In order to provide an on-demand, open electrical engineering laboratory, we developed an innovative software-based Virtual Open Laboratory Teaching Assistant (VOLTA). This web-based virtual assistant provides laboratory instructions, equipment usage videos, circuit simulation assistance, and hardware implementation diagnostics. VOLTA allows…

The pretest-posttest design referred to as Design 2 by Campbell and Stanley (1963) is commonly used in educational research and evaluation. The tenability of the assumption of a zero population difference commonly used with this design is questioned. A nonzero population estimate based on the mean difference observed in test-retest reliability…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of visual perceptual training on word recognition and reading achievement of disadvantaged first grade pupils. The experimental groups received the Frostig Program for the Development of Visual Perception in addition to the regular readiness program for a period of 12 weeks. The control…

The evaluation design, which prescribes when and from whom to gather data, is described as significant because it can lend credibility to evaluation results. The objectives of this booklet are to aid the evaluator in: choosing a design; putting it into operation; and analyzing and reporting the data. Examples include both formative and summative…

A study was conducted to determine if the observed changes in Head Start children were related to the practice effects inherent in a test-retest situation. The "control" group consisted of 64 children who had been eligible for a Head Start program. They roughly matched a group of Head Start (HS) children in IQ scores, age, and…

Hypothesizing that students who were given the opportunity to choose their learning activities in a residential outdoor education school (Stone Valley, Pennsylvania) would more readily attain the behavioral objectives of those activities, 68 fifth grade students participating in a four-day residential outdoor education program were divided into a…

AN EXPERIMENTAL POLYSENSORY SELF-INSTRUCTIONAL SYSTEM DESIGNED TO ASSIST STUDENTS IN ACQUIRING AND APPLYING KNOWLEDGE OF THE NATURE, CONVERSION, AND TRANSMISSION OF ELECTRICAL ENERGY AND OF PRINCIPLES OF SIMPLE EELECTRICAL CIRCUITS WAS DEVELOPED AND TESTED FOR EFFECTIVENESS. RELATED LABORATORY EXERCISES WERE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE SYSTEM WHICH…

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the ef"ects of direct-detailed and directed discovery laboratory methods on selected behavior characteristics of college students during a 3-week period. The 120 students wer" enrolled in three sections of an electricity course under three teachers. During the first 3 weeks of the experiment, 20 students…

The experimental pilot project was conducted to determine whether students who take the laboratory phase of an engineering technology applied electricity course in a mobile laboratory at branch schools demonstrate proficiency comparable to students who take the applied electricity course in permanent facilities at the parent institution. The…

The major purposes of this study were to develop a process for the application of a "judgemental procedure" to program construction in vocational and practical arts education, and to apply the process in a selected local community. The "judgemental procedure" was that proposed by W.O. Stanley in 1953. After applying seven…

A parent training model utilizing rural Utah (Box Elder County) parents whose children had been identified by their teachers as among the lowest three in their classes in reading or mathematics performance examined the academic performance of 150 students in grades 2-6 derived from 9 elementary schools (5 schools in the treatment group and 4 in…

The four goals of this project are outlined in some detail. First, a unit programed for self-instruction in nursing, entitled "An Introduction to Radiation Therapy" was revised and rewritten on the basis of knowledge gained from controlled use. The revised unit took less time, showed a decreased error rate and indicated greater learning. A second…

Two different control groups were used to evaluate the use of pre- and post-test examination questions presented in the format of a Navy training film. The control group was given a paper-and-pencil pre- and post-test while the experimental group received the pre- and post-test questions within the context and format of the film. While no…

In the second year of a study to compare and evaluate programed and conventional instruction in algebra for the ninth and tenth grades, comparisons of the control and experimental groups in each grade were again based on scores from the Lankton First-Year Algebra Test and the California Study Methods Survey (CSMS). Although there was a…

Ninth and tenth grade students from two schools were placed in experimental and conventional instruction classes to compare the two methods in teaching algebra by means of achievement test and time needed to complete the course. Pre- and posttests measured aptitude; teachers and students in the experimental groups recorded personal reactions to…