This paper describes an experimental course in which the author taught students to improve their learning skills. It is a first step toward constructing a systematic body of knowledge about learning strategies. The course covered four topics, chosen because they were complex enough to require several weeks to make progress, but simple enough that…

This directory is a compilation of audiovisual resources which might be useful for teachers of instructional technology. Subject areas include: (1) media production, (2) communications, (3) research, (4) evaluation, (5) instructional development, (6) educational innovation, and (7) the psychology of learning and motivation. Most of the resources…

This paper considers the possibility and desirability of competency-based education. It examines the present status of behavioral objectives and reviews a recent assessment of most empirical studies on behavioral objectives. It then presents a comparative consideration and assessment of the following teaching models: (1) the impression model, (2)…

Based on an approach that analyzes the structure of educational processes in relation to the structure of its outcome, this paper develops the argument that the function that a specific environment fulfills depends critically on who is in control within the environment, and suggests how the implications of this argument might be tested. The…

This project researched three questions related to the production of cognitive skills in formal elementary and secondary education. The first question dealt with the pattern of student learning over time. It was found that, generally, the elasticity of grade eight knowledge with respect to grade eight school inputs is higher than the elasticity of…

Preliminary results from a longitudinal study of English-speaking children and adults learning Dutch in natural situations suggest that 12- to 15-year-olds learned faster than either older or younger subjects during their first 6 months in Holland. All age differences had disappeared in a group of advanced subjects (English-speakers who had been…

The three purposes of this study were (1) to evaluate a paper-pencil test of critical thinking skills using physical science content, (2) to compare the effectiveness of Physical Science Study Committee (PSSC) and non-PSSC physics programs in developing critical thinking skills, and (3) to identify teacher-pupil verbal interaction behaviors that…

An investigation was made to determine the instructional function of the professional media staff in a school. The objectives of the study were: (1) to develop a model to add the expertise of the media specialist to the teaching team; (2) to access the effect the model had on the academic achievement and self-concept of students; and (3) to…

The development of children's capacity to induce spatial relations between locations in a space was investigated in this study. The sample consisted of 60 children, 20 in each of three age groups: 3-4, 5-6, and 7-8 years of age. The children were trained to move one hand from a home base to each of three target positions. The positions were…

Described is the nature of scientific enterprise, the nature of thinking and problem solving, and the nature of science as an adventure. It is suggested that teachers of science could use this book to help make science education a liberating and intellectually stimulating experience. It is a book which treats exhaustively the theoretical and…

In the last few decades there has been a move in philosophy of education toward a concept of pragmatic rationality. This paper examines whether the move away from systematicity, fixed guiding principles or logical systems, makes this notion of pragmatic rationality so broad that it can encompass any procedure of selection which involves rules, no…

The author discusses a need for planning research in reading, since present research seems fragmented, the federal government has not functioned especially well in the area of planning for funding or coordination with professional organizations, and there is a need to attract scientists in a variety of disciplines to work in educational research.…

This paper describes a developmental writing course at Purdue University. The author argues that the basics of such a course as far as the student is concerned are motivation and a desire to learn writing, communication, careful diagnosis, organized plan for student mastery, provision for transferral, and reward. Helping students develop a desire…

The purpose of this paper is to show that the explanations of understanding as a nonknowledge concept, an "attainment" in behavior, and as a kind of theoretical knowing or "knowing that" which is exhibited by means of language propositions, are inadequate. It is also shown that the following assumption regarding understanding…

Comprehension levels necessary to the acquisition and retention of facts, concepts, and rules and the facilitating effects of the use of orienting directions and postadjunct questions were investigated in a study involving 105 sixth-grade students. Four treatment groups each received a version of a six-page fictional passage, differing in the use…