Guidelines for establishing and implementing residence hall unit agreements with college students are presented, based on the experience of the University of Maryland, College Park. These agreements or social contracts are drawn up by a floor/unit of residents and are put in writing to define for that unit the acceptable range of behavior in a…

To determine which types and qualities of science teaching strategies stimulate students to become involved in learning, middle and high school students (N=147) were observed for time-on-task (time actively spent by the student in learning) and off-task during periods while being taught by five student teachers. The "Teaching Strategies…

Guidance techniques for use with children are discussed in this set of training materials, part of an overall curriculum for Child Development Associate trainees. Topics presented include the following: (1) principles of human behavior according to such theories as psychoanalysis, humanistic psychology, and social learning theory; (2) common…

A study of community college students' use of educational support systems was conducted at the City Colleges of Chicago. The study sought to determine: (1) the level of usage of formal support systems (e.g., teachers, class participation, counselors, tutors, libraries, and other learning resources); (2) the level of usage of informal support…

Research findings demonstrate that the way the classroom environment is arranged can have important consequences on the attitudes, behavior, and achievement of students. The concept of "synomorphy" is used to examine some of the research literature available on classroom design. Synomorphy refers to the similarity of structure or shape…

This manual provides teachers and administrators with information on Asian culture, people, and customs, to aid in the teaching of English as a second language to Asian students. The guide focuses on those facets on Asian culture relevant to the immediate life of the Asian ESL student. The following issues are discussed: (1) names; (2) birthdates;…

Several studies have shown that teachers' locus of control orientations are differentially related to attitudes about teaching and classroom behavior. To investigate the relationship between teachers' locus of control and students' perceptions of classroom climate, academic responsibility, and grades, matched pairs of teachers from grades four…

An evaluation of the effectiveness of the School Team Approach for changing perceptions of the school climate and the level of victimization in 290 middle, junior high, and high schools used student and teacher questionnaires adapted from those used in the Safe School Study. In pre-intervention tests, students and teachers in middle and junior…

This learning module was designed to familiarize community college instructors with the characteristics of nontraditional students and with strategies for providing these students with a positive learning environment. After introductory material offering a rationale for the module, Part I provides a list of key concepts, a statement of learning…

Chapter 18 of a book on school law summarizes court decisions that have established the responsibility of school officials, when taking disciplinary action, to conduct hearings to protect employees' and students' due process rights. The courts have used a balancing test to determine whether a trial procedure or a more informal procedure can be…

The study described in this report was conducted at the State University of New York (Geneseo) to determine which instructional variables were most responsible for students' liking or disliking for a course (student affect), course satisfaction, and voluntary participation in additional course work in a field (behavioral intent). The report first…

Citations of 158 naturalistic studies of the classroom interactive processes of children in preschool and kindergarten are listed and categorized in terms of child, teacher, and setting variables. Studies listed were obtained by a search of issues of "Resources in Education" and "Current Index to Journals in Education" that…

A study to identify variables between more or less effective student teachers tested student gains in learning a psychomotor skill. The student teachers were observed as they trained students to perform the "handstand roll over" in physical education classes. Observation focused on content of instruction, skill attempt reactions, management of…

A study was conducted to determine whether and how children with diverse cultural backgrounds, including the cultural mainstream in North America, might differentially identify and acquire rules of discourse appropriate to becoming literate. This study examined the natural language used by teacher and students recorded within selected periods of…

Fourteen classrooms were grouped according to environmental format (open/mixed/traditional) and differences in teacher-student interaction patterns and perceptions of responsibility for outcomes assessed. As predicted, open classrooms showed the highest percentage of dyadic interactions. Also as predicted, open classrooms tended to show the lowest…