This study explored the lived experiences of eight immigrants, documented and undocumented, with different profiles based on their background and their respective motivations, ambitions, and persistence to pursue a college education. The key objective of this study was to present to policymakers, educational leaders, and mental health…

Gender differences in level and pattern of cognitive abilities were examined in 49 learning-disabled college students. Females were stronger in visual-motor abilities and verbal conceptualization, whereas the males' highest abilities were nonverbal visual-spatial. Both groups showed weaknesses in memory for digits and factual knowledge and in…

Twenty-six articles including information about the cognitive and academic characteristics of learning-disabled college students are reviewed, focusing on levels of intellectual functioning, reading achievement, mathematics achievement, written expression, and foreign language performance. Research needs and implications for service provision are…

Twenty-two junior-year college students were tested at a college language, speech and hearing clinic. A statistical analysis was performed on their scores on the Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational Battery and on oral and written language samples. Results were compared with those of a group of 25 normal college students in their junior year.…

Fourteen poor-reading college students were assigned to a dyslexia group or a nonspecific reading-disabled group based on intelligence quotient (IQ). The groups were compared to controls on cognitive and reading-related skills. Results showed that poor decoding skill characterized the dyslexic reader, whereas the nondyslexic poor reader displayed…

Schools must change, if more working class and minority children are to succeed in college. Reuven Feuerstein (1979, 1980) was given the task of assessing youth who arrived in Israel after World War II. Many scored so poorly on intelligence tests that they were thought to require custodial care. Feuerstein developed a method of mediated…

This paper discusses whether critical thinking can be taught in the college classroom. It argues that education in general provides the tools for thinking, and therefore, improves the capability for better thinking. The Alverno College faculty, as an example, has improved student critical-thinking ability because the faculty stresses explicitness,…

A comparison of cognitive, academic, and linguistic profiles for 74 learning-disabled students and 37 nondisabled college students found significant differences in reading, writing, listening, and speaking achievement. No significant differences were found for gender or Verbal-Performance split in cognitive ability. Instruments used showed similar…

Data were collected from 54 learning-disabled college students and 54 peers, concerning perceptions of cognitive attributes, achievement, motivation, organizational and decision-making skills, career goals, resources, and interpersonal relationships. Subjects perceived themselves to have greater problems in reading, written expression, visual…

Two experiments were conducted to assess the performance of freshmen chemistry students with poor spatial visualization skills. In the first experiment, 31 chemistry students with academically deficient backgrounds completed a diagnostic test of their ability to visualize and interpret pictorial representations of simple molecular structures. At…

The idea of assessment as learning is discussed, along with the practical history of assessment, and how student assessments should be conducted. Background information covers the use of assessment in business and government, as well as in education and psychology. It is proposed that assessment include: multidimensional sampling of students'…

To investigate the speech of black college students for nonfluencies--linguistic elements breaking the flow of words or ideas--and to ascertain if students' attendance of a largely black or largely white university influenced their use of nonfluencies, 21 black students at a predominantly black university and 25 black students at a predominantly…

Outlines a simple classroom demonstration that illustrates Piagetian conservation. Piagetian conservation refers to the illusion of an increase in mass by changing an object's form. This demonstration, done by forming an ellipse with an extension cord, shows that college students are as susceptible to this effect as are young children. (MJP)

A study investigated college students' (n=226) academic help-seeking behavior under task-involved and ego-involved classroom conditions, students' attributions for failure, and two types of help source (instrumental, in which the student finds his own solution, and executive, in which a solution is disclosed). Implications for classroom teaching…

To determine the relationship of reading ability to age, sex, Hispanic ethnicity, and majors in economics, political science, history, and psychology, 141 students who completed summer social science courses at a California community college were given the Nelson Denny Reading Test, which scores for vocabulary and comprehension. Of the 141…