This paper looks at the phenomenon of upward mobility through education from a comparative and historical perspective. Pierre Bourdieu referred to upwardly mobile individuals in France as the miraculous ("les miraculés"), oblates ("oblats"), or, less often, defectors ("transfuges"). A difficulty with applying a theory…

The numbers of Chinese teenagers studying abroad have dramatically increased since the late 1990s, and this phenomenon has received significant attention from researchers and policymakers alike. There is substantial consensus about its proximate causes -- the recent changes in the higher education landscape and the labour market in China and…

Given the attrition rate of nearly 30 percent for each entering U.S. Naval Academy class an attrition prediction instrument for use in selection could represent considerable monetary savings. In previous research, the Naval Academy Personal History Booklet (PHB) has shown some validity as a predictor of Academy disenrollment. The present research…

Describes a device, the speaker resume, which provides students with biographical information on an orator's education, achievements, historical impact, rhetorical skills, and personal data. Includes a sample resume of Daniel O'Connell, Irish orator. Useful to teachers and students for class discussion and further investigation. (PD)

The history of higher education in the U. S. traditionally has been characterized by the same kinds of studies as most other American history: ones that focus on the experiences or concerns of the authors. What such history ignores is the group that for most of this century comprised about 40 percent or more of the undergraduate student body and…

Discusses the contributions, including research interests and instructional approaches, that James Douglas has made in the chemical engineering department at the University of Massachusetts. (MLH)

Gives a brief history of chemistry in California during the last 100 years, including the foundation of chemical industries, the development of chemistry departments in universities and their respective specialities, and the role of California laboratories in World War II. (MLH)

Presents a student inventory that requires students to write responses to questions about their background, attitudes, interests, and plans, thus revealing to them possible writing topics. (RL)

A longitudinal study was conducted to determine whether students' life history or biographical data could be used to predict their experiences in college. Significant relationships were found between the students' life history data and their subsequent college experiences. (Author)

Profiles Phyllis M. Ford, chairwoman of the Department of Park and Recreation Resources at Michigan State University. Examines background of Ford's support for special education, environmental ethic, and leadership development. Praises her writings and work at University of Oregon, University of Iowa, and Washington State University. (TES)

Dorothy Heathcote, charismatic teacher of teachers, at Newcastle University's department of education, sets the style for effective teaching. (RK)

Discusses Alfred Stock's boron hydride research and his role in the development of organometallic chemistry. (MLH)

A guide for conducting alumni surveys is presented, including 22 sample questionnaires. The first section on planning an effective survey strategy includes the following five articles: "Let's Take a Survey" (Cletis Pride); "Surveying Your Alumni: Or an Unexamined College Is Not Worth Loving" (Jocelyn Bartkevicius); "Make Your Survey Scientific"…

In April 1987, a pilot study was undertaken to develop an instrument designed to assess the effects of life events on undergraduate students' academic performance. Focus was on the design and construction of the instrument--the Life Events and Academic Performance Questionnaire (LEAPQ). Subjects were 75 male and 75 female undergraduates at a large…