Showing papers on "Higher education published in 1990"

Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate

Abstract: About Ernest L. Boyer vii About the Editors ix About the Contributors xi Editors Acknowledgments xv A Note to the Reader xvii Foreword: Scholarship Reconsidered s Influence in Later Carnegie Foundation Work xxi Mary Taylor Huber PART ONE: THE IMPACT OF SCHOLARSHIP RECONSIDERED ON TODAY S ACADEMY 1 The Origins of Scholarship Reconsidered 3 Drew Moser and Todd C. Ream Boyer s Impact on Faculty Development 13 Andrea L. Beach The Influence of Scholarship Reconsidered on Institutional Types and Academic Disciplines 19 John M. Braxton Scholarship Reconsidered s Impact on Doctoral and Professional Education 31 Ann E. Austin and Melissa McDaniels How Scholarship Reconsidered Disrupted the Promotion and Tenure System 41 KerryAnn O Meara Acknowledgments 49 PART TWO: SCHOLARSHIP RECONSIDERED BY ERNEST L. BOYER 53 Scholarship over Time 55 Enlarging the Perspective 67 The Faculty: A Mosaic of Talent 77 The Creativity Contract 91 The Campuses: Diversity with Dignity 99 A New Generation of Scholars 109 Scholarship and Community 117 Appendix A: National Survey of Faculty (1989) 123 Appendix B: Technical Notes 157 Appendix C: Carnegie Classifications 159 Afterword: Advancing the Conversation around Scholarship Reconsidered 161 Cynthia A. Wells Discussion Guide 167 Notes 173 Index 195

Changing Learner Behavior Through Environmental Education

Abstract: (1990). Changing Learner Behavior Through Environmental Education. The Journal of Environmental Education: Vol. 21, No. 3, pp. 8-21.

Teachers for Our Nation's Schools

Abstract: 1. A Nation Awakening. 2. Reasonable Expectations. 3. Legacies. 4. The Institutional and Regulatory Contest. 5. Teachers of Teachers. 6. Becoming a Teacher. 7. Programs for Teachers. 8. An Agenda for Change. 9. Renewal at Northern State University: A Fable. Appendix A: Technical Reports. Appendix B: Commissioned Papers. Appendix C: Occasional Papers. Appendix D: The Center for Educational Renewal.

The Mathematical Understandings that Prospective Teachers Bring to Teacher Education.

Abstract: This article focuses on the subject matter knowledge of preservice elementary and secondary mathematics teachers. In order to examine what teacher candidates understand about mathematics as they enter formal teacher education, results from questionnaires and interviews with 252 prospective teachers participating in a large study of teacher education are discussed. The results reveal the mathematical understandings that these elementary and secondary teacher candidates brought with them to teacher education from their precollege and college mathematics experiences, understandings that tended to be rule-bound and thin. Based on these data, the article challenges 3 common assumptions about learning to teach elementary or secondary mathematics: (1) that traditional school mathematics content is not difficult, (2) that precollege education provides teachers with much of what they need to know about mathematics, and (3) that majoring in mathematics ensures subject matter knowledge. These assumptions underlie cu...

College students' time management : correlations with academic performance and stress

Abstract: Many college students may find the academic experience very stressful (Swick, 1987). One potential coping strategy frequently offered by university counseling services is time management. One hundred and sixty-five students completed a questionnaire assessing their time management behaviors and atti

MO theory made visible

Abstract: 114. The authors present an automated package of programs to perform MO calculations and their graphical illustration.

Approaches to learning, evaluations of teaching, and preferences for contrasting academic environments

Abstract: Previous research has demonstrated that the academic environments provided by departments in higher education have direct effects on students' approaches to studying. But other studies have indicated that these effects are mediated by the students' own perceptions of those environments. Here two studies are reported which explore the relationships between approaches to learning, or study orientations, and perceptions of the academic environment. Those perceptions are measured in two distinct ways, one which minimises the effects of differential perceptions, and one which highlights them. Factor analyses of the responses of three groups of students taking engineering and psychology are used to clarify the nature of the relationships between study orientations and perceptions of the academic environment. It is found, as in earlier studies, that there are relationships which associate deep approaches with perceptions of relevance, and surface approaches with a heavy workload. But here it is also shown that students with contrasting study orientations are likely to define effective teaching in ways which reflect those orientations. Implications both for the design of feedback questionnaires and for the improvement of teaching and learning in higher education are discussed.

The idea of higher education

Abstract: Higher education - educationally speaking: the missing element a contested concept?. The epistemological undermining of higher education: witchcraft, astrology and knowledge policies the truth, the whole truth. The sociological undermining of higher education: ivory tower? living with ideology. Key concepts: culture rationality research academic freedom. Restoring higher education: beyond teaching and learning a critical business redrawing interdisciplinarity a liberal higher education regained.

Assessment and the promotion of academic values

Abstract: This paper raises issues concerning the relationship between student assessment and the values which academic institutions propagate. It argues that many current assessment practices are incompatible with the goals of independence, thoughtfulness and critical analysis to which most academics would subscribe; that forms of assessment which are commonplace are not consistent with the behaviour of academics in their own contributions to knowledge; and that there is evidence to suggest that the assessment policy of many departments undermines deep approaches to learning on the part of students. Some indications are given of possible strategies to address the problems which have been identified, drawing upon ideas from academic and professional practice in general and self-assessment and peer review in particular.

Research on Cooperative Learning: Consensus and Controversy.

Abstract: C ooperative learning is one of the most thoroughly re searched of all instructional methods. In a recent review (Slavin 1989a), I identified 60 studies that contrasted the achievement outcomes of cooperative learning and traditional methods in elementary and secondary schools. To be included in my review, studies had to have lasted at least four weeks, and experimental and control classes had to take the same achieve ment tests under the same conditions. Using different inclusion criteria, Johnson and colleagues (1981) identi fied 122 achievement studies. Most of these studies also measured many out comes in addition to achievement. With so many studies, one would imagine that a consensus would emerge about the nature and size of the effects of cooperative learning; and, in fact, the areas of agreement among cooperative learning research ers far outweigh the areas of disagree ment. Yet there remain several key points of controversy among research ers and reviewers that concern the conditions under which cooperative learning is instructionally effective This article briefly summarizes the main areas of consensus and contro versy in research on cooperative learning.

Reflective Pedagogical Thinking: How Can We Promote It and Measure It?

Abstract: The Collaboration for the Improvement of Teacher Education (CITE) is a pre-student teaching program that promotes students' reflective thinking about curriculum, methods, and sociopolitical issues ...

Validity of student ratings of instruction : what we know and what we do not

Abstract: We argue that the multisection validation design is the strongest design for addressing the degree to which student ratings predict teacher-produced learning. Results of several dozen multisection validity studies appear inconsistent. Unfortunately, prior quantitative reviews did not answer questions about the diversity of findings. The authors explore sensitivity of the prior analyses to identify true explanatory characteristics, generalizability of the findings across dimensions of teaching, and adequacy of the analyses to identify potential explanatory characteristics

Does higher education promote independent learning

Abstract: There is general consensus in the literature that the goal of education is to increase the students' capacity to learn, to provide them with analytic skills and to increase their ability to deal with new information and draw independent conclusions. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the extent to which higher education does promote these abilities which can be summarised as independent learning. Quantitative data from the Study Process Questionnaire (SPQ) and qualitative data (semi-structured student interviews) from a tertiary institution in Hong Kong are compared with similar findings from institutions in other parts of the world. The relationship between demographic variables and the SPQ sub-scales appears to follow a pattern consistent with results from elsewhere. As students become older they are less likely to adopt a surface approach and more likely to adopt a deep one. However, there is a decrease in the use of a deep approach from first to third year of a course, suggesting that education at this tertiary institution does not promote independent learning. Possible explanations are derived from the literature and the student interviews. Implications for the structure of tertiary education in Hong Kong are discussed.

The instructor's changing role in distance education

Abstract: The emergence of increasingly student-centered learning activities in the 1970s, facilitated by new instructional technology introduced in the 1980s, is contributing to a dramatic evolution in faculty roles, and raises fundamental questions within the professoriat about how it will contribute to the teaching-learning process in the 1990s and beyond. In particular, the likelihood of significant increases in distance learning enrollments within the next decade will have a profound impact on faculty members’ instructional roles. Distance education revolves around a learner-center ed system with teaching activity focused on facilitating learning. The teacher augments prepared study materials by providing explanations, references, and reinforcements for the student. Independent study stresses learning, rather than teaching, and is based on the principle that the key to learning is what students do, not what teachers do. It is a highly personalized process that converts newly acquired information into new insights and ideas. The institution’s function, and the task of its instructional personnel, is to facilitate and enhance that process - despite the distance - to achieve optimum learning outcomes. Rather that transmit information in person, many faculty will have to make the adjustment to monitoring and evaluating the work of geographically distant learners. Those faculty accustomed to more conventional teaching modes will have to acquire new skills to assume expanded roles not only to teach distance learners, but also to organize instructional resources suitable in content and format for independent study. A course previously designed as an intimate round-table seminar involving a dozen students known to the faculty member will have to be reconfigured for use by perhaps several hundred students who may never meet the instructor or one another, although all will be exposed to the same course material and will complete the same assignments and tests through the use of distance media. Further, faculty engaged in distance education must be adept at facilitating students’ learning through particular attention to process, unlike classroom-based teachers whose traditional role is largely confined to selecting and sharing content. This represents a major shift from the European model of the teacher as the exclusive source of information to being one of several resources available to learners who become more active participants in the process. This is a difficult and threatening situation for teachers, most of whom are themselves products of classroom-bound education and whose professional identities are linked to the traditional image of the teacher at the front of the classroom and at the center of the process. The teaching function is not becoming obsolete, but the role is being transformed dramatically. In addition to being adept at both content and process, faculty must recognize the role of instructional technology as a learning resource. The teacher is increasingly an intermediary between students and available resources. Teachers must know something about the potential of technology to facilitate learning and to enhance their own effectiveness. They must come to recognize how technological applications can create greater access to education by overcoming time and distance problems, and how it provides for diverse learning needs because it has the capacity to deliver material in many different formats.

Challenging Prospective Teachers' Beliefs During Early Field Experience: A Quixotic Undertaking?

Abstract: Field experiences are rarely designed to challenge prospective teachers' underlying beliefs about teaching and learning. In the experience described here, teacher education students are deliber ately brought face-to-face with their assumptions through encounters with negative numbers, third-graders, and an unconventional teacher. Although the students appear to reconsider their beliefs, such changes may be superficial and short-lived.

Adolescent Attachment, Identity, and Adjustment to College: Implications for the Continuity of Adaptation Hypothesis

Abstract: We examined the concurrent relationship between late adolescent attachment to parents and peers and two broad indices of adolescent adaptation—personal and social identity and adjustment to college. Participants included 130 college freshmen and 123 upperclassmen. Although freshmen were disadvantaged relative to upperclassmen with respect to social and personal-emotional adjustment, there were no group differences on the attachment measures, on the measures of academic adjustment and goal commitment, and on the measure of social identity. Freshmen scored higher on personal identity than did upperclassmen. Women reported less alienation from peers, had more trust and better communication with peers, and had higher scores on personal and social idenitity than men. The attachment variables were significant predictors of personal and social identity. Pervasive relations were also found between attachment and adjustment to college, particularly for the upperclassmen sample.

Women and computing

Abstract: There is mounting evidence that many women opting for careers in computing either drop out of the academic pipeline or choose not to get advanced degrees and enter industry instead. Consequently, there are disproportionately low numbers of women in academic computer science and the computer industry. The situation may be perpetuated for several generations since studies show that girls from grade school to high school are losing interest in computing.Statistics, descriptions offered by women in academic and industrial computing, and the research findings reported later in this article indicate that much is amiss. But the point of what follows is not to place blame—rather it is to foster serious reflection and possibly instigate action. It behooves the computer community to consider whether the experiences of women in training are unique to computer science. We must ask why the computer science laboratory or classroom is “chilly” for women and girls. If it is demonstrated that the problems are particular to the field, it is crucial to understand their origins. The field is young and flexible enough to modify itself. These women are, of course, open to the charge that they describe the problems of professional women everywhere. But even if the juggling acts of female computer scientists in both academia and industry are not particular to computing, American society cannot afford to ignore or dismiss their experiences; there is an indisputable brain drain from this leading-edge discipline.A look at statistics reveals a disquieting situation. According to Betty M. Vetter, executive director of the Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology in Washington, DC, while the number of bachelor's and master's degrees in computer science are dropping steadily for both men and women, degrees awarded to women are dropping faster, so they are becoming a smaller proportion of the total. . Bachelor's degrees peaked at 35.7% in 1986, masters also peaked that year at 29.9%, and both are expected to continue to decline. “We have expected the numbers to drop for both, due to demographics such as fewer college students,” says Vetter, “but degrees awarded women are declining long before reaching parity.” (See Table I.) Vetter also would have expected computer science to be “a great field for women,” as undergraduate mathematics has been; female math majors have earned 45% of bachelor's degrees during the 1980s. On the other hand, math Ph.D.'s awarded to women have gone from only 15.5% to 18.1% in this decade, which is more in line with computer science Ph.D.'s earned by women. In 1987, 14.4% of all computer science Ph.D.'s went to women; this number declined to 10.9% the following year. Although the number almost doubled between 1988 and 1989 with women receiving 17.5% of Ph.D.'s, Vetter points out that the number remains very small, at 107. Since these figures include foreign students who are principally male, women constitute a smaller percentage of that total than they do of Ph.D.'s awarded to Americans. But while American women received 21.4% of Ph.D.'s awarded to Americans, that is not encouraging either, says Vetter. Again, the number of American women awarded computer science Ph.D.'s was miniscule, at 72. And taking a longer view, the awarding of significantly fewer bachelor's and master's degrees to women in the late 1980s will be felt in seven to eight years, when they would be expected to receive their Ph.D.'s.How do these figures compare with those of other sciences and engineering? In her 1989 report to the National Science Foundation, “Women and Computer Science,” Nancy Leveson, associate professor of information and computer science at the University of California at Irvine, reports that in 1986, women earned only 12% of computer science doctorates compared to 30% of all doctorates awarded to women in the sciences. Leveson notes, however, that this includes the social sciences and psychology, which have percentages as high as 32 to 50. But the breakout for other fields is as follows: physical sciences (16.4%), math (16.6%), electrical engineering (4.9%), and other engineering ranges from 0.8% for aeronautical to 13.9% for industrial.Those women who do get computer science degrees are not pursuing careers in academic computer science. Leveson says women are either not being offered or are not accepting faculty positions, or are dropping out of the faculty ranks. Looking at data taken from the 1988-89 Taulbee Survey, which appeared in Communications in September, Leveson points out that of the 158 computer science and computer engineering departments in that survey, 6.5 percent of the faculty are female. One third of the departments have no female faculty at all. (See Tables III and IV.)Regarding women in computing in the labor force, Vetter comments that the statistics are very soft. The Bureau of Labor Statistics asks companies for information on their workforce, and the NSF asks individuals for their professional identification; therefore estimates vary. Table II shows that this year, women comprise about 35% of computer scientists in industry. And according to a 1988 NSF report on women and minorities, although women represent 49% of all professionals, they make up only 30% of employed computer scientists. “There is no reason why women should not make up half the labor force in computing,” Betty Vetter says, “It's not as if computing involves lifting 125 pound weights.”The sense of isolation and need for a community was so keen among women in computing, that in 1987 several specialists in operating systems created their own private forum and electronic mailing list called “Systers.” Founded and operated by Anita Borg, member of the research staff at DEC's Western Research Lab, Systers consists of over 350 women representing many fields within computing. They represent 43 companies and 55 universities primarily in the United States, but with a few in Canada, the United Kingdom, and France. Industry members are senior level and come from every major research lab. University members range from computer science undergraduates to department chairs. Says Borg, “Systers' purpose is to be a forum for discussion of both the problems and joys of women in our field and to provide a medium for networking and mentoring.” The network prevents these women, who are few and dispersed, from feeling that they alone experience certain problems. Says Borg, “You can spit out what you want with this group and get women's perspectives back. You get a sense of community.” Is it sexist to have an all-women's forum? “Absolutely not,” says Borg, “It's absolutely necessary. We didn't want to include men because there is a different way that women talk when they're talking with other women, whether it be in person or over the net. Knowing that we are all women is very important.” (Professional women in computer science who are interested in the Systers mailing list may send email to systers-request@decwrl.dec.com)The burden from women in computing seems to be very heavy indeed. Investigators in gender-related research, and women themselves, say females experience cumulative disadvantages from grade school through graduate school and beyond. Because statistical studies frequently come under fire and do not always explain the entire picture, it is important to listen to how women themselves tell their story. In the Sidebar entitled “Graduate School in the Early 80s,” women describe experiences of invisibility, patronizing behavior, doubted qualifications, and so on. Given these experiences, it is not surprising that many women find the academic climate inclement. But while more women may choose to contribute to research in industry, is the computer business really a haven for women, or just the only alternative? In the Sidebar entitled “The Workplace in the late '80s,” women in industry also tell their story and describe dilemmas in a dialogue on academia versus industry; this discussion erupted freely last Spring on Systers. In addition, findings of scholars conducting gender-related research are presented in a report of a workshop on women and computing. Finally, Communications presents “Becoming a Computer Scientist: A Report by the ACM Committee on the Status of Women in Computer Science.” A draft was presented at the workshop and the report appears in its entirety in this issue.

Concept Learning versus Problem Solving: Revisited.

Abstract: A student's ability to solve a numerical problem does not guarantee conceptual understanding of the molecular basis of the problem.

Universities and the future of America

Abstract: Since World War II, says the author, industrialized nations have come to depend so heavily on expert knowledge, scientific discovery, and highly trained personnel that universities have become "the central institution in postindustrial society." "If universities are so important to society and if ours are so superior, one might have thought that America would be flourishing in comparison to other industrialized countries of the world. Yet this is plainly not the case...Our economic position in the world has deteriorated [and] we have climbed to the top, or near the top, of all advanced countries in the percentage of population who live in poverty, commit crimes, become addicted to drugs, have illegitimate children, or are classified as functionally illiterate." In light of these results, "it is fair to ask whether our universities are doing all they can and should to help America surmount the obstacles that sap our economic strength and blight the lives of millions of our people." Having posed this question, Derek Bok reviews what science can do to bring about greater productivity, what professional schools can do to improve the effectiveness of corporations, government, and public education, and what all parts of the university are doing to help students acquire higher levels of ethical and social responsibility. He concludes that Universities are contributing much less than the should to help the nation address its most urgent social problems. "A century after the death of Cardinal Newman, many university officials and faculty members continue to feel ambivalent about deliberate efforts to address practical problems of society. And though competition drives university leaders and their faculties to unremitting effort, what competition rewards is chiefly success in fields that command academic prestige rather than success in responding to important social needs." Bok urges academic leaders, trustees, foundations, and government agencies to work together to help universities realign their priorities "so that they will be ready to make their full contribution when the nation turns its attention again to the broad agenda of reform...Observing our difficulties competing abroad, our millions of people in poverty, our drug-ridden communities, our disintegrating families, our ineffective schools, those who help to shape our universities have reason to ask whether they too have any time to lose. "

Graduate Training in Statistics, Methodology, and Measurement in Psychology: A Survey of PhD Programs in North America

Abstract: A survey of all PhD programs in psychology in the United States and Canada assessed the extent to which advances in statistics, measurement, and method- ology have been incorporated into doctoral training. In all, 84% of the 222 departments responded. The statistical and methodological curriculum has advanced little in 20 years; measurement has experienced a substantial decline. Typical first-year courses serve well only those students who undertake traditional laboratory research. Training in top-ranked schools differs little from that in other schools. New PhDs are judged to be competent to handle traditional techniques, but not newer and often more useful procedures, in their own research. Proposed remedies for these deficiencies include revamping the basic required quantitative and methodological curriculum, culling available training opportunities across campus, and training students in more informal settings, along with providing retraining opportunities for faculty. These strat- egies also require psychology to attend carefully to the human capital needs that support high-quality quantitative and methodological training and practice.

Gender Role Conflict and Depression in College Men: Evidence for Compounded Risk

Abstract: This study investigated the relationships between attitudes toward the male role, gender role conflict factors, and depression in 401 college men. Results indicated that all four of the gender role conflict factors were significantly correlated with depression. Hence, more traditional men may experience a compounded risk comprising increased likelihood of depression coupled with decreased use of counseling services. Both directions for future research and the implications for counselors and student services are discussed.

Understanding the dunn and dunn learning styles model and the need for individual diagnosis and prescription

Abstract: Research on the Dunn and Dunn Learning Styles Model has been conducted at more than 60 institutions of higher education and at every academic and grade level. Explanations of the 21 elements of the model and beginning steps for practitioners are provided in this article to encourage initial experimentation with some of its variables.

Teaching and knowledge: Policy issues posed by alternate certification for teachers

Abstract: Over the past several years, alternate routes to teacher certification have been enacted, though not always implemented, in most states across the country. Upon his election, President Bush's only education proposal was the encouragement of this kind of state-level strategy for more flexible teacher recruitment. He retains a similar proposal in his more recently proposed "America 2000" portfolio of education reforms. Given this continuing policy interest and several years of experience in some states, it seems an appropriate time to review the status of this policy idea in light of knowledge about teaching and teacher effectiveness, and to assess the outcomes of alternative certification programs for teacher supply and quality. Generally, in matters of social policy, one wants to understand the nature of the social problem being addressed and then to examine the appropriateness of the proposed solution, preferably in comparison with other alternative solutions. This has been difficult in the field of

Science as a Vocation in the 1990s: The Changing Organizational Culture of Academic Science.

Abstract: This chapter outlines a framework for thinking about value change in academic science that views culture as a set of axes of variation and considers academic science as an organized activity shaped by general organizational forces. It discusses aspects of this perspective on academic science with interview material from a study of the consequences of federal funding for academic research. The chapter describes some major underlying dimensions of value change and conflict in academic science. Marginal positions exist and have flourished to insure that academic science is more responsive to external direction and to allow universities to expand and contract in response to changes in the market. Recognizing the important role of formal organizations in modern academic science allows work in organizational theory to be brought to bear on the problem of cultural change. The basic view of culture as axes of variation and the role of organizational factors will be used as sensitizing concepts, not a testable theory.