Experiences of Black students at a large, predominantly White, border-state university that houses one of the few comprehensive Black Studies programs in the nation were examined. Previous research has shown that the level of Black identity development of Black college students varied from one higher educational institution to the next. Based on…

Two studies were conducted to explore mathematical precocity in young children. Study 1 examined mathematically gifted first and third graders' working memory development. The results showed that mathematically gifted children's working memory growth was similar to that expected of their age peers. Study 2 examined changes in mathematically gifted…

The debate over teaching the "canon," a collection of great books authored by Homer, Plato, Shakespeare, Kant, Darwin, and others that has traditionally represented the Western intellectual tradition, as a core of the college curriculum, is examined. Discussion begins with a description of how the canon has been taught from ancient…

Based on research in infant sign language, this book teaches parents methods of communicating with their infants through the use of simple bodily movements that signify objects, events, and needs. Noting that communication between parent and child can flourish between 9 months and 30 months, when a baby's desire to communicate outstrips the…

Nine articles discuss the nature and structure of public scholarship. The articles are: (1) "Divided No More" by Parker J. Palmer, who urges academics to act publicly on their convictions; (2) "The Public Intellectual as Transgressor?" by William M. Sullivan, who urges the reinvention of a "public" orientation to…

Pychologists, educators, and others have challenged the idea of a fixed IQ. This book uses recent research and earlier discoveries to argue that intelligence is not genetically set. Noting that the idea of learnable intelligence reflects the belief that intelligence can be taught, the book outlines a theory of learnable intelligence, including…

Several factors are eroding children's right to play. The first is continuing poverty throughout the world. This factor is evident in underdeveloped countries and the inner cities of industrialized countries. Changing cultural values are a second factor in developed societies where indifference toward the importance of play is prevalent. The many…

Music can play an important part in personality development. Music education for children encourages the capacity for creativity, improvisation, and understanding the beautiful and the good. This book traces the history of the music syllabus among teachers in the Soviet Union and discusses creative freedom and the instructor. It also presents a…

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…

A compilation of 89 structural frameworks or classifications of outcomes of higher education is presented. Each classification system or model is discussed according to the time it entered the literature. The classifications are grouped into three areas: impacts on individuals, impacts on society, and impacts on individuals and society. Some of…

In order to construct a plan drawing test for emotionally disturbed children, 1,250 children from 6 to 15 years old were asked to draw plans of their houses. Forty items in this cross-sectional sample illustrate a regular and rapid increase with age from the purely vertical pictures of houses at 6 years to the mainly horizontal representations at…

A large proportion of college students majoring in science are unable to translate even simple sentences into algebraic equations. Given the following sentence, "There are six times as many students (S) as professors (P) at this university," 37% of 150 freshmen engineering students in a study conducted in 1981 by Clement, Lockhead, and Monk wrote…

The development of critical thinking skills in students is seen in this presentation as a significant and worthy objective of education, though the realization of this objective will be dependent upon many important factors. Among the factors cited here are, first, that recent major reform efforts have created no barriers to including critical…

"Teaching in the Future Tense" is an approach to education which develops student initiative and responsibility, the ability to work cooperatively, experience in democratic decision-making, and the ability to envision and work toward alternative futures. It is firmly based on the "experimentalist" philosophy of education, as distinct from the…

This report summarizes the research and results of the Evaluation of Experiential Learning Project, undertaken to (1) assess the impact of experiential learning programs on the social, psychological, and intellectual development of secondary school students; and (2) use these data to identify those program variables most effective in facilitating…