THE OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY WERE TO COMPARE EDUCATIONAL TOYS AND THREE-DIMENSIONAL NONPRODUCING MOCKUPS WITH COMMERCIAL PLASTICS PROCESSING EQUIPMENT FOR RELATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF TEACHING PLASTIC CONCEPTS, AND TO COMPARE THE RELATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF THESE TWO METHODS IN DEVELOPING MANUAL DEXTERITY. TREATMENT A (EDUCATIONAL TOYS AND MOCKUPS) WAS…

This is a preliminary report on a series of small-scale language teaching experiments, aimed primarily at demonstrating that valid research into language teaching methods is possible. Small-scale refers not to the number of subjects involved, but to the scope of the experiment. Instead of looking at a method as a whole (as happens in large-scale…

Accompanying the rapid changes in technology has been a greater dependence on automation and numerical control, which has resulted in the need to find ways of preparing programers for industrial machines using numerical control. To compare the hands-on equipment method and a visual media method of teaching numerical control, an experimental and a…

Development of projects designed to improve curriculum programs of schools with American Indian student populations in Minnesota and to train teachers and adults to improve educational programs for Indians is discussed in this report by the University of Minnesota Training Center for Community Programs (TCCP). Among the major developments…

Beginning with a brief review of the growth of the audiolingual method of foreign language instruction in the United States of America, this paper examines implications and lessons drawn from an educational experiment in language instruction known as the Pennsylvania Report. The text of a memorandum to school administrators in Pennsylvania by the…

This text describes a Swedish research program (GUME Project--the Swedish equivalent of the Gothenburg/Teaching/Methods/English Project) carried out during 1968-71 within the field of second-language instruction and learning. A number of comparative experiments were performed in order to assess the relative merits of two different approaches to…

Describes two chemistry demonstrations including a demonstration of chemical inhibition and "The Rayleigh Fountain" which demonstrates the polarity of the water molecule. Provides instructions and explanations for each demonstration. (CW)

Maintains that having students estimate the size and width of a class waste paper can (placed on a desk) is a simple and effective way of illustrating perceptual distortion. Tests show that people will consistently overestimate the height of the can, allowing for a useful discussion on sensory distortion. (MJP)

In this article, we report on an experiment designed to improve the learning of metabolic biochemistry by nutrition and medical undergraduate students. Twelve students participated in a monitored lunch and had their blood extracted for analysis: (1) before lunch; (2) 30 min after lunch; and (3) 3 h after lunch. The subjects were divided in two…

A study was undertaken to assess the efficacy of the spaced lecture as a possible alternative to the traditional lecture method. The spaced lecture separates note-taking from intensive listening. Two hundred male and female freshman and sophomore students at a junior college in Georgia in fall 1978, in intact classes, were administered three main…

The paper discusses the use of music-based experiments to illuminate teachers' understanding of their own and pupils' informal ways of learning. The major objective of the paper is to help teachers understand students' learning processes. Because one central problem in academic research is that of finding the right questions, researchers should…

The effectiveness of visible recorded feedback responses in teaching scientific theory and principles to vocational agriculture students was studied. Specific objectives were to determine the value of group feedback to the teacher, the difference in learning retention between students with and without feedback, and the difference in efficient use…

The effects of a visual motor training program that attempts to teach 5-year-olds the underlying cognitive structures used in copying geometric designs are assessed. The Design Board Program teaches the child a systematic method for analyzing complex two-dimensional graphic patterns. It is based on the theory that accurate replication of geometric…

The purpose of this four-group controlled experiment was to ascertain: (1) the effect of a motion model on a learner's performance behavior and (2) the effect of verbal description of the processes included in the demonstration upon a learner's performance behavior. After viewing video tape presentations, one with commentary and one without, of…

This paper considers language development among children and discusses the influence of the learning environment in the acquisition of language use as distinct from language structure. The results of the five studies reported here suggest that the child is aided by what he is encouraged to say, not simply by what he hears, and that adults seem to…