A study was conducted to determine the efficacy of computer-based simulation versus observation in a laboratory nursery school. Results indicate students in the computer-based simulation were better able to observe and record descriptions of child behavior in the video tape sequence after training than students in the control group who received…

In this new edition, the author explains quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods, and incorporates the viewpoints of various research paradigms (postpositivist, constructivist, transformative, and pragmatic) into descriptions of these methods. Special emphasis is provided for conducting research in culturally complex communities. Each chapter…

This position paper aims to clarify the International Reading Association's stance on methods for teaching beginning reading (i.e., reading methods). The paper first defines a reading method as a set of teaching and learning materials and/or activities often given a label, such as a phonics method, literature-based method, or language experience…

Paper examines the case method in light of both the reasoning of case method authorities and significant research findings. (Author)

This study of seventh-grade girls replicated a 1975 Blatt and Kohlberg study. Experimental subjects received a ten-week moral education program; controls discussed nonmoral issues in English class. Results indicated that the moral education program, even in this brief time period, increased moral judgment. (Author/SJL)

This paper reports on an emerging technique that yields the kind of knowledge about cause-and-effect connections between teaching practices and student achievement on which teacher education should be based. That knowledge comes from the completion in recent studies of what has been termed the "descriptive-correlational-experimental loop."…

Audio-taped lectures by male or female professors were produced in four versions: no humor; sexual humor; other-disparaging humor; and self-disparaging humor. Male and female students rated lecturers' intelligence and appeal. Intelligence ratings were unaffected by humor variations, but significant lecturer-student sex interactions were found on…

Provides a detailed introduction to the variety of purposes for which evaluation research may be used and to the range of methods currently employed in the practice of that field. Uses specific examples, where appropriate, to provide concrete illustrations of both the goals of evaluation researchers and the methods used. (Author)

Two approaches to facilitating perceptual-motor development in children ages 4-6 were investigated. Fifteen children (the experimental group) received integrated physical education/music instruction based on Kodaly and Dalcroze (Eurhythmics) concepts. The control group received movement exploration and self-testing instruction. Significant…

This study of third graders examined the relative effects, under two conditions each, of two teaching methods: modeling of the contour drawing process and presentation of predrawn examples. Analysis of children's posttest drawings for visual information content indicated that predrawn examples were more effective than modeling as a teaching…

This pre-post field study compared effects of a coping model (CM) and a lecture/discussion style on use of redirection, general praise, and paraphrasing by 48 undergraduates in an elementary health methods course. Lecture subjects had no significant changes. CM subjects change significantly in use of praise and paraphrasing. (Author/SJL)

Effects of Advance Organizer (AO) lessons presenting high-order math concepts relating to set building, matching and between sets, and counting objects within sets were evaluated for rural preschoolers in comparison to traditional instruction. A pre-test/post-test assessment indicated a significant sequential transfer effect from the AO lessons.…

The article presents a theoretical framework for evaluating the utility of consumer product testing methods involving four factors which determine a method's utility, validity, reliability, manageability, and essentiality. The framework is applied to three situations, including comparative evaluation of test methods, comparative product testing,…

From a research program to identify the types of visual materials that would be most effective in helping industrial education students to learn from different instructional formats, the author concludes that the effectiveness of visualized instruction depends upon the type of visual used, the method of instruction, student characteristics, and…