As part of a college-wide assessment effort, St. Petersburg Junior College (Florida) conducted a survey of enrolled students in October 1995 to determine their perceptions of the quality of the college's academic and student support services. Questionnaires were distributed to 6,197 students, asking them to rate 28 college services on a 5-point…

In April 1996, a study was undertaken at Johnson County Community College, in Kansas, to determine students' use of and satisfaction with college services. Questionnaires were distributed to students in 50 classes, selected to approximate the overall demographics of the student body. Study findings, based on responses from 689 students, included…

This study offers an insight into how young people from England and the United States view their future employment prospects and appreciate the values and prestige of certain occupations within their national economies. The study is based upon the responses to a questionnaire by 68 U.S. high school students and 80 high school students from the…

A study sought to better understand the construct of teacher verbal effectiveness. Teacher verbal effectiveness was theoretically conceptualized using certain variables: verbal immediacy, language intensity, self-disclosure, communication and accommodation, and humor. A scale was developed and factor analysis yielded a unidimensional teacher…

This report describes a case study in the use of peer mentoring and cohorts to improve doctoral student retention and summarizes survey data reflecting the experience of eight universities. The University of California/California State University Fresno Joint Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership was designed to create cohorts of doctoral…

The Assessment Committee of Library Services at Central Missouri State University conducted a telephone survey of 500 (41.2% completion rate) university students. The goals were to use a random sampling in order to gain more information regarding usage patterns of library services; to identify factors which inhibit patron use; and to reveal…

In winter 1994, a study was conducted at Miami-Dade Community College (M-DCC), in Florida, to determine students' perceptions of the college's educational goals. Surveys were distributed to students in 200 courses, representing 5% of all classes offered in the term. Using a 5-point scale, students were asked to rate both the importance of 20…

This paper contends that the survey research approach is limited for generating substantive data to improve college teaching, because it is impersonal, lacks opportunities for probing, suppresses the idea of discourse by offering fixed-choice and yes-no questions, disregards respondents' social and personal contexts of meaning, and is dependent on…

This report analyzes data on bachelor's degree recipients in physics or astronomy in 1997. Data are from a survey of senior-level physics majors (n=1,696) and the American Institute of Physics' Enrollments and Degrees Survey, and include text, tables, and graphs. The report notes that: (1) the number of undergraduates who received bachelor's…

This study examined the relationship between students' perceptions of the two-way audio/video classroom and their anxiety, as well as their satisfaction with their distance learning experience. Students (n=222) in 12 two-way audio/video distance classes at two major midwestern universities and two midwestern community colleges completed…

The instructor of the educational computing course at the University of Houston used action research to address the following questions and improve the course: "How could I formalize the process of action, reflection, and feedback?" and "Do certain types of learners do better with certain types of activities and certain structures…

A study explored rates of learning and political interest among students in the "Introduction to American Government" course at a community college. The study was sparked by calls for program review and outcomes assessment that are commonplace on contemporary American campuses. The study featured a pretest/posttest methodology and…

In March 1996, the Region XI Education Service Center, Fort Worth (Texas), was designated to continue a project implemented in 1990 by the Texas Education Agency to study the overall effectiveness of special education programs. The 1996 project was extended in 1997. This paper reports on the first of three newly planned study components, the…

This paper reports on a study to determine if existing technology is adequate for the delivery of quality distance education. The survey sample was 392 respondents from a non-traditional graduate level. The study included 15 descriptive questions on course assessment and satisfaction. The three hypotheses used Chi-square to find relationships…

This paper examines some of the dominant discourses related to poverty and education such as those offered by the prominent political ideologies, those presented by educators who write about poverty, those embedded in popular culture, and those surrounding current teacher education curricula. Furthermore, this study evaluates the impact these…