The opinions of 514 college faculty concerning their grading philosophies, grading patterns, and their knowledge of how grades vary among fields were surveyed and classified according to demographic characteristics of the faculty. Approximately half of the respondents expressed the opinion that there is great variation in the meaning of a letter…

This article on grading practices in colleges considers the following issues: the more extensive utilization of nontraditional grades by many institutions, the practices of some institutions of not giving or not recording D and/or F grades, the policy of permitting unlimited repeating of courses with the last or highest grade received used in…

The study groups and task forces of the California Community Colleges (CCC) worked on various projects during 1978. A $67,658 federal grant was filed with the Department of Health, Education and Welfare to establish a Clearinghouse on International Education; the Grading Policies Study Group continued to examine existing regulations on selected…

As part of an effort to survey members of the humanities faculty at 178 community colleges about their instructional practices, a sample of 1110 class sections was chosen by pulling every tenth section from the colleges' fall 1977 schedules of day and evening classes. Because 92 class sections were not offered, only 1018 survey forms were…

TO DETERMINE WHETHER ARBITRARY GRADE-POINT AVERAGE CUT-OFF POINTS (E.G. 2.25) FOR ENTRANCE INTO TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS ARE UNFAIR TO PRESENT-DAY STUDENTS, NINETY 1966 COLLEGE SOPHOMORES WITH FRESHMAN-YEAR GPA'S BETWEEN 2.00 AND 2.09 WERE COMPARED TO THE SAME NUMBER OF 1961 SOPHOMORES WITH FRESHMAN-YEAR GPA'S BETWEEN 2.25 AND 2.34 USING (1)…

Teaching poetry and fiction writing is most effective in classes where the student population is heterogeneous. The experienced writers help the beginners improve and the beginners provide a critical audience for the more advanced writers. Diversity in age and worldliness challenges the creative writing instructor to provide the opportunity for…

A broad review of educational assessment during the past 40 years (1930's to 1970's) is presented. The review begins with the birth of the term "evaluation", when the depression made educators aware of the need for new programs and ways to appraise them, and continues into an explanation of the Eight-Year Study (1933-41), which gave attention to…

Instructional objectives and performance requirements are outlined in this course guide for Welding I, a performance-based course offered at the Community College of Allegheny County to introduce students to shielded arc welding procedures involving stringer beads, butt welds, and lap welds. After introductory material outlining course objectives,…

Instructional objectives and performance requirements are outlined in this course guide for Welding II, a performance-based course offered at the Community College of Allegheny County to introduce students to out-of-position shielded arc welding with emphasis on proper heats, electrode selection, and alternating/direct currents. After introductory…

Instructional objectives and performance requirements are outlined in this course guide for Welding III, an advanced course in arc welding offered at the Community College of Allegheny County to provide students with the proficiency necessary for industrial certification. The course objectives, which are outlined first, specify that students will…

At the completion of the fall semester, 1979, a study was conducted at Essex County College to determine the status of the 182 students who had received an "R" grade in a basic communications skills course (COM-080) in fall, 1978. The "R" grade is given to students who have made progress in a developmental course, but who have not attained "C"…

THE ASSOCIATION OF DEPARTMENTS OF ENGLISH COLLECTED INFORMATION FROM DIRECTORS OF FRESHMAN ENGLISH FOR A REPORT ON COLLEGE PROGRAMS IN FRESHMAN COMPOSITION. THE FIRST SECTION OF THE REPORT, A DISCUSSION OF TRENDS IN FRESHMAN COMPOSITION, INDICATES THAT LINGUISTICS AND THE STUDY OF LANGUAGE HAVE NOT BECOME A PART OF THE FRESHMAN ENGLISH CURRICULUM.…

FOR A REPORT ON COLLEGE PROGRAMS IN FRESHMAN COMPOSITION, THE ASSOCIATION OF DEPARTMENTS OF ENGLISH OBTAINED SYLLABI AND COURSE DESCRIPTIONS FROM DIRECTORS OF FRESHMAN COMPOSITION AT 66 COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES. AMONG THE DATA ASSEMBLED FOR THE FULL REPORT (AVAILABLE AS TE 500 190) ARE THE DESCRIPTIONS OF FRESHMAN ENGLISH PROGRAMS AT TWELVE…

To supplement an experiment at the University of Northern Iowa on the effectiveness of college-level instruction in freshman composition, the University of Iowa conducted its own experiment on the evaluation of freshman composition. This experiment was designed to determine (1) which method of rating papers is more reliable--the "general…

Guidance decisions depend on the validity of standardized tests and teacher judgment records as measures of student achievement. To test this validity, a sample of 400 high school juniors, randomly selected from two large Gulf Coas t area schools, were administered the Iowa Tests of Educational Development. The nine subtest scores and each…