Thomas J. Buttery

Student Teachers' Affective Behavior and Selected Biorhythm Patterns

20 students enrolled in student teaching at the University of Georgia rated 11 concepts on a semantic differential with 12 adjective pairs. These ratings, obtained 15 times during a 7-wk. period of student teaching, suggest that student teachers showed affective states which corresponded to the phases of their emotional biorhythmic cycle.

AFFECTIVE RESPONSE TO EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN BY STUDENTS PREPARING TO BE TEACHERS

A semantic differential was administered to 56 majors in early childhood, elementary, and middle school at the University of Georgia. Subjects affective response to exceptional children was higher when they perceived having only a single exceptional child vs many in a regular classroom.

Group Clinical Supervision: A Feedback Model to Enhance Teachers' Classroom Questioning Skills

A peer-group feedback model of classroom supervision was used to facilitate 48 teachers acquisition of questioning skills for use with discussion lessons. Teachers in 6 groups of 24 who received feedback through the feedback made significant gains on 10 of the 13 questioning skills. A control group of teachers made significant gains on four skills.

TWO METHODS OF TEACHING ALPHABETIZING

A learning center is an instructional device developed for the attainment of specific goals by activities. Current literature (1) concerns design of strategies implemented without regard to comparing this method of teaching with other instructional approaches. To fill this need, the present study compared the performance of two third grade classes (N = GO), one taught by the learning center method and the other by a teacher-directed method in acquiring alphabetization. The school is racially integrated and children are predominantly of the low-middle economic stratum as determined by the income of parents, financial expenditure per child for education, and number of children on the free lunch program. Activities for the learning center group were designed to permit flexibility in learning rate and independent study; however, the teacher monitored pupils progress to answer questions and make sure the pupils worked on tasks. At selected points achievement was assessed; students continued with other experiences or reviewed activities until a successful level of performance was achieved. The teacher-directed group received large group instruction from the Time to Wonder series (2). The instructional time allocated was about 20 min. per day for 15 days. Cognitive achievement was measured by pre- and posttests. Affective response was measured b a Thurstone Scale for Hostility (3). The cognitive instrument was administered the zrst day of the program. Affective attitude was assessed after the third day of treatment. The posttest, followed by the hostility scale, was administered again on Day 15. Significant differences between mean cognitive achievement on pre- and posttests were measured by a 2-tail t test for paired observations (p < .05). For both groups, mean achievement increased significantly. Pre- and posttest means for learning center group were 85.9 and 109.32 (SD = 28.61, 31.22; 120 = 2.46, p < .01) and the teacherdirected group were 86.6 and 101.78 (SD = 27.09, 29.34; t~ = 1.69, p < .05). Mean ratings of the hostility scale on the pre- and posttests assessed by a 2-tail t test for paired obserrvauons indicated that affective response for learning center group changed from Favorable about to Pleased with the instructional method. Means were 22.08 and 16.77 (SD = 24.93, 15.12; t- = 1.59, p < .05). Affectiye, respnse for teacher-directed group was Favorable about treatment on both adm~nistrations; mean scores were 23.69 and 21.98 (SD = 25.03, 26.15; tll = 2.34). Preliminary results suggest both methods effectively produced gains in alphabetization. Pupils expressed a more positive affective response, i.e., reduced hostility, after working in the learning center, while students in the teacher-directed group showed no change. The novelty of the learning center might account for this reduction; findings are by no means conclusive as methods were provided intact groups. Cross-validation w~ch chlldren in more diverse classrooms, other subject content, and techniques for assessing pupils reactions are needed.