Colleges and universities considering adoption of new technologies should first consider why the initiative is occurring; whether it is based on careful discussion of educational goals and means; what social visions are built into and enacted by a given technology; how context of use will shape the way the technology is used; and how different…

Confusion over the role to be played by technology in college instruction is common, with administration sometimes in opposition to faculty over transformation of courses into courseware and the action of teaching into commercially viable property. The major proponents of such a transformation include vendors of network hardware, software, and…

Interviews with 21 state legislators, leading technology activists in their states, reveal that policymakers are feeling pressured to ensure that all education sectors have access to the best in educational technology and are attempting to reconcile the costs of such innovation with the educational benefits. Findings of the study, including…

Decisions to incorporate computers into public schools and universities, for administrative or classroom use, follow from the unquestioned assumption that computers are the latest expression of social progress. The paradox is that neither the computer industry nor educational policymakers understand the connections between the cultural forms of…

Attaining the goals that higher-education reformers target (making the academy more accessible, affordable, and effective) via technology is likely to require a significant overhaul of postsecondary institutions, including the use of time, resource allocation, roles of faculty/staff, and institutional mission. Closer examination of how technology…

Recent research on how college students learn and what constitutes an effective educational experience is reviewed, and implications for bringing about desired changes in the undergraduate experience are discussed. Topics examined include students' ability to reason with abstractions, development of moral values, extent to which the curriculum and…

A college teacher describes his approach to student subject-area writing, which includes assignment of several short papers to be written according to carefully prescribed guidelines (appended to the article), clear grading criteria, high expectations, availability for individual conferences, rewards for improvement, encouragement of writing for…

Reviews research concerning the effectiveness of Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) in higher education, focusing on what it demonstrates about WAC's value in improving subject-area knowledge and writing skills. Concludes that the approach can be effective, but that collaborative, inclusive effort to implement it is needed, including teacher…

The Americans with Disabilities Act requires reasonable accommodations for the disabled in public and private colleges and universities. Faculty must understand the difference between equal opportunity and equal treatment. Specific suggestions are made for teaching learning-disabled, mobility- impaired, visually-impaired, and hearing-impaired…

If universities were serious about enhancing student learning, they would explore other ways of organizing work, including reorganization of the curriculum into learning communities that enable learning to span the disciplines, creating classrooms that promote collaborative learning experiences, and using forms of assessment that encourage shared…

The progressive gains of college faculty since the 1960s (affirmative action, ethnic studies, expansion of access to higher education, emergence of faculty unions) are threatened by social and political shifts toward conservatism. Senior, tenured faculty are challenged to use their privileged positions and the gains made in recent decades to…

Three recent reports on the quality and need for reform in American higher education are examined as opportunities, particularly for faculty, to renew their commitment to excellence in their profession. (MSE)

Shifts in attitudes toward the academy is a product of changes in the American political economy, especially the rapid expansion of the white-collar sector and corporate takeover, and social movements of the post-war era in which people previously without power began to assert themselves. (MSE)

College faculty suffer from loss of esteem and place in the institutional structure, discrepancies between their commitment and that of the institution, and government intrusion into the academy. Burnout is one result of this loss of power and opportunity. Faculty must not become passive or cease caring or creating. (MSE)

Ohio University's development and implementation of an early retirement incentive program is described and discussed in the context of faculty demographics and faculty attitudes. (MSE)