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Preliminary findings of the Differential Coursework Patterns (DCP) Project are reported. The Project uses assessment test scores and transcripts from samples of graduating college seniors to determine what coursework patterns were related to gains in the general learned abilities of the students. Random samples of graduating seniors have been examined from: (1) a major private research university (n=105); (2) a state university (n=54); (3) a private college (n=146); and (4) a women's liberal arts college (n=62). Precollege Scholastic Aptitude test scores were an indication of the students' entering levels of learning. The Graduate Record Examination general tests were the post-college exit measure of general learning. Coursework patterns resulting from a cluster analysis developed for the project did not produce clear distinctions according to academic department or major, but it was concluded that: (1) development of general learned abilities did not have an exact one-to-one relationship with departmental categories; (2) development of general learned abilities was not confined to the lower level of courses; and (3) there was little formal monitoring or description of the curriculum in terms of general learned abilities at an institution-wide level. Standardized test scores and transcripts were useful in the assessment of learned abilities. The relationships between coursework patterns and the general curriculum suggest that new ways are needed to conceptualize general education in college. Thirteen tables, three graphs, and 10 figures present study data. A 186-item list of references is provided. (SLD)

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert