Early work by Bartlett in memory theory is contrasted with the more firmly entrenched empirical-associationistic notions of his time. Contemporary lines of research are then discussed within the perspective of this ongoing controversy. A more purely constructive model with active processing during retention, recall, and comprehension is presented.…

Two components of institutional performance are regarded as effectiveness, which is concerned with the congruence between outputs and goals or other criteria, and efficiency, which links output with inputs. The efficiency dimension is defined, and its relationship to the economic concepts of efficiency and productivity is examined. (Author/PN)

Perspectives on the issues of the effectiveness and the role of laboratory work are provided through a review of the history, goals, and research findings regarding the laboratory as a medium of instruction in introductory science teaching. Suggestions for researchers working to clarify the role of the laboratory are made. (Author/PN)

In an attempt to understand why the promise of educational innovation has not been realized, educational innovation, its ideological and paradigmatic underpinnings, and the major stages of the innovation process are critically examined. The centrality of power and the generation of correspondence and contradiction as key analytical concepts are…

Research review is conceptualized as a scientific inquiry involving five stages that parallel those of primary research. The functions, sources of variance, and potential threats to validity associated with each stage are described. (Author/PN)

Using a framework for planned change, this study assessed the status of knowledge about effective and ineffective school principal behaviors. Obstacles that principals face in their attempts at school improvement were also reviewed. (Author/PN)

The available methods for analyzing and interpreting data with multivariate analysis of variance are reviewed, and guidelines for their use are presented. Causal models that underlie the various methods are presented to facilitate the use and understanding of the methods. (Author/PN)

An analysis of the school climate literature, based on over 200 references, uses an organizational taxonomy to organize the diverse body of research and climate typologies. It draws conclusions about common findings and summarizes methodological issues common to school climate studies. (Author/PN)

Research bearing on three aspects of small group learning is examined: (1) the relationship between interaction and achievement, (2) cognitive process and social-emotional mechanisms bridging interaction and achievement, and (3) characteristics of the individual, group, and reward structure that predict interaction in small groups. (Author/PN)

A common criticism of student ratings of instruction is that they are affected by the personal style of the instructor rather than an instructor's ability to convey instructional material. It was found that instructor expressiveness had a substanial impact on student ratings but a small impact on student achievement. (Author/PN)

The authors review existing research which links three sets of variables: (1) organizational characteristics, (2) how efficacy operates within the individual, and (3) the individual and organizational effects with which efficacy has been empirically connected. Efficacy is defined in terms of the individual's expectancy of gaining valued outcomes…

Issues of reliability and validity in ethnographic design are compared to their counterparts in experimental design. Threats to the credibility of ethnographic research are summarized and categorized. Strategies intended to enhance credibility (study design, data collection, data analysis, and presentation of findings) are incorporated throughout…

Available experimental evidence is reviewed concerning the keyword method, a two-stage procedure for remembering materials having an associative component. The review examines subjects' memory for definitions, given vocabulary words; subjects' learning of other aspects of vocabulary, given definitions; group-administered keyword studies; and…

This review presents the educational implications of recent research and related theory indicating that morality and convention are understood within distinct conceptual systems with independent courses of development. People differentiate between moral actions affecting the rights or well-being of others and social conventional actions whose…

A meta-analysis of 128 studies of the relationship between self and achievement/performance measures reported correlations in the range of -.77 to .96 with an "average" correlation of .21. This average relationship was modified by several variables, including, among others, grade level of subjects, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and ability.…