In 1991, a study was conducted to determine perceptions regarding the deterrents to college attendance among adult learners in an isolated northern community. The study consisted of a survey of 40 students at the Fort Nelson campus of Northern Lights College (NLC) in British Columbia, and a follow-up interview of eight of the survey respondents.…

This Oregon curriculum resource guide about elections is intended for use by secondary social studies teachers who may already be teaching about elections, but need additional information and ideas to integrate into their classes. The guide is organized so that teachers may select individual lessons and activities to use in the existing…

An outline is provided for a national educational assessment and improvement plan as suggested by the National Education Goals of 1990. The following implicit assumptions underlie National Education Objective 5.5: (1) abilities to think critically, communicate effectively, and solve problems can be defined and the definitions can be agreed upon as…

This paper makes a case for the development of several indirect indicators of national progress in reaching the collegiate attainment objective of the National Education Goals of 1990. These indicators would be developed concurrently with a proposed performance-based assessment to be administered to a national sample of graduating college seniors.…

The role and influence of mandated testing in educational reform are reviewed. Mandated testing refers to large-scale (districtwide or statewide) multiple-choice testing programs used for policy purposes of evaluation and accountability, which includes nationally normed standardized achievement tests and tests custom-developed to reflect state and…

These training standards for fuel and electrical systems mechanics are intended to be used by apprentice/trainees, instructors, and companies in Ontario, Canada, as a blueprint for training or as a prerequisite for prerequisite for accreditation/certification. The training standards identify skills required for this occupation and its related…

This vocational program guide is intended to assist local administrators, regional coordinating councils, teachers, and others throughout Florida in offering vocational education training in fire fighting. The following topics are covered: program content and structure (occupational description, state certification requirements, certificate…

This learning activity package is designed to help apprentices understand some of the different ways in which words can be used to mean different things, depending on where and when one uses the words. It provides examples of words and phrases that are used in the workplace in ways different from the way they are used in regular conversation. Five…

This paper explores issues that designers of learning environments should consider, omitting issues about knowledge learned and the social settings in which learning occurs that are addressed elsewhere. The perspective taken on design is to think of each decision in terms of its costs and benefits, an approach that may allow designers to minimize…

In 1988, nine institutions operating advanced technology centers (ATC's) to provide workers with up-to-date technical skills formed the National Coalition of Advanced Technology Centers (NCATC). The center was established to increase awareness of ATC's, serve as a forum for the discussion and demonstration of new and underused technologies,…

This class manual for "Information Resources in the Social Sciences," a class offered at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science of the University of Texas at Austin introduces the objectives of the course, an exploration of various fields in the social sciences and the English-language reference tools of the social…

As a result of an expanding school system in Sri Lanka, a demand arose for an increasing number of professional educators. To meet this need, untrained nongraduate persons were recruited into the teaching service. This paper describes the Department of Distance Education (DDE), an organization charged with the planning and implementatiion of…

The objectives of the Launching Conference of the South African Institute for Distance Education (SAIDE) are reviewed, and its recommendations are explored. The conference participants considered how theories, teaching, and administrative practices in distance education worldwide could be used to design a new distance education system for a…

The Bibliographic Instruction Committee of the Wichita State (Kansas) University Libraries recommended changes to improve the current bibliographic instruction program for lower division undergraduates. The shortcomings of the current program, one class period in a required English course, were analyzed; and suggestions were made to improve the…

In fall 1992, a study was conducted at Sinclair Community College (SCC) in Dayton, Ohio, to determine factors contributing to former students' decisions not to return to the college. Two groups of former students were included the study: those who had last attended in fall 1990 and had thus been absent for 6 quarters, and those who had last…