Discusses the Holmes Group's recommendation to abolish undergraduate degrees in education and require liberal arts majors for teachers and examines ways to teach students subject matter so they see connections between the disciplines, between the subject matter and the world, and between their lives and the subject matter. (SM)

Presents the school-based mediation program at Law and Public Service Magnet High School (Cleveland, Ohio). Highlights the positive results involving students in school governance. Argues traditional discipline policies obstruct student ethical development. Narrates several examples of students resolving conflicts, becoming engaged with their…

Institutionally imposed limits on social relationships provoke compelling questions. Reviewed five policies written to define the relationship of faculty/staff and student, considered ethical and legal implications, and responsibilities of student development personnel for leadership in this area. An appendix provides a model policy scheme. (JBJ)

A study of Brigham Young University (Utah) graduates, 1980-88, looked at patterns in change of major among transfer students and those entering as freshmen. Results are reported concerning early statement of major, open vs. specified major, gender differences, academic achievement, frequency of change, and time to graduation in each year's cohort.…

Analyzes the separate effects of father absence and mother absence on the grades and standardized test scores of high school students. Uses parents' and students' behavior and family economic status as competing intervening variables to explain the effects. Concludes that students from single-parent homes are less willing or able to meet academic…

Knowledge of student development theory has direct practical benefits for the college financial aid administrator. Developmental theories of Arthur Chickering and William Perry provide expectations for student behavior and suggest interventions for these aid-related areas: monitoring academic progress; student employment; student debt counseling;…

Examines dimensions of theoretical perspective on curriculum, noting influences of teachers who were the author's graduate students. The article covers curriculum theorizing, synoptic and historical portrayals, comparative orientations, ideological considerations, teacher/student lore, outside curriculum, preservice/inservice teacher education…

A study investigated college students' (n=226) academic help-seeking behavior under task-involved and ego-involved classroom conditions, students' attributions for failure, and two types of help source (instrumental, in which the student finds his own solution, and executive, in which a solution is disclosed). Implications for classroom teaching…

A longitudinal study of 101 college students investigated the ways in which their college and postcollege experiences fostered development of complexity in their assumptions about knowledge, by emphasizing independent functioning, collaboration, direct involvement in learning, and subjective decisionmaking. Results suggest these experiences be…

Ursuline College (Ohio), a Catholic women's college, has redesigned its core curriculum, using a sequential set of development goals to parallel the learning patterns beneficial for women. A support system to increase retention, satisfaction, and success is integrated into the curriculum. A holistic, inclusive college experience is the objective.…

A study of 141 first-year science students at York University (Ontario) shows that integration/involvement variables are important in explaining a number of desired outcomes, including satisfaction with grades and program, social values, educational attitudes, achievement gains, and intent to continue in the program and/or institution. (MSE)

Argues that critical thinking is best learned where fellow students respond and react as well as replicate and evaluate. Suggests methods and techniques for doing critical thinking. Discusses thesis formulation, concept application, judgments and conclusions, cause and effect relationships, criteria identification, structure and function,…

Stipulates that critical thinking requires classroom environments mutually created by social studies students and teachers. Suggests empowerment and cooperative learning become more than buzz words in environments conducive to critical thinking. Provides a list of questions for students and teachers to examine their roles in creating democratic…

Provides excerpts from Shalva Amonashvili's 1983 teacher's guide, "Hello Children." Explains that "Hello Children" is based on Amonashvili's successful experience teaching six-year olds and increasing the elementary grades to four (now implemented throughout the USSR). Amonashvili stresses teachers' love for children and…

Describes characteristics of "experts," arguing that community college students need to become expert learners. Discusses expert learners' types of knowledge, use of comprehension monitoring, motivation, and self-regulation. Discusses "direct instruction" and "metacurriculum" approaches for teaching learning-to-learn strategies. Reviews…