Editor's Introduction

Two points of current interest and potential significance in the educational field are called to the attention of the readers.     

Starting Early: girls and engineering

This paper describes an action research project, ‘Girls into Science and Technology’ (GIST) which focussed on girls’ subject choices in the first three years in their secondary schools in the North of England. This age group was addressed because of the strong tendency of girls in state educational comprehensive schools to choose to drop the study of physical sciences and technical subjects as soon as the opportunity presents itself at about 14 years of age

The GIST project had two main purposes: firstly, to research further the courses and processes which lead girls to avoid physical sciences and technical subjects at school, and secondly, to devise school-based interventions which might begin to change the situation. The paper summarises the initiatives taken by the GIST team in conjunction with the ‘action‘ schools, and the research findings and final outcome of the project.     

The Evaluation of Filmed Excerpts of Rogers,Perls, and Ellis by Beginning Counselor Trainees

This study investigated the perceptions of beginning counselor trainees regarding the therapeutic effectiveness of Carl Rogers, Fritz Perls, and Albert Ellis. Twenty-nine students viewed three stimulus films and rated the therapeutic effectiveness of the therapists. The students were subsequently rank-ordered by their prepracticum course instructors on the basis of skill development and assigned to one of three groups (high, middle, or low.) The results of a two-way analysis of variance revealed an overall higher evaluation for Rogers as compared to either Perls or Ellis. Further analysis revealed that the top-ranked group of counselor trainees rated Perls significantly higher than the other two and that the bottom-ranked group ranked Ellis higher than Perls or Rogers. Several conclusions concerning the use of stimulus films for demonstration and training purposes in counselor education are drawn.     

Assessing the Teaching Quality of Accounting Programmes: An evaluation of the Course Experience Questionnaire

In recent years, measuring the efficiency and effectiveness of higher edu cation has become a major issue. National governments are now demanding greater public accountability for funds invested in the sector, resulting in the emergence of various performance indicators relating to both teaching and research. The Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) was developed to measure the perceived quality of teaching in degree programmes. It evolved from research that identified curriculum, teaching and assessment as key determinants of students' approaches to learning and, in turn, the quality of their learning outcomes. The CEQ data are intended for use in making comparisons within fields of study over time and/or across institutions. However, no European study has reported on its suitability to evaluate teaching within an accounting programme. This paper outlines the development of the CEQ and confirms its reliability and construct validity for use in the accounting discipline in an Irish context.     

Total Quality Management in Engineering Education—A Case Study from University College Dublin (National University of Ireland-Dublin)

The last 3 years have seen extensive time and resources invested in quality assessment/quality improvement (QA/QI) within the Irish university sector. The introduction of a formalized QA/QI programme in the 1998/99 academic year at University College Dublin (UCD) of Ireland-Dublin, will mean that every department in College will have a direct and compulsory involvement in the quality assurance programme in the coming years. There is limited experience of formalized quality assessment in the higher education sector in Ireland, and several pilot projects have been running which represent a first step in establishing a methodology suited to conditions prevailing within the Irish context. The Universities Act 1997 in Ireland will drive the issue of quality assessment in the university sector and ensure that emphasis is placed on the attainment of the highest possible standards in teaching and research. The universities are responding to this new challenge by adopting a pro-active approach and implementing the QA/QI schemes as a matter of some urgency. This paper outlines details of key pilot projects undertaken in recent times.