One notable line of inquiry, aspects of which date back to the early 1980s, involves the design and implementation not of long-term curricula, but of topic-oriented sequences for teaching science. One distinguishing characteristic of a teaching-learning sequence (TLS) is its inclusion in a gradual research-based volutionary process aiming at…

This research compares two popular mastery-based instructional programs: Programmed Student Achievement and Total Mastery Learning. The primary objective is to determine which mastery technique results in the best classroom performance of college students in an introductory psychology course. (Author/RM)

A total of 169 college students participated in two experiments investigating the effects of eight instructional sequences and the presence of a heuristic rule in the teaching of four coordinate concepts: trochaic, iambic, dactylic, and anapestic poetic meters. A four-factor experimental design was used: pure simultaneous or sequential…

Describes the objectives, the procedures, and the evaluation involved in a personalized system of instruction (PSI) that has been introduced, as an option and as an alternative, in teaching a general physics course at Purdue University. (GA)

This annotated bibliography on mastery learning, intended for use by teachers, administrators, curriculum-planners, and researchers, covers writings and reports on the following topics: (1) research reports; (2) use of mastery learning concepts and strategies; (3) task skills analysis; (4) sequential learning; (5) learning hierarchies; (6) task…

Three methods of sequencing coordinate concepts (simultaneous, collective, and successive) were investigated with a Bayesian, computer-based, adaptive control system. The data analysis showed that when coordinate concepts are taught simultaneously (contextually similar concepts presented at the same time), student performance is superior to either…

Reports that complex abstractions may be easily acquired by persons of less than 75 IQ if the method of presentation of the abstractions ensures maximum visibility of relevant details. (FL)

Reviews research on sequences in language development and suggests ways to base instruction on each student's level of development. (DD)

This study investigates the effects of content sequence on student learning. The treatments, a spatial and conceptual instructional sequence each consisting of identical content elements, were administered to students in a two-year college Botany course. Hypotheses tested were that sequence would have an effect on student perceptions of the…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a practical procedure for determining the optimum sequencing of pictorial classification tasks in science using mean difficulty indices generated by a standard sample of grade two students. Acquisition of such skills can affect the learner's performance on subsequent material and the teacher's efforts in…

The experiments reviewed in this paper give strong reasons for concluding that the order in which things are learned, the range of exemplification of structural principles, and the introduction of a carefully judged amount of conflict may be critical to reaching an appropriate kind and level of learning. (Author/SJL)

Presents experiments on effects of music instruction, teaching practica, feedback from the instructor, and videotaped self-observation on undergraduates' use of complete sequential patterns and components. Focuses on two levels: examination of effects of systematic instructional structures on acquisition of skills and refinement of constructs for…