Results of this magazine's annual rating of colleges and universities are reported in articles about rising college costs, the college selection process, the new honors programs, the top 25 national universities, attitudes of college seniors about security and success, the top 25 liberal arts colleges, top regional institutions, top…

On locally developed surveys, community college students indicated academic and personal concerns before and after transfer to a four-year institution and compared both institutions in attention given to six academic skill areas: overall instruction; abstract thinking; reading; written work; library use; and personal attention by faculty. (MSE)

If community colleges are to shape their own futures, leaders must address these trends: growing public skepticism of higher education; program downsizing to cut costs; increased sectoring within state systems; refocusing of mission on the economy and workplace; demand for developmental education; demographic shifts; and anxiety about the economic…

Programs described are a community college medical clerical individualized instruction program; minicourses in a junior high technology education class; simulation in a high school accounting course; telecommunications skills in a vocational-technical school; information processing in high school business education; vocational library media…

Describes developmental academic advising as a comprehensive, collaborative, and empowering process designed to maximize students' educational potential. Reviews basic developmental theories (i.e., psychosocial, cognitive-developmental, and person-environmental), and focussed theories dealing with adult learners, women, people of color, and gays…

Suggests that general education programs should recognize the demographics and goals of community college students, rather than strictly targeting degree-seeking students. Underscores the need to move away from the mere learning of information toward the development of analytical and synthetic reasoning skills. (PAA)

Describes the Characteristics of Adult Students in Higher Education (CASHE) instumentation strategy for the self-evaluation of faculty members' beliefs and knowledge regarding adult learners. Reports preliminary results on the use of this self-test among community college and university personnel. Includes the CASHE instrument. (Author/PAA)

Discusses Internet graduate teaching experiences at the University of Central Florida and explores the pros and cons of online instruction. Describes Internet courses as asynchronous, allowing students to participate at any time and place. States that faculty must be excellent teachers, able to translate their styles into effective,…

A study investigated the influence of academic discipline (biology, mathematics, psychology, history), gender, age, highest degree earned, and administrative experience on the espousal of community college teaching norms held by 265 community college faculty. Results indicate gender, discipline, and professional experience exert statistically…

Describes statewide networks of public, academic, and school libraries in Nevada, including dial-up access to state agencies and archives for rural libraries; Internet access; automation in county library districts; computer-based services; and the Nevada Education Online Network that includes libraries of the University and Community College…

It is the 20th anniversary of the release of Dale Parnell's landmark book "The Neglected Majority". In this book, Parnell pointed out that for too long America's educational system has focused on the highest and lowest achievers. He made the case that most of those students in the middle two high school quartiles neither prepare for nor aspire to…

This paper describes and assesses a pre-engineering curriculum development project called Foundations of Engineering, Science and Technology (FEST). FEST integrates web-based technologies into an inter-connected system to enable delivery of a blended program at multiple institutions. Tools and systems described include 1) technologies to deliver…

For the thirty-sixth year, the Research and Theory Division of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is sponsoring the publication of these Proceedings. Papers published in this volume were presented at the annual AECT Convention in Anaheim, California. The Proceedings of AECT's Convention are published in two…

One of the major tenets of Total Quality Management (TQM) is that organizations need to adopt a strong customer focus. At El Camino College (ECC) in Torrance, California, a matrix was developed to identify and describe ECC's direct and indirect internal and external customers. ECC then applied Quality Function Deployment (QFD), a strategic tool…

In 1988, the California legislature provided funding for development of two Middle College High School (MCHS) projects, one at Contra Costa College (CCC), and another one at Los Angeles Southwest College (LASC). The MCHS is a high school program on a college campus designed to meet the needs of high risk urban youth with college potential. Through…