The content validation method was used to develop a scale for measuring attitudes toward and knowledge about the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) for college students. The developed instrument, the Attitudes toward AIDS Scale (ATAS) consisted of a knowledge scale and an attitudes scale, each with 25 items chosen by a pool of AIDS…

A five-year exploratory study investigated the difficulties with analytical writing experienced by 16 graduate students from 12 non-western countries. Freshman writing program handbook definitions of "analysis" were surveyed; seven professors of international graduate students were interviewed on their definitions of "analysis"…

Researchers of computer ability have been largely influenced by the Galtonian perspective of intelligence assessment: a predominantly linear, construct-driven model based on identifying statistically determined factors. The use of this methodology, though, has far more to do with utility than theoretical rigor. Notably absent from this kind of…

A study examined how the SPEAK (Speaking Proficiency English Assessment Kit) Test is perceived by both International Teaching Assistants (ITAs) and instructors at a major midwestern university where it is used as a screening instrument for hiring ITAs. Subjects, 24 ITAs from the social sciences and 24 ITAs from the math-based sciences who took the…

Nova University (Florida), which began its initial efforts in distance-delivery teacher education in 1983, now has doctoral and master's degree programs in which professional educators, information specialists, trainers, and others in similar fields are committed to a program of intense work and challenge through telecommunications. Students who…

Open discussion and a Likert-type scale (Characteristics of Effective Teaching) were used with 38 graduate students enrolled in an advanced methods class in secondary school subjects, to determine their perceptions of the characteristics of effective teaching and whether teaching is an art or a science. A survey completed at the beginning of the…

This index joins two companion volumes of books and chapters devoted exclusively or primarily to the topic of self-directed learning. The book contains 242 abstracts of books, chapters, published articles and papers, and unpublished ERIC documents. Chapter 1 is an introduction. Chapter 2 provides an analysis of the 242 abstracts reported in…

A case study examined the similarities and differences in the background characteristics, the nature and causes of the English language-based problems, and the coping strategies of two foreign students at Indiana University, Bloomington. Subjects were selected because they represented two different nationalities (Malaysian and Indonesian),…

This paper estimates the effect of a $150 fee increase for the spring semester 1993 on within-year persistence at a large urban institution of higher education, the University of New Orleans (Louisiana). Institutional enrollment projections are estimated using price response measures for three populations (undergraduates 22 years of age and under,…

The ways in which Digital Video Interactive (DVI), a new video technology, can help students learn concepts of physics were studied in a project that included software design and production as well as formative and summative evaluation. DVI provides real-time motion, with the full-motion image contained to a window on part of the screen so that…

This study investigated the values that influence teachers, future school administrators, and future school counselors in choosing their respective professions. A 15-item questionnaire was developed consisting of six categories: (1) stimulating work; (2) interpersonal satisfaction; (3) economic security; (4) responsible autonomy; (5) comfortable…

Educational researchers have begun exploring teachers' beliefs and construction of knowledge through their use of metaphors. In this study, undergraduate (N=104) and graduate (N=102) education students were asked to respond to open-ended statements concerning what teachers, students, and classrooms were like. The subjects also responded to lists…

In a University English Education program, 14 graduate students between the ages of 37 and 50 were asked to talk about the personal, social, academic, and professional advantages and disadvantages of being older graduate students. Disadvantages included financial problems, social isolation, irrelevant course content, and supervision of their…

A supplement to a 1982 study on the impact of student charges on access to public postsecondary education in California is presented. The study was conducted by the California Postsecondary Education Commission at the request of the California Legislature. After considering the complex process of instituting new state policies for new conditions,…

Developments and issues in academic advising are addressed in this collection of program abstracts from the 1982 conference of the National Academic Advising Association. Summaries are provided of the general sessions, preconference workshops, conference workshops, focus and special sessions, topical sessions, and paper sessions. In addition to…