A British master's program in management that is computer-based and emphasizes cooperative learning is described. Guiding principles include participant choice of learning content and direction; personal responsibility for learning; integration of professional experience with new knowledge; student professional development; and shared learning.…

Describes the curriculum revision undertaken at Indiana University's Instructional Systems Technology Department. The impetus for change is discussed; stages in the revision process and major new curriculum features are covered; a brief synopsis of two relevant field studies is given; and the effect of revision on the faculty is briefly described.…

Relationships between colleague ratings of 29 personality traits and student ratings of teacher effectiveness were studied for 46 faculty members in 6 types of courses ranging from freshman lectures to graduate seminars in a Canadian university's psychology department. Teachers are differentially suited to different course levels because of…

This follow-up study of gifted students who had either entered the University of Washington before age 15 (n=61), qualified for early entrance but chose the normal high school path (n=36), or were nonaccelerated National Merit Scholarship finalists (n=27) found that early entrants entered graduate school in greater numbers than did the other…

Medical schools are starting to put students in small groups and help them solve real problems they will face in treating patients. Trend of problem-based learning in medical schools will have ripple effect throughout education. Teachers relinquishing lecturer's role must become adept at listening, answering questions, and helping students frame…

A survey of 121 undergraduate and graduate social work students and 96 field instructors found that many students had experienced verbal and physical abuse and that most instructors had experienced verbal abuse and physical violence. Although students received some instruction on safety, practicum agencies often had no safety policies. Curriculum…

Key institutional, social, and psychological factors that may be visible or invisible barriers to women and ethnic minorities seeking academic careers are examined, drawing on recent literature. Recommendations for change at the elementary, secondary, postsecondary, and graduate levels are offered. (MSE)

Describes the development of an alternative preservice teacher education program that helped students realize that children learn through constructing ideas about the world and themselves and demonstrated the belief that learning to teach is a process of constructing meaning. The program encouraged student teachers to explore their potential for…

Advice for doctoral students and fledgling educational researchers presents the following suggestions: (1) use what is known about problem finding to choose a dissertation topic, (2) be persistent in productivity and in the face of discouragement, and (3) replace the typical dissertation structure with a more functional one. (SLD)

Discusses the portfolio method of student assessment in the Educational Leadership program at Auburn University Montgomery (Alabama). Highlights include the procedures, format, components, and assessment practices utilized; perceptions of university faculty, students, and prospective employers; and the future of leadership portfolio assessment.…

The first doctoral student of linguist John Swales comments on three aspects of their advisor/advisee relationship: the relaxed atmosphere in which work was done; the collegial style of interaction; and the advisor's active participation with the student in the research process. (MSE)

A study of graduate and professional student within-year persistence, based on the 1993 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, compared three models of the impact of financial aid on persistence. It was found that financial aid significantly and positively influenced within-year persistence, with comprehensive aid packages having the greatest…

Two coordinated studies involving 429 teachers and preservice teachers and 227 education graduate students were designed to develop and validate scores on an efficient self-report measure of multicultural awareness for teachers working in kindergarten through grade 12. The construct and criterion validity and reliability of the developed Teacher…

A national survey of 45 faculty and 75 deans and directors of graduate-level multicultural social work programs found that there was heavy reliance on traditional teaching methods; an increasing number of groups and topics were being covered; coursework was poorly linked to field practicum experience; and teacher attitudes were associated with…

The Center for California Studies, a unit of California State University, Sacramento, focuses on governance issues and depends on state funds for administering four fellowship programs. It exists in a borderland between academe and state government, public policy think tanks and interdisciplinary studies, graduate education and career training.…