Literature on academic environments, especially the department, is reviewed. Differences between teaching and learning environments are examined for the social and natural sciences, and the interaction of discipline, personal styles of faculty and students, and faculty-student relationships are examined as primary variables. (MSE)

Study tests the degree of support for flexible due process in campus disciplinary hearings. Focuses on whether faculty, parent, and student expectations for due process protections vary based on the severity of the potential outcome. Results indicate that respondents expect due process protections to increase as the severity of the potential…

Presents an interview with two faculty members at Temple University on the question of academic integrity. Discusses that while encouraging better detection and stiffer enforcement of policies is an understandable response to studies showing that cheating is in the rise, it is important to keep the dialogue focused on the value of integrity. (GCP)

Part of a comparative United Kingdom-Belgium study on adults in higher education, explored learning and teaching experiences of adult students and lecturers. Found that experiences are shaped by factors such as culture of the department, teaching styles of lecturers, and rigors of academic study. Adult students left the university with different…

An empirical study was undertaken of students in the United Kingdom and Germany in order to investigate whether their attitudes were moving away from traditional patterns towards those that might be expected in more marketised higher education systems. The British students were found to be more instrumental and materialistic in relation to their…

Implementation of a "master contract" between the Minnesota Community College Faculty Association and the state board has altered relationships between faculty and administrators, promoting animosity and distrust. This article discusses the conflict between union tactics and the traditional character of the academic community. (NHM)

Attitudes of 277 faculty members about their work were surveyed in 1983. Herzberg and colleagues' theory that work satisfaction stems from the work itself and dissatisfaction from the work environment was also explored. Attention was directed to attitudes toward work, job stress, overall job satisfaction, and chief job satisfactions and…

This study examines the factors influencing faculty perceptions of mission and organizational culture within community colleges. Using Cameron and Ettington's organizational culture typology, the investigation focused on how faculty in a single state system perceived different cultural types and mission in describing their particular campuses. The…

Describes a study to statistically test the validity of the Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire (developed for use in elementary schools) when used in Mississippi public junior colleges. Reveals that several subscales were not appropriate for the junior college level and provides modified versions of the questionnaire based on…

This article theorizes that white college faculty are relatively uninvolved in institutional responses to racial diversity because of ambivalence, and that behavioral responses will thus be unstable and dependent on institutional context that either arouse or regulate positive and negative affect. Implications for institutional interventions are…

The charge that there is thought control and intimidation in the college classroom must be examined more closely. There are times when politics overtakes "correctness" on the campus, but it is more often the students intimidating the teachers, through choice of courses, than the other way around. (MSE)

Proposes that classrooms that encourage critical thinking possess distinguishing features that can assess whether critical thinking is a regular occurrence. Suggests that a critical thinking classroom commonly reflects the following attributes: frequent questions, developmental tension, fascination with the contingency of conclusions, and active…

The aim of this study was to discover and better understand through a case study, the phenomenon of academic staff integration in a post-merger Chinese university. The analysis was undertaken by using a cultural framework derived from relevant literature. The results indicate that adjustments to academic values and beliefs, "the cultural…

Although diversity has become a social reality in U.S. higher education, certain issues concerning diversity in classroom settings have not been addressed. Despite increasing multiculturalism and diversity awareness in the U.S. educational system, the literature is still derived primarily from either monocultural assumptions or superficial…