The author responds to a comparison of her learning conceptions theory with another theory, applauding the effort to link theories of learning and gender. Complexities of relationships among epistemic structures, patterns within structures, and learning activities are highlighted, as well as dilemmas in assessing multiple layers of learning.…

Examines the notion of "deep" and "surface" approaches to learning and phenomenography, the associated methodology and theory of knowledge; explores reasons for the heightened status of the deep/surface notion within higher education research; discusses problems of phenomenographic research methodology. Introduces the idea of…

A framework for understanding what and how knowledge is acquired in different university disciplines is presented and tested on a variety of courses representative of several disciplines. Variables examined include concept familiarity, generality, and abstractness; differences in logical structures of disciplines; and methods considered important…

Responds to criticisms of a paper rejecting phenomenography and the notion of "deep" and "surface" learning, noting that important arguments were not addressed, including the nature of the research relationship in phenomenography, the ahistorical stance of phenomenographers, their lack of appreciation for…

Efforts to link faculty research activity and teaching performance have been confounded by different conceptions of the two enterprises. Any link comes from what the two have in common as in their common concern with the act of learning, although in different contexts. Greater emphasis must be placed on the ways in which knowledge is generated and…

It is argued that the modern university is under economic pressure to produce and transfer knowledge, that this shift to a market orientation alters the form of knowledge, that the current form of university governance mitigates against academic entrepreneurship, and that a new public policy for universities is needed. (MSE)

The stability of the Japanese university system encourages conformity, which may also stifle creativity and initiative. Japan needs reforms that inject flexibility and reverse the traditional focus of education. Current reform proposals to expand graduate education, break down the chair system, and expand university-industry collaboration are seen…

Interviews with 75 women faculty and administrators revealed how a cohort of academic women came to challenge and revise traditional content and organization of academic knowledge. Intellectual biographies and career histories gave insight into how knowledge organization has constrained or facilitated feminist scholars advocating…

Explores the application of postmodern assumptions in the study and analysis of comparative higher education. Outlines tenets of postmodernism that provide a competing conception to modernism with regard to knowledge production, identity, and the role of the university. Offers suggestions about how postmodernism might reorient comparative higher…

Defends the metaphor of "deep" and "surface" learning as being valid in describing differences in ways students learn, and on the basis of its success in encouraging academic staff to teach in more effective and imaginative ways. Views post-modern theories that endorse extreme relativism as not helpful to the main concerns of…

The complex relationships between knowledge development, economic development, and democratic life are examined in the context of recent developments in three industrially advanced societies (Canada, Great Britain, United States) with a long history of democracy. It is argued that economic development and epistemology must be subordinate to…

In an effort to improve the use of knowledge produced in higher education institutions, formal relationships were established between colleges of education and surrounding school districts, and the knowledge flows were studied. A model for successful knowledge transfer resulted. (MSE)

Several different philosophical approaches to general educational development in higher education are discussed and compared, including (1) positivist epistemology, a pragmatic, empirical perspective; (2) development of curricula promoting interpretation based on understanding; and (3) critical theory, which espouses development of people in…

A number of individualized approaches to student learning are reviewed: Keller plan, refined linear model, variable route model, modular learning model, and independent study. Each successive approach offers students an increasingly wider degree of choice to determine goals and the means of achieving them. (Author/MLW)

A year-long study of knowledge development in 40 college students focused on the relationships between the historical and philosophical dimensions of the curriculum, teaching method, and quality of learning. Student exposure to the discipline's history and philosophy, discussion-based instruction, and personally meaningful topics were seen as most…