This study sought to identify factors that motivated students at Pennsylvania State University and the University of Cyprus to major in elementary education and to compare the high school scholastic ability of these two groups of students. Questionnaires were completed by 157 randomly selected male and female Pennsylvania State University and 176…

This study examines the importance of structured reflection in service-learning courses. The study consisted of interviews with 15 faculty and 72 students from three different higher education institutions; interviews were conducted between October 1998 and March 1999. Focus group interviews with faculty gathered information about course design,…

Occupational safety and health faculty and occupational safety and health professionals (i.e., the potential audience for graduate level distance education programs) were surveyed to determine the considerations for a distance education-based graduate occupational safety and health program. Findings are reported related to the demand for distance…

West Virginia received two grants from the U.S. Department of Education to encourage disadvantaged youth to have high expectations, stay in school, and take academically rigorous courses to prepare for college. A total of 17 counties were served by these grants. As part of the program, surveys were completed by 3,716 students in 54 middle and…

To collect data about the first-year university experiences of rural students, 15 students were drawn from a pool of 125 Riverina (Australia) students who had participated in an earlier study on factors that influence academic persistence. The sample consisted of approximately equal numbers of males and females, about equal proportions of students…

This paper presents the results of a study undertaken in Portugal to determine the influence of different factors on students' (n=499) decisions to study or refuse to study in one of the physical sciences or engineering. Some influencing factors are related to what goes on in school and during science lessons, and other factors are related to the…

The Wake County Public School System, North Carolina, conducted the High School Student Survey of students in grades 9 through 12 during the 1998-99 school year. The return rate for the survey was 80.4%. Students responded to a variety of questions related to homework, technology use, fairness, safety, support, and future plans. A majority of the…

This study first examined the motivation construct with personal goals, agency beliefs, and emotions in a World Wide Web assisted learning environment. It also investigated the influence of personal goals, agency beliefs, and emotions on the students' learning achievement from fundamental biology courses assisted with Web pages. Finally, it…

The World Wide Web has become a promising medium for delivery of instruction. This paper describes a case study in which the Internet was used to supplement teacher education course instruction via an Interactive Web module. The goals of using such a medium for facilitating teaching and enhancing learning are described as they relate to learning…

Despite considerable recent public and judicial attention to the issue of drug testing, little empirical research has focused on the relationship between drug testing in schools and the actual use of illicit drugs by students. To explore this issue, we use school-level survey data about drug testing from the Youth, Education, and Society study and…

This report is about undergraduate students' experience of, and attitudes towards, part-time study, its costs and student support. It was commissioned by Universities UK and GuildHE (previously SCOP). The report is based on an online survey of 2,654 students drawn from 25 higher education institutions (HEIs) in the UK, and was conducted between…

Contends students evaluating each other's work can help instructors address many higher institutional objectives, especially total quality management of collegiate teaching. Examines student views of a specific peer-review system wherein undergraduates assigned final grades to each other's term papers. Reveals a high degree of comfort with the…

A University of South Australia study investigated the relationship between perceptions of the university's research program and prospective students' decision to enroll. Freshmen (n=774) in 1994 at all six campuses were surveyed. Results indicate that among 13 college choice factors, quality of research program was ranked fifth, after career…

Describes a study done at Oakton Community College which assessed how student characteristics, self-perceptions, academic skills, and course-taking patterns can predict academic achievement. Findings show that students have unrealistic perceptions of their own academic competency and that math skills are a stronger predictor of academic…

Profiles students' awareness of the functions and influences of expert input in their writing. Data include results of a survey of foreign-language and English-as-a-Second-Language writers' beliefs about feedback behaviors known to interact with revision processes. Results indicate that each group perceives expert response as serving distinct…