Male university attrition: A discriminant analysis

Ability and personality test scores of 256 males, categorized by college persistence seven semesters after matriculation, were subjected to stepwise discriminant analysis. A combination of personality and ability variables distinguished between groups (p<.001); personality variables alone did not. The most powerful discriminator was overall ability. Authoritarianism, natural science ability, and nonconformity also entered into the discrimination. Results indicate: (a) the most able, most autonomous group included those who withdrew; (b) the most authoritarian, those who became seniors; (c) the most nonconforming, those who continued without becoming seniors, and (d) the highest in ability to think abstractly and scientifically and to solve problems, the academic dismissals who with difficulty succeeded in gaining reinstatement.     

Reading to Learn or Learning to Read? Engaging College Students in Course Readings

Despite instructors' belief that class readings are integral to the learning process, only 20–30% of undergraduate students complete required readings. Failure to complete course reading has been associated with declines in exam and research performance. This article first offers a brief review of the literature on why students do not complete course readings: 1) unpreparedness, 2) lack of motivation, 3) time constraints, and 4) an underestimation of reading importance. We then identify approaches that encourage students to read, enjoy reading, and develop metacognitive knowledge, shown to improve learning.     

Reading from the Feet Up: The Local Work of Literacy

Children learn to read at approximately the same stage in life as they start to master their physical environment. This article argues that some of the same mapping and schema-building strategies inform each activity, and draws on examples from a broad range of children’s books to support the idea that reading fiction and mapping one’s local surroundings work in tandem among many young children. Fictional examples include Ramona the Brave, The Moffats, and The House at Pooh Corner. As children grow, and their understanding of their own world increases, their relationship with fiction may become more complex; this proposal is discussed in relation to the works of Carolyn Keene and Enid Blyton.