In experiential education, the ABCs of participant experience are agency (allowing students to become more powerful change agents in their lives); belonging (sharing a sense of community); and competence (developing students' cognitive, physical, and social competence). A research review discusses these and other components in a conceptual…

Primary and secondary schooling experiences of 21 adults (seven each from Denmark, Germany, and United Kingdom) showed positive views of primary and postcompulsory education but reservations about their progress in early secondary schooling. Results were attributed less to adolescent development factors than to management of the transition from…

The transformation of education for nation building, currently underway in South Africa, represents a political program driven by utility. Education should be concerned primarily with the self-empowerment of an individual person and, as such, not be sacrificed to demands of utility, which serves the narrow interests of the state and the economy.…

Extends previous research, which investigated relationships between female students' perceptions of a "chilly campus climate" and cognitive outcomes in the first year of college, by examining those relationships through the junior year. Results, implications, and limitations of the study are discussed. (Author/GCP)

Discusses three classes of nonacademic outcomes to foster in students: (1) social, ethical, and civic dispositions; (2) attitudes toward school and learning motivation; and (3) metacognitive skills. Provides guidance about how to accomplish these goals. Suggests that this broader school reform agenda will promote dispositions needed to sustain a…

Considers how to provide a supportive, secure environment to children of divorce through opportunities to exercise personal control, being tolerant of variable academic performance, and expressing faith in children's character and capacity for growth. Provides suggestions for creating safe channels for communication and teaching children coping…

College student employment programs result in positive learning outcomes. The Leap to Excellence Acceleration Program (LEAP) was designed to provide students with useful training from student employment and to provide employers with a program focused on developing skilled, informed, productive citizens. Development and evaluation of the program is…

While research has a great deal to tell educators about how college students learn, the educational community is becoming dependent on research and ignoring what can be learned from the principles of good practice in the classroom. Research should be the beginning, not the conclusion, of the investigation into student learning processes. (MSE)

Required summer reading for incoming college freshmen commonly has themes of self-discovery, travel, and learning about other cultures that help students prepare for college life and challenge their belief systems. Some colleges follow up the readings with special discussion programs. (MSE)

Reports on the efficacy of a module designed to develop students' critical thinking skills in the context of peer evaluation in a second-year supervisory management unit at an Australian university. Students (n=68) evaluated oral literature reviews of fellow students using a detailed grading guide. Results indicate critical-thinking instruction…

Study seeks to identify student-learning goals (academic and developmental) that teaching faculty and student affairs practitioners both view as important in the undergraduate experience. Forty goals were ranked in importance and identified as to whether faculty or student affairs professionals were responsible for assisting students to achieve…

States that when Oklahoma State University discovered a zero-correlation between at-risk student placement and subsequent classroom success, it developed a three-dimensional approach to placement, which incorporated a new, more sensitive placement exam, coupled with relatively high cutoff scores and new scheduling options for at-risk students.…

Discusses how service learning can promote the development of a "caring self" in college students by drawing on the ideas of John Dewey, George Herbert Mead, and contemporary critical theorists. Links this caring self to democratic citizenship and uses students' narratives to illustrate how it develops through service learning contexts.…

Used Cooperative Institutional Research Program data on 262 students who began their college experience at two- year colleges to examine effects of students' backgrounds, academic and social integration, external influences, and institutional satisfaction on bachelor's degree attainment. Found college academic satisfaction, college social…

Discusses curricular learning communities as one way of involving commuter students in learning and fostering intellectual and social connections with faculty and peers. Describes three approaches to learning communities (such as clustered courses), pedagogical strategies for involving commuter students (e.g., collaborative learning), and…