Most institutions of higher education have some system in place for collecting student ratings of instruction (SRI) data from classes on a systematic basis. SRIs are a relatively simple way of gauging student perceptions of teaching and the course. Since the initial development of IDEA SRI in 1975, much has changed about higher education. Many…

A former Teach for America recruit who completed her training in a university-based program compares the two approaches to teacher preparation. In Teach for America, she learned how to design units and prepare lesson plans; in her university-based program, she had the time to learn from master teachers and build valuable skills, then practice…

The proposition, "That measurement issues in competency-based educational programs (CBE) are not different from those in other kinds of testing (NCBE)" must be declared false. (1) Measurement in CBE focuses on the present while NCBE measurement focuses on information needed for future planning. (2) CBE measurement starts with definitive statements…

Two methods of teaching drama as a literary form in an Introduction to Literature course were compared. Eighty-seven first-year students, 28 males and 59 females, were non-randomly assigned to four classes, two of which were taught in the traditional lecture-discussion manner while the remaining two utilized a method combining lecture-discussion…

A study was conducted to ascertain whether the use of behavioral objectives in the conduct of a child psychology course would be more effective as an instructional delivery system than the traditional lecture-centered, note-taking approach. An experimental group received instruction in child psychology by means of the behavioral objectives…

The state of the art of behavioral instruction and examples of successful implementation of behaviorally-based college teaching are provided in this book. In Chapter 1, the Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) is covered, including a discussion of the problems inherent in traditional teaching methods that led to the development of personalized…

Two studies were conducted to determine the educational effectiveness of innovative correspondence course materials. The studies were made simultaneously during the period from September 1976 through October 1977. Different materials were compared in terms of student performance, student acceptance of materials, course completion time, and…

This document contains the 9 publications constituting the fourth stage of the Voyager program, which is a four-stage program that utilizes contemporary content and instructional approaches to teach the reading, writing, critical thinking, and communication skills that adults need in today's world and to take adult learners from the beginning…