This study surveyed undergraduates (27 men, 83 women) to investigate gender differences in mental rotation. It compared pretesting on the Vandenberg Test of Mental Rotation (VTMR) and posttesting after two sessions of computer games. Men typically scored higher on pretest VTMR. After playing a game requiring mental rotation of figures, women…

How the validity of gain scores varies with the standard deviations of pretest and posttest scores and the correlation between the two are analyzed. Earlier findings that under realistic testing conditions difference scores can have excellent predictive value are supported. Conditions under which gain scores have optimum validity are specified.…

Discussion of computer programming and knowledge-based instruction focuses on three studies of elementary and secondary school students which show that five particular problem-solving strategies can be developed in students explicitly taught the strategies and given practice applying them to solve LOGO programming problems. (Contains 53…

The use of multiple regression for analyzing data from the regression-discontinuity design (RDD) is examined, considering the effects of random measurement error in the pretest, treatment-effect interactions, and curvilinearity in the regression analysis of RDD. Three sets of conditions of increasing generality are reviewed. (SLD)

The literature on evaluation of employee involvement (EI) programs is reviewed, and five evaluation models and other procedures to increase EI usefulness to organizations are discussed. Better designed studies should include some form of preevaluation and postevaluation measures and should use more than one evaluation model. (SLD)

Investigates whether an English and spelling pretest administered to business communication students helped teachers evaluate the language arts skills or deficiencies of their students. Finds that the test is a good predictor of performance ability in business communication and that the pretest and posttest scores help teachers and students to…

Pre/posttest data on 40 physicians who completed problem-based clinical scenarios on osteoporosis revealed that 39 showed improvement or modest change in postworkshop scores, especially in terms of management of male patients, determination of risk factors, and use and interpretation of bone density tests. (SK)

Investigated whether there is a significant difference in the rate of gain in test scores between students who use an integrated learning system (ILS) and students who do not. Nine dependent variables from the Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress examination for third grade students provided the data. (Contains 23 references.)…

Tests the effectiveness of written recasts versus models in the acquisition of the aspectual distinction between two past tenses in French, the "passe compose" and the "imparfait" with a pretest, repeated exposure, and posttest design. (Author/VWL)

Outlines some nonrandomized constructed comparison strategies that can be used to evaluate interventions for children and illustrates their use for outcome variables that would be expected to change over age if no treatment were given. The proposed strategy consists of determining an expected age function for the dependent variable using pretest…

Nigeria is currently facing the problem of youth incivility and immorality. The need has arisen to seek informal approaches to the inculcation of desirable values and civic consciousness in the young people in view of the apparent failure of the formal school system to inculcate desirable values. This study was about holiday citizenship education…

This study provided an initial test of the Bridges to High School Program, an intervention designed to prevent school disengagement and negative mental health trajectories during the transition to junior high school. The intervention included an adolescent coping skills intervention, a parenting skills intervention, and a family strengthening…

Overconfidence in clinical judgment is a common problem among counselors that undermines the validity of the counselors' assessments and, by implication, the quality of client services. The authors evaluated an instructional module designed to reduce overconfidence among counselor trainees who completed an assessment task that exposed them to some…

Proposes a methodology for analyzing the impacts of social programs on previously unexamined subgroups. The approach estimates the impact of programs on subgroups identified by a postreatment choice while maintaining the integrity of the experimental research design. (SLD)

Melanoma, the most fatal form of skin cancer, is rising at rates faster than all other preventable cancers in the United States. Childhood exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light increases the risk for skin cancer as an adult, therefore, starting positive sun protection habits early may be key to reducing the incidence of this disease. The…