Discusses psychologists' contributions to higher education research, particularly in the areas of teaching and learning. Explores epistemological characteristics of psychological knowledge, the nature of research psychology, and how these characteristics relate to the intellectual and methodological traditions of psychology as a discipline.…

Factor analysis of survey data from 209 administrators and 384 faculty at six Tennessee state universities identified six distinctive attitudes concerning research orientation; teaching orientation; rewards influence research; rewards influence teaching; personal interest; and mission of the university. Analysis revealed that administrators…

Data from study of a learning community program in an urban community college are used to explore the educational character of student persistence. Analyses reveal that classroom activities influence persistence by changing the way students and faculty interact within and beyond the classroom. Implications for current theories of persistence are…

Summarizes results of new studies on the relationship between tuition and enrollment in higher education, looking at analyses of this relationship alone, of that between student financial aid and enrollment, and of that between aid and enrollment for students of different income groups, races, and in public and private sectors. (MSE)

Data from a content analysis of 59 professional codes and a national survey of 239 colleges indicate that with the exception of sexual harassment policies, professions and institutions offer few formal policies or guidelines related to faculty-student relationships. Some are addressing the issue with conflict of interest guidelines. Discusses the…

Explores how paradigm choices influence faculty's professional lives in legal education, using qualitative research methods. Argues that there is a paradigm culture that operates in conjunction with other faculty cultures, and suggests findings about law school faculty may apply to related disciplines, particularly the social sciences. (Author/MSE)

Describes the use of the California Central Coast Online Dictionary, a database-supported Web site, in teaching an introductory class on linguistics and lexicography. The project allowed consideration of several models for teaching in the information age: teaching as modeling, teaching as negotiation, and teaching as defamiliarization or…

Provides an analysis of several dimensions of weblogs (or "blogs," which consist of links to particular Web materials with specific commentary, generally presented chronologically) that make them of special value in university and college contexts. Also relates how weblogs are serving important roles in the approaches toward knowledge acquisition…

Explored the relationship among cognitive style, performance, gender, and communication among computer students. Found a significant relationship between performance and cognitive style; students whose cognitive style scores indicated a preference for analytical thinking had better performance scores when entering college than those with a…

A panel of experts proposed and rated categories and indicators of constructivist-compatible principles for Internet-based courses. The categories and associated indicators provide an initial framework that may help educators apply constructivist principles to the development of Internet-based courses. (EV)

Proposes a model for assessing distance learning instruction based on six constructs: the process of teaching and learning, developing a community of learners, the instructor, the student, implementation of the course, and technology use. Examines each construct by reviewing research in the field and makes recommendations for their design and…

Compared undergraduates who took online quizzes using Mallard with students taking traditional paper-and-pencil quizzes. Found that Mallard students performed significantly better on in-class exams than non-Mallard students. (EV)

Focuses on five unresolved challenges of digital education in higher education: faculty workload, continued dominance of traditional pedagogy, the state of assessment, flaws in the accreditation process, and the state of educational research in the area. (EV)

Describes a program at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia to draw on the skills and enthusiasm of early technology adopters by appointing them as Learning Technology Mentors to work with colleagues in their departments. (EV)

Compared the test results of students allowed and not allowed to use their laptops while listening to a lecture. Students using their laptops performed more poorly on measures of memory for lecture content. (EV)