In an effort to contribute information for science teachers and curriculum developers in Maine, this study generated base line data on 4th, 8th, and 11th grade students' knowledge of marine science and natural resources principles in relation to the Gulf of Maine. Five concept maps representing 15 major content principles were developed. Two…

A new framework for designing qualitative studies is described to optimize the emergence, representation and presentation of insights. The framework, called Reflection Methodology, is presented as a "Conversational Paradigm" that includes four components--interviewer (researcher as participant); child, task situation, and observing…

The study of consciousness requires a language for exact and precise communication. This research project investigated how workers from different cultural contexts value information that is relevant to their job performance. Thirty-five randomly selected mechanics, from Sweden, England, West Germany, Italy, and the United States, were selected as…

Information about student achievement outcomes is presented, and tests for each outcome area are described. The tests are categorized according to knowledge objectives, skill objectives, and intellectual disposition. Knowledge objectives include comprehension of facts and principles within a particular discipline (specialized knowledge) or a broad…

Evaluation of Project Learning Tree (PLT) involved a survey of PLT's utilization in British Columbia and the field experiment. The survey included participant observers' reports on PLT teacher training workshops, a mail survey of workshop participants, and telephone interviews with selected respondents. Two treatment conditions were effected at…

A pilot study on the development and administration of a test using a spatial reasoning problem, the 15-puzzle, is described. The test utilizes on-line capabilities of a real-time computer to record an examinee's progress on each problem through a sequence of problem-solving "moves", and to collect additional on-line data that might be…

TECHNIQUES FOR BUILDING AN ADEQUATE PROFILE TO DESCRIBE TEACHER REQUIREMENTS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS NEEDED FOR SATISFACTORY HOMEMAKING INSTRUCTION WERE STUDIED. WHEN THE PARTICULAR REQUIREMENTS OF A TEACHING POSITION WERE CONSIDERED IN CONJUNCTION WITH SUFFICIENT KNOWLEDGE OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A TEACHER CANDIDATE, EXPECTATIONS WERE…

The first topic of the conference was creativity. Papers delivered were Knowledge and Creativity by Theodore C. Denise and Hobert W. Burns; Potentiality for Creativity and Its Measurement, by J. P. Guilford; and Some Methodological Issues in the Study of Creativity by Robert L. Thorndike. In the second session, a paper on comparability of scores…

Theory and research regarding four levels of concept attainment and three uses of concepts as specified by the conceptual learning and development (CLD) model are described. Assessment batteries were developed to assess each child's level of concept attainment and also the related use of the concepts equilateral triangle, cutting tool, and noun.…

Free recall, cued recall, and clustering performance of fourth grade lower socioeconomic black and white children is studied under four conditions of teaching: random presentation, random presentation plus instruction, blocked presentation, and blocked presentation with instruction of categorically related list. Results indicate that both recall…

This sourcebook indicates the range of instructional technology currently being used in community colleges. Issues discussed are: overcoming the barriers to faculty involvement by organizing the staff and creating an effective reward system for instructional development; how a learning resources center can assist instructors in applying…

This conference paper suggests a promising model, based on a study of elementary school teachers in California, to investigate the relationship between the cognitive characteristics of teachers, their teaching behavior, and the academic success of their pupils. In the research model, two major components which affect student achievement were…

This document examines the educational output of three alternative approaches to introductory macroeconomics at the University of Notre Dame. The framework for evaluation consists of the cognitive and affective tradeoffs entailed by using a new experimental course as opposed to two more traditional courses. The experimental course is a freshman…

Slides of great modern art works by Picasso, Mondrian, and Van Gogh were selected as stimulus materials for an art test administered to a heterogeneous group of 395 college students. The slides were endorsed for desirability, and the results were factor analyzed. Scales of items with similar levels of endorsement from different factor scales were…

Content and task dimensions of social studies items were studied using factor analytic techniques. These items were developed to measure concept attainment using a completely crossed design with 30 concepts and 12 tasks. Conventional factor analyses were performed, separately for boys and girls, for concept scores and for task scores. Three-mode…