Drawing on information from 15 sources, this literature review discusses advantages/disadvantages of small schools and summarizes practices for both rural and urban small schools to follow to maintain educational quality despite dwindling enrollments and resources. Small school disadvantages in the areas of staff, instructional program, and…

These four case studies examine the introduction of interactive videodisc technology into three classroom settings by two art and two science teachers at the elementary school level. Five models of videodisc use were employed: (1) teacher presentation or teacher-led class discussion; (2) activity stimulus; (3) programmed disc-based environments…

A study was conducted at Bunker Hill Community College to assess the impact of the use of learning groups on student absenteeism and academic performance. The study involved four sections of a Biology 1 class. Two sections were designated as the control group and were taught using the traditional course format, which involved a 2-hour session in…

A study compared the effects of two instructional strategies on ninth grade students' reading comprehension, retention, and attitude. Students in 15 ninth-grade classes were randomly assigned to one of three treatments: summary writing (SW), writing short answers to questions (QA), and rereading (RR), (control). The dependent measures were good…

This research review examines the effects of instructional variables on the learning of handicapped and nonhandicapped individuals. The research review begins with an historical look at learning disabilities research. An overall analysis of the differential effects of instructional variables on learning-disabled and nonhandicapped individuals…

The reading skill development of anglophone kindergarten children in French immersion programs in Canada is the subject of the two papers included in this document. The first paper describes a study that examined the English reading ability of both kindergarten and first grade children in immersion programs and compared the results with those of…

Intended to engage students in a comparative look at local history in two upper Mississippi river towns (Winona, Minnesota and Dubuque, Iowa), this paper describes the computer-assisted component of an upper-level American Studies course. With emphasis on the 19th century, students examine the transition made by the United States from a…

To determine whether a teacher's guidance of the writing process in the classroom can produce measurable improvement in students' writing and learning over the course of a semester, an instructor of a college business management course taught three sections of the same course, using the same texts and making the same assignments (six written case…

An experiment was conducted with twenty native French speakers using a set of four reading passages, each followed by five multiple choice comprehension questions. Each subject was tested twice when reading aloud and twice when reading silently. Other test materials included a pre-test designed to check whether certain lexical items from the…

Based on a five month participant-observation study of two schools, this paper describes the organization and curriculum of English primary schools, with an emphasis upon strategies and materials used in developing linguistic competence in school children. The report describes the organization, curriculum, and development of communication…

The ecological concepts of activity structure and activity segments were central to this examination of observational data attained in a three-week period from 18 fifth-grade math classes and 17 fifth-grade social studies classes in school districts in the greater Chicago region. Classroom observations were conducted by pairs of observers: one…

BRITISH EXPERIMENTAL USAGE OF INITIAL TEACHING ALPHABET (ITA) MATERIALS AND PROCEDURES FOR INSTRUCTION OF READING DISABILITY CASES WAS STUDIED TO DETERMINE IF ITA METHODS AND MATERIALS COULD BE SIMILARLY USED IN A SAN JOSE READING CLINIC. THE INVESTIGATOR MADE OBSERVATIONS IN ENGLAND OF QUALITY, FORMAT, CONCEPTS, AND USE OF LANGUAGE IN THE ITA…

This paper assesses the impact of computer based research activities on attitudes of students in an introductory sociology course at Ball State University toward sociology and toward course activities. Special emphasis is placed on attitude differences when research activities are incorporated on a voluntary or required basis. The objective is to…

The traditional methods of university education and some alternative approaches are considered in light of the course needs of both students and teacher. The self-teaching system is examined in the overall context of the learning process. This is followed by three case studies of the development and use of self-teaching systems, one for chemical…

This project investigated the quality of the planetarium as a teaching device by contrasting the performance of students taught in the planetarium with the performance of those taught in regular classrooms. Data for the study derived from official records of Cerritos and El Camino community college students enrolled in introductory astronomy for…