This article describes the results of a series of focus group interviews conducted with postsecondary students with disabilities about the importance of self-determination in their success in those settings. Approximately 40% of the student participants identified a learning disability or attention deficit disorder as their primary disability. The…

This study examines the relationship between skill emphases in rehabilitation counselor education (RCE) programs and perceived importance of those skills for counselor effectiveness. Examining results between this nationwide survey of rehabilitation counselor educators and data from an earlier research by Leahy, Chan, and Saunders (2003) that…

This manual presents an instrument designed for visual arts education research and as a screening and identification test for use in gifted/talented education for artistically talented students. The test consists of four items or tasks that call for a demonstration of different abilities and skills. Each completed drawing is assessed and assigned…

This study sought to develop a description of second language fluency, based on the concept that the microcontext of the testing task and the resulting psycholinguistic demands on speech production affect the nature of the discourse produced so that different tasks have differential impact on an individual's display of fluency. It investigated how…

Because test scores reflect not only a student's knowledge in a given area, but also his or her familiarity with cues present in the test, and because tests are so prevalent and important in schools, there is a great need to teach test wiseness skills. It is ethical to do so if no material from the final test is included. Certain principles and…

To determine the number and types of spelling errors made by college students, a study examined students' spelling errors on four complex word patterns which occur in related words. Fifty students attending a four-year engineering institute were selected and classified as group A (good readers/good spellers) or group B (poor readers/poor spellers)…

A computer-based attention reduction model of training is presented, and associated issues related to instructional systems design are outlined. Attention reduction training (ART) is based on the dual task assessment procedure developed by researchers in the area of memory. The technique involves having subjects respond to two tasks…

The study was designed to determine the reliability and criterion validity of a psychomotor performance test (the Fine Finger Dexterity Work Task Unit) with 40 partially or totally blind adults. Reliability was established by using the test-retest method. A supervisory rating was developed and the reliability established by using the split-half…

This study was designed to determine the effects of variable and specific practice of typing individual letters on response time to typing those letters within specific letter combinations and on overall speed and accuracy of intermediate typists (46 high schools students who were taking Typewriting II). The letters selected for investigation were…

In most existing computer assisted instruction (CAI), the nature of the instruction would not actually require a computer. Text is presented and read, questions are asked, and then materials are presented or reviewed depending on students' answers. There are two problems with this approach: computer capabilities for interactive task simulation are…

This report relates current attentional research and theory to the development of skilled performance, with emphasis on how performance changes with practice. Dual process attention theory is reviewed, and the distinction between automatic and controlled processing is examined. The changing interactions between automatic and controlled processing…

A skills model and clustering system are presented, based on the assumptions that the tasks of all work, including scholarship, require many similar skills that can be identified and clustered. Six levels of competency are addressed: possession, combination, application, quantity, quality, and mastery. These skills can be clustered into adaptive…

Designed to provide a listing of knowledge, skills, and abilities (collectively known as KSAs) that could be used by public broadcasting stations for recruitment, selection, promotion, evaluation, training, and staff career development, this document addresses three key broadcasting personnel areas. These areas are programming/production,…

This paper describes in some detail Siegfreid's Process Mapping Model for describing human performance. The model's application to task analysis and the advantages of using it when constructing assessment strategies and instruments are discussed. Examples of the model's use in building portfolios, behavioral rating scales, and skill demonstration…

The specification in concrete behavioral terms of theoretical constructs is one difficulty associated with behavioral assessment. For example, the construct of heterosocial skill has not been successfully defined in operational terms. A linear modeling technique was used to identify valid behavioral referents of heterosocial skill ratings for both…