The new research and practice area of "adults and mathematics" is situated within the didactics of mathematics as it is structured and delimited by the concrete forms of practice and knowledge currently regarded as mathematics teaching, learning, and knowing. "Adults Learning Mathematics" (ALM) is a community of practice and research within the…

From Socrates' time on, liberal arts education has been understood to produce a general learned competence that allows a student to be both a better human being and a better citizen. The breadth of this liberal arts curriculum stands in contrast to the much narrower vocational curriculum. More recently, the humanities have been caught in a…

Essays on democracy and liberal education include: "Re-imagining Liberal Education" (Louis Menand); "From Discipline-Based to Problem-Centered Learning" (Ellen Condliffe Lagemann); "Naming Pragmatic Liberal Education" (Bruce A. Kimball); "Cosmopolitan Pragmatism: Deliberative Democracy and Higher Education"…

The number of Black, Hispanic, Asian American, and American Indian students earning doctorates in 1996 continued a decade-long rise. Total number of doctorates also rose, fueled chiefly by increases in degrees to foreign students. Numbers and percentages of earned doctorates are presented by field and student characteristics, and numbers are…

A study of University of Plymouth (England) student records investigated predictors of degree performance. Mature students gained better degrees than traditional students, and those with nontraditional qualifications performed best of all. Gender, year of graduation, and type of qualifications were weak predictors, but results differed…

Looks at "pedagogical knowing" as one facet of a larger conceptual framework that grounds a teacher's self-knowledge as a person and as a teacher. With the help of two middle school English teachers, the paper argues for a view of subject matter knowledge that is dynamic, relational, practice-oriented, and useful. (SM)

While most comparative higher education research focuses on the transition from elite to mass education, two other aspects deserve study: substantive academic growth, with roots in the research imperative and the dynamics of disciplines; and innovative university organization, a concern among practitioners as universities seek greater capacity for…

Analyzes 10 editions of an introductory college psychology textbook to determine changes in the content. Reveals that coverage of consciousness, personality, abnormal (disorders), therapies, and social psychology increased, while coverage of introductory material, learning, methods, intelligence, developmental psychology, and applied psychology…

Discovers little change concerning the use of animals in undergraduate psychology programs that do not offer a graduate degree. Few institutions have had any contact with animal rights activists and most chairpersons report that students generally favor the use of animals. Lists alternatives to animal use. (MJP)

Within 40 departments, 10 each of physics, sociology, electrical engineering, and education, faculty commitment to the institution was assessed for each career stage and level of research productivity, examining the relative power of rewards and support variables. A meaningful but differential role for rewards is found among the disciplines.…

Australian institutions are developing and using performance indicators (number of publications, research grants, and of Ph.D. graduates) to distribute resources. Some of these are disadvantaging the Humanities. This paper addresses differences in chemistry, engineering, English, and law as they are described by other researchers. (Author/MLW)

Given the strength of departments, pressures on faculty, and the large number of teaching assistants responsible for undergraduate instruction in research universities, writing instruction often seems to be "in spite of the curriculum." However, it is possible to run successful writing-across-the-curriculum programs in such institutions. (MSE)

A survey of 4,072 college faculty examined institutional and disciplinary differences in faculty opinions of desired outcomes of undergraduate education. Significant differences by both institution type and discipline were found in emphasis on knowledge acquisition versus knowledge application and integration. It is suggested that reform of…

Focuses on the context and major efforts designed to reform teacher education in the nation's universities. Provides an overview of systems governing and impacting teacher education. Concludes with a discussion of general educational reform trends and leadership opportunities open to geographers. (CFR)

Two surveys involving approximately 8,000 university and polytechnic institute graduates in Germany and the United Kingdom were conducted to analyze employment; income; position and status; work assignments; gender differences; and influence of type of institution, subject of study, and socioeconomic background. Experiences of British and German…