Showing papers on "Higher education published in 1979"

Effective Schools for the Urban Poor

Abstract: It seems only fair that the reader know what biases, if any, inform the summary remarks I plan to make. Equity will be the focus of my discussion. By equity I mean a simple sense of fairness in the dis tribution of the primary goods and services that characterize our social order. At issue is the efficacy of a minimum level of goods and services to which we are all entitled. Some of us, rightly, have more goods and services than others, and my sense of equity is not disturbed by that fact. Others of us have almost no goods and access to only the most wretched serv ices, and that deeply offends my simple sense of fair ness and violates the standards of equity by which I judge our social order. I measure our progress as a social order by our willingness to advance the equity interests of the least among us. Thus, increased wealth or education for the top of our social order is quite beside the point of my basis for assessing our progress toward greater equity. Progress requires public policy that begins by making the poor less poor and ends by making them not poor at all. This discussion of edu cation will apply just such a standard to public school ing. Equitable public schooling begins by teaching poor children what their parents want them to know and ends by teaching poor children at least as well as it teaches middle-class children. Inequity in American education derives first and foremost from our failure to educate the children of the poor. Education in this context refers to early acquisition of those basic school skills that assure pupils successful access to the next level of schooling. If that seems too modest a standard, note that as of now the schools that teach the children of the poor are dismal failures even by such a modest standard. Thus, to raise a generation of children whose schools meet such a standard would be an advance in equity of the first order. I offer this standard at the outset to note that its attainment is far more a matter of politics than of social science. Social science refers to those formal experiments and inquiries carried out by

Four Critical Years: Effects of College on Beliefs, Attitudes, and Knowledge

Abstract: (1979). Four Critical Years: Effects of College on Beliefs, Attitudes, and Knowledge. The Journal of Higher Education: Vol. 50, No. 3, pp. 353-356.

Investment in Learning. The Individual and Social Value of American Higher Education.

Abstract: The value of higher education has been under attack as seldom before in American history. We are told of the overeducated American, of the case against college, and of the failure of education to contribute significantly to the reduction of inequality. In this environment, republication of an exceptionally comprehensive and judicious analysis of all that has been learned--and not learned--about the consequences of American higher education comes at a most appropriate time. Investment in Learning more fully covers the various aspects of this subject than any yet to appear. Howard Bowen is optimistic about higher education, but his viewpoint is based on profound knowledge of both the economic and social aspects of education. Unlike some economists who insist on a strict cost-benefit analysis of expenditures on higher education in relation to outcomes, Bowen argues that the non-monetary benefits are far greater, to the point that individual and social decisions should be made primarily on those broader indicators. Cameron Fincher, in his new opening for the book, notes that "Publication of Howard Bowen's Investment in Learning was like a break in a long summer drought. . . . It was a comprehensive rebuttal to return-on-investment studies with negativistic findings." And in the foreword to the book, Clark Kerr simply says, "Howard Bowen is better prepared to survey the overall consequences of higher education in the United States than anyone else."

Spontaneous Reasoning in Elementary Dynamics.

Abstract: Summaries English The scope of this study was to explore and analyse spontaneous reasoning of students in elementary dynamics, from the last year at secondary school to the third year at University. A set of investigations involving several hundred students (mainly French, but also British and Belgian) showed surprising rates of wrong, or right, answers, which are very stable from one sample of students to another. It seems difficult to attribute these results solely to school learning. But they can be reasonably well accounted for if we assume a spontaneous explanatory system, relatively unaffected by school learning. In particular, students seem to use in their reasoning two different notions of dynamics, usually designated by the same word: ‘force’. To detect which of these two notions has, in fact, been used, one must look at their properties: one of these ‘forces’ is associated with the velocity of a motion whilst the other one is associated with its acceleration. Likewise, the part played by energy ...

Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

Abstract: From the Editor: Our First Newsletter add 'Ontario', or at least 'Canadian'? Throwing nati,@a~ modesty to the winds for once, and using the rational~" that an organization with no assets had nothing to I~, we decided to use the all-embracing name you see at" the top of this page. As far as we know there is.rro other organization using this title, though there are a;"" number of societies elsewhere in the world that have & similar concern with teaching' and learning in colleg~ and universities. The most well known are pertJaP6' the British Society for Research into Higher Educatic6n-, the., Higher Education Research and Development Society Of Australasia, and the Professional and Organizational Development Network in the United States, We hop~tQ. exchange information with these organizations arr.d b:l;ing news of some of their activities to Society members in future newsletters. In the short term the Society's activities will be;;,'. limited, in keeping with our modest resources'. T~.; major event of 1985 will be the Ottawa Conferenc;e; Another initiative is the launching of this newsletter. This first, issue is inevitably something of a makestJift.. affair. We are including news about the Ottaw...,Conference, with details of some highlights fromi1theic,' preliminary programme. There is a list of forth:comin~-" meetings and seminars that focus on aspects' qf teaching and learning, both in Canada and abroad. A number of colleagues from Canadian universities haVe' submitted news items on activities in their own ..',-' institutions (these of course have been specially solicited, but we are most anxious to receivesimiliJi news items from al)Y of our readers). Lastly, we .{lt16',,' including as' a special bonus insert a listing: oftea~i:n9," improvement (instructional development, if yQ;yp~e-d centres in Canadian universities. We welco,I'n1!¥Q\,If. comments and contributions. " ,",Ai.f

Student learning and perceptions of the academic environment

Abstract: This paper examines the effects of the organisation of curricula, teaching, and assessment on student learning and looks at the different demands which different academic environments make on their students. After a brief review of research into learning contexts in higher education, data from a course perceptions questionnaire are presented. The principal dimensions which students themselves use to characterise academic environments are identified. The perceptions of students in six departments at one British university are compared; it is concluded that students in different subject areas see themselves to be studying in markedly different environments. The results also suggest students' evaluations of the teaching and the courses in each department.

Fertility and Education: What Do We Really Know?

Abstract: Current research on the relationship between education and fertility is reviewed, and a model relating intervening variables to fertility is developed. The evidence indicates that education may increase or decrease individual fertility. The decrease is greater for the education of women than of men and is greater in urban than in rural areas. However, education is more likely to increase fertility in countries with the lowest level of female literacy. Probably, this increase occurs as a result of improved health, better nutrition, and the abandonment of traditional patterns of lactation and postpartum abstinence, education increases the ability to have live births. In societies with higher average levels of female literacy, education lowers the demand for children by altering perceptions of costs and benefits. In addition, once the biological supply of children exceeds the demand for them, high levels of education enable couples to limit their fertility more efficiently through access to contraceptive knowledge and improved ability to communicate with each other. Several issues require further research. Statistical tables and figues are provided.

A Humanistic Rationale for Technical Writing

Abstract: A question arose, during a committee discussion in our English department last year, whether students in our large technological university should be permitted to take a technical writing course to satisfy humanities requirements of their own schools and departments (1). There were two opinions among those in my department with whom I talked. Those who teach literature believed that students should not satisfy a humanities, or "English," requirement with a technical writing course. And our department should prevent them from doing so by instituting a literature prerequisite for the technical writing course. Those of us who teach technical writing responded differently. Mostly, we were baffled. Obviously we did not welcome what we considered an irrelevant prerequisite for our course, and we did not like the idea of our course being held hostage for the overstaffed literature courses. But were we willing to argue, indeed, could we argue that technical writing has humanistic value?

Effort: The Double-Edged Sword in School Achievement.

Abstract: Self-worth theory suggests that teachers and students often operate at crosspurposes: Teachers encourage achievement through effort, yet many students attempt to avoid the implication that they lack ability by not trying. To test these assertions undergraduates rated their affective reactions to hypothetical test failures under conditions of high or low effort and in the presence or absence of self-serving excuses. Then, in the role of teachers, they administered punishment to hypothetical students under the same failure conditions. Results indicated that inability attributions and negative affect were greatest when failure followed much effort. Conversely, failure reflected less on ability, and shame was correspondingly reduced when students studied little—the same failure condition that subjects, in the role of teachers, punished most severely. The virtues of hard work have long been extolled in America. Nowhere is this truer than in our schools, where it is widely held among educators and parents alike that while not all students are brilliant, at least everyone can try. The paramount importance of such a work ethic in the teacher's system of values has recently been demonstrated (see Weiner, 1972, 1974). In the typical procedure, teachers are asked to reward and punish a group of hypothetical students of varying ability levels (either high or low) for test performances that range from excellent to clear failure. These students also differ in the amount of effort they expend in preparing for the test (either high or low). While the results indicate that test outcome is the major determinant of classroom evaluation, teachers also reinforce effort. Students who are perceived as having expended effort are rewarded more in success and punished less in failure than those who do not try. Moreover, these evaluative reactions appear to be largely independent of student ability level. These same general results have been obtained repeatedly by investigators using various subject popula

Measuring outcomes of college: Fifty years of findings and recommendations for the future

Abstract: (1982). Measuring Outcomes of College: Fifty Years of Findings and Recommendations for the Future. The Journal of Higher Education: Vol. 53, No. 4, pp. 488-491.

Academic Sponsorship and Scientists' Careers.

Abstract: Scientists' academic sponsors might influence their students' careers through the quality of training they provide and through their ability to transmit to their students a professional status and other ascriptive advantages. Using data for a probability sample of doctoral chemists, this study explores the effects of scientists' Ph.D. departments and several characteristics of their doctoral sponsors on their scientific productivity and positions over their first postdoctoral decade. Sponsorship appears to play a vital role in the chemists' careers. Their sponsors' productivity affected sample members' predoctoral productivity, and the calibre of their Ph.D. department affected their postdoctoral productivity. Although measures of the quality of their training did not affect the setting (university versus other employer) of the chemists' jobs, two measures of their sponsors' professional stature were consequential. These results suggest ascriptive effects of doctoral sponsorship, independent of the effects of sponsors' performance, the calibre of the Ph.D. department, and the chemists' own productivity.

Student-Faculty Informal Contact and College Persistence: A Further Investigation

Abstract: In a validation of the Tin to and Spady models of college attrition, this study reanalyzed an expanded data base from an earlier investigation (6) to further probe the relationships between student-faculty informal contact and freshman year voluntary persistence/withdrawal decisions. After statistically controlling the influence of twelve student entering characteristics and six additional measures of freshman year social and academic integration, frequency of student-faculty informal contact of six different types accounted for significant R2 increases and had significant partial correlations with freshman year voluntary persistence/withdrawal decisions. The pattern of associations, however, differed somewhat by sex. For freshman men the categories of interactions having significant partial correlations with persistence were oriented toward instrumental outcomes, while those for freshman women had more intrinsic value.

Improving College Teaching: An Evaluation of a Teaching Consultation Procedure.

Abstract: (1979). Improving College Teaching. The Journal of Higher Education: Vol. 50, No. 5, pp. 670-683.

Academic drift: Some views from Europe

Abstract: (1979). Academic drift: Some views from Europe. Studies in Higher Education: Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 143-159.

Trends in research on student learning

Abstract: (1979). Trends in research on student learning. Studies in Higher Education: Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 87-102.

Male-Female Differences in Economic Education: a Survey

Abstract: Many researchers have found that males and females perform differently on economics tests, with the females often achieving lower scores. This phenomenon has puzzled and troubled economic education specialists for well over a decade. In this article Siegfried summarizes many studies that have included student gender as a variable. This in itself would be a valuable contribution to the literature, but Siegfired goes further and deals with questions of the adequacy of research designs and other factors that must be taken into account. Thus, this piece should provide useful guidance to researchers who wish to include the gender variable in their designs.

Introduction to the foundations of American education

Abstract: I. THE EDUCATION PROFESSION. 1. A Teaching Career. Today's Teachers. The Importance of Teachers to Society. The Public View of Teachers and Schools. Who Teaches? Teachers Needed. Teaching as a Profession. Characteristics of a Profession. Professional Responsibilities Reflecting on One's Practice. Challenges Affecting Teachers. Salaries. Working Conditions. Beginning and Continuing a Teaching Career. Becoming Licensed. Searching for a Teaching Position. Remaining a Teacher. II. SOCIOLOGICAL FOUNCATIONS OF EDUCATION. 2. Diversity in Society. Culture and Society. Diversity and Education. Socioeconomic Status. Ethnicity and Race. Language. Gender. Exceptionalities. Religion. Geography. 3. Social Challenges in Schools. Power in Society. Ethnocentrism. Prejudice and Discrimination. Today's Families. Parenting. Latchkey Kids. Homelessness. Abuse. Today's Youth. Who Is This Generation? Challenges of Youth Culture. Democracy and Education. Roles of Schools. Purposes of Schools. Whose Schools? Democratic Schools. 4. Education That Is Multicultural. Undergirding Tenets. Diversity. Social Justice. Equality. Culture of the School. Traditions. Hidden Curriculum. Culturally Relevant Teaching. Building on Cultural Context. Centering the Cultures of Students. Validating Student Voices. Challenges in Multicultural Classrooms. Technology and Equity. Gender-Sensitive Education. Education for Language Diversity. Teachers as Social Activists. Thinking Critically. Modeling Equity in the Classroom. Teaching for Social Justice. III. GOVERNANCE AND SUPPORT OF AMERICAN EDUCATION. 5. Organizing and Paying for American Education. The Structure of the American Education System. Organization of Schools. Organization of the School District. Organization of Education at the State Level. The Federal Government's Role in Education. School Choice: Increasing Options along with Uncertain Outcomes. Politics in Education. Issues Related to Organization and Structure. Financing Education: Sources of Funds and the Move from Equity to Adequacy. A System of Taxation and Support for Schools. Education Spending. Accountability. Perennial School Finance Issues. 6. Legal Foundations of Education. Legal Aspects of Education. Legal Provisions for Education: The U.S. Constitution. Church and State. Segregation and Desegregation. Equal Opportunity. Teachers' Rights and Responsibilities. Conditions of Employment. Academic Freedom. Teacher Responsibilities and Liabilities. Students' Rights and Responsibilities. Students' Rights as Citizens. Students' Rights and Responsibilities in School. IV. HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION. 7. The Evolution of American Education. Education in Other Cultures. The Beginnings of Education (to 476 C.E.). Education in the Middle Ages (476-1300). Education in Transition (1300-1700). The Important Role of Education in Our Developing Nation. Colonial Education. The Struggle for Universal Elementary Education. The Need for Secondary Schools. Federal Involvement in Education. The Evolution of Teaching Materials. Meager Education for Diverse Populations. Private Education in America. Learning from History. 8. The Continuing Historical Effort to Improve Education. More Students and Bigger Schools. The Rapid Growth of the Educational Enterprise. School District Consolidation. The Development of the Teaching Profession. The Increasing Complexity of the Educational Enterprise. Changing Aims of Education. Preparation of Teachers. Education of Women. Recent Trends in Education. New Emphases in Education. Educational Critics. School Reform. School Public Opinion over the Past Half-Century. Major Educational Events of the Past Century. The Value of History. V. PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION. 9. Philosophy: The Passion to Understand. Structure and Methodology of Philosophy. The Branches of Philosophy. Thinking as a Philosopher. Schools of Philosophy and Their Influence on Education. Idealism. Realism. Pragmatism. Existentialism. Eastern Ways of Knowing. Native American Ways of Knowing. 10. Educational Theory in American Schools: Philosophy in Action. Teacher-Centered Locus of Control Educational Theories. Perennialism. Essentialism. Behaviorism. Positivism. Student-Centered Locus of Control Educational Theories. Progressivism. Reconstructionism. Humanism. Constructivism. 11. Building an Educational Philosophy. Using Philosophy in the Classroom. Classroom Organization. Motivation. Discipline. Assertive Discipline. Classroom Climate. Learning Focus. Using Philosophy Beyond the Classroom. Teachers as Change Agents. Teachers as Leaders. VI. CURRICULAR FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION. 12. Standards-Based Education and Assessment. Standards-Based Education. Differing Concepts of Standards. Why Standards Differ. Uses of Standards. Sources for Standards. Types of Standards. Debates over Setting Standards. The Future of Standards-Based Education. Assessment: The Other Side of Standards. What Is Assessment? Purposes for Assessment. Traditional Assessments. Performance Assessment. Professional Aspects of Good Assessments. Accountability. Testing Ups and Downs. Equity within Accountability. 13. Designing Programs for Learners: Curriculum, Instruction, and Technology. Curriculum: Relating Expectations for Learning to What Is Taught. Curriculum Resources and Selection. Selecting Curriculum Is a Complex Business. Managing Curriculum. Evaluating Curriculum. Instruction: Turning Curriculum into Classroom Activities. Instructional Objectives for Student Learning. Different Kinds of Instructional Objectives. Teaching Strategies. Teaching Strategies for Addressing Students with Exceptionalities. Models for School Reform. Technology: Integrated Uses for Curriculum and Instruction. Expectations for Teachers and Integrated Use of Technology. 14. Education in the Twenty-First Century. The Nature of Change in the Twenty-First Century. Characteristics of Change. Size of Educational Change. Futurism and Transformational Trends in Twenty-First Century Education. Increased Accountability Focused on Student Learning. Schools as the Center for Delivery of Coordinated Services. Emphasis on Character Development. Increased Competition Among Schools. The Changing Profession of Education. Career Development Continuum. Professional Collaboration. Participating in the Profession. A Vision for Twenty-First Century Schools. Professional Learning Communities. Classrooms as Dynamic Centers of Learning.