Describes a study examining the effects of distance, motivation, satisfaction with course content, and satisfaction with an interactive television (ITV) system on student evaluation of community college courses. Indicates that satisfaction with the course and ITV system had the greatest effect on course evaluation, rather than distance or…

Describes a study that investigated the interaction of learning-disabled students and their teachers with instructional elements of commercial courseware. The relationship of courseware design to student independence and motivation is discussed, implications for improving courseware design are noted, and ideas for further research are suggested.…

Discussion of the use of hypertext focuses on a study conducted at the University of Connecticut that evaluated the effectiveness and acceptance of a hypertext document under one of three different learning conditions: (1) in competition with standard lectures, (2) as a supplement to lectures, and (3) as a replacement for lectures. (14 references)…

Offers one teacher's reflections on her methods for dealing with students who challenge classroom teaching norms. Anecdotes of four students are provided. (BB)

Presents results of a study comparing student class size preferences among first-year college students and upper-division students. Reports that first-year students prefer small classes and upper division students prefer large classes. Concludes that experience in larger classes results in a stronger preference toward the large classes. Urges…

Primary and second-order principal components analyses were performed on the Quality of School Life Scale (QSL), a measure of elementary school climate, for responses of 141 fourth through sixth graders. Findings suggest three general factors, but item composition of subscales differs somewhat from that proposed by the QSL's developers. (SLD)

Analysis of 126 medical school application forms included classification by application type, use of school-specific or supplemental forms, and additional biographical and behavioral information sought. Results suggest that schools eliciting more extensive responses seem to be gauging a student's potential for developing specific characteristics…

Discusses research on teacher thinking, noting the types of information available from a simple procedure for collecting pupil responses to lessons taught by student teachers. Pupil response patterns shift as student and cooperating teachers alternate instructional processes. Pupil responses to lessons allow prospective teachers to learn to think…

The development of a self-evaluation questionnaire compiled from 2,041 student-generated descriptions of coping behavior is described. A factor analysis of data for 643 students in years 11-12 of Australian secondary school yielded the 90-item Adolescent Coping Checklist--a questionnaire concerning different ways that adolescents cope with…

Native (n=46) and nonnative (n=27) speakers of English enrolled in university English courses reacted to 15 prompts from essay tests. Nonnative speakers chose prompts on topics of interest to them; with topics of equal interest, they chose the prompts offering the greatest scope for doing a lot of writing. (six references) (JR)

Presents debates between young people in China's special economic zones and three educators who find that these areas create their own unique problems for China. Cautions that this group comes in contact with conflicting ideas, values, and beliefs. Warns private interests may create an unequal standard of living with the rest of China. (NL)

Discussion of information services at Clemson University libraries focuses on managerial, cost, and behavioral issues that arose during the process of developing online access to information. Extending the online catalog with commercial databases and locally generated files is described, cost and benefit tradeoffs are considered, and student and…

Five educators respond to a hypothetical college classroom interaction in which the teacher struggles with students' emotional responses to course content. The comments focus on these issues: resistance to difficult concepts, optimism, the teacher's role, and the relationship of emotional response and the learning process. (MSE)

Describes self-regulatory processes that promote achievement in the basic skills of reading (clarifying purpose, understanding meanings, drawing inferences, looking for relationships, reformulating text) and mathematical problem solving (clarifying problem goals, understanding concepts, applying knowledge, monitoring progress). Experiences in…

Discusses a series of interviews with students at the end of their first year of studying science in secondary schools. Compares and contrasts students' perceptions of reality with their expectations. (DDR)