In an effort to more clearly define the engineering method, this document attempts to draw distinctions between engineering and science. Part I, "Some Thoughts on Engineering," discusses strategies that engineers employ to solve problems, and the characteristics of the types of engineering problems. Part II, "The Principal Rule of the Engineering…

To overcome teacher isolation and help make teaching a more attractive profession, educators might consider a peer support system based on the Stanford Collegial Evaluation Program. This paper describes the program's background, functioning, barriers to successful implementation, and how to neutralize them. The Stanford program uses a peer…

Many researchers have demonstrated that student expectations of teacher competence can affect student performance outcomes. The artificiality of laboratory paradigms used in past research, however, may severely limit the generalizability of findings. A field study was conducted to test the idea that students' expectations regarding their teacher's…

The laboratory school for Southeast Missouri State University offers individualized French and Spanish second language instruction to secondary students by scheduling them together in one multilevel class. Students progress individually and in small groups through planned, self-paced, continuous progress programs. Each student is given a checklist…

Nontraditional approaches in higher education are discussed, with attention to: (1) economic and philosophical reasons for nontraditional education; (2) future thrusts; (3) nontraditional instructional modalities; and (4) the implications for higher education of the extensive use of nontraditional approaches. It is suggested that nontraditional…

Fifty-two fourth and fifth grade students, randomly assigned to three groups (1) competitive, (2) individualistic, and (3) no feedback control, received differential feedback regarding their performance in two 40-minute computer assisted mathematics sessions per week over six weeks. Attributions regarding academic outcomes in computer assisted…

Field tests of test items are useful in developing cutting scores for important tests, such as teacher certification examinations and high school graduation tests, because they indicate test item quality and estimate future examinee performance. However, field test data may provide a faulty indication of examinee performance on the real test.…

A study examined the objectives of supported employment programs for individuals with severe disabilities and identified performance measures to document the practices and achievements of such programs at the federal, state, and local levels. A set of proposed data items and potential performance measures was developed on the basis of programs…

The process of recruiting and selecting college faculty at a new college, the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, is discussed. The university was established in September 1973 to serve students who would complete 2 years at community/junior colleges in the Permian Basin area. The school's mission and the two towns near the college are…

Two studies were conducted to determine whether language as well as appearance cues would influence children's performance on a sex constancy task. In the first study, preschoolers and second graders participated in a sex constancy task in which different labels were used to refer to a picture of a boy or girl. The results showed that older…

A guide to faculty evaluation is presented for use as the content for an institutional workshop or for use by individual faculty or administrators for their professional development in the area of evaluation. Purposes of evaluation include: providing a basis to recognize superior performance and to offer faculty development activities, providing…

This study is an annotated bibliography of literature dealing with the effects of teaching mathematics by mastery learning. It is subdivided into four areas: History and Development of Mastery Learning; Mastery Learning, an Alternative to Traditional Instruction; Implementation of Mastery Learning; and Studies of Mastery Learning in Mathematics.…

Students in a college introductory statistics class were evaluated with conceptual and computational tests and the relationship between their levels of knowledge on the two forms of testing was assessed. There were significant correlations between their abilities to perform computations and to answer more conceptual questions on individual tests…

This article discusses the role of perceived self-efficacy during classroom learning of cognitive skills. Self-efficacy refers to personal judgments of performance capabilities in a given domain of activity. Students enter classroom activities with various aptitudes and prior experiences, which affect their initial sense of self-efficacy for…

To explain evidence that females receive higher grades in communication courses than males, one researcher has posed a competence/compliance paradox: either, women are more competent communicators and are only judged to be less competent in public life because of prejudice, or, women are not as competent as men in communication as demonstrated in…