When one considers the expected shortage of qualified secondary science teachers in the next twenty years, identifying indicators, processes, catalyst and obstacles to change is crucial. Specifically, as school systems attempt to address this shortage, many will have to employ teachers who have not gone through a traditional teacher preparation program. A population of such teachers already exists on the post-secondary level since many college instructors have not had any formal training in pedagogy. Nonetheless, some of them have developed pedagogies that might be considered neoteric. This study investigated seven college instructors in science who were identified as exemplars in the instructional style. The study sought to understand how these teachers might have developed their pedagogical philosophies without formal training in pedagogy. It should be emphasized that the teachers' philosophies, not their practices, were investigated.

Current research findings indicate (1) that the impact of innovations on educational settings is minimal, if any, and (2) that few innovations are being institutionalized. This study examined issues surrounding the institutionalization of innovations, particularly within teacher education programs in developing countries. The study first examined literature on the types of innovations within teacher training institutions in developing countries and on representative innovation research models and theories. Subsequently, based on this literature, a Wholistic Innovation Model was proposed in which four aspects of innovation were identified as "sensitizing concepts." These aspects were (1) innovation characteristics, (2) adopter characteristics, (3) innovation process strategies, and (4) social system constraints and resources. As sensitizing concepts, these four aspects guided the researcher in developing a case-study research design which both quantitatively and qualitatively evaluated the innovation of self-instructional materials (SIMs) at the National Teacher Training College (N.T.T.C.) of Lesotho. Personnel involved currently and historically with SIMs as well as documents were used as sources in evaluating (1) the institutionalization level of the innovation, and (2) the factors influencing that level. The data analysis revealed that SIMs were not institutionalized at N.T.T.C. Factors influencing this status were categorized according to the four sensitizing concepts or innovation aspects in which the most frequently cited factors inhibiting institutionalization were found included (1) the innovation process strategies, and (2) the social system constraints and resources. The aspect that contained factors most frequently cited as supporting SIMs was the innovation characteristic. The aspect of adopter characteristics included an equal number of factors inhibiting and supporting the innovation. A summary of findings and implications from the case-study analysis suggest that participatory decision-making, collaborative control and continuous sensitivity to the needs and perceptions of adopters are important for innovation survival. Evaluating innovations from a systemic or wholistic approach appears to be a powerful and particularly appropriate method for analysis in the area of education.

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Through the history of program evaluation represented in the annual, federal grant applications, this study examines the developments between 1971 and 1978 in the program and evaluation design of PROVE, an open admissions program. The study compares PROVE's later evaluation criteria and instruments with the literature on educational evaluation to illustrate a model. Through interviews with six former PROVE counselors and teachers, the study explicates the program's evolution to qualified open admissions and the local standards and measures for student evaluation they devised which served program evaluation and exemplify the literature. The interviewees' anecdotes also demonstrate how practitioner collaboration and storytelling serve the process of defining and measuring learning essential for judging both student learning and program effectiveness. The study contends that telling stories offers important insights about educational assumptions unattainable in traditional, quantitative evaluation. While acknowledging that interviews and anecdotal evidence can not replace quantitative measures, the study argues that program evaluation which is limited to student performance outputs neglects critical, qualitative judgements essential for a thorough evaluation. Interviews and storytelling are undervalued vehicles for both program development and formal evaluation.

The purpose of this study was to gather existing quantitative data on inservice teacher education in order to analyze and synthesize the findings. Data were gathered on ninety-one research studies presented between 1968 and 1983 that were available through the ERIC system, dissertations, or journals. Meta-analysis was used to draw generalizations regarding the efficacy of various inservice practices. Effectiveness was measured at four different effect levels: participants' reactions to training, participants' learning, behavior change of participants, and results in terms of participants or their students. Findings indicate that inservice teacher education programs reported in the literature are moderately effective. When the data are grouped by effect level, it becomes apparent that attempts to increase participants' learning through inservice teacher training are highly effective, attempts to change participants' behavior and to elicit positive reactions are moderately effective; while attempts to demonstrate results in the school environment are only mildly effective. Specific findings are: (1) the number of participants in an inservice training program, the number of treatment hours, and the length of the treatment period do not significantly influence effect size results; (2) outside originated programs are generally more effective than in-school originated ones; (3) inservice training programs which include both elementary and secondary educators are more effective than for either group individually; (4) enhanced status and college credit are the incentives most likely to increase effect size results; and (5) training programs which use observation, micro teaching, video/audio feedback, or practice show greater effects than those programs not using these methods. Programs which included discussion, lecture, games/simulations, and guided field trips were significantly less effective than those using other instructional methods. Of course these findings do not preclude the possibility that these training methods could be more effective under certain circumstances. Coaching, modeling, mutual assistance, printed material, production of instructional material, and film as used were not associated with significant effects. The results of this study were used to suggest implications for staff developers as well as to make suggestions for future study.

In September 1959, Jerome Bruner, noted psychologist and educator, convened a conference of world-renowned educators, psychologists, and scientists. The intent of the Woods Hole Conference, as it came to be known, was to examine how science education might be improved in the elementary and secondary schools in America. The concern of the conference was the gap between instruction and the technological reality of the rapidly expanding knowledge base (of 1959). The conferees proceeded to determine that there are four major elements of learning: (1) curriculum; (2) readiness; (3) intuition; (4) motivation (Bruner, 1977, p. 13). This dissertation examined one of these elements of learning, intuition, in the context of today's educational dilemmas: the breakdown of public confidence in public education coincidental with the "widening gap between instruction and the technological reality of the rapidly expanding knowledge base" (of 1985). In twenty-five years the dilemmas are the same and the gap only wider. The investigation examined the premise that intuition has been proven to be a valid source of knowledge acquisition in the fields of philosophy, psychology, art, physics, and mathematics. However, upon examining a sample of teaching methods there seemed to be little reference to or acknowledgement of intuitive learning or teaching. The dissertation then investigated various philosophies of education to examine why intuition may not be acknowledged in public education. The dissertation then examined the possibility of intuitive learning through a series of interviews with selected elementary school students. In addition, selected elementary school teachers were interviewed to determine their definitions and application of intuition to the teaching process. Having determined some characteristics of intuitive learning and teaching, model lessons for using intuition in teaching were recommended.