In studies that generate course recommendations based on similarity, the typical enrollment data used for model training consists only of one record per student-course pair. In this study, we explore and quantify the additional signal present in course transaction data, which includes a more granular account of student administrative interactions…

The purpose of this paper is to inform evaluators of a method of evaluating capacity building in educational programs. One definition of capacity building is helping an organization increase its ability to fulfill its mission (Wing, 2004). Evaluators of capacity-building efforts therefore must focus on evidence that the program has helped to build…

The Biglan model, a theoretical framework for empirically examining the differences among subject areas, classifies according to three dimensions: adherence to common set of paradigms (hard or soft), application orientation (pure or applied), and emphasis on living systems (life or nonlife). Tests of the model are reviewed, and a further test is…

This paper proposes a model for graduate student success and reports the results of a study of factors affecting the success of 40 first-year graduate students. Based on a review of the literature, a four-element model for graduate success was devised that focused on: (1) immersion in research activities; (2) academic regimen and planning; (3)…

Noting that humans do not deal very well with differences despite thousands of years of practice, this paper argues that dealing with differences is an ethical issue for the 21st century to which speech communication departments must respond. The first part of the paper follows R. Johannesen's recommendation that ethical issues, particularly…

The goal of the Michigan plan for school staff development is to clearly describe a comprehensive approach to staff development. The plan relies on two basic assumptions. The first is that local school staff should be involved in the planning process. The second is that the state has a unique and specific role to play in facilitating quality…

Any university or college department that is conducting a self-study (self-evaluation) must do so in an organized and open-minded fashion. Too often persons can delude themselves into believing that they are conducting self-analysis when they are actually engaging in self-congratulations or conducting a disorganized search that will lead to…

Prior to 1980, instructional support services were scattered in various divisions throughout Denver Auraria Community College (DACC), with little sense of mission and coordination. In 1980, the college developed a model for a coordinated instructional support division, based on the identification of the most important instructional and…

A conceptual model of sudden organizational change, the Significant Change Model, is described and graphically displayed. The model includes the organizational member's perception of the degree, magnitude, or abruptness of an institutional change in relation to the individual's imputed value of the perceived change. Both of these factors are…

The perceptions of department chairpersons concerning the leadership roles of academic deans in several schools/colleges of a major research university were identified, based on interviews with 55 chairpersons. The typical chairperson was male, from the College of Letters and Science, had served for about 4 and one-half years, was a full…

The recommendation is made that Elementary Secondary Education Act Title I data should be subjected to quality control procedures at local, state, and national levels. An industrial quality control model may provide a useful approach, particularly at the state level. A brief description of the Title I Evaluation and Reporting System is given,…

Anthony Biglan (1973) proposed a typology of academic disciplines that identified three dimensions of academics' perceptions of the similarity of fields of scholarship: (1) "hard-soft", (2) "pure-applied", and (3) "life-non-life". Derek Price (1965) suggested that bibliographic data could be used to provide an…

A 1987 survey of college English departments revealed that only 74 (38%) of the 194 colleges surveyed offered students the opportunity to specialize in some aspect of writing in addition to literature. A 1992 survey showed that 69% of departments had begun to offer this specialization. Respondents outlined possibilities for organizing and…

A case study is presented that used the methods of Generic Design Science to conduct strategic planning for the Department of Communication at George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia. Applied in the context of an academic environment, the methods yielded a comprehensive management and planning design for focusing administration and faculty…

During 1974-75, a nine-month field study of the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) was performed. Researchers observed MDE members at work, attended meetings, conducted interviews, and read documentary material. Attention was focused on the MDE at a system level and on the top 30-40 persons whose actions both caused and reflected…