The activities of a teacher who developed and piloted an eclectic model in an eighth grade mathematics classroom are described. Peer tutoring, cooperative learning, and mastery learning elements were selected and combined into a classroom program designed to increase student mathematics success. (KR)

The relationship among three personal fables ("omnipotence," "invulnerability," "personal uniqueness"), narcissism, and mental health variables was assessed in a large, cross-sectional sample of adolescents drawn from Grades 6 (n = 94), 8 (n = 223), 10 (n = 142), and 12 (n = 102). Participants responded to the New Personal Fable Scale, the…

In spite of the continued focus on problem solving, American elementary and middle grades schoolchildren are perceived to be ineffective problem solvers. This paper reports the results of a survey of (n=744) kindergarten through eighth grade teachers and interviews and observations of a primary and an intermediate master teacher designed to answer…

Results of this study indicate that students' (N=155) self-concepts and gender role perceptions were related to both achievement and attitudes toward science, but more related to attitudes than achievement. In addition, these relationships became more pronounced for students as they matured from seventh to eighth graders. (Author/JN)

Examined the relationship of attitude toward science, spatial ability, mathematical ability, and scientific personality (measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) on the achievement of eighth-grade students (N=98). One finding noted is that males and females with science grades of C or D had the most characteristics not associated with science.…

Examines the similarities and differences in beliefs about the effective teaching of mathematics held by teachers from two different sociocultural backgrounds. Data were collected using a part of the Teacher General Classroom Process Questionnaire of the second IEA Mathematics Study. (Author)

Investigates patterns of sex differences for responses to problems across the countries involved in the Second International Mathematics Study. Reports no substantial gender effects on any of the content areas using the median polishing method. (YP)

Compares relative test anxiety of urban seventh- and eighth-grade students in North America and Chile. Finds the following: high-SES students from both cultures had lower test anxiety than low-SES students; Chileans had higher test anxiety than North Americans; low-SES females in both cultures had more test anxiety than low-SES males, but high-SES…

Investigated differences between middle school and junior high instructional strategies and the effects on adolescent attitude toward science in school and science achievement (n=570) and evaluated variations within grade level, gender, race, general ability, and socioeconomic group. Discusses results in terms of effectively implementing changes…

Presents research findings regarding motivation's role in music education. Explains that students in grades five through eight provided reactions to a fictitious band student's experience with failure. Reports that many respondents believed that the student would perform better, try harder, and receive the teacher's and fellow students' support in…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as "The Nation's Report Card," is a congressionally mandated survey of educational achievement of American students in a variety of curriculum areas and of changes in that achievement across time. Part 1 of this report consists of the results of NAEP's 1990 national…

This field experiment begins to build a theoretical framework for exploring the effects of media characteristics on subjects' understanding and integration of information. Students in two eighth-grade science classes wrote term papers with one class using a print encyclopedia and the other an electronic encyclopedia to conduct their research. A…

To show the difficulty of eliminating test bias and to develop a methodology for distinguishing between the effects of prior knowledge and of skill development on reading comprehension, 207 eighth grade students from rural and urban areas were administered an 18-question reading comprehension test. Quantitative and qualitative effects of prior…

This paper reports the results of a longitudinal study of the relationship between affect and achievement in high school science. The conceptual model for science-related affect proposes that students' enjoyment in, and enthusiasm for science are determined by their perceptions of their past performance in science, their expected future…

Describes study of eighth grade students conducted to test the effectiveness of mnemonic techniques to recall attributes of minerals. Results indicate that mnemonic instruction, when accompanied by experimentor-provided keywords and mnemonic illustrations, produced superior recall on both immediate and delayed performance tests. (Author/LRW)