There were declines in three of the six categories of science and engineering assistance between 1975 and 1985: fellowships and training grants; facilities and equipment related to instruction; and general support for conferences, teacher institutes, and activities aimed at increasing the scientific knowledge of pre-college and undergraduate…

Data on publication rates were gathered for two years from the Corporate Indexes published by the Institute for Scientific Information, and numbers of faculty by academic discipline were computed using standard reports generated annually by the participating universities. These rates can provide one measure of relative university research…

Offers a critique of a recent report by the Association of American Colleges, "Integrity in the College Curriculum: A Report to the Academic Community," which mainly criticizes specialization in academic disciplines. (SRT)

Describes problem definition in academic writing as existing on a continuum, with literary interpretation near one end and scientific writing near the other. Examines the consequences of this for undergraduate literature and composition assignments. (SRT)

Research on aging has contributed toward undermining negative stereotypes. In the last 20 years, the sociology of age has developed as a field that deals not only with growing old, but also with growing older from birth onward. The new role of grandparents is described. (MLW)

Examines the literature on the myth of "hard science-soft science" as a means of defining scientific specialties and classifying science literature, and discusses some shortcomings of scholarship in library and information science. Use of Toulmin's categorization of sciences to organize the literature and provide access for scientists is…

Highlights the background and circumstances that led to the development of Black Studies as an area of specialization, its subsequent institutionalization, and the role and function it serves for present and future generations. Also considers the practical value of a degree in Black Studies. (Author/KH)

A table compares faculty salaries by intellectual disciplines and by faculty rank. A total of 272 public and 451 private institutions were surveyed by the College and University Personnel Association. (MLW)

The concept of paradigm development, it is suggested, can explain differences in organizational contexts of university departments. Departments from high-paradigm fields are embedded in a context with clearly identifiable and distinguishable dimensions. (Author/MLW)

Argues that critical thinking and problem-solving skills are best taught (and learned) as part of the instruction in the regular content areas. It is suggested that teachers should be more explicit when using specific thinking skills and point out when students are engaged in using those skills. (MBR)

The emergence of undergraduate majors in America is reviewed, and a survey of administrative attitudes on undergraduate majors is discussed. Today's academic departments control majors entirely by determining how many courses will constitute their major, what these courses will be, and in what order they will be taken. (MLW)

Investigated how 485 English high school students viewed various academic disciplines with respect to their specificity (their relationship to all occupations) and their utility (the extent to which each facilitates finding employment). Results suggested most students who choose a high specificity major are in effect choosing a career. (JAC)

Both the classical humanist and modern social science approaches have much to contribute to civic education. Compartmentalized approaches should be renounced in favor of broader, integral, aggressive, and scholarly examinations of how education already embodies and broadcasts multiple models of the social world and conceptions of values. (PP)

Three issues are addressed: the nature of the disciplinary unit in higher education (department); the membership of the department, particularly the chairman and his role; and how changes such as open administration, a trend toward legal or quasi-legal settlement of conflicts, and accountability to government have affected department management.…

A curriculum containing the key concepts of the basic disciplines in selected sciences, arts, and humanities would function to help individuals understand their world and to enrich the store of images and categories with which they can think and feel and choose as educated (cultivated) persons. (Author/MLF)