This study examined whether scripts provide a basis for the categories preschool children use to structure their semantic memories and whether the use of taxonomies to structure memory becomes more common only after children enter elementary school. Subjects were 108 children in three equal groups of 18 boys and 18 girls children each of 4-, 5-,…

Cooperative assessment was investigated in a classroom setting, examining achievement outcomes as measured by a multiple choice posttest of course content, a posttest of knowledge structure representation, and student perceptions of the cooperative assessment procedure. Eighty-three undergraduate psychology students participated in this…

This study explored the possibility of developing classroom strategies that would encourage physics teachers to put greater focus on a more qualitative, metacognitive approach to problem solving. The empirical part of this research was carried out with students approximately 16 years of age in physics (i.e., introductory Newtorian mechanics)…

This document examines children's and adults' knowledge of observational astronomy and characterizes the kinds of mental models students form when asked questions in astronomy. Mental models were grouped into three categories: intuitive, synthetic, and scientific. Implications for the design of curricula and for instruction are identified. In…

This paper reviews and uses current research to present guidelines for curriculum development and delivery. The presenters demonstrate why manipulatives, laboratories and other "hands on" approaches are not appropriate introductory learning tools for adults. They argue that laboratory and similar strategies are the tools of an…

Numerous theories have attempted to explain possible factors relating to an individual's propensity for engaging or failing to engage in preventative health behaviors. The Health Locus of Control (HLOC) is now considered to be an important variable for understanding an individual's likelihood for following health promoting behaviors. This paper…

The conceptual orientation that guides the University of Utah's field-based doctoral program in educational administration is described in this paper, with a focus on making judgments within the decision-making process. The first part explains the rationale for adopting the conceptual orientation and the second part describes the normative model…

This study explored how regular teachers (N=20) and special education teachers (N=20) think and make instructional decisions about special needs students. Teachers viewed a videotape of a reading comprehension lesson for a small group of third grade students. One student was a target for observation and classified as learning disabled.…

This exploratory study examined the structure of declarative knowledge about pedagogy housed in the memory of an experienced teacher educator, and it sought to determine the teacher educator's influence on the development of declarative knowledge structures in undergraduate students enrolled in three sections of a physical education teaching…

The essays collected in this volume are concerned with the field of computer-based intelligent instruction. The papers are organized into four groups that address the following topics: particular theoretical approaches (3 titles); the development and improvement of tools and environments (3 titles); the power of well-engineered implementations and…

Since 1980, Loevinger's Sentence Completion Test has been used to explore the relationship between ego development and managerial effectiveness in the context of Boston College's Masters of Business Administration (MBA) program. According to the theory of ego development developed by Loevinger and others, most adults either inhabit one of four…

This document reports the results of a cross-cultural study on children's knowledge about the shape, gravity, movement, and location of the Earth and about the day/night cycle. The subjects of the study were elementary school students from Greece (N=90) and the United States (N=60). The results of the study showed that the children in both samples…

An English classroom contains both students of differing ideologies (that is, systems complete with centers that both express a desire and relieve anxiety) and teachers with their own ideologies. The potential for conflict is thus present. According to L. Althusser, however, the state provides certain apparatuses that prevent the formation of…

A study examined the relative effectiveness and synergistic effect of two treatments for reducing speech anxiety--Self-Statement Modification (SSM), a therapy focused on modification of cognitive behavior; and Modified Desensitization (MD), a therapy focused on physiological variables, utilizing relaxation training, group hierarchy construction,…

This test of Marshall McLuhan's claim that increased exposure to television will develop a perception of the world as a "global village" used estimation of cognitive distance as an operational definition of the global village concept. The first phase of the study tested the hypothesis that "heavy" television viewers' estimates…