A study explored the structures of language learners' beliefs about learning in general, or epistemological beliefs, and their beliefs about language learning in particular. Subjects, 97 college students learning Japanese at various levels in midwestern universities, completed a 132-item belief questionnaire. Factor analyses identified four…

This project is the result of a three year study of a sample of secondary schools in Botswana, India, Northern Ireland, and Zimbabwe. The study is backed up by longer interviews with students, teachers, and administrators, an audit of the curriculum, a review of educational materials, and an examination of the teacher education available. A…

A survey of English majors at the University of Southern Maine concerning the subject of curricular reform allowed a professor involved in the planning of the project to compile several "dos" and "don'ts" in an appendix titled "A Few Basic Principles of Questionnaire Design." These guidelines, however, require some…

This study established baseline data on the relationship attitudes and behaviors of entering first-year students. Subjects, 97 male and 178 female entering first-year students at a mid-sized regional mid-Atlantic public university, responded to a relationship questionnaire (for a response rate of 69%). Questions related to specific relationship…

A multifaceted study using both qualitative and quantitative methods examined the expectations of college life of first-time freshmen and then checked 4 years later at their graduation to determine how well they felt those expectations were met. Incoming freshmen wrote an essay detailing expectations, and shortly before graduation wrote another…

Few people seriously regard students as "products" coming off an educational assembly line, but notions about accountability and quality improvement in higher education are pervaded by manufacturing ideas and metaphors. Because numerical indicators of quality are inevitably expressed by trend lines or statistical control chars of some kind, they…

A quality assurance case study was conducted at the School of Business Studies of the University of Seville, Spain. This study explored the degree of satisfaction expressed by students, investigating the teaching performance of each university lecturer, subject program design, characteristics of the teaching center, issues related to the…

This session will highlight an easy survey package which lets non-technical users create surveys, administer surveys, gather results, and view statistics. This is an open source application all managed online via a web browser. By using phpESP, the faculty is given the freedom of creating various surveys at their convenience and link them to their…

This paper explores how students adjust to life at universities outside their home countries. Much of the current body of research was conducted prior to the 9/11 tragedy and focuses primarily on studies within a single U.S. institution. This project expands the boundaries by including multiple institutions from around the globe post-9/11. The…

This paper uses two stories to illustrate the political attitudes of today's youth. The first story, about a group of young people in a working class area of St. Paul, Minnesota, who were part of the youth civic engagement initiative called Public Achievement, suggests ways to re-engage young people with politics. Through this initiative, students…

A five-question Web-based summer school survey was designed to measure student motivation for taking summer classes. Web technology has several advantages, such as no printing, electronic notification, high student access potential, and automatic collection of data in digital form. Notification was sent to all enrolled students (N=19,837) based on…

The characteristics and attitudes of students and their reasons for enrolling were studied at a new institute of technology being established in Malaysia. The Swinburne University of Australia, in cooperation with Yayasan Sarawak, has established the Swinburne Sarawak Institute of Technology to provide industry training and trade/skills…

When used proactively and comprehensively, assessment can be a powerful tool for evaluating the effectiveness of existing programs and practices and for identifying areas for institutional enhancement. This paper describes using the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) and Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) surveys for campus…

Factors in high school students motivation for school and homework were studied, and other factors that may correlate with achievement motivation were explored. The project was designed in a framework of self-determination. A total of 372 high school students aged 13 to 20 years from 2 high schools completed the survey. Students also reported…

This study sought to identify predictors of satisfaction with first sexual intercourse. A survey of 292 undergraduates at a large rural midwestern university revealed that the majority of respondents received inadequate sex education. Most of their school sex education covered reproduction and disease prevention, to the exclusion of human sexual…