A newly developed measure to identify students' preferred teaching approaches was evaluated with 175 engineering and education undergraduates at an Israeli university. Students in both fields preferred lecturers who were organized, clear, and interesting. Least favored teaching methods were information-transmission and promotion of…

Describes application of a faculty salary model at Portland State University (Oregon) in which faculty rank is endogenous to data on 351 faculty, and compares results with those obtained from a conventional specification that treats rank as exogenous. The primary consequence of endogenizing rank was to disentangle the confounding effects of rank…

Explored first- to second-semester persistence of first-time, full-time freshmen (n=411) at a public four-year institution, focusing upon Tinto's concept of separation. The dimensions of (1) support and (2) rejection of attitudes and values were found to influence persistence in a statistically significant way. (DB)

The Procrastination Inventory developed for use with doctoral students in clinical psychology was modified for use with all-but-dissertation students and doctoral graduates in a college of education. Factor and Rasch analyses of the revised measure identified three subscales: (1) procrastination, (2) perfectionism, and (3) graduate school comfort.…

Examined the mix of first-year earnings and college-related indebtedness in the context of institutional quality, academic performance, and major, using a multilevel earnings model that incorporated demographic, family background, education, and labor market variables. Findings suggest distinct patterns in graduates' earnings and debt-to-earnings…

Investigated student attendance/transfer patterns and effects on student achievement at an urban university and three community colleges. Examination of student records (n=504) found 80 percent of students fell within six attendance patterns. On average, 80 percent of transfer credits were accepted by the university. Patterns in grade point…

Application of the statistical techniques of survival analysis and credit scoring to private education loans extended to law students found a pronounced seasoning effect for such loans and the robust predictive power of credit bureau scoring of borrowers. Other predictors of default included school-of-attendance, school's geographic location, and…

A survey of 304 graduate teaching assistants (TAs) concerning classroom management issues found: more U.S. TAs than international TAs reported experiencing classroom management problems; years of TA teaching experience were significantly and positively related to number of problems and concerns reported; and TA type, teaching experience, and…

Applies Heidegger's hermeneutic circle to research in higher education, specifically use of the pilot study to experientially ground proposed research. Description of a pilot study on higher education leadership illustrates the principle. Implications for higher education research include the importance of (1) grounding research in practical…

Analysis of scores of 69,284 high school seniors on the 1990 Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) found higher means for men than women. Use of adjusted means (rather than observed means) increased the difference between men and women on the verbal section and decreased the difference on the mathematics section. Adjusted means may provide more…

Explains that criminal justice agencies have acknowledged that imaginative and engaging styles of education are crucial to rehabilitative work with offenders. Investigates the ways in which a drama-based cognitive-behavioral program in the United Kingdom for violent offenders can construct and review its theoretical approach through practice.…

Notes that the pursuit of meaning in drama is part of a larger pursuit of the means by which meaning is created and shared. Explains that a systems analysis allows researchers to step back from the subject, to imagine, and construct connections more clearly. Concludes that systems analysis is a useful tool in finding a language appropriate to a…

Introduces the concept of an "integrated" approach to the teaching of drama. Contends that arguments against dualism, which writers have advanced run the risk of moving drama towards an arid form of behaviorism. Uses the writing of Wittgenstein to elucidate the concept of "integration." Concludes that an appropriate approach to teaching drama will…

Surveys relevant literature on the question of how people learn through doing drama. Proposes a construct to describe this learning process. Concludes that drama, even more than other storytelling and other fictional processes, employs the world-creating and hypothetical processes some have attributed to basic learning processes, which permeate…

Outlines a theory of drama as ethical education. Discusses how the concept of positioning can complicate the view of the ethical dimension of ongoing interactions in and out of role. Reveals how dialogic sequencing can create conditions in which students may begin to re-examine the ethical assumptions of their discourses. (PM)