The nature of controversial programs is discussed, including problems that such programs pose for evaluators and suggested solutions for the problems. Controversial programs are likely to generate news-media attention, internal conflicts (i.e., involving the program and evaluation staffs) and external conflicts (i.e., involving various advocacy…

This study was undertaken to determine whether hierarchically structured problem situations could be developed and used to identify where individual solutions to problems in elementary physics are interrupted and whether examination of student approaches to problem situations would be useful to physics teaching. A random sample of 26 students…

This paper investigates how people acquire knowledge from maps. Emphasis is placed on heuristics--defined as the procedures that people use to select, combine, and encode map information in memory. The objective is to develop a theory of expertise in map learning by analyzing differences between fast and slow learners in terms of differences in…

Presented is an overview of the 1979 Illinois Inventory of Educational Progress (IIEP) for eleventh-grade mathematics. The IIEP is a systematic effort by the Illinois State Board of Education to collect information on the educational achievement of Illinois students in certain areas and to make that information available to educational…

The use of an alternative methodology to study transfer of learning in clinical instruction during medical school was investigated. The environment in which clinical instruction takes place was examined, after which hypotheses were proposed and tested in a quasi-experimental design. The first phase of the study, an ethnographic analysis of the…

Growing interest in teaching philosophy in elementary and secondary school prompted a 1975 national survey to determine the present status of philosophy as a component in the curriculum. Possible contributions of philosophy to students' personal growth and critical thinking skills are explored. The first section of the paper presents the following…