An educational researcher suggests that "Philosophy and Education: Eightieth Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education" should have dealt with: (1) the nature of educational inquiry and its relationship to the social sciences and (2) how philosophical treatment of knowledge, thinking, and learning relate to…

Implications of a gradual change in the "pecking order" within higher education in the course of the 1970s are discussed. This change cuts across the traditional university/nonuniversity distinctions, and illustrates the growing vulnerability of certain types and disciplines of university education. Focus is on graduate employability. (MSE)

Science education researchers have not used conceptual content of science (with some exceptions) as an important variable in their research. Suggestions are offered as to what kinds of science education research could be done in which conceptual content of science is important. (Author/SK)

The author traces the development of this new field of legal study concerning the interface of law and educational policy. Finding the field's current approach misdirected through overemphasis on reform and the Constitution, he suggests a new paradigm, law-in-action, with a broader focus drawn from related disciplines. (SJL)

Following a preface on the uses of art education history, the author employs historical analysis to identify the current state of art education research as a discipline. Factors working to maintain the schism between art education research and practice are also discussed, particularly stereotyped self-images influencing art educators. (SJL)

In the teaching approach described here, middle-grade gifted students assume the roles of working social scientists in the fields of anthropology, economics, history, geography, political science, and sociology. This article includes a brief description of each of these disciplines, with an example of a related "social sciencing" classroom…

This essay began with the recognition of the lack of coherence and unity within the high school curriculum. Interdisciplinary studies were examined as an attractive alternative; however, this approach was rejected as an impractical ideal. The objectives-centered approach was described as a practical and powerful solution. (Author/KC)

World Wide Web "meta sites," or collections of subject-specific hyperlinks, can expedite Internet searching. One can find meta sites by consulting: search engines that offer site ratings or selective retrieval; library-constructed Web sites; Internet-related journals; and subject experts. A compilation of meta sites, with descriptions…

An Australian report identifying "generic skills, attributes, and values" as the central achievements of higher education is criticized as vague and inconsistent. A more systematic analysis is offered of higher order generic skills as they manifest themselves in thinking, research, and communication, and of the way in which these skills…

Using the 1995 National Research Council ratings of doctoral programs in 41 fields, a statistical methodology is offered for assessing how measures of program size, faculty seniority, faculty research productivity, and faculty productivity in producing doctoral degrees influenced raters' decisions. Then using data for one field, economics,…

An annual national survey of college faculty salaries found faculty at public institutions faring better than those at private schools, with the latter receiving smaller raises than last year. The survey's focus is on undergraduate programs. Engineering faculty had the highest and nursing faculty the lowest average salaries. Average salaries, by…

Describes a collaborative model developed at the Chestnut Hill campus of Massachusetts' Boston College to work across professions to address community needs. Indicates that professional schools at the college collaborate in four overlapping areas: educational efforts, community outreach, scholarship, and research and service. Discusses the model's…

Points out the similarities and differences between library instruction and writing instruction in the higher education curriculum. Topics include an historical overview; teaching language; writing and research as processes; discourse communities, or academic disciplines; workshops to initiate and sustain writing across the curriculum; assessment;…

Analyzes education and comparative education as intellectual disciplines, stressing learning over teaching. Traces changes in comparative education research policies, citing the influence of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). Suggests African comparative education research should use alternative…

Columbia and New York University probably served as the breeding grounds for the debates about whether nursing is a practice discipline, a clinical science, or a basic science, as well as for arguments about how practice and research should be related and, ultimately, how the DNS differs from the PhD. (MLW)