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THE AFTER-SCHOOL ACTIVITIES OF FIFTH GRADERS:

A STUDY OF COMMONALITY, TEACHERS'
RATINGS, and ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

 

 

 

presented by

CHARLES ARTHUR SHELLEY, JR.

has been accepted towards fulfillment
of the requirements for

ph - T) , degree in Wucation

 

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Major professor

James Anderson

Date May 7, 1984

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THE AFTER—SCHOOL ACTIVITIES OF FIFTH GRADERS:
A STUDY OF COMMONALITY, TEACHERS' RATINGS

AND EDUCATIVE VALUE

By

Charles Arthur Shelley, Jr.

A DISSERTATION
Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of Teacher Education

1984

ABSTRACT
THE AFTER—SCHOOL ACTIVITIES OF FIFTH GRADERS:
A STUDY OF COMMONALITY, TEACHERS' RATINGS,
AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
By
Charles Arthur Shelley, Jr.

It was proposed in this study to discover the common
after—school activities of a specific population of fifth
graders and to compare teachers' perceptions of the value of
these activities to academic achievement. This was done
through an open-ended survey on which students were asked to
provide, in twelve categories, examples of their actual
after—school activities over a four day period. These
examples were subcategorized by sixty—seven activity types
for purposes of more convenient analysis. Scores from the
California Achievement Test given at about the same time the
survey was conducted were included in the data collected.

The following hypotheses were formulated for
consideration and focus in the study:

1. Activity selection will be similar among students regard—
less of school of attendance.

2. The relative rankings of certain after—school activities
by participation levels will differ with the achievement
level of the students.

3. Teachers' rating of activities will correlate positively
with the ranking of activities by achievement test scores.

Analysis of the data showed the range of participation

levels of the activity types to vary from 97% for television
viewing of all types and 96% for outdoor play activities to
less than 1% for activities such as playing with dungeons and
dragons gamebooks or visiting a museum. High agreement among
the rank ordering of participation in activities on each of
the four days surveyed indicated that similar populations
were responding, although the exact number of students
responding on each day varied. High agreement on the ranking
by occurence of participation in activities among each
quartile of achievement test performance appeared to lessen
the probability that a given activity type might be used as a
predictor of academic achievement. A moderately high degree
of agreement on activity selection in each of twenty-three
schools shows the probability of activity types being common
across schools.

The ordering of activity types according to average
achievement test scores of participants was compared to the
ratings of activity types by teachers for educative value.
Teachers' ratings of educational value seemed to have little
or no relationship to the rankings of activities by academic

CBSt scores.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Gratitude and special thanks are due to James Anderson,
chairman of my dissertation advisory committee for his
helpful recommendations, patience, and continuing encourage—
ment in carrying out this study. The suggestions and
guidance of other committee members Howard W. Hickey, George
T. Rowan, and Arden Moon were also greatly appreciated.

To the principals, teachers, and students involved in
this study many thanks are extended.

A special word of appreciation is extended to Robert
Harrison for his invaluable assistance in the preparation of
the microcomputer program used to tally the broad range of
survey responses gathered in this study.

Finally it is most fitting to acknowledge with love and
profound gratitude the patience, assistance, and support of
my wife, Marjory Shelley, and the inspiration of my children,

Rebecca, Daniel, and Kathryn throughout this study.

ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter

I.

II.

III.

IV.

INTRODUCTION 0 O O O O C O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 1

Statement of the problem
Purpose of the study
Hypotheses

Definitions of key concepts
Assumptions and limitations

REVIEW OF LITERATURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Experiential learning theory

Identifying common experiential learning activities

Sponsored learning

Prior experience for college credit

Out-of-school activities of older elementary
school children

Rating the educative value of activities

Assessing prior experiential learning

Feelings of competence and interest as an outcome

Academic achievement as a correlate of activity

Summary

'RESEARCH DESIGN AND PROCEDURE . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Questions to be answered

Development of a survey questionnaire
Definition of setting and population
Accounting of data gathered from students
Development and use of teacher survey
Summary

ANALYSIS OF RESULTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Analysis
Summary

iii

Review of study

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion

Implications for future research

APPENDIX A:
APPENDIX B:

BIBLIOGRAPHY

SURVEY FORMS AND LETTERS

TABLES

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

iv

65

9O
97
107

4.1.a
4.1.b
4.2

4.4.a

4.6.a

4.7.3
4.1
4.4
4.5
4.6

4.7

LIST OF TABLES

Popularity of Activity Categories . . . . . . . . 54

Twenty Most Popular After-school Activities . . . 55

Activities Common to All Days,

at All Schools,

at Every Achievement Level . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Degrees

of Agreement in Rank Ordering of After—

school Activities by P0pularity . . . . . . . . . 58

Ranking
Battery
Ranking
Scores

Ranking
Scores

Ten Top
Ranking
Ranking
Ranking

Ranking

Teachers'

of Top Ten Activities by Total CAT
Scores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

of Top Ten Activities by Reading Subtest

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Ranked Activities by Teachers . . . . . . 61
of Activities by Popularity . . . . . . . 97
of Activities by Total CAT Battery Scores 99
of Activities by Reading Subtest Scores . 101
of Activities by Math Subtest Scores . . 103

Ratings of Activities . . . . . . . . . 105

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Statement of the Problem

 

Just as the conscientious parent may ask his* child,
"What did you do in school today?", educators might also ask
their students, "What did you do after school yesterday?"
The knowledge gained by significant adults, such as teachers
and parents, asking these questions may prove to be a valuable
aid to the child in his learning. These adults, having once
been children themselves, might assume to already hold such
knowledge. In addition, since they are now adults they might
also presume to know what information and skills will be of
most value to children in the future. Nevertheless, it might
be helpful to rediscover the experiences of children from
them directly and to seek to discover relationships between
their current out-of—school activities and their in—school
skill attainment. The rationale for undertaking this study
is based on the theory that it may be more educationally

efficient to organize learning on an interactive model rather

 

*The masculine pronouns such as "he" and "his" will be
used in a generic sense to indicate persons of either sex
throughout this dissertation, except when referring to a
particular person.

2
than a one-way delivery model of instruction. Such a model
would incorporate the prior experiences of the learner in the
lesson to help him understand his own behavior, transfer
learning to new situations, and discover related purposes for
new information and skills. It is therefore suggested as
important that the educator discover what the common
activities of his students are and that he explore the

relationships of academic learning to present experiences.

Purpose of this Study

 

The purpose of this study is, first, to investigate
whether the after—school activities of children appear to be
common from school to school and across achievement levels,
or whether certain activities are indicative of and
distinguish among school cultures and levels of academic
achievement. Secondly, the outcomes of a standard measure of
school achievement will be compared with teachers' judgments
of the educative value of after—school activities to
establish a basis for relating after—school activity and
school learning. The literature on common daily life
experiences as learning experiences will be examined. The
investigation will involve gathering examples of the common
after—school activities of children, comparing participation
in designated categories of activities to academic
achievement, and examining the educative value of out—of-

school activities as determined by teachers' ratings.

It is expected that:

1. Activity selection will be similar from school to
school.

2. Some activities will appear to distinguish high
achievers from low achievers.

3. Teachers will select as most educative those

activities which coincide with high academic achievement.

Rationale

 

Educational theorists and practitioners appear to
support the position that familiarity with common experiences
increases the capabilities of the teacher to mediate
learning.

Dewey, for example, predicts that the learner may
perceive schooling as a waste of time if it fails to relate
to his familiar experience or if it leaves him with nothing
to take home from school for further application.1

Tyler lists the life experiences of the learners
themselves among the basic considerations for curriculum
development.2

Leichter considers the child's out—of—school

experiences as an educational agenda. She suggests that the

 

1John Dewey, The School and Society (Chicago:
University of Chicago, 1900), p. 75.

 

2Ralph W. Tyler, Basic Principles of Curriculum and

Instruction (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1949), pp.5-
16.

 

 

4

selections a learner makes from his environment, such as
television viewing, peer and family contacts, and other daily
activities have an influence on subsequent behavior and
educational choices.3

Schubert also states that the variety of out—of—school
activities ought to be viewed as curricula separate from but
contributing to the child's use of school curriculum.4

Knowledge of life experience through exhaustive
description, according to Van Manen, may contribute to a
teacher's pedagogical orientation.5

Bernstein suggests that:

If the culture of the teacher is to become part of
the consciousness of the child then the culture of the child
must first be in the consciousness of the teacher.6

Along these lines, Locignigo found that observations

resulting from home visits, which were anticipated and

analyzed using curriculum theory frameworks, enabled him to

 

3Hope Jensen Leichter, Families and Communities As
Educators (New York: Teachers College, Columbia University,

 

 

4William H. Schubert, "Knowledge About Out—of—School
Curriculum,‘ The Educational Forum 45 (January 1981), 185—
198.

 

5Max Van Manen, "An Experiment in Educational
Theorizing: The Utrecht School," Interchange 10 (1978—
1979):48—66.

6B. Bernstein, Class, Codes and ControlL Volume One
(London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1971), p. 199.

5

relate better to his students and consequently teaching them
became easier.7

The work of Paulo Freire in teaching reading and
political awareness to illiterate adults in South America is
based on investigation of their cultures' most common and
most meaningful themes.8

Similarly, the French pedagogue Freinet is reported to
have begun his teaching by asking his pupils to talk about
their out-of—school experiences.9

Among the conclusions of the National Panel on High
School and Adolescent Education is the following:

Out of school learning experiences seem to
offer a great potential for individual cognitive and
affective developTSnt, although empirical data in this
area are limited.

However, in spite of the promise of enhanced learning

as a result of relating out-of—school experience to school

curriculum, the tendencies to naturally link these

 

7Michael J. Locignigo "The Home-life As Curricular
Phenomena" (Masters Thesis, University of Illinois at Chicago
Circle, 1979-1980),;n 72.

8Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed (New York:
Herder and Herder, 1968), pp. 86-118 and Education for
Critical Consciousness (New York: Seabury Press, 1973), pp.
48—490

 

 

9William B. Lee, "Ecole Moderne Pedagogie Freinet:

Educational Bonesetters," Phi Delta Kappan 61 (January
1980): 341.

 

IOUAL, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare,
The Education of Adolescents: The Final Report and
Recommendations of the National Panel on High School and
Adolescent Education. Pubn. OE 76—00004 (1976), p. 48.

6

experiences may be weak as a result of perceived dis—
continuity. Although the child is a link between home and

school, he may be considered only a "low-powered" carrier of

messages.11

Leichter writes,

From an institutional perspective, a central
educational question has been that of the extent of
continuity or discontinuity, similarity or
dissimilarity, between one setting and another, for
example between the family and the school. It has been
assumed that the nature and extent of similarity or
dissimilarity have consequences for education, with
special attention having been devoted to situations in
which marked "cultural gaps" appear to exist, again,
for example, between the family and the school.

As Lightfoot notes,

Some of the discontinuities between family
and school emerge from differences in their structural
properties and cultural purpose. In other words,
conflicts are endemic to the very nature of the family
and the school as institutions and they are experienced
by all cllgildren as they traverse the path from home to
school.

Getzels attributes such discontinuities among home,
school, and community to conflicts and discrepancies among

differing role expectations and differing personalities

 

11Eugene Litwak and Henry J. Meyer, School, Family4_and
Neighborhood: The Theory and Practice of School-Communigy
Relations (New York: Columbia University Press, 1974), p.
39.

 

12Leichter, p. 80.

13Sara Lawrence Lightfoot, Worlds Apart: Relationships
Between Families and Schools (New York: Basic Books, 1978),
p. 21.

 

within differing settings.14

Adult knowledge and influence may provide the vehicle
which enables a child to overcome this discontinuity, to
transfer and relate learnings from diverse situations.
Although many children naturally make associations and
analogies for themselves in the context of new learning, when
this does not occur, assistance from adults to connect new
learning to prior experience can be helpful.15 Gordon and
Poze, for example, found that compensatory education students
who were taught to relate concepts to their own experience
demonstrated better comprehension.16

Dewey writes,

. . . basing education upon personal experience may

mean more multiplied and more intimate contacts between

the mature and the immature than ever existed in the
traditional school, and iqnsequently more, rather than
less guidance by others.

Educators are in a position to influence, mediate and

evaluate the variety of activities a child may experience

 

14J. W. Getzels, "The Communities of Education," in
Families and Communities as Educators, ed. Hope Jensen
Leichter (New York: Teachers College, Columbia University,
1979), pp. 108—116. See also J. W. Getzels, "Socialization
and Education: A Note on Discontinuities," Teachers College
Record 76 (December 1974): 218-225.

 

15William J. J. Gordon and Tony Poze, "Learning

Dysfunction and Connection Making," Psychiatric Annals 8
(March 1978): 79.

 

16Gordon and Poze, pp. 79—88.

17John Dewey, Experience and Education (New York:
MacMillan, 1938), p. 21.

both in and outside of school. They assist children in
refining the observation and judgment skills which enable

the children to make decisions and function more effectively.
They may engage in education defined by Dewey as

. . . that reconstruction and reorganization of
experience which adds to the meaning of experience and
which increases ability go direct the course of
subsequent experiences.1

Leichter uses the term "mediation",

to refer to those processes by which the family (or
other institution) filters educational influences - the
processes by which it screens, interprets, criticizes,
reinforces, Bomplements, counteracts, refracts, and
transforms.1

Elkind also used "mediation" to label a process in
which interaction with adults enables a child to abstract
successful approaches to learning and accomplishing tasks.
In this manner, the adult is used by the child as an
important part of his ability to cope and function.20

This is similar to Bronfenbrenner's proposition that

The involvement of caretaker and child in
progressively more complex reciprocal activity
generates an emotional bond, enhanced motivation, and

cognitive and manipulative skills that are mutually
reinforcing to both participants, are then reflected in

 

18John Dewey, Democracy and Education (New York:
MacMillan, 1916), p. 76.

 

19Leichter, pp. 32—40. See also Hope Jensen Leichter,
"Some Perspectives on the Family as Educator," Teachers
College Record 76 (December 1974): 213—215.

 

20David Elkind, "How Grown—Ups Help Children Learn,"
Principal 60 (May 1981): 20—24.

 

9

the child's competence and cooperation in other

situations, Epd therefore facilitate the child's future

development.

Freire describes the implementation of this theory as
the educator entering into dialogue with the learner and
enabling him to pose problems related to his experience.

This consideration of personal experience brings him to the
realization that he has the power to affect and transform the

d.22 Freire contrasts this approach to

reality of his worl
the "banking theory" of education in which the educator
expects to deposit knowledge in the learner for acceptance as
presented and for later retrieval if it is deemed useful.23
Conrad and Hedin found that the presence of a regularly
scheduled seminar, consisting of systematic and directed
reflection on an experience, proved to be the strongest
single factor in explaining positive student change.24 This
seems to indicate, as do other sources in the literature,

that learning from experience is enhanced by interaction

among learners and educators.

 

21Urie Bronfenbrenner, "Who Needs Parent Education?" in
Families and Communities as Educators, ed. Hope Jensen
Leichter (New York: Teachers College, Columbia University,
1979), p. 211.

 

22Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, pp. 75—118.
23Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, p. 59.

24Dan Conrad and Diane Hedin, Executive Summary of the
Final Report of the Experiential Education Evaluation Project

 

 

(St. Paul, Minnesota: Center for Youth Development and
Research, University of Minnesota), p. 36.

10
So it might be concluded, as Dewey states, that:

It thus becomes the office of the educator to
select those things within the range of existing
experience that have the promise and potentiality of
presenting new problems which by stimulating new ways
of observation and ggdgment will expand the area of
further experience.

Hypotheses

 

It is unlikely that teachers will implement mediation
of common experiences as an educational technique unless this
approach is in some way connected to traditional subject
matter through accepted methods of measuring educational
progress, namely standardized tests and teacher judgement.
The following hypotheses are offered for testing whether such
a connection can easily be determined by comparing the
activity choices made by students at differing levels of
achievement or by comparing teachers' opinions of activities
to the average test scores of participants. These hypotheses
are:

1. Activity selection will be similar among students
regardless of school of attendance.

2. The relative rankings of certain after—school—
activities by participation levels will differ according to
the achievement level of the students.

3. Teachers' rating of activities will correlate

 

25Dewey, Experience and Education, p. 75.

 

ll
positively with the ranking of activities by achievement test

scores 0

Definitions of the key concepts

 

The chief concepts used in this study are experience,
experiential learning, prior learning, academic achievement,
after-school activity, commonality and educative value.

Experience, as it is used in this study, is best

 

explained by Webster's definition "something personally
encountered, undergone, or lived through"26 In this sense it
is often used synonymously with the term "activity".

Egperiential learning is most succinctly explained by

 

the definition of experience as "knowledge, skill, or
practice derived from direct observation of or participation

in events."27

The theory of how learning occurs from
experience is more thoroughly covered in definitions derived
from the literature reviewed in Chapter II.

Prior learning indicates that an activity occurs before

 

it is considered as a learning activity. Prior learning as
it is most often applied and explained in the literature is
also covered in more detail in Chapter II along with its
counterpart "sponsored learning". The out—of—school

activities listed by students in this research are all

 

26Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary
(Springfield, Mass.: G. and C. Merriam Co., 1970).

 

27Ibid.

12
considered as prior learning activities at the outset of this
study.

Academic achievement could be taken to mean all

 

successes in learning the standard curriculum taught
traditionally in the schools. As it is used for the analysis
of data in this study, however, it will refer to standardized

achievement test scores.

After—school activity is used to mean all events in

 

which the child participates from the ending of the school
day until bedtime with the exception of meals and normal
health and hygiene functions.

Commonality describes the relationship among activities
which are common to many students. Synonyms would include
familiar, popular, and everyday. It holds this broad
connotation except where it is more precisely defined in the
context of data analysis in Chapter IV.

Educative value, as used in this study, is the

 

potential of an activity to be an educational or learning
experience. This includes, but is not limited to, the
relationship inferred between out—of—school activities and
academic achievement. All outcomes or correlates of
experience may be considered as indicators of the educative
value of a given experience. In the analysis of data it will
be used specifically to describe the rankings of after-school

activities according to academic test scores and the ratings

13

of these same activities by teachers.

Assumptions and Limitations

 

The following assumptions are made in the design of
this study:

1. There are relationships between the experiences of
children in different settings such as the home and the
school.

2. Examples provided by the students themselves will
be a realistic reflection of what most students actually do
after school on normal school days.

3. Teachers' judgments are a meaningful measure of the
educative value of an out—of—school activity.

This study is undertaken with awareness of the follow—
ing limitations:

1. The survey time period is limited to four days in
the late spring of the year.

2. The population under study is limited to fifth
graders in one middle-sized city school district.

3. There is the potential for variability of the
number of subjects responding on each of the four days.

4. There may be a variability of the number of
examples given by each subject on a given day.

5. No attempt was made to control or identify

individual subjects within the population by race or by sex,

14
because the focus of comparison among subgroups was defined
as between schools and levels of academic achievement for an

otherwise homogeneous population.

CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Support for research into the out—of—school activities
of learners as educational experiences is found in the areas
of curriculum development, home environment studies, child
development, motivational theory and experiential learning.
This literature provides the philosophical and theoretical
arguments for researching the common everyday activities of
learners. It identifies a variety of common activities which
might be valued as educative. It further suggests evaluation
in terms of the various potential outcomes and correlates of

activity type experiences.

Experiential Learning Theory
How the educative potential of common life experience
is realized may be explained in the literature defining
experiential learning.
To Dewey, an experience is educative when it "creates
conditions of further growtflu"28 This, according to Dewey,

occurs when action is directed by some leading idea, when

 

28Dewey, Experience and Education, p. 36.

15

16

activity is checked by observation, and when reflection on
the experience suggests ways of dealing with further
experience.29

The conditions of experiential learning are further
described in the model of Kolb and Fry as a cycle originating
with a concrete experience which the learner observes and
upon which he then reflects. Through the process of
reflection the learner forms abstract concepts and general—
izations which he may then decide to test in a new situation.
In the testing of his ideas related to prior experience, he
involves himself in a new concrete experience.30

Similarly, Coleman explains learning through experience
as a sequence of steps in which one first carries out an
action and then sees the effects of that action in that
particular instance. The person may then relate the observed
effects to a general principle which he applies to anticipate
the effects of future action. The result of this process is
that prior experience becomes useful in determining future

behavior.31

 

29Dewey, Experience and Education, pp. 86-87.

 

30David A. Kolb and Ronald Fry, "Toward an Applied
Theory of Experiential Learning", in Theories of Group

Processes, ed. Gary Cooper (London and New York: John Wiley
and Sons, 1975), pp. 33—37.

 

 

31James S. Coleman, "Differences Between Experiential
and Classroom Learning", in Experiential Learnipgp
Rationale, Characteristics and Assessment, ed. Morris T.
Keeton (San Francisco: Jossey—Bass, 1976), pp. 49—61.

 

17

Watson writes,

Structuring activities to provide for a continual
progression from doing, to internalizing experiences,
and then expressing them creates an effective link
between the classroom and the real world,3£or in the
community experience is used, not stored.

Identifying common experiential learning activities

The literature of experiential learning, is helpful to
the research to be undertaken in this study in that it
identifies educative activities outside the realm of
traditional formal education. Types of experiential learning
activities are generally classified into two major
categories: sponsored learning and prior learning.

This is more precisely defined by Willingham, who

states,

The definition of experiential learning is a
matter of no small importance. As used here, the term
refers to two types of learning. One is called
variously learning through life experience, prior
learning, or nonsponsored learning. It includes any
type of creditable learning — through work, travel,
volunteer service — that a student may have acquired
independent of an educational institution and
typically, prior to matriculation. A second broad
category of experiential learning generally called
sponsored learning, is that incorporated in
institutionally sponsored programs that are designed to
give students more direct experience in integrating and

 

32Kathryn J. Watson, The Going Places Classroom: A
Community Involvement Program of Action Learningpfor
Elementapy Students, Research Monograph No. 23 (Gainesville,

Florida: Florida University, P. K. Yonge Laboratory School,
1977), p. 11.

18

applying knowledge - especially off-campus interpghips,
service activities, work programs, and the like.

,Sponsored Learning

 

Chickering provides a basic introduction to the
potential and the problems of experiential learning and
suggests possibilities for planning individualized sponsored
experiential learning along the lines of field experiences in
subjects such as: environmental studies, race relations,
counseling theories and practice, early childhood education,
criminal justice, agriculture, woodwork, mental health and
travel.34

Davis, Duley, and Alexander suggest similar field
experiences as part of a sponsored program: living in a
subculture of American society, practical work experience in
industry or a government agency, working under a skilled
professional or practitioner, planning to improve
interpersonal competencies, developing specific skills of

interest and future use, living and working in another

 

33Warren W. Willingham, "Critical Issues and Basic
Requirements for Assessment," in Experiential Learning;
Rationale, Characteristics, and Assessment, ed. Morris T.
Keeton (San Francisco: Jossey—Bass, 1976), p. 225.

34Arthur W. Chickering, Experience and Learning: An
Introduction to Experiential Learning, (New Rochelle, N. Y.
Change Magazine Press, 1977).

 

 

19

culture, and participating in a field research project.35

The National Panel on High School and Adolescent
Education recommends the following experience—based learning
situations: regular jobs, community service activities,
schools-without-walls, internships in public agencies,
artistic performance opportunities, "action learning" (with
associated academic study), public action activities,
curriculum—based learning projects involving concrete
experiences, and structuring experienced-based learning
opportunities for youth.36

Other examples of sponsored programs include outdoor
adventure programs, career education programs, and
alternative activity programs such as the following:

Outward Bound is comprised of several types of
adventure and challenge experiences designed to teach self-
awareness and social functioning.37

Experiential—Based Career Education is an example of a

career program which requires its participants to

 

35Robert H. Davis, John S. Duley, and Lawrence
T.Alexander, Field Experience (East Lansing, Michigan:
Michigan State University, 1977), pp. 10—11.

 

360. S., Department of Health, Education, and Welfare,
The Education of Adolescents: The Final Report and
Recommendations of the National Panel on High School and
Adolescent Education. Pubn. 0E 76-00004 (1976), p. 48.

 

 

37Robert Godfrey, "A Review of Research and Evaluation
Literature on Outward Bound and Related Educational
Programs", paper presented at the Conference on Experiential
Education, Estes Park, Colorado, 8—11 October, 1974.

20

learn about careers through actual involvement in work in the
community.38

The "School Without Walls" enables high school students
to take courses out in the community from volunteer community
resource personel. Examples are the Gateway High School in
New Orleans, the Parkway School in Philadelphia, and the
Metro School in Chicago.39

An elementary school example of action learning
associated with academic learning is the "Going Places
Classroom" program in which,

Students who took part in the Community
Involvement Project observed and interacted with people
in the community who were "coping" —— at work, at play
and at home. The three r's were thus perceived not as
ends in themselves, but rather48s tools which help all
people cope in the real world.

"Foxfire" type programs, which point out the interest
in learning created by a product oriented project such as a

book publication, are typified by the examples Wiggington

furnishes in his series of Foxfire books and explained in the

 

38Thomas R. Owens; Haenn, Joseph F.; and Fehrenbacher,
Harry L., ”The Use of Multiple Strategies in Evaluating an
Experienced—Based Career Education Program," Journal of
Research and Development in Education, 12 (Spring 1979):
35-49.

39GatewayjHigh School: "School Without Walls". (New
Orleans: Orleans Parish School Board, 1971). See also
Robert C. Hutchkins, "School Options in Philadelphia,Their
Present and Future," Educational Leadership 32 (November
1974): 88—91.

40Watson, p. 7.

21

introductions of some.41

Prior Experience for College Credit
In contrast to "sponsored programs", "prior

d42, refers to

experiential learning", as previously state
those experiences which occur outside the auspices of an
organized program or school and before recognition or credit
is sought for the learning which occurs as an outcome of that
experience. Literature on the assessment of prior learning
seems to focus primarily on translating given experiences
into credit at the college level.

Examples of creditable learning experiences provided by

Eckstrom in How to Get College Credit for What You Have

 

Learned as a Homemaker and Volunteer include the acquisition
of skills from experiences such as: budgeting, child care,
communication, gardening, home maintenance, interior
decorating, house cleaning, meal planning and preparation,
pet care, sewing and needlework, and involvement with

agencies or organizations in the community."3

 

41Eliot Wigginton, The Foxfire Book (Garden City,
N.Ya Anchor Books, 1972),;uu 8-17 and Foxfire 6 (1980), pp.
7 2

 

42Willingham, p. 225.

43Ruth B. Eckstrom, Abigail M. Harris, and Marlaine E.
Lockheed, How to Get College Credit for What You Have Learned
as a Homemaker and Volunteer (Princeton, New Jersey:
Educational Testing Service, 1977), pp. 5—10.

22

Likewise, Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, lists
the following categories as possible sources of credit:
proficiency examinations, work experiences, volunteer
activities, homemaking, recreational activities or hobbies,
independent reading or attainment of licenses."4

Although college level expectations for experiential
learning differ from those of the elementary school the
methods used to identify learning experiences might still be
useful for understanding the process of assessment.

One of these methods is the compilation of a portfolio
to document prior experience. Such a portfolio contains all
of the evidence the student can gather to document that he
has participated in and learned from a life experience.
Usually this gathering of evidence begins with a listing of
work, volunteer, or leisure activities which might be awarded
college credit. Specific suggestions on the topics and
processes of portfolio develOpment for the student interested
in college credit for experiential learning are provided by
Assessing Prior Learning: A CAEL Student Guide by

45

Forrest. The work of the CAEL (Cooperative Assessment of

Experiential Learning) project provides the most

 

44"Prior Learning: A Guide to Portfolio Development,"
(Columbia, Missouri: Stephens College Without Walls, 1977),
p. 2.

"SAubrey Forrest, Assessing Prior Learning: A CAEL
Student Guide (Columbia, Maryland: Cooperative Assessment
of Experiential Learning, 1977).

 

 

23
comprehensive source of material on assessing prior
experiential learning. Some of the major components of this

project are compiled in Keeton's Experiential Learning;
46

 

RationaleL Characteristicsp and Assessment.

Out-of—school activities of older
elementary school children

 

 

The aforementioned examples provide fairly typical lists
of the experiences and activities which colleges and
universities have considered as areas for possible credit at
their level. Similar activities may also be valuable
learning experiences for younger students. However, since
the granting of credits in the same manner is not a function
of elementary schools, the listing and evaluation of these
activities for school credit is not pursued at this level.
Studies in other areas of research, on the other hand, do
provide rather comprehensive listings of the types of
activities which might be considered typical or common for
the elementary school child or early adolescent. The
instruments for obtaining these listings may be formal or
informal.

Formal interest and preference surveys are available to
assist in career guidance. Among those suggested in Euros

which might be used to gather data about an individual's

 

46Morris T. Keeton, Experiential Learning: Rationalep
Characteristics, and Assessment (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,

1976).

24
common daily activities and interests are: the California
Occupational Preference System, the Career Assessment
Inventory, the Educational Interest Inventory, the Kuder
General Interest Survey, the Ohio Vocational Interest Survey,
the Safran Student's Interest Inventory, the Strong-Campbell
Interest Inventory, and the Wide Range Interest Opinion

Test."7 Contemporary Approaches to Interest Measurement

 

reviews the Strong Vocational Interest Blank for Men, the
Strong Vocational Interest Blank for Women, The Minnesota
Vocational Interest Inventory, The Kuder Occupational
Interest Survey, the Minnesota Importance Questionnaire, the
Ohio Vocational Interest Survey, and the Work Values
Inventory.48

Most of these interest surveys are not scaled for
younger children. They do, however, suggest, in the choices
they offer, many adult interests which may parallel or even
be the outcomes of children's activities.

Informal open—ended inquiries may be more direct and
just as useful for obtaining information from children.

Almy suggests a variety of such approaches for asking

children about themselves, among them: informal

 

47Oscar Krisen Buros, The Eighth Mental Measurements
Yearbook, Vol. 2 (Highland Park, New Jersey: The Gryphon
Press, 1978), pp. 1535-1649.

 

 

48Donald G. Zytowski, ed., Contemporary Approaches to
Interest Measurement (Minneapolis, University of Minnesota
Press, 1973).

 

 

25
self—reports, class discussion, teacher-child conferences,
casual conversations, written reports, and questionnaires."9

Likewise, Tyler recommends student interviews, parents
interviews, and questionnaires among methods of studying the
activities, social relations, and habits of the learners
themselves.SO

Formal, standardized instruments may, in fact, in some
instances limit the scope of the data collected to only
those correlates for which the survey was designed.

An open-minded naturalistic approach is appropriate
according to Guba when the main thrust of the inquiry is
description to determine what is there and to discover how
components are related.51

Jersild derived his information for relating self—
concept to common experience from open essays using simply
the broad topics of "What I Like About Myself" and "What I
Dislike About Myself".52 The responses from students in

fourth grade through college, as summarized by Jersild, were

categorized under nineteen categories, six of which suggest

 

49Millie Almy, Ways of Studying Children (New York:
Teachers College Press, 1959), pp. 115-131.

 

SOTyler, pp.12-13.

51Egon G. Guba, Toward a Methodology of Naturalistic
nguiry in Educational Evaluation (Los Angeles: Center for
the Study of Evaluation, UCLA, 1978),]h 41.

 

 

52Arthur T. Jersild, In Search of Self (New York:
Teachers College Press, 1952), p. 135.

 

26

activity areas: animals and pets, recreation (picnics,
parties, play and sports, hobbies), ability in sports and
play school (study habits), special talents (music and dance,
drawing and painting, construction and mechanics, speaking,
home arts and skills), and religion.53

Nias's list of recreational interests, constructed by
asking children to list the activities they did in their
spare time, includes: watching sport (TV and reading),
children's entertainment (watching TV cartoon and reading
comics), academic interests (schoolwork and watching TV
news), pop music, sport, animals (looking after and watching
TV or reading), art (model making, painting, drawing),
romance (films, stories, and magazines), crime and horror
(films and reading), science, war (TV war films and westerns

and reading), and general/home interests (sewing, knitting,

cooking).54 Gesell and Ilg in The Child From Five to Ten and

 

Gesell, Ilg, and Ames in Youth, The Years from Ten to Sixteen
provide a listing of activities, interests and routines as
gradients of maturity. These include such areas as watching
movies or TV, listening to radio and records, reading certain
types of stories, comics, magazines, and newspapers,

collecting, caring for pets, drawing, imaginary play,

 

53Jersild, pp. 135-141.

54David K. B. Nias, "The Classification and Correlates
of Children's Academic and Recreational Interests," Journal
of Child Psychology and Ppychiatry 20 (January 1979): 76.

27
science, building projects and working tasks.55’56
Hurlock lists the following recreational activities as
typical for older children and adolescents: conversations,
loafing, parties, dancing, games and sports, games of
intellect, gambling, hobbies (constructions and collections),
exploring, daydreaming, music, reading, movies, radio
listening, and television watching.57
Dave, using home observations and parent interviews,
identified the following activity involvement as part of the
home environment related to academic achievement:
opportunities for vocabulary enlargement (books, TV, travel,
picnics, verbal interaction at home), availability and use of
materials related to school learning (dictionary,
encyclopedia, workbooks), indoor activities of educational
value (discussions, projects), outdoor activities of
educational value (visits to museum, zoo, historical places),
use of TV for educational purpose, use of books, magazines,

newspapers and the library, educational toys, games, and

hobbies, use of complex appliances, and distribution of work

 

55Arnold Gesell and Frances L. Ilg, The Child from Five

 

to Ten (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1946).

56Arnold Gesell, Frances L. Ilg, and Louise Bates
Amers, Youth: The Years from Ten to Sixteen (New York:
Harper and Row, 1956).

 

57Elizabeth B. Hurlock, Adolescent Development 4th Ed.
(New York: McGraw—Hill, 1973), pp. 140—171.

 

28

in the home.58

Dave explains that since the purpose of his
study was to investigate environmental rather than individual
differences, it was necessary to exclude the child as a
source of information and to concentraate on the environment
in which he lives, recognizing, nevertheless that the child
interacts with the educational environment in the home.59
In the research of Marjoribanks the following environ—
ment variables were used as indicants of family involvement
in educational activities: getting help from an older
sibling on homework, playing at teaching a younger sibling,
a great variety of recreational activities with parents every
week, parents' knowledge and encouragement of students'
hobbies, an encyclopedia set in the home with discussion of
the volumes content, visits of an educational nature
(concerts, museums, zoos, historic places), academic or
cultural courses or lessons taken by parents of students,
after-school to evening meal activity (especially reading,
60

studies, or lessons), and types and amounts of TV watching.

Marjoribanks makes the observation that,

 

58Ravindrakumar H. Dave, "The Identification and
Measurement of Environmental Process Variables That Are
Related to Educational Achievement", (Ph.D. dissertation,
University of Chicago, 1963), pp. 153-174.

59Ibid., p. 19.
60Kevin Marjoribanks, Families and Their Learnipg

Environments: An Empirical Analysis (London: Routledge and
Kegan Paul, 1979),}UL 203—230.

 

29

. . . children's school outcomes are explained most
appropriately by examining an interactionism framework
of behavior. In this . .. model it is assumed that
not only do situations influence individuals, but that
individuals select and subsequently affect the
situations with which they interact.
These lists may be indicative of what we would expect
to learn from any general survey of children today concerning

their after-school activities.

Rating the educative value of activities

Activity alone is not perceived to be a sufficient
indicator of learning. Activity requires observation,
reflection, and decision. Indicators of growth such as
knowledge, confidence, and competence must follow so that the
experience becomes useful in dealing with future situations.
These resulting skills and attitudes are the learning
outcomes whose measurement and relative importance determine
the educative value of the activity.

The literature suggests many outcomes and correlates of
out—of—school activity experiences, some of which may be
useful for consideration in this study.

A study reported in the NASSP Bulletin of 4,000
students involved in sponsored experiential learning in 20
different school systems found over 75% agreement between

teachers and students on 17 out of 24 suggested outcomes.

 

61Ibid., p. 2.

3O
1. Concern for fellow human beings.

2. Ability to get things done and to work smoothly
with others.

3. Realistic attitudes toward other people such as the
elderly, handicapped, or government officials.

4. Self—motivation to learn, participate, achieve.

5. Self—concept (sense of confidence, sense of
competence, self—awareness).

6. Responsibility to group or class.

7. Risk-taking —- openness to new experiences.

8. Sense of usefulness in relation to the community.
9. Problem—solving.

lO. Risk—taking -- being assertive and independent.
11. Accept consequences of my own actions.

12. Gathering and analyzing information, observing,
reflecting on experience.

13. Knowledge of community organizations.
14. Responsibility for my own life.
15. Awareness of community problems.

16. Assume new, important tasks in community and
school.

17. Communication skills (listening, speaképg,
presenting ideas through variety of media).

Programs of experiential based career education
anticipate outcomes such as job related skills, interpersonal

skills, personal values, and an understanding of workplace

 

62Dan Conrad and Diane Hedin, "Are Experiential
Learning Programs Effective?" NASSP Bulletin 62 (November
1978): p. 105.

 

31
values such as time, cost, and impact.63’64
Gaston found that problem teenagers reported positive
changes in meeting challenges, self-confidence, getting along
with parents, grades in school and controlling of temper
following participation in a wilderness adventure program.65
The literature describes numerous other methods and
measurement instruments used to assess experiential learning
outcomes and correlates. Ewart used the Tennessee Self-
Concept Scale to measure the effects of outdoor adventure
activities upon self-concept.66 Fletcher investigated
affective changes between economically disadvantaged and

advantaged sixth graders at a resident outdoor education

program using the Nowicki—Strickland Locus of Control, and

 

63Sheila C. Gordon, "Campus and Workplace as Arenasfl'
in Experiential Learning: RationaleL Characteristics and

Assessment, ed. Morris T.Keeton (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,
1976), pp. 108-118.

 

6"Carmen E. McLeod, Handbook for Career Specialization
Program§_ (Philadelphia, PA: Research for Better Schools,
Inc., 1978).

 

65Debra Wickstrom Gaston; Plouffe, Mary Mahoney; and
Chinsky, Jack M., "An Empirical Investigation of a Wilderness
Adventure Program for Teenagers: The Connecticut Wilderness
School," paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the
Psychological Association, Washington, DAL, 31 March 1978.

66Alan Ewart, "The Effects of Outdoor Adventure
Activities Upon Self-Concept," (Master's Thesis, Eastern
Michigan University, 1977).

32

the All About Myself Scale.67

Owens discusses 11 evaluation strategies for experience
based career education and suggests selection criteria for
planning multiple evaluation strategies.68

Staley reported research and evaluation in outdoor
education measuring such variables as participant behavior,
creativity, hemisphericity, attitudes and values, and
comprehension and cognition.69 Staley provides a list of 77
available measurement instruments for research and evaluation
in outdoor education.70

Data results from a sponsored program entitled "The
Going Places Classroom' imply that high community involvement
students have larger academic achievement gains than do low

community involvement students.71

 

67Sara Ann Fletcher, "A Comparison of Affective Changes
Between Economically Disadvantaged and Advantaged Sixth
Graders at a Resident Outdoor Education Program," (Doctor of
Recreation Dissertation, Indiana University, 1973).

68Owens, pp. 35-49.

69Frederick A. Staley, "The Research, Evaluation, and
Measurement Dragons in Outdoor Education," (Paper presented
at the National Outdoor Education Association Meeting, Lake
Placid, N.Y., October 4—8, 1979).

7OStaley.

71Watson,p. 31.

33

Assessinngrior Experiential Learning

 

The CAEL project recommends that following the identi—
fication of life experiences, it is necessary to articulate
what competencies have been acquired as a result. For
example, Forrest, Knapp, and Pendergrass emphasize that the
process of translating past experience into learning,
competence, or achievement, and not just the production of
the portfolio, is a valuable learning exercise and helps one
avoid the danger of allowing activity to substitute for the
72

outcomes of experience.

Knapp and Sharon in A Compendium of Assessment

 

Techniques describe all manners of assessment techniques as

 

they might be applied to experiential learning. These
include:

1. Product assessment of creative work such as
reports, diaries, drawings, or photographs.

2. Performance tests add the strong element of realism
to the evaluation but can be less efficient and more costly
to administer.

3. Simulations allow the assessor to observe the
student in a lifelike, if not actually real, setting.

4. Essay examinations allow the student to expand on

 

72Aubrey Forrest, Joan E. Knapp, and Judith
Pendergrass, "Tools and Methods of Evaluation," in
Experiential Learning: Rationale, Characteristics, and
Assessment, ed. Morris T. Keeton, (San Francisco: Jossey-
Bass, 1976),;un 161—188.

 

 

34
the ideas he has acquired as a result of his experience and
can be judged by degrees of merit.

5. Objective written tests are an efficient method
which can focus on discrete knowledge which the assessor
expects the learner will have acquired.

6. Interviews permit the flexibility of probing more
deeply into the student's experience of learning.73
Also important in the evaluation of experiential
learning are the functions and qualifications of the persons
serving as assessors as described by Whitaker. He considers

among potential assessors, the learner himself, faculty
teachers, agency teachers, participant observers, and expert
judges. Potential assessors are rated on their eligibility
to document, identify, articulate, measure, evaluate, and
transcribe the outcomes of learning from both prior
experience and from sponsored programs.74

Whitaker states,

Teachers are the best assessors when all

characteristics are considered as a package. If only

one assessor is to be used, it should be the teacher.75

 

73Joan Knapp and Amiel Sharon, A Compendium of
Assessment Techniques (Columbia, Maryland: CAEL, 1975).

 

74Urban G. Whitaker, "Assessors and Their
Qualifications" in Experiential Learning: RationaleL
Characteristics, and Assessment ed. Morris T. Keeton (San
Francisco: Jossey—Bass, 1977), pp. 189-223.

 

75Ibid., p. 218.

35

Feelings of competence and interest as an outcome

Motivational theory explores how feelings of competence
influence continuing interest in a given activity.

Defining experiential learning as occurring "when
changes in judgments, feelings, knowledge, or skills result
for a particular person from living through an event or
events," Chickering touches on a number of areas which might
be considered as outcomes of experiential learning, among
them moral and ethical development, intellectual development,
development of interpersonal styles, sense of competence,
clarification of purpose, deepening of interest, and
expansion of caring.76

White laid the foundation for research on this concept
with his fundamental work "Motivation Reconsidered: The
Concept of Competence". In White's words, the concept of
competence or effectance is evident when,

the child appears to be occupied with the agreeable

task of developing an effective familiarity with his

environment. This involves discovering the effects he
can have on the environment a9? the effects the
environment will have on him.

He adds,

. . . it may be that the satisfaction of effectance

 

76Arthur W. Chickering, "Developmental Change As A
Major Outcome" in Experiential Learning: RationaleL
Characteristics, and Assessment, ed. Morris T. Keeton, (San
Francisco: Jossey—Bass, 1976), pp. 62—107.

77Robert W. White, "Motivation Reconsidered: The

Concept of Competence," Psychological Review 66 (September
1959): 321.

 

36

contributes significantly to those feelings of interest
which often sustain us so well in day—to-day actions,
particularly when the things we §re doing have
continuing elements of novelty.7

White explains,

We can detect the influence of sense of competence
in the judgments we are constantly making, often half-
consciously, about what we can and cannot do. We can
step across this puddle but not the next one . .. .
How do we know so well what we can and cannot do?
Since in the beginning we could not do any of
these things, . . .it is safe to say that we have
learned it all through experience. Past actions,
successful and unsuccessful, have taught us the range
of our effectiveness. Sense of competence is the
result of cumulative learning, and it is7§ver at work
influencing the next thrust of behavior.

Using White's theory as a basis, Harter has
operationally defined self—esteem using the construct
perceived competence which is determined by a child's
perceptions of himself in the experience areas of cognitive
competence, social or interpersonal competence, and physical
competence, especially athletic skills.80

Such perceptions of competence from experience may be

very situation specific as explained by Connell.81

Related outcomes of experiential learning, possibly the

 

781bid., p. 323.

79Robert W. White, "Sense of Interpersonal Competence:
Two Case Studies and some Reflections on Origins," in Robert
W. White, ed., The Study of Lives (New York: Atherton
Press, 1966), p. 75.

 

80Susan Harter, "Effective Motivation Reconsideredfl'
Human Development 21 (1978): 58.

81

 

see Harter, p. 59.

37

result of feelings of competence, are intrinsic motivation82

and continuing motivation.83

Maehr defines continuing motivation as the tendency to
return to and continue working on tasks away from the
instructional context in which they were presented. An
example, familiar among children's common activities, is
playing school at home. Others are pursuing additional
research, reading, or experimenting as a result of
inspiration from a school science lesson.84

Jersild discovered that self-image is often a function
of very common daily experiences such as caring for pets,
parties, play sports, hobbies, religion, and musical or
artistic talents, as well as physical and personality
traits.85

Nias investigated correlations of academic and
recreational interests with personality and social variables.
He found low correlations and thereby concluded that

information about interests is best obtained by direct

methods, and that no single influence is dominant in

 

82E. L. Deci, Intrinsic Motivation (New York: Plenum
Press, 1975).

 

83Martin L. Maehr, "Continuing Motivation: An Analysis

of a Seldom Considered Educational Outcome," Review of
Educational Research 46 (Fall 1976): 443—462.

 

84Ibid., 443.

85Jersild, pp. 135—141.

38
determining interests, but that it is largely a matter of
chance.86

Several older studies mentioned by S. L. Pressey and R.

G. Kuhlen in Psychological Development Through the Life Span

 

point to the implications of activities as indicators of

87

interest. Among their findings are the following:

Changes in interests do change with differences in age,

as pointed out by Pressey.88

Lehman and Witty suggest that bright children show a

greater variation in their activities.89

Similarly, Boynton says that brighter children tend

toward greater diversification in their hobbies.90

Terman found that intellectually gifted children tend
to participate in more activities involving thinking or

intellectual activity.91

 

86Nias, p. 78.

878.1“ Pressey and R.CL Kuhlen, Psyghological
Development Through the Life Span (New York: Harper and Row,
1975).

 

 

881bid., p. 382.

89H. K. Lehman and P. A. Witty, The Psychology of Play
Activities (New York: A. S. Barnes and Company, 1927), pp.
212—223.

 

 

90Paul L. Boynton, "The Relationship Between Children's
Tested Intelligence and Their Hobby Participations," Journal
of Genetic Psychology 58 (June 1941): 353-362.

 

91L. M. Terman, ed., Mental and Physical Traits of a
Thousand Gifted Children, Genetic Studies of Genius, Vol. I
(Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1925), p. 437.

 

 

39

Thorndike, in computing intercorrelations among general
interests (such as sports, outdoor games, playing a musical
instrument), found that certain interests go together.92

Jersild and Tasch perceive education as a vehicle to
promote and develop interest.93

This is significant to this study because it suggests
that relationships which may exist between school and out—of—
school activity are interactive and that activity may be an
outcome of learning as well as the other way around. Perhaps
this is brought about in the manner Anderson has set down in
five principles for promoting interest development in

childhood:

1. Bring the child to see his experiences in different
light by reorganizing his point of view.

2. Develop specific skills that enable the child to
master particular demands.

3. Attach pleasant outcomes, through secondary devices
(verbal and otherwise), to various activities.

4. Give the child good models of behavior by showing
interest and enthusiasm for activities.

5. Watch particularly the incidental, casual and
indirect evaluation. .. .9

 

92E. L. Thorndike, "The Interests of Adults: II: TAhe
Interrelations of Adult Interests," Journal of Educational
Psychology 26 (September-October 1935): 496—507.

 

93A.TL Jersild and R.J} Tasch, Children's Interests
and What They Suggest for Education (New York: Teachers
College, Columbia University, 1949).

 

94John E. Anderson, "The Relation of Attitude to
Adjustment," Education 73 (December 1952): 210—218.

 

40
Academic achievement as a correlate of activity

Cognitive skill improvement is also suggested as a
possible outcome of learning in non—academic settings.

As noted earlier in the study of the "Going Places
Classroom", larger academic achievement gains were made by
students of high community involvement.95

Foley and McGuire identified evidence of cognitive
skill manifested in the street play of children, many of whom
still had difficulty in classroom settings. They conclude
that their observations offer support for educating to the
strengths these learners exhibit in informal settings.96

The idea that commonplace life experiences correlate
with school achievement is more systematically researched by
Dave. Through interviews with parents to determine the
nature of process variables in the home environment, he
discovered that these environmental factors, including the
participation of children in certain types of activities with
their families, could be moderately to highly predictive of
97

academic achievement. This study has been replicated with

modification, but with similar findings by Marjoribanks98,

 

95Watson, p. 31.

96Matthew Foley and Donald McGuire, "Cognitive Skills
and Street Activity," Urban Education 16 (April 1981): 13-
36.

 

97Dave, pp. 116-134.

98Marjoribanks.

41

99 100

Keeves, and Ware and Garber.
A parallel study on intelligence correlation with home
environment factors was done by Wolf using the same sample as

Dave's.101

Summary

The literature was reviewed to provide an overview of
the theory and practice of experiential learning and of
related areas of study which value the common day-to—day
experiences of students. The main points discussed in the
literature which are the basis for this study are as follows:

1. Adults are important mediators of experience.

2. Learning from experience requires not only
activity, but also reflection and subsequent decision—making.

3. Institutions may assist in facilitating sponsored
experiential learning or in assessing and crediting prior
experiential learning.

4. The typical out—of—school activities of older

elementary school children may be surmised from prior

 

99J. P. Keeves, "The Home, the School, and Achievement
in Mathematics," Science Education 59 (October 1975): 349—
460.

 

looWilliam B. Ware and Malcolm Garber, "The Home
Environment as a Predictor of School Achievement," Theory
Into Practice 11 (June 1972), pp. 190—195.

101Richard Wolf, "The Measurement of Environments," in
Testing Problems in Perspective, ed. Anne Anastasi
(Washington, ILC.: American Council on Education, 1966), pp.
491—503.

42
research, by using processes most of which are designed
for high school and college students, by observing the
environment and surveying parents, or by gathering the
information directly from the students themselves.

5. The educative value of an experience may be
ascertained on the basis of affective outcomes such as
attitudes, feelings of competence, self-concept, and
interest.

6. Teachers are highly rated as assessors of the
educative value of the activities of students.

7. Academic performance has been shown to be a
correlate of community involvement and home environment
variables in some studies.

In conclusion, the literature which values out—of—
school experience as educative encourages the consideration
of such activities and their outcomes as indicators of growth
and competence. It suggests a need for the educator or
researcher to keep his information current and to probe more
deeply the relationships which may exist connecting the

learner's experiences both in and out of school.

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH DESIGN AND PROCEDURES

Questions to be answered

 

In order to investigate the relationships between
school achievement and after-school activities, it is first
of all necessary to identify which types of after—school
activities are common enough to warrant inclusion in a
comparison. Awareness of the relative commonality of
participation in given types of out-of—school activities
throughout the population studied and among subgroupings such
as day of response, school of attendance, and level of
academic achievement forms the basis for testing the first
and second hypotheses of this study which are:

1. Activity selection will be similar among students
regardless of school of attendance.

2. The relative rankings of certain after-school
activities by participation level will differ with the
achievement level of the students.

The following questions were used to guide and focus
information gathering and analysis pertaining to these
hypotheses:

1. What are the commonplace daily activities on the

43

44
after—school agenda of a child in the fifth grade?

2. Which types of activities, if any, are found to be
common among students in all schools, at all levels of
achievement, and on any school day?

3. How much do the rankings of after—school activities
by participation level differ according to the day of the
week?

4. How much do the rankings of after—school activities
by participation level differ among schools?

5. How much do the rankings of after—school activities
by participation level differ with the achievement levels of
students?

The identification of common activities may assist
educators in the construction of curriculum more relevant to
the daily experience of learners. If such common experiences
are found to occur with approximately the same relative
frequency regardless of school of attendance, the ability to
generalize such a curriculum can be supported.

It is presumed that finding activity participation
which appears to differentiate among achievement levels would
lead to more specific research into the related factors which
seem to affect this differentiation. If, on the other hand,
the hypothesis cannot be supported and after—school activity
participation appears to be relatively unrelated to academic
achievement, then subsequent research might better be

directed to exploring how educators can more effectively

45
influence the potential connectedness of school learning and
common culture.

The identification of common after-school activities in
this study is followed by an evaluation of those activities
by teachers. The importance of this information is inferred
by the role adult mediation plays in experiential learning
according to the literature. A comparison of evaluation
measures is suggested in the third hypothesis of this study
which is:

3. The rating of activities by teachers will correlate
positively with the ranking of activities by achievement test
scores.

The procedure for testing this hypothesis is projected
in the following questions:

6. What is the average standardized academic test
score for students participating in a given activity?

7. What is the educative value of activities as
suggested by teacher ratings?

8. How does the ranking of activities by test scores
compare with the ratings of these same activities by
teachers?

Whether the proposed agreement is found between the
average test scores of participants in an activity and the
teachers' ratings of the activity or not, it will have
implications for more closely examining the characteristics

of an activity which led it to receive a higher rating.

46
In short, this study is designed to identify common
activities in the population and subgroups of the population
studied, and to compare measurement of the educative value of
these activities by teachers' opinions and standardized test
results. The suggested implications would be an outgrowth,

not a direct finding of the study analysis.

Development of a survey questionnaire

 

It is expected that use of an open—ended survey would
provide a detailed listing of a variety of commonplace
activities as the students themselves are able to recollect
them, which would be a different point of view than was
obtained through parent interviews in previous related
research. A survey is a useful method of discovering the
learners' experiences from the students themselves and

convenient for the practicing educator according to Almy102

and Tyler.103
The specific student survey form used in this study is
found in Appendix A. On the student survey students are
requested to give specific examples of their activities over
a four day period which fit into these categories: watch TV,

do household chores, play games indoors, play outside

activities or sports, do schoolwork at home, take lessons, go

 

102A1my, pp. 115—131.

103Tyler, pp. 12-13.

47
to the library, go to interesting places, read for fun, look
in a book for information, go to a meeting (such as scouts),
work on a hobby or project. The twelve response categories
were derived from several sources including the areas
considered for credit in the literature on assessment of
prior learning, from home activities correlating with school

104

achievement in the surveys used by Dave and

Marjoribanks,105

and from listings provided by students on
open—ended, pre-study surveys conducted by the researcher.
These categories were not considered to be all inclusive, but
nevertheless typical of common and relevant organizers for
the wide range of after—school activities of the population
studied. Response on pilot surveys seemed to be higher with
the use of categories than without. The surveys were
distributed to teachers through their principals. They were
instructed to ask the students surveyed to list specific
examples of activities which they had actually done on the
previous day. For example, under "watch TV" the students
listed the names of television shows they had watched the
afternoon and evening before, or under "go interesting
places" they named the store or nearby city where they went.

The immense variety of specific examples thus provided by the

respondents was then organized into subgroups or types where

 

104Dave, pp. 154—174.

105Marjoribanks, pp. 203-230.

48

responses seemed to fit most logically and consistently,
though perhaps not exclusively. The outcome of this
organization was an arrangement of 67 types of activities
which seemed to adequately represent the specific examples
provided by the subjects surveyed.

Comparison with other listings of children's
activities, such as are identified by Hurlock,106 Jersild,107
Nias,108 and Gesell et. al.,109 reveals selections similar to

those chosen for this study.

Definition of setting and population

A middle-sized city in Michigan was selected which
would enable the researcher to collect input from a variety
of social, economic, racial, and ethnic backgrounds. This
was considered significant so that the commonality of
activities could be determined for a homogeneous group of
students. According to the district's elementary school
profile for 1981 to 1982, there were 9,558 elementary school
students enrolled in the public schools. The pupil racial

distribution in elementary schools at the time of this survey

 

106Hurlock, pp. 140-162.

107Jersild, pp. 135—141.

108Nias, p. 76.

109Gesell and Ilg, The Child from Five to Ten, pp. 359-

373 and Gesell, Ilg, and Ames, Youth: The Years from Ten to
Sixteen, pp. 423—448.

 

49
was approximately 52.9% Black, 13.1% Hispanic, 1.3% other
minorities, and 32.6% white.110
Fifth graders were selected as elementary students old
enough to recall and list in written form examples of their
normal day-to-day activities. This is also the approximate
age of subjects used in the correlative studies of home

environment and school achievement done by Dave111

and by
Marjoribanks.112 Late spring was selected as the time
concurrent with administration of standardized achievement
tests in the school district. It is recognized that many of
the students' responses could be seasonal activities and

therefore it is necessary to identify the days of the year

when the data were gathered.

Accounting of data gathered from students
The entire population of 1,256 fifth graders in the
school district was requested to complete a survey for four
school days (May 17-20, 1982), listing in twelve categories
examples of what they did after school on those days.
Response was received from 1,080 students, 862 of whom

responded for all four days. Most failures to respond fully

 

110The Saginaw Elementary School Profile, 1981-1982,
Department of evaluation Services, Saginaw Public Schools,
Saginaw, Michigan.

111Dave, p. 51.

112Marjoribanks, p. 37.

50
or partially could be accounted for by legitimate absences,
extended field trips, or schoolwide events. Results from the
May 1982 administration of the California Achievement Test
have also been collected in the form of twelve categories of
total scores and subscores primarily in reading, language,

and mathematics.

Development and use of teacher survey

Following the collection of data from students, the
typical subcategories of responses from students were
arranged on a survey for teachers (see Appendix A). Teachers
of the students surveyed were asked to rate the subcategories
of activities suggested by students according to their
educative value. Specifically they were asked how highly
they would recommend an activity as educational. Response
options included: 0 — would not recommend, not educational;
l - would recommend as entertainment, not as educational; 2 -
would recommend as somewhat educational; 3‘— would recommend
as educational; 4 — would recommend as highly educational.
Thirty-six (36) of fifty-six (56) fifth grade teachers
responded. Each activity was then rated according to the
average level of educational worth accorded it by the
teachers. These ratings were compared to the average test
scores of participants in each of the after-school activities
to see if a relationship appears to exist between teachers'

ratings and test performance associated with an activity.

llllll.
{1
I
I'll l

i I.
I
\II 4"" I‘
1
I'll. 1"

51
Summary

It was the intent of this study to draw from the
responses of the students examples of common after-school
activities and to compare the commonality of these activities
in different schools and at different levels of academic
achievement. The selected activities were ordered according
to educative value as determined by the average ranking by
teachers and compared to association with school achievement
as determined by the average achievement test scores of
students claiming to participate in the activity. This study
was undertaken to assist educators in examining their
awareness of children's common after—school activities and
their role and influence as significant adults and mediators

of children's experiences.

CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS OF RESULTS

This study was undertaken to investigate the
commonality and educative value of after—school activities as
perceived by teachers. These data were collected by asking
fifth grade students to provide, within the twelve categories
of a survey, examples of their actual after-school activities
over a four day period, Monday through Thursday. Following
this initial collection of data, the students' responses were
organized into sixty—seven subcategories and their teachers
were asked to rate the educational value of each category and
subcategory. Analysis of the data was used to seek answers
to the following questions:

1. What are the commonplace daily activities on the
after—school agenda of a child in the fifth grade?

2. Which types of activities, if any, are found to be
common among students in all schools, at all levels of
achievement, and on any school day?

3. How much do the rankings of after-school activities
by participation level differ according to the day of the
week? 0

4. How much do the rankings of after—school activities

52

53
by participation level differ among schools?

5. How much do the rankings of after-school activities
by participation level differ with the achievement levels of
students?

6. What is the average standardized academic test
score for students participating in a given activity?

7. What is the educative value of activities as
suggested by teacher ratings?

8. How does the ranking of activities by test scores
compare with the ratings of these same activities by
teachers?

Determination of commonality began with an analysis of
participation by students in the activity categories
suggested by their responses. Over the four day period of
the survey, 1050 students responded on one or more of the
four days. The percentage of these students participating in
a given type of activity is shown from highest to lowest
levels of participation in table 4.1. in Appendix B. Among
the twelve main categories used on the survey, television
viewing of any type received the highest indication of
participation with 97.24% of the students providing examples
of shows they watched. This was followed by outdoor play
(95.62%), household chores (88.95%), and schoolwork (79.24%)
as the next most popular main categories. (see table 4.1a

below)

54
TABLE 4.1.a

PARTICIPATION IN ACTIVITY CATEGORIES

 

Category Percent of pOpulation

 

Television viewing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97.24%
Outdoor play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95.62%
Household chores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88.95%
Schoolwork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79.24%
Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64.76%
Playing indoors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64.57%
Going to a place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64.00%
Hobby activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43.43%
Look in a book for information . . . . . . . . 38.76%
Go to a meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.86%
Take lessons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.71%
Go to the library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.14%

 

Among the 67 subcategories the most common occuring
activities were indoor chores (84.10%), sports (80.76%),
schoolwork.(79.24%), TV movies or drama (76.57%), and TV

situation comedies (76.09%). (see table 4.1J) below)

55
TABLE 4.1.b.

TWENTY MOST FREQUENTLY MENTIONED AFTER—SCHOOL ACTIVITIES

 

 

Activity type Percent of population
Indoor chores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84.10%
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80.76%
Schoolwork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79.24%
Watching a TV movie or drama . . . . . . . . . 76.57%
Watching a TV situation comedy . . . . . . . . 76.09%
Reading a story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48.19%
Watching TV cartoons . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36.95%
Go to a store or restaurant . . . . . . . . . . 33.52%
Exercise activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31.90%
Bike riding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31.71%
Use a study reference book . . . . . . . . . . 28.76%
Play a board game of chance . . . . . . . . . . 25.52%
Play a video game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.10%
Visit a friend or relative . . . . . . . . . . 24.10%
Play a pretending game outside . . . . . . . . 20.29%
Go to the library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.14%
Watch a TV soap opera . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.90%
Play a pretending game inside . . . . . . . . . 14.67%
Go to a park or playground . . . . . . . . . . 14.10%
Outdoor chores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.81%

See table 4.1 in Appendix B for a complete list.

 

A category of after—school activities was consi-
dered common if activities within that category were men—
tioned in the responses of students in every school, at every
achievement level, and on every day of the survey. Nineteen
of the sixty—seven activity subcategories derived from
student responses were found to be common to all of the above
specified groups. The occurrence of responses indicating
participation varied from 10.1% to 84.1% of the total

population in activities designated as common to all groups.

56
The occurrence of activity subcategories not termed common by
virtue of their not occurring in every specified group ranged
from .38% to 19.14% of the total population of respondents.
Generally, as might be expected, the most frequently
mentioned activities overall are also the activities common
to all subgroupings. There are some exceptions to this,
however, as evidenced by the activities with a lower percent
of participation which are nevertheless found in every

subgroup of day, school, or achievement.

TABLE 4.2

ACTIVITIES COMMON TO ALL DAYS AT ALL
SCHOOLS AT EVERY ACHIEVEMENT LEVEL

 

Activity Percent of population

 

Indoor chores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84.10%
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80.76%
Schoolwork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79.24%
Watch a TV movie or drama . . . . . . . . . . . 76.57%
Watch a TV situation comedy . . . . . . . . . . 76.09%
Read a story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49.19%
Watch a TV cartoon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36.95%
Go to a store or restaurant . . . . . . . . . . 33.52%
Exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31.90%
Bike riding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .'. 31.71%
Use a study reference book . . . . . . . . . . 28.76%
Play a board game of chance . . . . . . . . . . 25.52%
Play a video game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.10%
Visit friends or relatives . . . . . . . . . . 24.10%
Play a pretending game outside . . . . . . . . 20.29%
Watch a TV soap opera . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.90%
Play cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.48%
Watch TV news . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.38%

Build models . . . . . . 10.10%

 

57

The likelihood of activity categories holding the same
positions by participation level regardless of day of
response, school group, or achievement quartile was explored
using Kendall's coefficient of concordance.

First, the agreement among days of response was
analyzed. This was considered significant since there were
differing numbers of respondents on each day and therefore a
high degree of agreement would be an indication of population
similarity. The agreement of activity rankings by frequency
of occurrence among the four days was calculated to be .96.
This high coefficient does indicate that the variation in the
number of respondents for each day of the week had little
effect on the relative rankings of activities by
participation level.

Secondly, in each of twenty—three elementary schools,
the activity categories were ranked according to the
percentage of respondents indicating participation in
activities within that category. This was considered
important not only because of the different school
environments, but also because of the differing economic and
racial compositions reflected in the schools as a consequence
of their neighborhoods. The degree of agreement among all of
the schools for all of the activity categories is indicated
by a coefficient of concordance of .71. This is a moderately
high level of agreement and appears to indicate a commonality

among students' after—school activities regardless of school

58
of attendance.

Next, the agreement of rankings by frequency of
occurrence among quartile groupings from the results of the
California Achievement Test were analyzed. This was
considered as a possible indicator that activity choices
could be used to predict academic achievement, if the overall
agreement level was low. In fact, the degree of agreement
among the four quartiles was calculated to be .93. It may
therefore be concluded that the relative rankings by
participation in activities does not vary greatly among
students at differing levels of achievement. The after—
school activity choices a student makes do not appear

indicative of his level of achievement.

TABLE 4.3

DEGREES OF AGREEMENT IN RANK ORDERING OF AFTER—
SCHOOL ACTIVITIES BY PARTICIPATION LEVEL
(Based on Kendall's coefficient of concordance)

 

 

Comparison of ranking Coefficient
by day .96
by school of attendance ‘ .71
by achievement level .93

 

To see what educative value might be suggested,

categories and subcategories of after—school activities were

59
ranked according to the average California Achievement Test
scores of participants in those activities. These rankings
by scores on the total test battery, the reading subtest, and
the math subtest are shown in tables 4.4, 4.5, and 4.6 in
Appendix B. The highest 10 rankings for the test battery and
reading and math subtests are shown below in tables 4.4x“

4.5.a, and 446.3.

TABLE 4.4.a

RANKING OF TOP TEN ACTIVITIES
BY TOTAL CAT BATTERY SCORES

 

 

% of
Activity CAT average population
Dungeons and Dragons 188.70 .96%
Reading romances 175.50 .38%
Gardening 171.05 3.62%
Collections 170.53 5.91%
Pets 170.09 8.67%
Watching TV variety show 169.80 6.10%
Science as a hobby 168.00 3.14%
Read for interest 167.07 5.24%
Babysitting 164.66 2.76%

Visit a museum 164.38 .76%

 

60
TABLE 4.5.a

RANKING OF TOP TEN ACTIVITIES
BY READING SUBTEST SCORES

 

 

 

 

 

% of
Activity Reading score p0pulation
Dungeons and Dragons 59.40 .96%
Reading romances 51.25 .38%
Science as a hobby 50.39 3.14%
Pets 50.37 8.67%
Watching TV variety show 49.98 6.10%
Collections 49.77 5.91%
Gardening 49.34 3.62%
Read for interest 49.31 5.24%
Puzzles 49.25 2.29%
Read magazines 49.04 5.05%
TABLE 4.6.a
RANKING OF TOP TEN ACTIVITIES
BY MATH SUBTEST SCORES
% of
Activity Math score population
Dungeons and Dragons 64.10 .96%
Reading romances 63.50 .38%
Pets 60.63 8.67%
Collections 60.52 5.91%
Gardening 59.11 3.62%
Watching TV variety show 58.47 6.10%
Watching TV game show 58.12 6.38%
Read for interest 58.00 5.24%
Visit a museum 58.00 .76%
Go to a sporting event 56.99 7.81%

 

61
Teachers of the students surveyed were asked to
rate the categories and subcategories of after—school
activities according to their opinions of each activity's
inherent educational value. The average ratings in rank
order are shown in table 4.7 in Appendix B. The ten top

ranked activities by teachers are shown in table 4.7Jh

 

 

below.
TABLE 4.7.a
TEN TOP RANKED ACTIVITIES BY TEACHERS
Activity Average Rating
on a five point scale of O — 4

Going to the library 3.73
Use a study reference book 3.71
Visit a museum 3.64
Watch TV news 3.62
Read for interest 3.59
Science as a hobby 3.57
Read newspaper 3.54
Read a biography 3.54
Schoolwork 3.41
Music lessons 3.39

 

The Kendall Tau Coefficient was used to compare the
ranking of activities according to teachers' ratings with the
rankings according to average achievement test scores
identified with these activities. The agreement between

rankings according to teachers' ratings of educational value

62
and rankings according to average total battery achievement
test scores was found to be .02 for all activity sub—
categories, -u14 for activities designated as common, and .06
for main categories“ Common subcategories and main
categories were used as comparisons because they have higher
participation percentages and were therefore thought to be
less subject to the variances of lower participation
activities. There appears to be no strong correlation
between the ordering of activities by teacher ratings and the
ordering of activities by test scores. This seems to
indicate that teachers could not predict school achievement
using their own recommendations for educational after-school

activities.

Analysis of hypotheses

 

According to the first hypothesis, it is expected that:
Activity selection will be similar among students
regardless of school of attendance.

This hypothesis was supported by a moderately high
agreement coefficient of .71 among the relative frequencies
with which activities were selected in each of the schools.
The school environment and the cultural and economic
conditions of the neighborhoods in which the schools are
located do not appear to have a differentiating effect on the
common activities of students throughout the district.

The second hypothesis stated that:

63

The relative rankings of certain after—school
activities by participation levels will differ with the
achievement level of the students.

This hypothesis was not supported in that there was a
high agreement coefficient of .93 among the rankings of
activities by level of participation in the four quartiles of
achievement on the California Achievement Test.

The third hypothesis was:

The rating of activities by teachers will
correlate positively highly with the ranking of activities by
achievement test scores.

This hypothesis was also not supported. A low
correlation was found between teachers' ratings and rankings

according to average academic test scores.

Men

The activity types selected from student responses
showed a wide range in terms of percentage of students
participating. More than one quarter of the subcategories
used to analyze the students' responses were found to be
common to all schools, at all levels of achievement, and on
all school days. The rankings of activity types by level of
participation among days showed a very high degree of
agreement. A moderately high agreement among the rankings of
activities in different schools may also be indicative of the

common cultural aspects of these types of activities across

64
economic conditions and school neighborhood racial
composition. The agreement of rankings by level of
participation was very high among the different quartiles of
standardized test scores, indicating little evidence to
support activity choice as a predictor of academic
achievement.

The ordering of activity categories and subcategories
by academic test achievement may provide some insight into
relationships between activity choice and academic
achievement. However, extreme scores, both high and low, may
also be affected by the small number of responses they
represent. Teachers' ratings of educational value seem to
have little or no relationship to the rankings of activities
by academic test scores.

Analysis of the data collected did provide answers to
the proposed questions regarding commonality of after—school
activities and their educative value as defined in this study

design.

CHAPTER V

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

Review of Study

 

Previous research provides strong theoretical support
for educators knowing more about the common experiences of
learners as a basis for further learning. In practice, prior
experience has been considered for accreditation at the
college level and sponsored experiential learning has been
implemented through adventure and career programs at the high
school and college levels. However, evidence of applying
experiential learning theory to evaluate and use the out—of-
school experiences of students in the upper elementary grades
is sparse.

It was proposed in this study to discover the common
after—school activities of a specific population of fifth
graders and to compare teachers' perceptions of the values of
these activities to determine how activity selection is
related to academic achievement. This was done through an
Open—ended survey on which students were asked to provide in
twelve categories examples of their actual after-school
activities over a four day period. These examples were

subcategorized by sixty—seven activity types for purposes of

65

66
more convenient analysis. Scores from the California
Achievement Test given at about the same time the survey was
conducted were included in the data collected.

Analysis of the data showed the range of participation
in the activity types. High agreement among the rank
ordering of activities by participation level on each of the
four days surveyed indicated that similar populations were
responding, although the exact number of students responding
on each day varied. High agreement on the ranking of
activities by participation level among each quartile of
achievement test performance appeared to lessen the
probability that a given activity type might be used as a
predictor of academic achievement. A moderately high degree
of agreement on activity selection in each of twenty—three
schools shows the probability of activity types being common
across schools. This may also imply the likelihood of
similar findings for comparisons among different neighbor—
hoods, economic conditions, and races.

The ordering of activity types according to average
achievement test scores of participants was compared to the
ratings of activity types by teachers for educative value.
Teachers' ratings of educational value seemed to have little
or no relationship to the rankings of activities by academic
test scores.

This analysis provides some baseline information which

may be useful to the development of school curricula

67
relevant to the everyday experiences of elementary school

students.

Findings

The following findings are reached as a result of this
study and its analysis:

1. The activity types in which fifth grade students
are most likely to participate on an after-school afternoon
or evening include: television viewing, outdoor play, house-
hold chores, and schoolwork. Somewhat more specifically,
these include: indoor chores, sports, schoolwork, and
viewing movies, adventure dramas, or situation comedies on
television.

2. The types of activities found to be common among
students in all schools, at all levels of achievement, and on
any school day were generally, but not always, also the most
popular among the total population.

3. The day of the week (Monday through Thursday) has
no effect on the types of activities most often occurring
throughout the given population of students.’

4. There is a moderately high level of agreement among
schools regarding the relative participation levels of after-
school activity types.

5. The pattern of most frequently occurring activities
does not appear to vary with the achievement level of the

students.

68

6. The ordering of subcategories of activities by the
average standardized test scores of participants could raise
some speculation for future research, but no definite
conclusions are forthcoming from this study. This
information may be skewed by the small number of respondents
claiming participation in some subcategories.

7. According to teacher ratings the following after—
school activities would be most highly recommended as
educational and likely to have a positive effect on future
learning: visiting the public library, using study reference
materials (dictionaries and encyclopedias), visiting a
museum, watching the news on television, looking for
information in special interest books (sports, languages,
science, poems), having science as a hobby, reading the
newspaper, reading biographies, and doing schoolwork.

8. There appears to be no relationship between the
ranking of after-school activities by the average achievement
test scores of participants and the ranking of these same

activities according to teacher ratings.

Discussion

 

The information summarized in this study was compiled
from the input of 1050 fifth grade students in 23 different
elementary schools within a single school district during a
four day period in late spring. The limitations this places

on generalizing the conclusions to other populations or to

69

other times of the year is recognized. However, with these
limitations in mind, classroom teachers and researchers may
still find ways to gather and apply similar information with
smaller groups, to test these findings experimentally, to
expand the data collected by surveying other p0pulations, or
to develop curriculum ideas which these findings may suggest.

The specific examples provided by respondents in this
study were too varied and too numerous to list. They were,
therefore, summarized under subcategories where they best
seemed to fit. There were some difficulties in determining
the fit of specific activities mentioned by students into a
manageable number of subcategories. These categories were
found to be neither all-inclusive nor mutually exclusive of
the examples provided by students. Some omitted activities
which were mentioned, although not frequently, include
fishing and listening to tapes, records or the radio. This
infrequent response may be due in part to the absence of an
advanced organizer on the survey form which would remind
students to mention these activities. Subsequently these
activities were not suggested often and therefore no logical
subcategories were provided for their inclusion in the study.
Other activities were mentioned frequently and in some cases
often enough to justify the creation of a subcategory
exclusively for the activity itself, such as bike riding. A
few activities were difficult to place, for example playing

marbles, which was suggested both as an indoor and as an

7O
outdoor activity. It was finally decided to place it in the
subcategory of sports since marbles was most often mentioned
in the survey responses along with other outdoor sport
activities.

The ability of the students to provide more specific
examples of their actual activities as suggested by the
categories and subcategories enables the teacher to draw from
them topics of interest for purposes of discussion, analysis,
and connection to learning objectives. This possibility is
enhanced further when the teacher is aware of the probability
that students have common experiential background on a given
topic. The listings of activity types along with the percent
of respondents claiming participation in these activities
provides a starting point for relevant topic selection.

The long term reliability of the findings of this study
deserves more investigation. We might expect some common
after-school activities to vary with the time of the year and
from year to year. Along the same lines, new technology may
result in new cultural trends which affect the activity
selections of children. For example, Hurlock, in earlier
editions of Adolescent Development indicated that television
was becoming increasingly popular, but was still a luxury.113
Subsequent editions have modified that accounting of the

prevalence of television, which is now researched as a major

 

113Elizabeth B. Hurlock, Adolescent Development, 2nd
ed. (New York: McGraw—Hill, 1955),]nn 278—280.

 

71
influence on our youth.114 A similar phenomena indicated in
this study and already the subject of research is that of
video and computer-type games.

Since the relative frequency of occurence of after-
school activities of students appears to be common across
schools and levels of achievement, we might conclude that
they may be universally used as relevant topics for study or
as an experiential basis for understanding and applying
skills learned in school. This should not suggest ignoring
the study of less common topics, but it does permit the
teacher to choose the proper mix of the familiar and novel to
enhance both the comfort and challenge necessary for
efficient learning.

On closer investigation of specific activities, how—
ever, the apparent common participation in similar activity
types among subgroups may not be entirely accurate. The
scope of this study was too broad to draw definite
conclusions on the implications of specific activities.
However, some cursory observations are made here which might
be worth further study.

At the time of the study Dungeons and Dragons gamebook
activities were mentioned only by students at one particular

school which houses the district's program for gifted

 

11"see, for example, Marie Winn, The Plugein Drug;
Television, Children and the Family (New York: The Viking
Press, 1977).

 

72
students. This would explain the high ranking of this
activity using academic test scores. It does not fully
explore why this activity was occurring at a single location
among bright students. Could it hold a special challenge or
interest attractive to a select group of students? Did a
teacher at the school introduce the activity as one of
potential interest to the students? These questions and
others could also be applied to other anomalies which became
evident with the identification of specific activities
occurring only at a few schools.

The cultural differences appear to be downplayed by the
similar comparisons of subcategory rankings among schools.
However, more specific activity identification could lead to
grounds for distinguishing among cultural groups within
schools. For example, jumping rope and "double dutch" (a
type of jumping rope with two ropes going simultaneously in
opposite directions) were both lumped together as exercise
activities. However, "double dutch" was more frequently
mentioned in schools with predominantly Black populations.
The reasons for the popularity of this activity at certain
schools and how it came to be introduced at these schools
would be an interesting investigation.

Another study which could be undertaken using more
specific activities is that of the television viewing of
certain shows. Although students listed program titles on

the open-ended survey used in this study, the programs of

73
similar types were grouped together as one subcategory. It
might be of interest to more closely examine whether
situation comedies, for instance, attract higher percentages
of Black or Latino audiences, if minority actors are among
the primary players in the show.

The implications for educators, however, from the
studies of specific activities would be found not so much
from the statistical differences which may exist among
cultural subgroups, but more in the analysis of content of
these activities and how they as familiar activities could be
used to support new learning. The shifting of focus from
specific activities which may be used to differentiate among
subcultures to categories which transcend subcultures and
provide a basis of commonality implies the ability of
educators and learners alike to shift levels of analysis.
This is described by Leichter as the concept of resonance
which is both a technique for understanding the inter—
connections within a culture as well as a means of cutting
across heterogeneity within a complex society.115 This
concept of resonance may be used, for example, as the
explanation for a teacher seeking to identify the common
elements of television comedies which make them so popular,
by drawing from the students' knowledge of the specific

programs they have watched. In more general terms the

 

115Leichter, Families and Communities as Educators, pp.
27-32 0

 

74
concept of resonance also provides a rationale and suggests a
method for connecting the various out-of—school experiences
of the individual learners to school learning guided by the
teacher.

According to the comparisons used in this study, it
appears that there is no obvious inherent learning of skills
related to academic achievement occurring merely from
participation in an activity. Any learning which is to be
derived therefrom must apparently be made more explicit by
adult intervention and mediation. Therefore the teacher's
opinion and awareness of a child's life experiences deserve
more attention in the process of selecting curriculum
content. This is especially true if the attempt is made to
explain or justify why no relationship was found between the
ranking of activities by the average academic test scores of
participants and by the teachers' ratings of these same
activities for educational value. On the one hand, it would
appear that teachers missed the mark, if they perceived their
task as identifying those activities which correlate most
highly with high academic achievement. Some of the teachers'
highest choices such as going to the library, using reference
materials, and even doing schoolwork were, in fact, ranked
relatively low by the measure of concurrent academic test
scores. Although ranking by standardized test scores appears
to be a more objective measure than teachers' opinion, it is

also more prone to a skewing of the average by extreme scores

75
when an activity has a low number of indicated participants.
The comparing of academic test achievement to activity
participation does not, of itself, provide any obvious
reasons for ranking the activities and assigning educative
value accordingly. Still, it would be of high interest and
value to look for reasons through closer examination of the
relationship between a ranking by academic test score and the
variables affecting activity selection or the variables
affected by activity participation.

On the other hand, it could easily be assumed that
teachers have justifiable reasons for their opinions of what
are educationally valuable activities. These reasons might
not necessarily coincide with the variables that could
explain variations in achievement test scores. Educationally
valuable life experiences might not be perceived as events
directly related to school learning as measured on tests,
although the ten t0p ranked activities by teachers such as
going to the library, reading various sources for
information, and schoolwork do appear to be closely tied to
normal school activity. although this study only undertook
to investigate degrees of association, future studies might
hypothesize cause and effect relationships to see perhaps if
the school influence itself has encouraged more participation
in certain activities by all students. This could result in
a normalization, if not a direct lowering, of the average

achievement test scores. 0n the other hand it might also

76
raise some individual scores where prior experience of fewer
school related activities would have resulted in lower
academic performance.

Why, for example, does library attendance rank so low
according to average test scores? Examination of library
locations throughout the city and programs offered, such as
movies, puppet shows, and reading incentive programs, reveals
that the libraries in the community studied are reaching a
broad spectrum of the population, many of whom live in
depressed economic areas where many factors may impinge on
academic success. This should not be perceived as a short—‘
coming of the libraries to increase achievement or as a
failure of library attenders to raise their levels of
learning. On the contrary, it could indicate that library
services are being extended to persons who have the most to
gain from access to educational resources.

The outreach of public schools to encourage activities
associated with academic learning might be similarly
construed. It is in keeping with the principles of
comprehensive and universal education. Nevertheless,
evidence of successful outreach should not furnish grounds
for complacency. There is also evidence to support the need
for a more effective outreach to raise levels of academic
learning and the need to include in our definition of
comprehensive schooling a recognition in the elementary

grades of the potential value of common daily experiences.

77

According to the theories and findings of this study,
the promotion of academic activity does not sufficiently meet
the conditions leading to academic success. Evidence of
continuing motivation, deepening of interest and feelings of
competence are also conditions of effective learning within a
given experience. Teachers might use these theories and
findings to broaden the scope of their own opinion of
educational value by discovering how after—school activities,
which are either popular among many students or hold the
prolonged interest of a few, can be used as the bridges
between schooling and life experiences which make learning
relevant. The influence of a teacher is important. This
influence is enhanced when the teacher enables the learner to
make connections to his, the learner's, own personal
experience.

The findings of this study do not support the valuing
of any single activity as more educational than another.
Neither does it appear appropriate to conclude that one
valuing system, whether based upon level of participation,
association with test achievement, or professional opinion,
is superior to another which yields different results. What
is suggested is that activities have potential educative
value through their association with growth into new
experiences. Participation in any or all activities is an
interactive experience of both discovering and demonstrating

competence. Within the school, curriculum can be developed

78
which blends familiar and novel experiences through an
associative learning process. The educative value of after-
school activities, therefore, is not to be regarded as an
inherent quality or quantity found within experiences, but
rather an activity attains value as it is mediated by adults
and connected by the child to further experience which

facilitates the growth of the learner.

Conclusion

 

The overall conclusion of this study, is that the
search for factors which link out—of—school activity
participation to academic achievement is not satisfied by a
comparison of teachers' ratings, rankings by average test
scores, and levels of participation. While separately they
provide data of interest, these various systems of ranking
the after—school activities of fifth graders do not appear
consistent with each other nor do they indicate which factors
within common daily activities influence academic achievement
or which distinguish successful learners from unsuccessful
learners. This leads to the conclusion that researchers
might better look for more explicit forms of identifying how
a child's out-of—school and in—school experiences can be
connected. It is suggested that teachers should have a
knowledge of the activities mentioned by students in this
study and an awareness of the implied relationships to

participation level, other teachers' opinions, and academic

79
achievement test scores. With this understanding these
teachers can mediate learning from the experiences a learner
already has and can influence the experiences a learner will
have that affect his growth. The following organization and
elaboration of this conclusion provides some examples of its
implementation as an educational practice:

1. Using the most common experiences.

 

Teachers could incorporate in their lesson planning the
common out—of—school experiences of their students by
referring to the levels of participation for activities
listed in this study. For example, television watching is an
activity common to almost all children. Teachers could
connect television viewing to reading objectives by examining
the storylines of television adventure dramas to illustrate
concepts such as plot, setting, climax, characters, author's
purpose and elements of interest. They may be able to obtain
transcripts of television shows and examine them by reading
of the dialogue in a program. Knowing that students
frequently go to stores or restaurants, teachers might
inquire further to learn specifically where students go and
what they or their parents buy. This could serve as an
introduction to concepts in elementary economics or as a
basis of true-to-life math story problems. The result of
this integration of common experience with learning might be
a reduction in the disconnectedness or even dissonance which

occurs between school lessons and out-of—school experience.

80
Bridging the gap in this manner, the teacher uses what is
familiar to the student to introduce new learning, provide
challenge at an appropriate level and create the conditions
necessary for efficient learning. The learner can, as a
result, see relevance in his learning and will be more likely
to retain information and transfer this learning to new

situations and personal growth.

2. Using the experiences associated with high academic

 

achievement test scores.

 

Some activities are associated with high achievement
test scores, but if there are factors which connect them to
high achievement, these factors are not immediately apparent.
According to the comparisons used in this study, it appears
that there is no learning of skills related to academic
achievement occurring merely from participation in an out—of—
school activity. The importance of other factors which can
be more easily observed, need to be considered. An example
of observable connection—making is the mediation of an
activity by significant others such as teachers, parents or
friends. In the school setting, this specifically suggests
that the teacher can play the important role of interpreter
and mediator of activities as educative experiences. For
instance, the teacher can suggest to students that they
discuss an activity such as caring for pets, since

participants in this activity had a high average of

81
achievement test scores. The teacher might then ask the
students to suggest what aspects of caring for a pet require
thought and learning. The teacher might also instruct the
students that reading for information can be specific to an
interest such as a pet, that caring for another such as a pet
is similar to caring about ourselves and other people, or
that the same intense interest felt in playing with a pet can
be felt when subject matter catches one's interest. These
and other analogous connections from students and teachers
permit learners to reflect upon relationships made explicit‘
by the discussion. Learning, as viewed from this
perspective, occurs not so much at the point of participation
in an activity as from the learner's reflection on his
experience before and after the event. By stimulating,
encouraging, and even directing reflection, teachers should
be able to increase the likelihood that the competencies
demonstrated within an activity can be associated with the

learning of skills related to academic achievement.

3. Using the activities rated highly educational by
teachers.

Those activities in the study which one would expect to
be related to school learning and which were, in addition,
highly rated by teachers were, nevertheless, not found to be
associated with high achievement test scores. Therefore the

conclusion is reached that the promotion of academic type

82
activities alone does not sufficiently meet the conditions
leading to academic success. Again it is suggested that
other factors such as mediation and motivation be considered.
Teachers have the opportunity and ought to have the training
and experience which enables them to monitor the interests
and competencies of their students in activities which they,
the educators, consider important. The connections which
they feel are important and the results which they would like
to see from participation in a valued activity can be made
explicit through direct communication of ideas from the
teachers and by encouraging the students to express what they
feel they are learning in a given situation. For example,
the opportunities available at the local public library,
rated highly educational by teachers, can be considered from
the experience of students as well as the experience of
teachers. Together they could analyze whether students and
teachers agree on what attracts people to visit the library
and how it can be used. As a creative endeavor students
might brainstorm ideas of what they would like to see
available for borrowing from the library and how such books
or items would assist their learning about important topics.
All of this suggests that while teachers hope that students
learn implicitly from the activities teachers associate with
academic learning, the teacher's ability to monitor whether
such learning is occurring is increased by making explicit

their expectations relevant to the activity.

83
4. Using activities mentioned but not highly ranked in any
grouping.

The conclusion of this study does not support the
valuing of any single activity nor any particular ranking
system as a predictor of academic success or as a measure of
educational worth. On the contrary, it suggests that nearly
every activity holds the potential to become an educative
experience if the teacher mediating the experience is able to
perceive the competencies which the student is demonstrating
and accurately predict the next direction of growth which
seems appropriate for the learner. For example, the teacher
may decide to focus on a topic of low participation level and
one which is not otherwise associated with high test
achievement or high teacher rating such as building models.
Through instruction and discussion, the teacher may interest
more students in building a model, inform students of
direction following teachniques which make model building
easier, or reinforce feelings of competence among students
who successfully complete construction of a model. This is
to illustrate that the educative value of activity may be
found more clearly in the processes influencing activity
than in the activity itself. However, more research is
needed to investigate how growth into new experience comes

about from instruction and reflection on familiar experience.

84
Implications for future research
Stephen Hamilton suggests a four—tier hierarchy for
evaluation of experiential learning programs:
1. participant responses
2. measurementinstruments
3. attribution of measurable effects to a particular program

. attributipg of particular effects to various properties
of a program

In other words,
1. Do participants say they have been affected?
2. Is there evidence of effects?

3. Is there evidence that the program was responsible
for the effects?

4. What phout the program was responsible for the
effects?1

It was presumed in this study that inquiry into the
potential of learning from common prior experience may be
considered evaluation of a type of experiential learning
program. This seems to be supported by Hamilton who states:

People learn without programs, and the efforts
should be made to determine what sorts of things are
learned "incidentally" and how that learning occurs.
Research on the conditions under which development
occurs would be most useful to the designers of

experiential learning programs and their evaluators.118

 

116Stephan Hamilton, "Evaluating Experiential Learning
Programs," paper presented at the 63rd annual meeting of the
American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, 8-
12 April 1979, pp.3—6.

117Ibid., p. 4.

118Ibid., p. 21.

85

This research focused primarily on the first level of
evaluation, that of participant responses, with preliminary
attempts to extend the base information gathered to higher
levels by comparing students responses to the measuring
instruments of a standardized achievement test and then
looking for the possibility of relating achievement
differences to particular activities. Further research at
all levels might be suggested.

This study attempted to gather in an open-ended fashion
a broad base of information from participants regarding their
activities after the normal school day was completed.
Consequently, the quality and even the quantity of
information received from individual respondents on different
days was not rigidly controlled. Using this knowledge of the
variability of responses collected on an open-ended survey,
the following recommendations to control the gathering of
information from participants on this topic in the future are
offered:

1. Limit the choice of responses to a checklist of
specific activities which appeared in the initial survey to
be most popular, thereby increasing the likelihood of a
higher, yet controlled response.

2. Select for another survey only those specific
activities, which by reasons suggested in the literature or
as a result of questions raised by the broad survey, appear

to hold a particular common attribute which may in turn

86
effect some aspect of learning.

3. If the information is desired to assist in
determining an educational plan for a particular group such
as a classroom or school, limit the population surveyed to
the target group.

4. Collect more precisely information on other
variables which may be significant to research, such as, sex
differences, racial or ethnic differences, economic
differences, or cultural patterns.

5. Compare the findings for the population studied in
this survey to other pOpulations, such as in other grade
levels or in other cities.

6. Compare the findings for the season of the year
studied in this research to other seasons in the school year.

Further research might also consider improving upon or
varying the use of measuring instruments. In this study
comparisons were made using the California Achievement Test
and a survey of teacher opinion regarding the educative value
of activities. The literature suggests outcomes other than
just academic achievement from experiential learning. These
include, for example, career skills, feelings of competence,
and more responsible attitudes. The following suggestions
might be considered for future research:

1. Compare activity participation to measures of
affective behavior such as self—concept.

2 Compare activity participation to another measure of

87
academic achievement such as grade point average.

3. Develop an instrument to measure teachers'
knowledge or experience as well as opinions of children's
common activities.

4. Compare subtests of specific skills to specific
activities which seem to require the skills being measured by
the tests.

Although the analysis undertaken to summarize this
study did not reveal any strong attribution of measurable
effect to a particular activity, a more controlled experiment
might still explore this possibility. Along these lines
research of the following types might be attempted:

1. Create the opportunity for an experimental group
over a period of time to participate more actively in a
selected common experience such as playing a particular type
of game, viewing a particular television show, or assisting
at home with a particular chore. Compare the expected
learning outcomes of the experimental group to a control
group.

2. To study the influence of school learning on
continuing motivation, instruct and encourage an experimental
group in the application of a skill to a common out-of—school
activity. Observe if this instruction increases the interest
and the participation in the activity by the experimental
group over that of a control group.

Finally, although not attempted in this research, it

88
should be of interest to study the attribution of particular
effects to the various properties of a common activity.
Again an investigation of this type might best be designed as
an experiment to explore some of the following questions:

1. Does, as the literature suggests, the intervention
of adult mediation encourage reflection on a common activity
and enhance the learning derived from it?

2. If a skill inherent to a common activity is pointed
out and practiced, will the activity performance be improved?
Will there be a carryover to related learning?

3. Can discussion of common experience be incorporated
into the instructional setting with measurable improvement in
'academic learning?

4. Can the independent practice of an academic skill
be integrated into a common after-school activity with
measurable improvement in learning?

5. How might maturity levels be indicated by activity?
Do these indicators correlate positively with other measures
of maturity?

6. How might selection of after-school activities be
influenced by a teacher?

The data collected in this research is preliminary
information in the formation of hypotheses for future
research. It provides a range of tOpics identified as common
activities of fifth graders. It suggests probable

participation levels in these activities for the population

89
studied. It summarizes the average academic test scores of
participants in identified activities. It provides ratings
of activity categories and subcategories from the viewpoint
of teachers. A major test of the significance of these
findings would come with the replication of this type of
information gathering and organization with similar
populations to see if the relative popularity of activities
is the same, to see if the ordering of activity type by
average academic test performance is the same, and to see if
the teachers' ratings of activities as educative are the
same. More information gathering and comparisons of this
type would shed further light on the question of whether the
educative value of an activity is inherent in experience or
whether it is brought about primarily as an outcome of adult

mediation.

APPENDIX A

SURVEY FORMS AND LETTERS

90

Dear

With permission from the Testing and Evaluation Department
of the Saginaw Board of Education, I am conducting research on
the relationship between a child's out of school activities and
his in sdhool achievement. I need your assistance first of all
in discovering what the common out of school activities of child-
ren are in such areas as television viewing, household chores.
going on trips. games, sports. and hobbies. As a followhup to .
the gathering of this data. I would like to share the information
with you and ask.your opinion of the educational value of the
specific activities which children list.

Accompanying this cover letter is a set of questionnaires
for students, asking them to list for four days some of their
out of school activities under the categories suggested. Please
give the students the survey for Monday's activities on Tuesday,
and so on, so that they list the previous day's activities on
the following morning and complete a list of after school
activities for Monday through Thursday by Friday of the week
surveyed.

Thank you for your assistance. This research is being
done in partial fulfillment of my doctoral degree requirements
throuthMichigan State University. I will be happy to share
with you a.summery of my findings upon completion of the study.

Sincerely,

Maw/0.2%.}:

Charles A. Shelley. Jr.

91

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92

Thank you for your earlier assistance in surveying the fifth
grade students in your class. To complete my data gathering and to
give meaning to the students' responses, I need to know your opinion
of the educational value of their out of school activities. Attached
is a survey of 80 categories for your evaluation. On this page are
three brief questions to assist in validating the survey.

Your help in providing me with this information during what I
know is a very busy week of school is greatly appreciated. A summary
of the findings will be made available to you upon completion of the
study. I hope that you will find some aspects of it interesting to
you as a teacher.

Sincerely,

‘ q .. a .-
A I - 1’ - "/ ‘
t ' N h .. .4 ' -‘ U/V‘ . . ‘
.L’ L“. . a 9 I I. -, .

N" ‘ """"

Charles A. Shelley, Jr.

Survey validation questions

1. What reasons would account for incomplete surveys from
students in your class?

absence

no school on (date)

special school event or field trip(date)
refusal to participate
student forgot

 

 

 

other
2. In your opinion, the out of school activities of students who
missed a page or more of the survey from.May 18-21 would
probably be

very similar to students who completed the survey
somewhat similar to students who completed the survey
significantly different from the students who completed
the survey

 

3. In your opinion, the school achievement of students who missed
a page or more of the survey from May 18-21 would probably
be

higher than students who completed the survey
about the same as students who completed the survey
lower than students who completed the survey

Building Code

(Teachers' or schools' names will not be used in reporting
this study)

93

From a recent survey of fifth graders' out of school activities,
these are the general categories and subcategories into which most
of the students' responses fit. Please indicate how highly you would
recommend these activities as educational by circling the number
corresponding to your response.

0. Would not recommend. Negative effect on future learning.
1. WOuld recommend as entertainmnet, but not as educational.
No positive effect on future learning.
2. WOuld recommend as somewhat educational. Might have some
positive effect on future learning. .
3. WOuld recommend as educational. WOuld probably have a positive
effect on future learning. -
4. WOuld recommend as highly educational. WOuld definitely
have a positive effect on future learning.

not as educational

not educational
tainment,
educational
highly educational

I. Watching TV
A. Cartoons
. Soap Operas
. Dramatic adventure series
or movie
Situation comedies
Variety shows
Sports
Family & children's dramas
and movies
. News and documentaries
. Quiz shows

rvhJN hJWould recommend as somewhat

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when RHVBJN

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II. Doing household chores

. Cleaning indoors (sweeping,
dishes, trash)

Outdoors (mowing, gardening)
Cooking -
Caring for a pet
Babysitting

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III. Playing indoors

A. Board games of skill (chess,
‘checkers) '

B. Board games of chance (Parcheesi,
Life) .

C. Video electronic games (Pac man,
electronic baseball)

D. Card games

E. Make believe (house, school, dolls)

F. Puzzles (jigsaw, Rubiks cube)

G. Dungeons and Dragons

H. Table tennis, pool, bumper pool

IV. Playing outside activities or sports
A. Sports (team and individual)
B. Exercise (running, jumping rope,
gymnastics, climbing)
Swimming
Bike riding
Hiking (Might include nature
observation)
. Make believe (Hide and Seek, Cops
and Robbers)

'11 MUD

V. Doing schoolwork at home
A. Daily assignments in class subjects
B. Special reports and projects
C. Study for tests

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95

VI. Taking lessons

com»

Music (instrument or voice)
Dancing or gymnastics

Self defense (judo, karate)
Interests (sewing, gardening,
ice skating)

VII. Going to the public library

VIII.Going interesting places

A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
I.
J.

Stores and restaurants
Movies

Plays and concerts

Zoos and nature parks
Parks and playgrounds
Hospital to visit someone
Friend or relatives house
Nearby cities and towns
Museum

Sporting event

IX. Reading for fun

QWMUOU’J’

Stories (library books)
Comic books

Newspaper

Magazines

Romances

Special interests (sports, science
Biographies (people in sports &

history)

Would not recommend

not educational

0
0
O
O
O
O
O
0
O
0
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
0
O
O
O
O
O
O

0

not as educational

Would recommend as enter-

tainment,

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X. Looking in a book for information

A.

B.

C.

- uages, science, poems, Bible)

XI. Going to a meeting

A.
B.
C.
D.

XII. Working or a hobby or project

A.
B.
C.
D.
B.
F.
G.
H.
I.

96

Would not recommend

not educational

Study-reference (dictionary
encyclopedia, textbook)
Household reference (telephone
book, TV guide, catalog)
Special interest (Sports, lang-

Scouts or 4-H

Church group

Neighborhood club or gang
Choir or play rehearsal

Making models

Collections (stamp, coins, rocks)
Painting and Drawing

Crafts

Woodwork

Gardening

Needlework (sewing, knitting,etc.)
Science experiments

Home or automobile repairs

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APPENDIX B

TABLES

97

TABLE 4.1

RANKING OF ACTIVITIES BY PARTICIPATION LEVEL

 

 

Number % of
Activity Rank Selecting Population
Chores Indoors 1 883 84.10
Sports 2 848 80.76
Schoolwork 3 832 79.24
Tv Movie or Drama 4 804 76.57
Sitcom 5 799 76.09
Stories 6 506 48.14
Cartoons 7 388 36.95
Store or Restaurant 8 352 33.52
Exercise 9 335 31.90
Bike Riding 10 333 31.71
Study Reference 11 302 28.76
Chance Board Games 12 268 25.52
Video Games 13.5 253 24.10
Friends or Relatives 13.5 253 24.10
Outside Make Believe 15 213 20.29
Library 16 201 19.14
Soap Opera 17 167 15.90
Inside Make Believe 18 154 14.67
Parks and Playgrounds 19 148 14.10
Chores Outdoors 20 145 13.81
Special Interests 21 138 13.14
Scouts 22 133 12.67
Cards 23 131 12.48
TV News 24 130 12.38
Comics 25 127 12.10
Skill Board Games 26 119 11.13
Music 27 117 11.14
Models 28 106 10.10
Household Reference 29 98 9.33
Draw 30 93 8.86
Pets 31 91 8.67
Sporting Event 32.5 82 7.81
Repairs 32.5 82 7.81
Pool, Ping Pong 34 78 7.43
Swimming 35.5 74 7.05
TV Sports 35.5 74 7.05
Church 37 81 6.76
Game Shows 38 67 6.38
Dance or Gymnastics 39 65 6.19
Variety Show 40.5 64 6.10

98

TABLE 4.1 Continued

 

 

 

Number %;of
Activity Rank Selecting Population
Nearby City 40.5 64 6.10
Collections 42 62 5.91
Newspaper 43 56 5.33
Interest Books 44 55 5.24
Magazines 45.5 53 5.05
Crafts 45.5 53 5.05
Hiking 47 48 4.57
Needlework 48 46 4.38
Cooking 49.5 43 4.10
Movies 49.5 43 4.10
Club 51 41 3.90
Woodwork 52.5 40 3.81
Self Defense 52.5 40 3.81
Gardening 54 38 3.62
Science 55 33 3.14
Babysitting 56 29 2.76
Hospital or Doctor 57 27 2.57
Puzzles 58 24 2.29
Interest Lessons 59.5 22 2.10
Family Drama 59.5 22 2.10
Rehearsal 61 21 2.00
Plays and Concerts 62 17 1.62
Biographies 63 13 1.24
Dungeons and Dragons 64 10 .96
Zoo 65 9 .86
Museum 66 8 .76
Romances 67 4 .38

99

TABLE 4.4

RANKING 0F ACTIVITIES BY
TOTAL CAT BATTERY SCORES

 

 

CAT % of
Activity Rank Average Population
Dungeons and Dragons 1 188.70 .96
Romances 2 175.50 .38
Gardening 3 171.05 3.62
Collections 4 170.53 5.91
Pets 5 170.09 8.67
Variety Show 6 169.80 6.10
Science 7 168.00 3.14
Interest Books 8 167.07 5.24
Babysitting 9 164.66 2.76
Museum 10 164.38 .76
Hiking 11 163.85 4.57
Magazines 12 163.70 5.05
Puzzles 13 163.25 2.29
Bike Riding 14 162.52 31.71
Sporting Event 15 161.65 7.81
Soap Opera 16 161.28 15.90
TV News 17 161.19 12.38
Game Shows 18 160.15 6.38
Newspaper 19 160.09 5.33
Crafts 20 160.04 5.05
Hospital or Doctor 21 159.26 2.57
Interest Lessons 22 159.09 2.10
Outside Make Believe 23 158.69 20.29
Video Games 24 158.16 24.10
Swimming 25 157.84 7.05
Dance or Gymnastics 26 157.48 6.19
Rehearsal 27 157.05 2.00
Cooking 28 156.79 4.10
Nearby City 29 155.83 6.10
Scouts 30 155.81 12.67
Store or Restaurant 31 155.41 33.52
Plays and Concerts 32 155.29 1.62
Comics 33 155.13 12.10
Stories 34 154.70 48.19
TV Movie or Drama 35 154.38 76.57
Sitcom 36 154.03 76.09
Pool, Ping Pong 37 153.58 7.43
Biographies 38 153.38 1.24
Friends or Relatives 39 153.00 24.10

100

TABLE 4.4 Continued

 

 

L

 

CAT % of
Activity Rank Average Population
Study Reference 40 152.99 28.76
Household Reference 41 152.96 9.33
Draw 42 152.86 8.86
Music 43 152.81 11.14
Cartoons 44.5 152.57 36.96
Schoolwork 44.5 152.57 79.24
Needlework 46 152.41 4.38
Sports 47 152.27 80.76
Special Interests 48 152.25 13.14
Skill Board Games 49 152.15 11.33
Chores Outdoors 50 152.04 13.81
Chores Indoors 51 151.99 84.10
Cards 52 151.24 12.48
TV Sports 53 150.73 7.05
Exercise 54 149.84 31.90
Zoo 55 149.67 .86
Chance Board Games 56 148.06 25.52
Models 57 146.70 10.10
Church 58 146.18 6.76
Woodwork 59 145.66 3.81
Parks and Playgrounds 60 145.43 14.10
Inside Make Believe 61 145.42 14.67
Club 62 145.24 3.90
Library 63 142.35 19.14
Movies 64 138.26 4.10
Repairs 65 133.93 7.81
Family Drama 66 133.64 2.10
Self Defense 67 122.28 3.81

101

TABLE 4.5

RANKING OF ACTIVITIES BY
READING SUBTEST SCORES

 

 

Average % of
Activity Rank Score Population
Dungeons and Dragons 1 59.40 .96
Romances 2 51.25 .38
Science 3 50.39 3.14
Pets 4 50.37 8.67
Variety Show 5 49.98 6.10
Collections 6 49.77 5.91
Gardening 7 49.34 3.62
Interest Books 8 49.31 5.24
Puzzles 9 49.25 2.29
Magazines 10 49.04 5.05
Hiking 11 48.69 4.57
Crafts 12 47.96 5.05
Interest Lessons 13 47.77 2.10
Bike Riding 14 47.71 31.71
TV News 15 47.53 12.38
Babysitting 16 47.34 2.76
Zoo 17 47.33 .86
Museum 18 47.25 .76
Outside Make Believe 19 46.89 20.29
Nearby City 20 46.78 6.10
Rehearsal 21 46.67 2.00
Sporting Event 22 46.65 7.81
Comics 23 46.24 12.10
Soap Opera 24 46.16 15.90
Hospital or Doctor 25 45.85 2.57
Newspaper 26 45.77 5.33
Video Games 27.5 45.62 24.10
Biographies 27.5 45.62 1.24
Game Shows 29 45.57 6.38
Swimming 30 45.55 7.05
Scouts 31 45.53 12.67
Dance or Gymnastics 32 45.31 6.19
Store or Restaurant 33 45.13 33.52
Stories 34 45.03 48.19
Study Reference 35 45.00 28.76
Sitcom 36 44.86 76.09
TV Movie or Drama 37 44.82 76.57
Cooking 38 44.81 4.10
Club 39 44.56 3.90

102

TABLE 4.5 Continued

 

 

 

Average % of
Activity Rank Score Population
Music 40 44.52 11.14
Models 41 44.51 10.10
Chores Outdoors 42 44.50 13.81
Cartoons 43 44.47 36.95
Special Interests 44 44.32 13.14
Needlework 45 44.28 4.38
Schoolwork 46 44.15 79.24
Sports 47.5 43.92 80.76
Chores Indoors 47.5 43.92 84.10
Draw 49 43.57 8.86
Friends or Relatives 50 43.53 24.10
Skill Board Games 51 43.52 11.33
Cards 52 43.47 12.48
Pool, Ping Pong 53 43.26 7.43
Exercise 54 43.14 31.90
Plays and Concerts 55 43.12 1.62
Household Reference 56 42.76 9.33
TV Sports 57 42.73 7.05
Chance Board Games 58 42.63 25.52
Inside Make Believe 59 42.38 14.67
Church 60 42.34 6.76
Parks and Playgrounds 61 42.09 14.10
Library 62 41.05 19.14
Movies 63 40.91 4.10
Woodwork 64 40.60 3.81
Repairs 65 39.50 7.81
Family Drama 66 37.91 2.10
Self Defense 67 35.68 3.81

103

TABLE 4.6

RANKING OF ACTIVITIES
BY MATH TEST SCORE

 

 

Average f% of
Activity Rank Score Population
Dungeons and Dragons 1 64.10 .96
Romances 2 63.50 .38
Pets 3 60.63 8.67
Collections 4 60.52 5.91
Gardening 5 59.11 3.62
Variety show 6 58.47 6.10
Game shows 7 58.12 6.38
Interest books 8.5 58.00 5.24
Museum 8.5 58.00 .76
Sporting event 10 56.99 7.81
Soap opera 11 56.93 15.90
Newspaper 12 56.82 5.33
Hiking 13 56.75 4.57
Science 14 56.51 3.14
Babysitting 15 56.34 2.76
Swimming 16 56.20 7.05
Bike riding 17 56.11 31.71
TV news 18 56.04 12.38
Video games 19 55.83 24.10
Magazines 20 55.15 5.05
Plays and concerts 21 55.12 1.62
Outside make believe 22 55.08 20.29
Hospital or doctor 23 55.00 2.57
Pool ping pong 24 54.91 7.43
Crafts 25 54.83 5.05
Interest lessons 26 54.82 2.10
Dance or gymnastics 27 54.60 6.19
Friends or relatives 28 54.59 24.10
Store or restaurant 29 54.53 33.52
TV sports 30 54.41 7.05
Household reference 31 54.40 9.33
Puzzles 32 54.33 2.29
Cooking 33 54.26 4.10
Scouts 34 54.24 12.67
TV movie or drama 35 54.11 76.57
Comics 36 54.06 12.10
Skill board games 37 53.83 11.33
Stories 38 53.60 48.19
Draw 39 53.57 8.86
Sitcom 40 53.53 76.09

104

TABLE 4.6 Continued

 

 

 

Average % of
Activity Rank Score Population
Cards 41 53.44 12.48
Needlework 42.5 53.41 4.38
Sports 42.5 53.41 80.76
Music 44 53.39 11.14
Schoolwork 45 53.32 79.24
Chores indoors 46 53.07 84.10
Biographies 47 52.85 1.24
Cartoons 48.5 52.76 36.95
Chores outdoors 48.5 52.76 13.81
Rehearsal 50 52.57 2.00
Woodwork 51 52.50 3.81
Special interests 52 52.45 13.14
Study reference 53 52.38 28.76
Nearby city 54 52.03 6.10
Exercise 55 51.92 31.90
Chance board games 56 51.57 25.52
Parks and playgrounds 57 50.86 14.10
Church 58 50.38 6.76
Inside make believe 59 50.08 14.67
Models 60 49.91 10.10
Library 61 49.58 19.14
Club 62 49.12 3.90
Zoo 63 48.22 .86
Family drama 64 46.91 2.10
Movies 65 46.72 4.10
Repairs 66 45.54 7.81
Self defense 67 42.65 3.81

105

TABLE 4.7

TEACHERS' RATINGS 0F ACTIVITIES

 

 

Average % of
Activity Rank Rating Population
Library 1 3.73 19.14
Study reference 2 3.71 28.76
Museum 3 3.64 .76
TV news 4 3.62 12.38
Interest books 5 3.59 5.24
Science 6 3.57 3.14
Newspaper 7.5 3.54 5.33
Biographies 7.5 3.54 1.24
Schoolwork 9 3.41 79.24
Music 10 3.39 11.14
Stories 11 3.31 48.19
Repairs 12.5 3.29 7.81
Zoo 12.5 3.29 .86
Plays and concerts 14 3.28 1.62
Special interests 15 3.23 13.14
Collections 16 3.14 5.91
Household reference 17.5 3.12 9.33
Interest lessons 17.5 3.12 2.10
Scouts 19 3.11 12.67
Draw 20.5 3.06 8.86
Magazines 20.5 3.06 5.05
Models 23 3.03 10.10
Pets 23 3.03 8.67
Hiking 23 3.03 4.57
Church 26.5 2.97 6.76
Crafts 26.5 2.97 5.05
Woodwork 26.5 2.97 3.81
Rehearsal 26.5 2.97 2.00
Gardening 29 2.94 3.62
Needlework 30 2.91 4.38
Cooking 31 2.89 4.10
Dance or gymnastics 32 2.86 6.19
Skill board games 33 2.83 11.33
Family drama 34 2.82 2.10
Nearby city 35.5 2.78 6.10
Self defense 35.5 2.78 3.81
Sports 37.5 2.75 80.76
Babysitting 37.5 2.75 2.76
Inside make believe 39 2.65 14.67
Chores outdoors 40 2.61 13.81
Exercise 41 2.58 31.90

106

Table 4.7 Continued

 

 

 

Average % of
Activity Rank Rating POpulation
Chores indoors 42 2.57 84.10
Hospital or doctor 43 2.56 2.57
Game shows 44 2.49 6.38
Friends or relatives 45 2.43 24.10
Swimming 46 2.40 7.05
Parks and playgounds 47 2.31 14.10
Puzzles 48 2.23 2.29
Bike riding 49.5 2.22 31.71
Comics 49.5 2.22 12.10
Sporting event 51 2.19 7.81
Store or restaurant 52 2.17 33.52
Chance board games 53 2.12 25.52
Cards 54 2.11 12.48
Movies 55.5 2.06 4.10
Dungeons and Dragons 55.5 2.06 .96
Outside make believe 57.5 1.94 20.29
Club 57.5 1.94 3.90
TV sports 59 1.92 7.05
TV movie or drama 60 1.85 76.57
Video games 61 1.77 24.10
Pool ping pong 62 1.76 7.43
Variety show 63 1.63 6.10
Sitcom 64 1.31 76.09
Romances 65 1.21 .38
Soap opera 66 .83 15.90
Cartoons 67 .66 36.95

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