This pamphlet discusses the use of questioning in the college classroom and its contribution to learning. Starting with a brief examination of the ways children question, discussions cover: (1) the effects of linguistic and socio-linguistic characteristics in questioning; (2) questions in psychotherapy, law, and opinion polling; (3) classroom…

Three installments of "Writing Assignment of the Month," a regular feature of the National Council of Teachers of English publication, "Notes Plus," are presented in this compilation. The articles describe writing exercises which have proven to be successful in the classroom. The first article gives suggestions for introducing…

The concept of andragogy is posited on four key assumptions about adult learners that distinguish them from child learners and that thus abrogate the premises upon which traditional pedagogy is based. In traditional pedagogy, the role of the learner is one of dependency. Andragogy, on the other hand, recognizes the deep psychological need of…

According to results of the 1994 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), teachers of fourth- and eighth-grade students were using a variety of assessment methods to measure their students' progress in reading. At both grades, teachers' reports indicated that in comparison with multiple-choice questions, written paragraphs were used…

In Great Britain, interest in the measurement of value added was stimulated initially by the requirement that schools and further education (FE) colleges publish league tables of examination results. Value-added data can be aggregated to compare different institutions' performance. Within colleges, value-added data provide a basis for setting…

The role of language development is discussed and some basic questions are raised about the need for special assessment instruments for limited English proficient (LEP) students. The extent to which positive transfer takes place across languages is noted and related to successful functioning of LEP students and school settings. The concept of…

A study examined nine strategies for disseminating "The New Occupational Student: Mature Adult Woman," a counseling program for re-entry women at thirty-nine two-year colleges in New York State. The major purpose was to determine whether there was a particular service or combination of services that was most conducive to the implementation of the…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 20 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) voice in writing; (2) the effectiveness of an individualized humanistic writing program; (3) the effects of peer evaluation on eighth grade narrative writing;…

A new conceptual framework for comparative analysis of distance higher education systems, called the Systems Analysis, Typology and Shaping Mechanism (SATS), was used to compare the structures and functions of the DE systems of Australia (which includes external studies and open learning components) and China (which includes correspondence…

Edinburgh Working Papers is intended to show a yearly cross-section of current work in Edinburgh's Department of Applied Linguistics and to elicit reactions and criticism. Papers in this compilation include the following: "Asymmetric Resetting of the Non-Empty Topic Parameter by Chinese-Speaking Learners of English"; "The…

In both France and Germany, the government, employers' organizations, and unions all participate in defining vocational diplomas based on a national framework of procedures of elaborating and standardizing titles. Important differences between the diploma definition processes in France and Germany may be identified. In Germany, the issue is…

This volume is concerned with the professional development of teachers and the teaching profession. It explores the many new developments in teacher education and the effects these will have on the status of teachers as professionals. Contributors discuss how political, economic, and demographic pressures have forced a reduction in the number of…

Comparison of company practices regarding continuing training of employees shows great diversity among the 15 European Union member states. In 11 countries, over 70 percent of companies are "training involved" (TICs). South European countries have a low percentage of TICs; the proportion of TICs in north European countries is over 80…

This document contains summaries of the presentations and discussions that were part of a conference on human resource development (HRD) research and practice across Europe that focused on the theme of creativity and innovation in learning. The document begins with summaries of the following presentations: "Introduction" (Jim Stewart);…

The validity of American College Testing Program (ACT) test scores and self-reported high school grades for predicting grades in specific college freshman courses was studied. Specific course grades are typically used to place students in remedial, standard, or advanced classes. These placement decisions, in turn, have immediate implications for…