Describes the experiences of a mentor with a retired nursing home proprietor who entered an off-campus degree program. (JOW)

Examines the background of external degree programs in Germany and proposes a model that includes a critical discussion of various organizational forms for teaching university courses at a distance. (Author/IRT)

Some causes for reliability problems in tutor-marked assignments are discussed: factors relating to the questions such as ambiguous, overloaded, hidden agenda, and unrealistic questions; variations caused by differing tutor notes; and students not answering the question, scales and standards, rounding and partial scores, and bonus marks. (JMF)

Essay assignments provide a major portion of students' grades in most Open University curricula. The main educational objectives of essay questions are relevance and the ability to argue a thesis in the light of the course material. (JMF)

The open university is taken to task for promulgating a passive curriculum and for obscuring the dynamic structuring of knowledge by teachers and learners that ought to be at the heart of university scholarship. The "package tour" approach to knowledge that characterizes introductory courses is blamed, in part. (MSE)

Policy considerations for telecommunications in extended degree programs include interinstitutional curricular review and approval, accreditation, academic residency, fee structure, and articulation. Integration with traditional delivery systems can increase available offerings, improve flexibility, and lead to future collaborative efforts. (SK)

Cites case studies involving professional people attempting to gain doctoral degrees through correspondence universities. Examines the history of these institutions and problems of accreditation. (CT)

Australia's external degree programs have managed to maintain high standards for graduate degrees through residential and weekend schools, teaming of visiting or part-time faculty with regular full-time faculty members, faculty-wide approval of grades, direct supervision, strict admission standards, and rigorous programs. (Author/WD)

The administrator's role in insuring off-campus program quality is considered. An essential difference between administrators and leaders is noted: administrators are status quo oriented, crisis oriented, reactive, and less flexible; leaders are change oriented, planning oriented, proactive, and less flexible. When such factors as new technology…

The status of external degree programs in traditional institutions is examined. Basing evaluation on the guidelines set forth by the Carnegie Commission for Non-Traditional Study (l973); it is suggested that external programs have not adequately been integrated into the academic mainstream. (Author/MLW)

The Open University set out ten years ago to solve the problem of dropouts in external degree programs. The importance of its success for itself and other institutions is discussed, although there is caution due to the lack of unanimity in terminology in dropout research, and the danger of using dropouts to compare institutions. (MSE)

The nursing programs offered as part of the New York State Regents External Degree programs are highlighted including a brief historical review and description of the nursing program. (JMF)

In the 1980s, nontraditional education is becoming an outdated term, because elements of such education have been integrated into most colleges and universities. The major innovation within nontraditional education is the external degree. Valley developed six major models of external degrees: administrative facilitation, modes of learning, the…

The effects of organizational change on teaching are examined using the experience of the University of Massachusetts. The introduction of new programs, contexts, and challenges encourage teachers to reexamine their assumptions, ideas, values, commitments and, therefore, their teaching. (JMF)

Studies may not help to determine cost-effectiveness of distance or mediated education for several reasons: difficulty gathering data; many costs are not intrinsic to technology, but a result of decisions made; and difficulty in comparing costs of different mediated programs. Cost-effectiveness of technology can be determined by designing and…