Increasingly, researchers, teacher educators and governmental agencies underline the need for early childhood professionals to be able to conduct and use relevant research in their practice. In contrast, early childhood teachers tend to draw exclusively on practical advice rather than research evidence to evaluate and develop their teaching. To…

Concern about the effects of counseling on ethnic minority clients has been repeatedly raised. Before embarking on a formal course of multicultural counseling sensitivity for counseling center staff, baseline client outcome data were sought as a method for evaluating the effects of this intervention. Archival data from a university counseling…

The case study described in this paper investigates the relationship among some pre-instructional knowledge, the learning gain and the final physics performance of computing engineering students in the introductory physics course. The results of the entrance engineering test (EET) have been used as a measurement of reading comprehension, logic and…

In this study, we investigated the effect of type of positive interdependence (roles, rewards, roles-plus-rewards, or no structure) and affiliation motives (high vs. low) in an asynchronous, collaborative learning environment. College reentry students worked together in small, fully online discussion groups that lasted for seven days. Results…

According to the aims of the current junior science curriculum for Hong Kong, students are expected to master inquiry skills for problem-solving, understand the nature of scientific knowledge, and appreciate the limitations of science. These aims are, however, difficult to achieve because available science textbooks focus mainly on the…

The purpose of this study was to measure pre-service teachers' attitudes toward information technology (IT) after completing a discrete IT course taught in a student centred-learning (SCL) environment during laboratory sessions. Evidence from this study suggests that there was a positive shift in the participants' attitudes toward IT. Pre-test…

Political participation is critical for the legitimacy of democracy, yet we know surprisingly little about how political competencies develop and can be promoted in young adults. Many studies show low levels of political activity among young Americans, including college students and recent graduates. Although this is widely recognized as a…

The present study used a within-subjects design to examine the effect of the type of written exercise on L2 vocabulary retention. Using input for the meaning and usage of the new words from a specially prepared minidictionary, university intensive English program students (n = 154) practiced target vocabulary in three types of written exercises…

Seven-year-olds who had difficulty understanding 1st-grade work received one of two forms of small-group instruction. Half of the children were randomly assigned to receive four months of instruction in recognizing, comprehending, and reproducing both logical and arbitrary patterns (sequences) involving numbers, letters, shapes, colors,…

This instructor's guide contains materials for teaching the steering and suspension specialist component of a competency-based instructional program for students preparing for employment in the automotive service trade. It is based on National Institute of Automotive Service Excellence task lists. The six instructional units contain materials…

Summer school is thought to be an effective alternative delivery mode for Chapter 1 education. The effectiveness of summer Chapter 1 programs was studied during Fall 1993 in 68 Chicago (Illinois) public schools. Students who had been in fourth grade in 1991-92 were divided into a group that had received Chapter 1 help during the school year and…

Mentoring is being embraced by many schools as a way to fill gaps in the lives of children classified as "at-risk." Several lines of research indicate that mentoring programs encouraging positive adult relationships with these students provide the support needed to help these children reach their full potential. Through a collaborative…

The effectiveness of seven Perkins Act-funded single parent/displaced homemaker programs throughout New Jersey in reducing clients' math anxiety was evaluated through a pretest and posttest designed to determine level of math anxiety. During the 1993-94 school year matched pretest and posttest scores were obtained for 98 of the 177 individuals…

The primary focus of this experiment was to determine the effects of verbal skill training for the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) on secondary school students. The other concern was whether there was a correlation between class grades and PSAT scores. Finally, there was a determination as to whether there were any attitude changes…

This paper examines two different delivery methods, video and computer-based instruction (CBI) for instructing preservice teachers in the use of an electronic mail system, FIRNMAIL. Three questions were asked about students who were taught FIRNMAIL through a video presentation and those taught through an interactive, computer-based simulation…