A study contrasted two first grade writing programs to ascertain changes in the students' regard for writing in a manner that could be measured and compared. One writing program encouraged students to write expressively and find their way into print, while the other program used the more traditional or skill-sequenced approach through preparatory…

To determine whether learning words can be accomplished effectively using the computer, 11 first grade children in an experimental group were taught specific sight words on the Apple computer as compared to the teaching of those same words to 11 children in the classroom using flashcards. A total of 25 words was taught over a five-week period. The…

A survey of teachers' perceptions of student competencies, course content, instructional methods, and evaluation procedures was conducted to determine if previously reported conclusions about secondary school speech curricula had changed and if there were differences between the curricula in large and small high schools. The survey instrument was…

The use of different instructional methods/materials in a college course on the behavioral aspects of drug action (caffeine) was studied at the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. The course employed the Personalized System of Instruction (PSI). Although students were highly successful in completing the course, student evaluations indicated…

The principles of the cognitive theory of learning are analyzed and applied to the process of second language learning. They are then evaluated in terms of the extent to which they contribute to a coherent theory and the extent to which they can be applied to instruction in general and second language instruction in particular. Recent empirical…

To determine if dance/movement is an effective method for teaching word analysis skills and to encourage creativity, a study examined 69 students from four kindergarten classrooms and 63 students from three second-grade classrooms. Students in each class were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups. Treatment 1 groups received a…

The Direct Instruction Follow Through program of enhanced instruction for children in kindergarten through grade 3 was introduced in 1968 in schools serving disadvantaged students in 180 communities throughout the United States. To determine the long-term effects of the program, a study compared the performance of the first three cohorts of Follow…

To investigate differences in students' writing development due to teacher modeling, a study examined students enrolled in whole language classrooms in grades 1 and 2 in two separate school districts. Students enrolled in independent classrooms where teachers did not provide writing models were in a school in a lower middle class neighborhood of…

A comparative analysis evaluated three studies that dealt with the differences among five-year-olds that should be considered before reading instruction is initiated in kindergarten. The premise of the comparison was that children from different countries (especially Israel, where these studies were conducted), have different abilities, react…

This paper begins by contrasting theories of teaching (which are predictive) to theories of learning (which are descriptive). It justifies the feasibility theory of distance teaching by asserting that methods of distance teaching can affect the pace and direction of learning; therefore, it should be feasible to develop a theory of distance…

A study sought to analyze the relationships among the content and pedagogy of introductory education courses at two women's colleges, and the students' self-awareness, views of knowledge, and sense of themselves as women. One of the courses, "Schooling in America," was offered by a liberal arts college concerned with equal career opportunities for…

A questionnaire that had been devised to measure teacher attitudes toward reading instruction, their perceptions of others' expectations that they will incorporate reading skills instruction into their classes, and their knowledge of reading instruction methods was administered to 253 secondary school content area teachers and to 51 preservice…

Research was conducted to compare the effects of three different methods of teaching LOGO to fifth graders with a broad range of academic ability. The first method, based on Papert's idea of discovery learning, involved teacher presentation of LOGO instruction and student control of pace of learning. The second method involved the use of…

Each of four instructors was assigned two sections of introductory psychology, one experimental and one lecture/control. Experimental sections were divided into teams of five to eight students and complied with the following schedule for each of seven two-week unites. In the first class meeting, subject matter was introduced and discussion topics…

An investigation was done to ascertain the effectiveness of individualized instructional methods as compared with traditional instructional methods in vocational food service programs at the community college level. Subjects, forty-three hotel/motel restaurant management students, were divided into subgroups: students who transferred from another…