This book presents a wide selection of issues currently of interest and concern in higher education institutions in Ireland. The chapters are snapshots of the intersection between theory, practice and research in particular settings; they are not meant to be comprehensive. Nevertheless, they present practice approaches, new theoretical…

Within the last few years, American schools have moved toward routinely measuring the outcomes of their educational programs. Two national associations dealing with community colleges have also developed quantitative indicators to assess outcomes for two-year colleges. There are still colleges that make only minimal efforts at assessment, citing…

Data drawn from the Sophomore Cohort of the High School and Beyond study, also known as the Class of 1982 data, were studied to provide baseline data on the early careers of noncollege-bound (NCB) men. The analysis used data primarily from two post-high school interviews in 1984 and 1986. This report also focuses on restaurant employment, an…

A classroom/lab-based graduate telecommunications course was studied to discover implications for online instruction of related topics and skills. The analysis focused on: (1) examining the potential for teaching telecommunications via an Internet-mediated virtual classroom to public school personnel situated at their home districts; and (2)…

Graduate schools have been admitting more and more students older than the "traditional" 18- to 24-year-old campus population. These adult learners may come to their programs of study without formal training in library use in general or literature searches in particular. By examining various successful and unsuccessful strategies used by…

At the close of each fiscal year, the 49 public community colleges of the Illinois Community College System (ICCS) are required to submit detailed student records to the ICCS Board providing data on annual enrollments and completions for credit-generating students. Highlights for fiscal year (FY) 1995 include the following: (1) ICCS institutions…

This paper discusses the role of self-study and collaboration in action research, focusing on one researcher's doctoral research on the process of studying for a Ph.D. degree in education. The goal of this research is to build case-studies of 19 individuals in England conducting doctoral research. The paper discusses possible techniques for…

This presentation reports on the third phase of research associated with the Teacher as Decision Maker Program (TADMP), a graduate-level program for middle/secondary school certification at Indiana University. Seven teacher perspectives have emerged from the study of 86 individuals from the fields of science, English, foreign language, math, and…

This research paper addresses the information needs of Kent State University's (Ohio) Master's of Business Administration (MBA) students. Data was collected from the students using a focused information needs questionnaire, and then summarized. The results were analyzed to determine which tools were being used by MBA students when they research…

Every year the National Center for Education Statistics publishes this pocket summary of the annual "Projections of Education Statistics." The complete report contains information on projected enrollment at all ages, numbers of high school graduates, degrees conferred, classroom teachers, and public elementary and secondary school…

This paper describes a self-study by doctoral students serving as university mentors, supervisors, and researchers in a preservice teacher education program; and presents a second-order action analysis of this first-order action research. The action research reported focused on the teaching of action research, teacher education practices, and a…

Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) monitors the South's education reforms through "Benchmarks" reports, tracking progress toward 12 goals for elementary, secondary, and higher education that were endorsed by the SREB in 1988. The board collects state-by-state data every 2 years and compares how states are doing on over 60 different…

These four papers are from a symposium that was facilitated by Larry M. Dooley at the 1995 conference of the Academy of Human Resource Development (HRD). "Genesis and Continuance of an HRD Academic Program: A Longitudinal Study" (Verna J. Willis, William M. Kahnweiler) reports a study specific to an HRD academic program. Findings are presented…

This study investigated the comparative capacity of women-only and co-educational colleges to impact on two dimensions of women students' intellectual development: (1) intellectual self-confidence; and (2) critical thinking and problem-solving skills. The study also attempted to isolate the effect of attending women-only colleges from other…

This paper offers a brief overview of the Australian education system and compares it with the United States system of education. The Australian economy presents no threat to U.S. hegemony, but its education system presents an interesting contrast. The paper describes the following features of the Australian education system: governance; school…