Lord's bias function and the weighted likelihood estimation method are effective in reducing the bias of the maximum likelihood estimate of an examinee's ability under the assumption that the true item parameters are known. This paper presents simulation studies to determine the effectiveness of these two methods in reducing the bias when the item…

A study compared the effectiveness of two methods of teaching the passe compose and imparfait of French verbs. Sixty community college students were randomly assigned to two treatment groups, one taught with the traditional method focusing on rules governing tense application, and the other taught by the aspectual method, which treats the…

A three-phase study was conducted to compare the cost-effectiveness of two methods for determining job profiles in the publishing business and book trade--the task inventory and the Developing a Curriculum (DACUM) process. In phases 1 and 2, the task inventory and DACUM approaches were used to identify future changes in the technology used in the…

Formative and summative evaluations in education are compared, and appropriate uses of these methods in program evaluation are discussed. The main purpose of formative evaluation is to determine a level of mastery of a learning task, along with discovering any part of the task that was not mastered. In other words, formative evaluation focuses the…

The effects of monetary gratuities on response rates to mail surveys have been considered in a number of studies. This meta-analysis examined: (1) the nature of the population surveyed; (2) the effects of gratuities in relation to the number of follow-ups; (3) whether the gratuity was equally effective across different populations; (4) whether the…

A study compared the effects of dramatic enactment as a class activity with more traditional teaching methods on students' acquisition and retention of the concepts taught in the lesson. Subjects were 102 secondary school students from various content classes, randomly assigned to a half-class. Each half-class was taught two lesson topics, half…

This experimental investigation compared the traditional and wholistic approaches to physical fitness. Volunteers from a physical education class were randomly assigned to three experimental groups: physical fitness, fitness/stress management, and fitness/stress management/wellness. A control group was selected from volunteers of a personal health…

Despite the current emphasis on thinking skills and the resulting concentration on lists and taxonomies that do not succeed beyond research contexts, all reflective people know that critical thought relies not on applying mental steps but on simply trying to figure out what might be right or wrong. This depends on one basic cognitive act,…

A collaborative research effort to investigate the relative strengths of selected vocabulary development techniques was conducted by the Wisconsin Center for Education Research and the Taiwan Provincial Institute for Elementary School Teachers' Inservice Education. Parallel studies of children in grades 4 through 6 compared the two prior knowledge…

In order to determine which kind of mathematics program would produce the best results for kindergarten children, three programs from different theoretical perspectives were developed. The first program, behavioristic in focus, made use of texts, worksheets, and seatwork. The second, cognitive-developmental in outlook, stressed conceptualization…

This study explored how social comparative information and specific, proximal goals influence children's skillful performance and percepts of self-efficacy in the context of arithmetic competency development. A total of 40 fourth and fifth graders, identified as low-achieving in arithmetic, received instruction in division along with practice…

Colleges and universities in California may be accredited or approved by four different agencies to offer approved programs of teacher education: the State Department of Education's Office of Private Postsecondary Education (OPPE) (for private institutions); the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC); the Commission on Teacher…

In working with new teachers and teacher candidates in teacher education with the many demands placed upon them, it makes sense to combine a number of learning goals. The following article examines the idea that literacy, technology, and subject curriculum goals are a powerful combination. Indeed, critical literacy with a stress on inferring, is a…

Three methods of conducting television pilot testing research--the evaluation of television programs for their potential in attracting target and general audiences--are compared and contrasted in the three sections of this report. The introductory section provides an overview of the research, outlines the goals and objectives of the pilot…