Learning and retention may be influenced by subtle instructional stimulus characteristics and certain visual memory aptitudes. Ten stimulus characteristics were chosen for study; 50 sequences of programed instructional material were specially written to conform to sampled values of each stimulus characteristic. Seventy-three freshman subjects…

A summary of the research activities of 13 Head Start regional evaluation centers is presented in three sections: research on children, research on parents and families, and research on classrooms, teachers, and social organizations of Head Start centers. Studies are grouped under appropriate subheadings, such as "language" or…

Role theory concepts were employed to define substantive areas of interactions between vocational teachers, state supervisory personnel, and local school administrators, define potential and actual role conflicts for vocational teachers arising from these interactions, and assess the impact of perceived conflict upon vocational teacher job…

The Family Assessment and Goal Establishment Model (FAGEM) draws its major impetus and structure from recent writings and trends in education, social planning, and family counseling. Built on a series of related premises addressing rural low income family needs, FAGEM can be reduced to four operational program delivery phases which include the…

Food altruism and the consumption of food are examined from a sociological perspective which assumes that humans share food as inclusive fitness actors. Inclusive fitness implies the representation of an individual's genes in future generations through his own or others' offspring. The discussion includes characteristics of food sharing among kin…

Research indicates that boys perform better on mathematics tests while girls perform better on reading tests. An investigation of why boys' and girls' performance differs was made by coding teacher interactions with second grade students during reading and mathematics instruction. Results reveal that teachers: made relatively more academic contact…

True learning requires that students "make meaning" for themselves, but the patterns of verbal behavior that prevail in secondary classrooms tend to stifle rather than facilitate this process. Excerpts from tape recordings of lessons in three secondary classrooms show that, whereas the teachers display great autonomy and control over what they…

This study examines the relationship between family interaction, parenting behaviors, and the social, cognitive and emotional development of children in the two years following divorce. Subjects were 48 children (24 boys, 24 girls and their parents) from single parent families in which custody had been granted to the mother and 48 children (24…

This paper presents a discussion of evaluation methods which can be used in preschool programs and emphasizes the importance of considering both outcome and process variables. Emphasizing the limitations of research which utilizes only outcome measures, the paper focuses on the benefits of an analysis of ongoing processes and interactions within…

Features of parental speech to young children was studied in four English-speaking and four Spanish-speaking families. Children ranged in age from 9 to 12 months for the English speakers and from 8 to 22 months for the Spanish speakers. Examination of the utterances led to the identification of 34 prosodic, paralinguistic, and interactional…

Human relations problem situations for Army senior non-commissioned officers (NCOs) were identified and analyzed using group problem solving methods. Then, using an analysis summary prepared for each case study problem situation as the basis, candidate performance exercises were developed. (These exercises specify terminal performance objectives…

Too often, teachers working with individualized instructional programs turn the instruction over entirely to kits, packets, and canned commercial materials and abandon all meaningful teacher/student and student/student interaction. This paper urges teachers to avoid a total dependence on commercial and teacher-made learning packets. It examines…

Twenty-five instructors from 11 different community colleges and 13 different disciplines participated in a six week institute at Texas A&M University, geared to improving teaching in junior and community colleges. The participants had an average of 5.08 years of experience in college level teaching, and all had at least a master's degree.…

The report begins with a brief examination of the role of computer modeling in management decision-making. Then, some of the difficulties of implementing computer modeling are examined, and finally, the educational implications of these issues are raised, and a comparison is made between what is currently being done and what might be done to…

About 3,000 educators have participated in Educ 521 human relations recertification programs sponsored by the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS). In February 1975, the 755 participants who had processed their recertification forms were mailed a questionnaire to determine overall program effectiveness, differences among programs, and directions for…