This paper describes the journey of a former female electrician turned technical and further education teacher turned professional development officer who is now completing her PhD. It also describes the challenges she overcame to make the transition from tradesperson to researcher. It is a personal account of discovery. It describes the most…

This report reviews a theoretically inspired empirical investigation of individual differences in knowledge, abilities, and nonability traits as part of an ongoing effort to better understand adult intellectual development and to develop more accurate measures of adult intelligence. Twenty Knowledge Scales were constructed, drawing on…

This book offers broad, practical strategies for teaching science and engineering courses and describes how faculty can provide a learning environment that helps students comprehend the nature of science, understand science concepts, and solve problems in science courses. The student-centered approach focuses on two main themes: reflective writing…

This digest summarizes a larger document of the same title which takes the position that because American democracy is founded on the premise that citizens need to engage in free and open discussion of opposing points of view, it is important that intellectual conflict become part of college instruction. It suggests several ways in which…

The thesis of this book is that intellectual conflict is an important and powerful instructional tool which should become part of day-to-day student life in colleges and universities. Properly structured academic controversy results in increased achievement, better problem-solving and decision-making skills, more positive interpersonal skills, and…

This paper seeks evidence of a culture gulf, first voiced by C.P. Snow in 1959, between science and humanities as reflected in the understanding which undergraduate science and humanities majors have of the other field. The 1995 study evaluated responses of students at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and California's Humboldt State…

The texts of three conference papers are presented in this volume. The papers are: Student-Oriented Management: A Proposal for Change (Alexander W. Astin); Goals, Outcomes, and Academic Evaluation (Howard R. Bowen); and A Summary of the 1978 COPA Summer Conference (Charles M. Chambers). The first addresses the definition of quality in…

The investigation examined the role of physical activity programs in the modification of the motor, intellectual, social, and emotional development of educable mentally retarded children and minimally brain injured children. Forty nine classes of children (275 educable mentally retarded and 206 minimally brain injured) participated in 20 weeks of…

The relationship between the difficulty with which the retarded adolescent decodes visual social cues and the appropriateness of his social behavior was the basis of a study to determine whether social cue decoding could be taught the retarded in a manner analogous to the teaching of reading and writing, with beneficial behavioral results. The…

The methods and procedures of education in our schools must be reexamined according to the writers who have contributed to this document. This is most strongly felt in the areas of testing and evaluation for it is these areas that may have the greatest impact on a child's educational career. This document is presented in three sections: (1) An…

This report surveys writings by National Institute of Mental Health grant recipients who have investigated this first five years of life. The authors attempted to identify and correlate ideas, themes, perspectives and issues which can be useful in the formulation and evaluation of social policies related to infant and child development. Major…

Commercially available toys and games for children with educational handicaps, from general retardation to disabilities in limited areas of functioning are listed. For each toy, the name, manufacturer, and sex and age interest are stated; a description of the toy is given. All toys are classified according to the intellectual functions involved.…

This final report summarizes all phases of a completed longitudinal research program investigating intellectual growth and vocational development of students from fifth to twelfth grade. Student development over time was studied as an interaction between school, community and family, with each factor influencing career choice. Research objectives…

To examine the differences between mother-child interaction in middle class and in isolated rural poor families, a sample of 24 rural poor and 12 middle class mothers were videotaped as they interacted with their preschool children in structured situations. (Rural poor mothers were found to initiate verbal interaction with a question, a situation…

Michigan State University (MSU) is strongly committed to the idea that study abroad is deeply beneficial and important for undergraduate students. However there is a relative scarcity of systematically gathered qualitative and quantitative information that assesses the impact of study abroad. In the summer of 2000, MSU implemented a broad plan to…