Influences on students' reported academic development over a 4-year period were assessed, focusing on college influences on student growth and changes each year. Tinto's model of college student attrition was found to account for about 23% of the variance in students' reports of their academic skill development over 4 years of college. For each…

Changes in a group of students' conception of learning over 6 years of part-time study were investigated at Great Britain's Open University. The direct exploration of students' experiences of learning involved a qualitative and phenomenological research paradigm. Learning was described in the context of the natural setting based on the learner's…

Epistemological development is one of the expected outcomes of higher education. A longitudinal study of the epistemological development of 77 students upon entrance into college and again at the beginning of their sophomore year revealed that both males and females increased their intellectual complexity. Interviews were conducted during the…

A program was initiated by the psychiatric faculty at the Florida International University School of Nursing to help provide students with clinical practice experience in the face of fewer in-patient facilities. When the student population cannot be absorbed, the faculty must provide optional experiences that meet the students' clinical…

Crystallizing experiences are defined as those which involve remarkable and memorable contact between a person with unusual talent, or potential, and the materials of the field in which the talent will be manifested. Several biographies of talented people in several disciplines including music, mathematics, and visual arts are discussed. Examples…

This booklet is intended for the use of physical education teachers of children from nine through twelve years of age. Examples of instructional activities are provided that are based upon the fundamental concepts of exercise physiology, kinesiology, motor development, motor learning, the social/psychological aspects of movement, and movement in…

An examination of the views of Piaget on child development and a review of criticisms of his theories illustrate the general problem of applying psychological theories to educational practice. It is concluded that educators are largely ignorant of what children know and their ways of coming to know, especially as these operate in real time…

Anticipatory consumer socialization is the learning of consumer roles and perceptions, which will be assumed at a later time, such as those that children acquire before they become adult consumers. A survey of 784 adolescents was conducted in a southern state to examine the anticipatory consumer socialization effects of such factors as the mass…

The curriculum design of an experimental project school established in rural area in Missouri in 1917 formed the basis for developing a modern curriculum of individually guided education in the same area 60 years later. The original "project method" school operated with a curriculum selected directly from the real life experiences or purposes of…

A beginning step in understanding intrinsic motivation in school can occur through examination of adolescents' subjective experience and the relationship between enjoyment and school learning. Subjects (85) filled out self-report forms, recording their level of concentration, moods, feelings and activities at random times during the waking hours…

To investigate the impact which continuity in children's programs might have for children's longterm cognitive and noncognitive development, effects of a prekindergarten (PreK) program on children's performance was measured using two cognitive measures at the end of the subjects' first grade year. Staff development activities in selected districts…

FOUR SELF-INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAMS WERE STUDIED AND REVISED BY USE OF TUTORING TECHNIQUES WITH INDIVIDUAL STUDENTS TO CREATE MODIFIED PROGRAMS SUPERIOR TO THE ORIGINAL ONES. THE PROGRAMS USED IN THE STUDY WERE FIRST-GRADE READING, FIRST-GRADE ARITHMETIC, JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL SPANISH, AND SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL GEOMETRY. PROGRAMS THAT LED TO IMPROVED…

CLASSROOM EXPERIENCE INITIATED PRIOR TO METHODS INSTRUCTION AND STUDENT TEACHING WAS STUDIED TO DETERMINE IF MEASURABLE TRANSFER EXISTED BETWEEN THEM. FORTY ELEMENTARY TEACHER CANDIDATES WHO HAD COMPLETED THEIR JUNIOR YEAR COMPRISED THE POPULATION. THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP (20) PARTICIPATED IN A 6-WEEK SUMMER SESSION PROGRAM OF TEACHING SMALL GROUPS…

The history and philosophy of the free university, defined as an organization that offers noncredit classes to the general public in which "anyone can teach and anyone can learn," is explored. Offered is practical advice for starting a free university center or exchange and ensuring its success. Three contemporary versions of free…

A followup study was conducted of the 62 Louisiana State University doctoral graduates of the College of Education from May 1975 through May 1978. A questionnaire was administered to gather data related to the graduate's experiences in and reactions to the doctoral program and on the relationship of that program to subsequent employment. An…