This paper presents the design, implementation and assessment of the Columbia River Basin Environmental Research Project (CERP) curriculum. CERP is an online inquiry-based, regional geographic curriculum designed to improve technology skills and content knowledge about water quality and watershed-level processes. Student attitudes and knowledge…

The process of economic reforms in Russia has been accompanied by drastic and negative phenomena in rural education, by a worsening of the already large difference in levels of schooling of young people in the countryside and in the cities. The present study is one of the first attempts at a comprehensive approach, from the standpoint of sociology…

Using socioconstructivism as a theoretical framework, this study investigated the ways in which classrooms that used peer learning groups influenced students' goals. Specifically, my goal was to examine collaborative learning as a process that may influence individuals' social and achievement goals. After confirming that 2 sixth-grade math…

Nearly 1,600 youths from across Indiana took part in this poll about prejudicial attitudes and behaviors toward others. More than 8 in 10 students reported that racist attitudes were found among students in their schools. Many described tensions and some open conflict as outcomes of racist attitudes held by both white students and students of…

Many college and university teachers across the United States remain hostile, at least privately, to student evaluation of faculty performance despite the general use of such evaluation in the academy for the past three decades. However, professionals can use student evaluations to their advantage if they "stage a pre-emptive strike"--in other…

As part of a high-risk youth grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, a survey was developed and implemented to assess knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of seventh-grade students toward alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs (ATODs). In addition to assessing project outcomes, this activity…

This report describes the results of a 1992 survey of students' economic, geographical, cultural, historical, and political understandings in the state of Victoria (Australia). The conception of some 2,900 students in Years 5 and 9 in government, Catholic and independent schools are investigated and described. The survey is one of a series of…

This paper describes the change in student attitudes after taking a computer literacy course which is part of a 6-week pre-college summer session. The summer session is designed for the educationally and financially disadvantages students of the Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) and students from the ACCESS program who do not meet normal…

Gaining access to current and high-quality curriculum resource materials has become more difficult due to escalation in the prices of textbooks and in rigid interpretations of copyright laws which limit photocopying. Internet Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and files may offer a partial solution. Originally developed for the benefit of Usenet…

A study was conducted at Saint Louis Community College, in Missouri, to determine the characteristics that students associated with excellence in teaching. In the first phase of the study, an open-ended questionnaire was administered to 497 full-time students enrolled primarily in English, Natural Sciences, the Social Sciences, and Business…

The way information is visually designed and synthesized greatly affects how people understand and use that information. Increased use of the World Wide Web as a teaching tool makes it imperative to question how visual/verbal information presented via the Web can increase or restrict understanding. The purpose of this study was to examine…

Institutional research has long relied on surveys to learn about student experiences. This study describes and evaluates two methods of using electronic mail to gather information from students about their experiences. Data were based on two case studies conducted during spring 1996 and fall 1997 at a 5,000-student state university. The report…

A study examined the effects on political socialization of students in grades 5-6, based on teachers' use of local newspapers in classrooms throughout Argentina (except in Buenos Aires) during the 1995 school year. The newspaper program was sponsored by the Association of Dailies of the Interior Region of Argentina. Data were collected by…

Faculty in higher education programs rely on individual advising sessions to counsel students in a variety of professional and personal endeavors, ranging from course selection, clinical internship, locations, resume preparation, and thesis or dissertation topics. This study examined the self-study activities conducted between 1994 and 1996 by the…

This article reports the process two professors have begun in an effort to develop a course of study for undergraduate teacher education students at Armstrong Atlantic State University (Georgia). From data collected through graduate surveys and other sources, a pilot survey was constructed and administered to students attending six high schools in…