This occasional paper excerpts student reaction to the social studies simulation "Economic Systems," developed by Academic Games Associates. Introductory remarks by the series editor emphasize the importance of a debriefing session to allow the relationship of simulation and learning objectives to be assimilated. In this case study, the game is…

This document on the value of field experience for preservice teachers is based on a course and an experiment conducted at the University of Maryland in which blocks of a methods course were devoted to elementary school classroom experience. It is reported that school visits progressively involved observation lesson presentation, and general…

This is the first in a series of reports, based exclusively on interview data, which concerns the initial reactions to the university experience of a random sample of 100, class of 1966 freshmen. Information is presented on the students' decision to attend college, their reactions to the first few weeks of university experience, their attitudes…

The purpose of this paper is to describe 1.) the Death Education and Suicide Behavior course offered at the University of Maryland; 2.) the comments of the students both before and after the course as a means of determining any effect of the course; and 3.) some insights gained from teaching taboo topics such as human death and sexuality. The…

Reports on the methodology and results of a study to identify characteristic features of poetry discussion at junior secondary level. (RL)

Examines the effect of stereotypically masculine and feminine teaching styles on college students. Results indicate that students prefer the feminine style, and that students learn significantly less from a female using the masculine style than from a male using the feminine style. (FMW)

Twelve learning-handicapped elementary students were exposed to synthetic speech. Subsequently, the children identified a higher percentage of stimulus words presented by a speech synthesizer than did children in a limited exposure group. Both groups correctly identified more words presented by a tape recording than presented by the speech…

Three moderately mentally retarded students, aged 8-11, were taught to read words commonly found on community signs. Error percentages were similar for both progressive time-delay procedures and constant time-delay procedures, but the constant time-delay procedure was slightly more efficient in direct instructional time and number of sessions to…

Reviews a criterion-based evaluation of educational software at York University, Ontario, using the York Educational Software Evaluation Scales (YESES). Concern over the quality of available courseware is expressed, and the response of students and teachers is highlighted as the most important criterion for evaluation. (LRW)

Reviews research on elementary school teachers' feedback to students' miscues in basal and content area reading. Describes the sustained feedback paradigm that developed from the Direct Instruction Programs. (Author/HOD)

Describes a research study on the effects of word processing use in teaching writing to four fifth-grade boys in a special education program, and reviews other studies on word processing use with learning disabled students. It was concluded that word processing offers great promise to the special needs student. (MBR)

Surveyed student opinions and found, among other reactions, they (1) consider that evaluating teacher performance is important and (2) prefer the Small Group Instructional Diagnosis (SGID) method over end-of-course ratings because of the timing, feedback quality, oral exchange, and personal approach involved in SGID. (PD)

Describes how the Educational Software short course produced by the Open University Micros in Schools project trains inservice teachers to select suitable educational software for classroom use. Findings of a formative evaluation of an activity in the course in which teachers examined three commercially produced educational software packages are…

Offers a letter written to students enrolled in a semiotics of art class outlining the theory of a negotiated curriculum and the reasons for experimenting with it in the course. Interspersed between paragraphs of the letter are personal reflections on the strengths and shortcomings of the process. (HOD)

Presents "fail-safe" lessons for emergencies and substitutes. Describes an experimental design with six steps, designed to help teachers teach students some things about themselves, such as whether boys are better spellers than girls. Offers other examples from the classroom. (EL)