Human-computer interaction in information seeking tasks

The third in a series of experiments utilizing a simulated online bibliographic information seeking environment called DBASE is discussed. Variables considered in the study are computer aiding, availability of citation lists, data base structure, and type of search task. Effects of these variables on six performance measures are examined using analysis of variance. Linear discriminant analysis is utilized to provide a more fine-grained analysis of important problem features and to form a basis for investigating differences among individual searchers and the dynamic nature of information seeking tasks.     

Corporation as college

The Ph.D. program of the RAND Graduate School is one of the more innovative programs in America. The dynamics of innovation, e.g., environmental press as the engine of change and creativity as the wellspring of innovative programming, are illustrated vividly in the beginnings of the RAND corporation and its establishment of the RAND Graduate School to operate a free-standing Ph.D. program in policy analysis. Colleges and universities have much to learn-and nothing to fear-from this corporate newcomer to graduate education. Their own innovative efforts in graduate education can be enhanced through careful study of the RAND experience.     

Effects of administrative scheduling and directions upon student ratings of instruction

Using temporal proximity of instructor/course evaluations to critical in-course events, together with psychological set provided via directions, the present investigation sought to assess (1) the appropriateness of within-course time-series analyses for instructor ratings, and (2) the potency of inducing rater perceptions of the rating process as an interactive variable in course evaluations. A 2 × 2 (temporal proximity by psychological set) factorial design used students enrolled in two sections of an undergraduate course in educational psychology as subjects. Using both midterm and final examination time periods as data collection points, the results of this investigation suggested that preexamination instructor/course evaluations tend to be more favorable than postexamination evaluations, and that a specific positive psychological set prior to evaluations tends to produce more favorable evaluations than very general, brief instructions.