A Response to "How to Sacrifice Academic Quality"
Abstract Editors' Note: The above article is a re-joinder to “How to Sacrifice Academic Quality,” which appeared in the Spring 1979 issue of Improving College and University Teaching. The editors welcome thoughtful responses to any article appearing in the journal.
How to Sacrifice Academic Quality
easy to imagine modern scientists echoing this declaration with equal conviction. But is it possible that we are so obsessed with our pursuit of truth that we have forgotten about wisdom? Is it possible that our pride has destroyed our wisdom just as surely as M?bius' pride destroyed his wisdom? Will our search for the truth turn up answers as terrifying as those that Oedipus receives? These are the large issues that can be raised toward the end of the course after specific ideas have been examined in literary works. And these questions will emphasize again the central theme of the course: attitudes toward knowledge are mutable? they have changed greatly in the past, and they are likely to alter still more in the years to come. NOTES
Effects of Racial Diversity on Complex Thinking in College Students
Are experiment varying the racial (Black, White) and opinion composition in small-group discussions was conducted with college students (N = 357) at three universities to test for effects on the perceived novelty of group members' contributions to discussion and on participants' integrative complexity. Results showed that racial and opinion minorities were both perceived as contributing to novelty. Generally positive effects on integrative complexity were found when the groups had racial-and opinion-minority members and when members reported having racially diverse friends and classmates. The findings are discussed in the context of social psychological theories of minority influence and social policy implications for affirmative action. The research supports claims about the educational significance of race in higher education, as well as the complexity of the interaction of racial diversity with contextual and individual factors.