Drawing on research conclusions about the process of educational change, this report seeks to demonstrate the importance of understanding the diverse factors that inhibit or enable school improvement efforts. The report focuses on leadership and support in achieving successful change and stresses that principals are but one of several players who…

The main purposes of this study were to ascertain something of the quality of in-house use of materials in a science library, and to test the use of interviews as a method of measuring such use. Brief interviews were held with 414 users of the University of Illinois Veterinary Medicine Library (VML) between March 2 and May 13, 1987, to obtain…

The predictive validities of (1) a test of divergent thinking, (2) an experimental measure of creative performance, and (3) an inventory of creative personality characteristics were compared by correlating scores on each measure for 19 fifth graders with scores on the ACT Interest Inventory one year later. It was expected that each of the three…

A study was conducted to examine gender differences in computer attitudes and experiences of adolescents. A random, systematic sample of students (1,138) from five San Francisco Bay area high schools was surveyed for their uses of computers before and during their high school years. Four main categories of data were collected: (1) instructional…

Using the Component Display Theory as an analyzing tool, this study compared the effects of expository and discovery methods of instruction on two learning outcomes, application and transfer. One hundred ninth grade students in each of four earth science classes were randomly assigned to five groups--four experimental groups designed to test four…

This study was designed to test the hypothesis that students who are given common errors matched with correct performance as part of their instruction in carrying out a procedure will perform better than students who are given only the correct performance. The task was the procedure for correcting color imbalances in color slides, and 56 college…

The purpose of this study was to compare the results of an analysis of covariance design to a method developed by the authors called within-class regression. Application of this statistical method can be to any quasiexperimental design with a large number of groups. A test of statistical significance to use with the within-class regression…

Statistical methods employed to test individual differences in dual-task performance and the existence of a general time-sharing ability are reviewed and critiqued. Specifically, both the types of data being collected and the types of data analysis procedures have been inadequate to the critical evaluation of a hypothetical…

This paper examines the unresolved epistemological and theoretical problems in comparative communication research. The first section examines what "comparative" means by reviewing various fields in the social sciences. The second section provides an overview of epistemic assumptions of comparative communication research and suggests that in the…

The tests for zero partial association in a multiple contingency table have gained new importance with the introduction of graphical models. It is shown how these may be performed as exact conditional tests, using as test criteria either the ordinary likelihood ratio, the standard x squared statistic, or any other appropriate statistics. A…

This paper discusses receiver apprehension, an information processing syndrome, in the context of counterattitudinal advocacy. Receiver apprehension was conceptualized as a trait anxiety associated with misinterpreting, inadequately processing, and/or being unable to adjust to incoming messages. This processing anxiety suggested cognitive rigidity…

Topics and methodologies used by researchers of teacher development activities are examined in this paper. Selected studies in educational research are analyzed and grouped into four areas. The first research design considered is the traditional empirical-analytic, or hypothesis testing paradigm, through which studies are conducted to test the…

This study was undertaken to identify the differences between asthmatic and nonasthmatic children, ages nine through twelve, on self-concept and attitudes toward physical education. It was anticipated that children having an asthmatic condition might reflect significantly different scores from their nonasthmatic peers at least partially…

A teaching aid appropriate for a beginning course on experimental design is presented. The aid is a numerical example which illustrates some of the theoretical interrelations among three competing design analysis strategies for estimating treatment effects in random assignment designs. The analysis strategies considered are analysis of variance…

INFANT SCRIBBLING ACTIVITY IS NOT SIMPLY PLAY. IT CONTRIBUTES TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF VISUAL ATTENTION AND PERCEPTION. YET, SCRIBBLING, UNLIKE WRITING IN THE COMMUNICATION SENSE, IS NOT MOTIVATED BY THE DESIRE TO INFORM, NOR TO SET DOWN THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS. THE EXPERIMENTAL HYPOTHESIS OF THIS STUDY WAS THAT THE MOTIVATIONS FOR SCRIBBLING ARE (1)…