This study tested two primary hypotheses concerning the effects of mispronunciation on the ratings of source credibility. First, as the number of mispronunciations presented by a speaker increases, audience ratings of source credibility will decrease. Second, the effects hypothesized in the first statement will be stronger for audiences at a more…

Notes that the most common educational research methods (large-scale surveys and field observations) have failed to examine the processes by which school participants create school structures. Advocates constitutive ethnography as a new approach and presents examples of its application in examining classrooms, lessons, educational testing, and…

New trends in language teaching have resulted in a move towards research in the language classroom. A brief overview of classroom research reveals three distinct but inter-related research paradigms: classroom-centered research, classroom process research, and qualitative research, respectively.

In this paper we focus on the role of signs in students' perceptive processes underpinning the generalization of numeric-geometric patterns. Based on a videotaped Grade 9 classroom group activity undertaken by three students and framed by a cultural-semiotic theoretical perspective, we carry out a microgenetic analysis of an elementary form of…

To investigate whether problem-based learning leads to conceptual change, the cognitive and metacognitive processes of a group of medical students were studied during the problem analysis phase, and their verbal communication and thinking processes were analyzed. Stimulated recall of the thinking process during the discussion detected a conceptual…

Communication skills are important for children with developmental disabilities to be functional and independent in their own lives. This study examined influences of different types of listener feedback or breakdowns on repair behaviors of nonverbal children with disabilities during semi-structured opportunities at snack time. Three preschool…

Symbolic interactionism is a theoretical framework that derives from critical humanism through social psychology and is presented as an alternative to sociological and psychological views of social reality. This paper analyzes the general arguments of symbolic interactionism, its portrayal of people as responsible agents, and its interpretive…

Naturalistic ethnographic research methods useful for the study of the dynamics of effective college teaching are discussed based on the findings of an ethnographic study. Naturalistic research methods were used in the study to understand better the task and social dimensions of a college classroom. Lessons were studied in the classroom as they…

Four major questions are addressed in this research report: What is the relationship between student academic learning time and student achievement?; What are the relationships between teaching processes and academic learning time?; Are teaching processes, academic learning time, and student achievement related to student attitudes?; and, Are…

The uses of various research designs in educational research are discussed. Research methodologies such as social anthropology, path analysis, classroom observation, historiography, interaction analysis, and statistical analysis are described. The educational settings in which each of them would be an effective research tool are illustrated. (JD)

This first volume of a planned series summarizes the first 2 years of a 6 year longitudinal study of about 2,200 tenth grade boys in public schools. The broad purposes were to study the student and his changes, plans, and behavior. "Conceptual Framework and Purposes" presents a conceptual framework that views the major criterion areas of growth…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of two experimentally induced variations in teacher control in elementary science classes with respect to pupil achievement in science process skills, and pupil preferences and perceptions relative to the treatment variations. Interactions of treatment with pupil characteristics were also…

A conceptual model of learning environments and the procedures necessary for its investigation are proposed. It is argued that a research agenda involving longitudinal, comparative case-study designs and using field-method techniques is the only method capable of generating a solid base of information on the relationship between structural…

This collection of four papers is the result of an action caucus held in association with the Speech Communication Association's 1972 convention, focusing on developments in the speech communication field since the 1968 USOE/SAA New Orleans conference (ED 028 164). In the first paper, "New Orleans Revisited but Briefly," James E. Roever summarizes…

The purposes of this book include the following: (1) to help students in acquiring knowledge and skills needed to design and conduct experimental research, (2) to acquaint potential researchers with the various methods and instruments that are available, and (3) to suggest new areas of research. These purposes are discussed in the three parts of…