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Reactions of students who had enrolled at Michigan State University in 1971 were assessed and tabulated in 1975 using a senior questionnaire. A total of 1,050 responses were received, representing a 33 percent return from 3,200 fourth-year students to whom surveys were mailed. The surveys consisted of 70 questions concerning academic and personal feelings towards a four-year education at the University, including sections on: general reactions; perceived progress towards career goals; college or department rankings; instructor rankings; individual assistance; University residential services; responsiveness to student needs; co-curricular activities; and out-of-class accomplishments. Results showed that seniors were generally satisfied with their education, that a large majority had progressed towards their career goals, and that formal classroom activity was as highly regarded as extracurricular accomplishments. There was also some indication of concern about final career plans, but this concern did not seem to be attributable to educational programs provided at the University. A separate evaluation revealed that seniors in 1975 appeared to indicate a greater satisfaction in general than seniors in 1971, particularly in academics. Appendices include tables on college major changes and senior viewpoint item responses by college. (DC)

Changing student views toward academic governance and institutional planning were measured using surveys administered to both seniors and freshmen in 1975, and from surveys administered to freshmen in 1971, at Michigan State University. A total of 1,050 seniors responded to a mail survey which was also administered to a 1975 new-freshman sample of 744 students. These data were then compared to complete entry survey data obtained from 5,200 freshmen in 1971. The following subsections appeared on the survey forms: student voice and influence, student freedom, educational administration and philosophy, attitudes toward higher education, and ancillary student views. The survey data indicated that students had become more conservative, more moderate, and less liberal in their views from 1971 to 1975. A much larger proportion of students in 1975 rejected thoughts of abolishing grades, having dual academic standards for graduation, having students influence course content, and with having student evaluations be the sole basis for faculty promotions. Both freshmen and seniors in 1975, in contrast to 1971 counterparts, appeared more cautious about having students working in such influential positions as housing, selection of administrators, and curriculum. They were also less supportive of altered admission for students without regard for tests and records and special provisions in college admissions for disadvantaged or minority students. (DC)

A third survey of grade trends was made in summer, 1979 to verify whether the slight drop in college grade-point averages (GPAs) detected in 1975 represented a break in the 15-year trend toward higher grades. Responses were received from 180 colleges from a systematic sample of 361 colleges which offer graduate degrees (a 50% return). The results confirmed the slight drop of .02 of a GPA point detected earlier from 1974-1975. This was followed by additional slight decrease in GPA from 1975 to 1976, 1976 to 1977, and essentially no change from 1977 to the fall term of 1978-79. The data certainly suggests a cessation of the 15-year trend toward higher grades but not a regression back toward earlier levels. The total drop in GPA from 1974 to 1978 was but .042 GPA points with no decrease in the last year. This drop is minute in relationship to the .432 GPA point rise from 1960 to 1974. The data also indicate that GPA changes for graduate students resemble those of undergraduates. Over 70% of the respondents reported taking specific action to curb grade inflation, such as: informed dialogue, formal deliberation, research, or dissemination of grading reports; few have changed their grading systems. Although the era of student activism and dramatic social change has passed, new forces such as consumerism, enrollment decline, and instructional innovation, will exert some pressure for higher grades. (Author/CP)

Student instructional acitivity preferences and the apparent motives and substance underlying the preferences were analyzed. An 80-item classroom activity preference scale and a 12-item reaction to innovative instructional practices scale were administered to 746 new freshmen at Michigan State University. Responses to the 12-item innovative activity scale were obtained from 1,050 seniors in the spring of 1975 as part of a four-year followup study. Both freshmen and especially seniors appear highly positive toward most of the proposed innovations in academic practices. Students appear to favor innovations in general, but apparently not if the changes proposed appear impersonal, structured, prescriptive, or essentially task-centered. The activities checked by students as undesirable appear to indicate a rejection of serious study-type instructional tasks. Rejected activities seem to be largely those designed to produce systematic coverage of the basic course content and skills with grades and quizzes. The list of activities that students indicate as desirable appears to emphasize the personal element and is only remotely concerned with learning. The items instead appear to encompass activities that give students a feeling of immediate well-being, security or identity, and freedom from prescription, structure, or demands. Questions are raised about the use of student instructional preferences as a primary guide in instructional modification. (SW)