Evaluated with 18 attendants in an institution for the mentally handicapped were several teaching formats: modeling, instructions, videotape feedback, or film, videotape modeling, filmed modeling, or live modeling, or control. (Author/DB)

This paper explores the variety of qualitative methods available, in the context of a larger quantitative-qualitative debate in the field of educational evaluation. Each approach is reviewed in terms of the work of its major proponents. The dominant forms of qualitative evaluation include: (1) ethnography; (2) naturalistic inquiry; (3) generic…

A demonstration of a classroom writing group in action, this 35-minute interactive video and instructional booklet focus on writing as a shared act of communication. The videotape models structure and process rather than any particular kind of writing, and the group process can be adapted to a variety of writing tasks and requirements. The…

Configuration, strategy, and leadership style in five Brazilian universities are examined. Though research tends to focus on the university as a professional bureaucracy, it is demonstrated that other configurations are also applicable. The link between configuration and strategy making is traced, with insights into how strategies are formed in…

A study examined the concept of interpersonal communication competence in order to construct a more refined instrument than those currently used to measure competence. Using 70 items drawn from several existing measures of competence, 660 volunteer subjects from undergraduate communication courses at a large midwestern university provided their…

Data on the development of intelligence and the concept of giftedness are interpreted for use in the classroom and are applied to the development of strategies to optimize learning. The Integrative Education Model is introduced, with its purpose of empowering the learner physically, emotionally, cognitively, and intuitively. The teacher's role is…

Using architectural design as a model, the article discusses the process of evaluation design. Like the architect, the evaluator faces a problem of finding forms that best fit a partially defined set of contextual demands. The context is the set of all factors which made demands upon the final design form. Like the architect, the evaluator's…

This paper is a preliminary inquiry by a non-mathematician into graphic methods of sequential planning and ways in which hierarchical analysis and tree structures can be helpful in developing interest in the use of mathematical modeling in the search for creative solutions to real-life problems. Highlights include a discussion of hierarchical…

The facts and ideas of subject matter are of little or no value unless such facts and ideas are used to promote thoughtful discourse. Those who teach with this idea in mind can be said to be thinking-skills centered or procognitive; those who teach without this idea in mind can be termed content-centered or procontent. The procognitive viewpoint…

The paper reviews findings and implications of curriculum based assessment (CBA), an approach focusing on collecting, interpreting, and using data to help lower achieving students have opportunities for success in mainstreamed settings. An instructional delivery model is presented to guage the probability of task success and provide a structure…

This paper argues that during the past two decades, research on teaching effectiveness can be identified with three differing paradigms: (1) the technical/"scientific"; (2) the humanistic; and (3) the person-centered paradigms. It is further proposed that if teaching is viewed as an art or craft and learning as an ever present process,…

This report shares insights on varied experiences in action research at the university level and describes methods for involving subjects in research. Examples used include case histories of two projects: the Projet de recherche et d'intervention a la maison (PRIM), a research project on home intervention; and the Ford Teaching Project. Based on…

The Service Delivery Assessment (SDA) model is a human services evaluation tool which offers a viable alternative to more traditional approaches and is appropriate for small local evaluations as well as large national studies. There are five phases to an SDA study: assignment, pre-assessment, design, analysis, and communication of the findings.…

The articles in this journal issue present a wide range of theoretical and practical approaches to helping students benefit from imitating products and processes of writing. The eight articles discuss the following topics: (1) imitating models, (2) summary writing as an aid to using writing models, (3) rewriting "Indian Lad" to show how to imitate…

To explore the quality of the basic course in speech communication it is useful to examine the role of graduate teaching assistants (GTA) and undergraduate teaching assistants (UTA). The first goal was to search the literature for information concerning the use (or lack thereof) of GTAs and UTAs and to explore the potential benefits and drawbacks…