Students are often required to write literature reviews in advanced business communication courses, especially as part of a research project. Likewise, in the workplace, business communicators may need to review the literature in analyzing a problem or proposing a solution. However, instructors often find that even students who otherwise write…

College student employment has been increasing steadily for at least four decades. At present, approximately 80% of all college students are employed while completing their undergraduate education. Even among students under the age of 24 at 4-year colleges, more than 50% are employed during the school year. Although some general trends are…

This article reviews research on the spatial contiguity and temporal contiguity effects. Research on these instructional design effects has focussed on the instructional benefits for novices of reducing split attention between spatially or temporally disparate but related elements of information. Meta-analytic techniques were applied to 50…

Assessment procedures for students with moderate or severe disabilities cover a range of procedures and practices. This article reviews recommendations for assessment practices for these students. These recommendations are compared with the assessment actually conducted by a sample of 22 teachers of students with moderate and severe disabilities.…

The undermining effect of extrinsic reward on intrinsic motivation remains unproven. The key unresolved issues are construct invalidity (all four definitions are unproved and two are illogical); measurement unreliability (the free-choice measure requires unreliable, subjective judgments to infer intrinsic motivation); inadequate experimental…

A meta-analysis of 47 studies investigating the relationship between family-centered helpgiving practices and parent, family, and child behavior and functioning is reported. The studies included more than 11,000 participants from seven different countries. Data analysis was guided by a practice-based theory of family-centered helpgiving that…

Pedophilia is the experience of recurrent intense sexual urges and sexually arousing fantasies involving sexual activity with a prepubescent child by a person (at least 16 years of age and 5 years older than the victim) who has acted on these urges. This research paper reviews research on the effects of parent-child relationships and home…

An empirical summary of 33 studies considers the relationship between racial group orientation and self-concept of an individual. This issue represents a fundamental assumption of afrocentric education practices, that the racial group orientation of the individual is related to the self-esteem of the individual. The results demonstrate a positive…

This review of the literature focuses on the effects of deinstitutionalization (moving from state institutions to community living arrangements) on the adaptive behavior of persons with mental retardation. The selection process for the 18 studies receiving in-depth review is detailed. Two tables detail changes in three categories of behavior for…

This executive summary reports on a study which utilized meta-analysis and best-evidence synthesis techniques to evaluate 13 research studies on the academic, social, and psychological effects upon learners who are gifted and talented of three grouping practices: (1) ability grouping for enrichment; (2) mixed ability cooperative grouping for…

The statewide teaching performance assessment instruments being used in Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida were examined. Forty-one reliability and validity studies regarding the instruments in use in each state were collected from state departments and universities. Georgia uses the Georgia Teacher Performance Assessment Instrument. North…

The great concern in recent decades over the trends of declining student achievement scores and increased cost of schooling has prompted speculation about how these trends might relate to one another. Much like popular opinion, research findings from studies of this relationship have often been contradictory. This study presents results from a…

In spite of massive research efforts, no clear conclusions have been reached with regard to whether specific exceptional groups demonstrate Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) profiles that reliably differentiate them from normative or other exceptional groups. This study applied multivariate clustering and profile analysis…

A quantitative or meta-analytic review was conducted of studies comparing computer-based education (CBE) to conventional instruction in precollege classrooms. Seventy-four studies were included in the review; sources included earlier reviews by Hartley, Burns, and authors from the University of Michigan, and the ERIC and Comprehensive Dissertation…

This document summarizes a 1982 project of the National Institute of Education (NIE) in which seven scholars, representing a variety of disciplines and ideological positions, were commissioned to write papers on the effects of school desegregation on black achievement. As previous efforts to arrive at a consensus among experts regarding…