Analysis of data from four courses shows that (1) female open learning students complete their courses more often than male counterparts, (2) open learning students who register at certain campuses complete their courses more often than students who register at others, and (3) students who complete and return assigned questionnaires are more…

It is suspected that educators have many interpretations of developmentally appropriate practice and, therefore, a wide variety of practices exist in classrooms labeled "developmentally appropriate." This study investigated daily practices of 10 full-day public school kindergarten programs identified as "developmentally appropriate" by teachers or…

By employing meta-analysis procedures to build on the reviews of Horwitz and Peterson, specific effects of open education are quantified and related to school and student characteristics. From the 45 studies located in ERIC, the Education Index, and Horwitz's monograph, student, setting, and research design characteristics were coded. Twenty-three…

This booklet contains a speech on the value of discovery learning in building a sound knowledge base. The author contends that systematic concepts (such as spatial relations) should be fully explored by experimentation and discussion in the classroom. The cognitive processes involved in solving problems are examined and examples are given of…

This study investigated the effect of various dimensions of classroom structure on children's reading skills. Two classrooms each from grades one to three were selected by district administrators as outstanding examples of different types of classroom structure. A sample of 16 children was drawn from each class. Each classroom was observed on the…

The paper describes the identification process and procedures developed in a project for gifted/talented handicapped children (3 to 5 years old) in six talent areas: intellectual, academic, creative, social/leadership, visual and performing arts, and psychomotor. Characteristics of two approaches (the informal open classroom and an approach based…

The studies reported in this paper represent an effort to assess the attitudes of inservice and preservice teachers toward the open classroom. Three instruments are described which were used as pretest and posttest measures of attitudes of participants in a one-week Open Education Workshop. The instruments are: (1) a Likert-type attitude scale…

The Harvard University Center for Moral Education is conducting research on Kohlberg's assumption that development of moral thinking and of practical understanding of democratic institutions may be most effective in schools where students judge the moral atmosphere to be just. Students perceptions of three types of school are compared: (1)…

Open learning is the act or process of acquiring knowledge or a skill that is accessible and available, not confined or concealed, and that implies a continuum of access and opportunity. All open schools have one thing in common: they are to a greater or lesser extent efforts to expand the freedoms of learners. The trend towards open forms of…

This paper presents a brief overview of current research on learner-centered curricular reform and of some of the issues attendant to its character and quality. Seven groupings of learner-centered reform are discussed in relation to current research and findings: performance and competency-based programs, personalized instruction, cooperative…

As prototypes for new forms of education, public and private alternative schools have much to offer regular schools in the way of new ideas. This paper provides an overview of alternative schools and the options available. Alternative schools are characterized by a more selected student body, a smaller and less bureaucratic structure, values…

Findings from a study that examined the relationship between two educational movements--effective schools and nongradedness--are presented in this paper. Methodology involved: (1) a research review of studies conducted from January 1968 to June 1991 that compared graded and nongraded student performance using standardized objective measures; and…

This paper considers the question of how much of the instructional process instructional designers should control by pre-planning and managing instruction so that it is equitable, focusing on three specific concerns: (1) whether the designer who plans the instruction or the student is responsible for student learning; (2) whether or not the…

A proposed tenth dimension to the Los Angeles Community Colleges nine-campus system would be a college "type" organization but without any campus location. Its purpose would be to provide educational programs and collegiate recognition of the following six concepts: the concept of life-time learning, shift emphasis from degree…

The Far West Laboratory Model (Far West School) in downtown Oakland, California, an employer-based career education program of experiential learning, has focused on the developmental issues of how high school academic requirements and career exploration in the community can be integrated into a common set of learning activities, and the virtues…