In fall 1995, Illinois' Moraine Valley Community College (MVCC) conducted a survey of a random sample of 1,447 current students to gather information on their attitudes and goals and to compare responses for Asian, Black, Hispanic, and White students. Completed surveys were received from 433 students, including 53 Asians, 73 Blacks, 127 Hispanics,…

This study examined children's play interaction styles with unfamiliar peers; used mother-child and father-child dyadic qualities independently to predict children's social behavior; determined the relationship between children's individual behaviors and peer dyadic characteristics; and compared mother-child and father-child interactions on both…

A study examined the reasons for the relatively low level of participation in adult, community, and further education (ACFE) in Victoria, Australia. Of the 1,229 randomly selected individuals surveyed via telephone, 942 (77%) had never participated in ACFE, 184 (15%) had not participated since 1994, and only 103 (8%) were currently enrolled in an…

Theories of situated learning attempt to overcome the ill-structured nature of some domains of learning, and to use students' tendencies to construct knowledge representation on context and prior experience. Success comes when students apply abstract principles to real life. This study compares the effectiveness of two different lesson structures…

In studying the role of context in speech act performance, the tradition has been to use controlled elicitation instruments that allow for manipulation of social dimensions. The assumption is that by controlling social context, all respondents will assess social relations very similarly, although little research has dealt with the validity of this…

A study examined the effects of the use of sign language in young hearing children's language development. The study tracked a class of 19 Maryland students from their first week of prekindergarten over the 2-year period that ended with the last week of their kindergarten year. Subjects received sign instruction during the prekindergarten year and…

The Second International Mathematics Study was conducted in 20 countries under the sponsorship of the International Association for Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). Among the instruments used in this study was a questionnaire investigating student attitudes about school, instruction, and mathematics. The fit of an a priori model that…

A study compared a number of features of apprenticeships in the 12 Member States of the European Union. The study showed that the apprentice contract or indenture has become an integral part of apprenticeship in all Member States. Admissions requirements for access to apprenticeshp, in general, are not high. Although it was an option open to those…

This study investigated differences between communication norms in English and Japanese in a unique situation in which the speech acts of "asking for permission" and "requesting" merge. Focus was on the pair-verbs "borrow" and "lend." Subjects were 26 native speakers of English, mostly teachers, and 64…

The Center for the Study for Community Colleges has examined community colleges in terms of the transfer function for over two decades, initiating the Transfer Assembly project in 1989 to collect hard, comparative data on transfer outcomes. In fall 1995, California's Cerritos College approached the Center for assistance in increasing its transfer…

In fall 1991, the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology (SIAST), conducted a study to determine factors affecting retention and to identify students facing higher risk of non-completion. Specifically, the study sought to determine the effects of selected student characteristics and attitudes, as well as labor market conditions,…

In 1994, the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology (SIAST) conducted a study of 1993-94 graduates from SIAST's four campuses to compare the employment rates of graduates of Aboriginal ancestry to those of graduates overall. Questionnaires were mailed to all 2,346 graduates from 1992-93, receiving responses from 1,600 graduates,…

Analysis of research literature shows both important commonalities and differences between how children learn to read and how adults can be taught to read in literacy programs. Both the narrow and broad definitions of literacy are legitimate for specific purposes. The narrow definition identifies literacy acquisition with learning how the writing…

A study examined the relationship between two kinds of language competence, linguistic and pragmatic, within the larger domain of the learner's overall competence. Specifically, it investigated whether linguistic competence is (1) necessary, and (2) sufficient for pragmatic competence. Subjects were 14 students of French at Indiana University and…

A study was conducted at Kansas City Kansas Community College to determine if cooperative learning strategies were effective in improving teaching quality and enhancing the learning process of students in social science courses in general and in entry-level sociology and psychology classes specifically. A review of the literature provided…