A survey examined college and later-life experiences of over 35,000 students who entered 28 selective colleges in fall 1976 and fall 1989. Although half the 3,000 black students surveyed would have been rejected under race-neutral admissions criteria, they did exceedingly well after college. Almost 80% of white graduates favored retaining or…

A study conducted at one large research university compared electronic mail and telephones as methods for gathering survey data from undergraduate students. Problems associated with electronic-mail use include higher rate of socially undesirable activity among respondents and difficulty in identifying the target population. Implications for campus…

Influences of disciplinary differences on college students' self-perceived gains in critical thinking and communication skills were examined in relation to student background, experiences in the major, and college experience variables. The proposed theoretical model accounted for some variance in self-perceived gains. The variable associated most…

A South African study of 29 college and university faculty in varying disciplines investigated differences and commonalities of two teaching strategies, collaborative and cooperative learning. Seven common problem areas emerged, and solutions are examined, including faculty development within the discipline, curriculum development, and…

A survey of 494 students and 46 faculty investigated the nature of and variations in attitudes concerning academic honesty at an institution with an honor system. Responses were to scenarios illustrating ethical dilemmas. Differences were found between students and faculty, males and females, and between college students at various educational…

Devises and validates an index of texture to be used to accurately analyze texts of developing writers as an aid in improving readability. An index reflecting conjunction, conjunctive reach, specificity, connectivity, topic, and topic shift was created. Results were a perfect correlation in rankings produced by the index and judges. (32…

A survey of 1,249 Queensland University of Technology (Australia) students concerning their learning environment found that they feel effective teaching is relevant, experiential, and interactive, while ineffective teaching lacks structure, is inappropriately paced, lacks variety, and occurs in a classroom with inadequate discipline. Implications…

Techniques for college teachers to use in managing student resistance to critical thinking include proactive strategies (creating a cooperative environment, establishing rapport, creating high expectations, and countering resistive behavior) and reactive strategies (avoiding personalization of resistance, inviting students to explore resistance,…

Arizona State University has created longitudinal student files capable of tracking each student's curricular and financial aid history from entry until graduation. The structure of the files, their creation and maintenance, and their evolution over the years are described. Uses of the files to conduct different kinds of studies to inform…

A follow-up study of college students' (n=474) cheating behaviors looked at extent of cheating, attitudes toward it, characteristics of cheaters/noncheaters, effectiveness of deterrents, and attitude changes from 1984-94. A significant rise in cheating was found, but with less rationalization. An additional 12 variables discriminating cheaters…

This article argues that Australian universities accepting students from developing nations with native languages other than English are obligated to provide for special language needs. Language problems for students from Papua New Guinea are seen to arise more from lack of equivalence between concepts in academic discourse and in the students'…

A study compared the effectiveness of two methods (medium-size class instruction and large lectures with tutorial sessions) for teaching mathematics and statistics to first-year business students. Students and teachers overwhelmingly preferred the medium-size class method, which produced higher exam scores but had no significant effect on…

Eight principles defining the professional responsibility of the college teacher are posited and discussed briefly: content competence; pedagogical competence; appropriate dealing with sensitive topics; contribution to student development; avoidance of dual-role relationships with students; maintenance of confidentiality; respect for colleagues;…

Reviews Maslow's hierarchy of needs and characterization of the self-actualizing personality, suggesting that since few people meet his self-actualization criteria, an educational system designed to produce such personalities may fail, with teachers attending only to the hierarchy's lower stages (self-esteem and self-actualization) which dilutes…

Compares the personal counseling role of the college tutor with the work of the trained student counselor. Found that a lot of role confusion exists, that untrained tutors use a smaller range of skills than counselors, and that they tend more toward advice giving and directive techniques. They feel unprepared and unsupported in their counseling…