Informal interaction and faculty projections of student ratings of the institutional climate

This study employed the Semantic Differential technique to investigate the relationship between informal interaction with students and the accuracy with which faculty members project students' perceptions of the institutional climate at two colleges of Arts and Sciences. When subdivided into nominal categories of high, moderate, and low interactors on the basis of their frequency of informal, out-of-class contacts with students, high interactors were found to project consistently more accurate student ratings of the climate on a bureaucracy factor than low interactors. A similar, though not consistent, relationship was found between high and low interactors on an intellectualism/scholarship dimension.     

The instructor self-evaluation form: Development and validation of an ipsative forced-choice measure of self-perceived faculty performance

An ipsative forced-choice college faculty self-evaluation questionnaire was developed. The instrument was validated by comparing self-evaluation scores to student rating scores and by comparing superior and nonsuperior instructors on the basis of student ratings. Both analyses yielded positive, but modest, indications of validity. Implications are discussed relative to the questionnaire's utility in faculty development activities.     

A comparative study of occupational stress among African American and white university faculty: A research note

This paper is a comparison of levels of occupational stress among African American and white college and university faculty members in U.S. institutions. Using survey data collected from a national sample of faculty, an analysis of reported occupational stress levels was undertaken to determine if issues raised in previous research regarding extra-academic assignments given to African American faculty limits their access to the more traditional faculty roles, creating pressure to perform in ways not expected of white faculty. To test these assertions, scales measuring stress from teaching, research, and service activities were constructed for African American and white faculty from a larger faculty stress index. Results of the analysis indicate that African American faculty report generally higher levels of occupational stress than their white counterparts, especially in the areas of research and service activities.     

Career alternatives: Providing a cafeteria of choices through career alternative dollars

Part of the crisis in higher education is due to the age and tenure distribution of the faculty and their escalating future salary costs. Universities must find ways to gain financial and academic flexibility. This will require a program ofcareer alternatives which provides inducements to leave the university for faculty who are not due to retire until the years 2000 to 2010. The money saved can be used to the mutual benefit of the individual and the university. The university's share of the savings may be used to hire new junior faculty and to reduce the total cost of the salary budget. The faculty member's share may be redeemed at a career alternatives cafeteria. This paper outlines the offering that such a cafeteria may provide and the mechanisms that may be used to establish one.     

The effects of different oral directions as to disposition of results on student ratings of college instruction

A review of the literature is presented with particular reference to design flaws in previous studies of the effect of stated purpose of evaluation upon student ratings of instruction. Special attention in this study is paid to insuring the salience of the manipulated purpose-of-evaluation variable through using different oral instructions given to college students concerning the purposes of course evaluation. Students (N=516) within each of 18 classes were divided randomly into faculty use and administrative use conditions. Data were analyzed using global course and global instructor items as dependent variables on a standard short-form rating instrument. No statistically significant effect of the independent variable on either dependent variable was found. Recommendations regarding the design of this type of investigation are discussed as well as the implications of misconceptions about student ratings held by many college faculty.     

Community attitudes and the urban university

This study looks at the relationships between a number of personal and social characteristics of a random sample of 254 urban citizens from the Twin Cities and their satisfaction with a University. Most of the urban citizens had considerable university related experiences, and they believed that faculty and students are sincere and hardworking. Most were satisfied with different facets of University life, endorsed the broad principle of campus freedom of expression, but were generally opposed to the goals of students when they used more active methods of dissent. Citizens' satisfaction with the University was heavily related to their perception of campus life as it related to the ideological criteria of Work Ethic and Americanism.     

Assessing quality in programs of university without walls graduates

The University Without Walls (UWW) program at the University of Minnesota completed a study of correlates of quality, those parts of students' programs that were thought to influence the quality of students' work. Graduation dossiers were rated according to graduates' fulfillment of seven graduation criteria. Quality ratings were correlated with barriers possessed by graduates at admission, major area of study, length of time in UWW, and narrative evaluations of graduates' work. Narrative evaluations from university faculty had the greatest effect on dossier quality ratings.     

Publication productivity in doctoral research departments: Interdisciplinary and intradisciplinary factors

Examination of a national data set reporting departmental levels of publication productivity in 23 disciplines revealed very large differences between disciplines, with the mean departments in the most productive disciplines averaging more than 10 times the number of publications of the mean departments in the least productive disciplines. The differences within disciplines were also very large. Analyses of the characteristics of departments associated with productivity showed great variation across disciplines. Regression analyses indicated the importance of size and internal university support rather than federal support. Similar results are reported for the number of citations to the work of departments. The implications of these results for program review and the reputations of departments are reviewed.     

Course characteristics and college students' ratings of their teachers: What we know and what we don't

From showing in a general way that there is room for course context to influence class (average) ratings of instruction, this review proceeds to a search for specific course characteristics that are associated with these ratings. Extant research has centered around five such characteristics: class size, course level, the electivity of the course, the particular subject matter of the course, and the time of day that the course is held. Although statistically significant zero-order relationships do not appear in every piece of research located for review, such relationships are more likely to be found than not for the first four of these characteristics. The associations may not be particularly strong, but rather clear-cut patterns do emerge. Of the studies reporting an association between size of class and class ratings, most find it to be inverse, although several studies show a curvilinear (U-shaped) relationship. Teacher (and course) ratings tend to be somewhat higher for upper division courses and elective courses. Compared to other instructors, those teaching humanities, fine arts, and languages tend to receive somewhat higher ratings. The possible reasons for these relationships are many and complex. A precise understanding of the contribution of course characteristics to the ratings of teachers (and the courses themselves) is hampered by two circumstances. Studies in which relevant variables are controlled are far fewer in number than are the studies in which only the zero-order relationships between course characteristics and ratings are considered. More importantly, existing multivariate studies tend to underplay or ignore the exact place of course characteristics in a causal network of variables.     

Critical incidents and critical requirements in mentoring

Many traditional faculty now find themselves working with nontraditional students. New faculty models such as mentoring have emerged in response to the new student. The purpose of this study was to examine the mentoring role at Empire State College, State University of New York, on the basis of mentors' behavior responses to mentor-defined problems. The Critical Incident Technique was the method used to elicit reported and recalled incidents which either facilitated or impeded mentoring. Significant problems cited in the findings included communications gap in mentor/student relationship and the student's incompletion of academic work. Typical corresponding responses to such problems included providing support, demythologizing the learning process, setting behavior limits, and assessing and reassessing student performance. On the other hand, the critical requirements which were inductively derived from the critical incidents, as well as the practical implications which were gleaned from the study, revealed a definite extension of the traditional faculty role.The original document from which this article was adapted, including an extensive bibliography is on file with University of Microfilms International, Ann Arbor Michigan, 48108.     

DISCRIMINATORY ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXTS AND BLACK SCIENTISTS ON POSTSECONDARY FACULTIES

Severe underrepresentation of African-Americansamong postsecondary faculty is often linked toeducational pipeline supply problems,while institutional variations in demandfor black faculty labor and barriers to theirrecruitment and retention receive less empiricalattention. Using a nationally representative sample ofcollege faculty from a wide array of institutions andscience disciplines, this study investigates linksbetween internal organizational conditions and blackfaculty representation. Hypotheses derive from competingexplanations of the role of race in academicorganizations: institutionalized discrimination to protectdominant group privileges; statistical discriminationbased on expectations of racial group differences inacademic preparation; labor supply and politicalconstraints on black faculty recruitment. A multivariateanalysis examines organizational conditions that promoteor curb these dynamics and their relationship to blackappointments at different tenure levels. Results indicate that although the discipline-specificblack doctoral labor supply is a powerful constraint onthe representation of black faculty, selectiveorganizational contexts are substantial influences as well. Although we find little evidence thatinsulation from competition or segmented faculty labormarkets influence the racial composition of faculties,black faculty are more often found whereinstitutionalized discrimination may be checked by greaterformalization and black constituencies on campus.Consistent with statistical discrimination, blackfaculty are poorly represented at research-orientedinstitutions, even controlling for the scholarly reputationof doctoral credentials.     

Faculty research involvement and instructional outcomes

Faculty members in the natural-mathematical sciences (N=93) and in the social-behavioral sciences (N=90) were rated on research involvement by department heads and on teaching outcomes by students. Differences in teaching outcomes for members of the two disciplines confirmed several common stereotypes. Those heavily involved in research appeared to establish higher academic standards for students than did the relatively uninvolved, but the two faculty groups generally did not differ on student progress ratings. However, for four of ten criterion measures, a significant interaction occurred. Student ratings were positively related to the degree of research involvement for faculty members in natural-mathematical sciences but negatively related to research involvement on the part of social-behavioral scientists.     

A multivariate approach to the assessment of quality

Most quality assessment studies utilize a univariate approach to the assessment of quality. While the univariate approach has some merit, this study presents an alternative—the multivariate approach. Factor analysis identified three clusters of variables potentially linked to quality. These clusters, labeled faculty research, input, and student, were later used as bases for measuring departmental excellence. Seven indicators based on these clusters were developed. The indicators that combined the first and second clusters and the indicators that combined all three clusters appeared to have produced the best estimates of departmental excellence.     

Infusing humanistic activities into cognitively oriented curriculum

In our current quest for excellence, we often miss the essential nature of it. It is trendy to use such terms as back-to-basics, gifted education, and excellence to describe a new teaching strategy or innovative educational program. It is also true that many of these programs designed for children are really intended to benefit others.Harry Morgan is Chairman of Early Childhood Education at West Georgia College in Carrollton. He is author ofThe Learning Community (Charles Merrill).     

The role of professionalization in a collective bargaining election

This study examined a university's faculty voting in a collective bargaining election. Not only were the votes for and against bargaining collected, but also relevant demographic data were includedon each ballot. These data permit analysis of which specific faculty members at a comprehensive university tend to favor or oppose faculty bargaining. The variable of professionalization is identified as being important to the faculty members' decision. The findings have ramifications for faculties, governing boards, and governmental labor-relations agencies in considering how bargaining units should be composed and imposed.     

Analysis of external degree student participation and attitudinal variables

Adult student participation and attitudinal variables were examined in a university external capstone degree program utilizing Cross's Chain-of-Response model. Future goal orientation, anticipated educational benefits, attitude toward prior learning, program barriers, and program supports were all examined. Demographic characteristics were cross-tabulated with the responses to the variables and no differences were found. A number of important variables were identified and discussed using Cross's Chain-of-Response model.     

Training,stability and control

This paper presents a system-theoretic approach to the analysis of the problem of training formally relating it to the control of an abstract dynamic system, the adaption automaton of the trainee. The utility of this formulation and the possibility of basing real training strategies upon it are discussed, and it is argued that further constraints upon the automaton are both necessary, and available, in so far as the theory corresponds to practical reality. The minimal constraints generate an extended theory in which training is related to the stability of the adaption automaton. More practical constraints lead to theoretical foundations for strategies of feedback or adaptive training. Corresponding to each set of constraints a training theorem is proved which demonstrates that the constraint is adequate to lead to a simple universal training strategy.Although this paper is highly theoretical it is argued that the formal concepts introduced correspond to intuitive models of the phenomena of learning and training which are implicit in the design of many training systems. It is hoped that the formal analysis will throw new light on these implicit assumptions and help to clarify discussion of practical approaches to training, including the possibility of computer-aided instruction given on our present level of knowledge of human cognitive skills or individual students.     

Real-time simulation in computer-assisted instruction

Large scale computer-assisted instruction systems generally impose severe constraints upon the demands that individual users may make. Nevertheless, it is possible to overcome these problems and a program is described which teaches students how to fly a specific maneuver through real-time simulation of the flight of a student-controlled airplane. This is achieved in spite of the fact that the student is flying his plane through the use of a manually controlled analog input device. Both computational and educational implications are discussed.Contractual support for this work was provided in part by the Life Sciences Program Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Contract number F44620-70-C-0105. Dr. Charles Hutchinson was the scientific monitor of the contract.     

Institutional characteristics and faculty/administrator perceptions of outcomes: An exploratory analysis

Linkages between faculty/administrator perceptions of student outcomes and selected institutional characteristics were examined using data drawn from a survey of 320 four-year institutions and the HEGIS database. A particular focus of the study was to investigate the contribution of institutional culture variables on perceptions of effectiveness, independent of more traditional institutional characteristics such as size, type, selectivity, and control. Independent effects were established for perceptions of student satisfaction and student personal development, but were not demonstrated for student academic development or student career development. The study also confirmed relationships between institutional culture and faculty/administrator perceptions of a number of educational process variables generally held to be linked to student outcomes, for example, the frequency of student/faculty contact and the degree to which information and feedback are valued in decision making. Results suggest that institutional culture may be a powerful determinant of perceived effectiveness regardless of its structural setting.     

Higher educational impact on student objectives: Longitudinal change in Clark-Trow “educational philosophies”

This study explores the impact of higher education on 3,942 arts and sciences students as measured by change in their freshman and senior ratings of four Clark-Trow educational philosophies: vocational, academic, collegiate, and nonconformist (Clark and Trow, 1966). A repeated measures analysis of variance was applied to each of the four philosophies, controlling for sex, entering year, major, parents' educational background, scholastic aptitude, and academic motivation. As expected from Clark-Trow theory, students showed significant increases in academic and nonconformist philosophies, and decreases in vocational and collegiate philosophies. Relationships between independent variables and freshman-senior change suggested post hoc reinterpretation of the dimensions underlying the Clark-Trow phenotypes: i.e., from identification with the college and involvement with ideas to social interests and academic interests (the latter suggested by Terenzini and Pascarella, 1977).