A study of alternative uses for Open University instructional materials, conducted by both a large-scale survey of current use of the materials and by examination of one alternative use plan, is reported. The materials were intended for use in a course on caring for older people. (MSE)

Argues that needs research generally is not a good means for deciding whether a new institute should be or can be established and provides examples of needs research undertaken by the Staff Bureau for Research and Evaluation of the Dutch Open University. (Author/MBR)

Summarized the reports of the committees that have been involved in planning all types of adult education programs in Finland. (JOW)

The purpose of this study was to identify the significant characteristics of distance education students who have dropped-out or continuously and successfully progressed in the distance education program at the NOU of Taiwan. The major focus was based on the found factors which might relate to the students' decisions for dropping out or staying in…

Author believes that if the Open University continues to be successful, it can hardly fail to exert a powerful influence on the future development of higher education in Great Britain. (Author/HB)

An interview with Walter Perry, Vice-Chancellor of The Open University, in which he discusses his educational philosophy. (HB)

The open university is a flexible adult education system which utilizes and interdisciplinary approach and embraces a wide range of subjects. Each course consists of correspondence packages, a series of television and radio programs, organized tutorials and counseling systems. The author explores the establishment of such open universities in this…

The director of the Open University's Institute of Educational Technology describes the work of the staff in four major areas: analyzing what is involved in subject-matter competence; diagnosing Open University students' abilities; creating conditions for improved instruction; and measuring achievement. (Editor/AK)

In well-established disciplines there is largely traditional agreement about what subject areas should be included. When new disciplines emerge, decisions about their content seem more problematic. This article answers the questions of what distance education as an academic teaching discipline should cover. (Availability: Open University, 70…

Describes a personalized system for student-paced administration of correspondence programs which responds to the individual needs of the students in matters regarding registration, sending out materials, and receiving materials from them. The two systems used by the tutors and the students for recording all such correspondence are presented. (EAO)

A study comparing Open University (OU) and conventional university (CU) student performance in economics shows OU students even with CU students in microeconomics and higher in macroeconomics. The research was controlled for both test-wiseness, previous experience, and representativeness of OU students. (MSE)

Care must be taken to select technology appropriate to the teaching task in distance education. Five principles of media selection are: increasing student-system interaction, matching the medium with the materials, reducing duplication, choosing the most direct channel, and developing user-friendly systems. Interactiveness and efficiency of…

The Leeds Counseling Project of the National Extension College, Cambridge, sought to investigate the needs of adult correspondence students outside the Open University. The design of the project, its implementation and its results are discussed. The conclusion considers ways in which local counseling might be provided and supported. (Author/CT)

An enrollment control program designed to reduce oversubscription in some majors was implemented at an open-admissions university. It was found that while the policies of such programs differ substantially from open-admission institution policies, such programs can work well when appropriate interventions and services are provided. (MSE)

Discusses three models of consultation and their assumptions regarding the roles and responsibilities of evaluation consultants, suggests collaborative approaches as appropriate for evaluating the internal functioning of distance education programs, and presents the application of a collaborative model to the selection of evaluation issues at…