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This study examined whether the intensive time-series design would yield data discriminating between concrete and formal operational students and whether achievement curves exhibited in previous studies would be found with students in this study. Daily measurement of variables is characteristic of the data collection procedure in the time-series design, where individual student data are collapsed into a group mean and treated during analysis as a single subject. Data were collected for 56 school days from 95 earth science students studying a unit on plate tetonics. To determine if the design would discriminate between formal and concrete operational students (identified by Lawson's Test of Formal Reasoning), each student responded daily to a single multiple-choice item (obtained from a pool of 78 items) measuring knowledge or understanding achievement. Two parallel forms (KR20=0.80) of a multiple-choice achievement test (consisting of 45 items) were also designed from the pool of 78 items. General knowledge and understanding achievement scores for each day were obtained and analyzed, indicating the precision of the design to discriminate between students differing in cognitive ability and supporting its use in monitoring the daily acquisition of knowledge related to a concept. Results also support the validity of the design for obtaining achievement data. (JN)

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