Carol A. Cartwright

CAI Course in the Early Identification of Handicapped Children

114 college students enrolled in an introductory course in special education were randomly assigned to a conventional instruction (CI) or a computer assisted instruction (CAI) version of the course. The CAI group received all instruction by CAI; the CI group received instruction in the conventional lecture-discussion mode. The CAI students obtained significantly higher criterion test scores than the CI students. Also, the CAI students completed the 3 credit course in an average of 12 hours less time.

Determining the Motivational Systems of Individual Children

The Role of Rewards and Incentives in Learning • Increasing numbers of teachers and psychologists have found that using various rewards and incentives, determined by individual needs, helps to motivate children. This is especially applicable to exceptional children whose needs are even more individualized than usual because of their disabilities. Educators who have experimented with procedures for systematically determining and applying rewards and incentives in classroom situations are enthusiastic about the results they obtain. o A reward is a stimulus which is given to the child after the occurrence of a particular response in a given situation. The reward tends to increase the frequency of the response. The term incentive refers to the expectation that a particular reward will be obtained after behaving in a certain way. For example, when a child is promised a gold star on his paper if he finishes some work, the childs expectation that he will receive the gold star is his incentive. When the gold star is given, and if the star is satisfying, it is the reward. Stimuli which function as rewards and incentives for a child were, at some point in the childs life, nonmeaningful, or neutral stimuli. Psychologists are in general agreement that previously neutral stimuli become meaningful rewards and incentives as a result of having been continually paired with satisfying stimuli. If it is known that a child likes candy, but is indifferent to adult praise, candy and adult praise can be given together several times as a reward, until eventually the adult approval becomes the satisfying reward and incentive in place of the candy. Since each child has experienced a unique history of associations between neutral and satisfying stimuli, each child can be expected to attach different degrees of meaning to the rewards which are typically used in classroom situations. One child might be greatly rewarded by public praise, whereas another might despise getting public recognition. Since the teacher establishes a childs reward expectancies and dispenses rewards, it is very important that he or she have some information about what individual children find satisfying. When a teacher does not know what a childs reward preferences are, any use of rewards will be on a trial-and-error basis. It is not sufficient to assume that most of the children will be motivated equally by the expectation of adult praise. Just as individualized instruction can be expected to result in improved learning, individually determined rewards can be expected to result in improved motivation. Improved motivation, in turn, should lead to an increase in learning and achievement.

A Pluralistic Foundation for Training Early Childhood Professionals.

Spurred by psychological research contending that early experience affects intelligence, Head Start was conceived and implemented as a means of serving young children and interrupting the cycle of poverty for many families. Private nursery schools, play groups, and parent cooperatives increased in number as more parents became convinced of the advantages of early education. Many parents desired Montessori experiences for their children, thus influencing the spread of Montessori programs throughout the country. Policy makers at both state and local levels sensed the growing concern with the education of young children and acted to improve the availability of public school kindergarten programs. Day care programs increased and moved from emphasis on custodial to developmental care, thus providing yet another vehicle for delivering educational services to young children. Trends in both the public and private sectors led to a considerable increase in both the number and kind of programs available for young children. Much of the psychological research that served as the impetus for the renewal of interest in early childhood programs in the United States has wide applicability and has served similar purposes for educators in other countries.