Five years of strategic environmental assessment efforts at a research university: A case study of an organizational innovation

This study examined the emergence and subsequent five-year history of environmental scanning at a large research university. Proponents of strategic approaches to management in organizations usually recommend environmental scanning as a necessary support for effective decision making. The technique seeks to build systematic understanding of the external environment of the organization, via ongoing reconnaissance of relevant developments in technology, the economy, the political and legal arenas, and the larger society. Scanning's fit with educational organizations may be problematic, however. Over time, scanning efforts on the campus studied here became less theory-based and less centralized, and scanning failed to become an institutionalized innovation. The difficulties in institutionalizing scanning are traced to six factors: limitations posed by organizational structure, an absence of powerful champions, constraints from the organizational culture, the existence of a policy vacuum surrounding scanning efforts, the daunting demands of such efforts themselves, and questionable articulation with the fundamental goals and mission of the institution. The analysis suggests that the generic scanning model seems unlikely to win acceptance in research universities without substantial modification.His research and his teaching focus upon organization and policy in higher education. Among his current research projects are an investigation of the changing demography of the professoriate and a study of the effects of the ongoing centralization of higher-education governance at the state level in the U.S. His Ph.D. is from Stanford University.His primary focus is assisting academic disciplines and institutions in developing ecologically sensitive curricula and sustainable practices.He received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.     

Flexible coursework delivery to Australian postgraduates: How effective is the teaching and learning?

The educational implications of non-traditional delivery methods atpostgraduate level are not yet well understood. A major question is whetheradvantages of access and flexibility are accompanied by trade-offs inlearning experiences and outcomes. In this paper we address the effectivenessof delivery methods currently used in postgraduate coursework programs inAustralia. We draw heavily on a national study of flexible delivery methodsin postgraduate education, conducted in 1995.Following a nation-wide survey, we investigated the effects of deliverytechnologies on learning and teaching in seven postgraduate courses.Information was collected, mostly by taped interview, from staff andstudents, and also from course documentation. We present here a typology,based on teaching and learning characteristics, by which we found it usefulto group delivery methods. We identify and discuss four major issuesconcerning the effects of these delivery methods on learning and on teaching,under the headi ngs learner control of learning, interaction and socialexchange, teachers as supporters of student learning and feedback inteaching. As well, we report, according to the typology, the effects ofspecific technologies on teaching and learning.We conclude that on the score of encouraging intellectual independencemany non-traditional delivery methods are fairly robust – on managingcomplexity or uncertainty and encouraging a lively critical inquiry, theyfare less well. From what we have seen, the most effective strategies atpostgraduate level use integrated delivery approaches to create flexiblelearning environments with premiums on individual time management andpractical application of learning. Considerably more detailed evaluation ofthe resulting learning outcomes is needed.     

Increasing Positive Playground Interaction for Kindergarten Students at Risk for Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

Students who experience social withdrawal and anxiety (internalizing difficulties) are often overlooked in schools due to the covert nature of their symptoms. The literature lacks empirically supported preventive approaches for kindergarten students who are socially withdrawn and behind their peers in developing social skills. Furthermore, research suggests that parents often are not adequately involved in interventions during this critical period of social development. In response to this need, a school-based intervention was implemented to increase the positive social interaction of three kindergarten students on the playground. Treatment consisted of (a) social skills training, (b) adult mediation, (c) self-evaluation and reinforcement, and (d) parent involvement through home notes. The effects of this intervention were assessed on the playground during recess using partial interval recording of target students’ positive interactions. During implementation of the intervention, all target students demonstrated improvements in social interaction. Future studies should investigate whether addressing the limitations of this study would yield stronger results with this underserved population.     

A validity study of two paper-pencil tests of concrete and formal operations

Two group paper-pencil batteries, the Longeot (consisting of three subtests) and three puzzles (KLR) from Science Teaching and the Development of Reasoning, were administered to 607 students from ninth and tenth grade mathematics and science classes. A subsample of 69 students was then administered three Inhelder tasks (chemicals, rods, and shadows). In general, the expected developmental trends were confirmed, with formal status being most difficult to attain on the Inhelder tasks and easiest to attain on the Longeot. The correlations between the KLR and Inhelder (0.61, p < 0.01) and the Longeot and Inhelder (0.55, p < 0.05) were moderately high. According to the method of Shayer (Note 2), it was found that each of five paper-pencil subtests discriminates at or between the 2B (late concrete) and 3A (early formal) levels while the sixth subtest, the mealworm puzzle, was found to discriminate at the 3A level. This study indicates that either group battery may be useful in identifying transitional subjects. However, if a more stringent criterion of “formal” is needed, a “success” rate of four or five out of the six subtests may be required. Both group batteries are relatively easy to administer and score with a minimum of guidance, although the KLR scoring might need to be simplified for use by the practitioner. Sex differences found on the KLR and the Longeot are suggestive of the potential differential use of these tests by researchers investigating sex differences in achievement or aptitude.     

The adult part-time learner in colleges and universities: A clientele analysis

Using the 1975 National Center for Educational Statistics/Bureau of Census Participation in Adult Education survey data, this paper presents an analysis of part-time students at colleges and universities—who participates and who persists. Separate analyses of public two-year colleges and noncredit activities are also presented. The analysis is followed with a discussion of the implications. A general conclusion is that adult education at colleges and universities may rest on a precariously narrow base.     

Do They Know What They Are Doing? Children's Use of Economical Addition Strategies and Knowledge of Commutativity

Children's methods of solving addition problems progress towards strategies that reverse the order of addends. The role knowledge of commutativity plays in this development is not clear. Previous studies suggest some use the strategies without believing addend order is irrelevant to addition. The numbers of such children are very small and the tests of commutativity may be inaccurate. Two studies using new tasks compare strategy use and knowledge. In the first, 47/48 children between 6 and 10 years old predicted order of addends would not alter quantity in some contexts. They also predominantly used strategies that reversed addend order. In the second study, 5‐year‐olds (18/24) were more likely to know commutativity than to use a strategy that reversed addend order or to answer sums correctly. Knowing commutativity precedes using strategies that presuppose it and does not derive from doing sums. Representing the addends with objects induced more arithmetic errors. Children used less accurate strategies when they could see the objects.     

Zero tolerance: A new enemy of academic freedom?

Recent provincial government policy proposals related to university governance and substantive and procedural autonomy has had the effect on Ontario university faculty members of throwing the cat among the pigeons. The policy proposals were based on an articulated need for zero tolerance of various forms of harassment, in the first instance voiced by interest groups representing gender, race, political affiliation, sexual orientation and a number of other concerns, and consequently transformed into a provincial government position by politicians.As the province is the main funding agency for universities, the threat to a number of aspects of university integrity is a real one. However, there appears to be much more at stake than a simple threat to the fair treatment of different minorities in the university setting. Such proposals, if articulated as formal policy, have the potential to erode those very elements around which universities have been created and for which universities continue to exist, namely, substantive and procedural autonomy and academic freedom.While in no way denying the rights of minority groups or humans in general as espoused by changing norms in a representative democracy, this article addresses the controversy, defines the freedoms at stake and extrapolates upon the implications of their erosion.