The relationship of gender to the profession of teaching and curricular decision making is explored from a feminist point of view in this paper. The following questions were considered: (1)What are the experiences of those women who are preparing to teach and have an orientation toward teaching which is empowering for themselves and their students…

Following a traditional learned helplessness paradigm, subjects initially tried to terminate random bursts of noise using a button-pressing manipulandum and next tried to solve 20 serially-presented anagrams. The noise was broadcast at either a loud or soft intensity, and the subject's button-pressing was either successful (Escape condition) or…

In the past, many social scientists were content to study teaching from a distance, borrowing concepts mainly from psychology and sociology to explain what teaching was like. Increasingly, students of teaching have come to value the insider's viewpoint and to rely on teachers as informants. This paper brings together research about the meaning of…

This study compared the personality, cognitive style, and descriptive preferences of 79 preservice undergraduate education students who chose independent study instead of traditional teacher-directed study. Self esteem, field articulation, locus of control, cognitive style preference, and need for achievement tests were administered and…

Presented are abstracts and abstractors' analyses of 10 studies related, in some manner, to learning. These studies focus on: (1) problem-solving processes used by experts and novices as they worked five mechanics problems (J. H. Larkin and F. Reif); (2) formal reasoning patterns of Italian high school students (M. L. Aiello-Nicosia, et al.); (3)…

Following a description of the pattern of burnout symptoms, which include attitudinal, emotional, and physical components, measures are discussed for determining individuals' reactions to stress and their tendencies to "burnout." A discussion on strategies to cure or prevent burnout includes consideration of three basic methods: cognitive…

To improve the responsiveness of educational programs to the needs of low achieving, at risk students, Research for Better Schools (RBS) has developed an assessment procedure. This document is the portion of that procedure that addresses the involvement of students in their learning, or how low achieving students cognitively operate on content.…

In Mississippi, the State College Board has increased college entrance requirements in science for four-year universities to include three science courses consisting of biology, chemistry, physics, or advanced courses in these areas. This has had the immediate effect of doubling the science enrollment in some high schools. This study was designed…

A description is presented of a three-year pilot project conducted within the Primary-Junior Program at the Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa, Canada. The theoretical rationale upon which this alternative approach is based is outlined, and a description is given of the implementation of the approach. A report is also given of some…

Sixteen hundred and thirty white male adults living in the Upper Cumberland area of rural middle Tennessee were administered the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST) to classify them by their degree of alcohol abuse into alcoholics, probable alcoholics, and non-alcoholics. These respondents had been referred by the courts to an educational…

Data used for this study were provided by classroom teachers concerning second grade students in an urban school system composed primarily of minority and economically disadvantaged children. Measures of children's internal and external feedback propensities were developed. The propensities' relationship to other variables of interest was…

Five elements of teaching style which are directly related to effective learning patterns are identified: (1) warmth--monitoring seatwork, communicating awareness of behavior, providing individual assistance; (2) cognitive organization--feedback, fast-paced activities, variety of learning drills; (3) orderliness--rules, smooth transitions,…

A desire to foster enduring, positive attitudes toward science teaching among elementary school teachers led to a study of self-perceptions. On the basis of evidence for strong links between locus of control orientation and attitudes, an attempt was made to enhance internality through instruction. A quasi-experimental research strategy was…

The purpose of this research was to investigate relationships between egocentrism and personal and social adjustment for students in grades four through six. Almost 200 students participated in the study. The results showed that: (1) Less egocentric children tended to be better adjusted. (2) Overall, personal adjustment was moderately related to…

Proposes a peer-teaching-peer strategy that utilizes the low-achieving External as the tutor, a reversal of the usual procedure. The assumption is that the External must experience and perceive personal control over another child in order to begin orientation toward a more internal outlook. (Author)