Discusses the increased popularity of communication as an academic major and career choice. Suggests that the change reflects the shift in the United States workplace to an information orientation. Reports results of a study of the jobs held by recipients of communication degrees. Concludes that speech communication as a major offers flexibility…

Feminist scholarship, as a contemporary current in academic life, is analyzed from the perspective of research on the formation of intentional intellectual communities. Interview data reveal that faculty conceive of their commitments and sense of community in ways that do not always correspond to idealized conceptions of academic organization.…

The derivation of discipline cost indexes, developed to permit accurate interinstitutional comparisons of relative costs among disciplines, is explained using expenditure data from five peer institutions. How the indexes have been used in one research university's budget allocation process is then described. (Author/MSE)

Provides a listing of more than 130 institutions in 30 European countries that offer programs in information science, listed by countries and cities and also by academic subject. Information includes staff, number of students, main fields of research, admission criteria, courses offered, practical studies, exams, and professions of graduates.…

It is argued that university policies and procedures concerning assurance of quality education are framed with little regard for significant differences among disciplines, and that some common approaches to assuring academic quality impinge on some aspects of research, undergraduate teaching, and graduate work. Focus is on England and Australia.…

Describes a study of professional searchers that investigated their decisions about using search terms. The use of descriptors from a controlled vocabulary versus the use of textwords for free-text searching is examined, searching styles and differences in subject areas are discussed, and the quality of thesauri and indexing is considered. (six…

Based on the experience of reorganization of adult education departments in Dutch universities, the notion of adult education as a distinct discipline is rejected in favor of a pluralistic use of social sciences theories. It is argued that discipline-based, fundamental research can contribute more to the development of a knowledge base than…

Describes shortcomings of computer science/engineering education and explains a new focus on informatics. Highlights include simulation, visualization, algorithmization, design of information processing models, parallel computing, a history of informatics, informatics versus physics and mathematics, and implications for education. (51 references)…

Six English articles and one French article define feminist pedagogy in Canada and point to what it might become. The articles deal primarily with postsecondary education and more particularly with women's studies, areas in which most debates about feminist pedagogy are occurring. Common themes are identified. (SLD)

The validity of 6 indices of divergent production was examined in relation to creative output by 144 undergraduates in 8 domains: visual arts, music, literature, theater, science and engineering, business, apparel design, and video and photographic work. Semantic fluency, ideational fluency, originality, and remote consequences correlated with…

The "Word-Spider" approach to vocabulary development can be applied in all curriculum areas for both native and nonnative English speakers. It focuses systematically on seven important areas of word knowledge (sound, family, friends, patterns, situations, ideas, definition). Providing both repetition and a range of experience with a word, it can…

Transferability of skills in learning is discussed, focusing on the notions of cross-disciplinary, generic, core, and transferable skills and their role in the college curriculum. Cross-disciplinary or cross-curricular skills are examined in terms of their relationship to cognitive domains, and transferable skills in relation to social domains.…

A study developed and tested a model that examines the relative powers of support and work stress indicators in explaining faculty research productivity. Empirical examination indicates the model is most influential in physics, least in education, and that different indicators are significant in determining publication in hard and soft sciences.…

The trend toward decentralization of academic computing is described. Causes for the trend are examined and the best approaches to management and support of computing activities in this environment are explored. The future roles of the central computing center, departments or discipline areas, and individual users are outlined. (Author/MSE)

Investigates the 5 editions of John M. Lannon's "Technical Writing," a top-selling technical writing textbook for over 10 years. Claims that the text illustrates where the field has been and where it is going. Includes comments from Lannon concerning his book and how it responded to the social conditions of the 1980s. (HB)