Examines possible rules governing reference interviews: needs rule, wants rule, face value rule, and clarification rule. Face value rule is defended as a legitimate expression of one conception of the reference librarian's professional role, implying a restricted view of librarians' responsibility for outcome of reference inquiries. (MBR)

If the education profession is to improve, the gap between educational research and the classroom teacher must be narrowed. Most educational theory is based on empirical research generated by logical deduction, but naturalistic research provides more innovative and flexible methods for collecting explanations of learning behavior. (MT)

Provides background on questioning as an instructional technique, and offers nine practical guidelines, accompanied by examples, for improving classroom questioning. (JDH)

Interviewing is a way of finding things out. Interviewing essentials are examined, including a two-step technique that involves preparation and listening. Preparation for an interview involves looking things up, finding secondary sources, and observing. (MLW)

Suggestions are offered for a research task in which secondary gifted students imagine they are future historians researching their present lives. The activity emphasizes the need to research questions rather than topics. (CL)

Offers modifications to the Question Answer Relationships technique that provide (1) a clearer explanation of different sources of information for answering questions, (2) an easier format for considering developmental differences in reading and learning, and (3) an expanded use for the technique both as a tool for teachers and as a strategy for…

Oral history was used extensively in writing a history of the Missouri School of Mines, now the University of Missouri-Rolla. The project is described. The process used in selecting candidates for interviews and the interview techniques are discussed. (RM)

This article presents procedures for improving professional group cooperation in responding to mailed survey questionnaires which differ from those used with general populations. The procedures deal with: (1) improving the cost-benefit ratio of cooperation; (2) being sensitive to confidentiality concerns; and (3) allowing respondents a full range…

Examines the nature and use of open (divergent) questions with elementary school children. Includes the teacher's role, "think time," and the types of answers that students can be expected to give. (JN)

Demonstrates that while question-answer sessions affect pupil conduct, pupil responses influence teachers' behavior and the strategies they adopt. (JOW)

Warns that researchers should be wary of student writers' accounts of their writing processes. Suggests that reasonable, coherent, even captivating accounts are limited by problems of attendance, memory, and reporting and may not be based on recall but on other cognitive processes. (FL)

One hundred seventy-two fifth grade students read a short, expository passage and answered postquestions. One week later, subjects' recall of the questioned information was superior to their recall of the unquestioned information. (Author/BW)

Reflective dialog between student and teacher when children are producing art can help children grasp relationships between actions and consequences. Eight types of questions that can be asked by the teacher are discussed. (IS)

Fourteen gifted junior high school students who received positive reinforcement for the process of developing a hypothesis, conclusion, or opinion demonstrated a statistically significant increase in higher cognitive level thought processes. Gains were not matched by a gifted control group receiving product reinforcement or for two nongifted…