A method of individual classroom research is proposed and demonstrated in this paper. Its purpose was to show that by capitalizing on baseline data collected from a similar prior class and focusing treatment on difficult test items, the instructor can develop sensitive within-class designs for the detection of treatment effects. An experiment…

This study investigated the effects of delay of reinforcement on the classroom academic behaviors (rate of increase and accuracy of mathematical problem completion) by elementary students. A total of 11 fourth graders with a history of low achievement in arithmetic were divided into two groups and given timed arithmetic tests daily. Three…

A technique for recording pupils' experiences in the classroom, and issues related to the reliability of scores on such records are discussed. The rating instrument, the Personal Record of School Experience (PROSE), is in the form of an optical scanning sheet. Sub-professional personnel can be trained to do the observing, which is recorded on the…

The effects of including both field participation and classroom experience for prospective teachers in an introductory course in education at West Virginia University were compared in this study. Four groups of prospective teachers were randomly selected from a total population of 487 students. Each group consisted of 15 students--freshmen,…

Biology classes of 15 teachers in three high schools were provided with a response sheet and requested to rate each ten-minute segment of lessons on each of three contrasts: too fast/too slow; interested/bored; and understand/don't understand. They were also requested to make specific comments if they felt them necessary. It was found that…

The potential uses of ethnography and aesthetic criticism as sources for developing a qualitative approach to evaluating classrooms are delineated. Such work involves three interrelated processes--description, interpretation, and appraisal--which are discussed and exemplified. When describing a classroom, the evaluator vividly renders it,…

This study examines the roles of freedom and play in creativity instruction. A trial operation of a creativity training program is described including a workshop with 18 sixth- and eighth-grade students. The program emphasizes three basic concepts: freedom, playfulness and warm interpersonal relationships. Group activities and dramatic techniques…

Students in the Mississippi State University Department of Agricultural and Extension Education (138) completed a questionnaire designed to identify variables that might cause communication problems in the classes taught in that department. Uncomfortable seating, lack of visual aids, and lack of handouts were the three most important problems…

One hundred twenty children, aged 4-1/2 to 11 years, were asked to draw pictures of their classrooms and were later interviewed. Results showed the drawings were indicative of the children's particular social understanding of the teacher in school. (SE)

The reward structure of a classroom refers to the rules under which students are reinforced for academic achievement. Various types of interpersonal reward structures--competitive, cooperative, and independent--are discussed. Studies of the effects of rewards on performance, attitudes and interpersonal relations are reviewed, emphasizing…

Reviews studies gathering data about what happens inside science classrooms, studies providing information about the nature of interaction in science lessons, studies which have examined factors influencing the nature of interaction, and studies which have looked at the impact of different patterns of interaction on science outcomes. (Author/SL)

This study sought to assess the actual and ideal social climate of an undergraduate social science class for educators and to utilize this information to structure a subsequent class on the same topic in a way perceived to more closely approximate an ideal situation. (MJB)

Considers the historiography of language teaching theories from the perspective of bimodality and suggests some directions research should take to empirically substantiate the usefulness of this concept for second-language acquisition in a classroom environment. (Author/CB)

Focuses on student and teacher perceptions of psychosocial characteristics of the elementary school classroom environment. Profiles, comparing actual and preferred classroom environments, were assessed using the following five dimensions of the My Class Inventory (short form) (Fisher and Fraser): satisfaction, friction, competitiveness,…

Teachers are charged with training children to be good scholars and good citizens. In both domains of classroom life, the underlying process involves successful socialization into the student role. (CB)