This study examined whether the density of noncontingent outcomes limits instructor expressiveness as an effective teaching behavior in different lecture content conditions. Results indicated that for high-content lectures, instructor expressiveness facilitated achievement and confidence in students who received contingent and low noncontingent…

Note-taking functions (encoding, encoding plus storage, and storage) and note-taking techniques (conventional, linear, and matrix) were studied for 96 college undergraduates. Results are explained in relation to repetition, generative processing, note completeness, and the potential of note-taking techniques to facilitate performance. (SLD)

The findings of the main experiment and the replication support quite clearly the expectation that the use of rhetorical question-and-answer sequences in a lecture enhances the learning of factual materials in an audience that is not otherwise highly motivated to pay close attention. (Author)

The purpose of this study was to investigate teacher control of student generated noise in a realistic university setting. (Author)

Two experiments used two 2 x 3 x 2 (instructors x test forms x class times) designs to compare three aspects of student performance (mean final examination scores, homogeneity of variance, and retake frequencies) on three test forms. The test items on the three forms were arranged in three ways: (1) forward--items paralleled the presentation of…

The class structures of Socratic dialogue method, the traditional lecture, and personalized systems of instruction (PSI) are compared. PSI was viewed more positively by students on subjective ratings, and performance outcomes were higher with this method. Treatments offering the multiple testing option produced more positive subjective and…

Part of continuing Navy research on training and utilizing Group 4 (low ability) personnel, this study investigated the feasibility of teaching such personnel a course in the operation of the AN/PSM-4 multimeter (an electronic measuring device), and evaluate the relative effectiveness of two different instructional methods. The course was given to…

This study compared the effectiveness of the traditional library lecture and computer-assisted instruction (CAI) in scheduled credit classes in library skills. Subjects were 18 college freshman attending branch campuses who were academically underprepared for college level study and who also lacked basic library skills. Eleven students were taught…

Since studies show that students who have an orientation to college perform better than those who do not, this study at Mississippi Gulf Coast Junior College sought to improve the freshman orientation program by determining whether a programmed method of orientation would be more effective than the existing lecture method. To test the hypothesis…

This research examined interactions between internal-external locus of control and other student characteristics, and lectures and two variants of the Personalized System of Instruction. The three treatments varied in degree of study guidance. The research was done with 60 college freshmen in an introductory course on psychodiagnostics. The…

Although there is general acceptance that information presented in formal learning situations must be encoded linguistically by the learner, there is little research on the differential aspects of various types of linguistic encoding strategies. A study sought to determine the differential effects of three linguistic encoding strategies on…

Four different sessions of an educational program for business executives were studied to compare the differential effects of laboratory human relations (T-group) training versus a lecture-discussion approach to interpersonal relations in organizations. Both types of programs produced equal change in participants' stated beliefs about effective…

Describes a study of undergraduates studying genetics that compared the effectiveness of a computer simulation used before and after formal instruction. Treatment of the experimental and control groups is explained, and results are reported which support the theory that the effectiveness of the simulation is dependent on the sequence of…

The comparative effectiveness of tele-lecture and traditional lecturer methods for a series of dairy meetings was assessed, and the value of a pre-test and post-test in identifying important concepts and measuring learning was studied. A three-month experiment was conducted with 99 dairy herd improvement association members throughout Minnesota. A…

Discussion of the functions of note-taking and reviewing notes in the learning process highlights two studies of undergraduates that were conducted with three treatment groups: (1) note-taking only; (2) note-taking and review; and (3) review only with borrowed notes. One study involved learning from a videotaped lecture, and one from a printed…