A study of how students perceive experimental courses at Kent State University in terms of a liberal arts-cultural education versus a values-oriented education is reported. The results determine that subject matter interest was the prime motivation for students to enroll in experimental classes. (Author/MLW)

Cooper and Baron's conclusions (EJ 174 719) that teachers' performance expectations were more potent predictors of their reinforcement behavior in class than were their attributions of responsibility is criticized on the basis of methodological flaws in the study. Evidence associations between teachers' attributions of responsibility and their…

Discusses recent trends in the field of adult language instruction in which the focus is on the individual. Individual learning strategies are discussed, with emphasis on formal practice, functional practice, inferencing, and monitoring. It is noted that adults need help in overcoming the insecurity they feel in foreign language learning. (PJM)

Goal setting is examined as an influence on student learning and self-evaluation. Goal setting results in increased motivation, on-task behavior, effort, and persistence and conveys information concerning individual performance capabilities and personal accomplishments. (JN)

In 1977 a survey was sent to two-thirds of new first-year students at UNE including 32 mature age admission students. The responses are compared including data on motivation, expectations and reality of university life, satisfaction with university life, study methods, and self-esteem. (MLW)

Computer assisted instruction is presented as a tool for helping students learn to successfully solve word problems. Four stages of developing a curriculum for elementary school mathematics, grades three through six, are covered. (MP)

Argues that both an over-theoretical approach and a too pragmatic orientation should be avoided in teaching reading in a second language. Examples of problems encountered by German learners of English are detailed against the background of a discussion of reading purposes. Course-planning to meet student needs is also discussed. (Author/AMH)

Educators and noneducators alike are beginning to believe that a collective humanism is as necessary for the future of our society as it is for education. The challenge for educators is to reshape educational practices and provide students with increased control over their own behavior. (JN)

Described is the evolution of "Foxfire," a student-run magazine dedicated to the collection and preservation of the oral history, folklore and folklife (or traditional culture) of the students' own locality--Appalachian Georgia, wherein they collected a wide variety of materials from the living repositories of the old mountain culture.…

Describes research project efforts in developmental studies programs for nontraditional students in New York two-year colleges and also identifies characteristics of occupational educational students enrolled in these programs who can be classified as successful. Student inventories indicated that personal value factors were important in academic…

Describes programs enacted under the Indian Education Act that are clearing the way for Indians to train as teachers and thus eventually provide role models for tribal youngsters and motivate them to do better in school. (LRA)

The high cost of compulsory admissions interviews and the lack of proven effectiveness in predicting academic success is discussed. Selective interviewing is seen as an effective compensatory device for overcoming culturally/racially biased test scores or grade point averages and as a recruitment mechanism. Suggestions for essay questions are…

Discusses the "less-able" student via a description of the strategies used by the good language learner. Such strategies include a positive, active, and tolerant approach to learning the language, with a willingness to practice the language. The less-able needs a constant sense of achievement to continue. (PJM)

A study of achievement and variables of ability, attitudes, and personality is discussed. Junior high school students were tested in their third year and again in the fourth using the Crandall Internalised Achievement Responsibility Questionnaire. Results show that pupil locus of control and beliefs about intellectual achievement responsibility…

A study involving five fourth-grade behavior problem children with reading failure was designed to replicate an earlier study which demonstrated positive effects of teacher written praise notes as motivating agents for improved performance. (SBH)