Sixth-grade Classes Research Articles

Further Verification of Bloom’s Taxonomy

A pilot study was carried out to test a curriculum developed to teach thinking at the fourth and fifth levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Cognitive Domain. The questions asked were: (1) Will the data this study support the basic assumption that Bloom’s Taxonomy is a cumulative hierarchy of thinking levels?; and (2) If achievement occurs, will it be dependent on student intelligence? The material developed (15) was taught to a fifth and a sixth grade class over a ten-week period and tested with an achievement test that followed the first five levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. The test results generally supported the basic assumption of the Taxonomy. Significant achievement occurred at all levels of the Taxonomy. Furthermore, intelligence did not significantly differentiate achievement between students in the upper and lower thirds of the IQ scale.

Using Algorithms to Assess Comprehension of Classroom Text Materials

AbstractMany assessment procedures used in the classroom fail to measure the student's comprehension of text materials. Using constructing- algorithms to develop the testing instruments, three quizzes and a posttest measuring both critical and incidental content were given to three fourth grade and three sixth grade classes. Three levels of student comprehension were tested: verbatim, paraphrased, and transformed paraphrased. Significant increases in performance over tests, and superior incidental recall by sixth graders indicated that as the learner's sophistication increases, deeper and more comprehensive instructional encoding can be measured by rule-based assessment systems.

Perceived Personality Impressions in Student Acceptance and Rejection Interaction Patterns in the Classroom

Abstract One of the factors in a school's social climate is the kinds of relationships which exist between the pupils. In any classroom there are students who desire to belong to various peer groups, or cliques, but are rejected by them. The present paper attempted to determine: (1) the group structure of a sixth-grade class; (2) the acceptance-rejection interaction patterns, and (3) words or terms most frequently associated with personality impressions of students related to their classmates. Results indicated the extent to which the group structure was dependent on personality characteristics in the formation of acceptance and rejection patterns. They also suggested specific personality features related to each pattern. Further, it was found that girls receive more acceptance choices; boys receive more choices of rejection. Implications of the findings are discussed for the classroom teacher.

Differential Effects of Token Reinforcement to Increase Class Participation in Constructing Questions over Science Films

The use of audio-visual materials has been well documented for elementary school classrooms. The effectiveness of such materials should increase to the extent that pupils actually work with and attend to such materials. Since token-reinforcement procedures have been shown ro be effective in dealing with a wide variety of classroom behaviors (O'Leary & Drabman, 1971), it was decided to employ such a procedure to increase class participation during films in science. Ss were members of a fifth- and a sixth-grade class. The classroom was managed by a token-reinforcement program to control a variety of classroom behaviors (McLaughlin & Malaby, 1972). The mean number of questions constructed over science films in each of four experimental conditions was the dependent variable. During baseline conditions (Films 1 to 6, 41 to 46) the class was asked to construct questions but did not receive points (tokens) for doing so. In the token-reinforcement conditions (Films 7 to 40, 47 to 60), pupils were awarded a point for each question constructed. For the first baseline condition, the mean number of questions constructed was 5.8 (range 3 to 7). An increase in construction of questions was recorded with the introduction of the tokenreinforcement procedure (M = 11.8; range 7 to 27 ). A return to baseline conditions decreased the mean number of questions constructed (M = 3; range 2 to 5). A replication of the token-reinforcement procedure increased the mean number of questions constructed (M = 12.86; range 7 to 22). These results suggest that the introduction of a contingency for constructing questions in an ongoing token program was effective in increasing such behavior. Results for three selected Ss further suggested that Ss with average or high rates of constructing questions during the first baseline condition were affected the most by the token procedures.

Comparison of student outcomes for science‐a process approach and traditional science teaching for third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade classes: A product evaluation

Comparison of student outcomes for science‐a process approach and traditional science teaching for third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade classes: A product evaluation

Note on Combined and Separate Effects of Token Reinforcement and Response Cost on Completing Assignments

In early token economy programs (e.g., Ayllon & Azrin, 1968), accepmble behavior was reinforced while inappropriate behavior was ignored. Recently, researchers have implemented token programs which awarded tokens for appropriate behavior and removed them (response cost) for undesirable behavior (McLaughlin & Malaby, 1972; Phillips, Phillips, Fixsen, & Wolf, 1971). The purpose of this srudy was to determine the effects of using a combination of token reinforcement and response cost procedures, as well as each procedure alone. An entire fifthand sixth-grade class served as Ss. The percentage of the class who completed assignments in handwriting was recorded for an entire school year (104 assignments). If a pupil made up his work he was awarded the points he had lost. The effects of employing both token reinforcement (awarding 1 to 7 points for completed work) and response cost (removing 49 points for incomplete assignments) were examined three different times (assignments 1 to 45, 63 to 78, 88 to 104). On only three handwriting assignments was incompleted work recorded. When points were not awarded for completed work but could be lost for incomplete assignments, the percentage of the class who completed their work decreased on 12 of the 17 assignments (range 93 to 100%). When points were awarded for completed work and not lost for incomplete handwriting assignments, the percent of the class that completed their work decreased on 8 of the 9 assignments (range 88 to 100% ) . The data showed that a combination of token reinforcement and response cost was more effective than either procedure alone. The results of this report also confirm the work of Phillips, et al. ( 1971, Exp. N ) , which indicated response cost plus token reinforcement increased the number of correct responses made on a written quiz after a TV news program by pre-delinquent youths than did either procedure alone. None of the adverse side effect.. sometimes associated with response cost procedures, such as escape and failure of the behavior to recover, were observed.

The Relation of Attention to Social Cue Discrimination, Achievement, and Adjustment in the Elementary School Classroom

Summary Sixty-one children, selected from two sixth grade classes of a semirural southeastern Michigan school, served as subjects in a study assessing the interrelations among attention, achievement, social cue discrimination ability, and school adjustment. As predicted, it was found that (a) students' attention-to-teacher and attention-to-class-activity scores were positively related to achievement, while a negative relation between attention-to-self and attention-to-peers scores and achievement was found; (b) students' scores on a test of the discrimination of the emotional content in a female's voice were also positively related to achievement; and (c) both attention scores and achievement scores were predictive of adjustment test scores. The differential interrelations of attention behaviors within the classroom environment were discussed.

A Comparison of Behavioral Consultation and Behavioral Consultation with Model-Reinforcement Group Counseling for Children who are Consistently Off-Task1

AbstractSeventy-five consistently inattentive pupils in twelve fifth and sixth grade classes were randomly assigned to one of three groups: classroom behavior management via behavioral consultation (CBM), CBM with model- reinforcement group counseling (CBM/MRG), and no-treatment control group (C). Significant differences were found between the groups on on-task behavior and GPA; no significant differences were reported for school attitudes. The findings were interpreted as supporting the use of CBM, and the use of MRG in combination with CBM.

Fun with geometry through straw construction

Straw construction makes geometry an exciting experience for the student as well as the teacher. What makes this learning activity particularly valuable for the teacher is the number and variety of mathematical concepts that arise during a “fun” activity. Concepts such as congruence, measurement, comparison, imagery, unit of measure, equilateral and isosceles triangles, triangular prism, pentagon, vertex, acute and obtuse angles, and counting are involved. This project has been used in fifthand sixth-grade classes in Hazelwood, Missouri, schools and by a teacher-training class at the University of Missouri-St. Louis with quite similar results in terms of interest, ideas generated, and problems encountered.

The Effects of Organizers on the Learning of Structured Anthropology Materials in the Elementary Grades

David P. Ausubel, in his theory of meaningful, verbal reception learning, espouses the presentation of appropriate subsumers (organizers) to students prior to the presentation of the learning task. The question to be answered in the present study was: Are there significant differences in learning when students are presented organizers before the learning passages (pre-organizers), after the learning passages (post-organizers), or when they are presented only the learning passages (no-organizers). An analysis of covariance, using reading vocabulary achievement as the covariate, was used to compare adjusted treatment group means. No significant differences were found among adjusted means (p<. 15) in the available pool of third- and sixth-grade classes. Organizers do not facilitate learning when presented to similar classes using similar social studies materials.

Let them fold

Too frequently students are plunged into the formal study of geometry without first passing through the experiential stages necessary to enable them to be receptive to the basic assumptions of the subject. Paper folding is a convincing method of providing physical experiences with geometry and geometric concepts. The material that follows was developed with a sixthgrade SEED class.1 It has been simplified so that it can be used in earlier grades.

On Statistical Education

On Statistical Education

Personal Causation Training in the Schools1

Black elementary school teachers received personal causation training and designed and implemented classroom exercises for their sixth and seventh grade classes. Results of this field experiment showed increased motivation of teachers and students, enhanced academic achievement of students and students' perceptions of being treated as Origins. The Origin‐Pawn variable was found to mediate between personal causation and academic achievement.

Effects of Emphasizing Competition in Classroom-Testing Procedures

This study examined the effects of emphasizing the competitive environment in a testing situation through the use of rewards and game techniques. Mathematics sub tests from the School and College Ability Tests Series (SCAT) were administered to thirty-six fifth and sixth grade classes under one of three conditions: control, competition with reward, competition with game. Mean class performance and mean class interest were the dependent measures used in the analysis. Results indicated that neither the use of rewards nor the use of game techniques have an important effect on test performance; Ss perform equally well under regular classroom-testing procedures. However, Ss definitely preferred a testing situation in which competition is accentuated with the promise of rewards or the use of a game device; the test on S interest was significant at the .01 level. In light of these results and related studies which showed increased performance on speed tasks administered under competitive conditions, two related speculations were made and discussed: 1. the effect of competition on performance is positively related to the degree to which the task is speed vs power-oriented; 2. the effect of competition on interest is inversely related to the degree to which the task is speed vs power-oriented.

Simulation Review

PSYCHE-PATHS, $2.98, KMS Industries, Inc., Scientific Games Division, Ann Arbor, Michigan. 1968. Available through book and game sellers. During the week from October 16 to October 23, 1970, Julia Shea's sixth-grade class at Wylie Middle School in Dexter, Michigan, played Psyche-paths. The week prior, 4 of these students had been among the 27 from Wylie who had competed in an Equations tournament in nearby Ann Arbor, and they had won. Mrs. Shea's students are sophisticated game players. All of them have access to chess, Equations, Probe, On-Sets, Eurocard, Nim, Perquacky, and Clue, as well as games they create whenever their regular assignments are finished. They play for fun and they play to learn, and we wanted their reaction to Psyche-paths.

A Comparison of the Effectiveness of Discovery versus Didactic Methods and Teacher-Guided versus Independent Procedures in Principle Learning

AbstractA 6-week experimental program was written to teach six basic spelling principles to sixteen sixth-grade classes. The classes were randomly assigned to four experimental treatment groups-each of which used a different combination of method and procedure. One immediate and one delayed posttest were given to determine spelling achievement in terms of retention, transfer, and problem-solving abilities. Analysis of variance procedures used to analyze the results showed no significant differences for method, procedure, or interaction. Several of the results approached significance, however, as the discover)’ method and the teacher-guided group procedure showed some advantage on the delayed transfer test. Implications for further research are suggested.

Some Evidence Concerning the Validity of an Elementary School Form of the Dogmatism Scale

Five hypotheses concerning the validity of Figert's elementary school form of Rokeach's dogmatism scale were investigated. Pupils (N=120) from fourth, fifth, and sixth grade classes participated in the study. The results offered little support for the validity of the Figert test. Only one of the five hypotheses was supported, and that only partially. It seems necessary, therefore, to conclude that scores on this test should not be inter preted as an assessment of dogmatism unless other evidence can be obtained to provide support for the test's validity, or an acceptable alternative interpretation of these data can be formulated.

VOCAW and ECHO: Advertising Foreign Languages

ABSTRACT Foreign language students from junior and senior high school visited fourth, fifth, and sixth grade classes that were studying social studies units, Children Around the World, Our Neighbors to the South, Our Neighbors to the North, and Our American Heritage. Each teenager taught a small group (3–6) of children phrases, words, and songs in the language of the country they were studying. The teenage “teachers” created their own programs to show that learning a language was fun, and to allow each child to learn enough language to taste success. The excitement of meeting teenagers, of learning informally, and of saying a new language made elementary‐school children say that they wanted to learn a foreign language when they reached seventh grade. The teenagers felt the excitement, too, and several said that they wanted to become foreign language teachers.

In the classroom: Geometry via T-board

In introducing concepts of area and perimeter to fifth- and sixth-grade classes, I found the following ideas helpful, meaningful, and very exciting to the students.

Computers and the use of base two in the memory unit

When my sixth-grade class was involved in the study of base systems, many questions were raised concerning computers and the base systems they employ. To answer their questions, I decided to develop a lesson encompassing these objectives: (1) to familiarize the students with the various components of a computer system, (2) to demonstrate how some of these components function, and (3) to develop an understanding of the use of base two in the memory unit of a computer system.