States that the proper end for social studies is understanding, and that stories, because of their form and substance, can provide the conditions necessary for understanding in social studies. Stories are judged educationally worthwhile for psychological, pedagogical, and curricular reasons. (Author/JDH)

Describes an experimental study which investigated the relative efficacy of two types of concept nonexamples in preventing overgeneralization errors among first grade students (n=67). Results indicated that the group which received both coordinate and ordinary concept nonexamples scored significantly higher than the group which received only…

Reports the results of a study which surveyed 237 junior and senior high school teachers' endorsement and use of selected content area reading strategies. Results showed a substantial gap between the teachers' generally positive attitude toward the reading practices and their level of use of the practices in the classroom. (JDH)

Examines how discriminant analysis techniques can be used in music education research. Provides examples of the technique. Concludes that music researchers can use discriminant analysis to gain new insights into their data. (RKM)

Reports the results of a study designed to determine if there are certain leadership behaviors and descriptive characteristics of successful high school band directors. Concludes that an increased knowledge of leadership behavior can help improve leadership qualities and teaching effectiveness. (RKM)

Reports on a research study which examined problems that occur when preservice teachers in music education observe and evaluate a classroom. Perceptions of observers assigned three different visual perspectives of a single music lesson were compared. Concludes that student observers should be given specific direction regarding interpreting…

Describes the historical development of the British Maidstone Movement, a group violin instructional program for children. Examines the impact of the movement upon instrumental classes in U.S. public schools. (RKM)

School research should be more social in nature, i.e., contextualized, interactive/dynamic, and sensitive to participant conceptions. To explore the possibilities and limitations of the social study of social studies, a conception of social research is delineated, using recent social studies classroom research as illustration. Research utilization…

While educators have always talked about active citizenship and critical thought, classroom practices have emphasized passive acquisition and character development. Teachers' philosophical assumptions that enable them to train future citizens to become passive spectators are discussed. (Author/RM)

The selection of textbooks used in content analysis to determine values taught to students is important. Only widely used texts must be analyzed. The samples of U.S. history texts used by Fitzgerald (1979) and Barth and Shermis (1980) in their studies were not representative of textbooks used in schools. (RM)

The assumption that student groups, as they customarily operate in most classrooms, facilitate the development of critical thinking is challenged as being false. Examined in order to support the thesis are two typical characteristics of classroom life--the norms of pedagogical control and authority knowledge. (Author)

Two studies investigated (1) the degree to which college students who were not music majors were able to discriminate identical melodies when extremely similar melodies were interpolated between test and recall melodies and (2) differences that might be attributed to either modal (major-minor) or meter (simple-compound) presentations. (Author/SR)

Two studies compared (1) the pre- and posttest music performances of beginning fourth grade band students in tutor and tutee pairs and (2) the effects of tutor approval and disapproval (error-correction) on student music performance. (Author/SR)

The ability of university music majors to aurally perceive sudden and gradual tempo changes of various magnitudes was investigated. Subjects detected tempo changes better when the change was increased rather than decreased for one composition, sudden rather than gradual, greater rather than smaller in magnitude, and one-directional rather than…

This study measured the effect of three levels of tempo and two levels of performing medium, vocal and instrumental, on the expressed preference of fifth- and sixth-grade students for traditional jazz music listening examples. (Author/SR)