Ethical issues of behavior modification research in schools

Behavior modification research in the classroom was examined by the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects because of the increasingly widespread use of behavioral procedures in the schools, the effectiveness of these procedures in changing academic and social behavior, and the consequent concern about potential misuse. In order to foster the responsible use of behavior modification procedures in the schools on a practical as well as a research basis, the following ethical issues being considered by researchers and the involved public are discussed: informed consent, determination of classroom goals, legitimacy of rewards and aversive controls in the classroom, conceptions of behavior modification as manipulative and mechanistic, who can implement the procedures, research design, and accountability. The authors conclude that the issues regarding protection of human subjects in behavior modification research are no different from other treatment-oriented research with children. However, the high degree of parental and teacher involvement in both research and practice requires shared responsibility for the prevention of misuse of behavior modification procedures.     

Effects of behavior rehearsal,audiotaped observation,and intelligence on assertiveness and adjustment in third-grade children

The effects of behavior rehearsal and audiotaped vignettes as added components to a 12-session assertion training lecture series were studied. Subjects were 96 third-grade children of average or above average IQ. Results showed that on both measures of assertion, behavior rehearsal was a significant adjunct to the assertion lecture, which was also given to the attention control children. On one measure of assertion an effect was also noted for the audiotaped observation condition. There was no effect of IQ. While clear increases in assertion were found, no effect on neuroticism or trait anxiety was noted. It was recommended that school mental health programs include an assertiveness segment in their curriculum.     

You’ll never watch alone: media and community in the sports bar

This paper positions itself within the ongoing debate about the impact of media on community generated by Robert Putnam’s research. Accordingly, the increasing availability of sophisticated means of communication has led the progressive substitution of indirect interactions for direct interactions in shared space, thereby eroding an essential basis of community. In contrast, other theoretical perspectives have presented communication technologies as either enhancing community by altering the field of possible social interactions or incapable of replacing direct interactions. This debate is addressed through an ethnography of fans who gathered at a sports bar to watch the World Cup. Observations revealed that while televised broadcasts served as a primary motivation for attendance and a centrepiece of subsequent interactions, patrons did not watch alone; they watched with each other.     

An Analysis of the Process of School‐Based Evaluation: A Critique of the IMTEC Programme

Five case-studies of mathematics departments in secondary schools in England are analysed. Three areas are studied closely: the horizontal integration of the mathematics curriculum, curriculum provision for the mathematically least able, and school-based, in-service training.