In the spring of 1996, the Nevada State Department of Education conducted its fourth biennial survey to assess drug and alcohol attitudes and use among students in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12. Issues of safety, violence, and school climate, as well as participation in school-based prevention programs, were also assessed. The survey results are…

This study used Brookfield's Critical Incident Questionnaire (CIQ) to assess the learning environment and student nurses' perceptions of hospital staff modeling behaviors. CIQs were distributed to Associate Degree female nursing students at United Medical Center in Cheyenne, Wyoming. A large majority (80%) of the 117 respondents identified…

This report presents the results of a survey of senior-level physics majors at U.S. colleges and universities who received a Bachelor's degree between September 1995 and August 1996. Completed questionnaires were received from 1,956 students. It was found that the number of undergraduates receiving Bachelor's degrees in physics continued to…

The Department of Instructional Technology at Utah State University instituted a distance education Master's degree program enrolling over 60 students at sites throughout Utah. Initial funding for the program was provided by Utah's Higher Education Technology Initiative (HETI). This report is part of an ongoing effort to provide feedback to the…

A study examined the construct of "perceived caring" in the instructional context which is believed to be related to the classical construct of "good will" in Aristotelian rhetorical theory as well as more contemporary social scientific views of "intent toward receiver" in conceptualizations of source credibility. The…

To facilitate learning, teachers often employ varied teaching strategies and activities to accommodate different learning style preferences in students. This study explored elementary school students' preferences for learning environments, providing a pilot validation of the 40-question "If I Were in Charge of the Class" learning preference…

A marketing program implemented in 18 small, rural agricultural communities aimed at increasing enrollment in the daily religious classes held by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). Approximately 23 percent of the population in the 18 communities belong to this Church. Daily religious instruction is provided in released-time…

Reporting on a pilot study of urban junior high students, this report examines the way young people acquire perceptions of their own and other nations and attempts to identify the sources of those ideas. This action research approach used a survey research instrument with a 20-item semantic differential form to measure students' knowledge of and…

Two studies examined why many adults choose not to attend adult basic education (ABE) classes and ways of improving retention in ABE. In the first study, 17 adults from the Pittsburgh area who had recently quit attending ABE classes (termed "reluctant learners") and 20 adults who had persisted in ABE were interviewed. It was recommended…

Individuals with disabilities have been identified as one of the nation's largest populations at risk for drug use. Recent studies indicate a higher rate for alcohol and drug use among the disabled population than the general population. In an effort to identify drug use among rural disabled students, data were collected from students ages 12-18…

This study traces the development of a student environment model (SEM) at Texas State Technical College (Waco) that is used to assess students' perceptions of their college environment outside the formal classroom, provides baseline data for comparative analyses, establishes goals for student support services, measures program and process…

This study examines how accurately first-year undergraduate students at a public university self-report family income. A comparison of student-reported income to financial aid records found that less than 40 percent of students in three incoming classes of first-year undergraduates (1995, 1996, 1997) accurately reported family income on an…

This paper discusses the remaking of the MIS (Management Information Systems) core course in a graduate business degree program. The graduate MIS course has many of the same problems as the undergraduate one, which has been described as "the widow maker." Several attempts to modify the course resulted in lower evaluations. The course…

This paper presents a program overview of library services to distance education students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). In the fall of 1997, a survey on use of library services was sent to students in an interdepartmental master's program. Questions focused on the use of the library online catalog, the World Wide Web, and the…

This study examines the association between the number of study group sessions a student attends, the student's attitude toward these sessions, and expected grade for the class. Seven hundred and two students participated in the study, 30% of whom never attended a study group session. Of the remaining 70% who did participate, 24% attended five or…