A study examined how many of 11 key words in 4 famous Mother Goose nursery rhymes were understood by parents of first graders. The first questionnaire (designed to determine if context clues were helpful in deciphering what words meant) was returned by 37 parents in an urban school district and by 49 parents in a suburban school district. The…

This research addressed vocabulary knowledge, which refers to the understanding of words, the overall ideas and concepts being communicated, and the ability to use those words in the appropriate context. The targeted population consisted of students in kindergarten, first grade, and fourth grade. An analysis of School Improvement Plans revealed a…

High school chemistry students' (n=183) applied and theoretical knowledge of dissolution, diffusion, effusion, and states of matter were compared. Study found that students' formal reasoning ability and their preexisting knowledge are associated with their conceptions and use of particulate theory. A significant difference between applied and…

A study examined whether first-grade children comprehended less-familiar vocabulary from four "Mother Goose" nursery rhymes and whether the children used auditory context clues and/or visual illustrations to comprehend unknown vocabulary in the nursery rhymes. Subjects, 40 children from suburban areas and 40 children from urban areas,…

This is a report about the first two stages of a four-stage project designed to develop procedures to assess the accomplishments of applicants to graduate school. In the first stage, trial instruments were developed after thoroughly reviewing other attempts at assessing accomplishments and carefully considering the issues involved. Three…

This study investigated the impact of prior knowledge, writing task, and hypertext format on university students' comprehension of multisource hypertext. Fifty-two students categorized as having high or low prior knowledge studied hypertext consisting of seven component texts on the topic of social influence. Some students were given a summary…

As environmental changes become a significant societal issue, elementary science curricula need to develop students' understanding about the key concepts of energy and climate change. For teachers, developing quality learning experiences involves establishing what their students' prior understanding about energy and climate change are. A survey…

A sample of 116 British teachers completed Musgrove's scale assessing their attitudes toward behavior modification and its use in educational settings. Overall mean scores suggested ambivalence. Among background variables, only prior familiarity with behavior modification influenced teachers' attitudes toward it, confirming Musgrove's findings.…

Examined instructional designers' use of learner analysis when designing and developing computer-assisted instructional materials by surveying 14 instructional system designers. Results indicate that learner analysis is only occasionally implemented to determine a learner's reading level. The cover letter and survey are appended. (JMV)

A study was conducted in summer 1982 by Project REA to provide employment skill training operators and educators in Illinois with information about the reactions, attitudes, and beliefs of employers toward various forms of accreditation of training, i.e., academic credit, nonacademic credit, certificates, degrees, diplomas, and licenses. The study…

This study investigated whether computer science educational background makes secondary students more adept at using word processing capabilities, and compared computer science and non-computer science students' writing improvement with word processing use. Computer science students used more sophisticated program features but student writing did…

The traditional K-3 social studies curriculum has focused on food, clothing, shelter, communication, transportation, and other cultural universals, but little information exists about children's prior knowledge and thinking (including misconceptions) about these topics. This study was designed to provide such information with respect to the topic…

Describes the development and validation of the 30-item Computer User Self-Efficacy (CUSE) Scale, a copy of which is appended. Topics include social cognitive theory; experience and computer self-efficacy; gender differences; and the measurement of computer self-efficacy in student computer users and its relevance to learning in higher education.…

The relationships among prior knowledge, learning strategy use, interest, learning goals, and conceptual understanding were studied with 72 fifth graders from 3 science classrooms. In September 1996 students completed a knowledge test designed to assess their prior knowledge and conceptual understanding of ecological concepts (plant and animal…

This report presents the results of a study conducted at Northern Michigan University's (NMU) Olson Library to determine the adequacy of the preparation of NMU students for library research, the soundness of the instructional objectives set for the freshman and sophomore class levels, and possible weak points in the program's coverage. The Library…