The major theses of this paper state that the concept of educational change is different from the concept of educational innovation and the effectiveness and broad scale applicability of educational change is limited by influences often overlooked by planners and implementors of change. The minor theses state that (1) the fate of most educational…

Six adult students of English as a second language were ranked according to individual input into classroom oral interaction. Four hypotheses were then tested, regarding correlation between degree of input generation on the one hand and achievement and performance on the other. It was found that: (1) high input generators (HIGs) performed better…

Teachers were designated as more and less effective according to their ability to teach specially constructed reading and mathematics curriculum units over two weeks. They were then studied to determine if their perceptions of classroom interaction and interactive decision making were different. They were also studied to determine whether they…

This document describes the clinical observation activities in a sample of California classrooms as part of the developmental work for Phase III of the Beginning Teacher Evaluation Study. The actual observation procedures are documented, and the conclusions reached on the basis of those observations are presented. Conclusions related to timebased…

This report discusses the question of the appropriateness of teacher behaviors in relation to both the counting of frequencies of teacher behaviors and the interpretation of the impact of teacher behaviors on student learning. The recent focus, in research on teaching, on the counting of teacher behaviors gives rise to a concern for the meaning as…

As part of the development of a classroom interaction observation instrument, this report presents the results of a comparative study of group interaction in contrasting educational environments (open and traditional) with children of different socioeconomic backgrounds (middle and lower classes). Additionally, problems of adequately assessing…

The psychological dimensions hypothesized to describe common instructional treatments and materials, and the relevant psychological characteristics assumed to describe students are discussed in their relationship to studies of aptitude-treatment interaction (ATI). The Annehurst Curriculum Classification System is described as a practical model…

An approach is described for decreasing the costs and difficulties associated with providing adequate feedback to the student concerning his interpersonal performance when he performs operational tasks in simulated or actual job situations as part of his training. The computer is used to assist in the process of eliciting appropriate feedback from…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 13 titles deal with the following topics: the North American Indian in theatre and drama, the lyrical novel, factors affecting the appreciation of suspenseful dramatic presentations, syntactic analysis and the performance of…

An exploration of Project Transition, an outgrowth of the University Without Walls program for adult learners, is presented. The development on nontraditional educational thinking is recounted from a personal standpoint, including the realization that return to education in mid-life often signaled a larger decision to reshape personal identity,…

Although specific procedures for "participant observation" (PO) vary, it is always based on the principle that while the observer (O) will adopt preconceived structural outlines and dimensional scales in the course of his summary, he--rather than any outlines or scales--is the instrument for inferring data. Applications of modified PO…

This report reviews 3 demonstration studies in which the Topic Classification System of classroom interaction analysis (a system of analyzing teacher objectives and student performance) was applied to 3 samples of classroom behaviors to determine the range and limitations of the system. In the introduction the system is discussed with reference to…

A social psychological analysis of the school life of disadvantaged children indicates that conflicts result from the lower-class youngster's need to adjust to the expectations of middle-class society. A review of social psychological theory points to the implication that the cultural conflict is a fundamental one going to the very heart of basic…

To test Tinto's theory of college attrition, a longitudinal study involving 766 students enrolled in Syracuse University in September 1975 was conducted to determine whether freshmen persisters and voluntary dropouts differed on certain attitudinal and behavioral measures of academic and social integration once selected background characteristics…

This document presents in graphic form a system of interaction analysis, in which methods are presented for the teacher to study his teaching behavior in terms of the behavioral objectives he has established for himself. A summary of categories of interaction analysis is provided, which are labeled as indirect and direct influence. The former…