Discusses the effectiveness of classroom trials as a method of providing feedback in the development process for educational software. The impact of formative evaluation on the development of computer-assisted learning (CAL) by a team is discussed, criteria for software selection are described, and steps toward successful implementation are…

Examines how personal versus formal writing tasks affect students' response to and comprehension of literary text. Finds that personal writing tasks enabled students to produce qualitatively more effective responses that tended to be more fluent and constructed with a wider range of response statements. (RS)

The process and impact of a self-responsibility model for delinquency-prone youth, 10 fourth-grade boys, was investigated using a variation of the case study method. Students participated in a 6-week special physical education program. Results suggest the model caused some affective, behavioral and knowledge changes in the boys. (IAH)

Analyzes two scientific journal articles from a reader-response perspective. Elaborates the rhetorical nature of scientific discourse and demonstrates that even within the constraints of the journal articles, scientists have considerable freedom to exercise choices. Explicates how writers use cues to direct readers into fictional roles. (MG)

After special education resource teachers (n=27) were taught to use a standard trend estimation procedure as an aid in visual analysis of their students' charts, interrater agreement with reliability judges increased from .56 to .78. Prior knowledge of student performance was found to have an effect on visual inference. (Author/JDD)

Results are presented of an extended case study of a Dutch teacher confronted by severe discipline problems, who, with the help of a teacher educator, changed the disorder of her classroom to a good working atmosphere. This article analyzes the pupil-teacher interaction during this change, from a systems communication perspective. (IAH)

Outlines a one-semester course on mythology and the Bible. Notes that the course focuses on a reader-response approach to literature, and combines experiences with art and dance as well as with literary texts. (MM)

Responds to "new scholarship on women" perspective presented in previous article by Greiner. Delineates areas of fit and areas of misfit while applying the perspective to ethnic minorities. Examines six basic tenets of perspective as they relate to research or to practice, drawing examples from and about Hispanic populations. (NB)

Investigates the manner and the degree to which science teachers consider the nature of the subject matter in their decision making when they plan and deliver instructional tasks. Considerations for student development, curriculum guide objectives, and pressures of accountability dominated decision making. (Author/YP)

Assesses the prevalence of self-related affects in achievement situations by asking basketball players to recall and indicate the importance of critical incidents in their sport careers. Examines the impact of success and failure, and the effects of situational factors on the prevalence of self-related affects. Self-related affects are linked to…

Discusses children's understanding of death during early and middle childhood. Describes four basic considerations (communication, acceptance, routine, and reactions) that apply to all situations with bereaved children. Looks at situation-specific reactions to terminally ill classmate, parental death, death of sibling, death of friend or relative,…

Reports on a study conducted to assess the effectiveness of two strategies, both involving desensitization, for reducing grade-school children's emotional reactions to mass media. Finds that while both strategies reduced emotional reactions, only the rehearsed explanation altered children's conceptions of the dangerous object. (SR)

Reports a conversation between Cleanth Brooks and Willie Morris concerning changes in literature during the postmodern era. Discusses narrative form, arguing that contemporary literature is moving away from story telling. Contends that the small percentage of the public which reads serious fiction is the reason for this shift. (KO)

A study of 152 teacher preparation students, at three different training levels, found that students considered social defiance behaviors (destructiveness, aggression, disobedience) by pupils less tolerable, more controllable by the child, more costly, and more likely to be managed with restrictive behavior than social immaturity behavior…

Examines whether men exposed to filmed sexual violence are less physiologically aroused and less emotionally responsive to subsequent depictions of violence against women. Investigates, secondarily, the magnitude of the relationship between physiological reactions, emotional reactions, and subsequent judgments. (MS)