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Ninth and tenth grade students from two schools were placed in experimental and conventional instruction classes to compare the two methods in teaching algebra by means of achievement test and time needed to complete the course. Pre- and posttests measured aptitude; teachers and students in the experimental groups recorded personal reactions to the use of autoinstructional devices. Teaching machines presented the algebra program to be used at the student's own rate. Teachers commented on persistent boredom, the need for practice materials to supplement the programed information, and the advantage of individual work rates and self-help. Students felt a need for textbooks and teacher contact; 78% of the ninth graders said they would have learned more without programed materials. Mean differences between experimental and control groups do not support one teaching method over another. Recommendations are that analytic research be continued in the local school system, that the program at the tenth grade level be evaluated further, and that students be tested the following year for retention. Appendices contain teacher instructions on the use of the teaching machines, testing schedules, samples of the evaluation sheets, and anecdotal records. (TI)

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert