A basic speech course required of prospective teachers seeking admission to the University of Hawaii's College of Education is described in the first half of this paper. The described course focuses on interviewing, group discussion, and public speaking skills. The second half of the paper presents complete descriptions of four assignments that…

A study was conducted at American River College to design a teacher evaluation instrument that would focus on students by asking them to describe what happens to them in the classroom and would restrict students' evaluations of their instructor to observable behavior. Over 300 potential questionnaire items were generated from a review of the…

Two methods of interactive, computer-assisted testing methods for multiple-choice items were compared with each other and with conventional multiple-choice tests. The interactive testing methods compared were tailored testing and the respond-until-correct (RUC) item response method. In tailored testing, examinee ability is successively estimated…

This first of nine related reports describes the procedures used in a study which gathered data on 80 presearch interviews in seven medical libraries. The study was conducted (1) to identify verbal and nonverbal behaviors that facilitate, maintain, or impede information exchange in interviews between search intermediaries and library users…

To determine the effects of active student-initiated response lessons as an alternative to teacher-directed strategies for increasing reading comprehension, third grade children were placed into either an experimental or a control group. The experimental group received a series of lessons based on active student-initiated responses. These included…

The research on the effect of attitudes on reading is reviewed in this paper to support the position that the affective part of learning is as important to learning to read well as are the cognitive skills. Suggestions for improving reading attitudes are given. Activities are suggested for five forms of creative reading: (1) model imitations, in…

The questioning behavior of college faculty is descriptively analyzed. The cognitive levels of questioning patterns of professors are described and the differences in these levels and patterns are examined across the variables of institution size (small or large), sector (public or private), course level (beginning or advanced), and discipline…

Philosophy, technique, and issues of tutoring are presented to aid student teachers in sharpening tutoring, teaching, and communication skills. The establishment of a positive student self-concept and the prospective tutor's development of effective questioning techniques are two of the topics treated. A guide for volunteer tutors is appended. (LH)

This paper focuses on the casual user's needs and problems in learning to search online retrieval systems. Such users are inclined to infrequent use, and are unlikely to have much interest or knowledge about the complexities of the system. The TRAINER program is designed to teach these users to search online, so that they may access information…

The central feature of language is symbolic meaning, and the act of reading is a part of the symbolic process that characterizes human life. Meaning occurs as a result of interpretation in a context, not as a result of response or reaction. Signs have a literal meaning in a specific context, while symbols have a figurative meaning in an implicit…

The interview process provides students with a contextual framework for writing essays (reports, profiles, and arguments), because it helps them to identify and develop their own conceptual and investigative skills through dialogue with another person. Before the actual interview, it is important to choose a subject to interview, form a sense of…

A review of the research on study techniques indicates that reading and generating questions from the material is an effective technique for ensuring better comprehension. Familiarity with a model of studying that divides studying into prereading, reading, and postreading provides one explanation for this effectiveness. In prereading, students…

Classroom teachers frequently need techniques for assessing students' reading comprehension; the retelling technique is a useful tool for this purpose. The technique is divided into two parts, the unaided retelling and the aided or directed retelling. During both parts, open-ended, divergent questioning techniques are used. An excerpt from a…

Three studies to determine the effects of adult models on interrogative strategies of children (ages 6-11) are reviewed. Two issues are analyzed: (1) the comparative effectiveness of various types of modeling procedures for changing rule-governed behaviors, and (2) the interaction between observational learning and the developmental level of the…

This report gives an account of the Swedish part of an international transfer project with the aim of adapting teacher training systems based on microteaching for use in member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. An American minicourse, "Effective Questioning," was adapted to and tested for Swedish teacher…