An experiment was performed to assess if, and how, attention to a problem solving task varies with anxiety level. It was hypothesized that high anxious children would glance away from a task more often than less anxious children, in light of research literature which suggests that high anxious children are inattentive to tasks in order to avoid…

The objective of the handbook is to acquaint the inexperienced instructor with the essential factors in the teaching situation: (1) various teaching methods, (2) effective teaching (with self-evaluation instruments), (3) how to plan and present the lesson, (4) preparing and utilizing audiovisual aids, (5) a list of sources for instructional…

The purpose of this investigation is to determine whether teacher attitudes are potent factors in learning situations and if pupils achieve at relatively higher rates in situations where their teachers' personalities are compatible with the dominant mode of teaching expected of them. The specified modes of instruction being considered are…

Contrary to the impression which exists in some quarters, criterion-referenced measurements are not a recent development that modern technology has made possible and that effective education requires. The use of criterion-referenced measurements can not be expected to improve significantly our evaluations of educational achievement. The major…

In this study, fourth-grade materials based on a linguistic approach to grammar known as sector analysis were devised, field-tested, and evaluated. Two socioeconomically similar fourth grades--experimental and control groups--were pre- and post-tested to find possible changes in the complexity of their sentence structure after the experimental…

The divisions in transformational grammar into surface and deep structure give rise to the hypothesis that imitative-repetitive drills will never go beyond the surface structure, and that an explicit verbalization of underlying structures will result in better achievement and proficiency in second language learning. The Project described here,…

Results of a study involving an experimental and a control group of first-semester, college students in a required language course concern the use of the French dictee in the classroom as a testing and teaching technique. Performance on written and oral examinations indicates that dictation practice stimulates awareness of the written language,…

In an effort to provide services to the teaching of precollege psychology, the Oklahoma State Psychological Association sponsored a survey of state high schools. Of the 478 questionnaires initiated in November, 1972, 209 (43%) were returned by February 1973. The returns revealed that 112 high schools had a psychology program at the time of the…

Programed instruction in sex knowledge was presented via computer to 30 college students under varying conditions of informational feedback delay (IF). Immediate feedback following each response was compared with feedback following a 15-second delay for each response. Delay conditions provided significantly more retention than immediate…

Argues that orienting high school teaching towards the advanced placement test fails, ironically, to prepare students for thinking, writing, and reading skills required in college. Noting that standardized tests promote the (misleading) conception of knowledge as correctness, offers a choice-based method for students to analyze writing function…

Addresses three questions: (1) What is involved in understanding a word or concept? (2) How do we presently measure word knowledge? (3) What are some alternative formats which teachers could utilize with their students? Suggests techniques such as paired word questions, categorizing, analogies, and sentence writing as ways to evaluate vocabulary…

Developing assessment measures so that the ratings for assignments across teachers will be similar was the goal. What was learned from testing and how valid and relevant assignments might be produced and recognized are described. Survey results are included. MNS)

Considers four major decisions to illustrate the complexity of decision making about pretesting as part of the instructional process: whether a pretest should be administered; the behaviors that should be pretested; how pretesting should be accomplished; and how teaching strategies should be adjusted to pretest results. (MBR)

Describes a study which compared a traditional approach to second language vocabulary instruction with the semantic field approach, which is based on the association between five related words and a key word that could be mentally substituted in context. Findings lend support to the use of the semantic field approach. (SED)

A mountain of paperwork can be pared to a molehill when teachers concentrate on diagnostic and testing techniques that minimize written responses. This article explains how to evaluate students in ways that emphasize oral responses, hand signals, and student grading of papers. (PP)