The first round of attempts to extend the access of working people to higher education began in 1873 with an imitation of the University of London on the prairies of Illinois. For all practical purposes, it ended in the legislature of the State of New York in 1892, although it took more than a decade to formally close all of the external degree…

In most debates about teaching, learning, and research, the spatial context of education is either taken for granted or ignored. But places can be viewed as more than empty frames for social action; they can be seen as both historically constituted by social processes and, in turn, constituting those social processes. This paper aims to restore a…

Discusses the advantages of correspondence education in England and the Netherlands, the development of correspondence education in both countries, and the more recent developments of the Open University in England and the Foundation Inspection of Education by Correspondence (ISO) in the Netherlands, the former enlarging educational opportunities…

The task of this project was to evaluate a course which was more practical than intellectual, more involved with processes than with products, more diversified in student activities than usual, and less explicit than usual in its assessment criteria. The evaluation concentrated on the students' view of the course. (Author/CTM)

A program designed to educate Open University students in Yorkshire in the use of videotape equipment for their extension courses has resulted in an unusually high rate of equipment use, especially among advanced students. Probable success factors are outlined. (MSE)

Describes a college curriculum in which formal examinations are abolished (students are assessed by the work presented in assignments) and certificates at the Bachelor Degree level do not differentiate between pass and honours students. (LS)

An increasing number of student places is only one measure of openness in a university. The institution must continue to investigate which groups of people are prevented from even applying, and why this is so. Although the number of applicants for 1976 was high, it included a large percentage of previous applicants, while the number of new…

This book challenges the notion that the open university is a recent invention and argues that in Britain there is a long and varied tradition of similar developments, and that there has been a significant 20th century reduction in the openness of universities, particularly in the period from the 1950s to the 1970s. Selected examples of open…

The steps which led to the establishment of the Open University in Great Britain and the intentions of its founders are first described, with particular attention paid to the needs it was intended and not intended to meet. Following this is an examination of the evidence to date of the University's success in reaching its target student…

Implications of the Open University upon traditional higher education in England and the United States are examined. The history of adult education is reviewed in relationship to working class adults, the Open University, and the traditional British and American higher education. The history of correspondence study and its practical use for…

Three essays are collected in this study of access to higher education in other countries: "Part-Time Undergraduate Studies in Ontario," by Robert M. Pike; "Access to Higher Education in England and Wales," by Naomi E. S. McIntosh; and "Strategies for a Broader Enrollment in Swedish Higher Education," by Urban…

This book examines the successes of the Open University (OU), a concept now 25 years old, in overcoming obstacles to higher education faced by nontraditional students, and particularly those faced by older women. The OU has no entry qualification, requires no tests, admits all applicants on a space-available basis, and awards a Bachelor's degree.…