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This study illustrates how a factor analysis of a well-designed student-rating instrument can increase its utility. Factor analysis of a student-rating instrument was used to reveal constructs that would explain student attrition in science, mathematics, and engineering majors. The Instructional Development and Effectiveness Assessment (IDEA) instrument is used to rate college courses in science or mathematics at Kansas State University. It is used to gather students' reactions to instructors, personal progress, and courses, as well as students' attitudes, and to obtain an overall rating. Subjects for the factor analysis were 141 upperclass students (56.7 percent male). The factor analysis reveals constructs about which students in science and mathematics have expressed concern. Of seven identified factors, the first three, interpreted as instructor presentation skills, student perception of personal progress, and student-teacher interaction, are particularly important in distinguishing instructor presentation from the personal aspects of course takers. Three tables present analysis results. (Contains 23 references.) (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