PPBS in higher education planning and management: Part III,perspectives and applications of policy analysis

This is the concluding part of a three-part series on Planning, Program, Budgeting Systems (PPBS) in higher education planning and management. After the experiences of the University of California with PPBS, which we reviewed in Part II, and the subsequent lack of success of PPBS in non-defense applications, we believe a more carefully focused policy analysis approach to be more fruitful. In this paper we describe the nature, foci, and analytical base for policy analysis and present a case study of policy analysis applied to the decision of year-round operations for the University of California. Finally, we give some concluding comments and observations.Parts I and II have previously appeared in Higher Education (1972), vol. 1, nos. 2 and 3.     

Career Choice: An Exploration of Personal Possibilities by Young People in Australia and Singapore

In most cultures, young people begin to think about plans for the future during adolescence. In particular, the question of career choice becomes especially salient. Among the various crises associated with adolescence in Western cultures, that of choosing a career has been singled out by some researchers as the most problematic developmental task facing youth (Grinder, 1975; Connell et al, 1975). Wish-fulfilling fantasies decline and realistic thinking about education and work increases (Lessing, 1968) and the development of the self is accompanied by developing views on the world of work (Pryor, 1983). In developing countries, it has been suggested that the level of development becomes a pressure on the career orientation of youth. For example, to the extent that certain sets of values defined as ‘modern’ are accepted, then the desire for upward mobility, consumerism and enhanced life-style become associated with educational and occupational criteria (Saha, 1981; Chang, 1983).     

Culture difference and science education

The author reviews conceptions of culture and language to provide a conceptual framework for understanding the ways in which cultural differences between students and science teachers can influence learning of that subject. The paper is both theoretical and practical.     

Reviews

Mr Coler was formerly Pricipal of Bede College, Durham, and was Consultant to the Council for Educational Techbology's Colleges of Education Learning Programmers Project 1971–76 Making the Best of It: the final report of the Nuffield Foundation Group for Research and Innovation in Higher Education .
Mr Hallqorth is Director of Wiltshire County Council Library and Museum Service New Media in Public Libraries: a survey of current practices by James W Brown     

Layers and links: Learning to juggle ‘one more thing’ in the classroom

This paper presents a model—hypertextual function—to consider teachers’ thinking, practice, and development in the use of technology. Hypertextual function is a multi-dimensional model linking a teacher's knowledge about students (familiarity) and technology (facility), with a teacher's teaching practice of integrating technology with content (transparency) and across disciplines and experiences (connectivity), and a teacher's sense of support (collegiality). Additionally, a teacher's context affects each of these. Such a model is important as technology becomes more pervasive and integrating technology into classrooms adds another layer of complexity to teaching. Case studies and graphic representations of the proposed model are presented.     

Responses to Educational Television: a case‐study

The paper focuses on the need to evaluate responses to educational television despite the difficulties involved. Case‐study and survey methods were used in one Local Education Authority and responses to a documentary schools' broadcast by 129 pupils in four schools examined in detail. Pupils who engaged in spoken or written follow‐up activities to the programme were more prone to change attitudes as a result when compared with a control group who experienced no follow‐up. Greater tentativeness was shown by the group engaging in extensive follow‐up (talking and writing) and this group also achieved higher essay marks than pupils who had not engaged in discussion follow‐up. Implications for classroom practice in relation to ETV are considered.     

‘... for more and better religious education’

Mahner and Bunge argue that (1) science and religion are incompatible, in order to develop their thesis, that (2) a religious education ... is an obstacle to the development of a scientific mentality, and that therefore we should only teach our children (3) how science explains the existence of religion in historical, biological, psychological and sociological terms, and that (4) religious education should be kept away from public schools ... I offer brief comments on each of these strands of their argument. Religionists, to use Mahner and Bunge's term, generally come from a specific stance so I shall make it clear, from the outset, that these remarks come from a Christian standpoint, even though many of them are much more widely applicable. Although I agree with some of the observations which Mahner and Bunge make, my conclusions are generally opposite to theirs on each of the four points.