In winter 1994, a study was conducted at Miami-Dade Community College (M-DCC), in Florida, to determine credit students' perceptions of college services. Surveys were distributed to students in 200 credit courses requesting ratings for 21 college services with respect to the importance of the service for their "ideal" college and their…

In winter 1994, a study was conducted at Miami-Dade Community College (M-DCC), in Florida, to determine evening students' perceptions of college services. Surveys were distributed to students in 200 credit courses requesting ratings for 21 college services with respect to the importance of the service for their "ideal" college and their…

A study was conducted in 1994 to identify, categorize, and prioritize research needs for improving teacher education related to the vocational education initiative of Tech Prep over the next 10 years. First, questionnaires were sent to experts in the field of Tech Prep, seeking a sample of needs and priorities. Responses were received from 33…

This paper studied the construct validity of the Receptivity to Change Inventory (RCI) as a measure of teacher receptivity to change. The sample consisted of all teachers in 94 schools in 6 districts in southern Louisiana. Usable data were received from 1,921 teachers from elementary schools and secondary schools during the spring of 1992. The…

The potential usefulness of self-assessment of low-level aptitudes, such as basic or elementary reading, writing, and calculating, was explored in a test validation context, following the model of B. Davey (1980, 1990). Self-assessments were sought to provide criterion-related or construct validities that might otherwise be unobtainable for some…

Critical thinking can be explained as an effective, organized and functional cognitive process to understand our own thoughts and other people's opinions and to improve our dispositions to express ourselves. Critical thinking is a process and also dispositions about deciding what to do or believe logically. In addition it provides the possibility…

Research-extensive land-grant institutions face the unique challenge of asking faculty to fulfill a historic mission of public service in a time of scarce resources. This article discusses the parallel between the effects of resource dependency and academic capitalism on the research enterprise and on public service endeavors through the…

The purpose of this report is to provide a detailed overview of the development and initial validation of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). The MSLQ is an 81-item, self-report instrument designed to measure college students' motivational orientations and their use of various learning strategies (Pintrich, Smith, Garcia, &…

Belief in the ability to teach or to teach a particular subject can help fuel success in the first stages of a teaching career. The need for a reliable instrument with which to probe preservice elementary teachers' self-efficacy beliefs in the teaching of science led to the development of two versions of a teacher efficacy scale that were tested…

A survey of teacher education faculty and graduate students (most were practicing teachers) in 44 colleges indicated 66 percent of faculty respondents and 81 percent of student respondents supported increased field experience to improve teacher preparation programs. Less than one-third of the respondents consistently supported increases in liberal…

Describes study that investigated the impact of individual differences on deaf college students' attitudes toward computers at Gallaudet University. The impact of age, gender, computer experience, and major are examined, and results indicate a strong correlation between computer experience level and attitudes. (22 references) (Author/LRW)

A survey for rating characteristics/skills of effective consultant behavior was developed and sent to and received from 177 school psychological/consultation experts and 307 school psychology practitioners nationwide. Four factors--consultation process skills, expert skills, personal characteristics, and interpersonal skills--were shared across…

A study involving 102 high school students (49 males and 53 females) from Taiwan revealed that the order of response scale labels had a primacy effect on subjects' choices of the alternatives in Likert-type attitude scales. Practical implications of the response-order effects for measurement are discussed. (SLD)

The Computer Attitude Scale was adapted for use with Turkish university students. Translation to Turkish and back to English established the scale. Results with 282 university students indicates the utility of the scale with Turkish students, although the construct functions differently between the cultures. (SLD)

The design of this study was to measure the extent of cooperation among groups involved with outdoor recreation programs on college campuses. To measure cooperation between the groups, a 15 question survey, titled "Cooperation in Outdoor Recreation," was developed. Survey topics ranged from consistency of curriculum to cooperation in the use of…