ALBERT

Notes: Zusammenfassung Immer noch wird in der Wissenschaftsphilosophie der Sozialwissenschaften der Dualismus zwischen Natur- und Sozialwissenschaften diskutiert. Diese Analyse will das Problem als fiktiv erweisen. Zu diesem Zweck werden zunächst intuitiv plausible Argumente gegen eine Trennung vorgebracht, die vor allem auf die “neuen” diachronen Entwicklungen in den Naturwissenschaften abheben. Damit wird die These der strukturellen Gleichheit von Natur- und Sozialwissenschaften vorbereitet. Die These selbst wird mittels des formalen Instrumentariums des strukturalistischen Theorienkonzepts von Stegmüller/Sneed belegt. Dieses Konzept erweist die strukturelle Gleichheit aller Wissenschaften, die sich auf die Realität beziehen. Von daher kann der Dualismus von Natur- und Sozialwissenschaften nicht länger aufrecht erhalten werden.

Notes: Summary It is getting increasingly difficult to comprehend the history of ideas of the Vienna Circle and only a clear and critical exposition of it will save it from total oblivion; an apologetic presentation will not be understood. Now that the positivist theory of meaning is no longer accepted, only an honest presentation of this fact will enable us to comprehend it and its transformations. An analysis of a paper by Otto Neurath illustrates this: Neurath's inability to present fairly his critics' ideas and to do them justice then, makes him incomprehensible to us now.

Notes: Zusammenfassung Die vorliegende Studie unternimmt den Versuch, Gadamers Ideen zur Begriffsbildung und Textbedeutung einer rationalen Rekonstruktion im Licht neuerer Entwicklungen in der linguistischen und philosophischen Semantik zu unterziehen. Anschließend an eine Kritik gewisser auf Heidegger zurückgehender Annahmen in GadamersWahrbeit und Methode werden seine Begriffe der Applikation und der Geschichtlichkeit von Textbedeutungen reformuliert. Dies geschieht unter Bezugnahme auf J. J. Katz' Bedeutungs- und Referenztheorie, H. Putnams Theorie der Stereotypen und J. M. E. Moravcsiks Begriff der ‘aitiational frames’. Es wird im besonderen die These vertreten, daß Gadamers Idee der Interpretation als eines Prozesses, bei dem Autor und Leser zu einer Übereinkunft über die ‘Sache’ kommen (am Leitfaden der theologischen und juristischen Hermeneutik), neu und fruchtbar in Begriffen der Interaktion zwischen semantischer Kompetenz und Alltagswissen im Leseprozeß überdacht werden kann. In Verbindung mit weiteren Teilen linguistischer Theorie würde ein solcher Neuansatz es ermöglichen, die Frage zu beantworten wie Verstehen im Prinzip möglich ist. Eine rationale Rekonstruktion von Gadamers Begriff der Applikation in dieser Richtung würde es ferner erlauben, Antworten auf eine Reihe weiterer schwieriger Fragen wie zum Beispiel der nach dem Grad der Unbestimmtheit von Textbedeutungen und der ‘Korrektheit’ von Interpretationen zu erhalten.

Notes: Zusammenfassung Die Beziehung zwischen Chemie und Physik wird oft als ein Standardbeispiel für die Reduktion eines Teilbereiches der Wissenschaft auf einen anderen angeführt. Wir legen dar, daß von einer Vielfalt verschiedener Auffassungen von Reduktion keine wirklich auf jene Beziehung zutrifft. Die Gründe dafür können zumindest zum Teil in der Verschiedenheit der Vorgehensweisen von Physik und Chemie gefunden werden, die wir als bathogen bzw. phänomenologisch bezeichnen. In der Tat wird der im Prinzip nützliche Begriff der Reduktion zuweilen mißbraucht, um einen “Reduktionsmythos” aufzubauen, der die wissenschaftliche Forschung in einer bestimmten Richtung lähmen kann. Im Gegensatz dazu ist aber ein Miteinander der verschiedenen Teilbereiche im Sinne einer Einheit der Wissenschaften durchaus möglich und wird im tatsächlichen Wissenschaftsbetrieb auch praktiziert. Dies erfordert allerdings einen Standpunkt, wie er hier geschildert wird, der der Komplexität der Natur durch Zulassung verschiedener Vorgehensweisen zu ihrer Beschreibung gerecht wird.

Notes: Zusammenfassung In diesem Beitrag liefere ich eine Interpretation und Verteidigung der These Thomas Kuhns von der Priorität von Paradigmen. Ich behaupte, daß Kuhns Argument für diese These wichtiger, als gewöhnlich angenommen wird, ist, und zwar sowohl für die Klärung seiner Ideen als auch für die Wissenschaftstheorie im allgemeinen. Anerkennt man seine Kritik an der üblichen Auffassung, daß Regeln den Paradigmen vorausgehen, so erscheint vieles von dem, was er über andere Gegenstände sagt, in einem neuen Licht, und viele Schwierigkeiten, die Philosophen (einschließlich Kuhns) bei ihren Versuchen zur Erklärung des Wissenschaftswandels angetroffen haben, erweisen sich als unbegründet.

Notes: Summary In especially the Sneed-Stegmüller structuralist theory a so-called problem of theoretical terms emerges. But this problem bases on a questionable presupposition (Introductory remark). And the structuralist solution of this problem, the so-called Ramsey-Sneed-solution, is also problematic ((i), (ii), (iii)). Beyond this the structuralist assertion is problematic, that the problem of theoretical terms and his Ramsey-Sneed-solution is empirically relevant (iv). On the basis of the discussed systematic and empirical defects of the problem of theoretical terms and its solution, the so-called non-statement view2, i. e. this solution, will be refused (Concluding remark).

Notes: Summary Philosophers of technology from socialistic and western countries met begin June 1986 at Veszprém, Hungary, to discuss problems of their field arising from largely analogous situations concerning the impact of technology on society. The report gives the main theses of the invited lectures and sums up some topics on which all participants agreed during the open minded discussions.

Notes: Zusammenfassung Man kann die wissenschaftliche Tätigkeit so betrachten, daß sie von einem “wissenschaftlichen System” (WS) ausgeführt wird, welches zugleich offen und adaptiv ist und dessen allgemeines Ziel darin besteht, objektives Wissen zu produzieren und zu verbreiten. WS nimmt aus seiner Umgebung Eingaben von “Nachfrage”, “Unterstützung”, “Ablehnung” entgegen und reagiert auf kreative Art und Weise darauf. Sein Funktionieren ist bedingt durch die Verträglichkeit seines Ziels mit denjenigen aller andern sozialen Subsysteme, die eine Maximierung der internen Variablen von WS ausschließen mögen, um das gesamte soziale System zu optimieren. Dies ist nichts anderes als ein systemtheoretischer Ausdruck für den Begriff der Verantwortung der Wissenschaft: er ist nicht streng ethisch, aber schließt die Erwägung ethischer Normen des ganzen sozialen Systems mit ein.

Notes: Summary A „cause“ is, physically seen, something that makes an increase of entropy possible; the „effect“ is this increase.

Notes: Summary From its very beginnings Darwinian theory of Evolution has had a strong appeal for philosophers; attempts have been made, among others, to base a philosophical understanding of the nature of scientific change on the Darwinian principle of natural selection. In its first section (I) the present paper gives a sketch of the conceptions of Ernst Mach, Karl Popper and Stephen Toulmin, which converge on the claim that scientific change not only can be seen in analogy to organismic evolution, but has to be conceived of as evolutionary in a strict sense of the term. In the second section (II) this claim is analyzed critically; it is asked, whether these conceptions are based on a correct understanding of (Neo)Darwinian theory and whether they succesfully translate its basic assumptions to philosophy of science. In the final section (III) some of the main philosophical implications of the evolutionary perspective on scientific change are discussed, especially its tendency to interpret this change as a natural (and not an historical) process.

Notes: Summary Empiricists mostly prefer an epistemic notion of causality intending thereby to avoid metaphysical entanglements. General relativity however provides examples for causality without predictability, i. e. world models in which for geometrical reasons there exist no spacelike hypersurfaces containing traces of all future events. Yet local determinism for every single event remains valid in these cases. Therefore the problem arises how to account for a causal structure that implies local but not global predictability. This problem, it is argued, cannot be solved by characterizing the causal connection of events itself by means of its epistemic aspects. Instead the ontological ground must be emphazised which allows for varying epistemic properties of causal connections according to the space-time structure. This can be done by use of the energy transfer concept of causality which involves no reminiscence of dubious natural necessity.

Notes: Summary Philosophy of science and the sciences are related in an arbitrary and noncommital way. This has problematic consequences in terms of the disciplinary autonomy of the sciences, as shown in the example of the science of education. A new determination and definition of the relation between science and the philosophy of science demands, on the one hand, a greater willingness towards metatheoretical reflection and critique of the part of the individual sciences and, on the other hand, a reorientation within the philosophy of science towards performing „service functions“ with regard to the metatheoretical selfdefinitions of the sciences. This can be achieved by a constructivist, pragmatic and historical theory of knowledge and science. A central factor in a changed relationship between science and the philosophy of science is the scientific discipline's determination of its field of enquiry. This is seen to be an integral part of the process of establishing a discipline as a science.

Notes: Summary After having given an account of the current methodological debates about psychology I discuss Ryle's arguments which play an important role in this debate. Following Jerry Fodor's formulation of the cognitive psychology's programme I assess critically his claims from a Wittgensteinian perspective. Contrary to the interpretation of some Wittgensteinians it turns out that this programme contains a justifiable core.

Notes: Zusammenfassung In diesem Artikel wird der wissenschaftstheoretische Stand der Geochronologie mit Hintergrund in den Arbeiten von Kuhn und besonders Popper diskutiert. Die Geochronologie wird untersucht mit Hinblick auf generelle methodologische Voraussetzungen, Terminologie, normalwissenschaftliche Aktivitätsform und “theoretische Dogmatik”. Als Konklusion ergibt sich, daß die fundamentalen Theoriekonstruktionen der Geochronologie nicht testbar sind, sondern als ein metaphysisches Forschungsprogramm im Sinne Poppers charakterisiert werden müssen.

Notes: Summary According to Kant, arithmetic judgements are not analytic since they are about our practice of operating with figures and things in a certain way. Hence the empiricist thesis that any meaningful assertion is either analytic or synthetic a posteriori seems to be refuted (§§ 1, 2). Using syntax and semantics of truth-conditional logic Frege nevertheless shows that arithmetic can be understood as a system of quasi-analytic sentences speaking about numbers as abstract entities (§§ 3, 4). Axiomatic set theory, however, conceals the connection between (internal) truth-functional arithmetic and our (external) practice of counting and computing (§§ 5–7). — In spite of the insights truth-conditional semantics provides for a non-psychological understanding of mathematical thinking, it is neither a general theory of meaning and analyticity nor a foundation of a general sense-criterion (§§ 8, 9).

Notes: Summary This article contains some further clarifications of the postitions held by the ‘Starnberg Group’, i.e. the constitution theory and the finalization theory with particular respect to the case of Classical Hydrodynamics. It is an answer to G. Eberlein und N. Dietrich who recently published a full monography dedicated to criticism of these positions.

Notes: Summary The question underlying this article is whether the Kantian transcendental philosophy is wide enough to constitute the objects of quantum physics as objects of possible experience and consequently to found the objectivity of quantum physical knowledge. It is shown that the Kantian determinations of the categories (quality, substance, causality) can be interpreted and elaborated in such a way that the quantum physical concept of an object characterized by nonobjectivity of properties is conceived. Therefore the categories are valid in quantum mechanics and warrant the objectivity of quantum physical experience. By the interpretation of the Kantian infinite judgement as an indefinite proposition it is possible to define the non-objectivity of properties categorially as indefiniteness of qualities. In particular by the indefiniteness of the position-quality the non-permanent localizability of quantum mechanical objects can be understood a priori. However the object of possible experience, especially the quantum mechanical object is underdetermined by the categories of substance and causality: If the object is determined to be a substance it is not yet conceived to be an individual; its characterization by means of probability laws is categorially indeterminate. In so far the significance of transcendental philosophy for the foundation of quantum physics is limited.

Notes: Summary Inquiries of Wellstein, Grünbaum and others have proved that there are indefinitely many different spatial models of Euklidian geometry. The points, lines and planes of these models are related to each other as the points, straight lines and planes of Euklidian geometry, but they are obviously totally different from them. That means that the axiomatic Euklidian geometry does not clearly determine the spatial forms of their planes and straight lines. The constructive geometry basing on approaches of Hugo Dingler tries to solve this problem of disambiguity so that a clear realization of the geometrical basic objects plane, straight line and rectangle and others is possible because of certain rules. On the one hand these rules are to pledge the techniques of realisation and on the other hand they are the basic for the deduction of statements on the technically realized geometrical basic objects. The rules are especially to pledge the selection of apt material that keep its form. The following will show that the disambiguity cannot be pledged by the mere laws established by the constructive geometry and especially that the problem of electing the material cannot be solved by these laws. Furthermore it proves to be necessary to analyze and reconstruct more circumstances describing the selection of apt material which exceed the present standard of constructive geometry.

Notes: Summary Are empirical theories empirically testable? In his articleTheoretische Begriffe und die Prüfbarkeit von Theorien V. Gadenne comes to the conclusion that theories are testable. On this basis he criticizes the non-statement view which asserts the contrary. It is shown that this criticism, however, is erroneous.

Notes: Abstract Although the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient, r, is commonly used in student selection, it is argued here, that it is frequently more appropriate to use the Bi-serial Correlation Coefficient rbis for this purpose.

Notes: Abstract This paper describes the processes used by the University of Washington to meet severe budget reductions mandated by the State in the 1980s. A planning philosophy of smaller size and higher quality was adopted, and program elimination was identified as the only way to achieve permanent cost reductions. Program elimination occurred consensually, with faculty and student participation. While a substantial number of programs were eliminated, faith was kept with faculty by retaining all tenured professors in eliminated programs, and with students by allowing them ample time to complete degrees. The strategies the University has developed as a result of its experience of fiscal distress emphasizes increasing university autonomy. The University is striving to acquire authority over its income, is comparing itself with peer institutions to demonstrate underfunding to the legislature, and stressing to the legislature the benefits that come to the state from having a strong research institution.

Notes: Abstract The Inter-University Council for Higher Education Overseas was granted a relatively autonomous status in 1970 by the Ministry of Overseas Development. But as the decade progressed the IUC was deeply affected by changes in the Ministry's policy which involved centralization of administration and emphasis on aid to sub-university education. Hence there was pressure to reduce considerably expenditure on salary supplementation, which was vital for the IUC as its reputation had been built largely on its capacity to recruit British staff for overseas universities. The IUC responded by encouraging links, but this was jeopardized in Nigeria as a result of the Ministry's decision in the aftermath of the energy crisis to require Nigeria to pay half the costs of educational aid. The Ministry intended to exclude the IUC from the technical cooperation agreement but was unable to do so because of the Nigerian Government's plans to establish more universities. The IUC's services were regarded as necessary by the Nigerian authorities during the period of expansion. The Ministry had to relent, but was unhappy at the discrepancy with its own objectives. Some revision in the Ministry's view of universities has occurred; but the view continues to be defined by “relevance” to manpower development, rather than the broader concept of academic partnership which inspired the IUC.

Notes: Abstract This paper reviews the evidence on whether student ratings are reliable and valid enough to be used for the purpose of the improvement of instruction and teacher effectiveness. A consensus of evidence available in the literature tends to show a measure of consistency, stability and validity of student ratings. Several variables such as sex of rater and ratee, class size, mood of students, rank of instructors, grades students were expecting, time of the day courses are taught, to mention only a few, have been found to have a low to high positive relationship, with student ratings. It also appears that the use of student ratings leads to the improvement of instruction, provided the evaluation data are fed back to the instructor and that an expert or consultant provides assistance to the instructor.

Notes: Abstract This case study discusses some staff and students' personal constructs of research effectiveness. A repertory grid form (Kelly, 1955) and associated computer programs (Shaw, 1980) were used as alternative instruments to the traditional questionnaire for evaluating the criteria for effective research held by six university staff and six postgraduate students. The results are reported and it is suggested that the repertory grid technique is a powerful heuristic tool in higher education to aid people in construing their theories-in-action and to negotiate their personal meanings.

Notes: Abstract The last decades have offered social scientists an abundance of material for studies of governmental reform policy in the area of higher education. Reforms of educational politics have been legion in great parts of the world, probably in a particulary high degree in Europe. My purpose is to describe Finnish higher education policy during the last two decades in the four policy areas of (1) quantitative planning and regionalization, (2) social recruitment, (3) governance, and (4) teaching and studies as compared to the development of Western Europe. In the second part of this paper the implementation of the Finnish higher education reforms is analyzed. The third part analyzes the development of the Finnish higher education system and focuses on the various alternatives not chosen by the government. In the final part I discuss the recent trends in Finnish higher education in respect to consistency and change.

Notes: Abstract After a brief “golden age” Australian university research faces a difficult future. Two notions, utility and concentration, have become the catchwords of the emerging policy initiatives. Both have tended to be interpreted narrowly and simplistically, utility as having immediate technological applications that will bring economic benefits, and concentration to argue for breaking the teaching-research nexus, reducing the research workforce and thus achieving cost savings. As proposed, both initiatives require more centralised control of research policy and funding. Despite the outstanding record of Australia's universities in research and the absence of evidence to support the benefits claimed for the new initiatives, the pressure for change is gaining momentum. The problems facing Australian universities have much in common with those in other Western countries, although unique solutions must be sought for every setting. This paper argues that, in Australia, the adoption of the easy solution of increased concentration, short-term utility, and centralised control, is likely to compromise the established excellence and diversity in basic research, and to lead to an overall reduction in the scale of university research. Before any changes are instigated, there is a pressing need for a broad-ranging review based on widespread participation in a debate about needs and priorities, and rigorous research into the performance of the existing system and the potential benefits of the changes proposed.

Notes: Abstract The development of higher education in Nigeria over the past quarter of a century has been characterized by a high degree of proliferation and dispersal. In the distribution of universities there exists a cautious state of balance among the former regional components of the country. Variation is much more marked in the distribution of other categories of institutions of higher education. Perhaps of greater significance is the concentration of these institutions in towns and cities. Economic, social, and political reasons are accountable for the observed pattern. There are also enormous benefits as well as problems resulting from the proliferation and dispersal of higher education institutions.

Notes: Abstract Graduate student funding has been acknowledged as very important in enticing prospective students to begin graduate programs and in helping current students complete their degrees, but very little is known about the individuals who receive financial support. This paper discusses a variety of characteristics of new students who received fellowships, assistantships, and loans at a large public research university in the Midwest. The purpose was to determine which of the following characteristics led to an increased likelihood of receiving the different forms of support: undergraduate grades, GRE scores, gender, ethnicity, citizenship, age, and field of study.

Notes: Abstract This paper describes a longitudinal path-analytic study of influences upon educational aspirations and plans for graduate and professional schooling among 418 undergraduates at two U.S. universities. The analysis suggests that academic performance, parental supportiveness, faculty-student interaction, and major department context played significant roles in outcomes, beyond the role played by freshman-year background characteristics. There were some differences in the results for men and women, suggesting further attention to gender differences in postcollege educational attainment processes. Overall, the analysis suggests that greater attention to subenvironments, such as major departments, may be warranted in studies of this kind.

Notes: Abstract This paper reports the results of a study of faculty publication productivity at five major research universities. Data on publication rates were gathered for two years from theCorporate Indexes published by the Institute for Scientific Information, while numbers of faculty by academic discipline were computed using standard reports generated annually by the participating universities. The primary conclusion drawn from the study is that institutional publication rates can be estimated from references in theCorporate Indexes and provide one, albeit imperfect, measure of relative university research productivity.

Notes: Abstract The higher education community needs measures of the value added to student development by the college experience. ACT provides a quick, easy method for estimating the extent of student growth in general education. An institution can test seniors with the ACT College Outcome Measures Project (COMP) exam, then subtract from the senior score anestimated freshman score obtained from a “concordance table” that is based on the known relationship between freshman ACT Assessment composite score and freshman COMP Total score. Studies using scores for 4,200 seniors and 2,100 freshmen tested during a two-year period at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, indicate that this method is not sufficiently reliable or valid to serve as the basis for making precise judgments about the quality of general education programs.

Notes: Abstract This study sought to establish baseline data on the outcomes of doctoral education at a private, urban university. Through the use of a survey instrument developed by the researchers, Ph.D. and Ed.D. recipients from 16 departments who had graduated between 1963 and 1984 were contacted. Three primary areas were examined: (1) the impact of doctoral education on career development, (2) the perceived influence of the institutional values on graduates, and (3) the frequency and type of research/scholarly activities engaged in during and after graduate school. Data provided by 707 respondents to the 168 item survey were analyzed by department, by degree, and by four general academic fields, and a number of indices were developed. The main thrust of this paper is the development of the instrument and indices, and the preliminary comparison of four fields with the indices.

Notes: Abstract The structural relation of the seven noncognitive dimensions proposed by Sedlacek and Brooks in 1976 and traditional definitions of academic ability, as indicated by Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores, to first semester grade-point average (GPA) and persistence after three and five semesters was examined in this study. Random samples of entrants at one predominantly white state university were administered the Non-cognitive Questionnaire (NCQ) during summer orientation in 1979 and 1980. The NCQ results and the SAT scores were used to derive structural models (using LISREL) or early academic success for both black and white students. The structural models for the black and white students were found to be very different. For black students, traditional academic ability was related to first semester GPA, but neither GPA nor academic ability was related to persistence. Only the noncognitive dimensions were predictive of black student persistence. For white students, academic ability was the best predictor of first semester grades, and these grades were the major predictor of subsequent persistence. The noncognitive dimensions were not important in white student academic success, whereas they were crucial in black student academic success.

Notes: Abstract This article outlines a number of general approaches to organisational effectiveness, and three approaches to effectiveness in the more specific field of higher education. The literature survey is used to derive a broad framework suggestive of the main causal relationships likely to exist between various areas of institutional achievement, and this framework is used as a background to discussion of empirical evidence. Empirical findings in the field of institutional achievement are sparse and poorly interconnected. The article summarises findings from product portfolio matrix studies and Cameron's work on effectiveness, discusses some aspects of institutional management, and outlines some differences between British and American universities regarding the acquisition of funds. The article concludes with comments on some methodological aspects of assessing institutional achievement.

Notes: Abstract Understanding the change process in higher education requires the development of adequate theory. Theories are characterised by propositions which guide thinking, research and professional action. These propositions are a starting point for research, one goal of which is a contribution to the development and refinement of theory. Theory enables explanation, prediction and well-guided action to take place. An end-point to this is better understanding and influence over the change and development process in higher education. There is no general theory of change in higher education. So, what theories guide our action? This question is explored, together with a consideration of the role of theory in the process of individual and organisational change. The paper comprises two contributions, one by Cannon on theory development, the other by Lonsdale which is a reaction to and extension of Cannon's arguments, especially as they relate to organisational change.

Notes: Abstract A group of 633 college students at a large midwestern public university was asked fifteen questions pertaining to personal long-term course planning. The results indicated that only 48% of the students sketched out a tentative listing of at least two courses per term for one or more subsequent semesters when first planning courses for the current semester. Long-range planning was positively correlated with the number of years students had already spent in college and with students' perception of the following factors: course planning utility, degree of certainty about pursuing one's current first choice of career, and degree of commitment in using college coursework as a means of achieving a career goal (all p 〈 0.001). Long-range planning was negatively correlated with the anticipation of a possible change in academic interests. Such planning was not significantly correlated with students' entrance examination aptitude scores or grade point averages. Thus, students' long-range planning of courses was associated more strongly with career commitment than with recent academic performance or aptitude.

Notes: Abstract This paper attempts to place the fiscal problems faced by higher education in a broad political economic context so strategies for coping with declining resources can be better evaluated. At the national level, fiscal crisis theories are used to examine broad changes in higher education spending patterns. At the state level, theories of regional variation are used to understand more fully why some states face conditions of greater fiscal authority than others. At a concrete level, the strategies evolving in New York State for allocating resources are explored, and the responses of one institution - the State University of New York at Buffalo - are examined.

Notes: Abstract A survey of 744 first year students at an Australian university provides no evidence of significant sex, age, or faculty differences in those students' perceptions of their control over their own learning. A follow-up survey of 182 of this sample over two years later suggests that neither maturation nor the impact of tertiary study has brought about a significant change in these students' academic locus of control. However, cross-lagged analysis indicates that accepting responsibility for learning was causally dominant over the adoption of less superficial and more achievement oriented learning strategies. Implications of these findings for study skills training programmes are briefly outlined.

Notes: Abstract This article compares the findings from two surveys of strategic planning practices in Australia: those of academic institutions and those of manufacturing corporations. The similarities and differences are identified and in broad terms explained by the stage of evolution of strategic planning that has been reached by academic institutions when compared to corporations. Given the recent questioning of the value of strategic planning by corporations, the validity of academic institutions continuing on this path is questioned with the conclusion that the planning process per se is desirable.

Notes: Abstract Deep and rapid changes in a “high-tech” society exceed the ability of formal educational systems to respond to new learning needs. Therefore, the future of post secondary education will increasingly include emphases on self-directed learning skills and activities. Despite recognition of such a trend, knowledge of self-directed learning and self-directed learners is in its infancy. This study of self-directed learning and performance was designed to determine the relationship of self-directed learning readiness and performance in an occupational setting. Business, government and industry are expected to depend heavily upon self-directed learning in the future. Because of the increasingly close relationship between education and these sectors of the economy, educators should have a keen interest in this kind of research. The sample included 753 individuals selected from the population of a large American utility company: 421 were managers and 318 were non-managers; 14 subjects did not define their occupational status. Subjects provided information on their management level, sex, age, education, race, job performance rating, creativity required on their jobs, problem-solving ability needed in their jobs and degree of change in their work. Nine hypotheses were tested at the 0.05 level of significance. Selected conclusions are as follows: (a) outstanding performers in jobs requiring a very high level of creativity had significantly higher SDLRS scores than others; (b) outstanding performers in jobs requiring a very high degree of problem-solving skill had significantly higher SDLRS scores than others; and (c) individuals who have completed higher levels of education tend to have higher SDLRS scores.

Notes: Abstract Research evaluating student ratings of professors reveals continued controversy. Interpretations of student ratings of professors in terms of face validity are marred by halo affects, the apparent inability of even skilled raters to judge complex behaviors adequately, the salience of personality features in judging tasks, and a host of other variables. Research shows student ratings to be reliable, but design flaws for simple, first order, predictions usually omit the teacher as a cause. Interpretations of research are confusing because of justifications that indiscriminately involve nomological and applied models. Rating scale peculiarities, questionable validity, and scholastic homogeneity lead to diverse professional attitudes towards student opinions of professors, with a learner or consumer emphasis occupying the extremes. Several evaluation schemes are noted along with behaviors that tend to produce favorable student opinions.

Notes: Abstract Academic cheating behavior by university students was surveyed using the randomized response technique (RRT) and by conventional anonymous questionnaire methods. RRT is a survey method that permits sensitive information to be collected but that precludes associating the respondent with a particular response to a survey item. The estimated proportions of students who have engaged in cheating behaviors were, in general, larger using RRT. Moreover, this result is consistent with earlier findings for other sensitive behaviors. That underreporting is a serious problem with anonymous questionnaires is supported by the fact that the anonymous questionnaire estimates ranged from 39% to 83% below the RRT estimates. Furthermore, using a covariate modification of RRT, there was a distinct inverse relation between students' estimated grade-point average and the tendency to engage in cheating behavior. While these results have direct implications for estimating cheating behavior in higher education, more broadly, they raise serious concerns about the use of anonymous questionnaires when survey topics are sensitive.

Notes: Abstract This study compared the attitudes and demographic characteristics of an intact group of college freshmen to those of a sample responding to a mail survey and a sample responding to a telephone follow-up. Contrary to expectation, the three samples did not differ significantly in mean attitude responses. The absence of significant mean differences indicated no significant bias in college freshmen's responses to a mail survey. However, a higher percentage of returns was received from females and higher achievers than from males and low achievers.

Notes: Abstract University faculties are composed largely of individuals who are tenured, but who are not due to retire until the years 2000 to 2010. As a result, there will be few new openings in the foreseeable future to adapt to rapidly changing educational demands. In addition, as this large number of individuals rises through the salary scale, the already small number of nontenured positions will be reduced for financial reasons, further compounding the problem of lack of academic flexibility. Deans do not have sufficient remaining academic personnel decisions to meet the demands required for either the evolution of academic programs that keep pace with social change over the next 15 years or for balancing their budgets. Universities must shift from the future to the present some of the academic and financial flexibility due to begin in the year 2000 through attractive programs of career alternatives.

Notes: Abstract The majority of two national samples of SAT and GRE test takers reported that they thought the test they had taken was fair, that it did not influence their application decisions, and that its importance in the decisions of the institutions they applied to was secondary to their previous grades.

Notes: Abstract Students admitted to more than one institution of higher education face one of the most difficult decisions of their lives. The determinants of these enrollment decisions are crucially important to the yield of qualified students from the number admitted to colleges and universities. This paper specifies an empirical model of the enrollment decision for students admitted both to Rutgers University and to at least one alternate college. Our estimates of the parameters of the model with a binary choice multiple regression equation show that students base their enrollment decision on the relative quality of the schools, their own abilities and family resources, and the net costs of the schools. The results are relevant to university tuition and financial aid policies. The general methodology is replicable by other institutions seeking information on the determinants of the enrollment decision.

Notes: Abstract This study provides an initial examination of a learning style topology through the comparison of information processing and instructional preference toponymies. It was hypothesized that learning style modes would be discernible within each of these toponymies and that the toponymies would demonstrate orthogonality. Data analyzed for 429 university students supported these hypotheses.

Notes: Abstract Strategic planning in higher education requires access to reasonable enrollment forecasts as provided by the model described in this article. Higher education has sparse retention data, and the situation forces certain known constraints on retention rates. The model presented combines a polynomial lag econometric model with a goal programming model to satisfy the known conditions while making efficient use of limited data. The model is applied to data for a large public university. A spreadsheet template for the model is available from the authors.

Notes: Abstract A review of the literature on released-time programs shows a trend away from uncritical acceptance. Emerging skepticism about released time from teaching or service stems from a lack of evidence supporting its usefulness and from the mixed messages it gives about the value of teaching. Four demonstrational experiments confirm that skepticism by showing that (1) verified assessments of normal work loads contradict faculty claims of being too busy for additional scholarship; (2) faculty given released time usually persist in old habits; (3) new faculty showed no obvious benefits of a typical released-time program; and (4) faculty in released-time programs verbalized real doubts about how to use extra time for meaningful scholarship. A fifth experiment suggests an alternative to traditional released-time programs: faculty who claimed too little time for regular scholarship learned to produce significant amounts of writing by finding time for brief, daily writing sessions.

Notes: Abstract The time taken to earn doctorates is of major importance to administrators and faculty. By using stepwise multiple regression techniques, this study predicted time to doctorate from the available demographic, academic, and financial variables and determined the significance of each variable on time to the doctorate. The data for this study came from the National Research Council's Doctorate Records File extract prepared for UCLA. This institution is particularly appropriate for a study of this kind, since it annually awards over 400 doctorates in over 75 different majors. Its doctoral recipients represent the range of academic fields of study. The results of this study indicated that source of support was the most important variable in predicting time to doctorate. Following source of support were postdoctoral plans, number of dependents, sex, and field of study. Together these variables explained a significant amount of variation in the criterion variable.

Notes: Abstract Studies of enrollment demand typically assume that public institutions accept all eligible applicants. In that case the coefficients of a regression equation that explains enrollment as a function of variables that affect student demand are properly interpreted as unknown demand function parameters. However, if enrollments are limited by institutional constraints on the supply of places, another approach to estimating student demand behavior is needed. In this paper we develop a model that explains the determination of enrollments in these cases and a way to estimate the coefficients of a student demand equation that is part of the model. The results are much better than those obtained from a conventional model of enrollment demand estimated using ordinary least squares.

Notes: Abstract Despite telling criticism because the author refuses to provide information about his methodology,The Gourman Report is used as an authoritative reference by prospective students and researchers in higher education. Gourman's 1985 and 1987 reports on graduate and professional education rated 31 social work programs. Ratings allegedly were based on information about such factors as teaching and library quality. Program deans, their university librarians, and offices of institutional research were asked if they shared information with Gourman. No respondent provided Gourman any information. Given their responses it seemed that at best Gourman's ratings are hypothetical. Absent evidence to the contrary, one can assume that the same holds true for all graduate and professional programs rated by Gourman.

Notes: Abstract A study of attrition after the first year of college was conducted with the 1984 entry class of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. A path-analytic model of 9 factors affecting student persistence was tested using LISREL (N = 233). The results indicate that social integration is an important factor in college persistence. Grade point average is not a critical factor in first year attrition. While provocative, the reasons behind these findings may be specific to NTID. For example, many students come to NTID specifically for its social community. It is concluded, therefore, that while these results were somewhat different from those of studies with hearing students, they support the proposition that studies of college attrition cannot be generalized across institutions.

Notes: Abstract Sixty-eight college students participated in the current research investigating the effects of an outline on field-dependent and field-independent students' learning of structurally important and less important information from a lecture. The lecture involved a 20-minute videotaped presentation on bird migration. Learning was assessed using a free recall task 10 minutes after the lecture (immediate recall) and both free recall and probed recall tasks one week after the lecture (delayed recall). Data were analyzed using mixed factorial ANOVAs. Results indicated that the outline assisted the field-dependent students in recall of high structure information and field-independent students in recall of low structure information. Performance of field-dependent and field-independent students was equivalent on probed recall of low-structure information, but significant differences were found on the free recall of low-structure information. It is proposed that these differences are attributable to superior organizational abilities of the field-independent students and to use of the outline as a guide for retrieval.

Notes: Abstract The increasing awareness and concern with equity issues in higher education, along with the escalating litigation, has prompted institutions to undertake salary prediction studies. Four prediction models (built on a males only and total sample) were compared: (1) entering all variables, (2) excluding rank and tenure, (3) using predicted rank and tenure, and (4) using only “objective” variables. Models were tested using all permanent full-time faculty at a large midwestern university. Using predicted rank and tenure was the most suitable for equity studies. Including all variables yielded the best results for explaining/predicting reward systems. The other two models did not appear appropriate for either purpose. The males only sample consistently produced the largest bias effects. Institutions considering a salary prediction study should find these outcomes helpful in determining appropriate analytical strategies.

Notes: Abstract Higher education has a major contribution to make to the socio-economic and cultural life of contemporary Poland. The importance of promoting a continuous development in the tertiary educational sector is widely acknowledged throughout the world. In many countries, the number of students is still increasing, to reach or even to exceed a third of the relevant cohort. Yet in Poland the crisis of higher education which has been observed for some years has led to a rapid decline in student numbers. It is the purpose of the present article to look at underlying causes, including demographic, economic and other factors. Attention will be paid to the whole sector of higher education, but also to specific schools and faculties, and to the participation of women in particular. The impact of state educational policy will be considered, as will the changes in the interests and aspirations of the young generation. The focus is on quantitative changes in tertiary education, but some general conclusions will be drawn from them and an attempt will be made to assess their socio-economic and cultural implications.

Notes: Abstract This paper shows how education is in competition with other areas of government spending, inside and outside the social welfare expenditure area, for funding, and shows how its advocates must increasingly legitimise their claims. The paper argues, by particular reference to the case of higher education in Australia, that education decision-makers argue and legitimise their claims on an external and internal dimension: the external, to get as much funding to the programs as possible, the internal, to ensure that the output of the programs is as mutually compatible as possible between the desires of those producing them and those funding them.

Notes: Abstract This paper addresses the consequences of the 1980–1983 economic recession in Canada for the political climate in British Columbia and for the University of British Columbia. After prolonged recession, the Social Credit Party gained power on a platform that government be significantly “downsized.” The University of British Columbia, after years of accommodating budgetary shortfalls, was asked for a further ten percent reduction between 1984–1986. The University's response to these cuts is placed in an appropriate provincial and national context, and the implications of marked reductions in public support for higher education are discussed.

Notes: Abstract The paper examines the recent experience of the Ontario university system with financial retrenchment. It is noted that the policy of the Government which was in power until May 1985, was to distribute cutbacks proportionately among all universities through an enrolment based funding formula, and to resist calls from various agencies for more selective intervention in the system. It is suggested that more selective interventions may hold a certain political appeal, and the new Government's first attempt at what it calls rationalizing the university system is described. The paper argues that “rationalization” is a very ambiguous, and often misleading, term which conceals either changes in university spending patterns or reductions in particular activities, and that such changes or reductions should be the subject of public debate. Most likely, change in the structure of the university system, by itself, will not save money, and the attempts of any government to be seen as making efficiency gains through merely rearranging relationships among universities is characterized as a shell game. Only reducing the number of institutions or programs, with corresponding reductions in numbers of staff and students, will produce significant financial savings, and that is a road down which Ontario politicians have been reluctant to travel, at least until recently. The paper concludes by suggesting that, insofar as it deems that retrenchment in the universities is fiscally necessary, Government should restrict its intervention to the realm of determining publicly affordable and appropriate levels of operating grants. Individual universities themselves should determine the most efficient ways to allocate whatever level of public funding is provided. The policy of making modest annual reductions in total real operating grants, with occasional increases when deemed possible, is probably the most prudent, if least glamorous, of available strategies for retrenchment.

Notes: Abstract An evaluation study was carried out of a newly introduced course in computer science for arts students at the University of Copenhagen. In this paper special attention is given to learning problems reported by the great majority of the arts students studying a field which deviates substantially from their main study. The recorded problems were discussed in the light of recent descriptions of student learning. Our data suggests the necessity to consider the distinction between arts and science as requiring different approaches to learning.

Notes: Abstract Since the establishment of the UK binary system of higher education in the mid-1960s, the Council for National Academic Awards and the public sector institutions have together evolved a distinctive system for quality maintenance. The paper has three goals: to identify the key elements in the interactions between the CNAA and its associated institutions; to sketch the shifting balance of responsibilities from the CNAA to its associated institutions; and to make some observations on course review in the public sector compared with the university sector. Central to the UK public sector is the sense, within institutions, that the responsibility for the maintenance of quality is an essentially corporate enterprise. That corporate review process has, until the present time, been conducted through the framework of a national peer review system. However, the university and the public sectors are converging in their course review processes, with individual institutions assuming greater responsibility for the quality of their courses. These changes make uncertain the continuation of the national context for course review.

Notes: Abstract MBA students rated their interests in eight subject areas and evaluated them in several aspects, such as logical appeal and contribution of perceived competence in a subject area due to self esteem. Affective reactions to the areas, and attitudes to grading and to surface vs depth learning were also measured. Interest was most strongly related to logical appeal of the subject area. LISREL modelling of the structure of the relationships showed that logical appeal, being intimately related to the contribution of competence to self esteem, occupied a central position. Interest was determined by several variables but had no further consequences in the model. Students who expressed a depth orientation to their work were more positive generally, more interested and invested more effort in their work.

Notes: Abstract Interest has been increasing in many countries in assessing performance of higher education institutions (and also departments within institutions). Two important reports in the U.K. in recent years have strongly advocated the use of performance indicators for this purpose. This paper argues that such indicators cannot be used in a meaningful way without a clear view of institutional goals. Problems of deriving such goal systems are discussed and a critical review of work done in this field is presented. Methodological problems associated with devising and using effective and useful performance indicators are described and research undertaken in this field outlined. Finally the authors outline the conditions under which they believe performance indicators may be used to give valid insights into performance of institutions (or departments).

Notes: Abstract This paper examines the institutionalisation of educational development in universities in Australia, Britain, USA, West Germany and Sweden. Centres for staff, instructional, educational or academic development were established in these countries in the sixties and seventies, following expansion of the higher education systems. But the triggers for the establishment in each country were different, as are the institutional integration of centres and provisions in general. The institutional reward systems in all of these countries favour research performance over excellence in teaching, regardless of whether the universities see themselves as research or teaching centred. In Australia, educational development has been institutionalised to the highest degree; most of the universities have centres with permanent staff, some of whom are tenured faculty with a research and development function. In Britain there has been strong national support for training of university teachers and individual universities are providing this in a larger variety of settings. In the USA institutionalisation has taken many forms. But educational development is also funded on a short term basis, and due to the ample availability of grants there is continuous experimentation and influx of new people. In Germany the original connection between university reforms and educational development centres and the strong research orientation of universities has put these centres into a vulnerable position and limits their effectiveness. In Sweden central legislation provides for compulsory teacher training in the universities, but much of the general educational development work is organised centrally. The importance of educational development is generally acknowledged in these countries, its effectiveness largely accepted in faith.

Notes: Abstract This paper arises from a research project funded by the Department of Education and Science which was concerned primarily with nine British Universities' responses to and the impacts of the University Grants Committee's recurrent grant reductions during the period 1981–84. The responses are summarised briefly prior to considering the impacts on the universities. It is concluded that whilst a number of the universities successfully developed and implemented plans to reduce staff and student numbers, to reduce expenditure and to increase income from non-government sources, there were serious negative impacts which suggest a further period of financial stringency would constrain the capacity to undertake effective teaching and research and to respond to the changing needs of society.

Notes: Abstract In industry the advantages of “realistic job preview” have been much discussed, but lit-tle is currently done in British schools to prepare students for higher education. This article describes the development stages of a principled adventure game to simulate the experience of higher education. Playing this game is intended to provide “realistic role preview” for prospective students. The simulation has been developed out of an earlier board game derived, to some extent, from research findings. More recent research on student learning has provided the principles on which the new simulation game is being based. The game not only allows students to try out different study strategies, it also provides advice tailored to the specific strategies used by the individual stu-dent in interacting with the computer. This simulation can be seen as a simple expert system providing a form of intelligent tutoring. The architecture of the computer simulation is described, together with the strategies used to ensure that the game, and the advice provided, are both controlled by principles derived from the research on student learning. Illustrations are used to indicate how a student would experience the interactions with the computer, and how the rules produce tailored advice.

Notes: Abstract Using data from a random sample of chief liberal arts academic officers in American colleges and universities, the authors examine the support of teaching in the liberal arts (defined as the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities). Information is presented on 15 categories of faculty support for teaching and research, basic teaching conditions, tenure decisions, and merit salary increases. Differences in support are examined among institutions that vary in size, location, sponsorship, and degree level. These findings suggest that liberal arts teaching is in less than excellent health on most American campuses. In addition, the researchers note numerous inconsistencies among resources, standards, and rewards in American institutions of higher learning and urge liberal arts administrators to reduce these inconsistencies where possible.

Notes: Abstract Bandura's self-efficacy theory was used a model for examining levels of confidence and clinical skills among undergraduate speech pathology students. Forty-four second-year students rated their confidence in their ability to perform a number of clinical tasks at the beginning and at the end of the academic year, which was their first clinic experience. These efficacy expectations were compared with clinical supervisors' assessments of the students' performance on the same tasks. An attempt was also made to assign students to pairs and small groups for training on the basis of their initial efficacy expectations Efficacy strength (but not level) increased significantly over the year, and efficacy level (but not strength) was moderately and significantly related to clinical supervisors' ratings of clinic performance. Practical problems arose with the grouping, but the results suggested that there may be some possible benefits from assigning students to pairs on the basis of their self-efficacy. These results show self-efficacy to be only moderately well related to clinic performance, but it is suggested that relatively high baselines may have attenuated the strength of the obtained relationship. The role of self-efficacy in clinical skills training warrants further investigation.

Notes: Abstract This article contains the results of two research projects in the faculty of social science of the University of Amsterdam into the hidden curriculum in university. Speurtocht naar het verborgen leerplan. Report on a research project into the hidden curriculum. Subfaculty of Pedagogics, University of Amsterdam. G. Bergenhenegouwen, A. Bloemhof, P. Bogaards, S. Brouwer, O. McDaniël, M. Koster, J. Oltheten, B. Spangers, M. Traudes, C. Verhoeven, M. Vermeer, J. van Wonderen. P.D.I. Amsterdam 1980; Het verborgen leerplan. Report on a research project into the hidden curriculum. Subfaculty of Pedagogics, University of Amsterdam. G. Bergenhenegouwen, L. de Broeder, D. de Haas, N. Klerkx, M. Koning, R. Stevens, D. Tordoir. P.D.I. Amsterdam 1981. The results show that students do experience something like a hidden curriculum in university study. The article first goes into the question what the hidden curriculum in university is and what extra things are learnt in addition to the official curriculum. Then a second aspect of these projects is examined: that of study motivation and study attitude. There appears to be a tendency among students to study not only for the sake of a diploma (exchange value), but also to make the study more practicable in their personal lives and find a link with their own everyday experience (practical value). The latter attitude towards study appears to be an important factor to minimize the effect of the hidden curriculum and so to do more justice to the official curriculum.

Notes: Abstract In this paper, assessments of faculty performance for the determination of salary increases are analyzed to estimate interrater reliability. Using the independent ratings by six elected members of the faculty, correlations between the ratings are calculated and estimates of the reliability of the composite (group) ratings are generated. Average intercorrelations are found to range from 0.603 for teaching, to 0.850 for research. The average intercorrelation for the overall faculty ratings is 0.794. Using these correlations, the reliability of the six-person group (the composite reliability) is estimated to be over 0.900 for each of the three areas and 0.959 for the overall faculty rating. Furthermore, little correlation is found between the ratings of performance levels of individual faculty members in the three areas of research, teaching, and service. The high intercorrelations and, consequently, the high composite reliabilities suggest that a reduction in the number of raters would have relatively small effects on reliability. The findings are discussed in terms of their relationship to issues of validity as well as to other questions of faculty assessment.

Notes: Abstract This research uses path analysis to explore the relationships among a number of variables (including financial aid variables), which have been shown in both theory and prior research to be related to student persistence. The subjects were 227 full-time freshmen, who enrolled Fall Quarter 1982, in a liberal arts college at a large commuter institution of higher education, and who received financial aid. The model, which includes background and academic variables, accounted for 35% of the variance in persistence. Persistence was measured by credits completed over a two-year period. Significant variables that showed the largest total effects on persistence were college grade-point average and high school rank. The financial aid variables in the model showed no significant effect on persistence in this study of students who received aid. The model was cross-validated on a second data set and the model was supported.

Notes: Abstract The “Biglan model,” a classification system arraying academic fields and disciplines into eight cells, is frequently cited and has become a generally accepted new eponym in the field of higher education. Bibliographic indicators and co-citation patterns document that John Smart (and associates) introduced the eponym to the field, but he is never expressly acknowledged for the contribution. Over time, the eponym may be taking on new, more theoretical, meaning. As this eponym becomes further diffused throughout the literature, there are signs that citations to the Smart messenger may diminish, along with obliteration of the formal citation of Biglan. The disappearance of citations is not atypical, nor is it a violation of normal scholarly practices but, in fact, it undermines the veracity of typical bibliometric studies of intellectual influence structures.

Notes: Abstract This study investigated the combined effect on return rates of personalizing the cover letter and including precoded personal information on a mail questionnaire. The 2 × 2 factorial design allowed for the testing of an interaction effect as well as for main effects. The study found no interactive effect between the kind of cover letter sent and whether or not subjects were given the option of removing the precoded data. In addition, neither of the main effects was significant. The finding that the inclusion of precoded personal data on a questionnaire does not impair return rates may be welcome news to investigators in higher education conducting studies in which they have prior knowledge of respondent characteristics.

Notes: Abstract Several psychologically oriented studies have used the factorial ecology paradigm to investigate the environments that colleges provide for their students. Specifically, factor analyses of the social and demographic characteristics of colleges have identified useful underlying dimensions. These studies have lacked a theoretical framework for understanding the processes that produce these environments, however, and Kasarda and Bidwell's recent effort to derive a theory of organizational structuring from human ecological principles could redress this lack. The present study applied this theoretical approach to U.S. law schools. First, the factorial ecology paradigm was applied to law schools, yielding four factors:scholarly orientation, practicality, public control, and minority emphasis. Next, law school characteristics were correlated with characteristics of the states that constitute their “habitats,” yielding a meaningful pattern of moderate to strong relationships. Results are interpreted as supporting both Kasarda and Bidwell's theoretical approach and social-psychological theories of environment-behavior interaction that emphasize environmental control of behavior.

Notes: Abstract Knowledgeable observers generally agree that students can give reasonably unbiased assessments of their classes, as long as proper instruments and procedures are used. These same observers agree, however, that more research is needed to understand the subtle dynamics which affect evaluations. Students' expectations (obtained on the first day) and the violation of these expectations are two possible factors. Their effects on students' final interest and future intentions are compared with students' actual reports of the class given at the end of the semester (n=196). Regression analysis using a simultaneous entry of expectations, expectancy violations, and final reports shows that students' reports at the end of the course account for almost all of the explained variance in the course rating items.

Notes: Abstract The purpose of this study was to estimate a conceptual model of nontraditional student attrition. Data were gathered from 624 nontraditional (commuter, part-time) freshmen at a midwestern urban university enrolling 22,000 students. For these nontraditional students, dropout was a function of GPA and credit hours enrolled, as well as the utility of education for future employment, satisfaction with the student role, opportunity to transfer, and age affecting dropout through intent to leave. In addition, absence from class, age, high school performance, and ethnicity had indirect effects on dropout through GPA. These results suggested that nontraditional students dropped out of college for academic reasons or because they were not committed to attending the institution, but their reasons for leaving were unrelated to social factors at school. The findings helped validate the conceptual model.

Notes: Abstract Administrators in professional programs perceive influences on the program from within the university as stronger than do faculty but the two groups do not perceive the strength of societal influences, professional community influences, or internal levels of curriculum debate differently. After controlling for program and institutional sizes and institutional types, these differences between faculty and administrator views regarding relationships between the program and the university appear characteristic of certain professional fields. The analysis was based on subsamples drawn from a data base of survey responses from 873 administrators and 849 faculty members in ten professional fields representing 732 programs in 346 colleges and universities.

Notes: Conclusions In conclusion there are a number of points to be emphasised. Firstly, there are no definite answers to the problems of change and innovation in the management field. Admittedly there are plenty of ideas and models about strategic planning; but the trend over the last ten years or so has been away from the use of analytic techniques towards trying to manage the culture and values of the organisation directly. At the moment there is another reaction developing against this focus on culture (Barney, 1986; Thackray, 1986), but it is not yet clear what is being proposed in its place. So those in higher education should be suspicious of the management pundits who claim that they have the answer - especially if it simply involves copying management structures and systems that are believed to be commonplace in industry. Furthermore many of these systems are actually fraught with difficulty when used in industry. For example, many companies find they have to rethink their appraisal systems every four or five years, because the failure of the previous system usually becomes obvious to all about three years after its installation. In that area the current trend is towards self and peer assessment - which could conceivably be appropriate in higher education too. But there are still a number of ideas that may be gleaned from the management world, and these may eventually provide models of management and strategic change which are appropriate to higher education. Some of these ideas have been mentioned in this article. For example, there is a need to pay closer attention to the environment, especially the political one. Institutions need to think carefully about their distinctive strengths, and how they can fit best into their environments. The idea of universities as “service” organisations may have considerable power, and it may be as well to think of some of those services as having limited “life”. It is important to recognise the crucial role of those people at the lower levels of the organisation. Their contribution is not only in helping to determine the best direction to take; but their commitment to any direction is essential if it is to be implemented. Good strategies can't be rushed: it takes time for ideas to evolve. Hence the process of thinking through appropriate strategies probably needs to be fairly continuous; it certainly should not be merely an annual, or quinquennial, activity. Finally it is the values of staff and students that can be the greatest source of, and barrier to, change and innovation. Senior managers get easily excited at the possibilities of being able to “manage” the values of their organisations. But this is much more difficult than the popular text books would have us believe, and very dangerous. The danger is that if one simply attacks the existing values of an organisation - say those of scholarship, colleagueship and individual freedom - one runs the risk of destroying individuals' sense of purpose, and thus creating a highly demoralised organisation. If values are to be shifted, say towards a greater commercial orientation - then they must be done in a way which allows for retention of the original values in parallel. It is a kind of bridging idea that is needed. This will take time, and not a little creativity.

Notes: Abstract This paper argues for the systematic development and integration of student research skills in postgraduate programmes. Case studies from Griffith University, arising from action research projects with university teachers, illustrate five different strategies: (1) The review of a postgraduate programme, identifying student problems and a gap between institutional expectations and students' needs; (2) the workshop model for developing skills in dissertation research and writing; (3) the focus on two key problem areas in the process of writing a thesis; (4) the design, implementation and evaluation of a course on “Problems and Methods in Research” for the beginning researcher in the social sciences as an alternative model and supplement to the single-supervisor model in postgraduate education; and (5) student metacognition and learning to do research through eliciting some changing personal constructs of research effectiveness. There has been little educational research and development in postgraduate education. This paper explores some of the issues and problems identified at Griffith University and elsewhere. Our methods may be adapted by other universities to their particular educational contexts.

Notes: Abstract Within tertiary education in the Netherlands educational evaluation at course level and also at curriculum level is becoming increasingly normal. Up till now, this aspect of the process of quality control and improvement has not been handled systematically within the framework of institutional policy. An initial step has been taken at the Free University, Amsterdam, with the introduction of AMOS: Analysis Model pertaining to the quality of Education within Faculties (in Dutch: Analyse Model voor het Onderwijs in Studierichtingen). In the first section of this article the concept (educational) “quality” is defined. Following, a description of the academic context in the Netherlands and the allied problems in accomplishing systematic evaluation is given. In the next section the AMOS system is presented. Emphasis is given to the application at three levels: institution, faculty and course. In the final section the system and its implementation is related with the earlier described academic context and with some criteria pertaining to educational evaluation in general.

Notes: Abstract This article focuses on the predictive values of certain academic variables, high school ranks and admission tests, as related to grades at the end of the first year of the Licenciate in Medicine in Spain. Multiple regression equations were calculated for each first year subject. Multiple R values ranged from 0.41 to 0.61 which implies explained variance percentages of 16.5 and 37.5. The best predictor was found to be the high school grade point average in science courses, the global examination and the admission test average. The importance of taking into account these variables in the admission process is considered. Also the inclusion of some aptitudinal variables is discussed. Finally the need to establish prediction performance tables to be used in the counselling process of admitted students is considered.

Notes: Abstract Government reliance on student borrowing in financing postsecondary education varies greatly among countries. Nevertheless, some of the problems encountered, such as competing demands on public funds that undercut grant support or an excessive burden of debt on students, make consideration of the potential and limits inherent in the use of student loans a matter of common concern. The present article examines the role of undergraduate student loans within the context of an overall program for financial assistance. The emphasis is on placing realistic limits on individual debt burden while broadening the use of loans, consistent with encouraging access to postsecondary education and providing opportunity for choice of institution. To reduce risk and make borrowing in moderate amounts acceptable, loan programs are developed that combine income-paced repayment with provision, through ex post facto grants, for earlier discharge of repayment obligations than in alternative proposals. A model is developed for simulating borrowing and cumulative debt limits given the parameter values relevant to a country's situation. Results from using alternative parameter values are compared to authorized loan limits and to average amounts borrowed and cost of attendance for low-cost and higher-cost educational options, using U.S. data by way of illustration.