Beginning in 1985, Apple Computer, Inc. and several school districts began a collaboration to examine the impact of intensive computer use on instruction and learning in K-12 classrooms. This paper follows the development of a Macintosh II-based management and retrieval system for text data undertaken to store and retrieve oral reflections of…

The Politics and Mass Media section of this collection of conference presentations contains the following 13 papers: "The 1992 Presidential Debates: A Cognigraphic View" (Richard F. Carter and Keith R. Stamm); "Moving to the Front of the Bus?: Network Coverage of the Invisible Primaries during the 1988 and 1992 Elections"…

Whether questions embedded in expository text could improve the correspondence between adult readers' subjective assessments of test readiness and their objective test performance (prediction calibration) was studied with 168 undergraduates. In order to minimize the confounding effects of prior knowledge, the subjects were asked to read a text…

Suggesting that literature dealing with the Vietnam War can have a dramatic impact on students, this paper assists teachers in selecting young adult literature on the war, discusses a variety of assignments, and presents student responses to the literature. The paper begins with a discussion of the three main types of young adult literature:…

To evaluate student learning in a computer-supported environment known as "GenScope," a system was developed for assessing students' understanding and learning of introductory genetics material presented in two developed GenScope instruments. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to address traditional evidential validity…

While computer-based tests might be as simple as computerized versions of paper-and-pencil examinations, more innovative applications also exist. Examples of innovations in computer-based assessment include the use of graphics or sound, some measure of interactivity, a change in the means in which examinees responded to items, and the application…

This guide is designed to help teachers create test items that measure a variety of higher level thinking abilities. Part One, "Foundations for Item Writing," provides a context for item writing. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the book and defines basic concepts, principles, and terminology. Chapter 2 integrates research literature to…

This study investigates the amount of uncertainty added to National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) estimates by equating error under both ideal and less than ideal circumstances. Data from past administrations are used to guide simulations of various equating designs and error due to equating is estimated empirically. The design…

Self-regulation is a major developmental accomplishment that begins in infancy and continues throughout childhood. This study focused on early socialization of self-regulation, and examined whether there was a common core of self-regulation in young children cutting across contexts and age, and whether the same maternal behaviors operate similarly…

Individual differences in the regulatory processes involved in managing difficult interpersonal interactions were investigated. Interpersonal systems that easily escalate to produce coercive or violent encounters in adult-child relationships were of particular interest. Adults who were predisposed to view adult-child interactions as containing…

Teachers' diverse goals for students reflect differences in teachers' conceptions of the teaching task and students' needs. This segment of the teachers' workplace research project (fieldwork and surveys in 16 public and private secondary schools) concentrated on ways in which workplace features generated dissimilar patterns of pedagogical…

This paper reports on a content analysis study of the dialogue in student-professor dialogue journals with a focus on professors' responses to student journal entries. Nine journals were kept by a multicultural sample of eight preservice secondary teachers and their three professors. The researchers applied Tannen's (1990) theory of symmetry in…

The Health, Science, and the Environment section of these proceedings contains the following seven papers: "Columbus, Mars, and the Changing Images and Ideologies of Exploration: A Critical Examination" (Lin Bin and August T. Horvath); "Prime Time TV Portrayals of Sex, 'Safe Sex' and AIDS: A Longitudinal Analysis" (Dennis T.…

Creative thinking styles of Native American students were investigated to determine the existence of creativity as a homogeneous trait among this culture. Seventy-nine Cherokee students in grades 4 and 6, attending a small rural school in eastern Oklahoma, were administered the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking--Figural Form A. Thirty-eight…

How data gathered through item response theory (IRT) analysis can be used to give immediate diagnostic information without a computer is explained. The Kidmap, developed by B. D. Wright and others (1980), provides clear information in a visual manner. Its major problem lies in the need for a computer and suitable software to construct a Kidmap.…