Presents study results determining how individuals' performances in a subject relate to the value that society places on that subject. Explains that the study examined the relationship between each discipline and the cognitive capabilities of each subject. Concludes that failing students use an original conception, whereas successful students use…

A discussion of costing methods for colleges and universities, common in the United States, looks at their first use in a major Latin American institution, the University of Monterrey (Mexico). Differences in costing methods for the university's seven colleges and potential for savings emerging from the analysis are examined. (MSE)

Discussion of discourse created by computers defines discourse as a pattern of cognitive functioning and identifies two such modes of thought: narrative and expository. Discussion covers the computer as discourse; schemas as a way to understand how knowledge is organized; simulations, hypermedia, and databases as discourse; and interactive…

Discusses the content of social studies as a discipline. Suggests that the real curriculum of the social studies in actual teaching is history. Argues that the original emphasis on citizenship training needs to be restored or developed as a separate discipline to establish a source of knowledge independent of the social studies. (DK)

Traces the history of the debate over the status of social studies as a discipline. Discusses the events in the battle between a federated curriculum based on history and a fusionist curriculum. Urges that the debate be ended on the grounds that social studies is not, and never has been, a discipline. (DK)

Describes a study of 411 senior faculty members from 24 academic disciplines at Syracuse University that analyzed differences in research productivity, both in total publications and type of publication, among various disciplines. Date of degree, influence of tenure, appointment year, and role of publications in promotion decisions are considered.…

Proposes a method for examining how disciplinary differences in knowledge making are created or reflected at the sentence level. Focuses on grammatical subjects of all sentences as key indicators of disciplinary knowledge making in sample journal articles in the subfields of psychology, history, and literature. (PRA)

Examines definitions and goals of the field of performance technology. Topics discussed include a model for visualizing performance technology; needs assessment; front-end analysis; the design and development of relevant and cost-effective training/educational interventions; testing; implementation; evaluation; and job aids. (LRW)

Since instructional design is a kind of skilled professional behavior, the education of other skilled professionals is examined, and suggestions are made for analogous instructional techniques in any field. The question of how instructional designers should be educated is related to the larger question of how to teach people to design in general.…

Presents education theory from a metatheoretical viewpoint based on a 1980-87 study of the cultures of academic disciplines (involving American and British academics). Two dimensions are discussed, one running from generality to particularity and one from simplicity to complexity. Interrelationships between the dimensions and implications for…

Epistemological breaks in several of the humanities disciplines in the twentieth century (existentialism, phenomenology, and traditional film theory) are traced. The breaks are attributed to each discipline's attempt to become scientific. In this process is seen the emergence of the discipline of film semiology in France in the 1960s. (34…

Data from the 1969, 1975, and 1984 Carnegie surveys of college faculty demonstrate that the distribution of political orientations among faculty changed minimally during that time period. Analyses by disciplinary political context and type of institution show that the incidence of leftism has been exaggerated in the literature. (Author/SV)

A discussion of college and university retrenchment based on interviews with 40 faculty and 20 administrators at 2 research universities looks at programs threatened with termination as terrains contested among academic fields, where wide divergences in professional/discipline-based power become evident. Results appeared to have less to do with…

Presents the annual survey of U.S. periodicals prices for 1991, based on subscription price information supplied by the Faxon Company. Data include subject categories ranked by current subscription price and by percent increases; average prices by Library of Congress Classification codes; and comparative pricing information from 1977-91. (four…

Presents the annual survey of prices for U.S. serial services for 1991 which was compiled in conjunction with the Faxon Company. Comparative data for 1977-91 are included for the areas of business, humanities, law, science and technology, social science, and documents, as well as serial services from the H.W. Wilson Company. (LRW)