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In 2020, for the first time in history, COVID-19 measures necessitated emergency online teaching to ensure continuity of education. Although institutional support was offered to lecturers, the situation posed an extraordinary challenge for university teaching. Using a comparative approach, this study surveys lecturers from different countries and their use of educational technology for emergency online teaching. Its focus lies on the relationships between use of educational technology, online teaching self-efficacy and attitudes towards educational technology. Overall and according to reports, the use of educational technology increased significantly compared to pre-pandemic conditions. The universities studied had different levels of digitalization, which influenced lecturers' use of educational technology. Furthermore, lecturers differed in terms of self-efficacy, attitude, and perception. Regarding factors affecting educational technology use, results showed that especially pre-pandemic experiences with educational technology, as well as self-efficacy and perceptual variables influenced the use of educational technology during the pandemic. Based on these results, it is advisable for universities to embrace this ad hoc switch to online teaching as an opportunity for purposeful digitalization of university teaching.

Intellectual giftedness is commonly associated with a high level of intellectual functioning, an identification process whereby individuals are labeled as "gifted," and adjustments in schools such as grade skipping. During adolescence, all these factors are prone to reduce peer connectedness and school life satisfaction. The aim of the present study was to disentangle the effects of these factors in a sample of 492 sixth and 10th graders. We identified three subsamples based on different characteristics associated with giftedness: students previously identified as gifted (n = 66), students who scored in the top 10% on a general intelligence test (n = 49), and students who had skipped a grade (n = 57). Comparative analysis showed that none of these subsamples differed from their respective control groups on school life satisfaction. Students labeled as "gifted" reported a lower level of peer connectedness, and the latter's contribution to school life satisfaction was significantly stronger within this subsample. These results underscore the importance of social integration for adolescents identified as intellectually gifted and exclude grade skipping as a risk factor. Moreover, high intellectual level does not seem to impact either school life satisfaction or peer connectedness.

Quite by chance, and over the course of a few haphazard meetings, a Master's degree in "E-learning Design" gradually developed in a Faculty of Economics. Its original and evolving design was the result of an iterative process carried out, not by a single Instructional Designer (ID), but by a full ID team. Over the last 10 years it has been successfully delivered by focusing on its strengths: the tutorial system, synchronous-mode online learning, collaborative work, and the supervision of professional projects. However, its success has led to new issues such as larger groups of enrolled students, program diversification, and internationalization.

Non-consensual sterilization is one of the characteristic historical abuses that took place mainly in the first half of the 20th century. People with intellectual disability (ID) were a prime target as part of the ideology of negative eugenics. In certain jurisdictions, laws were in force for several decades that permitted sterilization without the need for consent or with consent from third parties. The long-term adverse effects on those sterilized against their will have only more recently been recognized. In the latter half of the 20th century, human rights treaties were introduced and developed; they have, in the main, curbed sterilization abuses. Courts have developed more stringent criteria for making decisions on applications for sterilization, and nowadays there are mostly adequate safeguards in place to protect those with ID from non-consensual sterilization. The only exception should be the particular case in which, all medical and social factors having been taken into account, sterilization is overwhelmingly thought to be the right decision for the individual unable to give consent.

Flipped classes are well-known for reversing the typical in-class lecture and out-of-class homework structure by instructing students to learn by themselves from on-line learning materials and inviting them to ask questions based on their individual difficulties in class. Many attempts at integrating this teaching method into English as a foreign language (EFL) classrooms have proven to be beneficial to students' learning achievement and motivation. However, there is little research on how to organize interactive, engaging and effective in-class activities for an EFL flipped classroom. In this study, a student response system (SRS) is proposed to support teachers in organizing in-class activities in a flipped class. To investigate the effectiveness of this approach, a quasi-experiment was conducted in an EFL classroom in an engineering school. The experimental group used the SRS to do in-class activities while the control group followed the conventional method. The results showed that the use of the SRS increased students' learning motivation and self-efficacy in learning English grammar and improved their participation and engagement in the in-class activities of the flipped learning process. Furthermore, the questionnaire results showed that students accepted the SRS as an instructional method in an EFL flipped class. However, the use of the SRS was not effective in improving students' grammar learning achievement.

From preservation of historical monuments to repair of existing buildings, architectural heritage seems to be a market with a future for France's building industry. The public's enthusiasm, along with greater appreciation of the "value" of cultural goods and their integration into a framework of economic development offer a favorable context for rapid expansion of the architectural heritage market. Despite this fact, architectural heritage has yet to become the focus of strategies permitting elaboration of a real supply policy. The designation "heritage architect" currently covers the following professional groups: (1) "head architects for historical monuments" (the elite body of architects entrusted with rehabilitation of France's historical monuments); (2) architects working solely in private agencies; and (3) civil servants with project management responsibilities limited to the historical monuments' upkeep. These different players are too dispersed to formulate an economic response to the increasing demand for their services. Exchanges among the three groups about historical approaches must be encouraged, the competencies needed for the field must be better identified, and the training needed to develop the specialized skills required for historical preservation must be developed and provided. Companies and training bodies have important roles to play in building and structuring the architectural heritage market and in providing the training required to develop a qualified workforce. (MN)

This study investigated the use of digital learning objects in elementary and secondary schools. The specific objectives were: a) to identify the frequency with which learning object are used by teachers, the type of object most frequently used, the teaching strategies that is more frequently adopted, the main reason for the use of learning objects in the classroom, and how teachers normally research and locate them; b) to investigate the existence of statistically significant relationships between personal variables and the variables related to the use of objects; and c) to check the opinion of the teacher as to whether the school offers adequate infrastructure conditions to allow teachers to work with objects. An online questionnaire was answered by 992 teachers--of whom 187 were Brazilian and 805 were French. The data were statistically and qualitatively analysed. The learning objects most mentioned by the teachers were: images, videos, and software. The two main teaching strategies were a simple demonstration using a learning object or assigning a related activity to complement the demonstration. The two main reasons for educational use were to motivate the students for their studies and to help the in the learning of new concepts based on the features of the objects. Significant differences (P < 0.05) were found between the samples of French and Brazilian teachers. Personal variables proved to be related to the use of learning objects. The data reinforces the importance of training teachers in the use of learning objects and teaching strategies that contribute to the knowledge construction process in an interactive way, while taking into consideration the characteristics of technology.

Introduction: One of the aims of physical education (PE) is to develop social skills such as cooperation, teamwork, and mutual helping among students. Cooperation is a broad research topic, implicating several disciplines in the human sciences (e.g. psychology, sociology, linguistics, philosophy). It is also an important topic in various domains of practice like organizational management, ergonomics, sports performance, and PE and sports pedagogy. Studies in sport have shown that cooperation between partners is not automatically produced by the cooperative structure of the learning tasks. In this exploratory study, we focused on the links between cooperation and trust judgments about one's partner. We characterized the processes by which students construct trust judgments in dyadic cooperative interactions during climbing lessons. This study was carried out within the theoretical and methodological frameworks of the 'course of action.' Method: Two middle-school students in 10th-grade participated in this study. They formed a fixed dyad based on personal affinity. During the four climbing lessons under study, the students alternated the roles of climber and belayer. Their behaviors and communications were recorded on video and after each session they participated in self-confrontation interviews. From these data, we then reconstructed their courses of experience and focused particularly on preoccupations, meaningful elements in the situation, and mobilized knowledge. The elements contributing to the construction of the climber's trust judgments about his belayer were identified. Changes in these judgments were characterized in relation to the modes of cooperation between the students. Twenty-seven climbs were analyzed. Results and discussion: The results showed that the climber's trust judgments focused on two dimensions of the belayer's activity: the reliability of both the belay and his advice for success in the task. To build these trust judgments, the climber combined knowledge about his belayer (the partner's climbing skills, his mastery of safety techniques, his familiarity with the climbing equipment, and his typical attitudes in class) and interpretations of the events during belayer--climber cooperation (the attention shown by the partner, his requests for advice from other students, and the teacher's interventions). Moreover, the results showed the relationship between the development of each student's trust judgments about his partner and the positive and negative dynamics of cooperation between the students. Three typical connections were identified between the climber's trust judgments about his partner and the climber's involvement in cooperation. The results are discussed on the basis of two points: (a) the dynamic and composite character of the construction of trust judgments and (b) the construction of trust judgments as a condition for genuine cooperation between students. The students in the situation of climber displayed typical processes to build a trust judgment about their partner, and this trust judgment appears to be an important element in promoting and regulating cooperative interactions between students. Conclusions: We propose pedagogical perspectives for teachers with regard to understanding trust judgments in climbing and student cooperation. We also suggest new research perspectives with the objective of fully elucidating the dimensions of trust involved in cooperation.

This study presents the validation of a French version of the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale in four Francophone countries. The aim was to re-analyze the item selection and then compare this newly developed French-language form with the international form 2.0. Exploratory factor analysis was used as a tool for item selection, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) verified the structure of the CAAS French-language form. Measurement equivalence across the four countries was tested using multi-group CFA. Adults and adolescents (N = 1707) participated from Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France. Items chosen for the final version of the CAAS French-language form are different to those in the CAAS international form 2.0 and provide an improvement in terms of reliability. The factor structure is replicable across country, age, and gender. Strong evidence for metric invariance and partial evidence for scalar invariance of the CAAS French-language form across countries is given. The CAAS French-language and CAAS international form 2.0 can be used in a combined form of 31 items. The CAAS French-language form will certainly be interesting for practitioners using interventions based on the life design paradigm or aiming at increasing career adapt-ability. (Contains 5 tables.)

Introduction: This study investigated the experience of a highly skilled student during a handball physical education unit in a French high school. More specifically, the analysis describes the nature of his involvement during two lessons that follow a pedagogical model close to the principles of Sport Education. The present case study of a student who experiences the gap between school and club practices raises the question of the possibility of promoting real "sport experiences" in school. It contributes to empirical studies investigating Sport Education models and is based on situated learning perspectives and the theory of community of practice. Method: The study was carried out in reference to the theoretical and methodological framework called "course of action," in view of conducting a local analysis based on the actor's point of view. The audio and video recordings of two lessons and post-lesson self-confrontation interviews allowed us to reconstruct this student's experience through the identification of elementary meaningful units. Results and discussion: The results indicated two main characteristics of this student's experience. First, we found a conflicting search for a "modus vivendi," which usually characterizes school practice but which is particularly problematic in this case because of the student's elite handball skills. He attempted to mobilize his outside handball expertise while still maintaining a legitimate activity in terms of school rules. His involvement revealed a considerable amount of negotiation to coordinate his playing with that of other members of the class, and also personal negotiation in response to the resulting instability of his identity. Second, his adoption of the role of tutor to help his teammates' progress led to positive participation in class activities. This position revealed the gradual appearance of a "broker-like" experience between two communities of practice engaged in the same physical activity. It reflects spontaneous adaptation of a dual membership (school and sport) through the use of a pedagogical approach based on sports models of practice. (Contains 1 table and 3 notes.)

The whole-school approach to bullying prevention is predicated on the assumption that bullying is a systemic problem, and, by implication, that intervention must be directed at the entire school context rather than just at individual bullies and victims. Unfortunately, recent meta-analyses that have looked at various bullying programs from many countries have revealed that whole-school interventions designed to combat bullying have had limited success in reducing bullying. The purpose of the present study was to establish more clearly the precise aspects of school climate that are linked specifically to the problem of bullying. We used hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to analyse school-level effects in a data set consisting of 18,222 students from across France. For physical and verbal/relational bullying, the final models respectively explain 6% and 16% of the within-school variance, and 48% and 9% of the between-school variance, significant between-school effects, with the climate variables of school security and the quality of student-teacher relationships emerging as the strongest predictors. (Contains 3 tables.)

The CAAS-France Form consists of four scales, each with six items, which measure concern, control, curiosity, and confidence as psychosocial resources for managing occupational transitions, developmental tasks, and work traumas. Internal consistency estimates for the subscale and total scores ranged from moderate to good. The factor structure was quite similar to the one computed for combined data from 13 countries. The CAAS France Form is identical to the International Form 2.0. Concurrent validity evidence was collected relative to motivation and anxiety given that adaptability has been identified as a meta-competency for career construction in information societies. Relations between career adaptability and motivation measures were as predicted. However, they provide partial support to the relations between career adaptability and general or career anxiety. (Contains 2 tables.)

A map exploration and representation exercise was conducted with participants who were totally blind. Representations of maritime environments were presented either with a tactile map or with a digital haptic virtual map. We assessed the knowledge of spatial configurations using a triangulation technique. The results revealed that both types of map learning were equivalent. (Contains 5 figures.)

This paper seeks to examine students' values in "relationship to their studies." After defining the concept within this rubric, we attempt to define the values at work from the perspectives of (1) the motivation for pursuing post-secondary studies; (2) the pace of studies; (3) the time devoted to study; (4) the time spent in the institutions; and (5) student culture. The study focuses on students enrolled in the medicine and sociology programs. Our paper draws primarily from the results of an online survey and interviews of a sampling of the target student population, with the analysis in both cases developed in light of the distinction between "instrumental" values and "expressive" values. The analysis presented here is based on theories recently developed in France and Quebec regarding values, students and student attitudes toward their program of study. (Contains 6 notes, 2 tables, and 2 figures.)

In France, project activities figure predominantly in technology education. The general idea behind learning based on project activity is to allow the pupil to get involved in the activity in question, with the pupil tackling real situations rather than ones of an abstract nature. But too often, we notice that the pedagogical strategies used by teachers in project activities are not particularly effective from a learning point of view. What must be done in order to render project work in technology teaching genuinely effective? In this article, we make the following suggestion: if specific help, based on the pupil's level of understanding of the activity relating to technologically based problem solving in project work, is made available by the teacher, then project activity can become much more effective from a learning point of view. By using situations highlighting project activities in the technology teaching domain, we analyse the knowledge used by pupils. We then present the specific help used by the teacher as well as the resulting effects upon student activity. We highlight the fact that if specific help conceived as a result of analysing student activity is put in place, the pupil learns more effectually.

In light of the numerous studies on the detection of target letters among adults, it is generally accepted that the missing-letter effect depends both on a given word's frequency in its language and on its role (function vs. content) in a sentence. Following a presentation of several models explaining these observations we analyze the results of a letter-detection task given to 886 French students from kindergarten to second grade. The purpose of the present study is to determine the moment when the sensitivity to content/function word distinction emerges. The results of this study reveal that even if word frequency plays a role in letter detection, the emergence of an ability to extract sentence structure, along the lines of the structural model of reading, is significantly linked to the initial stages of explicit reading instruction. (Contains 2 tables, 2 figures, and 4 notes.)

In the early 1990s, several studies pointed out a significant gap in earnings between engineers in private firms working in Research and Development (R&D) and those in other activities. The purpose of this article is to assess, from conventional Mincerian models, to what extent these findings are still valid. The different levels of responsibility and job satisfaction of engineers in both types of activities are also analysed. The results clearly suggest a lower remuneration for engineers working in R&D in comparison to other activities, all things being equal. On the other hand, engineers involved in R&D activities have a greater dissatisfaction about the remuneration they receive, but also concerning many aspects of their work. These results lead to questions about the place of R&D within companies, in a knowledge-based economy. (Contains 5 notes and 11 tables.)

The causal explanation has an effect: (1) on expectancy and value at an intra-individual level (Weiner, 2000); (2) on feeling and affective evaluation at an interpersonal level (Weiner 2000); and (3) on institutional judgment at an organizational level (Dubois, 2003). A study was conducted with pupils between the 4th and 9th grades in order to explore how evident these constraints are in the production of causal explanations in response to daily events. The analyses of variance performed on the number of explanations produced (for each type of explanation--internal stable, internal unstable, external stable and external unstable) indicated, firstly, that the number of explanations of all four types increased with school grade. Secondly, academic events elicited more internal unstable explanations and did so to a greater extent as school grade increased. They also elicited more internal stable explanations and fewer external (stable or unstable) explanations than non-academic events. Thirdly, pupils produced more internal stable explanations in response to positive compared to negative events, whereas the reverse was observed for internal unstable explanations. These results are discussed in reference to the two constraints involved in explanations of daily events: an organisational constraint relating to the existence of social valorization of internal explanations and an intra-individual constraint bound to the preservation of self-esteem. (Contains 3 notes.)

This article describes the development and two studies on the construct validity of the Academic Emotions Scale (AES). The AES is a French self-report questionnaire assessing six emotions in the context of school learning: enjoyment, hope, pride, anxiety, shame and frustration. Its construct validity was studied through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. A six-factor structure emerged from exploratory factor analyses on two different samples (N = 188; N = 516). These six factors correspond to six academic emotions. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to test the factorial structure of the final version of the AES. A hierarchical model with a second-order factor (valence) underlying the six first-order emotional factors was the most suited to the data. The psychometric characteristics of the AES justify the use of this questionnaire in future research. (An appendix provides the items of the final French version of the Academic Emotions Scale with proposed English translation. Contains 5 footnotes and 4 tables.)

Purpose: The paper aims to show how professional identity is constructed at a very early stage of initial management education. In so doing, it questions the notion of "le metier" in management. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is based on a study of the experiences of six French management apprentices (or apprentis) who participated in a management apprentice programme in 2005. The research methodology is qualitative and illuminates the process of professional identity building. The central question of the study concerns the manager as an individual, an actor, and the link between the individual and his or her "metier." Findings: The findings suggest that from their very first immersion into the real world of corporate employment at junior management level, students construct different types of professional identity which can be shown as a 2 [times] 2 matrix whose independent axes are the type of acting displayed by the "apprentis" and the degree to which the "apprentis" enacted their roles. This can be interpreted using the coupling system metaphor. Some of these types of professional identity are born of cynicism and disillusion engendered by their experiences. Research limitations/implications: The research is based on a small number of students drawn from one business school and concentrated in one job function--marketing. Practical implications--The paper draws attention to the implications of the findings for those in business schools and organisations concerned with the formation of professional identity in young graduates. Originality/value: The article proposes a new model for the formation of professional identity and is the first study that deals with the French Apprenti manager programme. (Contains 1 table and 2 figures.)

The aim of this study, carried out in association with beef cattle producers, was to explore the capacity of farms to adapt, from a techno-conomic point of view, to both structural changes in consumer demand for beef products and market disruptions (sudden drop in beef consumption due partly to media coverage of bovine spongiform encephalopathy [BSE] and foot-and-mouth disease in the winter 2000/2001). The aim is to help farmers and advisors to find solutions to fit farmers' management choices with their strategic objectives. The flexibility concept was adopted in order to examine how farms reacted to the winter 2000/2001 crisis, and was based on several technical, economic and sociological surveys. A series of variables was proposed and several hypotheses were formulated regarding their impact on farm flexibility. Four types of farm strategy were identified using different combinations of the degree of importance of these variables, with technical, economic and marketing flexibilities specific to each type. The results revealed the different combinations of flexibility-types possible (technical, economic, marketing) and explain why cattle farmers reacted as they did. Analysis of farm flexibility also revealed situations where these technical, economic and marketing flexibilities were either complementary or incompatible. For traditional livestock farmers, high flexibility (technical and economic) allowed them to minimize the impact of the crisis on their systems. In other cases, low flexibility either resulted in inertia, or led farmers to react by seeking solutions outside the cattle farming system. Development groups should take into account these parameters when interacting with farmers. We propose a framework to qualify the use of information resources by farmers, relative to their flexibility. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.) ["Flexibility of Suckler Cattle Farms in the Face of Uncertainty within the Beef Industry: A Proposed Definition and an Illustration" was written with B. Dedieu, B. Degrange, B. Lemery and P. Pasdermadjian.]

What people mean by randomness should be taken into account when teaching statistical inference. This experiment explored subjective beliefs about randomness and probability through two successive tasks. Subjects were asked to categorize 16 familiar items: 8 real items from everyday life experiences, and 8 stochastic items involving a repeatable process. Three groups of subjects differing according to their background knowledge of probability theory were compared. An important finding is that the arguments used to judge if an event is random and those to judge if it is not random appear to be of different natures. While the concept of probability has been introduced to formalize randomness, a majority of individuals appeared to consider probability as a primary concept. (Contains 4 tables and 3 figures.)

Academic self-concept and academic interest are crucial concepts for understanding students' academic achievement. Yet, few questionnaires currently exist that have been used and validated in more than one country. This study aimed at assessing these concepts using an academic self-concept questionnaire (Marsh, 1990) and an academic interest questionnaire (Corbiere & Mbekou, 1997) with French and Italian student samples. Confirmatory Factor Analyses enabled us to assess the structure of the two questionnaires with regard to two academic subjects--Math and First Language (French or Italian)--and to determine the theoretical directions between the concepts. Results from Confirmatory Factor Analyses of both French and Italian samples supported a theoretical model in which academic self-concept and academic interest were intercorrelated, yet maintaining their unique characteristics. On the other hand, results from Multi-Sample Confirmatory Factor Analyses (French and Italian samples) endorsed a correlational model between the two concepts. Finally, the results indicated a significant and positive correlation between academic self-concept, academic interest, and academic achievement in both academic subjects. (Contains 4 tables.)

Writings on "the female" under the Third Republic in France provide evidence of the profound changes taking place in the social representation of femininity and masculinity during the period. They correspond to dramatic changes in the socio-economic context in parallel with those in the scientific models being used to describe human bodily movement. This paper sets out to demonstrate both the structure of the discussion on femininity and the practice of exercise, and the possible links with changes in women's education and their social position in France. It attempts to go beyond the traditional analysis of the historical relationships between women and exercise in the period under examination (1870-1939). It reviews the debates on these relationships taking place at the time in France and within the state education system during the Third Republic and focuses on three specific aspects: work, school and society. [This article was translated by Susan Matthews.] (Contains 15 notes.)

Characterized intrapsychic conflicts experienced by a French preservice teacher during interactions with secondary school physical education students. Data from observations and interviews indicated that she experienced intrapsychic conflict characterized by the competition of possible actions: to present a problem to the students and let them find their own solutions, to transmit a preconceived solution to students, and to maintain order in the class. (SM)

Discusses the increased importance of training to employers, the need to manage training time efficiently, and the impact of legislation regulated training leave in France. Finds the beginnings of a shift of training from work time to leisure time. (Contains 19 references.) (SK)

Standardized the French version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Third Edition (WISC-III) with a standardization sample of 1,120 participants aged 6 to 16 years. A three-factor solution was a better fit than the four-factor solution of the U.S. version. Factors were identified as Verbal Comprehension, Perceptual Organization, and Coding and Symbol Search. (SLD)

Studied the factors underlying the aging effects seen on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Adults-Revised (WAIS-R) and the scale's third edition (WAIS-III) using the French standardization samples of 1,104 for the WAIS-III and 1,000 for the WAIS-R. Results show that the observed decline in scores for both tests cannot be fully explained with a simple model. (SLD)

Discusses the practice of grade repetition in French schools, indicating that repetition is not beneficial to the pupil concerned. Notes that countries that have abandoned grade repetition have not suffered a lowering of educational standards, nor have they incurred extra costs, and describes ways to achieve this end. Contains 11 references. (EMH)

BACKGROUND The debate about limits to the human life span is often based on outcomes from mortality at the oldest ages among longevity pioneers. To this day, scholars disagree on the existence of a late-life plateau in human mortality. Amid various statistical analysis frameworks, the parametric proportional hazards model is a simple and valuable approach to test the presence of a plateau by assuming different baseline hazard functions on individual-level data. OBJECTIVE We replicate and propose some improvements to the methods of Barbi et al. (2018) to explore whether death rates reach a plateau at later ages in the French population as it does for Italians in the original study. METHODS We use a large set of exceptionally reliable data covering the most recently extinct birth cohorts, 1883-1901, where all 3,789 members who were born and died in France, were followed from age 105 onward. Individual life trajectories are modeled by a proportional hazards model with fixed covariates (gender, birth cohort) and a Gompertz baseline hazard function. RESULTS In contrast with Barbi et al. (2018)'s results, our Gompertz slope parameter estimate is statistically different from zero across all model specifications, suggesting death rates continue to increase beyond 105 years old in the French population. In addition, we find no significant birth cohort effect but a significant male disadvantage in mortality after age 105. CONCLUSIONS Using the best data currently available, we did not find any evidence of a mortality plateau in French individuals aged 105 and older. CONTRIBUTION The evidence for the existence of an extreme-age mortality plateau in recent Italian cohorts does not extend to recent French cohorts. Caution in generalizations is advised, and we encourage further studies on long-lived populations with high-quality data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method used in France to measure a university program's effectiveness at bringing students to the degree level is described. The method uses mathematical formulas to calculate indicators of success for a given cohort, which can then be compared for various programs. (MSE)

France's new Under-Secretary for Linguistic and Educational Cooperation within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs outlines his plans for the role the agency is to play. Issues discussed include French language instruction, cooperation with developed and developing nations, the role of French, cooperation at all educational levels, and agency management. (MSE)

Individual differences in performance on 4 computer-controlled visual memory and recognition tasks as a function of performance on 5 paper-and-pencil spatial tests were studied for 90 psychology students attending the University of Rennes (France). Results show that spatial thinking is partially supported by visual memory. (SLD)

French tenth grade physics classes were observed as they studied electric circuits over a one-year period. An analysis is presented of tests taken during the year. The main point separating "average" students from "good" ones is their performances in "implicitly difficult exercises," that is, in what appears beforehand to be a minor deviation from the standard ones. (Author)

The description and summary of a large-scale French study of the future and directions of French-language teaching for special purposes looks at instructional efforts currently under way and at three aspects of the study: the publics addressed, the areas of specialization targeted, and the methods used. (MSE)

The mid-1980s period of dormancy in French higher education is coming to an end, and a policy for higher education has begun to emerge again. This occurs at a time when the stakes and challenges in change are enormous, partly because of the delay in responding to them. (MSE)

The Filiere Administration Economique et Social in France was created in 1972 as a multidisciplinary program combining economics and social sciences. Some problems encountered by the program are the result of contradictions with regulatory procedures and the conservatism of disciplines and their representative bodies. This article suggests ways to assure success. (Author/MLW)