The efficacy of an educational intervention in teaching medical students to select optimal diagnostic data consistent with the competing-hypotheses heuristic and Bayes' theorem when solving clinical problems was examined. The results suggest that some problem-solving skills can be enhanced or learned independent of the acquisition of content…

The Academic Lab involves gifted intermediate-grade students in a minicourse concentrating on one topic with activities including research, competition, and fun. The learning activities stress problem-solving, creative thinking, communications, and self-direction, and the minicourse culminates in team and individual competitions. A sample…

The current trend toward academic gamesmanship, characterized by interinstitutional competition for faculty, gives the general public a superficial notion of academic excellence, deceives higher education supporters, deprives undergraduates of teaching that they are paying higher prices to receive, and gauges success by ephemeral standards.…

Comments by David Brenneman, president of Kalamazoo College, suggest that some people judge quality by price, and a low price at a private college is not necessarily a sign of good management. Peer pressure is responsible for one or two percentage points of annual tuition increases of selective private colleges. (MLW)

The first session of the 100th Congress has been transitional for national research and development policies because of the emergence of competitiveness as a major theme in American politics, the formation of a broad-based university-corporate alliance for lobbying, and growing public awareness of the potential commercialization of technology.…

Today's educational leadership is misdirected, authoritarian, and overly concerned with competition. This new age of electronic communication and global awareness demands leaders who allow people genuine options and chances to make decisions. This article outlines appropriate leadership characteristics and challenges administrators to hire…

Two possible uses of technology for industrial training, one involving traditional instruction with extensive use of computers in groups of varying size and the other providing an instantaneous online training and information system on the production line, are suggested as illustrations of the potential for advanced telecommunications applications…

A study comparing cooperative and competitive learning approaches in science was conducted with 630 eighth-grade Nigerian students using five different treatments. Combinations of cooperation and competition were found to be the best methods of instruction. Procedural demands on teachers using these methods were relatively easy. (DH)

In Britain, higher education is inappropriate for simplistic 'marketisation' but it is appropriate for more internal competition. Graduation data is used as an output measure for higher education. When output measures are set against input measures, Britain compares well with other nations in higher education. (Author/MLW)

Organized recreation has become competitive and overstructured in today's society. Children are pushed into many activities where they must excel rather than simply enjoy. Recreation professionals can reexamine agency priorities to help ensure that play is satisfying for children. (DF)

Competition for students will increase in the next decade. Some factors indicating an institution's vulnerability to declining enrollment can be assessed, and may also be the key to initiatives by campus leaders to help offset the decline. (Author/MSE)

Currently, less than one percent of operating video outlets are minority owned. Increased minority ownership of video production and distribution firms could have a positive impact on information diversity, create employment opportunities, and facilitate expansion of the general economic base within minority communities. (GC)

Stanford and the University of California at Berkeley operate in a spirit of cooperation that is unique for a public and a private university. Cuts in either research or student aid could seriously harm both institutions. (MLW)

Described is History Day, a national program that encourages middle and secondary students to research a subject of interest to them. Students acquire research skills and a knowledge of history as they prepare papers, projects, and performances for competition. How one Georgia high school participated in the program is discussed. (RM)

Defines block grants and describes their relationship to categorical aid programs. Discusses potential pros and cons of block grants for states and for local school districts, including intense competition for funds, and specifies strategic steps that school boards might take at the local, state, and federal levels. (CJM)