A model suitable for use in a required social work course or a high-interest elective social work course on ethnic groups, racism, or cross cultural studies uses a five dimensional approach. An elective course entitled "Cultural Diversity and the Helping Process" provides a case study. This course has been taught since 1981 and has occasionally…

An overview is presented of a 3-year project focused on the development and demonstration of an interactive teaching improvement model that was research-based and used electronic technology. Though the primary goal was to improve the preparation of preservice teachers in elementary and secondary education, it was hoped the materials could be used…

After reviewing the literature on mentoring, this report presents the results of a study of 544 students enrolled at Florida A&M University (FAMU), a historically black institution. Students responses to the following issues are analyzed by gender, race, classification, and school and college: (1) reasons for having a mentor relationship at…

This paper describes a model of the influence of personal and environmental factors on students' valuing of two deep-processing strategies for studying expository texts. In the model, task orientation (a form of intrinsic motivation in which learning and understanding are the major goals) interacts with perceptions of the teacher's goals to…

In response to a series of problem symptoms related to the influence of television on students, a team of professors at the Universidad de Playa Ancha de Ciencias de la Educacion in Chile undertook a project designed to train television viewers to become critical viewers of the medium. Specific objectives of the project included: (1) to design a…

A model for foreign language teacher education is suggested. The model is based on the premise that multiple activities in a teaching curriculum provide opportunities for foreign language student teachers to explore and change their teaching behaviors. The following six activities are discussed: (1) practice teaching, (2) observing teaching, (3)…

A loglinear item response theory (IRT) model is proposed that relates polytomously scored item responses to a multidimensional latent space. Each item may have a different response function where each item response may be explained by one or more latent traits. Item response functions may follow a partial credit model (D. Andrich, 1978; and G. N.…

Several models for optimizing incomplete sample designs with respect to information on the item parameters are presented. The following cases are considered: (1) known ability parameters; (2) unknown ability parameters; (3) item sets with multiple ability scales; and (4) response models with multiple item parameters. The models are able to cope…

Refugees, like most other migrants, are at increased risk for various forms of psychopathology. This paper documents the relationship between refugee migration and psychopathology by reviewing pertinent epidemiological, clinical, and survey studies from the refugee literature. The picture that emerges shows consistently increased levels of serious…

This paper examines the cognitive processes associated with higher-order thinking strategies--i.e., cognitive processes directly associated with the employment of knowledge in the service of problem solving and creativity--in order to more clearly define a prescribed instructional method to improve problem-solving skills. The first section of the…

Part of a volume which explores current issues in service delivery to infants and toddlers with handicapping conditions, this chapter discusses the nature of parent involvement in early childhood special education. Acceptance of the basic axiom of parent involvement needs to be accompanied by an understanding of individual differences in family…

The target of difficulty of the Educational Technology Center (ETC) Heat and Temperature Group is basic thermal physics, particularly the differentiation between heat and temperature. High school teachers often find that thermal concepts are very difficult for their students to master and attribute students' difficulties at least in part to the…

The Videotutoring via AppalNet project at Appalachian State University in North Carolina offers supplementary, tutorial assistance to students in certain high risk courses such as history, biology, and mathematics. This program enables instructors to tape test review sessions which are broadcast live and then later rebroadcast at other times on…

A project by California State University, Fullerton to internationalize the curriculum is described in this report. The school established an Interdisciplinary Internationally Oriented Faculty Resource Team chosen from its current faculty according to their international expertise in liberal arts, social sciences, or professional programs.…

This paper discusses the New Teacher Retention Project, a collaborative partnership between San Diego State University and the San Diego Unified School District, California. The purposes of this project are to develop a practical model of support and assistance to new teachers, particularly those working with students from culturally diverse…