Cost-effectiveness of audiovisual media in higher education

In general, economists are engaged in optimizing the ratio between benefits and costs. The so-called cost-effectiveness approach is oriented towards producing specified effects at the lowest costs. How this may be done for audiovisual media in higher education is shown in two steps. First, the function-identifying stage, then the cost-analysis stage. The cost-structures of seven methods of delivering instructional television are then compared. Finally, some reasons are given for why cost-effectiveness considerations are still rarely applied in educational decision-making. Structural measures to remedy this state of affairs are proposed.Detailed cost calculations which support the ideas put forward in this article were to have been included in an appendix: this can be obtained from the author.     

Contextual cues and memory retrieval in rats: Alleviation of forgetting by a pretest exposure to background stimuli

With a relatively complex maze, reliable forgetting is clearly seen when the training-test interval is 25 days. This forgetting is evidenced by the longer time taken to run the maze and in an increase in the number of errors from the last training trial to the first test trial. In this case, forgetting is a lapse, not a loss, since performance attains the last training trial level at a subsequent test. Furthermore, a reminder which does not in itself contain sufficient information to facilitate performance of a naive animal, significantly improves maze performance of animals which have “forgotten,” even on the first retention test. With the use of additional control groups, it is shown that there must be a memory lapse before contextual cues can be demonstrated to be effective in facilitating memory retrieval.     

A longitudinal comparison of the WISC and WISC-R with special education pupils

The purpose of this study was to determine the degree of comparability between the WISC and the WISC-R over time. Hypotheses were tested using a sample of 276 mildly mentally handicapped children enrolled in special education classes who had received a WISC (Trial 1) and a WISC or WISC-R (Trial 2) after an interval of approximately three years. The sample was grouped on the basis of test administered in Trial 2. Group I contained those children who received the WISC on Trial 2 and included 183 children, of whom 121 were males and 62 were females. Mean age at time of initial testing was 8–10; mean age at second testing was 11–8. Group II was composed of 93 children who had been posttested on the WISC-R and included 72 males and 21 females. Mean age at initial testing was 9–5; mean age at posttest was 13–0. The study was conducted in five school districts and one county department of education. Verbal IQ, Performance IQ, and Full Scale IQ for both instruments administered were transcribed from the special education folders of the children. The design used to test hypotheses was repeated measures analysis of variance. Data analysis resulted in rejection of the hypotheses that the WISC-R yields mean Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQ scores greater than or equal to the corresponding mean IQ scores of the WISC. It was concluded that the WISC-R may unfairly penalize special education children who are reevaluated with this instrument. Fluctuations in IQ scores due to the instrument of measurement must be recognized, and appropriate action should be taken to insure that children are evaluated for special class placement on comparable bases.     

International research on computers in education

Since 1987, International Co-ordinator of the IEA Computers in Education Study; was national project coordinator for the IEA Second International Mathematics Study and Second International Science Study (1980–85). Co-author of several published studies on the Second International Science Study as well as The Implemented and Attained Mathematics Curriculum: A Comparison of Eighteen Countriesand The Use of Computers in Education Worldwide.     

A follow-up study of high school students with a history of grade retention

The present study examines high school students with a prior history of grade retention (N = 38) compared to a matched control group of nonretained students. The retained students were lower on a number of scholastic variables (i.e., achievement, intelligence, grades), more often absent from school, and lower on three subscales of a self-esteem measure (the Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents). The authors explored the correlates of grade retained with the measured variables and found that the later a student was retained was associated with lower grades, less-positive school attitudes, less time on homework, lower educational expectations, more discipline problems, lower self-control, and a more external locus of control.     

Crisis intervention teams in the schools

When a crisis occurs in the school setting, school officials must be prepared to handle the situation effectively and efficiently. One of the ways school officials can handle a crisis situation is through the use of crisis intervention teams. The steps in establishing a crisis intervention team in a school setting include: determining goals, performing a needs assessment, finding model programs, developing a membership pool, developing a training program, preparing and maintaining a list of resources and plans for support services, establishing a communication network, designating a base of operations, planning team meetings, keeping records, and implementing the phases of debriefing. A crisis management scenario is presented and discussed in terms of the steps.     

A Person-Centered Approach to Students' Evaluations of Perceived Fear Appeals and Their Association With Engagement

A person-centered approach was employed to investigate how students' evaluation of perceived teacher utility value messages, i.e., fear appeals, as a threat and as a challenge, combined within individuals and how these combinations related to student engagement. Two studies were conducted with students in their final two years of secondary education. Empirically distinct clusters emerged at two time points in the academic year. Evaluating the message in the fear appeal at a higher level of challenge than threat was beneficial. Unexpectedly, high threat was associated with high engagement, as long as high challenge was also present, however, this combination was also related to high emotional disaffection. Moderate threat combined with moderate challenge had the most detrimental relationship with student engagement. Educational interventions should aim to increase the likelihood of a challenge evaluation.