Investigated whether mean expected grades and the level of difficulty/workload in courses, as related by students, unduly influence student ratings of instruction. Data for more than 50,000 courses were analyzed. Courses rated at the "just right" level received the highest evaluations. (SLD)

Used longitudinal data from the 1990-1994 Beginning Postsecondary Students Survey to evaluate the frequency of part-time enrollment and the persistence of students who ever enroll part time. Between 40% and 50% of students attending part time at least one nonsummer term, and persistence was surprisingly high. (SLD)

Analyzed data for 167 social sciences classes and 65 faculty members to study the relationship between faculty research productivity and student evaluations of teaching (SETs). A significant positive relationship between research productivity and SETs emerges when the distribution of citations is corrected for skewness. (SLD)

Observed a high rate of congruence between a hypothesized theoretical model of cognitive, motivational, and volitional dimensions of learning and empirical data from 614 college students. Analysis of effects between the model variables reveals some interesting effects with implications for student academic achievement. (SLD)

Explored the effect of three distinct living-learning community models on a variety of student experience and academic performance outcomes. Results for 477 students in a learning community and 328 who were not show that even the least coordinated, most basic learning community model fosters positive outcomes. (SLD)

Examined the responses of 58,288 college students to 8 scales involving 53 items from the National Survey of Student Engagement to gauge whether individuals respond differently to surveys administered via the Web and paper. Found that mode effects were generally small; however, students who completed the Web-based survey responded more favorably…

In this longitudinal study of African American and Caucasian students from 18 4-year institutions, objective tests were used to estimate the cognitive effects of race in college, while applying statistical controls for an extensive set of confounding influences. Found that Caucasian students scored higher than African Americans on standardized…

Examined the relationship between sponsored research monies and the graduation of undergraduate students at 22 public universities. Found that, in contrast to a basic premise of most policymakers and academic managers, an institution's sponsored research expenditures are positively related to undergraduates' graduation. Also found that mean SAT…

Simulated the effects of making admission decisions using SAT II subject scores in place of SAT I reasoning scores. Found that success rates, in terms of first-year grade point averages, were virtually identical for students selected by the different models. The percentage of African American, Asian American, and White students selected varied…

Explored the multicultural predispositions of 437 students in a Central Appalachian university, discovering which sort of multicultural programs garner weaker and stronger support. Tested explanatory models incorporating a mix of 21 independent variables, some drawn from sociological, psychological, and political science studies of reactions to…

Explored how readily available data from the Institute of Scientific Inquiry may be used to estimate the number of scholarly articles written by an institution's faculty. Shows how institutions are ranked according to total publications and the ratio of publications to full-time faculty, how these measures vary by type of institutions, and how…

Tested a model of administrative job satisfaction using a database of almost 1,200 managers at 120 public and private universities. The robust model explained 54 percent of the variance in overall job satisfaction. Results indicated that few state, campus, and personal characteristics exert direct effects on job satisfaction; they affect work…

A survey of seven institutions revealed that 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…

Used data from the 1993 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty to examine the status (employment status, salary, rank, tenure) of women and minorities among faculty employed at public 2-year colleges. Found that human capital, structural, and market characteristics appear to explain the observed differences between women and men and some…

Examined whether institutional mission, as represented by Carnegie classification, is related to student learning and development. After controlling for student background characteristics, no meaningful differences were found in students' perceptions of the college environment, levels of academic and social involvement, integration of information,…