Adolescence is a critical time period when it comes to fostering lifelong interest and practices in reading, yet a decreasing number of middle school students are performing at Proficient and Advanced levels in reading. The purpose of this study was to examine whether providing middle school students with an increased level of choice in their…

Describes a study that examined the similarities and differences in computer related attitudes between sixth grade boys and girls of different mathematics achievement levels. Students' responses to questions about self-confidence in their computer abilities, the utility of computers, and general attitudes toward computers are reported and…

Explores children's judgments of the relative effectiveness of four memory strategies (looking, naming, rehearsing, and categorizing.) Strategy judgment data were analyzed using Thurstone's Method of Paired Comparisons. (Author/NH)

Only few studies have explicitly attended to the nature of the perceived underlying factors that prompt young adolescents' reflective thinking in association with K-12 learning environment. This paper focuses on an analysis of the factors that are perceived by young students as prompting their reflective thinking and how those factors apply to the…

Comparison of gifted, average ability, and low ability sixth grade students (total n=208), in either homogeneous or heterogeneous instructional settings, found a positive effect for achievement in mathematics for the gifted students in the homogeneous grouping. No significant difference in mathematics achievement based on grouping was found for…

Investigated relationships among attitudes toward science, interest in science, science curiosity, and self-concept of science ability. Data, obtained from 228 sixth-grade students, show that attitudes toward science, interest in science, and science curiosity are highly related. Implications of these findings for science instruction are…

This report reviews the Values, Influences, and Peers (VIP) program in the Peel, Ontario schools. Originally developed as a joint initiative of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of the Solicitor General, the VIP program was first introduced in Peel in 1983 as a pilot initiative in one school. Launched as a response to an increase in…

Classroom decision-making was conceptualized within the framework of person-environment fit. A longitudinal sample of 2239 sixth graders in 117 mathematics classrooms were surveyed. The findings include: (1) students typically report fewer decision-making opportunities than they think they should have in their mathematics classrooms; (2) students…

Reports on a study of 22 sixth-grade students' ability to use a Landsat digital data computer program to gather information. Describes student characteristics and discusses the sequential steps of the research study. Concludes that, with user-friendly software, sixth-grade students can identify and use satellite digital data. (CFR)

Studied viewpoints of 12-year-old Finnish students concerning the relation between man and nature and their own relation toward the natural world. Examined the cognitive level of thought processes, emotional considerations, and experiences shown in pupils' opinions. Found social, socio-economical, ecological, and ethical considerations had greater…

Reports on a study of music listening preferences among undergraduate college music majors, high school musicians in performance groups, and sixth-grade students in eight U.S. sites. Finds instrumental biases among high school and college musicians' preferences for relatively unfamiliar classical music. (CFR)

This study analyzed the differences in attitude and achievement of fifth- and sixth-grade subjects presented with a series of science lessons directed toward instructional procedures which addressed the right hemisphere, the left hemisphere, or both hemispheric processing modes. The study used 65 randomly selected students divided into four…

The purpose of this study was to examine the combined effects of student participation and of realistic levels of vagueness terms on student achievement and attitudes. Ninety-six sixth graders from a middle school in Georgia were randomly assigned to one of eight groups defined by possible combinations of two teacher uncertainty conditions, two…

Sixth-grade middle school students (N=91) in four mathematics classes served as subjects in a study designed to: (1) determine if the use of computers as an integral part of instruction would increase mathematics achievement; and (2) explore the impact of computers as an integral part of instruction on other factors (such as student attitudes,…

This project was designed to develop a combinational strategy using microcomputers and cross-aged instruction designed to: (1) increase the achievement of low-achieving sixth-grade students; (2) increase enrollment in high school mathematics and science courses; (3) evaluate microcomputers as a unique instructional tool; and (4) develop effective…