M.Ed. / The literature study cleary revealed that the continuous interaction of human beings with their environment is beneficial both to the environment and to human beings, but with a price attached which has to be paid by the environment. The price paid is evident in the environmental problems with which the world is currently faced. The environmental crisis is characterised by an increase in the human population which is threatening the earth at an alarming rate and which leads in turn to soil erosion, air and water pollution and the application of destructive pressure on resources. The habitats of natural life forms are currently in the process of disappearing and certain species have already become extinct (Smith, Carlson, Masters & Donaldson, s.a.:3). UNESCO-UNEP (1988:25/30/31) corroborated the above by indicating that the primary problem involved in respect of all environmental problems is the population explosion, which places more pressure on resources (plants, animals, energy, water, soil and air). The interaction of human beings with nature has, in fact, entailed certain advantages for nature, but at the same time has also created new problems which have plunged the environment into a crisis. There is ample proof to be found in literature that an environmental crisis has been identified and that possible solutions to the problem have been found. The call to action culminated in 1972 in the Stockholm Conference, which was attended by world government structures. The outcome of this was the Belgrade Charter of 1975. Subsequently, the awakening of environmental awareness reached a catalytic phase in 1977 with the Tbilisie Conference which laid the foundation for the establishment fo principles, objectives and aims for Environmental Education. The central role which should be played by the educationist in this connection, is clearly outlined: Agenda 21 (Chapter 36): "...education is critical for the promotion of sustained development" (EEP1, 1995b:12). In every respect, South Africa forms part of this international environmental issue. The fact that this is, in fact, generally realised is evident in the White Paper on Environmental Education of 1989, which was a result of the meeting on Environmental Education at Treverton College, Mooi River. The term Environmental Education is now recognised as a full-fledged concept in its own right in formal education (White Paper on Education and Training (1995:20); the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) document (1994); the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) document (1994:6); and the Committee on teacher eduction policy [norms and standards for teacher education] (Cotep) document (1995:41)), as quoted by Joubert & S teen kamp (1995:26/27). In this way, the problem of the community has also become the problem of the school curricula. It should therefore be accepted that schools should accord a high priority to environmentally-related problems in the community. The central role played by the teacher in environmental awareness is corroborated by various documents and writers. Two quotations will suffice in this connection: The Brutland report of 1987 states the problem as follows: '... the world's teachers ... have a crucial role to play in helping to bring about the extensive social changes needed for sustainable development" (EEPI, 1995b:12). Knapp (1975:209), as quoted by Raath (1994:4) states in this connection: Teachers and students alike can teach a lot about care and respect for the environment. They can also teach disregard and destruction of the earth": In this study, the status of the knowledge of aspirant teachers was revealed in respect of six environmental issues, namely, overpopulation, air pollution, water, soil, and plant and animal species. The relationship between factors such as external responsibility, restriction on individuals and responsibility for environmental education were also investigated. The respondents were comprised of aspirant teachers (final-year student teachers) of three South African Universities, namely the Rand Afrikaans University, the University of the Orange Free State and Vista (Free State) in the following study fields: Languages, Mathematics, Humanities, Economics and Physical Sciences, as well as other fields.

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Retention, attrition, persistence, dropout literature.

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This study explores the relationship between student satisfaction and faculty responsiveness to student concerns. "Action Research" was employed. Data analysis focused on group comparisons.

This study concerns an evaluation of a community college support services program. The study participants included 58 female CalWORKS students. Data was gathered from a self-administered survey questionnaire designed specifically for this study to gather student's level of satisfaction with program services. Practice, policy and research implications were discussed.

Comics, graphic novels, and manga differ appreciably from textual narrative formats, and materials with increasingly visual elements have found their way into progressive and student-centered library collections. But many educators and librarians still resist inclusion of graphic narratives in school libraries and devalue the reading practice of students who prefer more visual texts. Using the framework of radical change, which posits that both text conventions and reader expectations for text are increasingly multimodal as they possess characteristics of evolving digital media, this study considered the relationship of the characteristics of text individual students prefer, particularly those they select from the school library, and their attitudes towards aspects of reading practice as evidenced through the Adolescent Motivation to Read Profile instrument. Survey data was supplemented with circulation history from the library management system to inform a correlational study punctuating attitudinal differences based on reader preferences. Findings include high school students who engage with graphic narrative text formats reporting more favorable views of libraries and reading. There is a demonstrable distinction in attitudes between students who prefer more visual text when compared with peers with more traditional print affinities. Student engaging with graphic narrative texts also report more frequent engagement with text overall. These demonstrated relationships should help to legitimize the inclusion of more graphic narrative text formats in school library collections.

Although researchers have studied perceptions regarding sexually abused children, little was known about how other types of abusive events were perceived. This study examined 480 college students' abuse history and perceptions of child, spousal, and elder abuse by varying the respondent, victim, and perpetrator genders. Physical abuse, psychological abuse, and neglect were investigated. Perceptions of abusiveness, seriousness, harm, and responsibility were examined, along with the extent of identification with the victims/perpetrators. Participants viewed spousal abuse as less serious and harmful than other abuse types, especially when perpetrated against a male or by a female. Although able to recognize psychological abuse, students did not fully understand what other abuse types entailed. Individuals also showed a considerable amount of blame toward victims. Results further demonstrated important findings about how ethnic identity/orientation, religious affiliation, and history of abuse related to perceptions of abusive events.

All international students have specific motivations and expectations when learning English as a Second Language (ESL) in the United States, and recognizing the diversity of those motivations and expectations is the first step toward providing successful second language instruction. This study was designed to elicit the attitudes, expectations and motivations of two unique groups of students studying in the same classes in an ESL summer session at Portland State University (PSU), the preconception of the instructors, and the impressions and evaluations of the program upon its completion by the students, instructors, coordinators and administrators. A successful curriculum can only be adapted to fit the needs and expectations of those students who share the same needs and hold the same expectations. When the learners fall into disparate groups, with distinct, and perhaps contrary needs, a given curriculum can be only a compromise at best, and a failure for some at the worst. During the summer session at PSU, the Department of Applied Linguistics offers a full range of intensive ESL courses for visiting international students. In the year of this study there were two distinct groups of students enrolled in the Reading/Writing ESL classes. One group was the traditional eclectic mix of international students who for the most part were on an academic track toward eventual enrollment in regular programs at PSU. The other was a group of Japanese students studying at PSU from Otemae College. These two groups of students entered the program with different motivations for studying English and different expectations from the summer program at PSU. Because the general academic focus of the program was established in advance of the enrollment of most of these students, it was designed to fit the more traditional students' expectations and motivations. The specific expectations and motivations of the Otemae students were not explicitly considered, leaving the real potential for a negative experience. This is a serious consideration for those designing the curriculum for the summer sessions, for the instructors who are given the task of teaching these distinct groups of students, and for the coordinators of the short term programs who must convince their clients of their effectiveness so they will choose PSU again in the future. Using a semantic-differential survey to assess the students' attitudes, motivations, and expectations, and comparing the results with general demographic data, it was found that the students did indeed separate into two distinct groups with clear differences in motivations and expectations. The Otemae students also formed a large demographic block within the classes which could not be discounted in the lesson plans. Even though the Otemae students had been integrated into the reading and writing classes, these skills were less important to them in the needs analysis portion of the attitude survey than were conversational and pronunciation skills. Reading and writing skills were also rated lower overall by the Otemae students than they were by the traditional students. These and other factors lend support to the contention that the two groups of students had needs and expectations that were not wholly compatible, which put a strain on the teacher/student relationships as well as on the individual instructors' intended goals. This strain was further verified in instructor interviews, student interviews and in a departmental evaluation at the end of the summer term. If expectations are not met, or attitudes are not compatible between students and instructors, or motivations are at odds between groups of students, learning can be obstructed, and the experience can be less positive for all concerned. Although the summer session, with Otemae students integrated into the regular classes, went well in the estimation of some, there is convincing evidence that there is need for improvement. Recommendations for improvement include integrating the Otemae students into speaking and listening classes instead of reading and writing classes, having a curriculum designed with both groups in mind that instructors would have available before the summer term begins, conducting a term by term needs analysis, providing introductory sessions on American classroom style, and attempting to reduce the percentage of Otemae students in any given class by actively recruiting more international ESL students to PSU.

This case study investigated the potential of a place-based watershed curriculum, using STEM principles, to increase watershed literacy and knowledge of human impacts on stormwater in the environment. A secondary goal was to examine whether the place-based connection and increased exposure to issues within their local watershed impacted the students' environmental attitudes and sense of place. Over 500 sixth graders participated in this localized curriculum, where they learned the science behind watershed issues on their own school campuses. They focused on ways humans can monitor and mitigate their impacts on stormwater, through engineering investigations. The mixed-method research study investigated the effectiveness of the OLWEDU curriculum, to address these key questions: 1) To what degree did the OLWEDU increase the students' combined watershed literacy? 2) To what extent did the OLWEDU affect their environmental attitudes? 3) How did using a STEM oriented and place-based curriculum make the learning more relevant? In order to provide a solid triangulation of data, this study used a quasi-experimental design format with multiple measures: a) A Pre-Posttest (PPT), was given to all of the students to gather quantitative changes in knowledge of watershed concepts, stormwater issues related to human impacts on the environment, and engineering techniques; b) A constructed-knowledge questionnaire (CKQ) was used with forty four of the participants, to gather additional quantitative data on the students' local watershed knowledge; c) an environmental attitudes survey (EAS) was included in this sub-sample group; d) interviews were conducted with ten of the students to examine their opinions on the STEM aspects of the curriculum in addition to the place-based connections between the unit and their community. The statistically significant results showed increases in overall watershed literacy, knowledge of human impacts on stormwater, engineering principles, and environmental attitudes. These findings will be used to improve the current curriculum, and have broader implications concerning the benefits of using a formalized middle-school 21st century standards-based curriculum to teach watershed literacy and promote pro-environmental attitudes by using a combination of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math in a local, place-based context.