Downloads & Free Reading Options - Results

This study was undertaken to determine the effects of individualized instruction on enrollment, attrition, achievement, and student attitude in a general biology course for non-science majors. Fifteen auto-tutorial minicourses were designed for use in the laboratory part of the course, each consisting of a printed study guide, slide-tape module, laboratory exercise, grade-option activity, objective post-test, and evaluation. Data from the classes receiving conventional instruction during the spring of 1977 were compared to data gathered during the fall semester using auto-tutorial instruction. Results showed that enrollment and student retention were improved using auto-tutorial instruction. Final grades received by the experimental group were significantly higher than those achieved by students in conventional classes. A direct correlation was shown between time spent in the laboratory and final grades. Students' attitudes were positive about auto-tutorial instruction and the minicourses, which were found to be of generally good quality, contributed to the learning of the students. Although no preference for either type instruction was shown by the auto-tutorial students, the students in conventional classes favored that type of instruction. (VT)

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