The higher education community needs measures of the value added to student development by the college experience. The American College Testing Program (ACT) provides a quick, easy method for estimating the extent of student growth in general education. An institution can test seniors with the ACT College Outcome Measures Project (COMP) exam, then…

This research study investigates the validity of the Teacher Locus of Control Scale (TLCS) in a different cultural environment. The scale, developed in the United States by Taylor et al., measures teachers' beliefs about their own potential to influence student performance and classroom events. Specifically, the study investigates the…

Newman (1984) examined the causal relations between math self-concept and math achievement in an 8-year longitudinal study using Linear Structural Relations (LISREL) analyses. He concluded that math self-concept did not influence subsequent math achievement. However, the study suffered in that math self-concept was inferred from a single-item…

A study of the process of bilingualization of second-generation immigrants to Catalonia, a region of Spain, is described and summarized. The study looks at the interrelationships between (1) linguistic context, all sources of messages in natural speech; (2) linguistic behavior, the real communicative use the individual makes of his expressive…

Discourse is basically interactive. This is clear in conversation, but the concept can be extended to written language. Written text can be analyzed as spoken discourse. The methodology of English text studies has adhered too much to a textual approach and even extended it to spoken data. Another approach would be to begin with the spoken form of…

This handbook resulted from a project to develop a tape-based alternative test of language proficiency in less commonly taught languages. The objective was to produce a test that is modeled on and readily interpretable by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages/Interagency Language Roundtable (ACTFL/ILR) proficiency guidelines…

ASCAL is a microcomputer-based program for calibrating items according to the three-parameter logistic model of item response theory. It uses a modified multivariate Newton-Raphson procedure for estimating item parameters. This study evaluated this procedure using Monte Carlo Simulation Techniques. The current version of ASCAL was then compared to…

This paper describes the development, validation, and use of a research instrument, the College and University Classroom Environment Inventory (CUCEI), designed to assess the environment of small higher education classrooms. The instrument evaluates students' or instructors' perceptions of the following seven psychosocial dimensions of actual or…

This study was an examination of the usefulness of a statistical regression approach to identify prospective Engineering and Information and Computer Science (ICS) applicants most likely to succeed at the University of California at Irvine (UCI). The specific purpose was to determine the extent to which preadmissions measures such as high school…

The purpose of this study was to adapt the Hidden Figures Test (a measure of field dependence/independence) to microcomputer display and to assess its alternate form reliability when compared to a paper and pencil test. Participants included 58 undergraduate and graduate students (91.4% female) at a southeastern university who were fairly normal…

This paper focuses on the importance and the significance of the teacher's mastery of an abstract body of knowledge that underlies an educational innovation. Concepts and principles from organizational sociology are applied in order to investigate the relationship between teacher's mastery of this body of knowledge and the process of…

Three historically significant religions of Japan and the corresponding cultural norms are examined as they affect consumer behaviors and, consequently, marketing in that country. The religions are Buddhism, Shintoism, and Confucianism. The fundamental doctrines, attitudes, and social patterns associated with each religion are outlined and their…

The validity of grades given by secondary school teachers was studied. Two teacher-originated measures of performance and one independent standardized measure of achievement were examined. The teacher-originated grades were final examination grades (FINALs) and end of the semester marks (MARKs) for over 40 courses at all secondary levels. The…

This investigation: (1) tested the ability of an a priori hierarchical structure of self-concept derived from the Shavelson model to explain responses to the Self Description Questionnaire III (SDQ III); and (2) demonstrated the application and problems with the use of hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis. A first-order factor analysis…

In this paper, the author considers the correlation between the construct of teacher identity and pedagogical choice, with specific reference to secondary social studies teachers and their use of primary sources in the classroom. After a brief review of the benefits and challenges of using primary sources in the classroom, the author concludes…