Two samples of college students (Sample 1, n = 106 Sample 2, n = 107) completed self-report measures that assessed their perceptions of their university's mission and values along with their tendency to seek social approval. With Sample 1, global social desirability was not predictive of any student perceptions related to institutional mission and…

This constructivist study explored service-learning as a contextual influence on identity development and self-authorship. Analysis of data from interviews with 8 participants, each of whom completed an undergraduate service-learning course 2 to 4 years prior to the study, suggested that an enduring influence of service-learning was construction…

The curriculum continuity for students in isolated rural areas is affected due to the difficulty in getting teachers. Thus, there is a lack of cultural events such as musical performances that hinder students' horizons as a result of this geographical isolation.

This article addresses the challenge of developing new conceptual knowledge to help us make better sense of the way that higher education is approaching the "problem" of representing (documenting, certifying and communicating by other means) students' learning for the super-complex world described by Barnett (2000b). The current UK…

The contemporary crisis in American Education that has resulted in Bush sponsored federal legislation for accountability and standardized testing is the setting for an essay introducing the work of French philosopher, Julia Kristeva. The comparison is between an "educated subject" that might well come to be constituted in schooling at…

Experiential learning is an educational tool in which students "learn by doing." Briefly stated, "debriefing is the processing of the learning experience from which the learners are to draw the lessons to be learned" (Dennehy, Sims, & Collins, 1998, p. 9). Kolb's (1984) model provides a four-stage framework: concrete experience, reflective…

Based on a sample of 532 undergraduates at a Southeastern U.S. university, Big Five and narrow personality traits were examined in relation to a measure of satisfaction with specific domains of college experience (College Satisfaction) and a measure of General Life Satisfaction. Four of the Big Five traits--Agreeableness, Conscientiousness,…

In 2000, Rutgers College launched a First-Year Interest Group Seminar (FIGS) program that offers entering new students an opportunity to engage in conversations on topics of mutual interest (health and medicine, business, or law) as well as learn about how to navigate a large Research-I institution. Each student involved in FIGS enrolls in a…

The role of teachers in the social, personal and moral development of students apart from education is discussed.

By the end of third grade, children must develop foundational skills in reading, math, and behavioral predispositions that maximize their chances of future academic success and wellbeing. Results from the 2005 National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) indicate that many children lack these foundational skills, and that low-income…

The Search Institute, a nonprofit research organization in Minneapolis, Minnesota, defines developmental assets as good things everyone needs to be happy in life, such as a supportive family, a caring neighborhood, integrity, self-esteem, resistance skills, conflict resolution skills, constructive activities and a sense of purpose. "A…

This article reports the effects of program characteristics and faculty activities on students' experiences and, ultimately, the development of students' analytical and group skills. Data come from nationally representative samples of 4,330 seniors, 1,243 faculty members, and 147 engineering program chairs on 40 campuses nationwide. Findings…

This study compared youth development outcomes of participants in a physical activity-based extended day program to the same outcomes during their school day. The extended day program, called "The Coaching Club," was offered to ten inner city fourth and fifth graders who attend an elementary school in a large metropolitan city. The program was…

This project was a 2-year investigation of elementary school children placed in programs for high-ability learners. The primary purpose of the study was to investigate academic and affective changes in students during their first 2 years in a gifted program. Students were assessed during the fall of one year and the spring of the next year.…

This paper is structured in two sections. The first examines views of mathematical abstraction in two broad categories: empiricist and dialectical accounts. It documents the difficulties involved in and explores the potentialities of both accounts. Then it outlines a recent model which takes a dialectical materialist approach to abstraction in…