Faculty attitudes toward student protest

As part of a large-scale university survey, a random sample of faculty (75% of whom had had firsthand experience with serious student revolt) were asked for their reaction to a series of questions dealing with student protest — with the reasons for it, the kinds of student protest tactics employed, and the type of actions an administration might take to control it. Statistical comparisons were made between faculty, students, and administrators; and among faculty across disciplines to try to account for different attitudes. Findings suggest that faculty differ less among themselves than from other university constituent groups as to attitude about protest. They tend to distinguish sharply between dissent (which they support) and disruption (which they do not), and to favor responses to protest which keep the university open and functioning. Finally, the view is advanced that violent unrest is the unfortunate result of reciprocal escalation which can be avoided by attention to the causes of dissent rather than its dramatic manifestations.Revised and adapted from a paper delivered at the National Convention of the American Educational Studies Association, Washington, D.C., November 1972     

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.     

Deaf college students' attitudes toward racial/ethnic diversity, campus climate, and role models

Deaf college students' attitudes toward a variety of issues related to racial/ethnic diversity were surveyed by contacting all racial/ethnic minority deaf students and a random sample of Caucasian deaf students attending the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID), Rochester Institute of Technology; 38% completed the survey. Although racial/ethnic groups similarly perceived NTID's commitment and efforts related to diversity, they differed significantly on some items related to campus climate and role models. Furthermore, the racial/ethnic minority groups differed from each other in their perceptions of campus comfort level, racial conflict, friendship patterns, and availability of role models. Educational satisfaction was positively correlated with campus comfort level; both correlated negatively with perception of discrimination and racial conflict. Qualitative data analyses supported quantitative data analyses and provided rich detail that facilitated interpretation of deaf students' experiences related to racial/ethnic diversity.     

Student attitudes toward mandatory fees

Responses to questions on demography, knowledge about student fees, attitudes toward collection and distribution of fees, and utilization and satisfaction with 8 specific fee-funded programs were collected by mail survey from a sample of 1,002 University of Colorado (Boulder campus) students stratified by class year, ethnic group, and school. Only one-third paid their own fees, and less than 30% knew the amount of their fees within $5. Only graduate students advocated a cutback in services to obtain a reduction in fees; most students would accept higher fees to fund three new programs. Differences among students in attitudes toward and use of fee-funded services were definite among year subgroups and minimal among ethnic and school subgroups.     

Faculty attitude toward a nontraditional studies program

A survey was conducted among faculty members to determine their feelings about a nontraditional degree program. The faculty did not feel that the degree was of less rigor than a traditional degree and was in general favorable to the idea of innovative degree programs. However, the faculty was skeptical about any rewards that they might accrue by participating in the program.     

Modifying attitudes toward persons with hearing impairments. A comprehensive review of the research

Negative attitudes toward persons with hearing impairments adversely affect their opportunities and self-concepts. Thus, modifying such attitudes is of concern to educators and researchers. An exhaustive search of the literature yielded 12 reports of research on modifying attitudes toward persons with hearing impairments. The research results were mixed--some studies even yielded negative attitude outcomes--and the quality of the studies was not high. Of the treatments studied, properly structured contact in particular showed promise for improving attitudes toward persons with hearing impairments.     

Student attitudes toward closed-circuit instructional television

Summary The objectives of this study were to examine (1) the relative effectiveness of closed-circuit television for classroom teaching compared to conventional teaching and (2) the acceptability of closed-circuit television teaching to the students. A course was offered both by closed-circuit television and by conventional teaching. Students within each group were asked to rate the course and other related concepts. In addition, their examination grades were obtained. No differences were found with respect to performance. The students taught via television rated the course and their instructors relatively lower than those who received conventional instruction. Howard M. Bobren is assistant to the director, Institute of Communications Research and Sheldon L. Siegel is research assistant, College of Education, both at the University of Illinois.     

Elementary teachers' attitudes toward preassessment procedures

A questionnaire assessing their attitudes toward preassessment procedures was mailed to 300 elementary teachers; a 70% return rate was achieved. A 3 × 2 analysis of variance yielded main effects for years of experience and referral history. Teachers with more than 6 years of experience had significantly more negative attitudes toward preassessment than did teachers with less than 2 years of experience. Teachers who had made referrals to a preassessment team had significantly more negative attitudes than teachers who had no history of referrals to preassessment teams. Suggestions for modifying the preassessment process are offered.     

Scaling of attitudes toward population problems

An attitudinal scale on population problems is constructed. Although the determination of attitudes of Americans toward population problems is meaningful in itself, an additional effort is made to demonstrate the empirical validity of acknowledged variables. Data were collected in the Tulsa Oklahoma Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area using a stratified proportionate sample. The 372 respondents representing a 1% sample do not differ significantly from the population of the total Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area. The interview schedule consisted of items designed to elicit standard socioeconomic information on the respondents along with their attitudes toward population problems. Using the Guttman technique of scalogram analysis, a population problems scale containing 6 items was developed. After validation of the original set of attitudinal items by factor analysis, the scale scores of the respondents were compared with selected socioeconomic variables in an attempt to empirically validate the scale. Using the Student's "t" associated with the Apearman rank correlation coefficient value and the Kruskal-Wallis 1-way analysis of variance, only the variables of education, number of children, and occupation proved to be associated with the population problems scale scores. It was learned that these variables were significant in other studies and do help to establish the empirical validity of the scale. The lack of association of variables of marital status, income, religion, race, and age suggest that the empirical validity of such relationships requires additional examination.     

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 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.     

信阳市高校校园植物造景调查研究

本文选取信阳市具有代表性的三所高等院校作为研究对象,以相关文献为参考标准,结合实地调查资料,对三所高校绿地植物造景特色进行归纳总结,并分析自然生态因素和社会因素对植物造景的影响,在此基础上针对造景中存在的实际问题提出相应的解决建议。     

基于WEB的校园多媒体教学平台技术研究

随着计算机网络技术和多媒体技术的发展,传统的教学模式发生了根本的变化,基于WEB的网络化、交互式的教学平台已得到了社会广泛的认同。该文立足于现代教育的实际需要,结合开发实践,给出了校园多媒体教学平台的总体框架、设计模块,并就教学平台的系统安全进行了分析研究。