Only recently have professionals recognized the importance of self-determination for young children and their families. Project SELF used the philosophy of self-determination in an interdisciplinary model to prepare graduate students to serve young children with disabilities and their families. Through Participatory Action Research (PAR) projects,…

The poor performance of students in America's urban high schools, both in absolute terms and in comparison with their more economically secure counterparts in suburban schools, is a critical issue for the country, and the opportunity for all students to learn mathematics has been heralded as the new "civil right." In a recent study of…

This paper explores the opportunities and drawbacks of eLearning from the viewpoints of educators and learners. A postgraduate dementia studies programme provides the basis for reflection on the use of a blended learning approach utilising web-based learning. Those who register for the programme are employed in different health and social care…

Successful inclusion of very young children with disabilities in natural environments requires professionals to have specialized skills including: collaboration with the child's parents and caregivers and other professionals, ecologically valid assessment of the child within the context of his or her natural environment, and the design of an…

Mental models of metallic bonding held by learners from three academic levels, secondary school (year 12), undergraduate, and postgraduate, were probed using semistructured interviews including the use of Interviews-About-Events focus cards depicting metallic properties and cards containing depictions of models from curriculum material. The…

This study investigates the critical thinking skills of 50 students currently enrolled in the Master's TEFL Programme at Yarmouk University, Jordan. The Cornell Critical Thinking Test, Level Z is utilised to test the students' use, or lack thereof, of the critical thinking skills of deduction, semantics, credibility, induction, definition and…

This study examined the integration of the Reflecting Team Method (T. Andersen, 1991) and the Microcounseling Model (A. E. Ivey & M. B. Ivey, 2003) as a collaborative counselor training option. Reflecting team reflections, client-counselor role plays, and feedback from master's-level students were transcribed and analyzed for themes; 10 themes…

A discussion of discourse analysis focuses on its usefulness as a framework for analyzing and improving the communication skills of international teaching assistants (ITAs). The discussion is based on the transcript (appended) of a native Chinese-speaking ITA conducting an organic chemistry class in English. Using discourse analysis at one level,…

Health services research is a multidisciplinary field that investigates the structure, processes, and effects of health care services. This report focuses on one part of the field of health services research--its work force and its programs for educating and training that work force. This study undertook the following information collection…

There has been a recognized need to understand the basis of quality teaching at the secondary school level. The Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI) was developed by T. Wubbels, H. A. Creton, and H. P. Hooymayers in the 1980s to address teaching quality at the high school level. A modified version of the QTI, the Professor Interpersonal…

Graduate students have long expressed difficulties adapting to different expectations graduate schools place upon them. Foreign students pursuing knowledge in the field of speech communication encounter cultural difficulties. Foreign graduate students are students at risk because they become a central locus for cultural tensions in relation to:…

This paper reports on an in-depth ethnographic study of one Latina attending a predominantly White university. The study focuses on her experiences during the process of earning a graduate degree, the importance of family and cultural influences, and the differences between the path taken by Chicanas/Latinas in higher education and that of…

This paper reports on a study of the relationship between students' characteristics and students' ratings of faculty teaching, using the Faculty Course Evaluation Form (FCEF) at a major southeastern university. In particular, the study investigated: (1) how students rate faculty members on an item-by-item basis (item functioning); (2) what the…

This qualitative study explored personal and program experiences that affect dissertation completion and non-completion to provide insights that might help students and faculty in their decision-making and advising. Interviews were conducted with 13 graduates and 9 "all-but-dissertation" (ABD) students regarding the traits they felt led…

This report describes the early development, recent revision, and some uses of a special Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) database for studying talent flow between undergraduate and graduate school. It discusses the following: (1) development and expansion of a talent flow database containing all variables from the GRE General Test files on all…