Showing papers on "Higher education published in 2002"

Becoming a Self-Regulated Learner: An Overview

Abstract: (2002). Becoming a Self-Regulated Learner: An Overview. Theory Into Practice: Vol. 41, Becoming a Self-Regulated Learner, pp. 64-70.

Diversity and Higher Education: Theory and Impact on Educational Outcomes

Abstract: In the current context of legal challenges to affirmative action and race-based considerations in college admissions, educators have been challenged to articulate clearly the educational purposes and benefits of diversity. In this article, Patricia Gurin, Eric Dey, Sylvia Hurtado, and Gerald Gurin explore the relationship between students' experiences with diverse peers in the college or university setting and their educational outcomes. Rooted in theories of cognitive development and social psychology, the authors present a framework for understanding how diversity introduces the relational discontinuities critical to identity construction and its subsequent role in fostering cognitive growth. Using both single- and multi-institutional data from the University of Michigan and the Cooperative Institutional Research Program, the authors go on to examine the effects of classroom diversity and informal interaction among African American, Asian American, Latino/a, and White students on learning and democracy ...

Preparing Culturally Responsive Teachers: Rethinking the Curriculum

Abstract: To successfully move the field of teacher education beyond the fragmented and superficial treatment of diversity that currently prevails, teacher educators must articulate a vision of teaching and learning in a diverse society and use that vision to systematically guide the infusion of multicultural issues throughout the preservice curriculum. A vision is offered of culturally responsive teachers that can serve as the starting point for conversations among teacher educators in this process. In this vision, culturally responsive teachers (a) are socioculturally conscious, (b) have affirming views of students from diverse backgrounds, (c) see themselves as responsible for and capable of bringing about change to make schools more equitable, (d) understand how learners construct knowledge and are capable of promoting knowledge construction, (e) know about the lives of their students, and (f) design instruction that builds on what their students already know while stretching them beyond the familiar.

Scientific Research in Education

Abstract: Researchers, historians, and philosophers of science have debated the nature of scientific research in education for more than 100 years. Recent enthusiasm for "evidence-based" policy and practice in educationa "now codified in the federal law that authorizes the bulk of elementary and secondary education programsa "have brought a new sense of urgency to understanding the ways in which the basic tenets of science manifest in the study of teaching, learning, and schooling. Scientific Research in Education describes the similarities and differences between scientific inquiry in education and scientific inquiry in other fields and disciplines and provides a number of examples to illustrate these ideas. Its main argument is that all scientific endeavors share a common set of principles, and that each fielda "including education researcha "develops a specialization that accounts for the particulars of what is being studied. The book also provides suggestions for how the federal government can best support high-quality scientific research in education.

Preparing the Next Generation of Faculty: Graduate School as Socialization to the Academic Career

Abstract: The long anticipated retirement of significant numbers of senior faculty members is occurring at a time when societal expectations of academic institutions are expanding. Parents, employers, and legislators are interested in the quality of teaching provided by colleges and universities. Learning outcomes are emphasized, including traditional subject matter expertise and skills as well as abilities to use technology effectively, integrate and apply knowledge, and solve open-ended problems. Legislators and community leaders call for greater attention by faculty members to apply knowledge to solve societal problems. These same constituencies expect university research to aid local and regional economic development. All of these expectations take place for the most part within tight financial constraints. Without doubt, the individuals replacing retiring faculty members must demonstrate a wider array of talents than their predecessors, as well as higher levels of productivity (Fairweather, 1996; Massy & Wilger, 1995). In this context, the experiences of new faculty (Boice, 1992; Sorcinelli & Austin, 1992; Rice, Sorcinelli, & Austin, 2000) are characterized by stress, pressure, and uncertainty. Institutional leaders who hire new PhD graduates for faculty positions, analysts of higher education, and potential faculty members, including graduate students, raise questions about the appropriateness of graduate program preparation for the changing workplace contexts that the next generation of faculty will face. My thesis is that the socialization process in graduate school must change substantially for new faculty members to work effectively in the ever changing world of higher education. Assessing the quality of the PhD experience as preparation for the professoriate is complex. Many PhDs will work outside of academe instead of becoming professors. Moreover, much of the structure of graduate programs serves as much to make the institutions work effectively as to prepare graduate students for future professional roles. Graduate students serving as teaching assistants provide much of the undergraduate instruction at the typical large university. The research mission of the American university depends in part upon the work of graduate students who serve as research assistants for professors. Although teaching and research responsibilities surely can provide training opportunities for the future faculty, these assistantship roles sometimes are structured more to serve institutional or faculty needs than to ensure a high quality learning experience for graduate students. A graduate student teaching Freshman English, for example, might already have taught the class several times and could benefit from a different teaching experience. This article examines doctoral education as socialization for the professoriate. It addresses the question of whether or not the graduate school preparation process is adequate and appropriate given the academic workplace these scholars will enter. In the first section I discuss key points from the literature on preparation for the faculty career, arguing that the doctoral experience is the first stage of the academic career. In the second section, I examine the workplace context into which PhD graduates will move for employment. The argument here is that the academic workplace is significantly different from that which has characterized higher education in the past. In the third section I analyze graduate education as experienced by graduate students. I use data from a four-year qualitative, longitudinal study that examined the graduate school experience of a group of individuals preparing to be faculty members. In the fourth section I compare key findings from this qualitative study with findings from othe r recent quantitative studies of PhD students to identify discrepancies between the academic workplace context into which new faculty will be hired and the graduate school socialization process. …

Estimating the Social Return to Higher Education: Evidence From Longitudinal and Repeated Cross-Sectional Data

Abstract: Economists have speculated for at least a century that the social return to education may exceed the private return. In this paper, I estimate spillovers from college education by comparing wages for otherwise similar individuals who work in cities with different shares of college graduates in the labor force. OLS estimates show a large positive relationship between the share of college graduates in a city and individual wages, over and above the private return to education. A key issue in this comparison is the presence of unobservable individual characteristics, such as ability, that may raise wages and be correlated with college share. I use a confidential version of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) to estimate a model of non-random selection of workers among cities. By observing the same individual over time, I can control for differences in unobserved ability across individuals and differences in the return to skills across cities. I then investigate the hypothesis that the correlation between college share and wages is due to unobservable city-specific shocks that may raise wages and attract more highly educated workers to different cities. To control for this source of potential bias, I turn to Census data and use two instrumental variables: the lagged city demographic structure and the presence of a land--grant college. The results from Census data are remarkably consistent with those based on the NLSY sample. A percentage point increase in the supply of college graduates raises high school drop-outs' wages by 1.9%, high school graduates' wages by 1.6%, and college graduates wages by 0.4%. The effect is larger for less educated groups, as predicted by a conventional demand and supply model. But even for college graduates, an increase in the supply of college graduates increases wages, as predicted by a model that includes conventional demand and supply factors as well as spillovers.

Supporting and Promoting Argumentation Discourse in Science Education

Abstract: (2002). Supporting and Promoting Argumentation Discourse in Science Education. Studies in Science Education: Vol. 38, No. 1, pp. 39-72.

Student retention in higher education: the role of institutional habitus

Abstract: This paper examines some of the issues surrounding student retention in higher education. It is based on the case study of a modern university in England that has good performance indicators of both widening participation (i.e. increasing the diversity of the student intake) and student retention. The two-fold nature of this success is significant, as it has been asserted that greater diversity will necessarily lead to an increase in student withdrawal. Furthermore, changes to student funding in the UK put greater financial pressures and stress on students, especially those from low-income groups. Nevertheless, many students cope with poverty, high levels of debt and significant burdens of paid work to successfully complete their courses of study. Drawing on the work of Reay et al. (2001), this paper adopts and explores the term ‘institutional habitus’, and attempts to provide a conceptual and empirical understanding of the ways in which the values and practices of a higher education institution impact on...

Defining “Highly Qualified Teachers”: What Does “Scientifically-Based Research” Actually Tell Us?

Abstract: The Secretary’s report accurately claims that “researchers have found that some teachers are much more effective than others” (2002, p. 7). Studies using valueadded student achievement data have found that student achievement gains are much more influenced by a student’s assigned teacher than other factors like class size and class composition (Sanders & Horn, 1994; Sanders & Rivers, 1996; Wright, Horn, & Sanders, 1997). A recent analysis by Rivkin, Hanushek, and Kain (2001) attributes at least 7% of the total variance in test-score gains to differences in teachers. The Secretary’s report asserts, however, that “there is little evidence that education school course work leads to improved student achievement” (2002, p. 19), stating that the evidence about “knowledge of pedagogy, degrees in education or amount of time spent practice teaching”—which are the “requirements that make up the bulk of current teacher certification regimes”—is surrounded by a “great deal of contention” (p. 8). To support the assertion that “virtually all” of the studies linking certification and improved student outcomes are “not scientifically rigorous,” the Secretary’s report cites a report by Kate Walsh (2001), written for the Baltimore-based Abell Foundation,2 which asserts that there is “no credible research that supports the use of teacher certification as a regulatory barrier to teaching” (p. 5). Unfortunately, Walsh’s report excludes much of the evidence on the topic, misrepresents many research findings, makes inaccurate claims about studies that have examined the consequences In July 2002, the U.S. Secretary of Education issued the Secretary’s Annual Report on Teacher Quality (U.S. Department of Education) as required by the 1998 reauthorization of Title II of the Higher Education Act. In this report titled Meeting the Highly Qualified Teachers Challenge the Secretary essentially argues for the dismantling of teacher education systems and the redefinition of teacher qualifications to include little preparation for teaching. Stating that current teacher certification systems are “broken,” and that they impose “burdensome requirements” for education coursework that make up “the bulk of current teacher certification regimes” (p. 8), the report argues that certification should be redefined to emphasize higher standards for verbal ability and content knowledge and to de-emphasize requirements for education coursework—making student teaching and attendance at schools of education optional and eliminating “other bureaucratic hurdles” (p. 19). These conclusions rest on the following arguments, each of which is addressed in turn in this article: • Teachers matter for student achievement, but teacher education and certification are not related to teacher effectiveness. • Verbal ability and subject matter knowledge are the most important components of teacher effectiveness. • Teachers who have completed teacher education programs are academically weak and are underprepared for their jobs. • Alternative certification programs (ACPs) have academically stronger recruits who are highly effective and have high rates of teacher retention. The report suggests that its recommendations are based on “solid research.” However, none of these arguments has strong empirical support, and the report does not cite the scientific literature that addresses them: Only one reference among the report’s 44 footnotes is to a study that was eventually published in a peer-reviewed journal, and the study’s findings are misrepresented in the report. Most references are to newspaper articles or to documents published by advocacy organizations, some of these known for their vigorous opposition to teacher education.1 Although an accurate review of rigorous research on teacher qualifications and their relationship to student achievement could provide useful guidance to state policymakers, such a review is not to be found in this report. Instead, the Secretary’s report fails to meet the Department of Education’s own standards for the use of scientifically based research to formulate policy. The report cites almost no research that would meet scientific standards, misrepresents findings from a large number of sources, and includes many unsupported statements about teacher education and teacher certification. Whatever the contributions of this report to the debates on teacher quality, an accurate rendering of the research base on these important topics is not one of them. In this article we discuss the research base that treats the arguments made in support of the report’s recommendations and suggest that different conclusions would derive from a well-grounded rendering of the evidence. Research News and Comment

Evidence-Based Education Policies: Transforming Educational Practice and Research

Abstract: At the dawn of the 21st century, educational research is finally entering the 20th century. The use of randomized experiments that transformed medicine, agriculture, and technology in the 20th century is now beginning to affect educational policy. This article discusses the promise and pitfalls of randomized and rigorously matched experiments as a basis for policy and practice in education. It concludes that a focus on rigorous experiments evaluating replicable programs and practices is essential to build confidence in educational research among policymakers and educators. However, new funding is needed for such experiments and there is still a need for correlational, descriptive, and other disciplined inquiry in education. Our children deserve the best educational programs, based on the most rigorous evidence we can provide.

Authorizing Students’ Perspectives: Toward Trust, Dialogue, and Change in Education

Abstract: This article argues for attending to the perspectives of those most directly affected by, but least often consulted about, educational policy and practice: students. The argument for authorizing student perspectives runs counter to U.S. reform efforts, which have been based on adults’ ideas about the conceptualization and practice of education. This article outlines and critiques a variety of recent attempts to listen to students, including constructivist and critical pedagogies, postmodern and poststructural feminisms, educational researchers’ and social critics’ work, and recent developments in the medical and legal realms, almost all of which continue to unfold within and reinforce adults’ frames of reference. This discussion contextualizes what the author argues are the twin challenges of authorizing student perspectives: a change in mindset and changes in the structures in educational relationships and institutions.

Constructing knowledge societies : new challenges for tertiary education

Abstract: This report describes how tertiary education contributes to building up a country's capacity for participation in an increasingly knowledge-based world economy and investigates policy options for tertiary education that have the potential to enhance economic growth and reduce poverty. It examines the following questions: What is the importance of tertiary education for economic and social development? How should developing and transition countries position themselves to take full advantage of the potential contribution of tertiary education? How can the World Bank and other development agencies assist in this process? The report draws on ongoing Bank research and analysis on the dynamics of knowledge economies and on science and technology development. Using this background, it explores how countries can adapt and shape their tertiary education systems to confront successfully the combination of new and old challenges in the context of the rising significance for tertiary education of internal and international market forces. It examines the justification for continuing public support of tertiary education and the appropriate role of the state in support of knowledge-driven economic growth. Finally, it reviews the lessons from recent World Bank experience with support of tertiary education, including ways of minimizing the negative political impact of reforms, and makes recommendations for future Bank involvement.

Variation in Teacher Preparation: How Well Do Different Pathways Prepare Teachers to Teach?

Abstract: Does teacher education influence what teachers feel prepared to do when they enter the classroom? Are there differences in teachers’experiences of classroom teaching when they enter through differe...

Digital Storytelling: Capturing Lives, Creating Community

Abstract: Introduction 1 The Work of Story 2 Stories in Our Lives Interlude 1: The Legacy of Tanya 3 A Road Traveled: The Evolution of the Digital Storytelling Process 4 The World of Digital Storytelling Interlude 2: Wynn's Story 5 The Seven Steps of Digital Storytelling 6 The Story Circle: Facilitating the Digital Storytelling Workshop Interlude 3: Elizabeth's Story 7 Approaches to Scripting Prompts and Processes 8 Storyboarding Interlude 4: Ray's Story 9 Designing in Digital: Working with Digital Imagin, Audio, and Video 10 Distribution, Ethics, and the Politics of Engagement Interlude 5: Zahid's Story 11 Applications of Digital Storytelling 12 When Silence Speaks - A Conversation with Amy Hill 13 Stories from Fishing Lake, Alberta - A Conversation with Yvonne Pratt 14 Humanizing Healthcare: A Conversation with Pip Hardy & Tony Sumner 15 Digital Storytelling in Higher Education - A Conversation with William Shewbridge, Liv Gjestvang, Walt Jacobs, and Cheryl Diermyer Addendum: Silence Speaks Digital Storytelling: Guidelines for Ethical Practice by Amy Hill and Lucy Harding Appendix: Digital Storyteller's Bill of Rights Bibliography Index

Beyond national states, markets, and systems of higher education: A glonacal agency heuristic

Abstract: This paper offers an overarching analytical heuristic that takes us beyond current research, anchored in conceptions of national states, markets, and systems of higher education institutions. We seek to shape comparative higher education research with regard to globaliza- tion in much the same way that Clark's (1983) "triangle" heuristic has framed comparative higher education research in the study of national policies and higher education systems. Our "glonacal agency heuristic" points to three intersecting planes of existence, emphasizing the simultaneous significance of global, national, and local dimensions and forces. It com- bines the meaning of "agency" as an established organization with its meaning as individual or collective action. Our paper critiques the prevailing framework in cross-national higher education research, addressing the liberal theory that underpins this framework, the ways scholars address the rise of neo-liberal policies internationally, conceptual shortcomings of this work, and emergent discourse about "academic capitalism". We then discuss globalization and our heuristic. Finally, we provide examples of how states, markets, and institutions can be reconceptualized in terms of global, national, regional, and local agencies and agency.

The Internet Goes to College: How Students Are Living in the Future with Today's Technology.

Abstract: Summary of Findings College students are early adopters and heavy users of the Internet College students are heavy users of the Internet compared to the general population. Use of the Internet is a part of college students’ daily routine, in part because they have grown up with computers. It is integrated into their daily communication habits and has become a technology as ordinary as the telephone or television. One-fifth (20%) of today’s college students began using computers between the ages of 5 and 8. By the time they were 16 to 18 years old all of today’s current college students had begun using computers – and the Internet was a commonplace in the world in which they lived. Eighty-six percent of college students have gone online, compared with 59% of the general population. College students are frequently looking for email, with 72% checking email at least once a day. About half (49%) first began using the Internet in college; half (47%) first began using it at home before they arrived at college. The great majority (85%) of college students own their own computer, and two-thirds (66%) use at least two email addresses. Seventy-eight percent of college Internet users say that at one time or another they have gone online just to browse for fun, compared to 64% of all Internet users. College Internet users are twice as likely to have ever downloaded music files when compared to all Internet users: 60% of college Internet users have done so compared to 28% of the overall population. College Internet users are twice as likely to use instant messaging on any given day compared to the average Internet user. On a typical day, 26% of college students use IM; 12% of other Internet users are using IM on an average day.

The Rise of the Corporation in a Craft Industry: Conflict and Conformity in Institutional Logics

Abstract: This study tests a theory of how a craft- and profession-based industry adopted multidivisional organization, examining higher education publishing from 1958 through 1990. I combined interviews and...

Gender and Perceived Self-Efficacy in Self-Regulated Learning.

Abstract: (2002). Gender and Perceived Self-Efficacy in Self-Regulated Learning. Theory Into Practice: Vol. 41, Becoming a Self-Regulated Learner, pp. 116-125.

Comment: Educational Research:The Hardest Science of All:

Abstract: Under the stewardship of the Department of Education, recent acts of Congress confuse the methods of science with the process of science, possibly doing great harm to scholarship in education. An otherwise exemplary National Research Council report to help clarify the nature of educational science fails to emphasize the complexity of scientific work in education due to the power of contexts, the ubiquity of interactions, and the problem of decade by findings interactions. Discussion of these issues leads to the conclusion that educational science is unusually hard to do and that the government may not be serious about wanting evidence-based practices in education

News Framing as a Multiparadigmatic Research Program: A Response to Entman

Abstract: A large and growing body of mass media research centers on the concept of “framing.” This article responds to Entman's (1993) call for the establishment of a paradigm of news framing research, drawing on work in the sociology of knowledge to argue that news framing research operates according to principles of a Lakatosian research program (Lakatos, 1974) in which researchers employ and refine specific theories to generate findings in particular studies about a common core of irrefutable conjectures. In the metatheory developed here, the research program is inclusive of 3 paradigmatic outlooks, called cognitive, constructionist, and critical, that provide researchers with specific images with which to examine the interaction of media frames and individual- or social-level reality. Thus, contra Entman (1993), I argue that there is not, nor should there be, a single “mended” paradigm of framing research. The research program has benefited the communication discipline by encouraging researchers to use specific theories to progressively explicate a complex process.

Social Class and College Costs: Examining the Financial Nexus between College Choice and Persistence.

Abstract: During the past two decades there have been fundamental changes in the ways states and the federal government finance higher education (McPherson & Schapiro, 1998; Mumper, 1996; Paulsen, 1998; Paulsen & Smart, 2001; St. John, 1994). The federal government has shifted from using grants as the primary means of promoting postsecondary opportunity to using loans for this purpose. Decreases in state support for public colleges and universities have led to increases in tuition charges, which have shifted a larger portion of the burden of paying for college from the general public to students and their families (Breneman & Finney, 1997; Mumper, 1996; Paulsen, 1991, 2000). Thus, the last two decades of the twentieth century can appropriately be characterized as a period of high tuition, high aid, but with an emphasis on loans rather than grants. How have these changes in the costs of college influenced the opportunities of students in different income groups to attain a higher education? To address this question we examined the ways that college costs affect the college-choice and persistence decisions of students in four different income groups. The idea that research on college students should focus on social class represents a departure from mainstream research on college students, which focuses primarily on students of traditional college-going age and background (Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991) and is centered in traditional values. This study extends an alternative approach to the study of college students based on the student-choice construct that has evolved over the past decade (Paulsen & St. John, 1997; St. John, 1994; St. John, Paulsen, & Starkey, 1996). The new approach presented in this study explicitly addresses the diverse patterns of student choice in its examination of the ways in which the effects of financial factors on students' choices differ across social classes. To provide background for this study, the following sections present the student-choice perspective that guides the study, describe the salient features of the financial nexus between college choice and persistence decisions, and explain why a focus on social class is an important step in efforts to understand the role of finances in student choice. The Research Literature and Conceptual Framework that Inform the Study The Student Choice Perspective Research on college students has been dominated by the research traditions of developmental and change theories (Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991). These research traditions are primarily centered in the values of students of traditional college-going age and background and neither can be easily adapted to the study of the new, contemporary college aspirants, who are increasingly diverse in terms of age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic background. It is important to reflect briefly on the limitations of these traditional approaches before presenting student-choice theory as an alternative. The limitations of traditional models. One of the dominant traditions in college student research is student development theory (Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991), which started with the study of students of traditional college-going age and background (e.g., Chickering, 1969; Perry, 1970). This approach was highly compatible with the characteristics and experiences of traditional students, but is not directly applicable to the college experiences of many of the new aspirants to college, an increasingly-large proportion of whom are minorities and older students. Minority students have different backgrounds and experiences before they attend college, compared to the middle-class students who were used as a basis for the developmental theories, while older students have already experienced and passed through many of the developmental sequences that are the focus of traditional stage theories of development. Developmental theory is also limited because it has few direct linkages to matters of public policy. …

Internationalization of Higher Education in the United States of America and Europe: A Historical, Comparative, and Conceptual Analysis

Abstract: Introduction The Historical Development of the Internationalization of Higher Education: A Comparative Study of the United States of America and Europe The Historical Context of the Internationalization of Higher Education The International Dimension of Higher Education in the United States of America The International Dimension of Higher Education in Europe The Development of the Internationalization of Higher Education in the United States of America and Europe: A Comparison The Internationalization of Higher Education: A Conceptual Framework Rationales for the Internationalization of Higher Education Meanings of and Approaches to "International Education" and the "Internationalization of Higher Education" Strategies and Organization Models for the Internationalization of Higher Education Thematic Issues in the Internationalization of Higher Education Globalization, Regionalization, and the Internationalization of Higher Education Quality and the Internationalization in Higher Education The Emergence of English as the Common Language in Higher Education The Rise of Regional and International Academic Networks and Alliances Internationalization of Higher Education as a Research Area Summary and Conclusions References

Mobility and the return to education: testing a roy model with multiple markets

Abstract: Self-selected migration presents one potential explanation for why observed returns to a college education in local labor markets vary widely even though U.S. workers are highly mobile. To assess the impact of self-selection on estimated returns, this paper first develops a Roy model of mobility and earnings where workers choose in which of the 50 states (plus the District of Columbia) to live and work. Available estimation methods are either infeasible for a selection model with so many alternatives or place potentially severe restrictions on earnings and the selection process. This paper develops an alternative econometric methodology that combines Lee's (1983) parametric maximum order statistic approach to reduce the dimensionality of the error terms with more recent work on semiparametric estimation of selection models (e.g., Ahn and Powell (1993)). The resulting semiparametric correction is easy to implement and can be adapted to a variety of other polychotomous choice problems. The empirical work, which uses 1990 U.S. Census data, confirms the role of comparative advantage in mobility decisions. The results suggest that self-selection of higher educated individuals to states with higher returns to education generally leads to upward biases in OLS estimates of the returns to education in state-specific labor markets. While the estimated returns to a college education are significantly biased, correcting for the bias does not narrow the range of returns across states. Consistent with the finding that the corrected return to a college education differs across the U.S., the relative state-to-state migration flows of college- versus high school-educated individuals respond strongly to differences in the return to education and amenities across states.

In pursuit of a new ‘enterprise’ and ‘entrepreneurship’ paradigm for learning: creative destruction, new values, new ways of doing things and new combinations of knowledge

Abstract: The paper argues for a new approach to the study of entrepreneurship and a new paradigm as a basis for entrepreneurship education. It also argues that such an approach is unlikely to come from university business schools. It needs an organisational revolution which, however, can be managed within a university as a whole. The paper is divided into two parts. The first explores the political imperative in Europe for development of the ‘enterprise culture’ and attributes this mainly to pressures for greater international competitiveness. The educational response is then examined and, with the help of a number of recent surveys, some of the key issues pertaining to the development of entrepreneurship education in higher education institutions in the UK and Europe are reviewed. The second part attempts to address the imperative at a more conceptual level. The pursuit of entrepreneurial behaviour is seen as a function of the degree of uncertainty and complexity in the task and broader environment and/or the desire of an individual, in pursuit of an opportunity or problem solution, to create it. It is argued that the key trigger for the growing interest in entrepreneurship is globalization. The way in which this has impacted on the role of the state, the organization of business activity and public services and on individuals to create greater uncertainty and complexity in the environment is explored. This leads to a conclusion that a wide range of stakeholders are being confronted with the need for entrepreneurial behaviour, for example, priests, doctors, teachers, policemen, pensioners and community workers and, indeed, potentially everyone in the community. Entrepreneurship is therefore not solely the prerogative of business. It follows that the traditional focus of entrepreneurship education on business, and new venture management in particular, provides an inadequate basis for response to societal needs. Moreover, the pervasive ideology of the ‘heroic’ entrepreneur can be seen as a dysfunctional when viewed against the needs of a wider community. The wider notion of ‘enterprise’ is therefore introduced as a means of moving away from the hitherto narrow paradigm. How this relates to the development of the individual and the design of enterprising organizations is explored. The paper explores the challenge of this broader context by reference to a number of issues central to the globalization debate including: culture, market liberalization, forms of governance and democracy. It then links these with the ontological and epistemological challenge to education. It concludes with discussion as to how this relates to the traditional concept of a university and argues that universities as a whole are in a much better position to respond to the challenge than are business schools.

Does Education Matter?: Myths About Education and Economic Growth

Abstract: "Education, education, education" has become an obsession for politicians and the public alike. It is seen as an economic panacea: an engine for growth and prosperity. But is there a link between increased spending on higher education and economic growth? Professor Alison Wolf takes a critical look at successive governments' education policy and challenges many of the tenets of received wisdom: there are no economic reasons for spending more on higher education in order to stimulate growth. The conclusion of this devastating book is that a large proportion of the billions poured into vocational training and university provision might be better spent on teaching the basics at primary school.

Being (Dis)Engaged in Educationally Purposeful Activities: The Influences of Student and Institutional Characteristics.

Abstract: The self-reported experiences of 50,883 undergraduates at 123 institutions were analyzed using a multinomial hierarchical model to identify individual and institutional characteristics associated with varying levels of student engagement in educationally purposeful activities. Parental education and student academic preparation were positively associated with higher levels of engagement. White students were generally less engaged than students from other racial and ethnic groups whereas men were more likely to be either disengaged or highly engaged compared with women. Students at public institutions and research universities were less engaged than their counterparts at private colleges and other institutional types. Individual student perceptions of certain aspects of the institutional environment affected engagement in complicated ways.

The Effect of Institutional Culture on Change Strategies in Higher Education: Universal Principles or Culturally Responsive Concepts?.

Abstract: The array of challenges that higher education faces today is virtually unparalleled when compared to any other point in U.S. history. The litany of changes is familiar to those in the field of higher education: financial pressure, growth in technology, changing faculty roles, public scrutiny, changing demographics, competing values, and the rapid rate of change in the world both within and beyond our national boarders. The changes many institutions face have accelerated beyond tinkering; more campuses each year attempt to create comprehensive (or transformational) change. Yet, change strategies have not been exceedingly helpful in their capacity to guide institutions, and we know even less about how to facilitate major, institutionwide change. The current change literature in higher education provides mostly generalized strategies about what is effective: a willing president or strong leadership, a collaborative process, or providing rewards (Roberts, Wren, & Adam, 1993; Taylor & Koch, 1996). This broad writing may mask information helpful to advance institutional change on a specific campus. "Achieving buy-in" or "communicating effectively" can seem very empty to institutional leaders and higher education scholars. Can this strategy be used at every institution and in the same way? The assumptions behind this approach are that each strategy is enacted similarly on each campus and that nuance and context do not much matter. Broad change strategies are presented as uniform, universal, and applicable. As an alternative, some scholars of organizations suggest that meaningful insight to understand the change process comes from context-based (micro-level) data (Bergquist, 1992). Context-based data help the change agent to understand why and under what circumstances strategies work at a particular institution at a particular time. The difficulty of working at the micro-level is becoming too specific and idiosyncratic to be of much help to others. As Hearn noted, the first and fundamental proposition we can stress about change is so simple as to seem banal or deflating, "it depends" (Hearn, 1996). Idiosyncratic observations are often of little use to practitioners. The challenge is to chart a middle ground and identify findings informative at a level that can be used to guide change processes. This task is challenging, because markers that one might use to determine the level of detail or the appropriate level of abstraction are not readily apparent. One solution to charting meaningful middle ground is through a cultural perspective. Organizational research in the 1980s illustrated the impact of culture on many aspects of organizational life (Peterson & Spencer, 1991). Yet, there have been few empirical studies examining how institutional culture affects change processes and strategies. The assumption from the organizational literature is that culture will be related to the change process; specifically, change processes can be thwarted by violating cultural norms or enhanced by culturally sensitive strategies (Bergquist, 1992). This study attempts to fill the gap in the literature, moving beyond generalized principles of change, by adopting a two-tiered cultural framework to examine the effect of institutional culture on change strategies across six institutions. The two research questions addressed are: (1) is the institutional culture related to the change process, and how is it related? and (2) are change processes thwarted by violating cultural norms or enhanced by culturally sensitive strategies? The two theories adopted for exploring the relationship of culture and change are Bergquist's (1992) four academic cultures and Tierney's (1991) individual institutional culture framework. The dual level of analysis offers a multiple-lens perspective that is better suited to understand complex organizational phenomena (Birnbaum, 1988; Bolman & Deal, 1991). …

Comparing Student Satisfaction with Distance Education to Traditional Classrooms in Higher Education: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract: Meta-analysis provides a method of quantitatively summarizing and comparing empirical literature to reduce Type I and Type II error. The meta-analysis described here indicates a slight student preference for a traditional educational format over a distance education format (average r = .031, after the deletion of outliers), and little difference in satisfaction levels. A comparison of distance education methods that include direct interactive links with those that do not include interactive links demonstrates no difference in satisfaction levels. However, student satisfaction levels diminish as additional information is added to the available channel of instruction (e.g., written to audio to video). The findings support those of researchers arguing that distance education does not diminish the level of student satisfaction when compared to traditional face-to-face methods of instruction.

Tangled up in views: Beliefs in the nature of science and responses to socioscientific dilemmas

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between stu- dents' conceptions of the nature of science and their reactions to evidence that challenged their beliefs about socioscientific issues. This study involved 41 pairs of students repre- senting "critical cases" of contrasting ethical viewpoints. These 82 students were identified from a larger sample of 248 students from 9th and 10th grade general science classes, 11th and 12th grade honors biology, honors science, and physics classes, and upper-level college preservice science education classes. Students responded to questions aimed at re- vealing their epistemological views of the nature of science and their belief convictions on a selected socioscientific issue. The smaller subset of students was selected based on varying degrees of belief convictions about the socioscientific issues and the selected stu- dents were then paired to discuss their reasoning related to the issue while being exposed to anomalous data and information from each other and in response to epistemological probes of an interviewer. Taxonomic categories of students' conceptions of the nature of science were derived from the researchers' analysis of student responses to interviews and ques- tionnaires. In some instances, students' conceptions of the nature of science were reflected in their reasoning on a moral and ethical issue. This study stimulated students to reflect on their own beliefs and defend their opinions. The findings suggest that the reactions of students to anomalous socioscientific data are varied and complex, with notable differences in the reasoning processes of high school students compared to college students. A deeper understanding of how students reason about the moral and ethical context of controversial socioscientific issues will allow science educators to incorporate teaching strategies aimed at developing students' reasoning skills in these crucial areas. C