Normally achieving, learning-disabled and mildly retarded students (n=148, ages 6-9) were trained to select the odd picture of a 3-picture array. Mildly retarded subjects showed large, consistent performance differences from the other groups, but learning-disabled subjects could not effectively be distinguished from normally achieving peers.…

Describes research that was conducted to investigate the needs and characteristics of noncomputer professionals who use word processing software on personal computers. A model of the intermittent user's performance is presented, and two experiments are described that examined differences in mode of interaction and the use of online help. (30…

Following the lead of Xerox and Ford, U.S. industry is embracing benchmarking as fundamental to quality improvement efforts. Schools can adopt this practice by comparing themselves to the best schools. The first steps are selecting specific improvement areas and identifying model schools for comparison. Visionary leadership is essential. (MLH)

Discussion of the case study method focuses on its use to improve human performance. Critical and variable attributes of case studies are described, guidelines for creating a case are suggested, case study method types and formats are discussed, and criteria for evaluating the quality of a case study are presented. (18 references) (LRW)

Findings of four investigations involving five through seven year olds suggest that, even though children can make relatively accurate judgments of their knowledge states, they tend to overestimate their competence when assessing their knowledge in relation to performance on a task. (RH)

The performance of four direct service providers in feeding, positioning, and transferring physically disabled patients was measured. Use of written instructions led to slight and usually brief changes in performance. The introduction of feedback, especially a continuous schedule, resulted in marked improvements which were maintained. (Author/JDD)

Responds to John J. Kim's critique of his studies of preschoolers' understanding of race. Maintains that his and others' investigations demonstrate that preschoolers differentiate the pattern of causal reasoning governing transmission and maintenance of racial characteristics from that governing transmission and maintenance of perceptually similar…

Results of a study involving 438 college freshmen indicated that academic self-efficacy and personal goals contributed to exam performance. In a second study with the same students, the mean exam performance of participants with high self-efficacy appraisals and strong malleability beliefs was better than that of students with low self-efficacy…

Examined the effects of phonological-skill training on consonantal-phoneme deletion and word-reading performance in early and middle adolescent Chinese readers who were literate in English. Found significant improvements in both activities for younger but not older participants, with follow-up analyses suggesting that language-proficiency…

Transcripts from three problem-solving discussions involving eight or fewer social scientists were analyzed by nonlinear regression to determine whether the groups' productivity was chaotic over time. It was shown that the productivity was chaotic, correlated with the number of active discussion threads, and dependent on the discussion…

Discusses the challenges of learning American Sign Language (ASL) for hearing individuals, including social-dominance patterns and attitude, grammatical differences, cultural differences, and motivation. Posits that learning ASL should be approached with respect and with the knowledge that mastery only occurs over a substantial period of time. (CR)

A study of 16 first-grade Greek children with literacy difficulties and 16 controls found that the time needed to process a written item was the crucial index of difficulty in literacy acquisition and that phonemic awareness and speech rate tasks were predictors of learning to read and spell Greek words. (Author/CR)

Ten students (age 10) with dyslexia were compared to 10 chronological-age controls and 20 reading-age controls. Response latencies of the students with dyslexia were slower when familiar words, letter clusters, and nonwords had to be named. A larger word-frequency effect and larger word-length effect indicate difficulty with increasing task…

Compared verbal and visuo-spatial working memory (WM) performance under initial, gain, and maintenance conditions for nine age groups from 6 to 57 years to determine if differences were attributable to specific or general processing functions. Found support for a general-capacity explanation of age-related differences, reflecting demands placed on…

Quality indicators for student-support service (SSS) in distance education in India were designed which also exhibit the dual function of standard or norm for measuring quality. The study underpins the role of quality indicators in providing new direction to policymakers and other stakeholders in assessing the performance of distance-learning…