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In spring 1996, Arizona's Glendale Community College (GCC) undertook an evaluation of an introductory macroeconomics course using the national Test of Understanding in College Economics (TUCE III). Specifically, the study sought to determine how GCC student outcomes compared to national results on the TUCE III and if the college's macroeconomics course made a statistical difference on student scores between the pre-course and post-course tests. The TUCE III pre-test was administered to students in three sections of the macroeconomic course during the first week of class, while the post-test was administered as a final exam. Study results, based on outcomes for 63 students who took both the pre- and post-tests, included the following: (1) the mean pre-test score for GCC students was 8.96, very close to the national norm of 9.18; (2) the mean score on the post-test for GCC students was 13.57, indicating that the course did make a significant difference in student TUCE III scores; (3) GCC students' mean post-test score was also not significantly different from the national mean of 14.31; and (4) although the TUCE III was found to provide valuable data, it was recommended that it not be used on a regular basis at GCC due to issues related to grading, the underrepresentation of community colleges in the national sample, and other issues. The test instrument, national pre- and post-test results, tables of score comparisons, and an examiners manual are appended. (TGI)

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