Course evaluation and attitudes toward college teaching

Prior research suggests that attitudes may be one category of personal (student) variables that students bring to the task of evaluating college courses and their instructors. In a previous study, attitudes toward college teaching, in general, and the perceived progessivism of instructors, in particular, were associated with students' evaluations of courses. Perceived attitudes were a kind of evaluation. The results of the study raised the question as to when the attitude-evaluation relation was first formed in the course of a semester and whether a causal order between them could be established. The present study, using a repeated-measures design, replicated the major findings of the previous study on a cross-section of University of Haifa students attending 22 courses. While there is no clear evidence for the priority of either attitudes or evaluation, the findings indicate that their association is formed early in the course, with some further consolidation later on. Both attitudes and evaluations are remarkably stable during the course. In view of these findings it is suggested that classroom evaluations might be moved back to one of the first meetings of the course to allow for feedback and changes in the instructor's presentation. Moreover, perceived attitude measures could be developed into an indirect measure of teacher performance.     

Faculty attitudes toward industrial research on campus

To gauge the attitudes of university faculty concerning the effect of corporate funding on campus research norms, we conducted a study of research faculty in Texas, employing the theoretical framework proposed by Alvin Gouldner. Gouldner theorized that the most privileged academics hold the most conservative social and academic views. In his view, the most highly research-oriented faculty—those who are senior, engaged in professional activities, and in important and secure positions—have careerist values that influence the reward system for other sociologists. These gatekeepers control professional dogma, and by means of editorships, board memberships, and other professional peer judgments establish normative behavior for the discipline. By analogy, natural scientists who compete successfully for research grants are in a position of having the most to gain by the status quo, and hence are very conservative; their own success convinces this elite tier of faculty that a meritocracy is at work. Several of our findings corroborated Gouldner's thesis, particularly in the convergence of ideologies between junior and senior faculty, and the higher propensity of scientists to support applied research. Finally, the impact of disciplinary orientation, as opposed to faculty rank or appointment, is discussed with a view to subsequent research.     

Faculty attitudes toward student evaluation of teaching

This study dealt with university faculty attitudes toward the validity of and varying uses for student evaluations of teaching. It was hypothesized that faculty attitudes toward the potential uses of student evaluations would be systematically related to a professor's a priori frame of reference regarding the validity of these instruments. On the basis of responses to selected questionnaire items, faculty were divided into those whose frame of reference (1) opposed the idea that student evaluations could be made valid, (2) supported the idea that existing evaluation forms were valid, and (3) were uncommitted regarding this validity question. A fourth group, administrators at the university, were also surveyed. Large and consistent differences among these groups were found on policy matters such as the use of student evaluations in tenure and promotion decisions, in providing information to students to help them choose courses, and on a variety of other issues. In each case the results supported the hypothesis.Authors' names are ordered randomly.     

Religion and attitudes of college preservice teachers toward students with disabilities: implications for higher education

The study examined attitudes toward school inclusion of students with disabilities of 1,145 prospective teacher trainees from six national/religious groups in eleven colleges in Israel: The groups were secular, religious and ultra-orthodox Jews and Muslim, Christian and Druze Arabs. Participants responded to the “Opinion Related to Inclusion Scale”. Trainees in all six groups supported the principle of inclusion while simultaneously recognizing the need for segregated special education placements. Several significant group differences were found on the total score and the factor scores. The most supportive group of inclusion (i.e., the strongest rejection of segregation and the least concern about behavior problems) was the Jewish secular group followed by the Jewish religious group. The least support for inclusion was found for the ultra-orthodox Jewish group and the Arab groups. Implications for the preparation of educators in institutions of higher education were discussed.     

Educational ethology and experiments in vacuo: Some implications for research and education 1

Course memories and careful observation in the field are both important if researchers are to come to grips with the problems in the real world of the public schools. We should keep in mind that our goal is the production of causal statements which potentially make some educationally significant difference. Using “experiments in vacuo”; a la Galileo is one way for researchers to keep themselves oriented toward the production of causal statements. “Experiments in vacuo” are also a means to avoid overlooking obvious simplicities or appraising nonevents. The examples given in this article illustrate the operation of causal events operating in chains and in parallel and some pitfalls of not examining, at least hypothetically, such causal chains or of distinguishing between causal events operating in series or in parallel. Avoiding such pitfalls is one way to prevent the pessimistic view that research tells us nothing and education makes no difference.     

Gender and attitudes toward work

This paper presents some differences between men and women regarding their attitudes to work and the implications of those attitudes regarding counselling. The subjects were 300 Polish students (150 men and 150 women) and 306 German students. The study is part of a larger collaborative research program conducted in 43 countries by Lynn (1991). The results are presented against the background of Weber's (1929) Protestant work ethic, Schumpeter's (1934) theory of competitiveness, McClelland's (1976) theory of achievement motivation, and Wiener's (1981) theory of low valuation of business.All of these theories seek to show the relationship and influence of the psychology of the individual, as that is manifested in attitude, on the economic growth of a nation. The results of the present study support Wiener's theory that the social status of business occupations play an important role in the growth of economies. They also reveal that men are generally more concerned than women, with the attitudes, and values, that are considered as a motive power of economic growth.     

Basic research in speech and lateralization of language: Some implications for reading disability

Basic research in speech and the lateralization of language is shown to illuminate the problems of reading and some of its disabilities. First, it is pointed out how speech, or language for the ear, differs markedly from reading, or language for the eye. Though the sounds of speech are a very complex code and the optical shapes of written language are a simple cipher or alphabet on the phonemes, we all perceive speech easily but read only with difficulty. Perceiving speech is easy because, as members of the human race, we all have access to a special physiological apparatus that decodes the complex speech signal and recovers the segmentation of the linguistic message. Reading is hard because the phonemic segmentation, which is automatic and intuitive in the case of speech, must be made fully conscious and explicit. The syllabic method supplemented by phonics (used with certain reservations) is suggested for remediation of segmentation problems. Second, it is posited that since the sounds of speech are processed differently from non-speech sounds, the two should not be diagnosed and remediated interchangeably. Third, it is shown that the relationships among cerebral lateralization for language, handedness and poor reading can now be studied more meaningfully because of the recent development of new techniques. A truism often heard in the opening lecture of graduate classes in education is that we have few answers to the problems that beset us, only questions. In the field of reading, the difficulty may be owing at least in part to our impatient attempts to find immediate solutions for the teacher and the student in the classroom, and our consequent neglect of basic research. I should like to suggest today how knowledge of basic research in related disciplines may lead to clues for improving beginning reading instruction and the lot of the disabled reader—if only by affording us a deeper understanding of the reading process. Paper based on a talk given at the Twenty-first Annual Conference of The Orton Society, Washington, D.C., November 14, 1970.     

Educational research and reform: Some implications for the professional identity of early years teachers

Abstract

This paper examines the way in which recent criticisms of the work of primary school teachers in Britain, most notably those entailed in and following the publication of the so‐called ‘Three Wise Men's Report’, have attempted to redefine the professional identity of early years teachers. The paper objects to the manner in which their critiques have been formulated and calls upon educational researchers to adopt a less reverential attitude to government proposals for the reform of primary education in general and early years schooling in particular.     

The advance of research and evaluation skills by EPs: implications for training and professional development

Research and evaluation has become increasingly important in many professions, including educational psychology, particularly as the profession moves to becoming more evidence‐based in its practice. The recent move to a three year doctoral programme in England, Wales and Northern Ireland may be viewed as a positive one in developing research skills, although it is also crucial to consider what could be done to extend the research skills of those already qualified. Lessons may be learned by looking to clinical psychology and some of the health professions. Finally, some further implications for the training and professional development of Educational Psychologists (EPs) in the UK are considered.