134
PETEX.
W.
AIRASIAN
REFERENCES
AIRASIAN,
P.
W.
The role of evaluation in mastery learning.
In
J.
Block (Ed.),
Mastery learning:
AIRASIAN,
P.
W.
Differences in the use
of
evaluation to measure and diagnose student learning.
BIEHLER, R.
F.
A
first attempt at a “learning
for
mastery” approach.
Educational Psychologist,
BLOCK,
J.
H. The effects
of
various levels
of
performance on selected cognitive, affective, and time
BLOCK,
J.
H. (Ed.)
Mastery learning: theory and practice.
New
York:
Holt, Rinehart,
&
Winston,
1971.
BLOOM, B.
S.
Learning for mastery.
UCLA
Evaluation Comment,
1968,
2,
1-12.
BLOOM, B.
S.,
HASTINOS,
J.
T.,
&
MADAUS,
G.
F.
Handbook
on
jormatiue and summative evaluation
of
student learning.
New
York:
McGraw Hill,
1971.
COLLINS,
K.
M.
A
strategy for mastery learning in freshman mathematics.
Unpublished study,
Purdue University, Division of Mathematical Sciences,
1969.
KERSH,
M.
E.
A
strategy for mastery learning in fifth-grade arithmetic.
Unpublished doctoral
dissertation, University
of
Chicago,
1970.
MAYO,
S.
T.,
HUNT,
R.
C.,
&
TREMMEL,
F.
A
mastery approach to the evaluation
of
learning sta-
tistics. Paper presented at the annual meeting
of
the National Council on Measurement in Edu-
cation, Chicago,
1968.
theory and practice.
New
York:
Holt, Rinehart
&
Winston,
1971,
pp.
77-88.
Improving College and University Teaching,
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variables. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Chicago,
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PATTERNS
OF
INTERFERENCE
IN
AN ELEMENTARY
SCHOOL’
LESTER
c.
HAP PEL^
University
of
Chicago’
Several recent studies indicate that preschool children experience a surprisingly
high rate
of
interference in their daily encounters (Berk,
1969;
Jackson
&
Wolfson,
1968;
Wolfson
&
Jackson,
1969).
On the average, the young child’s behavior was
found
to
be blocked
or
altered at least once every
5
or
6
minutes, more often once
every
2
minutes. At that rate, whether he is attending nursery school or playing at
a
playground, every week a typical preschooler confronts many hundreds of situ-
ations that frustrate his actions. Thus, despite the minor nature of most such
experiences, even the
3-
or 4-year-old lives a life replete with embryonic problems.
Although interesting in themselves, in addition these findings have raised
important questions about the impact of the commonplace
on
the course of human
development. As Wolfson and Jackson put
it,
“The crucial question
.
.
.
is whether
the insignificant can become significant by the sheer weight
of
numbers, in much
the same way
as
infinitesimal particles
of
silt accumulate
to
clog
a
river bed
or
harmless rivulets combine
to
produce a flood
.
.
.
[1969,
p.
101.”
Before we even can begin to answer a question
of
that magnitude, however,
more investigation must reveal the rates, types, and contexts
of
these experiences
‘The research reported herein wm performed pursuant to
a
contract with the Office
of
Education,
United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare through the Chicago Early Education
Research Center,
a
component of the National Laboratory on Early Chddhood Education.
The author wishes
to
thank the administration and teachers
of
Valley View Elementary School
District No.
96
(Offices in Romeoville, Illinois) for their cooperation during the study and Phihp
W.
Jackson
for
his
helpful comments with regard to
tb
report.
*The
author is now at Loyola University
of
Chicago, Foundations
of
Education Department.
Additional tabular data may be obtained upon request.