The influence of students' behavioral definitions on subsequent teacher behaviors was investigated with a simulation which allowed teachers using a microcomputer and video display terminal to verbally interact with four simulated students programmed to vary on knowledge and initiative. These "students," in turn, responded to teacher…

This study investigated the implementation of a 7th grade biology curriculum ("Animal and its Environment") in Israel. The curriculum has seven parts, each one with a dictated sequence including well-defined objectives, suitable activities, and assigned materials, with little degree of freedom for the teacher. A primary concern for the…

This paper reviews significant literature on teachers' beliefs, offers support for the contention that current research is moving in a more utilitarian direction than in the past, and argues that continuing research into teachers' beliefs could be useful in improving teaching practice. The review focuses on five areas: (1) the different ways that…

Focusing on the impact on the instructor of the experience of preparing and using guided design modules, this conference paper highlights some of the positive outcomes of this instructional approach; the presentation of an educational psychology course module via an Apple IIe microcomputer is used as an illustration of the process. It is argued…

This document reports a survey of junior high school general music (nonperformance) teachers in Los Angeles County, conducted to obtain data for teacher education curriculum planning in light of teacher-perceived instructional problems involving disadvantaged learners. The study was conducted to (1) identify teacher-perceived problems of general…

From a special 8-part series, describing the individual summer experiences of 79 typical elementary teachers.

A model of the teaching-learning process identifies and describes varied behavioral dimensions of the classroom and how they relate to pupil achievement. The model is based on the assumption that the total amount of engaged time on a particular topic is the most important determinant of achievement and has the components of: (1) quantity of…

A review of the research indicates that the interface between the findings from research on teaching and staff development of teachers is an important but neglected one. An improvement in teaching skills calls for an interactive or collaborative mode of professional development which is based on classroom interests and the needs of teachers, with…

The study determined the correlation among education students' perceptions of their own childhood discipline and their adult attitudes toward teaching and toward children. Data analysis indicated that those students who perceived their own childhood discipline as rigid and punitive tended to hold highly negative attitudes toward children, but did…

The purpose of this study was to determine if answering a child's question with a question produces further analytical questioning by the child. A sample of 80 children in nursery-kindergarten, first, second and third grades (ages ranging from 4-9 years) were divided into two groups. An abstract painting by Kandinsky was shown individually to each…

Teacher attitudes toward adopting individualized physical education programs for handicapped children were measured by the Stages-of-Concern questionnaire. This questionnaire was developed as a diagnostic tool for identifying personal reactions to an innovation. These reactions range from mere awareness of the innovation, through personal concerns…

Drawing on a recent series of investigations into teacher information processing while teaching, a set of propositions to guide inquiry into the relationship between thought and action in the classroom are advanced. These propositions represent a "pre-theory"--steps toward defining the nature of information processing during teaching and the…

The concept that teacher beliefs about future student achievement may actually influence the subsequent performance of students provides the basis for a model of teacher expectation communication which uses attribution theory as explanatory links in the communication process. These model links were tested in a two-year study involving 16 third-,…

A study was conducted (1) to determine whether or not length of school experience affects teachers' ability to deal with difficult classroom situations in ways which are constructive rather than punitive and (2) to analyze the effects of an experimental course designed to help them translate psychological principles into appropriate response…

This is a manual for the Professional Development Seminar (PDS), a required course for all freshmen and transfer students in the College of Education at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh. The manual states the PDS provides a way for beginning students in education to come into academic and social contact with a faculty member in the College of…