The following publications or documents are available from the Timbuktu Academy. A written request (letter, fax, or Internet message) indicating the publications/documents of interest is all that is needed for a parent, teacher, university faculty member, student (K thru graduate school), other educators, or policy makers to receive the specified pre- or reprints, free of charge -- as long as supplies last. Contact:

1. 1.* "The Dynamics of Student Retention, " Education (Fall, 1994). D. Bagayoko and E. L. Kelley. This publication utilizes the Power Law of Performance (PLP) and the Academic Preparedness Index (API) to explain the dynamics behind student retention and graduation rate data. Current retention models, and their limitations, are briefly reviewed. The authors elaborate on their own contribution, the Compound Power Law of Performance also known as the Integrated Law of Performance (ILP). ILP does not necessarily follow a power formula; it describes the sum of the applications of the power law to a variety of tasks over a relatively long period of time. While the performance of individual tasks may follow a power law, the ILP, due in part to the role of transfer between tasks or sum of tasks, may not always have a power (i.e. X-P) expression. Intended Audience: Educators (K-College), Parents, and educational organizations.

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2. * "A Paradigm of Education: Basic Principles, The Model of the Timbuktu Academy, " Education (Fall, 1994). William E. Moore and D. Bagayoko. This publication, using the findings in 1 above, discusses the characteristics of several exemplary undergraduate mentoring programs at Southern University and A&M College, including the Timbuktu Academy. The undergraduate research component of the activities of the Academy constitutes one of its distinctions. Intended Audience: as for Publication I above.

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3. *"A Paradigm of Education: Educating Engineers for the 21st Century," ASEE/GSW Proceedings, March 24-25, 1994. D. Bagayoko, E. L. Kelley, and V. T. Montgomery, or an earlier version entitled "A Paradigm of Education: Application to Retention in Engineering Schools, " by D. Bagayoko and Ella L. Kelley, Proceedigs (Pages 227-235), Forum'93, National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME), Washington, D.C., June 25, 1993. This publication utilizes the composition of the Power Law of Performance and the Academic Preparedness Index to explain the dynamics behind retention and graduation data, from K thru graduate schools. A direct consequence of this explanation is a clear road map for the making of a genius or of an educated citizen. The adequacy of the time of learning tasks, in the appropriate sequence and at the appropriate scope and depth, is central in this process. The critical importance of "coursetaking" decisions in middle and in high school is underscored. Intended Audience: Everyone; students (K thru graduate school), parents, teachers, professors, educational administrators, and policy making, professional, and funding organizations.

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4. "Promoting Thinking and Reasoning Skills through a Constructivist Approach to Teaching." D.Bagayoko, Ineatha W. Ruffin, Ella L. Kelley, and Robert L. Ford. This publication of the Academy provides a quasi-exhaustive review and synthesis of the basic tenets of current educational reforms. Section titles include the Taxonomy of the Cognitive and Affective Domains, the Piagetian Paradigm and its Implications, Critical Thinking, Creative Thinking, the Scientific Method, the Power Law of Performance, and Cognitive Condensation (an empowering concept for learners and teachers). Written for K-12th grade teachers, this 1992 publication and the accompanying GUIDE constitute a road-map for reform-guided teaching and learning. Audience: Teachers (K-12th grade) and university faculty members.

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5. * "Cognitive Condensation and the Science of Science Teaching." D. Bagayoko, B. Pillot, E. Pillot, M. Briscoe, M. Wright, and E. L. Kelley, Proceedings, National Society of Black Physicists, Jackson, MS - April 1992. This work provides perhaps the only systematic way known to us in which one can implement empowering instructional reforms (SSC of NSTA, Project 2061 of AAAS). Cognitive condensation is a meta-teaching and meta-learning concept whose time has come. While the illustrations provided in this publication pertain mainly to physics, the general description applies to all disciplines. Intended Audience: everyone.

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6. "A Paradigm oj'Problem Solving: the Problem Solving Pentagon. " This manuscript presents a comprehensive grasp of problem solving. Intended for K - graduate school students and faculty, it clearly delineates the five categories whose interplay results in successful problem solving. The categories are cognitively condensed knowledge base, cognitively condensed skills base, resources, strategy and experience (practice), and the behavioral base. Intended Audience: teachers and anyone who needs a comprehensive understanding of how problem solving skills are developed and honed.

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7. * "Mentoritig Students in SEM Fields: the Model of the Timbuktu Academy, " Proceedings, Louisiana Aerosapce Forum, published by the Louisiana Space Consortium (LaSPACE).This paper, unlike any other, thoroughly describes the objectives, paradigm, programs and their target populations, funding base, activities, and results of the Timbuktu Academy.

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8. "Undergraduate Research as a Tool in Engineering, Physics, and Chemistry Education, " Reza A. Mirshams, Diola Bagayoko, and Ella L. Kelley, Proceedings, American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), Gulf-Southwest Section (GSW), the University of Texas at San Antonio, Texas, March 27-29, 1996, pages 714-719. As the its title indicates, this paper describes ways of utilizing research participation to enhance undergraduate education, including an increased likelihood for the pursuit of graduate education and of a research career,