Time-shortened degrees: A return to nostalgia

Time-shortened degrees have roots in the nineteenth century. History relates the evolution of the degree to changes occuring in college and university curricula. In more recent times the time-shortened degree can be correlated to the technologic mind, which emphasizes efficiency and expediency. Many unanswered and even unasked questions must be addressed. Not the least of these issues is the whole concept of what constitutes academic credit.     

Secondary school initiative in creating advanced placement opportunities

The most important opportunity available to secondary school students to earn college credit for college-level work done in high school is the series of advanced placement tests provided by such organizations as the College Entrance Examination Board. This paper presents three models of initiatives that can be taken by secondary school educators to create exams in those areas for which advanced placement tests do not currently exist and better serve the needs of their students who could prepare for current exams: adapt existing exams as credit-earning proficiency exams; work with interested universities in creating new advanced placement programs; and reorganizing the existing advanced placement program offered in the high school.     

“Commanding English”: An effective program model

Commanding English, a unique program of communications skills courses packaged into an integrated whole, enables students whose native language is not English to develop the skills to function as competently as native speakers. The success of this program is dependent on the integration of its courses within a logical learning structure; the close coordination of effort of teaching, tutoring, and administrative personnel; and the support of the college administration. The program successfully retains 77 to 90% of its students with a 92.3 to 98.5% attendance rate and an average GPA of 3.28 in Commanding English courses. Upon completing the program, students transfer into mainstream programs throughout the University.     

Michigan education trust: Characteristics of first- and second-round enrollees in a state tuition prepayment plan

Pay Now, Learn Later Plan Proves Popular in Michigan, said the headline (N.Y.Times, August 12, 1988). The plan was the Michigan Education Trust (MET) advance tuition payment plan proposed by Governor James Blanchard in 1986. The Michigan Legislature approved MET at the end of 1986, and open enrollment for the first round took place in 1988. The second round of enrollment occurred in October, 1989. This research paper examines the characteristics of the first- and second-round enrollees, and it then compares the beneficiary (the legal term for the child who was enrolled) characteristics with those of the general population of the state and with the 1988 entering freshman classes of public universities in Michigan.Presented at the Annual Forum of the Association for Institutional Research, Louisville, KY, May 13–16, 1990.     

‘Who's this Tong‐il?’: English,culture and ambivalence in South Korea

Many supporters and critics of a ‘global English’ assume that English is (initially) ‘outside’ of cultures in what Braj Kachru calls the ‘Expanding Circle’. But this ignores the ways English has been culturally and historically constituted in countries where it is still a ‘foreign’ language. In South Korea, English education—as an institution—has been part of Korean life since the 1880s. During that time, English has acquired a variety of contradictory cultural meanings related to the colonial and postcolonial experiences of South Korean people. For example, although introduced as part of the late‐nineteenth century ‘enlightenment’ of Korean society, English became associated during the Korean War with conservatism and the US military government. More recent beliefs surrounding English suggest a combination of liberatory possibility and imperialism. Through an examination of historical sources, literature and ethnographic interviews undertaken from 1999 to 2001, I describe some of these shifting meanings as relevant not only for our understanding of English in South Korea but for world Englishes as a whole. ‘Global English’, I suggest, must be understood as both global and local.     

Unterrichtsbezogene Überzeugungen und handlungsleitende Kognitionen von Lehrpersonen

Die hier vorgestellte Studie untersucht den Zusammenhang zwischen unterrichtsbezogenen und handlungsleitenden Kognitionen anhand einer Stichprobe von 20 deutschen und 18 schweizerischen Mathematiklehrpersonen. Die untersuchten unterrichtsbezogenen überzeugungen fokussieren auf das konstruktivistische und das rezeptive Lehr-Lernverst?ndnis der Lehrpersonen, die spezifischen Kognitionen auf das konkrete didaktische Handeln in einer Unterrichtseinheit zur Einführung in die Satzgruppe des Pythagoras. In früheren Untersuchungen zeigte sich, dass sich deutsche Lehrpersonen konstruktivistischer als schweizerische Lehrkr?fte einsch?tzten, ihren Unterricht aber eher als fragend-entwickelnd beschrieben. Ausgehend von diesem Befund werden in der Untersuchung deutsche und schweizerische Lehrpersonen hinsichtlich ihrer überzeugungen und handlungsleitenden Kognitionen vergleichend untersucht. In einem zweiten Schritt wird nach Zusammenh?ngen zwischen beiden Facetten professionellen Lehrerwissens gefragt. Die Ergebnisse verweisen darauf, dass sich die deutschen Mathematiklehrpersonen in ihren überzeugungen st?rker als jene in der Schweiz an einem konstruktivistischen Verst?ndnis von Lehr-Lernprozessen orientieren, dieses sich aber sowohl bei deutschen als auch bei schweizerischen Lehrpersonen kaum in den handlungsleitenden Kognitionen widerspiegelt. Als Erkl?rung für diese geringe Korrespondenz zwischen unterrichtsbezogenen überzeugungen und handlungsleitenden Kognitionen kommen u.a. belastende Rahmenbedingungen und eine geringe Selbstwirksamkeit der Lehrpersonen in Frage. Daher werden in einem dritten Schritt Zusammenh?nge zwischen unterrichtsbezogenen überzeugungen und handlungsleitenden Kognitionen unter Kontrolle belastender Rahmenbedingungen und der Selbstwirksamkeit der Lehrpersonen untersucht. Dabei zeigen sich, allerdings in erster Linie nur bei schweizerischen Lehrpersonen, einige erwartungskonforme systematische Zusammenh?nge zwischen konstruktivistischen überzeugungen und handlungsleitenden Kognitionen.