Though student-designed programs have been justified by references to humanism, systems theory, and romantic idealism, a more secure foundation lies in developmental theory. When properly advised, it is suggested, student-designed programs resemble the most desirable processes of liberal education. (Author/MLW)

Grade inflation is defined and the interplay between grading and evaluation are discussed. A solution to the problem of grade inflation is proposed: persuade the faculty members at a number of leading institutions to regard C+/B- as the appropriate median grade. (MLW)

Data from the Miskimins Self-Goal-Other Discrepancy Scale and the Personal Data Questionnaire, completed by business students in eight suburban Cook County, Illinois, high schools indicated that male and non-White respondents had weaker self-concepts than female and White respondents. As self-concept influences learning and behavior, further…

The author describes aspects of the size and organizational structure of high schools which reduce human contact and have a negative influence on the sense of community, the development of relationships, and the formation of personal identity. (Author/SJL)

This study assesses the Personalized System of Instruction's (Keller Plan) conventional academic environment capability. The author focuses on some of the issues accompanying the introduction of PSI. (SA)

The rising popularity of career-oriented courses presents a new challenge to the concept of liberal education; however, evidence shows that a liberal education provides the versatility and adaptiveness vital to a modern executive. Visits to 20 liberal arts colleges with strong career emphases in their programs are described. (MLW)

An investigation to examine the value of a support group technique designed to assist medical students during their clerkships in psychiatry is reported. The Planned Change Model of Personal Growth was tested to determine its effect on the students' attitude toward themselves. (JMD)

To legitimize the development of personal meaning as a major educational goal and to create teaching methods and curriculum materials that facilitate the formation of personal meaning is the critical task facing the counseling profession today. (Author)

Examines new studies of family-level dynamics that explain individual variability in early socioemotional development. Shows that family processes help explain unique variance in conceptually related measures of child development. Reviews studies showing prospective links between family processes during infancy and behavior at age 4, and…

To counter the claim that the values inherent in outdoor education are supported only by weak unsubstantiated assumptions, 14 empirical research projects are described that show that outdoor education has a positive influence on personal and social development and environmental awareness. (TD)

Reviews research on the influence of the college experience in students' moral development, particularly within the framework of Lawrence Kohlberg's theory of moral development. Issues discussed include the amount of principled moral growth occurring during college, how much can be attributed to college attendance, institutional characteristics…

Discusses the need to use the "communicative approach" to teach French grammar in French immersion classes in Canada. Emphasis is placed on the value of using a "needs-based syllabus" that considers the immediate and long-term employment needs of each individual, as well as the psychological and developmental needs. (18…

Describes the crisis that young women face--a kind of suffocation--at adolescence, calling it both developmental and cultural. Argues that responsive teaching, and regular, fast, expressive writing without evaluation about whatever is in their minds will help girls define what is most important to them and examine what is going on in their lives.…

Results from a translated and revalidated measure of moral judgment completed by 161 Belgian adolescents and young adults and from a measure of religious judgment completed by 142 subjects support the usefulness of a questionnaire to measure religious judgment and provide information about its relationship to moral judgment in young adults. (SLD)

At 3 points in time over a 12-month period, this short-term longitudinal study examined 67 preschoolers' syllable, rime, and phoneme awareness; speech and language skills; and letter knowledge. Findings indicated that rime skills developed earlier than phoneme skills. Structural equation models showed that articulatory skills and syllable and rime…