The relationship of various learning approaches to students' academic achievement, abilities, and other characteristics was examined in a sample of university students in Hong Kong, mainland China, and the United States. The theoretical framework for this project was J. B. Biggs's (1987) theory of student learning approaches. The participants completed the Study Process Questionnaire (based on Biggs's theory) and provided a variety of demographic information. The participants' achievement scores and self-rated scores on analytical, creative, and practical abilities were also obtained. Results indicated that scores on certain subscales of the Study Process Questionnaire statistically predicted participants' achievement beyond their self-rated abilities. In addition, certain learning approaches were significantly related to the participants' ages, gender, parents' education levels, and their travel and work experiences. Implications of these findings are discussed as they relate to teaching and learning.
[Copyright of Journal of Psychology is the property of Heldref Publications.]

An outline is given of the context in which The International School Effectiveness Research Project (ISERP) was designed and it is argued that the deficiencies of existing studies and the increased internationalization of education makes the more rigorous approach of ISERP essential. A number of methodological lessons from the study are given, concerning the need for cohort studies, for observational data, for social outcomes data, for mixed methods, and for multiple indicators. The substantive lessons of the study for a strong technology of education, for a taken for granted in educational discussions within cultures, for societal support of education within cultures, and for a radical intellectual orientation are given.
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This study aimed to explore the relationship between thinking styles and emotions among university students in Hong Kong. Participants were 99 2nd-year students (23 men and 76 women) who responded to the Thinking Styles Inventory-Revised (TSI-R), based on R. J. Sternberg's (1988) theory of mental self-government, and to the Iowa Managing Emotions Inventory (IMEI), based on A. Chickering's (1969) theory of psychosocial development. Results indicated not only that thinking styles were associated with emotions but also that thinking styles had predictive power for emotions beyond age. The author discusses implications of these findings for faculty members and student-development educators.
[Copyright of Journal of Psychology is the property of Heldref Publications.]

In higher education, student evaluation of teaching is widely used as a measure of an academic's teaching performance despite considerable disagreement as to its value. This paper begins by examining the merit of teaching evaluations with reference to the factors influencing the accuracy of the teaching evaluation process. One of the central assumptions on which student evaluation of teaching is based is that there is a relationship between student achievement and student rating of teachers. However, the findings of the majority of studies do not support this assumption. The absence of a strong link between student achievement and teaching evaluations suggests that there is scope for examining other approaches to measuring effective classroom dynamics. This paper presents such an approach based on the notion of transformational classroom leadership.
[Copyright of Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02602930701292621]