This collection contains papers, study reports, and research abstracts related primarily to community and junior college education in Texas. Section I, which presents institutional studies, papers, and reports, provides: (1) an analysis of probation and suspension at Amarillo College (AC); (2) results of a survey conducted to develop an…

A committee composed of students, parents, teachers, administrators, college/university persons, and representatives from business and industry carefully studied the mathematics curriculum in North Carolina public schools and formulated the recommendations contained in this report. It contains ideas, suggestions, and information resulting from…

While Online Learning Environments (OLEs) can potentially support learning that is more autonomous and authentic in nature than traditional instructional environments often allow, students do not always use OLEs in the ways expected or desired by their tutors. This paper examines the findings of a recent evaluation of an OLE designed for…

Doctoral research considered whether healthcare students were able to develop characteristics of Communities of Practice when engaged in an interprofessional online module. Using a case study approach the research included two phases. Within phase one a questionnaire was administered to the group of 109 healthcare students. These were analysed to…

The purpose of this study was to examine the potential of asynchronous discussion forums (ADFs) as a medium to facilitate reflective thinking among preservice teachers. Of particular interest was the extent and manner in which this potential varies with respect to (a) the structure of the ADF, (b) the focus of the ADF, and (c) group dynamics.…

The case study evaluated a distance education program offered by a land-grant university agricultural college. The study used Holmberg's and Moore's theoretical frameworks of didactic conversation and multiple interactions to determine the importance of interaction on the efficacy of distance learning. The mixed methods approach used an original…

Probabilistic models with more than one latent variable are designed to report profiles of skills or cognitive attributes. Testing programs want to offer additional information beyond what a single test score can provide using these skill profiles. Many recent approaches to skill profile models are limited to dichotomous data and have made use of…

This guide is intended for local- and state-level vocational education administrators, planners, and evaluators who are responsible for making program planning and evaluation findings and decisions geared toward increasing program relevance. The method differs from more traditional approaches in its heavy reliance upon the selection and…

To support arguments for an integrative approach to the study of writing, this report summarizes past and current trends in writing research and the resulting implications. The introduction discusses pre-1970s, 1970s, and 1980s research trends, noting that current research focuses on the context in which writing takes place and points out the…

The question of whether information technology can increase intellectual productivity is addressed. If concern for the intellectual productivity of professionals increases, universities are likely to become more important in society. Access to the knowledge base affects intellectual productivity. The way that people use the contents of the…

The Center for Science and Mathematics Education was established at California State Polytechnic University (Pomona) to: (1) promote the professional development of public school teachers of mathematics, science, and computer education; (2) improve the teaching and learning of science and mathematics in the schools; and (3) promote the study of…

Project HAITI STARS served 360 students, native speakers of Haitian Creole, Spanish, and Chinese, in its first year through supplementary instruction in English as a Second Language (ESL), native language arts (NLA), and bilingual mathematics, science, and social studies. The project provided students with academic and personal counseling,…

Designed to develop a more practical model for adapting context to learner interests, this study used computer-based instruction to make alternative contexts for statistics problems--sports, business, education, or no-context--available for selection by individual learners. The subjects were 227 undergraduate students enrolled in required…

The 18 papers in this collection describe approaches that practitioners and experts have found successful in using technology as a tool to improve learning. Individual chapters are: (1) "Where Do We Go Now That the Power's On?" (Frank Withrow); (2) "A Curriculum for the Information Age" (Mary Alice White); (3) "Developing…

Discrete mathematics, the mathematics of decision making for finite settings, is a topic of great interest in mathematics education at all levels. Attention is being focused on resolving the diversity of opinion concerning the exact nature of the subject, what content the curriculum should contain, who should study that material, and how that…