In 1992, a study was undertaken to measure student persistence at Los Angeles City College (LACC) over a 3-year period. A total of 462 new, entering students were selected from a larger, random sample of 1,250 full- and part-time students who had enrolled in credit courses in spring 1989. Descriptive items, such as student characteristics and…

A model of graph comprehension is proposed including perceptual and memory processes. Multidimensional scaling (MDS), cluster analysis, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to determine how college students with different mathematical experience read different types of bar graphs. Data were collected at the University of Oklahoma (Norman)…

This teacher guide and student workbook set contains two learning activities, designed for fifth through ninth grade students, that concentrate on lake stratification and water quality. In the activities students model the seasonal temperature changes that occur in temperate lakes and observe the resulting stratification of lake waters. Students…

This document reports the result of a study carried out to evaluate the installation and use of the UNESCO CD-ROM prototype. A questionnaire in English and French was sent to about 267 institutions around the world. Replies were received from 97 bodies, giving a response rate of about 36%. Almost all respondents were information professionals in…

In the context of the discipline of quality control, this paper identifies many of the tools which may reinvigorate the statistical and graphical toolkits in higher education. Certain statistical and graphical issues are discussed by means of examples and hypothetical situations, and techniques are introduced that have application for the pursuit…

A statistical portrait is provided of private schools in the United States, using the best national data available to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Previously published work is used to give an overview of private schools from 1980-81 through 1985-86. Following an introductory examination of private schools in the United…

This document presents illustrative maps, tables, and graphs that depict several features of Asia and Oceania including: size, population, resources, commodities, trade, languages, religions, ethnic groups, cities, land use, food and agriculture, health, schooling, jobs, energy, industry, demographic statistics, aspects of government, and…

Research indicates that the educational effectiveness of Microcomputer-Based Laboratories (MBL) may be due to the real time nature of the experience. This article describes a study where kinesthetic feedback was completely removed by giving students only visual replications of a motion situation. If simultaneity of perception is the important…

A profile of Canada emerges from this collection of black and white illustrative maps, tables, and graphs. Aspects of the country depicted include: geography, population, resources, international trade, government, and energy. Short texts on multiculturalism, the Canadian economy, the country's history, and U.S.-Canada relations also are included.…

A visual display is introduced that enables one to compare the predictive validities of all possible non-negatively weighted sums of two predictors. This two-predictor validity curve assesses the level of predictability of a criterion from composites of two predictors. Derivations are presented for the general case. For illustrative purposes, the…

Methods that have been employed in McGill University's (Montreal, Quebec) program of research into the nature of learning are described. The methods illustrate four phases of inquiry: conceptualization or model-building; data gathering techniques; data representation; and data analysis. For the university's learning task project, the development…

Microcomputer-based laboratories (MBL), the use of microcomputers for student-directed data acquisition and analysis, represents a promising new development in science laboratory instruction. This descriptive study determined the impact of MBLs on middle school students' understanding of graphs of distance and velocity. The study was based on the…

A procedure for developing a nomogram that depicts expectancy of success on a criterion from performance on two predictors is presented. Data from 574 medical students attending Michigan State University College of Human Medicine's classes of 1979 through 1984 were used to develop a model for predicting the expectancy of success on Part I of the…

Over the past several years, technical communicators have been struggling to change some of the stylistic traditions inherited from scientific discourse. Rhetoricians, writing teachers, and psychologists all agree that the use of analogy and first- or second-person sentence construction make for more effective communication than the absence of…

The accuracy of predictions of future student performance on the basis of graphing data on semi-logarithmic charts and equal interval graphs was examined. All 83 low-achieving students in grades 3 to 6 read randomly-selected lists of words from the Harris-Jacobson Word List for 1 minute. The number of words read correctly and words read…