This study developed a learning system that allows teachers to edit assignments designed to teach students the text structure strategy through the use of four phases: instructing, modeling, practicing, and reflecting. A 7-week instructional experiment was conducted in which 84 12th-grade students learned the text structure strategy using this…

At school, pupils often cooperate on common projects and must coordinate their different individual actions. However, grades are pervasively used even in cooperative situations, which make the pupils' differences in achievement and their relative rank salient and may reduce their inclination to work constructively with others. Thus, we…

This study considered how physical education teacher education students "perform" their "selves" within subject department offices during the practicum or "teaching practice". The research was framed by a conceptual framework informed by the work of Goffman on "performance" and "front". The findings revealed three common performances across the…

A study of 288 students with moderate to severe mental retardation investigated the relationship between curricular activities and problem behaviors. Findings indicated a positive correlation between ratings of curricular activities (based on activities being socially functional, peer referenced, and behaviorally functional) and students'…

High attrition in technical training courses in Army Service Schools was found to be a major problem during the years 1962 to 1965. Data obtained at the U.S. Army Air Defense School showed that students who volunteered specifically for their training had significantly lower attrition rates than students of comparable aptitude who were assigned to…

This study, based on observation of 28 children with autism in an integrated preschool, explored whether differing levels of autistic behavior were associated with the presence of nondisabled children or with the presence of other children with autism. Results indicated significantly decreased levels of autistic behavior corresponding to the close…

Extensive research has been conducted examining the effects of teacher expectations on student performance, revealing reasonably consistent patterns of differential behavior by teachers toward high and low expectation students. Few theories which integrate isolated research findings into a causal sequence have emerged, however. One such model…

A fading procedure to maintain student pacing in personalized instruction courses in two settings--a small educational psychology course at a public university and a large psychology course at a private university--was investigated. Students in both courses were divided into two groups. The first group had gradually lengthened unit completion…

Explored behaviors of students at various times during an examination to examine the relationship between test anxiety and test performance. Results indicated that low test anxious students differed significantly on all eight dependent variables with the level of test anxiety having a significant effect. (Author)

This study investigated the behavioral responses of eight children to five alternate lesson types. Barker's assertion of the coercive nature of setting was examined. Questions addressed were: (1) Do children having the same or similar lessons behave asimilarly or differently? (2) Do children change their patterns of behavior as they move from one…

The term "pre-doctoral syndrome" is used to define behaviors of doctoral students during the research and dissertation stage of their program, when they typically become intense, single-minded, over-sensitive, less receptive to criticism, and exhibit stress-related behaviors. A study was conducted to examine the perceptions of University…