Discussion of self-direction in adult education, andragogy, and open learning focuses on a study that examined ways in which new students adjusted to part-time study in Hong Kong. Highlights include results of interviews with students; personal autonomy; time management; developing study skills; and assistance towards self-direction. (Author/LRW)

Do the "new economy" and "information age" really exist? Effects of the railroad and telephone fell far short of those predicted. The psychology of human behavior may not have changed much. One must maintain a healthy skepticism about predictions concerning any new technology's influence and long-range significance. (MLH)

Even though endorsements of written collection development policies abound in the professional literature, many academic libraries do not have them in place. Interviews with several Louisiana librarians reveal possible reasons for that disparity. Instead of spending time devising policies that quickly become inflexible and outdated, bibliographers…

Describes a three-month study of a family reunification program for abused and neglected children that explored the process and outcomes of service delivery. The coding scheme measured both the time used in and purposes of activities of the service workers. Discusses the implications of this method for practice, planning, and research. (TM)

Discusses Internet use by undergraduate students at the University of Strathclyde (United Kingdom) to develop research evaluation skills through independent research. Highlights include what students used the Internet for; how often they used it; time absorbed by access; rating the Internet; student views; and access to the Internet. (LRW)

A study evaluated the effects of instruction in a comprehensive, independent assignment completion strategy on homework completion rates and the quality of products completed in response to assignments given in general education classrooms. Eight of nine students mastered use of the strategy and their homework completion rates and products…

To examine the impact of school incentive programs on children's time allocation, this article reports the authors' investigation of time-use data collected in two Bangladeshi villages in 1992, 1995, and 1996; in-depth interviews conducted in 1995; responses to two village censuses collected in 1992 and 1995; and data from an education survey…

The authors extend the standard education production function and student time allocation analysis to focus on the interactions between student effort and performance over the semester. The purged instrumental variable technique is used to obtain consistent estimators of the structural parameters of the model using data from intermediate…

This study investigated the relation between dilatory behaviors and performance in students whom we randomly assigned to either an online or a traditional, lecture introductory psychology class. Both sections had full access to a class Web site. There were no reliable differences between the 2 sections of the class on the measures of…

The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of short-term memory and attention in time estimation. For this purpose we studied prospective time verbal estimation in 21 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), and compared their performance with that of 21 matched normal controls in two different conditions: during a digit span task and during an…

As universities transform into enterprises, academics are facing new challenges, especially in their teaching. This is because of the demands for student-centred programmes that offer more flexibility, the use of Course Management Systems such as "Blackboard," and the expectation that instructors will perform (more) efficiently and effectively. In…

Procrastination can have a negative effect on learning. Many previous studies have examined personality factors that contribute to procrastination. This study examines selected assignment characteristics controllable by the instructor that might influence student procrastination. Results found less procrastination on assignments that were…

In this introduction to the papers in this volume, the author argues that the central role of contingent appointees in undergraduate education is beyond dispute, and, yet, the implications for undergraduate learning are very much in dispute. Understanding of this issue and correction of such problems as may exist begin by focusing discussion of…

"Developing and Assessing an Online Research Writing Course" discusses how the Writing Program at the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) created a hybrid, online research writing course, Writing 50, and assessed that course. The assessment, which is at the center of this piece, was dovetailed with assessment literature in…

Technical and allocative efficiencies of 26 academic departments in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University are computed using Data Envelopment Analysis over 2004/05. Allocations of faculty time between teaching, research, and extension vary by department and are used as unique prices in calculating allocative…