Describes the author's efforts to develop a means of teaching biology that facilitates learning and improves students' self-attitudes. Results indicate that students are more academically successful when the instructional materials complement the students' style of thinking. (Author/MA)

Defining research as systematic, self-critical inquiry open to public criticism and/or empirical test, the author considers the relevance of scientific, historical, and educational research to practice. He asserts that teachers must be involved in educational research and that researchers must justify themselves to practitioners, not practitioners…

Discusses relative merits of various outdoor education research and evaluation methodologies and includes a list of available measurement instruments which are each keyed to one or more of the 126 entries in a seven-section bibliography. Approximately half of the entries have ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) accession numbers. (AN)

Suggests six analytic areas for dual-career research (marriage type, domestic responsibility, satisfaction, self-image, career salience, and career line); provides questions for a large-scale survey research project; and analyzes scale types. The scales provide useful direction for dual-career family research. (Author)

White and Gagne's method (EJ 180 555) for formatively evaluating learning hierarchies does not require participants to be taught the content prior to testing them for their knowledge of the skills in the hierarchy. By simply determining the percentage of students achieving each skill, the researcher obtains approximately the same information.…

This response to TM 505 708 briefly reviews the five major points of that article, and adds seven points that evaluators should consider when preparing reports. Illustrations are taken from Project Follow Through. (BW)

Representative models of program evaluation are described by their approach to values, and categorized by empirical style: positivism versus humanism. The models are: social process audit; experimental/quasi-experimental research design; goal-free evaluation; systems evaluation; cost-benefit analysis; and accountability program evaluation. (CP)

Criticizes the variable analytic approach to small group communication currently being used by many social science researchers and suggests some alternative ways of doing research based on a human action perspective. (JMF)

Relates how Pima Community College was selected to assess the health, education, and welfare needs of South Tucson, Arizona. Describes the use of an advisory committee; panels for health, education, and welfare; interviews with selected residents; and a survey of service agencies. Enumerates study findings and recommendations. (AYC)

The clinical inquiry approach to classroom research is seen as a desirable alternative to traditional educational research methods. (LH)

Hawkin's procedure for testing a sequence of observations for a shift in location could have applicability for assessing change within a single subject. Monte Carlo results suggest that Hawkins' procedure is robust with respect to moderate violations of its underlying assumptions of homogeneity of variance and normality. (Author/GDC)

Evaluations involving nonrandom assignment to treatment or control groups are vulnerable to an accidental or intentional confounding of a selection effect with the treatment effect. Two techniques, discriminant analysis and base expectancy analysis, permit separate estimation of the selection and treatment effects in the final results. (Author/CTM)

Contrary to Anderson (EJ 187 936), his rule for equation identification is a necessary but not sufficient condition; furthermore, the choice of two-stage or ordinary least squares depends on results and not on methodological properties of estimators. Modification of Anderson's rule and a means for choosing between estimates is offered. (Author/CP)

Technical assistance given to facilitate implementation of continuous progress programs in a Georgia elementary school system is discussed in terms of long-range goals for staff development and general objectives for a continuous progress model and its mainstreaming program. (DS)

Practical methods for implementing true experimental designs in evaluation settings in which such designs are rarely used are presented. Particular attention is paid to educational settings. (Author/JKS)