Research investigating the performance of students enrolled in courses taught by a Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) has tended to support the claim that PSI is a superior teaching method. The present research study isolated the self-pacing aspect of PSI courses and attempted to teach 13 academically deficient first year college students…

Thirty-four high-risk students at Essex Community College (Maryland) were evaluated on self-concept growth as shown through pre- and post-tests on the Tennessee Self Concept Scale (TSCS), self-concept as shown through an open-ended questionnaire, and improvement in college grade point average (GPA), after working in a self goal-setting learning…

Methods and implications of various reforms in higher education are assessed. Such concepts as individualization, new roles for the teacher, the learning contract, the planning portfolio, and other wide-ranging resources for learning are discussed. Specific implications include: (1) the existence of more options and possibilities for students…

Evaluation of prior learning for the External Degree Program at Florida International University is described. Efforts in the following areas are presented: (1) implementation and evaluation of the competency-based assessment tool, (2) integration of the assessment process with other processes of the External Degree Program and the entire…

Metropolitan State University, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, is a competence-based, baccalaureate-degree-granting institution created in 1971 to serve adults. The Operational Models Project was designed to improve the university's program for assessing experiential learning. Specific purposes of the project were: (1) to describe a program for…

Programs emphasizing the development of interpersonal skills have been incorporated into the formal educational structure at Empire State College, New York; this process is described and explained. Learning occurs in an individualized context which recognizes the cognitive, affective, and behavioral aspects of interpersonal competence. Student…

The Community College of Vermont holds the position that the highest purpose of education is to foster self-reliance, in both the community and the individual. This college awards the associate degree upon the completion of individual, student-written, competence-based degree contracts. Areas of competence which are evaluated include self…