Some reflections on the future of educational research are offered as responses to questions derived from an article by Ian Stronach ("Research Intelligence," n61 p3 1997). The first is the question of what the future holds for the philosophy and methodology of educational inquiry. A response to this question must recognize the importance of the…

This report summarizes major findings and policy implications of a University of Pittsburgh project titled Methodological Research on Knowledge Use and School Improvement. The major emphasis has been methodological rather than substantive. The primary purpose has been to describe, evaluate, and recommend alternative concepts, methods, and…

Mastering alternative models of teaching helps build competence and effectiveness in the repertoire of classroom teachers. However, because the attainment of new skills does not by itself ensure transfer to classroom use, teacher training programs should incorporate study of the transfer process itself, reinforced by team effort. Accordingly,…

The current status of item response theory (IRT) is discussed. Several IRT methods exist for assessing whether an item is biased. Focus is on methods proposed by L. M. Rudner (1975), F. M. Lord (1977), D. Thissen et al. (1988) and R. L. Linn and D. Harnisch (1981). Rudner suggested a measure of the area lying between the two item characteristic…

This document outlines the present state of development in mass restoration of library and archive materials and relates it to the economic, technical, and aesthetic aspects of various conservation and restoration methods, and discusses their implications for the formation of preservation policies in libraries. Ill effects to library materials…

This study examined eight research questions designed to measure students' perceptions of conflict management in the classroom (grades three through eight). In addition to assessing students' satisfaction with the particular conflict management strategies, student self-concept was also measured to determine if the level of self-concept had any…

A variety of reading process models have been proposed and evaluated in reading research. Traditional approaches to model evaluation specify the workings of a system in a simplified fashion to enable organized, systematic study of the system's components. Following are several statistical methods of model evaluation: (1) empirical research on…

A test of the effectiveness of the direct instruction model as an instructional method was conducted in Sydney (Australia) by administering pre- and post-tests to fifth and sixth year students taught computer literacy and computer programming skills in specially designed 5-week courses. Nine schools, some independent and some…

Examines the effects of Chomsky's theories of linguistics and language acquisition on language teaching methodology, specifically on the use of the audio-lingual method. Current trends in methodology move in two basic directions: 1) towards relaxation of the tighter restrictions of the audio-lingual method, and 2) towards development of techniques…

A questionnaire containing all 78 items from the three forms of Robert F. Bales' Interpersonal Rating Forms (IRF) was administered to 266 college students to test the reliability and validity of the IRF. The questions asked for self-perceptions about one's roles and behaviors in task groups. The results indicated that the scales are neither…

THE USE OF SOUND FILMS IN THE EDUCATION OF EDUCABLE MENTALLY HANDICAPPED (EMH) ADOLESCENTS WAS EXAMINED IN AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY. THE HISTORY OF SPECIAL EDUCATION METHODS FOR EMH STUDENTS IS REVIEWED FROM THE LATE 18TH CENTURY THROUGH CURRENT TEACHING PRACTICES. INDIVIDUAL REVIEWS OF 14 RESEARCH STUDIES AND REPORTS ON THE USE OF EDUCATIONAL FILMS…

THIS STUDY PROVIDED INFORMATION ON PROCEDURES AND METHODS FOR ESTABLISHING LEARNING STATIONS TO PROVIDE THE MENTALLY RETARDED WITH WORK-EXPERIENCE ACTIVITIES. SUBJECTS WERE 14 STUDENTS, AGE RANGE 16.2 TO 19 YEARS, WITH IQ SCORES OF 50 TO 79. PUBLIC AND PRIVATE FACILITIES WERE USED AS LEARNING STATIONS. THE SUBJECTS PARTICIPATED IN COURSE…

THE GENERAL PURPOSES WERE (1) TO INVESTIGATE THE POSSIBILITIES OF PROGRAMING ENTIRE COURSES IN MATHEMATICS AND ENGLISH GRAMMAR AND (2) TO COMPARE DIFFERENT METHODS AND MEDIA, WITH SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON CLOSED-CIRCUIT TELEVISION, FOR PRESENTING PROGRAMED LEARNING MATERIALS. TO ACCOMPLISH THE OBJECTIVES, IT WAS NECESSARY TO ANALYZE THE PROBLEMS OF…

A two-hour training program for volunteer adult discussion leaders was evaluated in relationship to teaching methods and participant characteristics. The program consisted of a slide/tape presentation, a concept lesson, and a group discussion in which leaders plan a lesson for the local group meeting they are to lead. A literature review examined…

Based on the need to provide effective, relevant, and more engaging teaching techniques in the church, a study examined whether or not the effectiveness of secular instructional games used in adult religious education is greater than the effectiveness of religious instructional games in facilitating self-actualization. The experimental group of…