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One of the objectives of Project TACT is to determine the potential of a gamut of educational media. The working papers in this set have a basis in pictorial information produced through computer graphics. These papers are intended to serve as a basis for sharpening questions, delineating the context within which the answers might be significant, and determining whether or not interesting experiments are feasible and rewarding. (Author/MK)

An individual's socialization to occupational roles is reviewed in terms of the concepts and of the link between childhood socialization, social class, and occupation. The educational system and peer group influences are briefly reviewed. Occupational socialization is a general progression in which specific job training occurs only near the end of the process. Although several studies suggest the importance of seemingly indirect influences of cultural values, economic values, and the economic system, the relative neglect of occupational socialization in research suggests that it is considered in narrow terms. However, researchers have found numerous links between socialization practices and social class and between social class and occupation. Parental values that are passed on to children are the values that parents need to function in the workplace. Kohn (1969) suggested that occupation reflects all three of the major dimensions of stratification: economic (privilege); honorific (status); and political (power). Other research indicates that occupational socialization occurs as a result of the emphasis on discipline, subordinancy, external reward systems, and a bureaucratic rationale in the educational system. Further research should focus on historical experiences and links between socialization practices and models of social change. (KC)

Conventional approaches to program evaluation have followed the experimental and psychometric traditions dominant in educational research. Their aim (unfulfilled) of achieving fully objective methods had led to studies that are artificial and restricted in scope. Illuminative evaluation is introduced as a total re-appraisal of the rationale and techniques of program evaluation. It follows a contrasting 'anthropological' research paradigm. Illuminative evaluation recognizes that an innovative instructional program cannot be separated from its learning milieu--a network of cultural, social, institutional, and psychological forces. The evaluator concentrates on processes within the classroom rather than on outcomes (goals, objectives) derived from a specification of the instructional system. Data is collected from observation, interview, questionnaires, and documentary information. Illuminative evaluation thus concentrates on the information gathering rather than on the decision making component of evaluation. The paper concludes with a discussion of the problems and potentialities of the new approach: its range of applicability; objectivity; validity; obligations of the research worker; how explorations of the learning milieu can meet the need for theoretical advance; and how the illuminative approach can clarify decision-making. (Author/CP)

Comprehension of the quantifiers "some" and "all" was studied with 202 children, three to nine years old. Thirty-two quantifier sentences dealing with descriptions of circles and squares were presented to the children. Wooden objects were presented to some children to see if results were affected by the choice of abstract objects, but no differences were found. The relationship of "over-interpreting" quantifiers to acquisition was analyzed. "Over-interpretation" is to understand "all" as occupying both possible sentence positions: as a sentence quantifier and as a quantifier in an adjective phrase. Interpretations of "all" as an adverb and as an adjective are analyzed, and deep structure positions and over-interpretation are discussed. "Double-some" sentences, the extensive"some," the intensive "some," reversals, and quantifier order are also discussed. (SW)

The purpose of this investigation was to classify a sample of high school biology students into concrete and formal operational levels using three separate instruments: (1) a battery of Piagetian tasks (the pendulum, bending rods, and the balance beam); (2) a written biology examination consisting of questions requiring concrete and formal operations; and (3) a subject-free examination also consisting of questions requiring concrete and formal reasoning. Using the obtained data, the authors' purpose was to determine if the logical operations under question were closely tied to specific content. Sixty-eight high school students (32 males and 36 females) enrolled in a biology course at Delphi High School in Delphi, Indiana served as subjects. The subjects did not perform more formally on the subject matter free Longeot examination and on the biology examination than on the Piagetian tasks. It was concluded that Piagetian tasks are relatively content free and can serve as realistic indicators of concrete and formal thinking abilities. (Author/DS)

A mainline CAI system is an individualized instructional system of major scope which uses the computer as a tool for instructional management and information transmission. Such systems are developed according to a design science approach and used as a less costly alternative to conventional instruction. In contrast, adjunctive systems have a much smaller scope and are used in support of regular classroom or laboratory instruction. TICCIT is classified as a mainline CAI system because (1) it was not designed by a single faculty author for a single course, (2) it is not used on existing computer systems, (3) it does not use existing languages, and (4) it does not employ normative grading. (CMV)

The formative evaluation process described was designed to be used by Brigham Young University personnel in 1974 to evaluate and improve TICCIT programs and materials for community college credit courses. Involving the use of editorial judgment and data on student use, this process includes five levels of evaluation and revision: (0) materials are reviewed for subject matter accuracy, instructional psychology, and message design; (1) materials pass through several cycles of formal debug, using skilled and critical students to look at every display with different types of mental sets characteristic of students and catch problems in answer processing; (2) lessons and units are tested on 20 or more students enrolled in convenient institutions to identify those lessons, segments, and displays which produce confusion or difficulty; (3) courses, lessons, and units are tested on 20 or more community college students to discover any remaining areas causing difficulties; and (4) courses, units, and lessons are tested on several hundred community college students. Modifications indicated by the results in each step are part of the on-going process. The most advantageous role during this period for Educational Testing Service (ETS), which would perform a separate summative evaluation of the final revised version, was seen as facilitator of interchange between the developers and the users and as a facilitator of the formative evaluation process. (Author/CMV)

This research study investigated the effect of the participation of science and mathematics teachers in the National Science Foundation (NSF) Institutes upon the achievement of junior and senior high school students. A randomly selected group of junior and senior high school science teachers and randomly selected classes of theirs were administered achievement tests in science. Chi square and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) were used to analyze the data. Participation in NSF Science Institutes and geographic regions were factors in a two-way ANCOVA. Class mean for achievement was the dependent variable and teacher achievement was the covariate. NSF participation was found to be a significant factor in student achievement for high school teachers but not for junior high school teachers. The study was replicated for mathematics teachers and classes and the same results were found. It was concluded that significance at the senior high school and nonsignificance at the junior high level may be due to the difference in subject matter taught and the population of students between the two levels. (Author/HM)

Written in 1965, the author describes the initial stages in the development of Man and Politics, a three year social studies curriculum for students ages 12-14. The author notes that the reason for choosing the political theme is that the school is the most influential agent of political socialization in the child's life. The report outlines the concepts of intellect and education upon which the curriculum is based, the goals, rationale, central theme, and framework of the curriculum, and describes the three units. The curriculum is based on discovery learning and the goals are described as providing children with experience in generalization, valuing, and causality. Following a discussion of the framework of the course, the three units are outlined. Inventing the Western World (Grade 7) encompasses the time span from the 5th century B.C. to 1600 A.D. and presents a variety of case studies related to power and political culture. From Subject to Citizen (Grade 8) draws its material from 17th and 18th century British and American experience. The Civic Culture (Grade 9) examines the nature, problems, prospects, and evolution of American political culture. Materials are designed to: provide children with the kind of data that scholars themselves work with, present data that demand deductive analysis, give children an opportunity to discover structure in the relationship of ideas, and increase the power of the student to deal with the modern condition. (Author/KC)

Written in 1965, the report provides the rationale for including the study of the mythology and art of cultures alien to Western civilization in the social studies curriculum: Man: A Course of Study. The context of the course, a basic theory of myth, principles of art, and examples of Bushmen and Eskimo myths are presented. The author suggests two reasons for the study of the Eskimo, Pygmy, Bushmen, and a group of Australian Aborigines: the societies are relatively simple and their structure is easier to understand than the complex Western societies; and the study of hunting societies offers a student contrast with his own culture. Included in the section on mythology is a definition, a discussion of myth as communication and as document, and of structural analysis, lyrics, ceremonials, folklore of hunters, riddles and proverbs, rites of passage, and the functions and interconnectedness of symbols. In the section on art, the author outlines differences between myth and art, the ecology of art, art and cognition, art in instruction, and the functions of art. Tales included in the final section are the Bushmen origin of marriage, of the sun, and of death, and the Eskimo tale, Earth Gives Men Their First Children and a poem, My Breath. The author concludes that the aim of the unit is to provide an understanding and respect of other cultures. (KC)

Written in 1966, the author examines the evolution of teaching in relation to the development of the elementary social studies course, Man: A Course of Study. The act of teaching is traced from play practice of primates to teaching-in-context of primitive societies to the more complex abstract teaching in separate schools of contemporary society. Five specifications about how a society must proceed in order to equip its young are noted: it must convert what is to be known into a form capable of being mastered by a beginner; the learner must be saved from needless learning; a society must place emphasis on how one derives a course of action from what one has learned; all societies must maintain interest among the young during the learning process; and a society must assure that its necessary skills and procedures remain intact from one generation to the next. The author then examines the relationship among teaching in separate schools, how a society equips its young, and the content of Man: A Course of Study. The recurring questions of what is human about human beings, how did they get to be that way, and how can they be made more so, form the structure of the course which examines the humanizing forces of tool making, language, social organization, man's prolonged childhood, and the urge to explain. Problems in constructing the course are noted in terms of the psychology of subject matter, stimulating thought in the school setting, the personalization of knowledge, and the encouragement of self-conscious reflectiveness. (KC)

An assessment of educational game playing in the classroom is presented. The assessment is based mainly on observations and reports of the game Empire (Educational Services Incorporated). In separate sections of the report, the author considers arrangements for game playing, the motivational appeal of educational games, and how and what children learn from games. The expenditure of time and money and the utility of educational games are also considered. Six reasons for the motivational appeal are: the classroom routine is interrupted; children are encouraged to talk to fellow students; children like the manipulative aspects of games; children like to win; game playing is a familiar and non-threatening activity; and not much reading is required for participation. In discussing intrinsic and extrinsic learning from games, the author points to problems of misleading the child through falsifications and oversimplifications of the reality the game is intended to portray. Conceptual and factual learning is also examined. In addressing these problems, the report stresses the necessity of game design and teacher follow-up. The author concludes that games are most useful at the junior high level and are least successful with bright students. (KC)

Written in 1965, the author describes the initial stages in the development of the elementary level curriculum, Man: A Course of Study. The structure and form of the course and three pedagogical techniques are discussed. The course is organized around the humanizing forces of tool-making, language, social organization, the management of man's prolonged childhood, and man's urge to explain. Plans for the section on language include a consideration about what communication is, the design features of a language, arbitrariness, acquisition, and the role of language in shaping human characteristics. The tool-making section is designed from a philosophical approach; the object is to explore how tools affected man's evolution. The unit on social organization focuses on the nature of structure in a society, roles filled by people, and the world view of a society. The childrearing unit centers around three themes: the extent to which and the manner in which the long human childhood leads to dominance of sentiment in human life, the human tendency toward mastery of skill for its own sake, and the shaping of man by the patterning of childhood. The fifth unit concerns itself with man's drive to explicate and represent his world through symbolic systems. The three pedagogical techniques emphasized to achieve the goals of these units are contrasting, using games, and stimulating self-consciousness about assumptions. The author states his plan to create far more units than could possibly fit into a school year in order to provide the teacher with flexibility in planning. (KC)

Since ethnic studies in schools is an integral part of the larger social system in this country, its current status, problems and strengths must be examined within the total social context. Ruling groups determine the formulation and dissemination of knowledge (particularly negative social science research about ethnic groups and the poor). This knowledge is designed to support the status quo, and to legitimize the position of those in power. Ethnic studies programs must be replanned and novel teaching strategies formulated in order for students to effectively challenge and invalidate the assumptions about ethnic groups on which white-dominated social science research is often based. A primary goal of ethnic studies must be to help minority students to psychologically liberate themselves from myths and stereotypes and to help them to develop a commitment to social change. Unfortunately, reform of current programs is needed, as dissension among different ethnic groups, lack of funds, and inadequately qualified instructors have caused them to be self defeating. Despite the difficulties that minority leaders encounter, they should demand this reform and take steps to see that ethnic studies programs survive and gain integrity. (Author/KR)

The pragmatic use of nicknames as clarifiers separates the Maltese usage from those so common throughout the world where the nickname is used as a means of hiding identity. The familial character of most nicknames in Malta suggests they are the vestiges of a pre-Christian naming system. The major peculiarity in Malta is in the intermingling of seven naming devices in an evaluative system. The study of evaluative methods reveals a stable set of principles and fluid usage. People are mobile in the system according to their relative ability and the Maltese play with the system and express their personal feelings about others through it, regardless of the correctness of their opinions. In the case of musicians, nicknames are applied based on the musician's competence, and factions develop based on these evaluations and change over time. Personal evaluations used as insults evoke responses that have become institutionalized in the song duel, which creates various interpretations of the evaluation system. The purpose of the duelling is to create a set of situations in which speech is used indirectly in a way that allows for several possible interpretations, representative of some aspects of Maltese society. (MSE)