An important reaction to individuals involved in problem solving is detecting the accuracy of their responses. Prior research has established that young adults are accurate in estimating correctness to responses on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS). These findings were extended to the elderly; also considered was whether…

Student characteristics such as character, motivation, personality, maturity, creativity and judgment are examined to evaluate the relative utility of various procedures used in college admissions, to suggest possible new ways to use these procedures, and to explore less common procedures. The basic structure of this review is taken from that of…

A representative sample of 987 entering freshmen (45 percent male and 55 percent female) at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP), were surveyed regarding their attitudes and demographic characteristics during two-day summer orientation sessions. The typical UMCP freshman was from an upper-middle class home, earned at least a B average…

This paper describes a one-semester remedial biology course for freshmen college students. It includes rationale for such a course at the college level, course content and organization, and instructional strategies associated with specific problem areas such as the inability of students to categorize and distinguish between categories. Appendices…

The purpose of this manual is to assist parents in developing better home-school relationships. The ten chapters deal with various aspects of those relationships, including the following: (1) the need for parents and teachers to work together, (2) productive parent-teacher conferences, (3) parent and teacher expectations of each other, (4) the…

This handbook provides information on establishing and running learning centers in an elementary school classroom. A learning center is a station containing instruction and materials for one particular project. Every center should include multimedia and manipulative materials that support the topic or skill that is being focused upon. Students use…

While early studies of achievement motivation focused on young men, more recent studies have focused on women's motivation to achieve. Five groups were compared on achievement motivation and achievement-related variables: Women (ages 30-50) who were either homemakers, applicants accepted at college but not attending, or returnees enrolled in…

The research reported in this paper attempted to determine what constitutes superior teaching, and what manipulable extrinsic incentives exist in education to motivate teachers to become superior teachers. The project additionally tried to determine the degree of consensus among teachers and administrators on these issues. Finally, equity, or…

The key to successful development and adoption of new educational programs and practices is careful orchestration of several variables: administrative support, faculty involvement, administration and faculty commitment, and staff development activities. A chronological process involving programatic and political aspects for planned change is…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among teachers' goal orientations, structure (amount of directiveness provided by the teacher), and observable classroom behaviors to determine: (1) if teachers with different goal orientations differ in verbal and nonverbal affective responses; and (2) if teachers with different goal…

An intensive study of innovative projects in five elementary and secondary schools provided an opportunity to examine teacher participation in pre-implementation activities. Particular attention was paid to the motivation and roles of participants. It was found that participation is complex and varied. There were three major findings: (1)…

This handbook is designed as a guide for teachers and students in choosing and developing mathematics projects, from simple demonstrations of mathematical problems or principles that the teacher has assigned as classroom learning experiences to complex, sophisticated exhibits, intended for entrance in fairs and competitions. The use of projects to…

Students' preconceptions (also called misconceptions) interfere with desired learning and resist attempts to eradicate them. By applying previous findings about misconceptions regarding the particle model for gases, a new approach was designed for teaching the subject. A "critical situation" was treated in which students in sixth and…

Young children's natural processes of language acquisition, the ways they learn a second language, and guides for teaching children a second language are discussed. Topics addressed include social influences on language acquisition, code-switching in bilingual communities, and the relationship of enculturation and acculturation to the development…

An innovative approach to teaching learning theory to undergraduates was tested by comparing a modified Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) group process class (n=19) to a traditional teacher-centered control class (n=32). Predictions were that academic performance and motivation would be improved by the PSI method, and student satisfaction…