation to the vocational considerations of high school students. Career self-efficacy expectations and decision making by male (N=132) and female (N=92) high school students in general education (N=108), special education (N=41), and an alternative…

The two-part activity outlined in this paper reveals to undergraduate students that assumptions made in theory building remain unquestioned until one steps outside the initial realm of expectations, and that theories adopted have a demonstrable impact on behaviors. Part I defines a theory, describes the roles of assumptions and knowledge in…

Canada's provincial programs of study are legal documents that state what students are expected to learn and expected to do in all subjects and grades. In Alberta, programs of study exist for elementary, junior high school, and senior high school students. These programs contain two types of information: a philosophy of learning, which includes…

This study examines the characteristics, concerns, and practices of elementary teachers who are members of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS). The paper describes the process of data gathering through a review of the literature and a mailing of questionnaires to members of NCSS who identified themselves as elementary-focused in…

This linguistic analysis notes that the model clitic in the Mayan language Tojolabal cliticizes to the first element of the clause. Evidentiality particles indicate the speaker's commitment to the truth of the statement, and temporal/aspectual particles indicate expectability, precedence, and durativeness. They function not only to place the…

Replicating earlier research, a study examined parental expectations for their children in speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Subjects, 88 parents approached as they were leaving the supermarket, were asked whether they thought their children would learn how to speak, listen, read, and write. Interviews were conducted by 21 preservice…

Perceived educational strengths and weaknesses of Appalachian schools are examined as indicators of school effectiveness in this study, which is based on the formula that the expectations people have of schools minus the perceptions of how those expectations are met equals a dissonance factor. The School Effectiveness Inventory (SEI), which…

Several conditions, identified by Cambourne (1988) as contributing to children becoming successful language users, have been simulated in Australian schools in order for children to feel self-assured in mastering writing and reading just as these conditions have promoted the developmental process of talking in the home. The conditions are:…

Whether there is a causal link from attitudes to economic success is investigated in this study, which uses data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. A theory of motivation is proposed which has two components: motives, generalized dispositions to approach or avoid a class of incentives, and expectancies, an individual's assessments of the…

To investigate the influence of instructional behaviors and adult expectations on children's task performance, 48 boys either 5 to 6 or 8 to 9 years of age individually viewed instructional videotapes and participated in a delay of gratification task. In the first phase of the study, videotapes were produced in which instructors were told to…