Spatial/temporal indexing and information visualization genre for environmental digital libraries

INTRODUCTION A large number of environmental digital librar- ies have been designed and implemented recently to effectively manage environmental data such as satel- lite photos and images, map images, cartographic materials, and so on. Support for storing, distributing, searching for, retrieving, and utilizing this informa- tion is imperative in order for it to be used to its maximum potential benefit and effectiveness (Hicks and Tochtermann, 1998). The variability of envi- ronmental data…     

Using Propensity Scores for Estimating Causal Effects: A Study in the Development of Moral Reasoning

The purpose of this study was to illustrate the use of propensity scores for creating comparison groups, partially controlling for pretreatment course selection bias, and estimating the treatment effects of selected courses on the development of moral reasoning in undergraduate students. Specifically, we used a sample of convenience for comparing differences in moral reasoning development scores among students enrolled in intergroup dialogue, service learning, psychology and philosophy courses with those of an introductory sociology course. Adopting a propensity score approach included reviewing the empirical literature for its guidance in substantiating the reasons for including pretreatment variables (i.e., pretreatment course-taking behaviors, race, sex, political identification, need for cognition, major, age, pretreatment moral reasoning scores) in our analysis, measuring these variables, and reducing them into a single composite propensity score for each student in our analytic sample. This score then served as the basis for creating a new comparison group and for allowing us to estimate unbiased (or less biased) course-related treatment effects on moral reasoning development. Implications for higher education researchers are discussed.

Factors That Promote Faculty Involvement in and Satisfaction with Institutional and Classroom Student Assessment

This study examines institutional factors that promote faculty satisfaction with their institution's approach to and support for student assessment and that are related to faculty involvement in their institution's support practices and in their own engagement with student assessment in the classroom. The study is based on a survey of faculty from 7 institutions that vary by type, control, and accrediting region. The institution's student assessment purposes, its administrative support patterns, and its faculty instructional impacts are significant predictors of faculty satisfaction with their institution's approach to and support for student assessment. External influences on, faculty uses, and perceived benefits of professional development practices for student assessment are significant predictors of faculty involvement with student assessment in their institution and their classes.     

Curriculum matters: Creating a positive climate for diversity from the student perspective

The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors that predict students perceptions of their institutions success in achieving a positive climate for diversity. This study examines a sample of 544 students at a large, public, predominantly White Mid-Western institution. Results show that students perceptions of the institutions ability to achieve a positive climate for diversity is a reflection of students precollege interactions with diverse peers and the institutions ability to incorporate diversity-related issues into its curriculum. Results also indicate that these perceptions differ by race and gender. Implications for institutional researchers are discussed.     

DISTANCE STUDY IN THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY: FERNUNIVERSITAT‐GESAMTHOCHSCHULE IN HAGEN

Distance higher education is one of the characteristic features of changes in the structures of higher education, which took place when demand for study places could not be met by the traditional “non‐distance” institutions of higher education. Further development of this forms is of great interest, especially in view of the tasks and problems facing contemporary and future higher education

In this context, we present below the article written for “Higher Education in Europe” by Dr. Klaus‐Dieter Grunwald from the Federal Ministry of Education and Science, Bonn, which present development and functioning of distance study in Federal Republic of Germany on the example of the Fernuniversität‐Gesamthochschule in Hagen.     

Breaking the Silence: Achieving a Positive Campus Climate for Diversity from the Staff Perspective

The purpose of this paper is to identify factors that create a positive climate for diversity and to demonstrate how these factors predict outcomes related to achieving a positive campus climate for diversity. Based on survey data collected from 437 staff members employed at a large, public, predominantly White university in the Midwest, results suggest that the institution’s ability to achieve a positive climate for diversity reflects not only the personal characteristics of the staff member (race, gender, education level, and age) but also their perceptions of their immediate work environment. Implications are discussed.