@prefix vivo: . @prefix edm: . @prefix ns0: . @prefix dcterms: . @prefix skos: . vivo:departmentOrSchool "Education, Faculty of"@en, "Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of"@en ; edm:dataProvider "DSpace"@en ; ns0:degreeCampus "UBCV"@en ; dcterms:creator "Healy, Peter Sinclair Davis"@en ; dcterms:issued "2010-03-17T18:21:35Z"@en, "1978"@en ; vivo:relatedDegree "Master of Arts - MA"@en ; ns0:degreeGrantor "University of British Columbia"@en ; dcterms:description "The purpose of this study was to: 1. Determine the status of current practices used in the teaching of science to limited success students in B.C. junior secondary schools; 2. Compare the current practices in B.C. with those advocated in the literature from other countries; 3. Produce a set of recommendations for the improvement of science education for limited success students. A mail questionnaire was developed, based on the information gained in a literature review of the teaching of limited success students. The questionnaire was distributed to a selected sample of 336 junior science teachers in the Province of B.C. Eighty-two percent of the sampled teachers (299) responded to the questionnaire. Teachers responded to questionnaire items on: student grouping practices; class size; curricula; methods of content determination; approaches to learning; student evaluation; teacher background and teacher experience. The results of the responses were reported as frequency of response and percentage response. Results provided a picture of current practices in B.C. as perceived by the teachers sampled. A comparison was made between the practices currently in use in B.C. (as teachers perceived them) and practices advocated in other countries (particularly Britain and the United States) as reported in the literature review. Based upon the comparison between current practices in B.C. and those practices advocated in the literature, three major conclusions were arrived at: 1. A significantly large population of limited success students exists in B.C. junior secondary schools; 2. A general awareness of the existence of a population of limited success students in B.C. is evident; 3. Few special science programs have been developed for limited success students in B.C. Most junior secondary science teachers perceive the present recommended curriculum to be largely inappropriate for instructing limited success students. In addition to the conclusions listed above a further sixteen recommendations were generated relating to the following: science curriculum; teachers and school administration; teacher training and further research."@en ; edm:aggregatedCHO "https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/22005?expand=metadata"@en ; skos:note "THE LIMITED SUCCESS STUDENT IN SCIENCE A survey of current practices in teaching jun ior secondary science in B r i t i s h Columbia by PETER SINCLAIR DAVIS HEALY B .Sc , University of B r i t i s h Columbia, 1973 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES u l ty of Education, Science Education Department) We accept th i s thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA October, 1978 Peter S i n c l a i r Davis Healy, 1978 In presenting th i s thes is in pa r t i a l fu l f i lment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the Univers i ty of B r i t i s h Columbia, I agree that the L ibrary shal l make it f ree ly ava i l ab le for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of th i s thesis for scho lar ly purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by his representat ives. It is understood that copying or pub l i ca t ion of th is thes is for f inanc ia l gain sha l l not be allowed without my writ ten permission. Department of Science Education The Univers i ty of B r i t i s h Columbia 2075 Wesbrook Place Vancouver, Canada V6T 1W5 D a t e January 19,1979 ABSTRACT The purpose of t h i s s tudy was t o : 1. 'Determine the s t a t u s of c u r r e n t p r a c t i c e s used in the t e a c h i n g o f s c i e n c e to l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s in B.C. j u n i o r secondary s c h o o l s 2. Compare the c u r r e n t p r a c t i c e s i n B.C. w i t h those advocated i n the l i t e r a t u r e from o t h e r c o u n t r i e s 3. sProduce a s e t o f recommendat ions f o r the im -provement o f s c i e n c e e d u c a t i o n f o r l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s A ma i l q u e s t i o n n a i r e was d e v e l o p e d , based on the i n -f o r m a t i o n ga ined i n a l i t e r a t u r e r e v i e w of the t e a c h i n g of l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s . The q u e s t i o n n a i r e was d i s t r i -buted to a s e l e c t e d sample o f 336 j u n i o r s c i e n c e t e a c h e r s in the P r o v i n c e of B.C. E i g h t y - t w o p e r c e n t of the sampled t e a c h e r s (.299) responded to the q u e s t i o n n a i r e . Teachers responded to q u e s t i o n n a i r e i tems on: s t u d e n t g r oup i ng p r a c t i c e s ; c l a s s s i z e ; c u r r i c u l a ; methods of c o n t e n t d e t e r -m i n a t i o n ; approaches to l e a r n i n g ; s t uden t e v a l u a t i o n ; t e a c h e r background and t e a c h e r e x p e r i e n c e . The r e s u l t s of the re sponses were r e p o r t e d as f r e q u e n c y of re sponse and pe r cen tage r e spon se . . R e s u l t s p r o v i d e d a p i c t u r e o f c u r r e n t p r a c t i c e s i n B.C. as p e r c e i v e d by the t e a c h e r s sampled. A compar i son was made between the p r a c t i c e s c u r r e n t l y in use i n B»C. (as t e a c h e r s p e r c e i v e d them) and p r a c t i c e s advoca ted in o t h e r c o u n t r i e s ( p a r t i -c u l a r l y B r i t a i n and the U n i t e d S t a t e s ) as r e p o r t e d i n the 1 i t e r a t u r e r e v i e w . Based upon the compar i son between c u r r e n t p r a c t i c e s i n B.C. and those p r a c t i c e s advoca ted i n the l i t e r a t u r e , t h r e e major c o n c l u s i o n s were a r r i v e d a t : 1. A s i g n i f i c a n t l y l a r g e p o p u l a t i o n o f l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s e x i s t s in B.C. j u n i o r seconda ry s c h o o l s 2. A g e n e r a l awareness of the e x i s t e n c e o f a p o p u l a t i o n o f l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s in B.C. i s ev i dent 3. Few s p e c i a l s c i e n c e programs have been deve loped f o r l i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t s in B.C. Most j u n i o r secondary s c i e n c e t e a c h e r s p e r c e i v e the p r e s e n t recommended c u r r i c u l u m to be l a r g e l y i n -a p p r o p r i a t e f o r i n s t r u c t i n g l i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t s . In a d d i t i o n to the c o n c l u s i o n s l i s t e d above a f u r t h e r s i x t e e n recommendat ions were gene ra ted r e l a t i n g to the f o l l o w i n g : s c i e n c e c u r r i c u l u m ; t e a c h e r s and s choo l a d m i n i -s t r a t i o n ; t e a c h e r t r a i n i n g and f u r t h e r r e s e a r c h . TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES . i v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v i INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 1 LITERATURE REVIEW AND IMPLICATIONS 4 E x t e n t o f the l i m i t e d succes s s t uden t p o p u l a t i o n 5 C a t e g o r i e s of l i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t s . . . 5 F a c t o r s r e l a t e d to l i m i t e d succes s in s choo l 6 C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s 19 Teach i ng methods f o r l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s 2 3 2 DEVELOPMENT OF THE DESCRIPTIVE SURVEY INSTRUMENT 54 Impetus and i n t e n t s of su rvey 54 Survey i n s t r u m e n t de s i gn 56 Sampl ing P l an 60 P rocedu re s 63 A n a l y s i s 6 3' 3 RESULTS - 65 I n t r o d u c t i o n 65 Q u e s t i o n n a i r e re sponse 66 Demographic data 67 E x t e n t and c o m p o s i t i o n of the l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t p o p u l a t i o n in B.C 72 Teach ing methods p r e s e n t l y i n use f o r l i m i t e d succes s s c i e n c e s t u d e n t s 77 Teacher a t t i t u d e s and t r a i n i n g 103 • i i CHAPTER Page ' 4\" CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 114 I n t r o d u c t i o n ^ ^ C o n c l u s i o n s 115 Recommendations 117 Study C o n c l u s i o n 133 APPENDIX A Q u e s t i o n n a i r e Format B Sampl ing I n f o r m a t i o n C Cove r i n g L e t t e r to S u p e r i n t e n d e n t s 155 D Cove r i n g L e t t e r to P r i n c i p a l s 1^9 E Cove r i n g L e t t e r to Teachers F C o v e r i n g L e t t e r f o r F o l l o w - u p 1^4 G F u r t h e r Teacher Comments 1 6 6 H Summary of Ques t i onna i r e Resu.l t s . . 1 7 1 I Summary of C o n c l u s i o n s and Recommendations 1 7 8 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 1 8 3 i i i LIST OF TABLES Chapter 1 Page 1.1 C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s Common to A l l L i m i t e d Success S tudent s 20 1.2 C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s Unique to Each of the .Three C a t e g o r i e s of L i m i t e d Success S tudent s 21 Chapter 3 1.1 Underg raduate M a j o r ( s ) or C o n c e n t r a t i o n ( s ) . . 67 1.2 H i ghe r Degrees 68 2.1 O v e r a l l Teach ing E x p e r i e n c e 69 2.2 P r e v i o u s E x p e r i e n c e Teach ing L i m i t e d Success S tudent s S c i e n c e i n a Homogeneous C l a s s Group at the J u n i o r Secondary L e v e l . . 69 2 . 3 Year o f Teach ing Ca ree r t h a t Respondents F i r s t Taught S c i e n c e to L i m i t e d Success S tuden t s in a Homogeneous C l a s s Group 7.0 3.1 GradesTaught in S choo l s 71 4.1 Proportion o\"f L imi ted Success S tuden t s in B.C. Junior High S choo l s as Reported by Teachers o f rtomogeneousl v Grouped S c i e n c e C l a s s e s . . . 73 4 .2 P r o p o r t i o n of L i m i t e d Success S tuden t s i n B.C. J u n i o r High S choo l s &s Repor ted by Teacher s o f H e t e r o g e n e o u s l y Grouped S c i e n c e C l a s s e s 7 4 4 . 3 P r o p o r t i o n o f L i m i t e d Success S tuden t s i n J u n i o r High S choo l s as Repor ted by A l l Q u e s t i o n n a i r e Respondents 74 5.1 R e l a t i v e P r o p o r t i o n of L i m i t e d Success S tuden t s by Sex 76 6.1 Types o f G roup ing Repor ted 78 6.2 Upward M o b i l i t y o f L i m i t e d Success S tuden t s i n Homogeneously Grouped C l a s s e s 79 6 .3 Group ing W i t h i n Heterogeneous S c i e n c e C l a s s e s 8u : 6.4 Average C l a s s S i z e 8/1, 6 .5 Time Tab l e s 83 6.6 Number o f Hours o f S c i e n c e Per Week 84i 7.1 Number of Teachers O f f e r i n g S p e c i a l Programs f o r T h e i r L i m i t e d Success S tuden t s 8-5-; 7.2 S p e c i a l S c i e n c e Programs and A b i 1 i t y Grouping.. 85 7.3 S u b j e c t Areas Taught i n . G r a d e 8 , 9 and 10 S c i en ce 86 7.4 T e x t ( s ) and L a b o r a t o r y Manuals Used in the I n s t r u c t i o n of L i m i t e d Success S tuden t s . . . 87 i v Page 7.5 T e a c h e r s ' O v e r a l l R a t i n g o f Text s and L a b o r a t o r y Manuals Used 88 7.6 T e a c h e r s ' R a t i n g s o f Tex t s and L a b o r a t o r y Manuals Used 89 7.7 S c i e n c e Course Content D e t e r m i n a t i o n f o r L i m i t e d Success S tuden t s 9T 8.1 Frequency o f Invo lvement of L i m i t e d Success . S t u d e n t s in V a r i o u s Approaches to L e a r n i n g . 94 9.1 E v a l u a t i o n of the P rog re s s of L i m i t e d Success S tuden t s 99 9.2 Components Used to Eva lua te L i m i t e d Success S tuden t s 100 9.3 T e s t i n g : F requency Used i n the I n s t r u c t i o n of L i m i t e d Success S tuden t s 101 9.4 Frequency of V a r i o u s Methods o f R e p o r t i n g P r o g r e s s o f L i m i t e d Success S tuden t s 102' 10.1 Teachers o f Homogeneously Grouped C l a s s e s : W i l l i n g n e s s t o Teach L i m i t e d Success S tuden t s i n Homogeneous C l a s s e s . Number of C l a s s e s 1'0 3 10.2 Teachers o f H e t e r o g e n e o u s l y Grouped C l a s s e s : P o s i t i o n on A b i l i t y Group ing 1'04 10.3 Teachers of H e t e r o g e n e o u s l y Grouped C l a s s e s : D e s i r e to Teach L i m i t e d Success S tuden t s S c i e n c e i n a Sepa ra te _C lass Group 105.. 10.4 Teacher s of He te r o geneou s l y Grouped C l a s s e s : W i l l i n g n e s s to Teach L i m i t e d Success S tuden t s i n Homogeneous C l a s s e s . Number o f C l a s s e s I\"05\" 10.5 Teachers o f H e t e r o g e n e o u s l y Grouped C l a s s e s : D e s i r e to Group and Teach L i m i t e d Success S c i e n c e S tuden t s in a Sepa ra te C l a s s 106; 10.6 Teacher Commitment to Teach ing L i m i t e d Success S tudent s 107 10.7 Method of Teacher Ass ignment to Homogeneously Grouped C l a s s e s o f L i m i t e d Success S c i e n c e S tuden t s 108 10.8 Free Time of J u n i o r Secondary S c i e n c e Teachers 109\" 10.9 P r e - S e r v i c e Teacher T r a i n i n g R e l a t e d to L i m i t e d Success S tuden t s IHO 10.10 E x t e n t o f P r e - S e r v i c e Teacher T r a i n i n g R e l a t e d to L i m i t e d Success S tuden t s 10.11 T e a c h e r s ' R a t i n g of P r e - S e r v i c e Teacher T r a i n i n g R e l a t e d to L i m i t e d Success S tuden t s H I 10.12 I n - S e r v i c e Teacher T r a i n i n g R e l a t e d to L i m i t e d .Success S tuden t s 112; 10.13 T e a c h e r s ' R a t i n g of I n - S e r v i c e T r a i n i n g 112\" v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The w r i t e r w i shes t o acknowledge the members o f the t h e s i s c ommi t tee , Dr. P, J . G a s k e l l and Dr. A. G. Ryan, f o r t h e i r i n v a l u a b l e a d v i c e , a s s i s t a n c e and s u p p o r t . The w r i t e r wi shes to p a r t i c u l a r l y thank Dr. R. W. C a r l i s l e , p r i m a r y a d v i s e r , f o r h i s t i m e , e f f o r t , s u g g e s t i o n s and e n -couragement t h roughou t the t h e s i s . In a d d i t i o n the w r i t e r w i shes to thank the E d u c a t i o n a l Research I n s t i t u t e of B r i t i s h Co lumbia f o r t h e i r generous s uppo r t o f the s t u d y . v i INTRODUCTION 1 The impetus f o r t h i s s tudy stems l a r g e l y from the w r i t e r ' s e x p e r i e n c e as a j u n i o r secondary s c i e n c e t e a c h e r f o r a p e r i o d of t h r e e y e a r s . Dur ing t h i s t h r e e yea r p e r i o d the w r i t e r i n s t r u c t e d a number of \" m o d i f i e d \" s c i e n c e ten c l a s s e s . The s t u d e n t s in t he se c l a s s e s were s p e c i a l l y grouped f o r s c i e n c e due to t h e i r p r e v i o u s low ach i e vement . These s t u d e n t s had e x p e r i e n c e d \" l i m i t e d s u c c e s s \" in s c i e n c e f o r v a r i o u s reasons and as a r e s u l t showed both poor m o t i v a -t i o n and a t t i t u d e . S tanda rd t e a c h i n g methods and c u r -r i c u l a , used w i t h some succes s w i t h average and above average s t u d e n t s , l a c k e d e f f e c t i v e n e s s . Teach ing s t y l e , c u r r i c u l u m , d i s c i p l i n e , e v a l u a t i o n and homework r e q u i r e d a l t e r a t i o n to s u i t the a b i l i t i e s and n a t u r e of l i m i t e d s ucce s s s c i e n c e s t u d e n t s . Much a l t e r a t i o n o r i g i n a t e d by t r i a l and e r r o r and from o c c a s i o n a l a s s i s t a n c e from more e x p e r i e n c e d t e a c h e r s . At b e s t , changes were based on i n t u i t i o n and the e v a l u a t i o n of these changes was h i g h l y s u b j e c t i v e . Teacher t r a i n i n g d i d not seem to a d e q u a t e l y p repa re f o r d e a l i n g w i t h l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s , s p e c i a l c u r r i c u l a seemed to be n o n - e x i s t e n t and r e l a t e d t e a c h i n g methods were not e v i d e n t . The e x p e r i e n c e above prompted an e x a m i n a t i o n of s c i e n c e e d u c a t i o n f o r l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s . A l i t e r a t u r e r e -v iew h i g h l i g h t e d the p a u c i t y of r e s e a r c h done i n t h i s a rea i n B r i t i s h Columbia. ( B . C . ) . Only one f o rma l s tudy r e l a t e d to l i m i t e d succes s s c i e n c e s t u d e n t s a t the j u n i o r secondary l e v e l had been c a r r i e d out CQuelch 1975) . The l i t e r a t u r e i n d i c a t e d t h a t , i n B r i t a i n and the U n i t e d S t a t e s , the s i z e of the l i m i t e d succe s s s t uden t p o p u l a t i o n was in exces s of 20% o f the t o t a l s choo l p o p u l a t i o n . I t seemed r e a s o n a b l e to assume t h a t a p o p u l a t i o n of t h i s s i z e a l s o e x i s t e d i n B.C. G iven the na t u r e of l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s , t h e i r p r o b a b l e numbers in the s choo l p o p u l a t i o n and the l a c k of r e s e a r c h done i n B.C., i t seemed a p p r o p r i a t e to i n v e s t i g a t e the c u r r e n t s t a t u s of s c i e n c e e d u c a t i o n f o r these s t u d e n t s . By o b t a i n i n g an o v e r a l l p i c t u r e o f s c i e n c e , as t augh t to l i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t s i n B .C. , needs were i d e n t i f i e d by compar ing B.C. w i t h o t h e r c o u n t r i e s where r e s e a r c h on l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s had a l r e a d y o c c u r r e d . Recom-mendat ions based on these needs were g ene r a t ed to p r o v i d e a b a s i s f o r f u r t h e r i n v e s t i g a t i o n of s c i e n c e f o r l i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t s in the p r o v i n c e . To conduct a p r e l i m i n a r y e x a m i n a t i o n of s c i e n c e f o r l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s in B.C. a ma i l q u e s t i o n n a i r e was deve loped and c i r c u l a t e d to a sample of j u n i o r secondary s c i e n c e t e a c h e r s . P r i o r to the d i s t r i b u t i o n of the q u e s t i o n -n a i r e and p r e r e q u i s i t e to i t s deve lopment , a r e v i e w of the l i t e r a t u r e r e l a t e d to the l i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t was c o n -d u c t e d . Chapter one summarizes the f i n d i n g s of the l i t e r a -t u r e r e v i e w . In c h a p t e r two the p roce s s of deve lopment , i m p l e m e n t a t i o n and a n a l y s i s of the q u e s t i o n n a i r e i s p r e -s e n t e d . Chapter t h r e e o u t l i n e s the r e s u l t s of the q u e s t i n a i r e re sponse i n t a b u l a r f o rm. The c o n c l u s i o n s and r e -commendations of the s tudy are p r e s e n t e d i n c h a p t e r f o u r . CHAPTER !•: L i t e r a t u r e Review and I m p l i c a t i o n s : F a c t o r s which may c o n t r i b u t e to l i m i t e d succe s s and c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s ; t e a c h i n g methods f o r l i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t s . In t h i s c h a p t e r the l i t e r a t u r e i s r e v i ewed to i d e n t i f y both the f a c t o r s wh ich may c o n t r i b u t e to l i m i t e d succe s s and the c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f l i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t s . ^ In a d d i t i o n a r e v i e w of t e a c h i n g methods c o n s i d e r e d a p p r o p r i a t e i s p r e s e n t e d from the l i t e r a t u r e . A r e v i e w of the l i t e r a t u r e r e l a t e d to l i m i t e d s ucce s s s t uden t s and s c i e n c e t e a c h i n g d i s c l o s e d l i t t l e e m p i r i c a l r e s e a r c h . The few s t u d i e s c a r r i e d out i n a s y s t e m a t i c manner aire s p e c i a l l y no ted in the b i b l i o g r a p h y . The r e -ma in ing l i t e r a t u r e a r i s e s f rom a n a l y s e s of p r a c t i c a l e x -p e r i e n c e . The term l i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t was chosen t o . ; . d e s c r i b e a s i g n i f i c a n t number o f s t u d e n t s hav ing a v a r i e t y of problems a f f e c t i n g t h e i r l e a r n i n g i n s c i e n c e . For the purpose o f t h i s s t u d y , l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s are d e f i n e d to be those s t u d e n t s who a c h i e v e a c o n s i s t e n t D or E average in s c i e n c e (or e q u i v a l e n t r a t i n g ) , or those s t u d e n t s who a re grouped s p e c i a l l y f o r the purpose of s c i e n c e i n s t r u c t i o n due t o t h e i r low a ch i e vemen t . Whi le i t i s the i n t e n t of t h i s s tudy to examine s c i e n c e f o r l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s , the r e v i e w to f o l l o w i s based on a more g e n e r a l v iew of the l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t . I t i s assumed t h a t l i m i t e d succe s s in s c i e n c e i s the same as l i m i t e d succe s s in g ene ra l as r e p o r t e d i n the l i t e r a t u r e . 4 E x t e n t of the l i m i t e d succe s s s t uden t p o p u l a t i o n 5. Many a u t h o r s , w h i l e not u s i ng the term l i m i e d succe s s s t u d e n t , s u g g e s t t h a t the p o p u l a t i o n of such s t u d e n t s i s of a s i g n i f i c a n t s i z e and may compr i se up to 20% of the t o t a l s choo l p o p u l a t i o n (Barbe 1961, Ferguson 1961, Page 1968, N e t t l e s h i p 1972, Oxenhorn 1972, G u l l i f o r d 1975) . O the r s e s t i m a t e the p o p u l a t i o n to range from 15% to 50% (Tanzer 1960, W i t t y 1961, Newsom 1963, H a v i n g h u r s t 1969, J e n k i n s e t a l . 1973). These e s t i m a t e s a re f o r B r i t a i n , the U n i t e d S t a t e s and A u s t r a l i a . I t i s r e a s o n a b l e to s u spec t t h a t such a p o p u l a t i o n a l s o e x i s t s i n B r i t i s h Co l umb ia . A l t h o u g h t h e r e i s no s y s t e m a t i c e v i d e n c e , the w r i t e r ' s f o u r y e a r s of e x p e r i e n c e in B r i t i s h Co lumbia secondary s c h o o l s s u p p o r t s the 15% to 20% e s t i m a t e s g i v en i n the l i t e r a t u r e . C a t e g o r i e s of l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s In the l i t e r a t u r e the term l i m i t e d succe s s s t uden t i s not used by a u t h o r s . A g r e a t number o f d e s c r i p t i v e terms^ have been gene ra ted to d e s c r i b e these s t u d e n t s . The d i v e r s i t y of t e r m i n o l o g y used can be reduced by c o n s i d e r i n g the c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of these s t u d e n t s . Based on the Other terms used i n c l u d e : u n d e r a c h i e v e r s ; s low l e a r n e r s ; low a b i l i t y s t u d e n t s ; d i s a d v a n t a g e d s t u d e n t s ; s t u d e n t s of low e d u c a t i o n a l a t t a i n m e n t ; c u l t u r a l l y d e p r i v e d s t u d e n t s ; u n d e r - p r i v i l e g e d s t u d e n t s ; d i s c i p l i n e p r ob l ems ; non-academic s t u d e n t s ; t e r m i n a l s c i e n c e s t u d e n t s ; p o t e n t i a l d r o p - o u t s ; e a r l y s choo l l e a v e r s ; n o n - c e r t i f i c a t e s t u d e n t s ; r e l u c t a n t l e a r n e r s ; n o n - c o l l e g e bound s t u d e n t s ; un-m o t i v a t e d s t u d e n t s and low a c h i e v e r s . 6 c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s examined i t i s p o s s i b l e to i d e n t i f y t h r e e major c a t e g o r i e s , the u n d e r a c h i e v e r , the s low l e a r n e r and the d i s a d v a n t a g e d s t u d e n t . The u n d e r a c h i e v e r i s u s u a l l y i d e n t i f i e d by ach ievement below average i n s p i t e o f h i s above average a b i l i t y (Oxen-horn 1972) . The s low l e a r n e r i s p r e ven ted f rom a t t a i n i n g average or above average ach ievement by l i m i t e d mental c a p a b i l i t i e s or s i m p l y by l e a r n i n g a t a s l owe r r a t e than o t h e r s t u d e n t s (Youn ie 1974). The d i s a d v a n t a g e d s t uden t may be c u l t u r a l l y , e c o n o m i c a l l y , s o c i a l l y or i n t e l l e c t u a l l y d i s a d v a n t a g e d and i s o f t e n c l a s s i f i e d as an u n d e r a c h i e v e r or a s low l e a r n e r (Reissman 1962, Younie 1974) . S i n ce these s t u d e n t s ( u n d e r a c h i e v e r s , s low l e a r n e r s and d i s a d v a n t a g e d s t u d e n t s ) are s a i d to l a c k s u c c e s s f u l e x p e r i e n c e s i n s choo l i t i s l i k e l y t h a t they are the s t u d e n t s who are o f t e n s p e c i a l l y grouped t o g e t h e r f o r the purpose of s c i e n c e i n s t r u c t i o n or a c h i e v e f a i l i n g g rades in an ungrouped s c i e n c e c l a s s . Because u n d e r a c h i e v e r s , s low l e a r n e r s , and d i s advan t a ged s t u d e n t s have not e x p e r i e n c e d succe s s i n s choo l , and as t hey are o f t e n grouped t o g e t h e r or c o n s i d e r e d to be of a p a r t i c u l a r ach ievement l e v e l , the encompass ing term of l i m i t e d succe s s s t uden t i s used. F a c t o r s r e l a t e d to l i m i t e d ' succes s in s choo l The purpose of t h i s s e c t i o n o f the l i t e r a t u r e r e v i e w i s to examine the f a c t o r s u n d e r l y i n g l i m i t e d succe s s and the p o s s i b l e c a u s a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s of t he se f a c t o r s from 7 the p e r s p e c t i v e s of the u n d e r a c h i e v e r , the s low l e a r n e r and the d i s a d v a n t a g e d s t u d e n t . In examin ing some of the p o s s i b l e c a u s a l f a c t o r s r e l a t e d to l i m i t e d succe s s i n s choo l i t i s c l e a r t h a t the problems of l i m i t e d succe s s cannot be w h o l l y s o l v e d i n the c l a s s r o o m . How-e v e r , i t i s t a c i t l y unde r s tood t h a t t e a c h e r s who r e c o g n i z e some o f t he se f a c t o r s w i l l be b e t t e r a b l e to implement any suggest ions f o rwa rded to h e l p t each these s t u d e n t s ( B r i c k l i n and B r i c k ! i n 1967) . The u n d e r a c h i e v e r As p r e v i o u s l y ment ioned the u n d e r a c h i e v e r i s the s t u d e n t who a c h i e v e s below h i s e xpec ted p o t e n t i a l . B r i c k l i n and B r i c k l i n (1967) s t a t e t h a t f rom 15% to 40% of a l l s t u d e n t s f a l l i n t o the underach ievement c a t e g o r y . W e l l i n g t o n and W e l l i n g t o n (1965) b e l i e v e t h a t over one -h a l f o f the u n d e r a c h i e v e r s in s c h o o l s come from average or above average backgrounds s o c i o e c o n o m i c a l l y . F i n e (1967) emphas izes t h a t u n d e r a c h i e v e r s come from a l l wa lk s of l i f e . I f , as W e l l i n g t o n and W e l l i n g t o n s t a t e , ove r one -h a l f o f a l l u n d e r a c h i e v e r s do come from average o r above average backgrounds i t can then be c o n c l u d e d t h a t the r e -ma in i n g u n d e r a c h i e v e r s are from more d i s a d v a n t a g e d back -g rounds . Weider C1973) s uppo r t s the l i n k between under -ach ievement and be ing d i s a d v a n t a g e d by s t a t i n g : \"Unde r -ach ievement i s u s u a l l y accompanied w i t h c u l t u r a l d i s -advantagement and i n t e l l e c t u a l d e p r i v a t i o n a t home.\"^ ^ A r t h u r We ide r , \"The S c i e n c e Teacher Assays the Under -a c h i e v e r , \"The S c i e n c e Teacher 40 ( Janua r y 1973 ) : 19 - 21 . 8 The c h i l d who comes f rom a d i s a d v a n t a g e d background w i l l no t have the nece s s a r y p r e - s c h o o l s k i l l s and i n t e l l e c t u a l s t i m u l a t i o n to succeed i n a t r a d i t i o n a l s choo l s e t t i n g ( F i n e 1967, Weider 1973) . As a r e s u l t of t h i s e a r l y f a i l u r e the c h i l d tends to f a l l beh ind in the fundamenta l a reas n e c e s -s a r y f o r f u r t h e r s c h o o l i n g ( F i ne 1967, Oxehnorn 1972) . The net e f f e c t o f t h i s f a i l u r e in s choo l may l e a d to the d e v e l o p -ment of the low s e l f - c o n c e p t so e v i d e n t in u n d e r a c h i e v e r s (Smith e t a l . 1 963, F i ne 1 967). Th i s low s e l f - c o n c e p t i s s a i d to produce d i s i n t e r e s t in l e a r n i n g , h o s t i l i t y to l e a r n i n g or w i t h d r a w a l from l e a r n i n g as a s h i e l d to p reven t f u r t h e r f a i l u r e (Smith e t a l . 1963, B r i c k l i n and B r i c k l i n 1967, Weider 1973) . Much of the e a r l y and c o n t i n u e d f a i l u r e o f u n d e r a c h i e v e r s has been a t t r i b u t e d to poor t e a c h e r s ( B r i c k l i n and B r i c k l i n 1967, F i ne 1967, Wong 1978) . The e f f e c t of poor t e a c h i n g in one s u b j e c t i s thought to o v e r l a p i n t o o t h e r s u b j e c t s c a u s i n g a sp read o f underach ievement from one s u b j e c t to ano the r ( F i ne 1967, Oxenhorn 1972). A p a r t i c u l a r l y i m p o r t a n t example of poor t e a c h i n g i n one s u b j e c t a f f e c t i n g o t h e r s i s the a rea of r e a d i n g which i s c o n s i d e r e d to be a c r i t i c a l s k i l l n e c e s s a r y to a l l o t h e r s u b j e c t a reas (Oxenhorn 1972) . Teacher a t t i t u d e toward a s t u d e n t can have a s i g n i f i -cant e f f e c t upon the ach ievement of the s t u d e n t . The t e a c h e r o f d i s a d v a n t a g e d s t u d e n t s may have a p r e c o n c e i v e d i dea c o n c e r n i n g the a b i l i t y of an u n d e r a c h i e v e r . I f t h i s p r e c o n c e i v e d i dea gu ide s the t e a c h e r to hav ing low e x -p e c t a t i o n s f o r the s t u d e n t the s t u d e n t may o n l y a c h i e v e to the e xpec t ed l e v e l . I f the s t uden t has a low s e l f -9 concept and the t e a c h e r ' s e x p e c t a t i o n s m a i n t a i n a f a i l i n g s i t u a t i o n then the s t u d e n t ' s low s e l f - c o n c e p t i s r e i n f o r c e d i n a s e l f - f u l f i l l i n g prophecy CFine 1967, Oxenhorn 1972) . A more d i f f i c u l t t a s k i s i n v o l v e d when t r y i n g to i s o l a t e f a c t o r s l e a d i n g to the underach ievement of s t u d e n t s from average and above average backg rounds . Some o f the more e a s i l y i d e n t i f i a b l e f a c t o r s may be r e l a t e d to p h y s i c a l causes ( v i s i o n and h e a r i n g ) , h i g h l y mob i l e f a m i l i e s , i l l n e s s and poor t e a c h i n g ( F i ne 1967, B r i c k l i n and B r i c k l i n 1 967). B r i c k l i n and B r i c k l i n sugges t t h a t over 80% of t he se u n d e r a c h i e v e r s are due to \" c o n f l i c t e d emo t i ona l a t t i t u d e s . \" Events such as broken f a m i l i e s and f a m i l y c o n f l i c t s a re seen as c o n t r i b u t o r s to t he se c o n f l i c t e d emo t i ona l a t t i t u d e s . The pa r en t who i s \" o v e r - i n v o l v e d \" w i t h the s t uden t (pushes too hard f o r p e r f e c t i o n ) may i n i t i a t e n e g a t i v e f e e l i n g s t o -wards l e a r n i n g ( B r i c k l i n and B r i c k l i n 1967, F i ne 1967, W e l l i n g t o n and W e l l i n g t o n 1965) . F i ne c i t e s a s tudy by Shaw which i n d i c a t e s t h a t p e r m i s s i v e and u n d e r i n v o l v e d pa ren t s may be f a c t o r s r e l a t e d to unde rach ievement . Shaw B a r r y B r i c k l i n and P a t r i c i a M. B r i c k l i n , B r i g h t C h i l d -Poor G rades , the P s y cho l o gy of Unde rach ievement , ( D e l a c o r t e P r e s s , 1967 ) , p. W. Benjamin F i n e , U n d e r a c h i e v e r s , (New York : E.P'. Dutton and Company I n c ~ 1967 ) , p. 33. 10 found p o s i t i v e c o r r e l a t i o n s between u n d e r a c h i e v i n g s t u d e n t s and pa r en t s who d i d not s u p e r v i s e t h e i r c h i l d r e n , l a c k e d i n t e r e s t in t h e i r c h i l d r e n , had u n c e r t a i n t i e s about r a i s i n g t h e i r c h i l d r e n , d i d not know what to e xpec t f rom t h e i r c h i l d r e n and had low a s p i r a t i o n s f o r t h e i r c h i l d r e n . E v i d e n t l y t h e r e must be an optimum p a r e n t a l i n vo l vement which he lp s a v o i d unde rach ievement . B r i c k l i n and B r i c k l i n sugges t t h a t of the 80% of the u n d e r a c h i e v e r s t h a t come from average and above average backgrounds the m a j o r i t y a re boy s . . I t can be c onc l uded t h a t the c o m p o s i t i o n of the unde r -a c h i e v i n g p o r t i o n o f any group o f l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s w i l l depend l a r g e l y upon the s o c i oeconom i c background of the s choo l catchment a r e a . A need f o r d i f f e r e n t k i nd s of approaches w i t h the u n d e r a c h i e v e r w i l l l i k e l y be n e c e s s a r y due to t h e i r d i v e r s e backg rounds . The s low l e a r n e r A lmost a l l l i s t s of s low l e a r n i n g c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s i n c l u d e an i tem r e l a t e d to low I.Q. Th i s low I.Q., g e n e r a l l y between 75 and 100, i s thought to be a major f a c t o r under -l y i n g s low l e a r n i n g by some a u t h o r s (Barbe 1961, Oxenhorn 1972, Younie 1974) . These au tho r s propose t h a t a p e r s o n ' s g e n e t i c make-up may l a r g e l y de te rm ine h i s i n t e l l i g e n c e and I.Q. In o t h e r words i n t e l l i g e n c e and I.Q. are f i x e d a t b i r t h . Other a u t h o r s t ake a d i f f e r e n t s tand r e g a r d i n g I.Q. and i n t e l l i g e n c e (Simon 1953, Hughes 1973, Youn ie 1974, 11 Brennan 1975, S tu r ge s 1976) . These au tho r s see i n t e l l i g e n c e and I.Q. as v a r i a b l e s . They p l a c e a heavy emphasis on the impact of the env i ronment upon the development of c h i l d r e n ' s i n t e l l i g e n c e and I.Q. Th i s i dea i m p l i e s t h a t the i n t e l l i g e n c e o f a s t uden t can change. in S t u r g e s ' w o r d s , \" T h i s v iew o f i n t e l l i g e n c e makes i t i m p o r t a n t not to i d e n t i f y low a t t a i n m e n t w i t h low a b i 1 i t y . . . s i n e e the l a t t e r i s a lways capab le o f improvement . \"^ The changeab le n a t u r e o f i n t e l l i g e n c e proposed by these au tho r s sugges t s t h a t i d e n t i f i c a t i o n of a s t u d e n t as a s low l e a r n e r s hou ld be done w i t h g r e a t ca re s i n c e the low i n t e l l i g e n c e com-ponent may o n l y be a tempora ry phenomenon. The l i t e r a t u r e i n d i c a t e s the e x i s t e n c e of two t ypes o f s low l e a r n e r s . One s low l e a r n e r i s l i m i t e d by an i n n a t e l a c k o f i n t e l l e c t u a l c a p a b i l i t y w h i l e the o t h e r may o n l y be l i m i t e d due to e n -v i r o n m e n t a l c o n s i d e r a t i o n s . S e v e r a l a u t ho r s b e l i e v e t h a t s1ow l e a r n i n g may be e x p l a i n e d i n terms of P i a g e t ' s t h e o r y of i n t e l l e c t u a l d e v e l o p -ment (Johnson 1963, S tu rge s 1976) . P i a g e t ' s t h e o r y em-p h a s i z e s t h a t c h i l d r e n g r a d u a l l y p r o g r e s s to a b s t r a c t t h i n k -i ng th rough a s e r i e s of e a r l i e r s t a g e s . The c h i l d i s o n l y a b l e to cope w i t h c e r t a i n i n t e l l e c t u a l t a s k s a t each s t a g e . The s tages in P i a g e t ' s t h e o r y a re h i e r a r c h i c a l , , t h a t i s , a 1 L . M . S t u r g e s , Non-Streamed S c i e n c e - A T e a c h e r ' s G u i d e , Study S e r i e s No. 7, ( H a t f i e l d : The A s s o c i a t i o n o f S c i e n c e E d u c a t i o n , 1976 ) , p.5. 1 2 l ower s tage must be f u l l y r e a l i z e d b e f o r e a h i g h e r s tage can be d e v e l o p e d . Johnson (1963) says t h a t the c h i l d w i l l be ready to l e a r n c e r t a i n c oncep t s o n l y when he i s the c o r r e c t \"men ta l a g e . \" 1 In d i s c u s s i n g s t u d e n t s a t the j u n i o r secondary l e v e l i t s hou l d be remembered t h a t these s t u d e n t s range in age from about t w e l v e to s i x t e e n . P i a g e t ' s s tage t h e o r y s t a t e s t h a t the t r a n s i t i o n to a b s t r a c t t h i n k i n g o c cu r s around the t h i r t e e n t h y ea r (Beard 1969) . S i n c e i n d i v i d u a l s t u d e n t s p r o g r e s s to a b s t r a c t t h i n k i n g at d i f f e r e n t r a t e s and at d i f f e r e n t ages the s low l e a r n e r s may be those s t u d e n t s s t i l l wo r k i n g a t a c o n c r e t e o p e r a -t i o n a l l e v e l . These p r e - a b s t r a c t t h i n k i n g s t u d e n t s un-d o u b t e d l y have d i f f i c u l t y u n d e r s t a n d i n g and d e a l i n g w i t h the many a b s t r a c t i o n s they are asked to dea l w i t h a t the j u n i o r secondary l e v e l ( G u l l i f o r d 1969) . Mahan (1965) proposes t h a t the s low l e a r n e r many not 2 be u n i n t e l l i g e n t but see t h i n g s in a \" d i f f e r e n t c o n t e x t . \" Th i s h y p o t h e s i s i s a l s o - d i s cu s s ed by Weaver ( 1971 ) , Dunn and Dunn (1977) where s t u d e n t s are thought to have t h e i r own p re fe r red method o f l e a r n i n g (or l e a r n i n g s t y l e ) . S t uden t s G. O r v i l l e J ohn son , E d u c a t i o n f o r the Slow L e a r n e r s , (Englewood C l i f f s : P r e n t i c e - H a l l I n c . , 1963 ) , p.44. Thomas W. Mahan, J r . , \"The Slow L e a r n e r : Fac t or E x c u s e ? \" , School Review 7 3 (Summer 1965) : 77-88. 13 who l e a r n i n t h e i r own s t y l e may appear to be s low l e a r n e r s to the t e a c h e r accustomed to more s t a n d a r d l e a r n i n g s t y l e s . A s t uden t f o r c e d to l e a r n in a s t y l e not h i s own may l e a r n l e s s e f f e c t i v e l y and thus appear to be a s low l e a r n e r . P h y s i c a l d e f e c t s o f v i s i o n and h e a r i n g can have d e l e t e r i o u s e f f e c t s upon the l e a r n i n g of a s t uden t ( F e a t h e r -s tone 1951, K a r l i n 1969, Hughes 1973, Younie 1974) . S t uden t s who come from backgrounds w h e r e ' i n a d e q u a t e h e a l t h and hygiene are p r a c t i c e d may have a h i g h e r i n c i d e n c e of v i s i o n and h e a r i n g d e f e c t s . S i g h t and h e a r i n g d e f e c t s may be more p redominant among d i s a d v a n t a g e d s t u d e n t s . P h y s i c a l needs such as o u t l i n e d by Maslow (.1 954) may e x p l a i n the s low l e a r n i n g of some s t u d e n t s . Maslow s t a t e s t h a t everyone has f o u r l e v e l s of need. These f o u r , p h y s i o l o g i c a l needs , l o v e • needs , esteem needs and s e l f - a c t u a l i z a t i o n needs are o r g a n i z e d i n a h i e r a r c h y w i t h p h y s i o l o g i c a l needs r e q u i r i n g s a t i s f a c t i o n b e f o r e l o v e , esteem or s e l f - a c t u a l i z a t i o n needs . A s t u d e n t who comes to s choo l hungry or t i r e d ( i . e . has p h y s i o l o g i c a l needs to be f u l f i l l e d ) w i l l not be ab l e to p roceed to h i g h e r l e v e l s of need and thus to l e a r n i n g u n t i l t he se b a s i c needs are s a t i s f i e d . Many s t u d e n t s may come to s choo l w i t h t he se b a s i c needs u n s a t i s f i e d , p a r t i c u l a r l y those s t u d e n t s f rom d i s a d v a n t a g e d backgrounds ( H u l i c k a 1969) . N o n - p h y s i c a l e n v i r o n m e n t a l e f f e c t s a r i s i n g from the home may be c o n t r i b u t o r y to s low l e a r n i n g . S t uden t s who come from homes where b a s i c s k i l l s and i n t e l l e c t u a l s t i m u l a t i o n nece s s a r y to succeed in s choo l a re not t augh t or p r a c t i c e d may become s low l e a r n e r s when they reach s choo l (Johnson 1963, H u l i c k a 1969, K a r l i n 1969, S he l t on 1971, Weaver 1971, Hughes 1973, Younie 1974, S l a t e r 1975) . G iven t he se v a r i a b l e s i t seems e v i d e n t t h a t s low l e a r n e r s may come from a l l s o c i oeconom i c l e v e l s . A lmost w i t h o u t e x c e p t i o n the l i t e r a t u r e c i t e s low s e l f - c o n c e p t as a c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f the s low l e a r n e r . Some au tho r s see t h i s low s e l f - c o n c e p t as a p r oduc t of p r e v i o u s and c o n t i n u a l f a i l u r e i n s choo l (Brandwein e t a l . 1958, Mahan 1965, Crowley 1961, G l a s s e r 1971). They see t h i s f a i l u r e as a cause of both w i t h d r a w a l and a g g r e s s i v e be-h a v i o u r o f t e n e x h i b i t e d by the s low l e a r n e r . G u l l i f o r d (1975) sees t h i s low s e l f - c o n c e p t to be a p r oduc t of p r e v i o u s t e a c h e r s not p r o v i d i n g the needed succes s to produce a h igh s e l f - c o n c e p t in the s t u d e n t . S t uden t s hav ing a low s e l f - c o n c e p t o f t e n l a c k m o t i v a t i o n and are u n w i l l i n g to t r y i n c l a s s . Th i s u n w i l l i n g n e s s to t r y and l a c k o f m o t i v a t i o n i s seen by S l a t e r (1975) as a de fense mechanism to a v o i d f u r t h e r f a i l u r e . C l o s e l y r e l a t e d to the s t u d e n t ' s l a c k of s e l f - c o n c e p t i s the s e l f - f u l f i l l i n g p rophecy . Once :.teachers have e x -p e r i e n c e d or heard o f the f a i l u r e of a s t uden t or group of s t u d e n t s they may ho l d low e x p e c t a t i o n s f o r them. The t e a c h e r c o n t i n u e s t o e xpec t low or f a i l i n g work and does 1 5 not p res s f o r h i g h e r q u a l i t y . As a r e s u l t of t he se low e x p e c t a t i o n s the s t u d e n t c o n t i n u e s to do p o o r l y or even f a i l s and h i s low s e l f - c o n c e p t i s r e i n f o r c e d (Mahan 1965, Ladd 1973, Quelch 1975, S tu rge s 1976) . F e a t h e r s t o n e (1951) and Mahan (1965) suggest t h a t the lower i n t e l l i g e n c e e x h i b i t e d by the s low l e a r n e r may be due e n t i r e l y to l i m i t e d r e a d i n g s k i l l s . , S i n c e most s choo l s u b j e c t s depend l a r g e l y upon r e a d i n g and w r i t t e n e x p r e s s i o n i t i s u n d e r s t a n d a b l e why s t u d e n t s w i t h o u t these s k i l l s appear to be s low l e a r n e r s . Mahan says t h a t these s o - c a l l e d s low l e a r n e r s may be ab l e t o . \"comprehend much more than they can e x p r e s s . \" 1 Many o f the c a u s a l f a c t o r s u n d e r l y i n g the c h a r a c t e r -i s t i c s of the s low l e a r n e r appear to be the same f a c t o r s as those r e l a t e d to the c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of both the unde r -a c h i e v i n g and d i s advan t a ged s t u d e n t . The d i s a d v a n t a g e d s t u d e n t Much has been w r i t t e n about the d i s a d v a n t a g e d s t u d e n t in s c h o o l . In t h i s s tudy the term d i s a d v a n t a g e d i s used synonymously w i t h u n d e r p r i v i l e g e d c u l t u r a l l y d e p r i v e d , s o c i a l l y d e p r i v e d , e d u c a t i o n a l l y d i s a d v a n t a g e d and c u l t u r a l l y d i f f e r e n t . Whi le the w r i t e r r e c o g n i z e s the d i f f e r e n c e s in meaning of the a f o r e m e n t i o n e d terms i t i s l i k e l y t h a t I b i d . , pp. 77-78. 16 s c h o o l s do not make the d i s t i n c t i o n between them. T h e r e f o r e , f o r the purpose o f t h i s s t u d y , these d i f f e r e n c e s w i l l not be made e v i d e n t . The f a c t t h a t much has been a l l u d e d to r e g a r d i n g d i s a d v a n t a g e d s t u d e n t s in the p r e v i o u s two s e c t i o n s i n d i c a t e s the c l o s e a s s o c i a t i o n between d i s advan tagement , s low l e a r n i n g and unde rach ievement . Many of the f a c t o r s u n d e r l y i n g the c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of d i s a d v a n t a g e d s t u d e n t s are s i m i l a r i f not the same as those of underach ievement and s low l e a r n i n g . The r e p e t i t i o n of these u n d e r l y i n g f a c t o r s i s f e l t n e c e s s a r y i n o r d e r to emphas ize the wide base o f agreement between au tho r s w r i t i n g from the t h r e e d i f f e r e n t p e r s p e c t i v e s . Johnson (1970) t a l k s o f : groups of peop le whose ways of l i v i n g -va l ue s y s t ems , language s y s tems , a t t i t u d e s , b e l i e f s , e x p e r i e n t i a l background e t c . - p r e -vent them from f u n c t i o n i n g in the dominant c u l t u r e . Whi le J o h n s o n ' s s t a tement seems somewhat sweeping and f i n a l i t i s easy to see t h a t as a r e s u l t of t h i s d i f f e r e n t back -ground, d i sadvantaged c h i l d r e n may come to s choo l unequipped w i t h the n e c e s s a r y s k i l l s and e x p e r i e n c e s to be s u c c e s s f u l in a s choo l tuned to the dominant c u l t u r e (Ausubel 1966, H a v i n g h u r s t 1966, Noar 1967, Tuckman and O ' B r i a n 1967, Tuckman 1969, White 1971) . The d i s a d v a n t a g e d s t u d e n t may Kenneth John son , \"The C u l t u r a l l y D i s advan taged - S l ow L e a r n e r s or D i f f e r e n t L e a r n e r s ? \" , J o u r n a l o f Secondary E d u c a t i o n 45 ( Janua r y 1970) : 43-47. l e a r n i n a d i f f e r e n t manner than o t h e r c h i l d r e n due to h i s d i f f e r e n t background (Reissman 1962, G i d d i n g s 1966, Webster 1970, White 1971) , I t may be t h a t the d i s a d v a n t a g e d s t uden t i s l a r g e l y a p h y s i c a l l e a r n e r ( G i d d i n g s 1966, Reissman 1969, Webster 1970). P h y s i c a l l e a r n i n g i s a s l owe r p roce s s than a b s t r a c t l e a r n i n g and t h e r e f o r e the d i s a d v a n t a g e d s t uden t o p e r a t i n g i n t h i s mode may be i d e n t i f i e d as a s low l e a r n e r . Reissman (1969) adds t h a t d i s a d v a n t a g e d s t u d e n t s may appear s l owe r i n t h e i r work due to t h e i r \" c a u t i o u s or m e t i c u l o u s \" 1 approach to s choo l work. Ausube l (1 966) and o t h e r au tho r s b e l i e v e t h a t the i n i t i a l d e l a y i n l e a r n i n g the b a s i c s k i l l s of r e a d i n g , w r i t i n g and a r i t h m e t i c due to a d i s a d v a n t a g e d background w i l l l e a d to a s l owe r t r a n s i t i o n to a b s t r a c t r e a s o n i n g than o t h e r s t u d e n t s ( G i d d i n g s 1966, L o r e t an and Umars 1966, M a l k i n 1966, Faunce 1967, Noar 1967, Tuckman and O ' B r i a n 1969, White 1971) . Bloom (1964) r e l a t e s changes in I.Q. t o a d i s a d v a n t a g e d backg round. In h i s s tudy he found t h a t I.Q. may be a f f e c t e d by env i r onment by as much as 2.5 p o i n t s per y ea r f o r the f i r s t f o u r y ea r s of l i f e . I.Q. may change at a r a t e of o n l y 0.4 p o i n t s per y e a r between the ages of e i g h t to f o u r t e e n . Frank Re i s sman, \" Teache r s of the Poo r : A F i v e P o i n t P l a n , \" in How t o Teach D i s advan taged Y o u t h , eds . A l l a n C . O r n s t e i n and P h i l i p D. V a i r o (New York : David McKay C o . , 1969 ) , pp. 402-417. B loom ' s f i n d i n g s seem to i n d i c a t e t h a t a l t h o u g h i n t e l l i g e n c e i s not f i x e d at b i r t h i t becomes ha rde r to change as a c h i l d ages. I t seems t h a t a d i s a d v a n t a g e d background may have a n e g a t i v e e f f e c t upon t h i s p o t e n t i a l change i n I.Q. P a r t of a d i s a d v a n t a g e d c h i l d ' s p repa rednes s to succeed in s choo l may stem from more b a s i c d e f i c i e n c i e s such as p h y s i o l o g i c a l and l o ve needs (Noar 1967, Tuckman and O ' B r i a n 1967, Tuckman 1969). These needs seem to r e l a t e t o Mas l ow ' s h i e r a r c h y r e l a t e d i n a p r e v i o u s s e c t i o n . Most t e a c h e r s do not come f rom d i s a d v a n t a g e d back -g rounds . As a r e s u l t of the d i f f e r e n c e in background be-tween the d i s a d v a n t a g e d s t uden t and the teacher^:-, non -cong ruent v a l u e s may c l a s h CBetteTheim 1966, Goldman 1969, Glasman 1970, Johnson 1970, Webster 1970) . In B e t t e T h e i m ' s words : . . . m i d d l e c l a s s t e a c h e r s , d e s p i t e t h e i r d e s i r e to be h e l p f u l to the c u l t u r a l l y d e p r i v e d c h i l d , and d e s p i t e ; . t h e i r be s t i n t e n t i o n s , o f t e n get bogged down because they cannot transcend t h e i r own v a l u e system to meet t h a t o f the chr iTdren. •••\" Th i s v a l u e s c l a s h may make i t s e l f most e v i d e n t in the e x p e c t a t i o n s h e l d by the t e a c h e r . The t e a c h e r e x p e c t s f a i l u r e f rom these s t u d e n t s and r e c e i v e s t h i s f a i l i n g b e h a v i o u r . Th i s c o n t i n u e d f a i l u r e can f u r t h e r depres s the s t u d e n t ' s a l r e a d y low s e l f - c o n c e p t (Faunce 1967, Noar 1967, Bruno B e t t e l h e i m , \" T e a c h i n g the D i s a d v a n t a g e d , \" in The D i s advan taged Lea rne r , ed. S t a t en W. Webster (San F r a n c i s c o Chand l e r P u b l i s h i n g Co . , 1966 ) , pp . 423-429. 19 Tuckman 1969, White 1971) . A l t hough be ing d i s a d v a n t a g e d i s most commonly a s s o c i a t e d w i t h p o v e r t y , o t h e r f a c t o r s such as broken homes and l a c k o f p a r e n t a l a t t e n t i o n are c o n s i d e r e d to be forms of d i s a d v a n t a g e but not n e c e s s a r i l y r e s t r i c t e d to d i s a d v a n t a g e d backgrounds (Ma l k i n 1966) . C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f l i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t s As a r e s u l t o f the p o s s i b l e c a u s a l f a c t o r s u n d e r l y i n g l i m i t e d s u c c e s s , d i s c u s s e d i n the p r e v i o u s s e c t i o n , a number of c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s ( unde r -a c h i e v e r s , s low l e a r n e r s and d i s a d v a n t a g e d s t u d e n t s ) be -come a p p a r e n t . Many au tho r s have l i s t e d the c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of u n d e r a c h i e v e r s ( Smith e t a l . 1963, W e l l i n g t o n and W e l l -i n g t on 1965, B r i c k l i n and B r i c k l i n 1967, F i ne 1967, Bingham and B r i d g e s 1968, K i n c a i d 1968, Oxenhorn 1972, Weider 1973, M i t c h e l l and P i a t kowska 1 974, James-: 1 975 , S c h i l l i n g e r 1 975 ) , s low l e a r n e r s ( F e a t h e r s t o n e 1951, Brandwein e t a l . 1958, Johnson 1 963 , De Hann and Kough 1 968,'. Karnes 1 970 , M i l s o n 1970, Townsend 1971, Weaver 1971, M a r t i n 1973, Janzen 1973, Younie 1974) and d i s a d v a n t a g e d s t u d e n t s ( H a v i n g h u r s t 1966, Reissman 1962, L o r e t an and Umars 1966, Faunce 1967, McCloskey 1967, Noar 1967, Reissman 1969, Sm i l ey 1968, Tuckman 1969, Webster 1970, I l l i n o i s Department of Occupa-t i o n E d u c a t i o n 1 973) . Upon e x a m i n a t i o n of the numerous^, c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s l i s t e d i n the l i t e r a t u r e i t was found t h a t u n d e r a c h i e v e r s , s low l e a r n e r s and d i s a d v a n t a g e d s t u d e n t s , 20 have many common and some un ique c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s . Tab le 1.1 l i s t s tho se c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s which are common to unde r -a c h i e v e r s , s low l e a r n e r s and d i s a d v a n t a g e d s t u d e n t s . Tab le 1.2 l i s t s those c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s which seem to be un ique to each of the t h r e e types o f l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t . A l t hough eve ry l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t would not be e xpec t ed to e x h i b i t a l l the c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s l i s t e d in Tab le s 1.1 and 1.2, s e v e r a l s hou l d be i d e n t i f i a b l e in an i n d i v i d u a l l i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t . TABLE 1.1 CHARACTERISTICS COMMON TO ALL LIMITED SUCCESS STUDENTS L i m i t e d succe s s s t uden t s are below grade l e v e l i n o v e r a l l academic a c h i e v e -ment l a c k b a s i c s k i l l s i n r e a d i n g , w r i t i n g and a r i t h m e t i c have a s h o r t a t t e n t i o n span l a c k powers o f r e t e n t i o n e x h i b i t poor a t t endance and a re f r e q u e n t l y t a r d y have poor work and s tudy h a b i t s are d i s o r g a n i z e d and l a c k ca re o f p e r s o n a l e f f e c t s have n e g a t i v e a t t i t u d e s toward s c h o o l , t e a c h e r s and l e a r n i n g have d i f f i c u l t y f o l l o w i n g d i r e c t i o n s e x h i b i t poor o r a l and w r i t t e n communicat ion s k i l l s l a c k m o t i v a t i o n to l e a r n l a c k i n t e r e s t in academic work r e s i s t t a s k s t h a t seem n o n - r e l e v a n t are underdeve loped in or l a c k c o g n i t i v e and r e a s o n i n g s k i l l s a re unde rdeve loped in or l a c k a b i l i t y to work i n -dependen t l y l a c k c u r i o s i t y and c r e a t i v i t y have poor h e a r i n g , speech and o t h e r s en so ry - : ' p h y s i c a l problems have a low s e l f - c o n c e p t are a g g r e s s i v e and/or h o s t i l e a re w i thdrawn or detached are behav i ou r ( d i s c i p l i n e ) problems l a c k a b i l i t y to c o n t r o l t h e i r s o c i a l behav i ou r have s h o r t t e r m , u n r e a l i s t i c or low a s p i r a t i o n s TABLE 1.2 CHARACTERISTICS UNIQUE TO EACH OF THE THREE CATEGORIES OF LIMITED SUCCESS STUDENT U n d e r a c h i e v e r s a re average o r above average i n a b i l i t y but a re below average in ach ievement are unable to a c c e p t p r a i s e and c r i t i c i s m r e a d i l y v o l u n t e e r r a r e l y a re o f t e n s e l f i s h and i n c o n s i d e r a t e Slow l e a r n e r s l e a r n w i t h l e s s depth of u n d e r s t a n d i n g than o t h e r s t u d e n t s l a c k t r a n s f e r o f knowledge s k i l l are o f t e n nervous and e x h i b i t marked a n x i e t y a v o i d t h e i r a reas o f weakness and c o n c e n t r a t e on s t r e n g t h s are e a s i l y con fu sed have an I.Q. s co re r a n g i n g from 75 to 100 o f t e n come from f a m i l i e s who p l a c e l i t t l e v a l u e on e d u c a t i o n have s t r o n g f e e l i n g s of h ope l e s s ne s s and f a t a l i s m l i v e i n a w o r l d of c o n c r e t e o b j e c t s and s i t u a t i o n s D i s advantaged s t u d e n t s t end towards e xped i ency in t h e i r work a re o f t e n t i r e d upon a r r i v a l to s choo l o f t e n come from h i g h l y mob i l e f a m i l i e s e x p e r i e n c e c o n s i d e r a b l e f a m i l y d i s r u p t i o n a re o f t e n hungry , u n d e r c l o t h e d and have r e c e i v e d l i t t l e med i c a l or d e n t a l ca re speak E n g l i s h as a second language come from low income f a m i l i e s o f t e n e x p e r i e n c e d i s c r i m i n a t i o n by peers - c o n s i d e r peer group a f f i l i a t i o n s more i m p o r t a n t than f a m i l y t i e s f e e l few o b l i g a t i o n s The c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f l i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t s l i s t e d above have p r o v i d e d e d u c a t o r s w i t h a base from which they have worked toward d e v e l o p i n g a p p r o p r i a t e methods f o r t e a c h i n g t he se s t u d e n t s . Teach ing methods f o r l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s The i n t e n t o f t h i s s e c t i o n i s to r e v i e w those methods thought most a p p r o p r i a t e f o r t e a c h i n g l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s . A l l t e a c h i n g methods w i l l be c o n s i d e r e d w i t h r e f e r e n c e to the p r e v i o u s l y examined c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of l i m i t e d s ucce s s s t u d e n t s . In o r d e r to c l a r i f y the term t e a c h i n g method the D i c t i o n a r y of E d u c a t i o n ( t h i r d e d i t i o n 1973) was c o n s u l t e d and p r o v i d e d the f o l l o w i n g d e f i n i t i o n : t e a c h i n g method: (1) a r a t i o n a l o r d e r i n g and b a l a n c i n g i i i the l i g h t of knowledge and pu rpo se , of the s e v e r a l e lements t h a t e n t e r i n t o the e d u c a t i o n a l p r o c e s s , the n a t u r e of the p u p i l , the m a t e r i a l s of i n s t r u c t i o n , and the t o t a l l e a r n i n g s i t u a t i o n (2) a s t a n d a r d p rocedu re in the p r e s e n t a t i o n o f i n s t r u c t i o n a l m a t e r i a l and the c o n t e n t of a c t i v i t i e s . The term t e a c h i n g method encompasses a wide spect rum of a c t i v i t i e s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h the t e a c h i n g / l e a r n i n g s i t u a t i o n . W i t h i n t h i s broad d e f i n i t i o n of t e a c h i n g method the f o l l o w i n g areas have been i d e n t i f i e d : g r oup i ng p r a c t i c e s ; c u r r i c u l u m ; t e a c h i n g t e c h n i q u e s ; t e a c h i n g t e c h n o l o g y ; and t e a c h e r 24 a t t i t u d e , e x p e r i e n c e and c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s . These s p e c i f i c a reas o f t e a c h i n g method w i l l be examined now in more d e t a i l . G roup ing p r a c t i c e s One of the most p r e v a l e n t o r g a n i z a t i o n a l s t r a t e g i e s used i n the t e a c h i n g of l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s i s the g r oup i ng o f these s t u d e n t s i n s e p a r a t e c l a s s e s f o r i n -s t r u c t i o n ( E s p o s i t o 1973). In t h e i r r e v i e w of the l i t e r a -t u r e on a b i l i t y g r oup i n g F i n d l a y and Bryan (1975) r e p o r t e d two su r vey s which both e s t i m a t e d t h a t 77% of the s choo l d i s t r i c t s in the U n i t e d S t a t e s were u s i n g some form of a b i l i t y g r oup i ng (Department of H e a l t h , E d u c a t i o n and We l -f a r e 1968, F i n d l a y and Bryan 1971) . In a more r e c e n t t e a c h e r su r vey W i l son and Schmit s (1978) r e p o r t e d t h a t 74% of the t e a c h e r s they p o l l e d t augh t i n s i t u a t i o n s where a b i l i t y g r o u p i n g was in use. A l t hough data f o r B r i t a i n were not r e a d i l y a v a i l a b l e a t the t ime of w r i t i n g , i t i s known t h a t a b i l i t y g r oup i n g has been w i d e l y p r a c t i c e d f o r many yea r s in B r i t i s h s c h o o l s ( S tu r ge s 1976) . There has been a g r e a t dea l o f c o n t r o v e r s y s u r r o u n d i n g the use of a b i l i t y g r o u p i n g ove r the pa s t 50 y e a r s . As a r e s u l t o f t h i s c o n t r o v e r s y a number o f arguments f o r and a g a i n s t t h i s p r a c t i c e have been f o r m u l a t e d . In o r d e r to e s t a b l i s h a p o s i t i o n on a b i l i t y g r oup i n g r e l a t i v e to l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s the arguments f o r and a g a i n s t t h i s p r a c t i c e w i l l be examined i n d e t a i l . Few au tho r s r ev i ewed were in s uppo r t o f a b i l i t y g r o u p i n g , i n d e e d , the p o s i t i v e a s p e c t s of t h i s p r a c t i c e were l a r g e l y r e p o r t e d i n l i t e r a t u r e where the au tho r s were g e n e r a l l y n e g a t i v e l y i n c l i n e d to t h i s s t r a t e g y . A b i l i t y g r oup i ng i s s a i d to a l l o w s t u d e n t s to work at t h e i r own pace s i n c e a l l s t u d e n t s . are s uppo sed l y wo rk i ng at the same l e v e l . The t e a c h e r can a d j u s t h i s t e a c h i n g s t y l e and methods to c a t e r to the l e v e l o f the s t u d e n t s he i s i n s t r u c t i n g (Thomas and Thomas 1965, S tu rge s 1976) . The p r a c t i c e o f a b i l i t y g r oup i ng i s s a i d t o be \" e c o n o m i c , e f f i c i e n t and e f f e c t i v e \" 1 ( S tu rge s 1976) . A p p a r e n t l y h igh a b i l i t y s t u d e n t s do ve ry w e l l under an a c a d e m i c a l l y grouped s i t u a t i o n ( E s p o s i t o 1973, F i n d l a y and Bryan 1975, Halderman 1976, M o r r i s o n 1976) . T e a c h e r s , a d m i n i s t r a t o r s and p a r e n t s , e s p e c i a l l y those pa ren t s of h igh a b i l i t y s t u d e n t s , g e n e r a l l y seem to be in f a v o u r of a b i l i t y g r oup i ng (Thomas and Thomas 1 965., F i n d l a y and Bryan 1975, Halderman 1976, W i l s on and Schmit s 1978 ) . The p o s i t i v e a spec t s of a b i l i t y g r o u p i n g were l a r g e l y r e p o r t e d by p roponent s of hete rogeneous (mixed a b i l i t y ) g r o u p i n g . Th i s may be an i n d i c a t o r of the c u r r e n t f e e l i n g s of e d u c a t o r s r e g a r d i n g a b i l i t y g r o u p i n g . L i t t l e of the l i t e r a t u r e r e v i ewed f a v o u r e d a b i l i t y g r o u p i n g . Th i s i s s u r p r i s i n g i n the l i g h t of the f a c t t h a t t h i s p r a c t i c e i s so w i d e l y used (W i l s on and Schmi t s 1978) . W i l s on and I b i d . , p. 2. Schmi t s suggest t h a t t e a c h e r s , a d m i n i s t r a t o r s and pa r en t s may not be f a m i l i a r w i t h the r e s e a r c h r e s u l t s and some of the l o g i c a l arguments a g a i n s t a b i l i t y g r o u p i n g . The r e s u l t s of the r e s e a r c h has been r e p o r t e d i n a number o f r e v i ew a r t i c l e s (Eks t rom 1961, Passow 1961, Thomas and Thomas 1965, E s p o s i t o 1973, F i n d l a y and Bryan 1975, M o r r i s o n 1976) . The r e s u l t s of s t u d i e s done on a b i l i t y g r oup i n g a re be s t summarized by Ek s t rom. Ekstrom s t a t e s t h a t t h e r e i s \" a g r e a t v a r i a t i o n i n e x p e r i m e n t a l d e s i g n \" r e s u l t i n g i n \"no c o n s i s t e n t p a t t e r n of r e s u l t s . \" 1 Th i s s t a tement made in 1961 s t i l l ho ld s t r u e in 1978 (W i l s on and Schmi t s 1978) . There seems to be no c o n c l u s i v e e m p i r i c a 1 e v i d e n c e sup-p o r t i n g the c o n t i n u a t i o n of homogeneous or heterogeneous a b i l i t y g r o u p i n g . There i s a g r e a t number o f arguments oppos ing the p r a c t i c e of a b i l i t y g r o u p i n g . The p roce s s of s e l e c t i n g s t uden t s f o r a b i l i t y l e v e l s i s seen by many a u t h o r s as o f t e n i n v a l i d and u n r e l i a b l e . ( W i l h e m s and Westby -G ibson 1961, Passow 1 966 , Dav ies 1 975., F i n d l a y and Bryan 1 975 , S l a t e r 1975, Halderman 1976, S tu rge s 1976) . S tu rge s c i t e s S imon ' s work (.1 953) which proposes the changeab le n a t u r e of i n t e l l i g e n c e . The f a c t t h a t i n t e l l i g e n c e may be a chang ing q u a n t i t y i s f u r t h e r emphas ized by Johnson ( 1963 ) , Ruth B. E k s t r om, \" E x p e r i m e n t a l S t u d i e s in Homogeneous G r o u p i n g : A C r i t i c a l Re v i ew , \" School Review 69 (Summer 1961) : 216-226. 2 7 Bloom (.1 964 ) , Hughes (1 973) and Youn ie (.1 974) . S i n c e i n -t e l l i g e n c e may be a dynamic q u a n t i t y i t seems d i f f i c u l t to be both v a l i d and r e l i a b l e when p l a c i n g s t uden t s in a b i 1 i t y g roups . In answer to the n o t i o n t h a t s t u d e n t s w i l l s h i f t between groups as i n t e l l i g e n c e changes Dav ie s (1975) s a y s , \" i n t e r s t r e a m t r a n s f e r needed to put r i g h t m i s t a k e s i n s e l e c t i o n and g r oup i ng r a r e l y h a p p e n s . \" 1 S e v e r a l a u t ho r s submit t h a t the i s o l a t i o n of s t u d e n t s i n t o a b i l i t y groups tends to exagge ra te and m a i n t a i n r a c i a l and s o c i oeconom i c d i f f e r e n c e s . Th i s i s o l a t i o n a l s o r e -duces the s o c i a l c o n t a c t between these v a r i o u s groups r e -s u l t i n g in a l ower l e v e l o f i n t e l l e c t u a l s t i m u l a t i o n (Eash 1961, Thomas and Thomas 1965, Passow 1966, E s p o s i t o 1973, Dav ies 1975, F i n d l a y and Bryan 1975, Darke 1976, Halderman 1976, S tu rge s 1976, W i l s on and Schmit s 1978) . Group ing seems to a i d o n l y the h igh a b i l i t y s t u d e n t s who a t t a i n both a h igh s e l f - c o n c e p t and improved academic ach ievement (Borg 1964, E s p o i t o 1973, F i n d l a y and Bryan 1975, W i l s on and Schmit s 1978) . The succes s of the h i gh a b i l i t y s t u d e n t s may be a t t r i b u t a b l e to t e a c h e r e x p e c t a t i o n s ( s e l f - f u l f i l l i n g p rophecy ) (Douglas 1 964, Go ldbe rg eit a l . 1 966, Passow 1966, Jacobson and Ro sen tha l 1968, Dav ies 1975, Halderman 1976, S tu rge s 1976) . R. P e t e r D a v i e s , Mixed A b i l i t y Group ing (London: Temple Smith L t d . , 1 975 ) , p.8. Rather than be i ng a s i t u a t i o n in which the range i n a b i l i t y i s r e d u c e d , v a r i o u s a u t h o r s see the low a b i l i t y group as be ing a c a t c h a l l f o r many d i f f e r e n t k i nd s of s t u d e n t s . Slow l e a r n e r s , u n d e r a c h i e v e r s , d i s c i p l i n e p r ob l ems , a p a t h e t i c and unmot i va ted s t u d e n t s p r e s e n t a my r i ad o f problems in a homogeneous g r oup i ng which would not be as e v i d e n t i n a mixed a b i l i t y group (Borg 1964, Yates 1964, Thomas and Thomas 1965, Harg raves 1 967 , . S tu rge s 1:976). Eash ( 1961 ) , Wilhems and Westby -G ibson ( 1961 ) , Borg (1964) and S tu r ge s (1976) s t a t e t h a t a b i l i t y g r oup i n g a l one w i l l not i n c r e a s e ach i evement . S u p p o r t e r s of a b i l i t y g roup ing may l ook to s t a t emen t s i m p l y i n g t h a t d i f f e r e n t i a -t i o n of t e a c h i n g methods and m a t e r i a l s a p p r o p r i a t e to each a b i l i t y group may be the answer (Ekst rom 1961, Thomas and Thomas 1965, Passow 1966 ) , S e v e r a l s t u d i e s , r e v i ewed by the w r i t e r , u t i l i z i n g v a r i e d methods and m a t e r i a l s in a b i l i t y g r oup i n g s i t u a t i o n s were l a r g e l y i n c o n c l u s i v e (Moody 1970, K e l l o u g h 1970, M a r t i n 1973, M i l s o n 1973, Bingham and B r i d g e s 1974) . Dav ies ( 1975 ) , S l a t e r (1975) and S tu rge s (1976) sug -gest t h a t the l e a s t e x p e r i e n c e d t e a c h e r s are o f t e n a s s i g n e d the l ower a b i l i t y g roups . A p o s s i b l e r e s u l t of t h i s a s s i g n -ment may be a s t a g n a t i o n of t e a c h i n g methods, boredom of both the t e a c h e r and s t u d e n t and s t u d e n t behav i ou r problems (Yates 1964, L e i g h t o n 1970, Re id 1970) . F i n d l a y and Bryan ( 1975 ) , whose r e v i e w of the l i t e r a -t u r e on a b i l i t y g r oup i ng spans 1920 to 1970, c onc l ude t h a t the p r a c t i c e c o n t i n u e s w i t h o u t s y s t e m a t i c j u s t i f i c a t i o n and , i n d e e d , w i t h few notabl.e s t u d i e s t o p o i n t the way to a t e n a b l e s y n t h e s i s of what happens when a b i l i t y g r o u p i n g i s usedA Wi l son and Schmit s (1978) have produced a number o f r e -commendations r e g a r d i n g a b i l i t y g r o u p i n g . Teacher t r a i n i n g i n s t i t u t i o n s are encouraged to f a m i l i a r i z e t h e i r t r a i n e e s and i n - s e r v i c e c l i e n t s o f the r e s e a r c h r e l a t e d to a b i l i t y g r o u p i n g . A reas se s sment o f the l i t e r a t u r e i s advoca ted to a s c e r t a i n i f c e r t a i n c o n d i t i o n s wa r r an t the use of a b i l i t y g r o u p i n g . A f i n a l recommendat ion sugges t s i n v e s t i g a -t i o n i n t o the f a c t o r s u n d e r l y i n g the c o n t i n u e d suppo r t of a b i l i t y g r oup i ng by t e a c h e r s . For the p r e s e n t W i l s on and Schmit s advoca te a s w i t c h f rom homogeneous a b i l i t y groups to heterogeneous sma l l c l a s s r o o m groups in o r de r to l i m i t the p o s s i b l e n e g a t i v e e f f e c t s of a b i l i t y g r oup i ng w h i l e s t i l l a l l o w i n g the p r a c t i t i o n e r b e t t e r o p p o r t u n i t i e s to meet i n -d i v i d u a l needs than a re a l l o w e d by l a r g e group i n s t r u c t i o n . 2 Warren G. F i n d l e y and M i r i am M. B r y a n , The Pros and Cons of A b i 1 i t y Group ing ( B l o o m i n g t o n : Ph i D e l t a Kappa E d u c a t i o n a l F o u n d a t i o n , 1 975 ) , p.6. B a r r y J . W i l s on and Donald W. S c h m i t s , \"Wha t ' s New in A b i l i t y G r o u p i n g ? \" , Ph i D e l t a Kappan 59 ( A p r i l 1978 ) : 535-536. 30 Th i s l a s t s t a tement seems to u n d e r l y the r e c e n t move i n B r i t a i n away from homogeneous a b i l i t y g r oup i ng to mixed a b i 1 i t y e d u c a t i o n . C u r r i c u l u m , t e a c h i n g t e c h n i q u e s and t e a c h i n g t e c h n o l o g y A g r e a t dea l has been w r i t t e n in the l i t e r a t u r e r e -g a r d i n g the k i n d of c u r r i c u l u m bes t s u i t e d to the l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t . I n e v i t a b l y the c h o i c e of c u r r i c u l u m o f t e n d i r e c t s the t e a c h i n g t e c h n i q u e s and t e c h n o l o g i e s used. For t h i s rea son c u r r i c u l u m , t e a c h i n g t e c h n i q u e s a n d t e a c h i n g t e c h n o l o g y have been i n c l u d e d t o g e t h e r . The e x a m i n a t i o n of the l i t e r a t u r e i n t he se t h r e e a reas sugges ted the f o l l o w i n g se t of s u b c a t e g o r i e s : c u r r i c u l u m d e s i g n ; approaches to l e a r n i n g ; e n s u r i n g s u c c e s s ; e v a l u a t i o n and r e p o r t i n g . Be fo re b e g i n n i n g the l i t e r a t u r e r e v i e w of t h i s s e c t i o n a s t a tement by K e l l y (1974) may he lp to p r e f a c e the i n -f o r m a t i o n to f o l l o w . K e l l y s a y s : I f we a c c e p t t h a t o n l y the o b j e c t i v e s of e d u c a -t i o n are common, we must be p repa red f o r q u i t e d r a m a t i c d i f f e r e n c e s of c o n t e n t and method to s u i t the d r a m a t i c d i f f e r e n c e s t h a t c l e a r l y e x i s t i n c h i l d r e n ' s s t y l e of l e a r n i n g , i n t e r e s t s , back -g rounds , a m b i t i o n s and the many o t h e r f a c e t s of t h e i r unique p e r s o n a l i t i e s . • K e l l y ' s s t a tement sugges t s the k i n d of c o n s i d e r a t i o n s ne ce s s a r y f o r t e a c h i n g s t u d e n t s i n a mixed a b i l i t y c l a s s -A.V. K e l l y , Teach ing Mixed Abi T i t y C l a s s e s (London: Harper and Row P u b l i s h e r s , 1 974 ) , p. T0~. room and thus i n c l u d e s l i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t s . These c o n s i d e r a t i o n s f o r t e a c h i n g l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s are e v i d e n t in the l i t e r a t u r e r e v i ewed i n t h i s s e c t i o n . C u r r i c u l u m d e s i g n . With few e x c e p t i o n s the l i t e r a -t u r e i n d i c a t e s the need f o r a h i g h l y s t u d e n t - r e l e v a n t c u r r i c u l u m when t e a c h i n g l i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t s . Th i s r e l e v a n c e may r e l a t e to the s t u d e n t s ' own i n t e r e s t s , t h e i r e ve r y day s u r r o u n d i n g s and e x p e r i e n c e s or a d u l t l i f e . I t i s sugges ted t h a t above a l l the c u r r i c u l u m shou ld be at an a p p r o p r i a t e l e v e l f o r the s t u d e n t s and be c l o s e to t h e i r r e a l i t y . The use o f r e l e v a n t c o n t e n t i s thought to improve s t uden t m o t i v a t i o n and enhance t h i n k i n g s k i l l s . The f a c t t h a t many s c i e n c e c u r r i c u l a a re not r e l e v a n t may be e v i d e n c e d in p a r t by l i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t s ' l a c k o f i n t e r e s t and m o t i v a t i o n to l e a r n . The i n t r o d u c t i o n of a r e l e v a n t c u r r i c u l u m i s s a i d to encourage s t u d e n t s t o : be more c u r i o u s ; work i n a more i ndependent manner; become more m o t i v a t e d in t h e i r t a s k s ; improve t h e i r a t t i t u d e s towards s c h o o l ; t e a c h e r s and l e a r n i n g ; l e n g t h e n a t t e n t i o n spans ; u t i l i z e p r e v i o u s l y dormant l e a r n i n g s k i l l s and perhaps a c h i e v e at a h i g h e r l e v e l . Many a u t h o r s i n f a v o u r of the r e l e v a n t c u r r i c u l u m see the need to deve l op t h i s c u r r i c u l u m from s t u d e n t s ' needs and i n t e r e s t s (Brandwein e t a l . 1958, K a r l i n and Berger 1969, Darke 1970, Glasman 1970, Webster 1970, T i s h e r e t a l . 1972, K e l l y 1974, S c o t t i s h Cen t re f o r M a t h e m a t i c s , S c i e n c e and T e c h n i c a l E d u c a t i o n 1976, S tu rge s 1976, W i l kenson and Bowers 1976) . K e l l y c a u t i o n s t h a t we s hou ld not o n l y work to s a t i s f y s t u d e n t s ' i n t e r e s t s and needs but a l s o toward the \" e x -t e n s i o n and d e v e l o p m e n t \" 1 o f t he se i n t e r e s t s . G u l l i f o r d (1969) s t a t e s t h a t r e s e a r c h e s show t h a t the c o n t e n t of cou r se s and methods of t e a c h i n g cannot be d e c i d e d mere l y by c o n s i d e r i n g what the t e a c h e r would l i k e to a c h i e v e . He must a l s o c o n s i d e r what the p u p i l s can bes t s tudy in terms of the s tage o f development i n t h e i r t h i n k i n g . 2 Perhaps the most d e s i r a b l e d e t e r m i n a t i o n of c o n t e n t i s sugges ted by T i s h e r e t a l . (1972) who s t a t e t h a t \"new cou r s e s must be a b l e n d i n g o f what s t u d e n t s see as i m p o r t a n t and 3 what t e a c h e r s p e r c e i v e a s • d e s i r a b l e . \" In o r d e r to deve l op a r e l e v a n t c u r r i c u l u m the s t u d e n t s themse l ve s s hou ld have some say in the t o p i c s to be s t u d i e d . Th i s may i n v o l v e the s t u d e n t s a c t u a l l y g e n e r a t i n g the t o p i c s f o r a s c i e n c e cour se or hav ing some c h o i c e s among a number of h i g h l y r e l e v a n t t o p i c s s e l e c t e d by the t e a c h e r (Newsom 1963, S c o t t i s h E d u c a t i o n Department 1969, Tuckman 1969, 1 I b i d . , p.22. 2 Rona ld G u l l i f o r d , Backwardness and E d u c a t i o n a l F a i l u r e ( S l o ugh : N a t i o n a l Founda t i on of E d u c a t i o n a l Research in Eng land and Wa les , 1969 ) , p.91. 3 R.P. T i s h e r , C.N. Power and L. Endean, e d s . , Fundamental I s sues in S c i e n c e E d u c a t i o n (Sydney: John W i l e y and Sons A u s t r a l i a P t y . L t d . , 1972 ) , p.80. 33 Webster 1970, Ladd 1972, S tu r ge s 1973, Weider 1973, Youn ie 1974, Kershaw and S c o t t 1975, Darke 1976, S t u r ge s 1976, Wragg 1976, W i lde and Sommers 1978) . S tuden t s i n -v o l v e d in a d e c i s i o n making p roce s s where t h e i r d e c i s i o n s are non - token may improve the low s e l f - c o n c e p t o f t e n a s s o c i a t e d w i t h the l i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t . The p a r t i c i p a -t i o n in d e c i s i o n making may a l s o he lp to improve unde r -deve l oped s o c i a l s k i l l s . A number of au tho r s have extended the d e c i s i o n making by s t u d e n t s t o i n c l u d e the s e t t i n g of o b j e c t i v e s and even the r u l e s and t h e i r consequences f o r the c l a s s r o o m (Noar 1967, Tuckman 1969, Newsom 1963, Doohan 1970, T i s h e r e t a l . 1972, Younie 1974, W i lde and Sommers 1978) . Ano the r method by which r e l e v a n t t o p i c s may be chosen i s th rough s t uden t s p a r t i c i p a t i n g in p r o j e c t work. Not o n l y can p r o j e c t work p r o v i d e r e l e v a n c e f o r the s t u d e n t , i t a l s o may enhance s o c i a l i n t e r a c t i o n between s t u d e n t s who may work i n groups of two or more (Newsom 1963, Thomas and Thomas 1965, Noar 1967, S c o t t i s h E d u c a t i o n Department 1969, C o l l e t t e 1973, K e l l y 1974, S choo l s C o u n c i l 1975, S tu rge s 1976). S i n ce many l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s l e a v e s choo l one or two y e a r s e a r l i e r than o t h e r s t u d e n t s a number of a u t h o r s see the need f o r j o b or v o c a t i o n a l l y - o r i e n t e d s c i e n c e c o u r s e s . Mahan (1965) argues t h a t r s i n c e s p e c i a l e d u c a t i o n i s p r o v i d e d f o r those who i n t e n d to p roceed to u n i v e r s i t y i t 34-shou ld a l s o be p r o v i d e d f o r those who i n t e n d to p roceed d i r e c t l y to the wo rk i ng w o r l d . Both Webster (1970) and Younie (1974) propose t h a t j o b - o r i e n t e d c u r r i c u l a may p r o v i d e more r e l e v a n c e and thus m o t i v a t i o n to l e a r n . Wh i le a j o b - o r i e n t e d c u r r i c u l u m i s what s t u d e n t s and pa r en t s want , Newsom (1963) and Schoo l s C o u n c i l (1971) s t a t e t h a t t h i s c u r -r i c u l u m shou ld not be thought of as a gua rantee of a j o b . The r a t e of t e c h n o l o g i c a l change o f t e n e x c l u d e s the po s -s i b i l i t y of p r e p a r i n g s t u d e n t s f o r j o b s which may not e x i s t i n the f u t u r e or e x i s t at the p r e s e n t . S e v e r a l a u t ho r s advocate an emphasis on the e f f e c t s of s c i e n c e on s o c i e t y and on h e l p i n g s t u d e n t s to l i v e i n a t e c h n o l o g i c a l age (Johnson 1 963, L i s o n bee 1 963 , Newsom 1963, L o r e t an and Umars 1966, Oxenhorn 1972, M a r t i n 1973, The S c o t t i s h Cen t re f o r M a t h e m a t i c s , S c i e n c e and T e c h n i c a l E d u c a t i o n 1976, Wi l kenson and Bowers 1976) . The l i t e r a t u r e sugges t s a move towards a broad c u r r i c u l u r n in s c i e n c e which w i l l promote f l e x i b i l i t y i n s t u d e n t s who w i l l be cop i ng w i t h a r a p i d l y chang ing f u t u r e . Webster (1970) s t a t e s t h a t an emphasis s hou ld be p l a c e d on the q u a l i t y of l e a r n i n g e x p e r i e n c e s as opposed to the q u a n t i t y of m a t e r i a l c o v e r e d . When we l ook at the v a s t and r a p i d changes t h a t are t a k i n g p l a c e i n a l l segments of our h i g h l y complex s o c i e t y , we r e a l i z e t h a t i t i s more i m p o r t a n t f o r c h i l d r e n to have q u a l i t a t i v e e x p e r i e n c e s than mere l y memor i z ing f a c t s t h a t may q u i c k l y become obsolete.! _ ^ _ J.W. Webster , \"A S c i e n c e Program f o r the D i s advan taged C h i l d , \" S c i e n c e E d u c a t i o n 54 ( Janua r y - March 1970) : 51 - . 35. The l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t o f t e n r e c e i v e s a wate red down or d i l u t e d s c i e n c e c u r r i c u l u m compared to o t h e r s t u d e n t s . In some cases the l i t e r a t u r e seems to s uppo r t the i d ea of reduced c o n t e n t and c o m p l e x i t y f o r these s t u d e n t s ( F e a t h e r -stone 1951, Shadrach 1970, M a r t i n 1973, M i l l e r 1974) . In o t h e r i n s t a n c e s t h i s d i l u t e d c u r r i c u l u m i s seen t o l a c k r e l e v a n c e and i n t e r e s t to s t u d e n t s (Ladd says t h a t as a r e s u l t o f the reduced c o n t e n t and c o m p l e x i t y a \" d u l l , u n m o t i v a t e d \" 1 s t uden t i s p roduced . Most au tho r s seem to advoca te a r e l e v a n t c u r r i c u l u m w i t h i n which a s t uden t may pursue c o n t e n t to a l e v e l o f c o m p l e x i t y cong ruent w i t h h i s c a p a b i 1 i t i e s . The b a s i s f o r a b r o a d , r e l e v a n t c u r r i c u l u m can be found i n the r a t i o n a l e u n d e r l y i n g the i n t e g r a t e d or 2 i n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r y c u r r i c u l u m . A l a r g e p r o p o r t i o n of the l i t e r a t u r e r ev i ewed s uppo r t s the use of an i n t e g r a t e d or i n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r y c u r r i c u l u m w i t h l i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t s ( F e a t h e r s t o n e 1951, Johnson 1963, Lange and Jo rgensen 1969, Newsom 1 963 , Feshbachi 1 969 , G u l l i f o r d 1 969 , S c o t t i s h E d u c a t i o n Department 1969, Darke 1970, Schoo l s C o u n c i l ]George .1 .Ladd,\"Who C a r e s ! ! (The Slow L e a r n e r : O b j e c t i v e s and E v a l u a t i o n ) , \" School S c i e n c e and Mathemat i c s 72(March 1972):251-3. 2 . Some c o n f u s i o n i n the d e f i n i t i o n o f these two terms e x i s t s w i t h d i f f e r e n t meanings be ing used on each s i d e of the A t l a n t i c . For the purposes of t h i s paper the term i n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r y refers to a s c i e n c e c u r r i c u l u m which d i s r e g a r d s the t r a d i t i o n a l bound-a r i e s between the a rea s o f s c i e n c e in the s tudy of c e n t r a l themes or p rob lems . I n t e g r a t e d s t u d i e s f u r t h e r ex tends the i n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r y bounda r i e s t o o t h e r n o n - s c i e n c e a rea s such as E n g l i s h , s o c i a l s t u d i e s and ma themat i c s . 36 1970, S c o t t i s h Cent re f o r M a t h e m a t i c s , S c i e n c e and T e c h n i c a l E d u c a t i o n 1976, S tu r ge s 1976, Wi l kenson and Bowers 1976) . S tu rge s s t a t e s : 'The wholeness of a p u p i l ' s w o r l d s hou ld not be o v e r l o o k e d in the p l a n n i n g p r o c e s s . As a p u p i l e x p l o r e s t h i n g s t h a t have a roused h i s c u r i o s i t y he w i l l u n c o n s c i o u s l y c r o s s bounda r i e s between s u b j e c t s . I n t e r e s t and m o t i v a t i o n i n s c i e n c e l e s s o n s may stem from c u r r i c u l a wh ich r e f l e c t these p o i n t s .1 • Hughes (1973) adds f u r t h e r we igh t to the use o f an i n t e g r a t e d / i n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r y c u r r i c u l u m by s t a t i n g : S p e c i a l s k i l l s in v a r i o u s s u b j e c t s w i l l o n l y be u s e f u l i f they are an i n t e g r a l p a r t of a comprehens ive ' w h o l e ' . T h e r e f o r e i t i s n e c e s -s a r y to i n t e g r a t e s u b j e c t s w i t h each o t h e r in such a way t h a t they p r o v i d e a g e n e r a l f r ame -work o f the event s of eve ryday l i v i n g . 2 In a r e c e n t a r t i c l e d e f i n i n g the i n t e g r a t e d c u r r i c u l u m and o f f e r i n g a r a t i o n a l e f o r i t s use Brown (1977) s t a t e s t h a t these c u r r i c u l a a r e : more adequate f o r d e a l i n g w i t h many s o c i a l or t e c h n o l o g i c a l p r o b l e m s , r e f l e c t b e t t e r the s t r u c t u r e s and p r o ce s s e s of s c i e n c e , enab l e s t r o n g e r t e a c h e r - p u p i 1 r e l a t i o n s h i p s to be b u i l t up, remove boredom f o r t e a c h e r s of r e -p e t i t i o n of s p e c i a l i s t m a t e r i a l . 3 I b i d . , p. 17. John M. Hughes, The Slow Lea rne r i n Your C l a s s (London: Thomas Ne l son and Sons L t d . , 1 973) , p.32. S a l l y A. Brown, \"A Review of the Meanings o f , and Arguments f o r , I n t e g r a t e d S c i e n c e , \" S t u d i e s in S c i en ce E d u c a t i o n 4 ( 1977 ) : 31-62. The t r a d i t i o n a l c u r r i c u l u m i s thought to a l l o w the t e a c h e r to work in an a rea s u i t e d to h i s t r a i n i n g and i n t e r e s t s , w i l l h e l p s t u d e n t s p repa re f o r f i n a l e x a m i n a t i o n s and u n i v e r s i t y cou r se s and i s a p p r o p r i a t e f o r the appa ra tu s and m a t e r i a l s a l r e a d y i n the s c h o o l s . B rown ' s a n a l y s i s of i n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r y and d i s c i p l i n a r y s c i e n c e e d u c a t i o n l ead s t h i s w r i t e r to advocate the use o f the i n t e r d i s c i p l i n -a ry approach e s p e c i a l l y in the case o f the l i m i t e d s ucce s s s tu dent . Newsom ( 1963 ) , S choo l s C o u n c i l ( 1 970 ) , Hughes ( 1973 ) , . W i l kenson and Bowers (1976) are o f the o p i n i o n t h a t the o v e r l a p o f v a r i o u s s u b j e c t s ( i n t e g r a t i o n ) s e r ve s to r e i n -f o r c e b a s i c communicat ion and computa t i on s k i l l s o f t e n l a c k i n g in the l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t . Wh i le most au tho r s agree t h a t r e a d i n g , w r i t i n g and a r i t h m e t i c s hou ld p l a y an i m p o r t a n t p a r t i n s c i e n c e i n s t r u c t i o n , s e v e r a l au tho r s submit t h a t t h e r e shou ld be reduced emphasis on these s k i l l s ( C o l l e t t e 1973, M i l s o n 1973, Munro 1974) . Au tho r s who advocate reduced dependence on b a s i c s k i l l s do so to a l l o w f o r the a b i l i t i e s o f the l i m i t e d succe s s s t uden t and to ensure t h a t succe s s in the s c i e n c e cou r se i s not t o t a l l y dependent upon these s k i l l s . The advocacy of an i n t e g r a t e d / i n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r y a p p r o a c h , the n e c e s s i t y f o r t o o l s of communicat ion and a n a l y s i s in s c i e n c e and the weakness of l i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t s in the b a s i c s u b j e c t s seem to make the i n c l u s i o n o f r e a d i n g , w r i t i n g and a r i t h m e t i c manda-38 t o r y i n a s c i e n c e cour se f o r l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s . F u r t h e r r e i n f o r c e m e n t of language s k i l l s i s thought to be e n -hanced by s t uden t o r a l work (Newsom 1 963 , Tuckman 1 9 6 9 i Karnes 1970, Oxenhorn 1972, K e l l y 1974, S choo l s C o u n c i l 1975, S c o t -t i s h Cent re f o r M a t h e m a t i c s , S c i e n c e and T e c h n i c a l E d u c a t i o n 1976, S tu rge s 1976) . K e l l y says t h a t a s t u d e n t ' s s ucce s s in one mode o f communicat ion ( e . g . o r a l ) may l e a d to i n c r e a s e d communicat ion in o t h e r modes ( e . g . r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g ) . Approaches to l e a r n i n g : L i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t s seem to l e a r n best th rough an i n d u c t i v e r a t h e r than a d e d u c t i v e approach (Texas E d u c a t i o n a l Agency 1972) . I n d u c t i v e l e a r n i n g (making g e n e r a l i z a t i o n s or p r o v i n g laws u s i ng s p e c i f i c examples ) i s thought to be bes t f a c i l i t a t e d th rough a d i r e c t e d i n q u i r y or p r o b l e m - s o l v i n g approach (Reissman 1965, Reissman 1969, S c o t t i s h E d u c a t i o n Department 1969, Webster 1970, Van Deventer 1972, Texas E d u c a t i o n a l Agency 1972, Wi l kenson and Bowers 1976, Wong 1976) . In c o n t r a s t to the i n q u i r y or d i s c o v e r y approach where s t u d e n t s pursue a problem by d e s i g n i n g t h e i r own e x p e r i m e n t s , t a k i n g t h e i r own data and d e r i v i n g t h e i r own c o n c l u s i o n s , the d i r e c t e d i n q u i r y approach he lp s to ensure the succe s s of s t u d e n t s th rough p r e - s e l e c t e d m a t e r i a l s and p r o c e d u r e s . The comb ina -t i o n of the i n d u c t i v e and d i r e c t e d i n q u i r y approach shou ld he lp to p r o v i d e the i n i t i a l c o n c r e t e e x p e r i e n c e l i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t s need to a i d the development of t h e i r i n -t e l l e c t u a l s k i l l s . In a d d i t i o n t h i s approach may f a c i l i t a t e 39 the growth of the s t u d e n t ' s s e l f - c o n c e p t due to succe s s a t a p r e - d e v i s e d l e a r n i n g t a s k . I f a c o n c r e t e , s t u d e n t c e n t e r e d , a c t i v i t y - o r i e n t e d p roce s s i s to p roceed e f f e c t i v e l y then the c l a s s s hou l d be broken up i n t o sma l l groups or i n d i v i d u a l s (Noar 1967, S c o t t i s h E d u c a t i o n Department 1 969 , Marus.ek : 1 969, M i l s o n 1970, S choo l s C o u n c i l 1970, C o l l e t t e 1973, Hughes 1973, M a r t i n 1973, Bosworth 1975, C l a r k 1975, Fab ino and L i b e r s o n 1975, Darke 1976, S tu r ge s 1976, Wragg 1976) . S t u r ge s i d e n t i f i e s the p o s i t i v e a s p e c t s of sma l l group or i n d i v i d u a l l e a r n i n g as a l l o w i n g f o r i n d i v i d u a l s t u d e n t d i f f e r e n c e s , e n a b l i n g f u r t h e r t ime f o r p e r s o n a l a t t e n t i o n , and imp rove -ment of t e a c h e r - s t u d e n t r e l a t i o n s h i p s . Other a u t h o r s f o c u s on the c o m p o s i t i o n of sma l l g roups . K e l l y (1974) sugges t s the use o f f r i e n d s h i p g r oup i n g by s o c i o m e t r i c t e c h n i q u e s , to enhance the \" s o c i a l e d u c a t i o n \" 1 of t he s t u d e n t . S e v e r a l a u t ho r s b e l i e v e t h a t g r oup i n g b r i g h t e r s t u d e n t s w i t h s l owe r or l e s s m o t i v a t e d s t u d e n t s w i l l improve the l e a r n i n g in both the b r i g h t and the s low s t uden t ( K a r l i n and Berger 1969, S h e l t o n 1971 , S tu r ge s 1 973) . Due to the na t u r e o f c o n c r e t e l e a r n i n g i n a s c i e n c e l a b o r a t o r y i t i s n e c e s s a r y t o m a i n t a i n sma l l c l a s s s i z e (Ausubel 1967, Reissman 1969, Whipple 1969, Oxenhorn 1972, I b i d . , p. 80. 40 Texas E d u c a t i o n a l Agency 1972, C o l l e t t e 1973, Younie 1974) . The v a r i e t y of a c t i v i t i e s f o r s t u d e n t s in i n d i v i d u a l or sma l l group work r e q u i r e s the t e a c h e r to g i v e a t t e n t i o n to the i n d i v i d u a l s or groups i n v o l v e d . In o r d e r t h a t the t e a c h e r has adequate t ime to s u p e r v i s e a l l groups he s hou l d have a r e l a t i v e l y sma l l number of s t u d e n t s . Younie sug -ge s t s t h a t a h e t e r o g e n e o u s l y grouped c l a s s s hou ld be no l a r g e r than t w e n t y - f i v e s t u d e n t s even when taught by an e x p e r i e n c e d t e a c h e r . Both Younie and Oxenhorn advoca te t h a t a homogeneously grouped class: should be le s s ' thantwenty -f i v e s t uden t s in s i z e . In a d d i t i o n , the t e a c h e r must have a sma l l enough c l a s s to enab l e adequate s a f e t y of s t u d e n t s p a r t i c i p a t i n g in a number o f d i f f e r e n t e xpe r imen t s a t one t ime (Oxenhorn 1972, C o l l e t t e 1973) . One p o s s i b l e s o l u t i o n to r e d u c i n g the s t u d e n t / t e a c h e r r a t i o i s team t e a c h i n g (Newsom 1963, Thomas and Thomas 1965, Quayle 1970, S choo l s C o u n c i l 1971, Weaver 1971, J e n k i n s e t a l . 1973, K e l l y 1974, S c h i l l i n g e r 1975, S tu rge s 1976, Wragg 1976) . In team t e a c h i n g two or more t e a c h e r s i n s t r u c t the same group of s t u d e n t s . The a d d i t i o n of ano the r t e a c h e r reduces the s t u d e n t / t e a c h e r r a t i o by a f a c t o r o f two a l l o w i n g t w i c e the t ime f o r i n d i v i d u a l h e l p and imp rov i n g l a b o r a t o r y s a f e t y . Not o n l y can t e a c h e r s work in the a rea s o f t h e i r own e x p e r t i s e and i n t e r e s t they a l s o can b e n e f i t by c l o s e i n t e r a c t i o n w i t h o t h e r t e a c h e r s . S tu rge s (1976) i s qu i c k to p o i n t out the n e c e s s i t y f o r harmony among team 41 members and the need f o r a f l e x i b l e t i m e t a b l e to implement t h i s t e a c h i n g t e c h n i q u e . A common c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of many l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s i s t h e i r unde rdeve loped or reduced i n t e l l e c t u a l s k i l l s , i n c l u d i n g t h e i r a b i l i t y to a b s t r a c t and make g e n e r a l i z a t i o n s . These s t u d e n t s a re a l s o thought to l e a r n more e a s i l y i n a f i r s t h a n d and e x p e r i e n t i a l mode r a t h e r than th rough a b s t r a c -t i o n ; A number o f a u t h o r s t h i n k t h a t a c u r r i c u l u m wh ich a c t i v e l y i n v o l v e s s t u d e n t s i n m a n i p u l a t i o n of c o n c r e t e m a t e r i a l s can f a c i l i t a t e the development of concep t s and a b s t r a c t t h i n k i n g ( .Featherstone 1951, Johnson 1 963 , Newsom 1 963 , Mahan 1 965 , Reissman 1 969 , S t u r ge s 1 973., T i s h e r e t a l . 1972. Younie 1974, S choo l s C o u n c i l 1975, S c o t t i s h Cen t re f o r M a t h e m a t i c s , S c i e n c e and T e c h n i c a l E d u c a t i o n 1976, S tu rge s 1976). I t i s f u r t h e r sugges ted t h a t an i n i t i a l c o n c r e t e e x p e r i e n c e i s n e c e s s a r y to compensate f o r those s t u d e n t s from d i s a d v a n t a g e d backgrounds who have not y e t had the b e n e f i t of tihi s e x p e r i e n c e (Reissman 1 969, Tuckman 1969). Th i s approach to l e a r n i n g l end s i t s e l f to the l a b o r a t o r y - o r i e n t e d s i t u a t i o n in s c i e n c e t e a c h i n g . F u r t h e r c o n c r e t e l e a r n i n g e x p e r i e n c e s are found i n a c t i v i t i e s such as f i e l d t r i p s , d i s p l a y i n g s t uden t work , r o l e p l a y i n g , c l a s s d i s c u s s i o n s , d e m o n s t r a t i o n s and hav ing guest s p e a k e r s . These a c t i v i t i e s a re thought to f a c i l i t a t e concept deve lopment , language development and t r a n s f e r o f l e a r n i n g . In a d d i t i o n t he se a c t i v i t i e s a re seen to be p a r t i c u l a r l y b e n e f i c i a l to s t u d e n t s from d i s advan taged backgrounds ( F e a t h e r s t o n e 1951, W i t t y 1961, K a r l i n and Be rge r 1 969, Schoolis Counc i 1 1 970, Webster 1 970 , Oxenhorn 1972, Janzen 1973, K e l l y 1974, S tu rge s 1976) . Ano the r d imens ion o f c o n c r e t e l e a r n i n g i s a u d i o v i s u a l m a t e r i a l and a i d s . In both t e a c h e r - c e n t e r e d and s t u d e n t -c e n t e r e d 1 s i t u a t i o n s mode l s , s l i d e s , p i c t u r e s , f i l m s , a ud i o r e p r o d u c t i o n s and t e l e v i s i o n p r o v i d e a more c o n c r e t e base f o r l e a r n i n g . A c o m b i n a t i o n o f a u d i o v i s u a l a i d s used to convey one concept p r o v i d e s many modes of l e a r n i n g and r e l a t e s to a v a r i e t y of l e a r n i n g s t y l e s . App roach i ng s t u d e n t s i n a v a r i e t y of modes i s o f t e n termed m u l t i s e n s o r y l e a r n i n g in the l i t e r a t u r e ( F e a t h e r s t o n e 1951, Ausubel 1965, Bloom 1966, S c o t t i s h E d u c a t i o n Department 1969, Webster 1970, S h e l t o n 1971, J e n k i n s e t a l . 1973, T i s h e r et a l . 1972, K e l l y 1974, Youn ie 1974, S choo l s C o u n c i l 1975, S tu r ge s 1976, Wragg 1976) . A move to i n d i v i d u a l i z e d o r sma l l group l e a r n i n g r e -qu i re s ' t h a t s t u d e n t s p roceed at t h e i r own pace and f r e e s the t e a c h e r to work on a o n e - t o - o n e b a s i s w i t h s t u d e n t s . The use of work sheet s i s advoca ted to a l l o w f o r t h i s f l e x i -b i l i t y in s c i e n c e c l a s s e s . By p r o v i d i n g c a r e f u l l y w r i t t e n T e a c h e r - c e n t e r e d l e a r n i n g i s a more t r a d i t i o n a l o r d i d a c t i c approach to l e a r n i n g in c o n t r a s t to s t u d e n t -c e n t e r e d l e a r n i n g where t h e r e i s much s t uden t a c t i v i t y and i n vo l vement in the l e a r n i n g p r o c e s s . 43 co re m a t e r i a l s supp lemented w i t h e x t e n s i o n s f o r en r i chment the t e a c h e r can c a t e r to a whole range of a b i l i t i e s w i t h i n h i s c l a s s . Worksheets are a l s o seen as a i d s to c i r c u m -vent need l e s s note t a k i n g , a r e f e r e n c e and r e c o r d f o r the s t u d e n t , and an a i d to both the s t uden t and t e a c h e r p a r t i -c u l a r l y i f the s t uden t has been absent f rom s choo l (Newsom 1963, Kamm 1969, S c o t t i s h E d u c a t i o n Department 1969, J e n k i n s e t a l . 1973, Schoo l s C o u n c i l 1975, Ross 1975, Darke 1976, S tu rge s 1976, Wi l kenson and Bowers 1976) . R e l a t e d to the need f o r i n d i v i d u a l i z e d or sma l l group l e a r n i n g i s the concept of i n d i r e c t t e a c h i n g . 1 In c o n -t r a s t to an i n d i r e c t t e a c h i n g s t y l e , d i r e c t t e a c h i n g i n -v o l v e s the t e a c h e r be ing more d i d a c t i c and c r i t i c a l o f s t u d e n t s . Us ing m o d i f i c a t i o n s of the F lander s - , System of I n t e r a c t i o n A n a l y s i s Campbel1 ( 1971 ) , C i t r o n and Barnes (1970) examined the d i f f e r e n c e s r e s u l t i n g i n s t u d e n t s i n -s t r u c t e d in a d i r e c t and i n d i r e c t manner. Campbel l found t h a t \" t he i n d i r e c t group was shown to be s u p e r i o r on both 2 a f f e c t i v e and c o g n i t i v e l e v e l s f o r low a c h i e v e r s . \" ^The F l a n d e r s ' System of I n t e r a c t i o n A n a l y s i s d e f i n e s an i n -d i r e c t t e a c h e r as one who f r e q u e n t l y q u e s t i o n s s t u d e n t s , a c -c ep t s and uses s t u d e n t i d e a s , p r a i s e s and encourages s t u d e n t s and a c c e p t s the i r f e e l i n g s . The d i r e c t t e a c h e r f r e q u e n t l y uses the l e c t u r e t e c h n i q u e , g i v e s d i r e c t i o n s t o s t u d e n t s , c r i t i -c i z e s s t u d e n t s , and a t t empt s t o j u s t i f y a u t h o r i t y . 2 James R. C a m p b e l l , \" C o g n i t i v e and A f f e c t i v e P roce s s D e v e l o p -ment and i t s R e l a t i o n to a T e a c h e r ' s I n t e r a c t i o n R a t i o , \" J o u r n a l o f Research i n S c i e n c e Teach ing 8 (December 1971 ) : 31 7-323. 44\" C i t r o n and Barnes found t h a t \" p r ob l em s o l v i n g a b i l i t y \" and \" t o t a l s choo l p e r f o r m a n c e \" 1 was s i g n i f i c a n t l y g r e a t e r f o r s t u d e n t s t augh t in an i n d i r e c t manner. I t seems t h a t the use o f t h i s approach depends l a r g e l y upon the p e d a g o g i c a l b e l i e f s h e l d by the t e a c h e r . I n d i v i d u a l i z e d o r sma l l group i n s t r u c t i o n seems to bes t f a c i l i t a t e the i n d i r e c t t e a c h i n g t e c h n i q u e . As l i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t s have a poor a t t endance r e c o r d , s h o r t a t t e n t i o n span and poor powers of r e t e n t i o n , a n o n - s e q u e n t i a l c u r r i c u l u m i s recommended by a number o f au tho r s (Tanzer 1960, L e r n e r 1965, Fab ino 1975, Kershaw and S c o t t 1975). The n o n - s e q u e n t i a l c u r r i c u l u m s e t s each l e s s o n as an e n t i t y unto i t s e l f . Th i s type of c u r r i c u l u m i s i n t ended to reduce the p o s s i b i l i t y of f a i l u r e by h e l p i n g to ensure t h a t a s t u d e n t ' s ab sence , s h o r t a t t e n t i o n span and poor memory w i l l not be f a c t o r s c a u s i n g him to f a l l beh ind o r become b o r e d , f r u s t r a t e d and h o s t i l e . In c o n -t r a s t o t h e r au tho r s advoca te a sma l l s t e p , l o g i c a l l y • sequenced program f o r l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s ( F e a t h e r -s tone 1951, L e i b h e r r 1966, L o r e t a n and Umars 1966, Moore 1962, Ausubel 1967, Reissman 1969, S h e l t o n 1971, Oxenhorn 1972, Hughes 1973, Younie 1974, S tu rge s 1976, Wong 1976) . I r v i n M. C i t r o n and Cyrus W. Ba rne s , \"The Search f o r More E f f e c t i v e Methods of Teach ing High School B i o l o g y to Slow Lea rne r s Through I n t e r a c t i o n A n a l y s i s . P a r t I: The E f f e c t s of V a r y i n g Teach ing P a t t e r n s , \" J o u r n a l o f Research i n S c i e n c e Teach ing 7 (March 1970 ) : 9-19. 45\" F e a t h e r s t o n e sugges t s t h a t t h e r e w i l l be l i t t l e memory deve lopment i f s t u d e n t s a re not r e q u i r e d to remember im -p o r t a n t a s p e c t s o f a s u b j e c t f rom l e s s o n to l e s s o n . Ausube l (1 966 ) , Bloom (.1 976) and M a r s h a l l (.1 977) b e l i e v e t h a t a s t u d e n t shou ld a c h i e v e a g i v en l e v e l o f mas te ry be f o r e he proceeds t o the next s tage o f a s e q u e n t i a l program. S tu r ge s (1976) recommends t h a t s t r o n g l i n k s be made to f a c i l i t a t e concept f o r m a t i o n when u s i ng a s e q u e n t i a l c u r r i c u l u m . Both S choo l s C o u n c i l (1975) and Wi l kenson and Bowers (1976) submit t h a t an i n t e r m e d i a t e approach u s i ng s h o r t s e l f -c o n t a i n e d u n i t s or module's, may be the o p t i m a l methodo logy . Many t eenage r s do not have o r d e r e d l i v e s o u t s i d e the c l a s s -room and a p p r e c i a t e the s e c u r i t y of a s t r u c t u r e d , s e q u e n t i a l s c i e n c e c o u r s e . In o r de r to he lp s t u d e n t s succeed i n the s e q u e n t i a l l e a r n i n g s i t u a t i o n the s t ep s of the sequence s h o u l d be s u f f i c i e n t l y c h a l l e n g i n g , n o n - t r i v i a l and w i t h i n the c a p a b i l i t i e s o f the s t u d e n t s concerned (Johnson 1963, K a r l i n and Berger 1969, Lange and Jo rgensen 1969, Reissman 1969, Tuckman 1969, Oxenhorn 1972, G l a s s e r 1971, T i s h e r e t a l . 1972, S tu rge s 1976, W i l kenson and Bowers 1976) . E n s u r i n g s u c c e s s . There are s t ep s the t e a c h e r may take to f a c i l i t a t e succes s f o r s t u d e n t s who have e x p e r i e n c e d l i m i t e d succes s in the p a s t . The c r e a t i o n of a c o m f o r t a b l e c l a s s r o o m atmosphere i s one sugges ted by the l i t e r a t u r e ( Tan s l e y and G u l l i f o r d 1965, C rowley 1969, O r n s t e i n 1969, S tu rge s 1976) . S i n c e many l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s do not have o r d e r e d l i v e s o u t s i d e the c l a s s r oom i t i s advoca ted t h a t the s choo l can c r e a t e g r e a t e r f e e l i n g s of s e c u r i t y by p r o v i d i n g a s t r u c t u r e d , c o n s i s t e n t r o u t i n e in the c l a s s -room. Wh i le the e s t a b l i s h m e n t of r o u t i n e s i s sugges ted i t i s a l s o thought i m p o r t a n t to c r e a t e a s i t u a t i o n where the s t uden t has a degree o f independence and r e s p o n s i b i l i t y ( d e c i s i o n mak ing ) . Independence and r e s p o n s i b i l i t y may h e l p the development o f a s t u d e n t ' s s e l f - c o n c e p t and h i s a b i l i t y to be s e l f - d i r e c t i n g ( T a n s l e y and G u l l i f o r d 1965, Tuckman 1 969, Hughes 1 973, J e n k i n s et a l . 1 973) . L i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s need to e x p e r i e n c e succe s s th rough immediate and r e a l g oa l s and r e w a r d s , ( F e a t h e r s t o n e 1951, Johnson 1963, Tuckman 1969, Oxenhorn 1972) . P o s i t i v e r e i n f o r c e m e n t i s one t e c h n i q u e used to encourage s t u d e n t s t o a t t a i n g oa l s s e t by the t e a c h e r or s t u d e n t . I t i s recommended t h a t s t u d e n t s s hou ld a p p r e c i a t e the n a t u r e and purpose o f the goa l s s e t ( L e r n e r 1965, Bloom 1966, Crowley 1969, H u l i c k a 1969, Tuckman 1969, Whipple 1969, Karnes 1970, Janzen 1970, S tu rge s 1976, Wong 1976) . C o n t i n u a l p o s i t i v e r e i n f o r c e m e n t ( i n an o r a l or w r i t t e n form) f o r s i n c e r e e f f o r t and ach ievement may r e v e r s e the p a t t e r n o f f a i l u r e and improve s e l f - c o n c e p t . The i dea of mastery ,:1 earn ing advoca ted by Ausubel ( 1966 ) , Bloom (1976) and M a r s h a l l (1977) seems to sug -ges t the p r o v i s i o n of c o n t i n u a l r e p e t i t i o n and r e v i e w in a v a r i e t y of mean ing fu l ways. O t h e r s , not s p e c i f i c a l l y 47. a d v o c a t i n g mas te ry l e a r n i n g , a l s o p o i n t out the need f o r r e p e t i t i o n and r e v i e w ( F e a t h e r s t o n e 1951, Brandwein e t a l . 1 958, Moore 1 962 , Johnson 1 963, Crowley 1 969, Karnes 1 970, T i s h e r e t a l . 1972, Oxenhorn 1972, M a r t i n 1973, Hughes 1973, Munro 1974, S c o t t i s h Cen t re f o r M a t h e m a t i c s , S c i e n c e and T e c h n i c a l E d u c a t i o n 1976, S tu r ge s 1976) . R e p e t i t i o n and r e v i e w may not o n l y he l p to • f a c i l i t a t e r e t e n t i o n and concept deve lopment but may a l s o p r o v i d e the r e i n f o r c e -ment needed by l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s to a c h i e v e a t a h i g h e r l e v e l o f a t t a i n m e n t . The use o f a v a r i e t y o f mean^ i n g f u l c o n t e x t s and modes of r e p e t i t i o n and r e v i e w f u r t h e r he lp s to p r o v i d e f o r d i f f e r e n t l e a r n i n g s t y l e s . Programmed l e a r n i n g i s t hough t to f a c i l i t a t e l e a r n i n g and succes s f o r l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s (Ausubel 1967, Noar 1967, S c o t t i s h E d u c a t i o n Department 1969, J e n k i n s e t a l . 1973, C o l l e t t e 1973, S tu r ge s 1976) . Most au tho r s advoca te programmed l e a r n i n g as a supplement to o t h e r c l a s s r oom a c t i v i t i e s . A l t hough programmed l e a r n i n g may p r o v i d e t he nece s s a r y sequences and s t ep s t h a t gua ran tee succes s i t reduces the need f o r v e r b a l r e sponse s by s t u d e n t s ( L o r e t a n and Umars 1966). To f i n d a p p r o p r i a t e programmed l e a r n i n g u n i t s [ c o n t e n t , r e a d i n g l e v e l and l e v e l o f d i f -f i c u l t y ) or w r i t e programmed l e a r n i n g sequences i s g e n e r a l l y a d i f f i c u l t and a t ime consuming t a s k . (Ausubel 1966, L o re t an and Umars 1966, Younie 1974) . Each s t uden t s hou ld be made c o n t i n u a l l y aware o f h i s p rog re s s (Whipp le 1969, Janzen 1970) . Th i s s e r ve s to p o i n t out the s t u d e n t ' s s t r e n g t h s ( p o s i t i v e r e i n f o r c e m e n t ) and makes e v i d e n t weaknesses f o r f u r t h e r r e p e t i t i o n and r e v i e w . A g r a p h i c a l r e c o r d of p r o g r e s s by s t u d e n t s i s sugges ted by Karnes (1970) so t h a t a t a l l t imes s t uden t s a re aware of s t r e n g t h s and weaknesses . E v a l u a t i o n and r e p o r t i n g . The ve r y n a t u r e o f e v a l u a -t i o n and r e p o r t i n g may cause a i nx i e t y and l e a d to l i m i t e d s u c c e s s . G l a s s e r (1971) s t a t e s \"any grade l e s s than an A or a B i s a f a i l i n g g r a d e . \" 1 Most au tho r s who have w r i t t e n about e v a l u a t i o n tend to advoca te a t ype o f f o r m a t i v e 2 e v a l u a t i o n (Johnson 1963, Thomas and Thomas 1965, G l a s s e r 1971, S c r i v e n 1967, Darke 1976, S tu rge s 1976, Wragg 1976) . Wragg sugges t s the grade of C as a s t a n d a r d b a s e l i n e . S tudent s making p o s i t i v e p r o g r e s s would r e c e i v e A ' s or B ' s , o t h e r s t u d e n t s not making headway would r e c e i v e D's or E ' s . In Wragg ' s p l an a s t u d e n t o f low a b i l i t y c o u l d r e c e i v e an A w h i l e a h i g he r a b i l i t y s t uden t might o n l y a c h i e v e a B s t a n d i n g or l e s s . Darke (1976) b e l i e v e s t h a t e v a l u a t i o n s hou l d be conducted on a week to week b a s i s 1 Wi11 iam G l a s s e r M.D., \" Reach i ng the U n m o t i v a t e d , \" The S c i e n c e Teacher 38 (March 1971 ) : 18-22 2 Fo rma t i v e e v a l u a t i o n , i n c o n t r a s t to summative e v a l u a t i o n (where s t u d e n t s are e v a l u a t e d and graded based on t h e i r s t a n d i n g compared to o t h e r s t u d e n t s ) , a s s e s se s the p r o g r e s s o f a s t u d e n t r e l a t i v e to h i s p r e v i o u s ach ievement and t a k -ing i n t o account h i s p a r t i c u l a r s t r e n g t h s and weaknesses . c o n c e n t r a t i n g on i d e n t i f y i n g s t u d e n t ' s s t r e n g t h s and weak-ne s se s . G l a s s e r (1971) and Darke (1976) sugges t the r e -p lacement o f f o rma l l e t t e r grades in f a v o u r of t e a c h e r -s t uden t i n t e r v i e w s and a n e c d o t a l r e p o r t s . A more r e a l i s t i c approach may be t h a t advoca ted by S tu r ge s (1976) . S t u r ge s sugges t s t h a t a s t u d e n t ' s mark be a compos i te of both a t t a i n m e n t and e f f o r t . Whatever e v a l u a t i o n and r e p o r t i n g p roce s s i s chosen a l l a u tho r s s t r e s s the need f o r a b r o a d l y based e v a l u a t i o n scheme. Hughes (1973) s t a t e s t h a t we must take i n t o account the p s y c h o l o g i c a l , p h y s i c a l , e m o t i o n a l and s o c i a l a s p e c t s i n o r d e r to he lp p r o v i d e a. tota l i m p r e s s i o n of a s t uden t f o r e v a l u a t i o n . A move to mixed a b i l i t y t e a c h i n g w i l l l i k e l y r e q u i r e a c l o s e c o n s i d e r a t i o n of e v a l u a t i o n and r e p o r t i n g p r o c e d u r e s . One such c o n s i d e r a -t i o n may r e v o l v e about the i m p l e m e n t a t i o n of an e s s e n t i a l l y n o n - c o m p e t e t i v e s choo l s i t u a t i o n w i t h i n a h i g h l y c o m p e t i t i v e s o c i e t y . Summary of a p p r o p r i a t e t e a c h i n g methods The l i s t below d e l i n e a t e s those t e a c h i n g methods t h a t are advocated in the l i t e r a t u r e as a p p r o p r i a t e f o r t e a c h i n g l i m i t e d s ucce s s s t u d e n t s . Not i n c l u d e d i n t h i s summary l i s t a re those methods where t h e r e seems to be a d i f f e r e n c e of o p i n i o n amongst the au tho r s of the l i t e r a t u r e ( f o r example , the use of a s e q u e n t i a l or n o n - s e q u e n t i a l p rog ram) . so\" A s c i e n c e cour se f o r l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s shou ld i n -c l ude c o n s i d e r a t i o n o f the f o l l o w i n g p r a c t i c e s and app roache s : - m i x e d - a b i 1 i t y c l a s s e s - a r e l e v a n t c u r r i c u l u m based on s t uden t needs and i n t e r e s t s - an e lement of s t uden t d e c i s i o n - making . - a component o f s t uden t p r o j e c t s - a j ob or v o c a t i o n a l l y o r i e n t e d program - an i n t e g r a t e d o r i n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r y approach - an i n d u c t i v e l e a r n i n g mode i n a d i r e c t e d i n q u i r y approach - a c o n c r e t e , a c t i v i t y - o r i e n t e d approach - a sma l l group or i n d i v i d u a l i z e d l e a r n i n g s i t u a t i o n - a use o f team t e a c h i n g - a use o f f i e l d t r i p s , s t u d e n t d i s p l a y , r o l e p l a y i n g , c l a s s d i s c u s s i o n s , d e m o n s t r a t i o n s , guest speaker s and o r a l work - a.use of a u d i o - v i s u a l a i d s - a- use o f work sheet s - a more i n d i r e c t t e a c h i n g approach - a c o n s i s t e n t c l a s s r o u t i n e - a use o f p o s i t i v e r e i n f o r c e m e n t - a use o f r e p e t i t i o n and r e v i e w - a use of programmed l e a r n i n g - e n s u r i n g s t u d e n t s ' awareness of t h e i r p r o g r e s s - an eva l u a t i o n scheme which a c coun t s f o r the p r o g r e s s of the i n d i v i d u a l . 51' Teacher a t t i t u d e s , t r a i n i n g and c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s In t e a c h i n g the l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t Brandwein e t a l . (.1 958) s t a t e t h a t \" t h e t e a c h e r i s the k e y . \" 1 Of p r i m a r y impor tance i s the a t t i t u d e of the t e a c h e r toward h i s s t u d e n t s . The two predominant a t t i t u d e s t e a c h e r s of l i m i t e d succes s s t uden t s s hou ld possess are the d e s i r e to t each the se s t u d e n t s and a t r u e r e s p e c t f o r t he se s t u d e n t s ( F e a t h e r s t o n e 1951, Johnson 1963, Ausubel 1967, Reissman 1969, G l a s s e r 1971, Younie 1974). A t e a c h e r h o l d i n g the se a t t i t u d e s w i l l l i k e l y be p a t i e n t ; f i r m ; c o n s i s t e n t ; s y m p a t h e t i c ; u n d e r s t a n d i n g ; s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d ; warm; f a i r and d e m o c r a t i c as the l i t e r a t u r e has sugges ted they shou ld be. Whi le these c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s may seem to be those of a l l good t e a c h e r s , S tu rge s (1976) sees them as e s s e n t i a l to the s e c u r i t y needs o f the l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t . Many a u t h o r s a d v i s e t h a t t e a c h e r t r a i n i n g , a t both the p re - and i n - s e r v i c e l e v e l , i s n e c e s s a r y to f a c i l i t a t e the growth and development o f the a p p r o p r i a t e a t t i t u d e s , c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s and the l e a r n i n g of the n e c e s s a r y s k i l l s and methods f o r t e a c h i n g the l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t (Johnson 1963, L e i b h e r r 1966, Ausubel 1967, Reissman 1969, Tuckman 1969, Whipple 1969, Janzen 1970, S choo l s C o u n c i l 1970, .Schools C o u n c i l 1971, C o l l e t t e 1 973, M a r t i n 1 973 , K e l l y 1 974 , ^ a u l F. B r andwe i n , F l e t c h e r G. Watson and Paul E. B l a c kwood , Teach ing High School S c i e n c e : A Book o f Methods (New York : H a r c o u r t , Brace and Wor ld I n c . , 1958) , p.150. Younie 1974, Quelch 1975, S choo l s C o u n c i l 1975). Not o n l y do t e a c h e r s need t e a c h i n g s k i l l s which are s t i m u l a t i n g they s hou ld a l s o be \" i m m a g i n a t i v e i n t u i t i v e and r e s o u r c e f u l \" ( S choo l s C o u n c i l 1 9 7 0 ) . 1 Teachers s hou ld a l s o know \" t h e 2 t h e o r e t i c a l u n d e r p i n n i n g s \" of e d u c a t i o n ( K e l l y 1974) . K e l l y sugges t s t h a t t e a c h e r s i n t h e i r p r e - s e r v i c e t r a i n i n g shou ld not \" t a k e too many s u b j e c t s . \" He s t a t e s t h a t i f too many d i f f e r e n t s u b j e c t s are taken then the p r e - s e r v i c e t e a c h e r \" w i l l not become e x p e r t in a n y . . . a n d , t h e r e f o r e , w i l l be in no p o s i t i o n to p r o v i d e the p u p i l s w i t h an educa -3 t i o n of any r e a l m e r i t . \" Many a u t h o r s s t a t e t h a t the e x -p e r i e n c e d t e a c h e r o f t e n does not t each the l i m i t e d s u c -cess s t uden t ( i f homogeneously g r ouped ) . The t e a c h i n g of these groups i s o f t e n l e f t to the l e a s t e x p e r i e n c e d t e a c h e r s in the s choo l ( S tu r ge s 1976) . A move to mixed a b i l i t y g r oup i ng as sugges ted by many a u t h o r s , w i l l c r e a t e a s i t u a t i o n i n which a l l t e a c h e r s wi11 have l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s i n t h e i r c l a s s e s . Mixed a b i l i t y s c i e n c e t e a c h i n g w i l l n e c e s s i t a t e t h a t p r e - s e r v i c e and i n - s e r v i c e i n s t r u c t i o n S choo l s C o u n c i l , C u r r i c u l u m B u l l e t i n 3: Changes in Schoo l S c i e n c e Teach ing (London: Evans , Methuen E d u c a t i o n a l , 1970) , p.112. 2 1 b i d. , p. 115. 3 I b i d . , p. 117. 53. be p r o v i d e d to new and e x p e r i e n c e d t e a c h e r s CSchools C o u n c i l 1970, S choo l s C o u n c i l 1971, K e l l y 1974, S choo l s C o u n c i l 1975, S tu rge s 1976) . Conc lu s ion Th i s r e v i e w has i n d i c a t e d the e x i s t e n c e of a group o f s t u d e n t s who have d i f f i c u l t y in s choo l and i n p a r t i c u l a r in s c i e n c e . Some f a c t o r s l e a d i n g to these d i f f i c u l t i e s and the s t uden t c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s r e s u l t i n g have been o u t -l i n e d . A number of t e a c h i n g methods have been i d e n t i f i e d to h e l p dea l w i t h the se s t u d e n t s who have e x p e r i e n c e d l i m i t e d succe s s in s c i e n c e . The l i t e r a t u r e r e v i ewed p r o v i d e d the b a s i s f o r the c o n s t r u c t i o n of a q u e s t i o n n a i r e de s i gned to e l i c i t i n -f o r m a t i o n on c u r r e n t t e a c h i n g p r a c t i c e s f o r l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s in j u n i o r secondary s c i e n c e i n B.C. CHAPTER 2 Development o f the D e s c r i p t i v e Survey I n s t rument Impetus and i n t e n t s of s u r vey At the p r e s e n t t ime i n B.C. t h e r e i s one c u r r i c u l u m sugges ted f o r a l l j u n i o r seconda ry s c i e n c e s t u d e n t s . Th i s c u r r i c u l u m has been in use s i n c e 1968. Any m o d i f i c a t i o n of t h i s c u r r i c u l u m and development of r e l a t e d t e a c h i n g methods i s c a r r i e d out by i n d i v i d u a l s c h o o l s or t e a c h e r s w i t h l i t t l e d i s c u s s i o n or commun i ca t i on . A s ea r ch o f the l i t e r a t u r e has r e v e a l e d o n l y one s tudy in B.C. of j u n i o r secondary l i m i t e d succes s s c i e n c e s t u d e n t s (Quelch 1975) . as opposed to the l a r g e volume of l i t e r a t u r e from B r i t a i n and the U n i t e d S t a t e s . The p r o b a b l e s i z e of the l i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t p o p u l a t i o n in B.C. and the l a c k of l o c a l i n f o r m a t i o n and communicat ion r e g a r d i n g the se s t u d e n t s and t h e i r s c i e n c e c o u r s e s , has prompted the w r i t e r to be-come more f a m i l i a r w i t h t h i s a rea o f s c i e n c e e d u c a t i o n in B.C. s c h o o l s . As a f i r s t s t ep i n d e v e l o p i n g an u n d e r s t a n d i n g of s c i e n c e i n s t r u c t i o n f o r l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s a de -s c r i p t i v e su r vey has been conducted at the j u n i o r secondary l e v e l , grades e i g h t , n i ne and t e n . The su rvey add re s sed i t s e l f to the f o l l o w i n g q u e s t i o n s : 54 1. What i s the s i z e o f the l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t p o p u l a t i o n at the j u n i o r secondary l e v e l , i n B.C.? 2. What e d u c a t i o n a l p r a c t i c e s ( g r o u p i n g , c u r r i c u l u m , approaches to l e a r n i n g , e v a l u a t i o n and r e p o r t i n g ) are p r e s e n t l y be i ng used to t each s c i e n c e to l i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t s ? 3. What i s the e d u c a t i o n a l background and e x p e r i e n c e of t e a c h e r s of l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s ? Us ing the data o b t a i n e d from the answers to the q u e s t i o n s above i t was p o s s i b l e to addres s the f o l l o w i n g b roader i s s u e s : 1. How do e s t a b l i s h e d s c i e n c e t e a c h i n g p r a c t i c e s in B.C. compare w i t h tho se deve l oped o u t s i d e B.C.? What i m p l i c a t i o n s , i f any, do d i f f e r e n c e s in p r a c t i c e have f o r l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s , t e a c h e r s , a d m i n i s t r a t o r s and o t h e r i n s t i t u t i o n s ? 2. In what ways can s c i e n c e e d u c a t i o n be enhanced f o r l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s ? 3. What f u r t h e r r e s e a r c h shou ld be conducted? A d d i t i o n a l i n t e n t s of the s u r vey were: to p r o v i d e a f o u n d a t i o n f o r f u r t h e r communicat ion w i t h the t e a c h i n g community; to expose the i s s u e s debated i n the l i t e r a t u r e and p r o v i d e a d d i t i o n a l i n f o r m a t i o n on r e l e v a n t c u r r i c u l a and t e a c h i n g methods from B r i t a i n , the U n i t e d S t a t e s and A u s t r a l i a. 5:6. Survey i n s t r u m e n t de s i gn In o r de r to addres s the broad q u e s t i o n s o u t l i n e d in the i n t r o d u c t i o n to t h i s c h a p t e r , a t e a c h e r q u e s t i o n n a i r e was d e v e l o p e d . Source of q u e s t i o n n a i r e i tems The r e v i ew of the l i t e r a t u r e r e v e a l e d a number of a reas p e r t i n e n t to the t e a c h i n g of l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s . These a reas i n c l u d e d : the c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of l i m i t e d sue? cess s t u d e n t s ; a p p r o p r i a t e t e a c h i n g methods f o r l i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t s and a p p r o p r i a t e t e a c h e r a t t i t u d e s , c h a r a c t e r -i s t i c s and t r a i n i n g . The most p r e v a l e n t s t a tement s and s u g g e s t i o n s o c c u r r i n g w i t h i n the i d e n t i f i e d a reas were used to gene ra te the q u e s t i o n n a i r e i t e m s . For examp le , the l i t e r a t u r e sugges ted a number of d i f f e r e n t ways in which a s c i e n c e cou r se f o r l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s c o u l d be de -v e l o p e d . Teachers were asked to e s t i m a t e the e x t e n t to which they based t h e i r s c i e n c e cou r se s on the v a r i o u s methods of cou r se development sugges ted i n the l i t e r a t u r e . Other q u e s t i o n n a i r e i tems were produced by the w r i t e r to f i l l i n a d d i t i o n a l i n f o r m a t i o n . For examp le , t e a c h e r s were asked to p r o v i d e i n f o r m a t i o n on the s choo l s i z e and t i m e -t a b l e f o r s c i e n c e i n t h e i r p a r t i c u l a r s c h o o l . S p e c i f i c i n f o r m a t i o n cove red by q u e s t i o n n a i r e i tems The i tems o f the q u e s t i o n n a i r e asked f o r s p e c i f i c 57 i n f o r m a t i o n i n the f o l l o w i n g a r e a s : 1. S t uden t s - s i z e of the l i m i t e d succes s s t uden t p o p u l a t i o n - d i s t r i b u t i o n o f l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s by sex - ach ievement of l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s 2. Teachers - unde rg radua te and g radua te back -grounds - t e a c h e r t r a i n i n g r e l a t e d to l i m i t e d s ucce s s s t u d e n t s - t o t a l t e a c h i n g e x p e r i e n c e . - t e a c h i n g e x p e r i e n c e w i t h l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s ; - p r e s e n t s u b j e c t a reas and grades t augh t 3. S c i e n c e Programs - a p p r o p r i a t e n e s s and use o f t e x t ( s ) and l a b o r a t o r y manua l ( s ) - cou r se c o n t e n t d e t e r m i n a t i o n - t e a c h i n g methods - s t u d e n t e v a l u a t i o n - s c i e n c e program e v a l u a t i o n 4. S choo l s - grade l e v e l range. - p o p u l a t i o n of s c h o o l . - s choo l t i m e t a b l e f o r s c i e n c e ( f u l l y e a r / s e m e s t e r ) . - number of hours of s c i e n c e per week ,. - s c i e n c e c l a s s s i z e Q u e s t i o n n a i r e fo rmat I n f o r m a t i o n was e l i c i t e d from t e a c h e r s t h rough m u l t i p l e c h o i c e q u e s t i o n n a i r e i t e m s . Whenever a p p r o p r i a t e , space was p r o v i d e d to a l l o w f o r t e a c h e r comment. The f o rmat of each i t em was chosen by c o n s i d e r i n g the na t u r e of the i n f o r m a t i o n r e q u i r e d and by m o d e l l i n g q u e s t i o n s on p r e v i o u s l y s u c c e s s -f u l q u e s t i o n n a i r e s (Hambleton 1970, B.C. L e a r n i n g A s s e s s -ment J u n i o r Secondary S c i e n c e Teacher Survey 1978, Nasr 1977) The q u e s t i o n n a i r e was d i v i d e d i n t o t h r ee major s e c t i o n s : 1. The f i r s t s e c t i o n d e a l t w i t h t e a c h e r background and s choo l i n f o r m a t i o n , . 2. The second s e c t i o n was p receded by a s t a tement i n d i c a t i n g the d o u b l e - b r a n c h e d n a t u r e of the q u e s t i o n -n a i r e . One branch was answered by t e a c h e r s who t augh t s c i e n c e to l i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t s i n homogeneously grouped c l a s s e s . The p a r a l l e l branch was responded to by t e a c h e r s who taught s c i e n c e to these s t u d e n t s in h e t e r o g e n e o u s l y grouped c l a s s e s 3. The t h i r d s e c t i o n was responded to by a l l t e a c h e r s . Th i s s e c t i o n d e a l t w i t h the s t r u c t u r e and c o n t e n t o f t e a c h e r s ' j u n i o r s c i e n c e programs E v a l u a t i o n of q u e s t i o n n a i r e p r i o r to d i s t r i b u t i o n I n i t i a l v e r s i o n s of the q u e s t i o n n a i r e were examined and r e v i s e d th rough c o n s u l t a t i o n w i t h t h e s i s committee mem-b e r s . A d d i t i o n a l comments were e l i c i t e d th rough a d m i n i s t r a -t i o n o f the q u e s t i o n n a i r e to seven j u n i o r secondary s c i e n c e t e a c h e r s i n Richmond Schoo l D i s t r i c t . Three of t he se t e a c h e r s t augh t s c i e n c e i n homogeneously grouped c l a s s e s w h i l e the r e m a i n i n g f o u r t e a c h e r s t augh t i n h e t e r o g e n e o u s l y 59-grouped s c i e n c e c l a s s e s . The seven t e a c h e r s were asked to complete a p i l o t v e r s i o n o f the q u e s t i o n n a i r e and comment on i t s c o n t e n t and f o r m a t . F u r t h e r c o n s u l t a t i o n w i t h t h e s i s committee members and use o f the i n f o r m a t i o n from the p i l o t r e s u l t e d in the f i n a l v e r s i o n of the q u e s t i o n n a i r e . (Append ix A ) . Due to the l a c k of major a m b i g u i t y e v i d e n c e d in the f i r s t p i l o t a second p i l o t was deemed unnece s s a r y . Re 1 i ab i 1 i t y The q u e s t i o n n a i r e was de s i gned to sample t e a c h e r s ' i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f the na t u r e and s t r u c t u r e of t h e i r s c i e n c e cou r se s f o r l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s . Teachers a l s o r e -p o r t e d on t h e i r e d u c a t i o n a l background and t e a c h e r t r a i n -i n g . Most of the i n f o r m a t i o n r e q u e s t e d was f a c t u a l i n o r i g i n . K e r l i n g e r ( 1973 ) , i n h i s d i s c u s s i o n on c h e c k i n g su r vey d a t a , c i t e s Pa r t en (1950) whose work on su r vey s has shown t h a t the r e l i a b i l i t y of \" p e r s o n a l f a c t u a l i t e m s \" 1 i s h i g h . I t was a l s o assumed t h a t the k i n d of i n f o r m a t i o n r e -ques ted would not change r a d i c a l l y over the 1978 p o r t i o n of the s choo l y e a r . G iven the na t u r e of the data c o n s t a n c y and the p r e v i o u s f i n d i n g s on r e l i a b i l i t y of su r vey s the q u e s t i o n -n a i r e was judged to have a s u f f i c i e n t l y h igh l e v e l of r e l i a b i 1 i t y . F red N. K e r l i n g e r , Founda t i on s of B e h a v i o r a l Research 2nd e d . , (New York : H o l t R i n e h a r t and W i n s t o n , Inc . 1973 ) , p. 417. Sampl ing pIan The p o p u l a t i o n sampled was d e f i n e d to be those t e a c h e r s t e a c h i n g at l e a s t one of s c i e n c e e i g h t , n i ne or ten i n the p u b l i c s c h o o l s of B.C. Many j u n i o r s c i e n c e t e a c h e r s t e a ch more than one grade l e v e l o f s c i e n c e , f o r example grade e i g h t and t e n . M i n i s t r y of E d u c a t i o n s t a t i s t i c s 1 r e p o r t the t o t a l number of t e a c h e r s i n s t r u c t i n g s c i e n c e e i g h t , n i ne and t e n . Hence a t e a c h e r might appear i n the M i n i s t r y l i s t i n g up to t h r e e t i m e s . Some form o f s amp l i ng was r e -q u i r e d to chose t e a c h e r s o n l y once and to ensure an equa l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of t e a c h e r s a t each grade l e v e l . P e r m i s s i o n was g r an ted by the M i n i s t r y of E d u c a t i o n to use the s amp l i n g frame r e c e n t l y employed by the S c i e n c e L e a r n i n g Assessment 2 Su rvey . Th i s s amp l i ng f r ame , deve l oped by B.C. R e s e a r c h , u t i l i z e d the i n f o r m a t i o n t e a c h e r s s u b m i t t e d to the M i n i s t r y of E d u c a t i o n i n September 1977. The s amp l i ng frame l a b e l l e d each t e a c h e r as a grade e i g h t , n i ne or ten t e a c h e r a c c o r d i n g to t h e i r t e a c h i n g l o a d . For examp le , a t e a c h e r t e a c h i n g two grade e i g h t s c i e n c e c l a s s e s , one grade n ine s c i e n c e c l a s s and f o u r c l a s s e s in o t h e r s u b j e c t a reas would have a two-At the b e g i n n i n g of each s choo l y e a r a l l B.C. t e a c h e r s are r e q u i r e d to complete form \" J \" f o r the M i n i s t r y of E d u c a t i o n . Th i s form r e q u i r e s t e a c h e r s to l i s t the t r a i n i n g and t e a c h -i ng e x p e r i e n c e they have had i n a d d i t i o n to the s u b j e c t s and t e a c h i n g l o a d they p r e s e n t l y c a r r y . B.C. R e s e a r c h , 3650 Wesbrook M a l l , Vancouve r , Canada V6S 2L2. 61 t h i r d s p r o b a b i l i t y of be ing chosen as a s c i e n c e e i g h t t e a c h e r and a o n e - t h i r d p r o b a b i l i t y of be ing chosen as a s c i e n c e n i n e t e a c h e r . When cho sen , each t e a c h e r was a s s i g n e d a grade l e v e l f o r s c i e n c e by p r o b a b i l i t y and was removed from the p o p u l a -t i o n t o p reven t a second s e l e c t i o n . The p o p u l a t i o n s i z e de te rm ined by the s amp l i ng frame y i e l d e d the f o l l o w i n g numbers: S c i e n c e -8 S c i e n c e 9 S c i e n c e 10 N = 439 N = 425 N = 444 T o t a l N =1308 Us ing t h i s t o t a l i t was p o s s i b l e t o c a l c u l a t e the sample s i z e (n) by a p p l y i n g C o c h r a n ' s (1963) f o r m u l a 1 and g i v en the f o l l o w i n g i n f o r m a t i o n : l e v e l o f c o n f i d e n c e = 95% (z = 2.00) maximum a l l o w a b l e e r r o r = 5% (e = 0.05) maximum v a r i a n c e = 50% (p = 0.5) n - N z 2 pq w h e r e = 1 _ — 2 — ~ ~ 2 ~ ~ Ner + z pq s u b s t i t u t i n g f o r N, z , p and q n = 306 or 23.4% of the p o p u l a t i o n . W i l l i a m G. Coch ran , Sampl ing T e c h n i q u e s , 2nd e d . , (New Yo rk : John W i l e y and Sons Inc . 1 96 3 ) , p.75. T h i r t e e n p e r c e n t o f B.C. s choo l d i s t r i c t s d i d not wish to p a r t i c i p a t e in the s u r vey . To ensure an adequate sample s i z e i n advance o f - c o n t a c t i n g a l l s choo l d i s t r i c t s i t was d e c i d e d to add a minimum of 10% more t e a c h e r s to the sample. B.C. Research sugges ted a sample s i z e of 25% or 33% f o r the random s y s t e m a t i c s amp l i ng method used (Append ix B ) . A 33% sample was chosen to a l l o w f o r non -p a r t i c i p a t i n g s choo l d i s t r i c t s and to p r o v i d e a g r e a t e r base f o r g e n e r a l i z a b i 1 i t y of r e s u l t s . The s amp l i ng p r o -cedure used a randomly chosen s t a r t i n g p o i n t and then s e l e c t e d eve ry t h i r d t e a c h e r a t each grade l e v e l . The number o f t e a c h e r s sampled at each grade l e v e l was: S c i e n c e 8 : n = 146 S c i e n c e 9 ': n = 142 S c i e n c e 10 ': n = 148 T o t a l n = 436 A f i n a l sample s i z e of 366 (28%) was u t i l i z e d a f t e r the t e a c h e r s from the n o n - p a r t i c i p a t i n g s choo l d i s t r i c t s were d e l e t e d . The f i n a l d i s t r i b u t i o n of t e a c h e r s was: S c i e n c e 8 : n = 125 S c i e n c e 9 : n = 122 S c i e n c e 10 : n = 119 T o t a l n = 366 6 3' P rocedu re s S u p e r i n t e n d e n t s of a l l B.C. s choo l d i s t r i c t s were c o n t a c t e d by ma i l p r i o r to the d i s t r i b u t i o n of q u e s t i o n -n a i r e s (Append ix C) . Once a u t h o r i z a t i o n was o b t a i n e d from the S u p e r i n t e n d e n t s t o conduct the su rvey in t h e i r d i s t r i c t , P r i n c i p a l s of the t e a c h e r s i n v o l v e d were n o t i f i e d of the i n t e n t o f the s tudy and asked to c oope r a t e (Appendix D). S h o r t l y a f t e r the l e t t e r s to the P r i n c i p a l s were m a i l e d the q u e s t i o n n a i r e was d i s t r i b u t e d to the s c i e n c e t e a c h e r s . Sampled t e a c h e r s r e c e i v e d a c o v e r i n g l e t t e r (Append ix E) a q u e s t i o n n a i r e and a p r e - s t a m p e d , s e 1 f - a d d r e s s e d r e t u r n e n v e l o p e . A l l q u e s t i o n n a i r e s were coded w i t h a t h r e e d i g i t number i n o r d e r to implement f o l l o w - u p p r o c e d u r e s . These f o l l o w - u p p rocedu re s were i n i t i a t e d a p p r o x i m a t e l y ten days a f t e r the i n i t i a l q u e s t i o n n a i r e m a i l i n g (Append ix F ) . A n a l y s i s Upon r e c e i p t of the comp le ted q u e s t i o n n a i r e s , the re sponses were coded and punched on computer c a r d s . The U.B.C. M u l t i v a r i a t e Con t i n gency T a b u l a t i o n s computer p r o -gram (MVTAB) was used to c a l c u l a t e both f r e q u e n c y of r e -sponse and pe r cen tage re sponse to i tems of the q u e s t i o n n a i r e . Most a n a l y s i s r e q u i r e d o n l y u n i v a r i a t e c o n s i d e r a t i o n s . How-e v e r , c e r t a i n compar i sons between re sponse i tems were r e -q u i r e d , such as between p r o v i s i o n s f o r l i m i t e d s ucce s s s t u d e n t s and n o n - l i m i t e d succes s s t uden t s i n homogeneously 64 grouped c l a s s e s . To make compar i sons such as t h i s the b i v a r i a t e o p t i o n of the MVTAB program was used. The r e s u l t s o f t h i s a n a l y s i s a re d i s c u s s e d i n the f o l l o w i n g c h a p t e r . CHAPTER 3 RESULTS I n t r o d u c t ion In t h i s c h a p t e r the r e s u l t s of the q u e s t i o n n a i r e , a s r e p o r t e d by the sample o f B.C. j u n i o r secondary s c i e n c e t e a c h e r s , a r e p r e s e n t e d . Tab le s of r e l a t e d r e s u l t s a re grouped t o g e t h e r under the f o l l o w i n g h e a d i n g s : - Q u e s t i o n n a i r e re sponse (page 66) - Demographic data (page 67) _ Teach i ng e x p e r i e n c e (page 69) - S choo l s (page 71 ) - E x t en t and c o m p o s i t i o n o f the l i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t p o p u l a t i o n in B.C. (page 72) - Teach ing methods p r e s e n t l y in use f o r l i m i t e d s ucce s s s t u d e n t s in B.C. (page 77) - Teacher att i tudes .and . t r a in ing (page 103) Tab l e s of r e s u l t s a re not n e c e s s a r i l y l i s t e d i n the o r de r t h a t the c o r r e s p o n d i n g i tems of the q u e s t i o n n a i r e o c c u r . To a i d c r o s s - r e f e r e n c e w i t h the c o r r e s p o n d i n g q u e s t i o n n a i r e i tem the number o f the i tem appears i n p a r -e n t h e s i s p r e c e e d i n g the t a b l e t i t l e . Each t a b l e r e p o r t s both the f r e q u e n c y and p e r c e n t re sponse to the q u e s t i o n n a i r e i t e m . A number of q u e s t i o n n a i r e i tems were m u l t i p l e re sponse i tems ( e . g . i tem one and t h i r t e e n ) . Teachers had the o p t i o n 65 to check more than one a l t e r n a t i v e w i t h i n such an i t e m . The a n a l y s i s o f these i tems r e q u i r e d each a l t e r n a t i v e t o be c o n s i d e r e d as a s e p a r a t e i t e m . T h e r e f o r e the p e r c e n t re sponse r e p o r t e d in a r e l a t e d t a b l e does not n e c e s s a r i l y t o t a l 100. The t a b l e s r e p o r t i n g m u l t i p l e re sponse i tem r e s u l t s have an a s t e r i s k (*) f o l l o w i n g the t a b l e number. A summary of the major f i n d i n g s of the q u e s t i o n n a i r e may be found i n Append ix H. Q u e s t i o n n a i r e re sponse A t o t a l o f 336 q u e s t i o n n a i r e s were m a i l e d on May 15, 1978 to the sample t e a c h e r s . The s choo l d i s t r i c t s p a r t i c i -p a t i n g (87% o f B.C. s choo l d i s t r i c t s ) r e p r e s e n t e d a wide range o f r u r a l / u r b a n and s o c i oeconom i c a reas in the P r o v i n c e . A p p r o x i m a t e l y 220 q u e s t i o n n a i r e s were r e t u r n e d by May 26, 1978 a t which p o i n t 145 f o l l o w - u p l e t t e r s and q u e s t i o n n a i r e s were m a i l e d . By June 30, 1978 310 (85%) q u e s t i o n n a i r e s had been r e t u r n e d . A t o t a l o f 299 (82%) of the r e t u r n e d q u e s t i o n -n a i r e s were s u i t a b l e f o r a n a l y s i s p u r p o s e s . 1 A p p r o x i m a t e l y an equa l number of grade e i g h t (n=98'.. o r 33%),, grade n i ne (n = 94 0 r 31%) and grade ten (n=107 or 36%) t e a c h e r s completed the q u e s t i o n n a i r e . Of the 299 t e a c h e r s r e s pond i n g to the q u e s t i o n n a i r e twen ty - two s a i d t h a t both homogeneous and heterogeneous s c i e n c e t e a c h i n g o c c u r r e d in t h e i r s c h o o l . These t e a c h e r s r e p l i e d to both branches o f the q u e s t i o n n a i r e . ^E leven sample t e a c h e r s d i d not t each s c i e n c e at the j u n i o r secondary l e v e l or were not a t the s choo l i n d i c a t e d by the samp! m g . Demographic Data E d u c a t i o n background o f q u e s t i o n n a i r e r e sponden t s Tab le s 1.1 and 1.2 o u t l i n e the underg raduate and g raduate background o f the r e s p o n d e n t s . ( l a ) TABLE 1.1 * UNDERGRADUATE MAJOR(S) OR CONCENTRATION(S) S u b j e c t F requency of Pe r cen tage o f Area Response Response (%) B i o l o g y 152 51 Chemi s t r y 11 7 39 Phys i cs 64 21 E a r t h S c i e n c e 26 9 Space S c i e n c e 7 2 Other 104 35 Of the 104 t e a c h e r s r e p o r t i n g o t h e r underg radua te m a j o r s ( s ) or c o n c e n t r a t i o n s , , t w e n t y - n i n e (10%) had o t h e r a reas of s c i e n c e l i s t e d , f o r t y - s i x (.15%) l i s t e d a non-s c i e n c e and s c i e n c e background ( e . g . E n g l i s h and b i o l o g y ) and t w e n t y - e i g h t (9%) r e p o r t e d a n o n - s c i e n c e background ( e . g . math, p h y s i c a l e d u c a t i o n , h i s t o r y ) . ( l b ) TABLE 1.2 * HIGHER DEGREES 68 Degree Obta ined Frequency of Res pon se Pe r cen tage of Response (%) No h i g h e r degree 239 80 M.Sc. 21 7 M.A. 1 0 3 M.Ed. 21 7 Ph.D. (or e q u i v a l e n t ) 5 2 Other 7 2 Of the seven t e a c h e r s r e p o r t i n g o t h e r h i g he r degrees one r e p o r t e d an M.Sc. i n e d u c a t i o n , ano the r an M.B.A. and one M.A.Sc. Four r e sponden t s d i d not i n d i c a t e the na tu re o f t h e i r h i g h e r deg ree . Teach ing e x p e r i e n c e The t o t a l t e a c h i n g e x p e r i e n c e of the r e sponden t s and t h e i r e x p e r i e n c e t e a c h i n g s c i e n c e to l i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t s i n homogeneous groups can be de te rm ined by e x a m i n a t i o n o f t a b l e s 2.1 , .2.':2 and 2.3. 6.9 (3) TABLE 2.1 OVERALL TEACHING EXPERIENCE Years of E x p e r i e n c e Frequency of Response Pe r cen tage o f Response (%) (n=299) F i r s t 21 7 Second o r t h i r d 48 16 Fou r th to n i n t h 117 39 Tenth or over 112 38 No re sponse 1 < 1 Tota 1s 299 1 00 (4a) TABLE 2.2 PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE TEACHING LIMITED SUCCESS STUDENTS SCIENCE IN A HOMOGENEOUS CLASS GROUP AT THE JUNIOR SECONDARY LEVEL P r e v i o u s Exper i en ce F requency of Response Pe r cen tage o f Response {%) (n=299) Yes 169 57 No 129 43 No Response 1 <1 T o t a l s 2 99 . 1 00 70 (4b) TABLE 2.3 YEAR OF TEACHING CAREER THAT RESPONDENTS FIRST TAUGHT SCIENCE TO LIMITED SUCCESS STUDENTS IN A HOMOGENEOUS CLASS GROUP Year o f Teach ing Career Frequency of Response Pe r cen tage o f Response (%) (n=299) F i r s t 64 21 Second 23 8 T h i r d 27 9 Fou r th 1 0 3 F i f t h or above 45 15 No re sponse 1 < 1 T o t a l s 169 57 Tab le 2.1 shows t h a t 77% o f a l l r e sponden t s r e p o r t e d f o u r y e a r s or more t e a c h i n g e x p e r i e n c e . Only 23% r e p o r t e d t h r e e y e a r s or l e s s t e a c h i n g e x p e r i e n c e . F i f t y - s e v e n p e r c e n t of r e sponden t s i n d i c a t e d t h a t they d i d have p r e -v i ou s e x p e r i e n c e t e a c h i n g l i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t s s c i e n c e i n a homogeneous c l a s s g roup. Of the t e a c h e r s who d i d r e -p o r t t h i s p r e v i o u s e x p e r i e n c e 51% s a i d they f i r s t t a u gh t t he se c l a s s e s in t h e i r f i r s t or second yea r o f t e a c h i n g . S i n ce more than h a l f of the r e sponden t s (.51%) r e p o r t e d t h e i r f i r s t e x p e r i e n c e w i t h homogeneously grouped 1 i m i t e d succe s s s c i e n c e s t u d e n t s i n t h e i r f i r s t or second yea r i t seems e v i d e n t t h a t o f t e n p r e v i o u s t e a c h i n g e x p e r i e n c e has not been c o n s i d e r e d b e f o r e a s s i gnment to these c l a s s e s . 71 Schoo1s Tab le 3.1 i n d i c a t e s the t ype s of s choo l ( i n terms of grades t augh t ) in which the r e sponden t s r e p o r t e d t e a c h i n g . For compar i son purposes t a b l e 3.1 a l s o g i v e s f i g u r e s as r e p o r t e d by I n f o r m a t i o n S e r v i c e s of the B.C. M i n i s t r y of E d u c a t i o n . (6a) TABLE 3.1 GRADES TAUGHT IN SCHOOLS Number and Percentage of Schools Grades Taught Reported by the Ministry of Education^ Reported by Respondents2 8 - 10 1.12 (34) 123 (41) 8 - 1 2 96 (29) 106 (36) 10 - 12 27 (8) 20 (7) 9 - 12 7 (2) 9 (3) 8 - 9 11 (3) 6 (2) K - 12 10 (3) 4 (1) Other 68 (21) 27 (9) No Response - 4 (1) Totals 331 (100) 299 (100) Numbers in pa ren the se s r e f e r to pe r cen tage of t o t a l s c h o o l s in the c a t e g o r i e s l i s t e d . Numbers in pa ren the se s r e f e r to pe r cen tage of r e s pon se . 72 Tab le 3.1 shows more re sponses than s c h o o l s t h a t a c t u a l l y e x i s t i n the grade e i g h t t o ten c a t e g o r y , the ten to t w e l v e c a t e g o r y and the n i ne to t w e l v e c a t e g o r y . Because some s c h o o l s had more than one s c i e n c e t e a c h e r r e s p o n d i n g to the q u e s t i o n -n a i r e the numer o f re sponses i s in some i n s t a n c e s g r e a t e r than the number o f s c h o o l s . I t can be seen t h a t the t ype s of s c h o o l s , as r e p o r t e d by r e s p o n d e n t s , c l o s e l y r e f l e c t s the a c t u a l d i s t r i b u t i o n as r e p o r t e d by the M i n i s t r y of E d u c a t i o n . E x t e n t and c o m p o s i t i o n of the l i m i t e d succes s s t uden t p o p u l a t i o n i n B.C. P o p u l a t i o n s i z e An e s t i m a t i o n of the s i z e o f the l i m i t e d s ucce s s s t uden t p o p u l a t i o n was p r o v i d e d by t e a c h e r s in both homogeneous and heterogeneous t e a c h i n g s i t u a t i o n s . Teacher s of h e t e r o -geneous l y grouped s c i e n c e c l a s s e s e s t i m a t e d pe r cen t age s d i r e c t l y ( t a b l e 4 . 2 ) . I n f o r m a t i o n from t e a c h e r s of homo-geneous l y grouped l i m i t e d succe s s s c i e n c e s t u d e n t s i n -c l u d e d the t o t a l number o f c l a s s e s t augh t at each grade l e v e l wh i ch , iwh.en d i v i ded i n t o the t o t a l number of l i m i t e d succes s s c i e n c e c l a s s e s t a u g h t , y i e l d e d a t o t a l pe r cen tage of t e a c h i n g l o ad ( t a b l e 4 . 1 ) . The e s t i m a t e s of t e a c h e r s from both homogeneous and heterogeneous t e a c h i n g s i t u a t i o n s were merged to p r o v i d e an o v e r a l l e s t i m a t e f o r the P r o v i n c e ( t a b l e 4 . 3 ) . S i n ce some re sponden t s t e a ch more than one grade l e v e l of homogeneously grouped l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s and o t h e r s t e a ch both h e t e r o g e n e o u s l y c l a s s e s , . t he e f f e c t i v e t o t a l re sponse 7 3 and homogeneously grouped i n t a b l e 4.3 was 338. ( 8 ) - ( 9 ) TABLE 4.1 PROPORTION OF LIMITED SUCCESS STUDENTS IN B.C. JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS AS REPORTED BY TEACHERS OF H0M0GE-NEOUSLY GROUPED SCIENCE CLASSES Percentage of Teaching Load Frequency of Response Percentage of Response (%) (n = 146) Grade 8 Grade 9 Grade 10 Total \" Up to 20% 1 4 4 9 6 Up to 33% 13 12 8 33 23 Up to 50% 11 7 23 41 28 Over 50% 13 18 18 49 33 No Response 0 6 8 14 10 Sub-totals 38 47 61 146 100 Sub-percentages 26 32 42 100 (.17) TABLE 4.2 74' PROPORTION OF LIMITED SUCCESS STUDENTS IN B.C. JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS AS REPORTED BY TEACHERS OF HETEROGENEOUSLY GROUPED SCIENCE CLASSES Pe r cen tage of Frequency of Pe r cen tage o f \"...Students, . Response Response (%) (n = 1 9 2 ) Up to 10% 78 41 Up to 20% 75 39 Up to 33% 25 1 3 Up to 50% 8 4 Over 50% 4 2 No Response 2 1 T o t a l s 1 92 1 00 TABLE 4.3 PROPORTION OF LIMITED SUCCESS STUDENTS IN JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS AS REPORTED BY ALL •i QUESTIONNAIRE RESPONDENTS. P e r c e n t of Overa l1 F requency of Pe r cen tage o f S tudent P o p u l a t i o n Response Response (%) (n = 338) Up to 10% 78 23 Up to 20% 84 25 Up to 33% 58 1 7 Up to 50% 49 14 Over 50% 53 1 6 No Response 1 6 5 T o t a l s 338 1 00 75 . Tab le 4.1 shows an i n c r e a s e i n r e p o r t e d a b i l i t y g r oup i n g from grade e i g h t to grade t e n . Teachers o f h e t e r o g e n e o u s l y grouped s c i e n c e c l a s s e s ( t a b l e 4.2) seem to i d e n t i f y a s m a l l e r p o p u l a t i o n of l i m i t e d succe s s s t uden t s than do t e a c h e r s o f homogeneously grouped c l a s s e s ( t a b l e 4 . 1 ) . F o r t y - s e v e n p e r c e n t of a l l r e -spondents r e p o r t a l i m i t e d succe s s s t uden t p o p u l a t i o n of 2'0%-or h i g h e r . The f i g u r e s l i s t e d in t a b l e s 4.1 to 4.3 i n d i c a t e t h a t a 1 i m i t e d succe s s s t uden t p o p u l a t i o n of s i g n i f i c a n t s i z e e x i s t s i n B.C. j u n i o r secondary s c h o o l s . Compos i t i on of l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t p o p u l a t i o n Tab le 5.1 shows the d i s t r i b u t i o n of l i m i t e d succe s s s t uden t s by sex as r e p o r t e d by t e a c h e r s of grouped s c i e n c e c l a s s e s . Th i s t a b l e a l s o shows an o v e r a l l d i s t r i b u t i o n of l i m i t e d succe s s s t uden t s by sex o b t a i n e d by comb in ing the f i g u r e s f o r t e a c h e r s o f homogeneous and heterogeneous c l a s s e s . Numbers in p a r en the se s r e f e r to pe r cen tage r e -sponse, these are p receeded by f i g u r e s of f r e q u e n c y of r e spon se . 76 (11,18) TABLE 5.1 RELATIVE PROPORTION OF LIMITED SUCCESS STUDENTS BY SEX Frequency and Percentage Response' Proportion Homogeneously Grouped Classes (n=127) Heterogeneously Grouped Classes (n=192) Homogeneous ly and Heterogeneously Grouped Classes (n=321) A l l boys 1 « D 1 « 1 ) 2 11) Well over half boys 28 (22) 53 (28) 81 (25) About half boys and half g i r l s 77 (61) 124 (65) 201 (63) Well over ha l f g i r l s 5 (4) 9 (5) 14 (4) A l l g i r l s 1 « D 1 « D 2 (1) No response 15 (12) 4 (2) 19 (7) T w e n t y - e i g h t p e r c e n t o f t e a c h e r s of heterogeneous c l a s s e s s a i d t h a t the c o m p o s i t i o n o f t he se c l a s s e s ranged from w e l l over h a l f to a l l boys. Twen t y - t h r ee p e r c e n t of t e a c h e r s of homogeneous c l a s s e s r e p o r t e d s i m i l a r c l a s s c o m p o s i t i o n . T w e n t y - f i v e p e r c e n t of a l l r e sponden t s r e p o r t e d Un le s s o t h e r w i s e i n d i c a t e d i tems n i ne to twenty -one were a n a l y z e d on the b a s i s of 321 r e s p o n d e n t s . S i n ce t w e n t y -two re spondent s r e p l i e d to both homogeneous and h e t e r o -geneous g r oup i ng q u e s t i o n n a i r e branches the number o f e f f e c t i v e re sponses i n c r e a s e d from 299 to 321. The t e a c h e r s an swer i ng both of these branches r e p o r t e d do ing so because both forms o f g r oup i ng were p r a c t i c e d i n the c l a s s e s they t a u g h t . 77 t h a t w e l l over h a l f o f t h e i r l i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t s were boys w h i l e o n l y 4% r e p o r t e d w e l l over h a l f g i r l s . E v i d e n t l y more boys e x p e r i e n c e l i m i t e d succe s s in s c i e n c e than g i r l s . Teach ing methods p r e s e n t l y in use f o r l i m i t e d succe s s s c i e n c e s t u d e n t s G roup ing p r a c t i c e s Th i s s e c t i o n o u t l i n e s the re sponse s of t e a c h e r s t o a number of q u e s t i o n s r e g a r d i n g homogeneous and h e t e r o -geneous g r oup i n g p r a c t i c e s . Tab le s 6.1 and 6.3 show the e x t e n t t o wh ich v a r i o u s g r oup i n g p r a c t i c e s a re u t i l i z e d by r e s p o n d e n t s . Tab le 6.2 r e p o r t s on the e x t e n t to which l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s are promoted to a h i g he r a c h i e v e -ment l e v e l w i t h i n a homogeneous g r oup i ng sy s tem. Tab le 6.4 i n d i c a t e s the d i f f e r e n c e s in c l a s s s i z e e x i s t i n g between homogeneously and h e t e r o g e n e o u s l y grouped c l a s s e s . F u r t h e r compar i sons between t ime t a b l e s and number of hours of s c i e n c e f o r l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s in heterogeneous and homogeneous c l a s s e s are r e p o r t e d i n , t a b l e s 6.5 and 6.6 r e s p e c t i v e l y . TABLE 6.1 TYPES OF GROUPING REPORTED Type o f Group ing Frequency of Respon se Pe r cen tage of Response (%) (n=299) Homogeneous 105 35 Heterogeneous 1 70 57 Homogeneous and Heterogeneous 22 7 No da ta 2 1 Tota1s 299 1 00 T e a c h e r s ' comments i n d i c a t e d t h a t both homogeneous and heterogeneous g r oup i ng does occur w i t h i n a s i n g l e s c h o o l . Comments showed t h a t o f t e n grade e i g h t and n i ne s c i e n c e were h e t e r o g e n e o u s l y grouped w h i l e grade ten s c i e n c e was homogeneously g rouped. Teacher r e p o r t s i n d i c a t e t h a t a b i l i t y g r oup i ng i s be ing p r a c t i c e d i n 42% of a l l r e s p o n d e n t s ' s c h o o l s . 7.9 (12) TABLE 6.2 UPWARD MOBILITY OF LIMITED SUCCESS STUDENTS IN HOMOGENEOUSLY GROUPED CLASSES P r o p o r t i o n of Upward Moving S tuden t s F requency of Response Pe r cen tage o f Response {%) (n=321) A l l 4 1 Much more than h a l f 1 5 5 About h a l f 7 2 Wei 1 under h a l f 31 10 None 57 1 9 No re sponse 1 5 4 T o t a l s 129 40 Tab le 6.2 shows t h a t the m a j o r i t y of l i m i t e d s ucce s s s t u d e n t s do not p r o g r e s s t o h i g h e r ach ievement l e v e l s w i t h i n a homogeneously grouped sy s tem. I t seems t h a t many l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s tend to remain l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s w i t h i n a homogeneous g r oup i ng s y s tem. Th i s f i n d i n g may a l s o be t r u e f o r l i m i t e d s ucce s s s t u d e n t s i n h e t e r o g e n e o u s l y grouped c l a s s e s , however t h i s was not examined i n t h i s s t udy . 80 (19) TABLE 6.3 GROUPING WITHIN HETEROGENEOUS SCIENCE CLASSES Occu r rence of Group ing F requency of Response Pe r cen tage o f Response (%) (n=321) Group ing does occu r 14 4 Group ing does not o ccu r 121 38 Group ing occu r s sometimes 55 1 7 No re sponse 4 1 T o t a l s 1 94 60 T h i r t y - s i x p e r c e n t of the r e sponden t s from h e t e r o -geneous t e a c h i n g s i t u a t i o n s , group a t l e a s t sometimes in t he se c l a s s e s . The t ypes of g r oup i ng used (as i n d i c a t e d by t e a c h e r comments) are v a r i e d , i n c l u d i n g : the p a i r i n g of a l i m i t e d succe s s s t uden t w i t h a b r i g h t e r s t u d e n t ; an i n d i v i d u a l i z e d l e a r n i n g program and the p r o v i s i o n of co re m a t e r i a l s f o r a l l s t u d e n t s w i t h more c h a l l e n g i n g e x t e n s i o n s f o r b r i g h t e r s t u d e n t s . Other t e a c h e r comments show the f o l l o w i n g f u r t h e r accommodations t e a c h e r s make f o r l i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t s : 871 - a more l e n i e n t mark ing scheme - a reduced e x p e c t a t i o n f o r t he se s t u d e n t s - a g r oup i n g based on r e a d i n g a b i l i t y and p r e v i o u s math ach ievement - a g r oup i n g based on f r i e n d s h i p - a g r oup i ng f o r s p e c i a l p r o j e c t s Some t e a c h e r s s a i d t h a t g r oup i ng was a ve r y d i f f i c u l t and t ime consuming. A number o f t e a c h e r s s a i d t h a t the a v a i l -a b l e l a b o r a t o r i e s and m a t e r i a l s were i n a p p r o p r i a t e . A few s a i d t h a t i d e n t i f i c a t i o n of l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s was a d i f f i c u l t t a s k s i n c e they were not i n fo rmed i n advance who the se s t u d e n t s were. (10a, 15a, 16) TABLE 6.4 AVERAGE CLASS SIZE Class Size Frequency and Percentage Response Homogeneously Grouped Limited Success Students (n=321) Homogeneously Grouped Non-Limited Success Students (n=321) Heterogeneously Grouped Classes (n=323) Less than 16 29 (9) 4 (1) 8 (2) 16 - 20 37 (11) 3 (1) 13 (4) 21 - 25 36 (11) 41 (13): 54 (17) 26 - 30 12 (4) 62 (19) 101 (31) Over 30 2 (1) 3 (1) 13 (4) No response 13 (4) 16 (5) 5 (2) Totals 129 (40) 129 (40) 194 (60) 8.2-Tab le 6.4 i n d i c a t e s t h a t 80% o f homogeneously grouped s c i e n c e c l a s s e s have t w e n t y - f i v e o r fewer s t u d e n t s i n them. Tab le 6.4 a l s o shows l a r g e r c l a s s e s f o r n o n - l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s in homogeneously grouped c l a s s e s . N i n e t y p e r c e n t of the t e a c h e r s of homogeneously grouped n o n - l i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t s s t a t e t h a t the s i z e of these c l a s s e s i s in exces s of twenty -one s t u d e n t s . A m a j o r i t y of t e a c h e r s (59%) in heterogeneous g r oup i ng s i t u a t i o n s r e p o r t e d s c i e n c e c l a s s s i z e s i n exces s of t w e n t y - s i x s t u d e n t s . S i n c e a c l a s s s i z e not e xceed i ng t w e n t y - f i v e s t u d e n t s i s advoca ted i n the l i t e r a t u r e (Oxenhorn 1972, C o l l e t t e 1973, Youn ie 1974) i t appears as i f many s c i e n c e c l a s s e s of h e t e r o -geneous l y grouped s t u d e n t s and homogeneously grouped non -l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s exceed t h i s recommended c l a s s s i z e . 83 (10b, 15b, 20a) TABLE 6.5 TIME TABLES Frequency and Percentage Response Type of T *i mo f a hi Q Homogeneously Grouped Science Classes Heterogeneously Grouped Science Classes (n=321) 1 lillc LaU 1 c Limited Success Students(n=321) Non-Limited Success Students (n=321) Regular or fu l l yea r 65 (20) 59 (18) 90 (28) Semestered 30 (9) 34 (11) 65 (20) Quartered 13 (4) 14 (4) 18 (5) Other 8 (2) 8 (2) 12 (4) No Response 13 (4) 14 (4) 9 (3) Totals 129 (40) 129 (40) 194 (60) A b i v a r i a t e compar i son between the re sponses r e l a t e d to l i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t s and n o n - l i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t s i n d i c a t e d few t ime t a b l e d i f f e r e n c e s (4%) . Teachers of h e t e r o g e n e o u s l y grouped s c i e n c e c l a s s e s r e p o r t a s l i g h t l y h i g h e r p r o p o r t i o n of semester system t ime t a b l e s than do t e a c h e r s of 'homogeneous s c i e n c e c l a s s e s . (10c , 15c, 20b) TABLE 6.6 NUMBER OF HOURS OF SCIENCE PER WEEK 84 Hours of Science Per Week Frequency and Percentage Response Homogeneously Grouped Science Classes Heterogeneously Grouped Science Classes (n=321) Limited Success Students(n=321) Non-Limited Success Students (n=321) 0 - 1 hour 0 (0) 0 (0) 1 « D 1 - 2 hours 3 (1) 1 « D 0 (0) 2 - 3 hours 25 (8) 22 31 (10) 3 - 4 hours 50 (16) 47 (15) 71 (22) 4 - 5 hours 24 (7) 27 (8) 56 (17) 5 - 6 hours 13 (4) 15 (5) 22 (7) Over 6 hours 2 (1) 2 « D 7 (2) No Response 1:2 (4) 15 (5) 6 (2) Totals 129 (40) 129 (40) 194 (60) A b i v a r i a t e compar i son between the re sponse s r e l a t e d to l i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t s and n o n - l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s i n -d i c a t e d few d i f f e r e n c e s (4%) in the number of hours of s c i e n c e t augh t per week. Few major d i f f e r e n c e s seem to e x i s t between heterogeneous and homogeneous g r oup i ng i n the number of hours of s c i e n c e p r o v i d e d per week. D i l u t i o n of s c i e n c e by r e d u c -ing the number of hours per week does not appear to be a w i d e -sp read p r a c t i c e i n the i n s t r u c t i o n of l i m i t e d succe s s s t u d e n t s . 85 . C u r r i c u l u m , t e a c h i n g t e c h n i q u e s and t e a c h i n g t e c h n o l o g y C u r r i c u l urn (25a) TABLE 7.1 NUMBER OF TEACHERS OFFERING SPECIAL PROGRAMS FOR THEIR LIMITED SUCCESS STUDENTS Programs Frequency o f Respon se Pe r cen tage o f Response (%) S p e c i a l program o f f e r e d 74 25 No s p e c i a l program 206 69 No response 19 6 T o t a l s 299 100 (25a) TABLE 7.2 SPECIAL SCIENCE PROGRAMS AND ABILITY GROUPING Type of Group ing Frequency and Pe r cen tage Response S p e c i a l Rrogra (n=299 m O f f e r e d ) Yes No No Response Homogeneou s ' He te rogeneou s Homogeneous and heterogeneous 43 (14) 23 (8) 8 (3) 50 (17) 143 (48) 12. (4) 12 (4) 4 (1) 2 ( 1) 86 Teacher r e p o r t s show t h a t a lmos t 70% of r e sponden t s do not p r o v i d e a s p e c i a l s c i e n c e cou r se f o r t h e i r l i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t s ( t a b l e 7 . 1 ) . Of the t e a c h e r s t h a t do p r o v i d e a s p e c i a l s c i e n c e program f o r these s t u d e n t s 58% are t e a c h e r s of homogeneously grouped s c i e n c e c l a s s e s w h i l e 31% teach i n h e t e r o g e n e o u s l y grouped s c i e n c e c l a s s e s . E v i d e n t l y even i f a b i l i t y g r oup i ng i s p r a c t i c e d many t e a c h e r s do not d i f f e r e n t i a t e the s c i e n c e program f o r t h e i r l i m i t e d succes s s t u d e n t s . (7) TABLE 7.3 * SUBJECT AREAS TAUGHT IN GRADE 8, 9 AND 10 SCIENCE Subj e c t F requency and Pe r cen tage Response Grade 8 Grade 9 Grade 10 P h y s i c s C hem i s t r y B i o l o g y E a r t h S c i e n c e Space S c i e n c e I n t e g r a t e d S c i en ce I n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r y S c i e n c e 149 (50) 163 (55) 152 (51) 125 (42) 7 (2) 4 (1) 159 (53) 161 (54) 150 (50) 22 (7) 75 (25) 138 (46) 147 (49) 146 (49) 83 (28) 9 (3) 5 (2) 1 ( o to CM o CO •3- O ID CO LO LO o O CO CO CM co LO CO CM o cn co r-~ to co L O o o CM o o cn CD • _ i s: CJ> s: _ J - CO C UJ o r -O <_> o • »—t UJ O UJ UJ LU LU UJ LU LU co CO CO 00 o LU CO <_> Q- CD 1— Q Q Q Q O Q =. S l a t e r , C. W. \"The Slow L e a r n e r . \" E d u c a t i o n a l Development Center Review 17 (Autumn 1975) : 10-15. Sturges.,. L. M. \" P rob lems i n Teach ing S c i e n c e to Non-Streamed C l a s s e s . \" S c h o o l S c i e n c e Review 55 (December 1973 ) : 224-232. 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A Survey of Outdoor E d u c a t i o n i n M e t r o p o l i t a n T o r o n t o : A t t i t u d e s , A c t i v i t i e s and F a c i 1 i t i e s . T o r o n t o : Research Depar tment : The M e t r o p o l i t a n Schoo l Boa rd , 1970. James, R i c h a r d . A H o l i s t i c M i l i e u Approach to H igh R i s k S t u d e n t s : A T i t l e I I I ESEA P r o j e c t ERIC Document R e p o r d u c t i o n S e r v i c e , ED 116116, 1975. Newsom, John H. H a l f Our F u t u r e . London: Her M a j e s t y ' s S t a t i o n e r y O f f i c e , 1964. Page, W i l l i a m R. I n s t r u c t i o n a l Systems f o r S tuden t s w i th L e a r n i n g D i s a b i l i t i e s ; ' J u n i o r High Schoo l Program. Wash ing ton : ERIC Documentat ion S e r v i c e , ED 035138, 1968. S c h i l l i n g e r , Sue, C o o r d i n a t o r . Focus : A S u c c e s s f u l High School Program f o r D e a l i n g w i t h D i s a f f e c t e d Youth . 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D i r e c t o r I IS p r o j e c t , Redwood C i t y , C a l i f o r n i a . P e r s ona l c o r r e s p o n d e n c e , Feb rua r y 1978. "@en ; edm:hasType "Thesis/Dissertation"@en ; edm:isShownAt "10.14288/1.0094832"@en ; dcterms:language "eng"@en ; ns0:degreeDiscipline "Science Education"@en ; edm:provider "Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library"@en ; dcterms:publisher "University of British Columbia"@en ; dcterms:rights "For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use."@en ; ns0:scholarLevel "Graduate"@en ; dcterms:title "The limited success student in science : a survey of current practices in teaching junior secondary science in British Columbia"@en ; dcterms:type "Text"@en ; ns0:identifierURI "http://hdl.handle.net/2429/22005"@en .