FUNDAMENTAL DELIBERATIONS ON THE DETERMINATION OF EQUIVALENCES BASED ON THE AUSTRIAN EXPERIENCE

International university co‐operation which serves to Internationalize science and knowledge requires that students, teachers, and scientists be internationally mobile. For mobility to occur on a wide scale, it must be the object of inter‐university and international bilateral and multilateral agreements. The various sorts of agreement which have been negotiated and enacted since the 1950's have been very successful. Recognition and equivalence must be based on qualitative rather than on quantitative factors, and above all on trust Recognition procedures could be further perfected by such actions as the preparation of a set of harmonizable recommendations, on the determination of equivalences, greater co‐operation among the various European information networks on equivalence, and publication of a manual on recognized universities in Europe.     

THE VITALITY OF BASIC UNITS IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN TURKEY

Starting off with a brief evocation of the origins of modern higher education in Turkey and the founding of Hacettepe University, the author proceeds to describe how the Department of English at this university spawned several other language‐related departments and eventually became itself the Department of Western Languages and Literatures. It is now subdivided into 5 units and subunits. Although the department itself is no longer a basic unit, it serves as testimony to the strength and the vitality of basic units.     

THE LINGUISTIC FACTOR IN THE TEST INTELLIGENCE OF WEST AFRICAN CHILDREN

A questionnaire was used to investigate students’ conceptions of an ideal university when they began their university course and again two years later. The results indicated that over a two‐year period the students focused their attention on the academic aspects of university life and progressively de‐emphasized those characteristics which are not central to success on a degree course. This process of focusing or convergence occurred among students in all fields of study. At the same time there was a process of divergence in the educational values of scientists and technologists on the one hand, and arts and social science students on the other. These two groups moved apart during the two‐year period in their conception of an ideal university.     

THE UNEQUAL EQUALITIES OF WOMEN'S ACADEMIC CAREERS IN ALBANIA

Until the end of the Second World War, the population of Albania was more than 80 per cent illiterate; women, more than 90 per cent. Great progress was made, however, in education after 1946. During the 1950's, women gained access to higher education. Despite anti‐feminist, traditional attitudes towards women which persist in Albania, women now make up more than 50 per cent of all university students in the country, one third of the teaching staff at the University of Tirana, and one fourth of the staff in Albanian higher education and research as a whole. Nevertheless, the progress of Albanian women in academic careers is still very slow. The statistics indicate that the sexual equality achieved with regard to access to higher education turns into in‐equality further on in academic careers. Both in terms of academic qualifications and the filling of ranking positions in higher education and research institutions, women are a liny minority as compared to men.     

THE CONFLICTING REQUIREMENTS OF TEACHING,RESEARCH, AND MANAGEMENT IN UNIVERSITIES

The activities of teaching staff members in universities have changed considerably over the last few years. The interests of the latter in some of these activities have also changed. This article analyzes the difficulties facing university teachers in their efforts to meet the demands made on them in modern universities. The proportional increase in resources means that teachers tend to devote them‐selves to activities that are more productive from a professional or a personal point of view while neglecting others. Universities should make changes in their organization and everyday functioning which would permit a more rational division of the necessary tasks. In addition, university administrations should increase the resources available to their universities in order to bring about such changes.     

THE PRESENT CONTEXT OF EUROPEAN ACADEMIC EXCHANGE: THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE TO EUROPEAN CO‐OPERATION IN THE DOMAIN OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND RESEARCH

This article outlines the activities of the Council of Europe in favour of inter‐university co‐operation and exchange. First, the role and tasks of the CC‐PU and then the work programme of the Council of Europe on higher education and research are examined. With regard to academic mobility and European inter‐university co‐operation, the Transfrontier Regional University Co‐operation Programme, the European Postgraduate Training Programme, and the Inter‐university Co‐operation Programme between Europe and Latin America are described. Finally, both the European Networks for Scientific and Technical Co‐operation and the Open Partial Agreement on the Prevention of, Protection Against, and Organisation of Relief in Major Natural and Technological Disasters and their constituent activities are evoked.     

THE CHANGING ROLE OF CAREERS SERVICES IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

The strength of specialist careers advisory services in United Kingdom universities is linked to the in loco parentis tradition and also to the tradition of occupational flexibility on graduation. The evolution of such services from appointments boards to careers services is traced in terms of three sequential changes: the impact of counselling, the growth of careers education, and the move towards an open‐access style of delivery. The overlap of roles between careers services and teaching departments is analyzed in relation to individual guidance and placement, and particularly in relation to careers education. The extent of overlap tends to vary between vocational, semi‐vocational, and non‐vocational courses. The emergence of the concept of personal transferable skills has encouraged new forms of partnership between careers services and teaching departments. This development raises questions about where careers services should be located organizationally within higher education institutions. Should they, for example, be aligned to other student services, to academic services, or to marketing services? What organizational benefits do institutions seek from such services? Are they part of the core offer made to students, or additional.services which are open to. review in terms of their specific costs and benefits?     

INTER‐UNIVERSITY CO‐OPERATION IN EUROPE: THE IMPACT OF REGIONAL UNIVERSITY CO‐OPERATION ON THE PROMOTION OF EAST‐WEST RELATIONS

The development of inter‐university co‐operation in Europe is conditioned by such major sets of events'as the evolution of the EC, growing environmental awareness, and the recent revolutionary changes in eastern Europe. Attempts to develop inter‐university cooperation between eastern and western European universities must still cope with the heritage of some forty‐five years of a divided Europe. Such strong points of the eastern European universities as research capacity should be recognized. A very good way to further inter‐university co‐operation on a broad front is through interregional co‐operation, particularly that linking contiguous regions on the East‐West European divide.     

Where are we now? Auditing the implementation of an equal opportunities policy ‘on the ground’ in a new university

Abstract

A strongly held belief in the importance of individual merit makes it difficult for universities to move beyond a limited liberal interpretation of equal opportunities, which emphasizes equality of opportunity focusing on the absence of overtly discriminatory practice. Using the findings of a faculty equal opportunities’ audit, this paper demonstrates the conflict at ground level between traditional notions of academic excellence and the more radical aspirations of equality of outcome. It also reveals that an exclusive focus on conventional generic areas of discrimination such as gender, ethnicity and disability can obscure more contextually specific issues such as the perceived devaluing of ‘non‐academic’ staff by their academic colleagues.

The faculty audited was sited in a new university and comprised four departments with an overall total of 1115 students and 153 staff. Data was gathered in four stages namely (a) compilation of a demographic data base, (b) semi‐structured interviews with heads of departments, (c) two course audits including questionnaires to staff and students, and (d) semi‐structured interviews with administrative and technical staff. Findings were also related to those being generated by simultaneous audit activity in other parts of the university.     

Subject departments as professional communities?

A growing body of literature suggests that when schools become professional communities there are expected benefits in terms of teacher learning, school improvement and student achievement. In this article the concept of professional communities is examined for certain subject departments in Dutch secondary schools. The authors report on research into the extent to which mathematics departments operate as professional communities. At the same time, it was investigated whether the level at which departments operate as professional communities is related to student achievement. The results indicate that departments are cohesive bodies regulating teacher behaviour in several respects. However, as professional communities they do not focus on improving the quality of their teachers and instruction. Some characteristics of professional communities prove to be beneficial for student achievement, while others are not. The authors offer recommendations on how departments can develop into more professionally organised communities.     

DOCTORAL TRAINING IN EUROPE

This article essentially fulfills three tasks, that of giving a rapid and systematic overview of doctoral programmes by country in western Europe, that of describing certain initiatives taken by specific countries with the aim of improving third cycle (doctoral) studies, and that of arguing in favour of the establishment of so‐called European inter‐university doctoral programmes. So far as the first task is concerned, the authors note that all but two of the countries concerned have opted for the so‐called PhD type of doctoral programme rather than for long‐cycle programmes. In the case of the second task, they have given particular attention to efforts made in the Federal Republic of Germany to create separate doctoral level institutions. In the case of the third task, the authors have sketched a networking process by which inter‐university and inter‐disciplinary doctoral programmes are being created in certain specific disciplines, particularly scientific ones. The authors consider that such doctorates hold great potential but that their elaboration is being held up by lack of resources and by difficulties in finding, matching, and linking partners.     

THE DETERMINATION AND EVALUATION OF RESULTS IN THE STUDY PROCESS

Student assessment and grading schemes in higher education institutions should be adapted and applied in such a way that they stimulate students to achieve to the utmost of their abilities. It is not sufficient to simply give a grade to a student for a task accomplished or even to give him an average grade for a series of tasks accomplished during a given time period, a semester, for instance. Rather it is necessary to create an action framework of a kind which links the performance dynamic of both students and teachers so as to ensure the accurate determination, evaluation, and analysis of the joint student‐teacher performance behaviour in such a way that the individual procedures subject to evaluation can be grouped into joint procedures which stimulate self‐determination self‐evaluation, and self‐analysis on the part of students, teachers, and eventually, the employers of graduates. The authors have designed two models which illustrate optimum evaluation procedures of the kind which they favour.     

Work‐based Learning and Universities in the U.K.: a review of current practice and trends

This article is concerned primarily with university‐related work‐based learning in the UK. The authors trace the development of work‐based learning from its early days to the wide variety of styles and scale currently being practised. In the wake of the Dearing Report, they review the experience of work experience and sandwich courses; the move from work experience to work‐based learning; work‐based learning for those in work; and work‐based learning through technological transfer. The authors identify key variables which appear to determine the nature of different styles of work‐based learning including the tension between the twin purposes of international competitiveness and student personal development, and the willingness of the universities to move from their traditional control of the curriculum to allow a greater variety of learning experiences. The authors focus on the emergence of learner‐managed three‐way partnerships between the learner, the university, and the employer based on real‐time, work‐based projects as a way of reconciling economic benefit with personal development as purposes for work‐based learning. The article concludes by identifying some of the key educational issues which such schemes raise and identifies possible future directions in which they might develop.     

THE IMPACT OF TELEVISION IN THE SOCIAL CONTEXT

Studies which purport to demonstrate the adverse effects of television on the behaviour and moral standards of young people are consistent in that they refer to the media in isolation. It is frequently forgotten that television is merely one of many cues available to the child. Parents, peers and the demand characteristics of situations are more important as determiners of our social behaviour.

Experimental studies have demonstrated, however, that some children are more prone to be influenced by television than others, variables such as intelligence and the lack of a specific competence being of importance. Experiments are discussed which demonstrate that the extent of a child's pre‐experience affects the amount he is influenced by filmed models, and also that working‐class children are more influenced than their middle‐class counterparts because of their more limited experiences. It is suggested that a child's experiences “innoculate” him against the influence of television. Studies which show that children from relatively deprived home backgrounds are less able to fantasise and therefore are more vulnerable to the impact of television support the idea that the more deprived the child's own environment the greater the impact of television.     

THE ROLE OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ACADEMIES OF SCIENCE IN INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

The political changes occurring in eastern and central Europe in 1989 and 1990 and the breakup of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1991 fragmented a large area in which science and technology policy was more or less centralized and rationalized. Each country in this area, as a result, has had to develop its own science and technology policy in very difficult situations of transition. One of the attempts made to re‐establish some order and unity in science policy in the former socialist countries has been spearheaded by the International Association of Academies of Sciences, founded in Kiev in 1991. It is attempting, on a voluntary basis, to assume some of the functions of the former Soviet Academy of Sciences, and in particular, to re‐create the scientific space existing before 1989‐1991. Among its many projects are efforts in favour of young scientists and closer co‐operation with other international organizations of academies.     

ANALYSIS OF COSTS AND BENEFITS IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY

It is quite clear that the university‐sector of higher education will be facing severe financial restraint over the next four or five years. Publicly‐financed service industries (of which the university is but one example) find decision‐making in times of retrenchment difficult. Self‐governing bodies with dispersed centres of power can operate without too many problems in periods of growth. Conflicts of interest can be controlled and Departments can accept short‐term limitations as long as it seems that “their turn will come” in future years. But now decision‐making in universities will probably become more rigorous, more questioning, and much more liable to adopt an adversary approach towards Departments which resist decisions.

In these circumstances it is important to examine the role of educational technology within universities, and the decisions to be made in assessing their cost‐effectiveness.     

消除女大学生“贫困心理”影响的策略研究

大学生心理状况总体呈现健康稳定的发展态势,但女生的心理问题呈增长趋势,其中贫困家庭女生的心理问题更为突出。其诱因既有显而易见的教育失衡、学业纷扰、就业压力等,也有贫困问题。通过＂唤醒教育＂来解决大学生与贫困关联的心理困顿是笔者研究的焦点,其研究有助于推动高校学生政治思想工作的深入开展。     

HIGHER EDUCATION FOR THE SECOND HALF OF LIFE: THE STATE OF THE ART AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVES

This paper offers some aims for education at the university level for middle‐age and older adults. A review of the scope of knowledge and practice in this field is presented along with a brief analysis of some factors leading to the growing interest in this area, in which a lack of empirical knowledge and clear philosophy is evident. Research findings from life‐span developmental studies on the cognitive, personality, and motivational characteristics of older people are discussed in terms of their implications for higher education. In the light of these considerations, suggestions for planning academic programs for older adults are presented. Academic programs must be rooted in curricula that concurrently foster age integration at the university while attending to the special needs of middle‐age and older adults. Academic programs require programs of action research and training for educators and students of adult development. This is seen as essential to promote future progress in this area.     

Mentoring new university teachers

Abstract

The paper begins by outlining evidence that mentorships are extensive in British higher education. Second, it examines the role of the mentor, drawing attention to the complexity and confusion that exists around this central issue. Next, the authors turn to the various models of mentoring. Taking issue with those who support formal intervention and hierarchical relationships, they argue for a more organic approach, in which regulations are not closely prescribed and participants are empowered to develop their partnership in ways that are congruent with their culture. The paper questions the relative lack of convincing data on the effectiveness of mentoring, either from research or from within organizations’ own evaluation systems, and suggests a future research agenda focused on this issue. Throughout, the focus is on the role of the mentor rather than the role of the mentee or protégé, drawing on data from the authors’ own universities, two ‘old’ research‐led universities with traditions of collegiality (Nottingham is a large provincial university that was founded in the 1880's and acquired a Royal Charter in 1948; Keele dates from 1950, is a smaller, campus‐based university, with strong traditions of multi‐disciplinarity).