Reports the results of a cross-cultural study of the development of five spatial competencies in samples of Thai and Australian children. The pattern of development was found to be similar for seven- and eight-year-olds but different for four- and five-year-olds. (Author/JN)

The interview-about-instances technique was used to investigate the conceptual frameworks that 17 Form Four Southeast Asian students held about forces acting on an object at rest or in motion. Results show a number of alternate frameworks which are similar to those found in research conducted in western countries. (Author/JN)

Discusses the need for including noise pollution in the science curriculum and describes 10 activities for improving students' awareness and understanding of and concern for noise and its effects. (Author/JN)

An overview is given of the American system of higher education, the government's role in it, its financing, demographics, and other issues significant to foreign college administrators. (MSE)

The 1981-83 "Study on the Future of Higher Education" funded by Britain's Leverhulme Foundation, a wide-ranging examination of British higher education, caused considerable debate within academe and government. (MSE)

The management of higher education change in the United Kingdom will require close attention to educational quality, cost effectiveness, and relevance. Despite the debate over growing government influence, there are good indications for government-institution cooperation. (MSE)

The relationship between the national government and the universities in Switzerland is outlined. It is suggested that the state should acknowledge universities as the best judges of many educational issues, and should establish laws that merely outline university responsibilities. (MSE)

Several trends in European university administration intended to improve higher education are cited as causes for concern: trends away from academic and toward corporate style administration, toward separate research institutions, away from competitive selection for academics, toward peer review, and toward increased diversity among institutions.…

The relationship between evaluation of research and resource allocation in universities is examined. Some areas of concern include the institution's capability to evaluate research, its objectives, problems of peer evaluation, and the search for new methodologies. (MSE)

A Swiss technological institute's 10 years' experience with resource allocation based on competitive research project selection, originally conceived to preserve flexibility in a staffing crisis and found to be an efficient research management tool, is outlined and discussed. (MSE)

The chemistry and chemical engineering department's experiences with an institution-wide research evaluation process is discussed, focusing on the departmental input into the process, the estimation of research activity and productivity, and the evaluation of the research's relevance to teaching, international research, and society. (MSE)

At Sweden's Karolinska Institute, a resource allocation model for medical research in use since 1970 allows the research activity of the different departments to affect resource allocation direclty. (MSE)

The Netherlands' experience with the Conditional Finance System, introduced in the universities in 1982 make explicit the distribution of research effort and allocate research resources on bases other than enrollments, is discussed. (MSE)

Research evaluations should be directed at affecting the implementation of policies resulting from research, not at monitoring the outcomes of research, particularly in strategic research relating to government and industry. (MSE)

Reviews "Schooling and Work in the Democratic State" (Carnoy and Levin, 1986). Concludes that the book is a valuable tool for the analysis of conflicting demands on education within a democratic, capitalist society. (JDH)