TEACHING HOME MANAGEMENT THROUGH
SIMOLATEON AND OTHER METHODS:
AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

Thesis for the Degree of Ph. D.
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
VIRGINIA LATTES-CASSERES

1968

 

98 LIBRARY

Michigan State
Unchrsity

 

This is to certify that the

thesis entitled

TEACHING HOME MANAGEMENT THROUGH
SIMULATION AND OTHER METHODS:
AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

presented by

Virginia Lattes—Casseres

has been accepted towards fulfillment
of the requirements for

Phi). degree in Education

flajor protege:-

  

Date JUly, 1968

0-169

LIBRARY

Michigan State

' UniVCrsity

 

 

 

 

ABSTRACT

TEACHING HOME MANAGEMENT THROUGH SIMULATION
AND OTHER METHODS: AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

BY

Virginia Lattes-Casseres

The purpose of this study was to determine whether
simulation games would be as effective, or better, for
teaching abstract home management decision—making concepts
than more traditional methods.

The study used a quasi-experimental design involv-
ing random assignment of two different treatments to eighteen
senior high school home economics classes in schools used
as student-teaching centers by Michigan State University.
The experimental treatment combined lectures, discussion
and playing a simulation game as the major learning expe-
rience; the control treatment used more traditional teach-
ing approaches, especially discussions, lectures, case
studies, readings and writing. For experimental classes
a "packaged" unit of five lessons including objectives,
content and learning experiences was prepared by the re-
searcher. The five lessons for the control classes were
based upon the same objectives and content, but the control

teachers devised and organized their own learning experi-

ences o

Virginia Lattes-Casseres

Teachers were in all cases home economics student-
teachers from Michigan State University who had a common
background of knowledge in home management and no teaching
experience.

Before and after the experimental treatments stu-
dents were pre and posttested respectively by questionnaire.
The questionnaires which were developed for this study were
designed to obtain learning data from students at three
cognitive levels and on selected affective elements related
to learning.

In addition to questionnaire data teachers reported
on the organization, teaching methods employed and student
participation for each lesson, plus student background data
from school records.

Eight hypotheses were formulated. Three of them
predicted that students in experimental classes would learn
more home management decision-making at three cognitive
levels: knowledge, comprehension and application. Five
hypotheses in the affective area predicted that students
in experimental sections would show greater interest in and
enjoyment of the decision-making unit; that they would per-
ceive it as being more relevant to their lives; that their
interest in home economics and home management as well as
their ability to empathize with other decision—makers would
increase significantly.

The hypotheses were tested by using one-way analysis

Virginia Lattes-Casseres

of variance and analysis of covariance with data from com—
plete classes and again with the twelfth graders only in

each class. Differences between mean scores of experimental
and control groups on certain variables were tested by means
of t test. Correlations were used to measure the relation-
ships between social desirability and other variables. An
internal consistency coefficient for the students' question-
naire was determined by means of two-way analysis of variance.

Non-significant F values obtained in the majority of
the analyses led to the rejection of all eight hypotheses.
It was concluded that experimental and control students
showed no significant differences in cognitive learning of
home management decision-making facts, concepts and prin-
ciples. It appears, however, that the experimental method
taught the abstract concepts involved in decision-making
as well as the control methods, but the trend seemed to be
for control methods to teach more effectively at the know-
ledge level, while the experimental method was more effec-
tive at the application level.

In the affective area no significant differences
were found for interest in, enjoyment of, and perceived
relevance of the unit between experimental and control
groups; the trend was, however, for control students to
feel more positively in relation to these variables. No
significant differences appeared in interest in the subject

matter. The experimental group evidenced a greater increase

Virginia Lattes-Casseres

of empathy than the control group, although the differences
were not significant.

Recommendations are offered applicable to further
use of the game employed in the study for teaching or re-
search in home management. Various reactions from teachers
and students are discussed concerning values and difficul-
ties associated with the employment of this game in the

classroom.

TEACHING HOME MANAGEMENT THROUGH
SIMULATION AND OTHER METHODS:

AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

By

Virginia Lattes-Casseres

A THESIS

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

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Department of Secondary Education and Curriculum
Home Economics Education

1968

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The writer wishes to express her sincere apprecia-
tion to the following persons and organizations that in
different ways cooperated to make this study possible:

To the members of her Guidance Committee, Dr.

Allan Beegle, Dr. Paul Dressel and Dr. Beatrice Paolucci,
with special appreciation to Dr. Twyla Shear, Committee
Chairman, for her patience, encouragement and assistance,
and to Dr. Beatrice Paolucci for her inspiration and in-
terest in the project.

To the home economics teachers and student-teachers
who volunteered time and effort to carry the project through
the field stages.

To Dr. Mary Green, Assistant Professor in Home Eco-
nomics Education, and Research Consultants in the College
of Education who helped make many methodological decisions.

To the Simulmatics Corporation, who authorized the
reproduction and use of The Life Career Game for this study.

To the Inter-American Institute of Agricultural
Sciences of the O.A.S., who granted the writer a leave for
studies and some economic assistance during the year in
which the project was developed.

To her husband and friends, whose suggestions, emo-
tional support and help in many stages of the enterprise

helped make it a reality.

ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
LIST OF TABLES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
LIST OF APPENDICES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .viii
Chapter

I. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND STATEMENT OF THE
PROBLEM O C O C O O O O O O O O I C O O O O O

[.1

Conceptual Framework of Home Management.
Conceptual Framework of Learning . . . .
Statement of the Problem . . . . . . . .
Definition of Terms. . . . . . . . . . .

moons)

II. SIMULATION GAMES AND THEIR USE IN EDUCATION. . 11

Definitions and Origins of Simulation Games. ll
Characteristics of Simulation Games as
Educational Techniques. . . . . . . . . . . 1?
Characteristics of simulation games . . . 17
Games and some related simulation tech-
niques used in education . . . . . . . . 23
Simulation games as student-centered
teaching techniques. . . . . . . . . . . 24
Advantages and Limitations of Simulation
Games as Educational Techniques . . . . . . 27
Effects of Simulation Games Used in Educa-
tion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Simulation games and intellectual learn-

ing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3l
Simulation games as motivators. . . . . . 32
Simulation games and attitude changes . . 34

Implications for Teaching Home Management. . 35

III C METHODOLOGY. 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 37

Hypotheses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Treatments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Experimental treatment. . . . . . . . . . 40
Control treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Development of the experimental unit. . . 42

iii

Chapter Page

Development of Instruments . . . . . . . . . 44
The pretest and posttest. . . . . . . . . 45
Development of the questionnaires for

students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Daily record of classroom teaching. . . . 49
Daily record of teacher-student contacts. 49

Selection of the Classes and Teachers. . . . 50
Procedure for selecting the sample. . . . 51
Rationale for the choice of teachers. . . 53
Characteristics of the teachers . . . . . 53

Training of Experimental Teachers and Col—

lection of Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Quantification Procedure for Cognitive Level

Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

IV. FINDINGS O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 61

Reliability of the Student Questionnaire . . 62
Description of the Sample. . . . . . . . . . 63
Characteristics on which classes were
similar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Characteristics on which classes were
different. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Characteristics of the schools. . . . . . 68
Methods and Materials Used by Control
Teachers in Teaching the Decision-Making
Unit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Findings in the Cognitive Area . . . . . . . 71
Findings in the Affective Area . . . . . . . 78
Teachers' Reports on the Interest and Par-
ticipation of Their Students in the
Decision-Making Unit. . . . . . . . . . . . 97

V. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . lOl

Purposes and Hypotheses. . . . . . . . . . . 101
Summary of Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Specific Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Cognitive learnings . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Affective learnings . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Final Discussion and Recommendations . . . . 106

BIBLIOGRAPHY O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O l l l

APPENDICES. O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 O O O O O O 115

iv

9.
10.
ll.
12.
13.
14.

15.

16.

17.

LIST OF TABLES

Number of class groups included in the study. .
Reliability coefficient computed by two—way
analysis of variance on questionnaire for
StleentSo O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0
Comparison of control and experimental schools
on pretest variables by means of one—way
analysis of variance. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
School major of students in seventeen classes .

Residence as indicated by students in seventeen
Classes 0 O O O O O O O Q C I O O O O O O O O C

Class means for intelligence (IQ), achievement
(G.P.A.) and reading ability. . . . . . . . . .

Characteristics of schools participating in the
s tu dy O O 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0

Frequency of use of different methods and mate-
rials in seven control schools for teaching

the deCiSion-making unit. 0 o o o o o o o o o 0
Analysis of covariance of knowledge scores. . .
Analysis of covariance of comprehension scores.
Analysis of covariance of application scores. .
Means of cognitive scores . . . . . . . . . . .
Class mean gain scores on cognitive variables .
Cognitive mean gain scores by treatment . . . .
Negative ratings given by classes to methods
and teacher in relation to class gains in the

cognitive area. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Analysis of covariance of interest in home
economics 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0

Analysis of covariance of interest in home
management 0 0 O O O O O O O O I O 0 O O O 0 O O

V

Page

52

62

64

205

206

68

207

70

208

208

209

74

209

75

210

211

211

Table

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

31.

32.

33.

34.

Analysis of variance for additional readings

done 0 O C O O O O O O I O O O O O O O O O O O 0

Analysis of variance for comments made about
the unit. I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0

Analysis of variance for comments heard about
the unit 0 O O O O O O O O O I O 0 O O O O O O 0

Analysis of variance for interest rating of
the unit. 0 O O O O O 0 O O O O O O O O O O O 0

Analysis of variance for comparison of the unit
with other units in home economics. . . . . . .

Analysis of variance for enjoyment of the unit
in general (a) O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0

Analysis of variance for enjoyment of the
topics of the unit (b). . . . . . . . . . . . .

Analysis of variance for enjoyment of the
teaching methods and materials employed in
the unit (C) O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0

Analysis of variance for enjoyment of the
teaCher (d) O O I O I O O O O O O O O O 0 O O 0

Analysis of variance for enjoyment of "the

'opportunity to discuss and analyze problems

like these" (e) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Analysis of variance for enjoyment of "the
opportunity to talk about these problems with
my classmates" (f). . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F values and significance level for relevance
items 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0

Analysis of covariance for empathy. . . . . . .

Correlations of social desirability with other
variables measured in the study . . . . . . . .

Means for interest in subject matter. . . . . .

Means for three measures of interest in the
unit. I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0

Means for kinds of comments heard about the

unit. 0 O O O O O O O O .I O O O O O O O O O O 0

vi

Page

212

212

213

213

214

214

215

215

216

216

217

84

217

218
86

87

88

Table
35.
36.

37.
38.
39.

40.

41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.

51.

Means

Means
units

Means

Means

for enjoyment of the unit .

for relevance items . . . .

Mean scores for empathy . . . . .

Students'

unit,
Analysis
Analysis
Analysis
Analysis
Analysis
Analysis
Analysis
Analysis
Analysis
Analysis

Analysis

participation and interest in the
as reported by

of
of
of
of
of
of
of
of
of
of

of

variance
variance
variance
variance
variance
variance
variance
variance
variance
variance

variance

the teachers

of
of
of
of
of
of
of
of
of
of

of

relevance
relevance
relevance
relevance
relevance
relevance
relevance
relevance
relevance
relevance

relevance

vii

item
item
item
item
item
item
item
item
item
item

item

for interest rating of the unit .

for comparison of the unit with other
in home economics

(a).
(b).
(c).
(d).
(e).
(f).
(g).
(h).
(i).
(j).

(k).

Page
89

90
92
94

96

99
219
219
220
220
221
221
222
222
223
223

224

LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix
I. Experimental Unit. . . . . . . . . . . .
II. Control Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
III. Pretest Questionnaire. . . . . . . . . .
IV. Posttest Questionnaire . . . . . . . . .
V. Daily Record of Classroom Teaching . . .
VI. Daily Record of Teacher-Student Contacts

VII. Letter and Questionnaire for Supervising
Teachers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

VIII. Decision-Making Patterns for Application
Items. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

IX. Tables 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

X. Formula for t Test . . . . . . . . . . .

viii

Page
116
148
154
170
189

191

192

195
205
225

CHAPTER I

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND STATEMENT
OF THE PROBLEM

Home management and decision-making increasingly
are being recognized as essential aspects of the home eco-
nomics curriculum. (Paolucci, 1965: p. 3) In discussing
the meaning of home economics, Coon indicates that many of
the social and technological changes that are affecting
families have ”. . . highlighted the significance . . ."
of home management as well as family relationships, child
development, consumer education and family economics. (1965:
pp. 32-33) She later adds that it is unlikely that other
phases of home economics can be taught without considering
to some extent the management aspects involved, but she
questions whether the amount of management made necessary
by complex modern living is being taught in secondary schools.
(Coon, 1965: p. 59)

That an insignificant proportion of time in second-
ary home economics classes is devoted to management and
decision-making is fairly well documented. (Coon, 1962:
pp. 81-82, 110; Voohries, 1961: p. 25; Kivlin, 1962: p. 78;
Kister, 1967: p. 63) The fact that such concepts are con-
spicuously absent from the home economics curriculum is due,

at least in part, to the difficulty of finding appropriate

irv

 

‘ r

V.

l n
P\'

OI

 

1‘ 1
-\U

 

 

 
 

methods and meaningful learning experiences for teaching
them. (Kister, 1967: p. 62) The abstractness of many basic
home management concepts and the difficulty of teaching
processes through traditional lecturing and assigned read-
ing are limiting factors. The development of skills and
growth of insight into the complex managerial function,
which are necessary for effective performance as a manager,
require involvement, experience and practice, besides under-
standing the basic theories and concepts in the field.

In support of this notion follows a discussion of
the conceptual frameworks of home management and of learn-
ing, with a subsequent proposal for evaluating a method of
teaching home management and decision-making concepts via
simulation games.

‘Conceptual Framework of
Home Management

Home management is concerned with families engaged
in managerial behavior and consists of a series of basic,
inter—related mental processes directed toward the realiza-
tion of family values. The components of a home management
model include the following processes: (1) formulating and
selecting family goals in the light of family values; (2)
knowing the situation, analyzing it and recognizing the
problems or opportunities for management; (3) achieving
family goals, which includes analysis and specification
of alternative feasible means, choosing means to the goal

and carrying out the means by always guiding the ongoing

action towards the goals. Managers do not isolate these
processes but rather work with them simultaneously; essen—
tially these may be viewed as a series of decision—making
processes.

The crux of management is considered to be the
decision-making process, which is the basis for all truly
conscious managerial behavior. Three types of decisions
have been identified in family settings: (1) social de-
cision-making, originated by conflicts in values and goals
in the family group; (2) economic decision-making, origin—
ated by availability of resources and conflicting goals;
and (3) technical decision-making, consisting in the imple—
mentation of decisions. (Paolucci, 1966: pp. 6—7)

Management occurs only in a given specific situa—
tion, never in a vacuum. However, managers seldom have the
whole situation to choose from, but rather their “field of
choice" is narrowed by their own perceptions of it and by
the perceptions of members of their referent groups. The
"act of choice" consists of the final selection of an alter-
native from the perceived field of choice. The final stage
in any decision—making process is the implementation of the
choice, with the subsequent evaluation of the consequences
and the immediate beginning of the cycle anew. Decision—
making is a continuous, ongoing, never-ending process.

A series of concepts, many of which are basic, can
be identified in this framework. These include: values,

goals, resources, situation or setting, decision-maker,

field of choice, perception, alternatives, act of choice,
implementation, consequences and evaluation of the choice.
The abstractness of most of these concepts is one of their
common characteristics. The problem in home management
decision—making teaching of such abstractions is to find
ways that will allow students to experience them actively

for effective learning.

Conceptual Framework of Learning

Learning can be defined as "the acquisition, reten-
tion and application of knowledge, skills, attitudes and
ways of thinking" which are products of certain experiences.
Learning is evidenced by changes in behavior (overt indi—
cators) which have a permanent character and do not orig-
inate in the subject's natural processes of maturation or
physiological changes. (Kolesnik, 1963: p. 215) Such be—
havior changes are the goals of education. Most of the main
purposes of education seek beyond the simple acquisition of
information toward acquisition of broader concepts, develop-
ment of skills, attitudes and ways of thinking.

For purposes of analysis and planning the total act
of learning has been broken down into seven elements:

1. 922$? the objectives or end product of the learn-
ing process.

2. Motivation: the individual's need, desire or

 

determination to achieve the goal, to act in a new way.
3. Stimuli: environmental conditions that can help

the individual reach his goal.

4. Perception: the manner in which the individual

 

interprets the stimuli and derives meaning from them.

5. Response: the individual's reaction to the

 

stimuli after he perceives them; his first attempt to act
in the new way.

6. Reinforcement: the activities performed by the
learner, or arranged by the teacher, that strengthen his
new way of acting.

”,7. Integration: the efforts of the learner to
assimilate the new response into his previous patterns, or
to interrelate the parts of his new experience. (Kolesnik,
1963: p. 216)

i For the writer, Kolesnik's position reflects a com-
bination from two main learning theories. From Association—
ists come the factors of stimuli, response and reinforcement;
Gestalt theorists provide those of goal, motivation, percep-
tion and integration.

Gestalt, or field learning theories, share several
basic concepts with the home management framework described
before. Both include as basic elements: (1) the situation
the manager or learner is in; (2) his differential percep-
tion of it; (3) his response to patterns or configurations
rather than to isolated stimuli; (4) his rearranging elements
of the situation or field relationships to create new pat—
teggg; and (5) his insight or sudden perception of the es-
sential relationships in a situation.

A learner (manager) confronted with a new situation

analyzes his problem, discriminates between essential and
non-essential elements, brings relevant knowledge to bear

on the problem, and eventually comes to perceive a new pat-
tern of relationships of which he was previously unaware.
This process is helpful in explaining higher cognitive proc-
esses such as problem—solving and decision-making, which

are of particular interest to the study.

The Gestalt theory of learning would be applicable
best in those situations that fall under the name of "stu-
dent-centered teaching,“ where the responsibility for learn-
ing is shifted to some degree from the instructor to the
learner. Although research does not throw conclusive light
on the value of student-centered teaching, it appears that
it might be more advantageous in affective learning, that
is in producing social and emotional changes, in developing
self-insight, independence,and positive interpersonal atti-
tudes. (Lehmann, 1961: p. 335)

The author classifies the experimental teaching ap—
proach used in this study as a student-centered one, as it
meets two of the three characteristics listed by Lehmann
(1961: p. 334), i.e., the experimental method sought to pro-
mote a high degree of interstudent participation, it stresses
affective outcomes as well as cognitive ones, and it places
the instructor as a guide and coordinator, rather than as
the traditional authority figure facing the learners.

Educational objectives are formulated in terms of

knowing, feeling and doing. Or, in the three areas that

Bloom and others have called the "cognitive," "affective"
and "psychomotor domains." (Bloom, 1965; Krathwohl, Bloom
and Masia, 1964) This study is concerned especially with
the first three levels of educational outcomes in the cog—
nitive domain, i.e., those of knowledge, comprehension and
application. Certain learning outcomes pertaining to the
affective area are also of especial relevance to the study,
i.e., certain attitudes, interests and ways in which stu-
dents perceived the particular set of stimuli presented to
them through the decision-making units.

It is recognized that "human behavior can rarely
be neatly compartmentalized in terms of cognition and af—
fect" (Krathwohl, 1964: p. 85) and even more so in the par-
ticular subject matter chosen as content for these units.

It is possible to analyze the simulation games in

/ terms of the seven component elements of the act of learn-

)\
\

,ing as presented by Kolesnik. In simulation games there
are ggglg set, i.e., in terms of helping the players learn
new strategies for successful problem—solving; the non—
threatening, fun connotations attached to the games act

as powerful motivators; simulation games present varied

 

sets of stimuli, with the advantage that these are built

in the game rather than brought from outside, i.e., by the
teacher; a simulation presents an initial situation already
defined to some degree, which the players will perceive dif-
ferently; they will need to work out some adjustment of their

perceptions in order to function as teams; players are asked

to respond in specific ways defined by the game itself, not
by the authority of the teacher; the players' responses will
be reinforced or discouraged by the outcomes of the game;
successful responses reinforced in the game, i.e., by win-
ning points, likely will be integrated by the players into
larger strategies adequate for solving the overall problems

presented by the simulation games.

Statement of the Problem

This study focuses on a comparison of two approaches,
herein called methods, to teaching managerial decision—making
processes to high school students. Underlying the choice
of the methods is the assumption that abstract concepts such
as those involved in decision-making can be taught effective-
ly through simulation games. The experimental treatment
in the study combines the use of a simulation game, struc-
tured as a group decision-making exercise, with group dis-
cussion; the control treatment combines more traditional,
nonrsimulation techniques.

The effectiveness of the methods will be appraised
through student group gains on a cognitive test and through
their reactions on selective affective aspects of their

1e arning experience .

Definition of Terms
Simulation: a simplified model of a selected part
Of reality; it attempts to reproduce certain processes in

aCtion for the purposes of research and education.

Simulation_game: for the purposes of this study,
it is a sequential decision-making exercise structured around
a model of a family or individual managerial situation; in
it students assume the role of managers acting in a group
situation, as members of multi-player decision-making teams.
Management: that universal function which utilizes
the process of decision-making for the realization of values
and goals through effective use of human and material resources.
Home management: a process of deciding what is impor—
tant to a family and using wisely the many resources avail-
able in order to reach the decisions.

Decision-making: a mental process which includes

 

several subprocesses: (l) recognizing that a problem exists;
(2) looking for alternative solutions; (3) appraising the
alternatives; (4) making a choice; (5) implementing the de-
cisions and accepting responsibility for the outcomes.

.Teacher: for the purposes of this study they are
the home economics education student-teachers who in the
Winter of 1968 actually taught the decision-making unit this
project utilized.

SgpervisinggTeacher: in the study they are the reg—
ular home economics teachers in the high schools who oriented
and supervised the student-teachers who taught the unit for

this study.

10

Summary

The main ideas presented in this chapter deal with
the central role of home management in home economics, some
problems in teaching it due to its abstractness and the lack
of suitable teaching methods, conceptual frameworks of man-
agement and of learning, and the feasibility of teaching

management decision-making by means of simulation games.

CHAPTER II

SIMULATION GAMES AND THEIR
USE IN EDUCATION

This chapter presents a review of literature on
selected aspects of simulation games related to their use
as educational tools.

Simulation games are defined and their historical
development is traced briefly. Their characteristics as
educational techniques, as well as their advantages and
limitations as reported in the literature are presented.
The effects of simulation games upon learning are discussed
on the basis of a review of some of the research done to
evaluate this tool. Finally, implications are drawn on
the potential value of simulation games for teaching home
management concepts and processes.

Definitions and Origins of
Simulation Games

Definitions of simulation and games.-—The word sim-
ulation stands for different things at different levels.
One popular meaning deals with the assumption of the ap-
pearance of something without real existence, or the as—
sumption of false appearances for purposes of deception.
These negative connotations are absent in social science

usage, where simulation refers to the ”construction and

11

l2

manipulation of a behaving system or process." (Guetzkow,
p. 190)

In a strict sense a simulation is a model, a phys-
ical or symbolic representation of a part of reality, de-
signed to incorporate or reproduce those features of the
real object that the researcher or educator believes sig-
nificant for his problem. The important factor is that the
components or variables in the model interact in a manner
comparable to that of the behavior of the real system, that
they both be isomorphic or congruent.

As employed by social scientists, simulation makes
use of models constructed in such a way that they become
operative or functioning. Operating models are representa-
tions of behaving systems that attempt to reproduce proc-
esses in action; they provide information about changes in
the variables and relationships within the system over time.
These models can be expressed in several languages, i.e.,
verbal, mathematical. They are used for two main purposes:
(1) research and development of theory, and (2) teaching
and training.

Some authors treat the terms"simulation" and "games,"
or "gaming exercises" as they are also called, as equivalent
concepts.(Dawson, p. 9; Guetzkow, p. 189; Martin, p. 101)
They consider gaming to be a particular kind of simulation
in which human decision-makers participate within the simu-
lated system, generally in a competitive situation.

Other writers consider simulation and games to be

13

different concepts. For instance, Abt (1966, p. 5) defines
a game as ”any contest (play) among adversaries (players)
operating under constraint (rules) for an objective (winning),
victory or payoff." For the same author simulation is in—
stead an operating imitation of a real process.
Shubik makes major distinctions between simulation

and games. For him,

A simulation of a system or an organism is the opera-

tion of a model or simulator which is a representa-

tion of the system or organism. From studying the

operation of the model, properties concerning the

behavior of the actual system are inferred. (p. 71)
Gaming, on the other hand,

. . . is an experimental, operational or training

technique which may or may not make use of a simu-

lated environment but it is invariably concerned

with studying human behavior or teaching individ-

uals. . . . The actual presence of individuals is

not necessary to a simulation but it is to a gaming

exercise. (Shubik, p. 71)
Shubik further believes that much confusion can be created
by using the terms "gaming" and "simulation" interchange-
ably. "In general, individuals are referring to gaming in
a simulated environment when they use the word simulation
in reference to a game." The reference is sometimes made
to the simulated roles played by the participants in the
game. (p. 72)

Mathematical game theory defines games in terms of

the number of independent players, the degree of competition
and cooperation among them, the amount of information they

have about their adversaries, and whether the nature of the

game is deterministic or probabilistic.

14

Games always have the characteristic of reciprocal
actions and reactions among wholly or partly independent
entities who hold different objectives.

Greenlaw, Herron and Rawdon (p. 5) define business
games as

A sequential decision-making exercise structured
around a model of a business operation in which the
participants assume the role of managing the simu-
lated operation.
Their concept provided the operational definition of simu-
lation games used in this study.

The term "game” is in use now for both interactive
games, those involving competition among teams or individ-
ual players, and non—interactive models in social sciences
training and research.

A distinction is also made by some writers between
simulations conducted entirely on machines ("pure machine")
and those which make use of human decision-makers, aided
or not by computers ("man—machine" or "all—man" simulations).
The second type is currently in use by social scientists,
especially for teaching and training purposes. Games fall
in this second category.

Origins of simulation games for educational pur-
pg§g§.-—Man's survival has required adaptation, which in
turn has required problem-solving ability. Problem-solving
behavior is exploratory behavior. Anthropological theory
and research, as well as psychology and child development
all point to the role of games and simulation of the environ-

ment through play, as a very important learning process.

15

Children everywhere learn about the world and their future
roles in it through modeling and spontaneous undirected play
where they act out various roles.

Use of simulation, play and games as a purposeful
educational technique is receiving increasing attention.
According to Abt, this is only a re-discovery, an attempt
to do consciously and systematically what children and adults
have been doing intuitively and informally for ages. (Abt,
1965: p. 2)

Under a broad definition of the term simulation,
its origins can be traced back to the early ages of mankind,
when man first attempted to construct models of the world
around him through drawings on cave walls. Various art
products that attempt to portray conceptions of aspects
of human life and physical objects might also be termed
simulation. (Dawson, p. 2)

According to Dawson, the earliest practical use
of simulation was the construction of physical models of
real objects, particularly for work in designing tools and
other objects. This technique permits the designer to test
the whole or parts of the object he wants to build avoiding
costly mistakes and waste in the process. (Dawson, p. 2)

A simulation can have the same functions when used in edu—
cation, in that it permits students to live through life-

like situations and experiment with them without becoming

exposed to unnecessary risks.

In recent years the use of the term simulation has

16

spread from engineering and military science to many other
fields, such as business and management, economics, psychol-
ogy, political science, sociology and education. The cur-
rent employment of simulation in social sciences is related
to the more recent development of system analysis, the socio-
psychological study of groups, the use of more formal models,
the employment of various mathematical techniques and the
availability of high speed electronic computers. (Dawson,

p. 1)

The three main streams of simulation games or "gam—
ing” of interest to social scientists are those of war, bus—
iness or management, and political gaming. War games have
been used a long time by the military for training purposes.
The first practical business game was developed by the Amer-
ican Management Association and it stimulated the design
and use of many other games. For Greenlaw, Herron and
Rawdon (p. 7) today's business decisions simulation exer-
cises may be considered an outgrowth in three fields:
military war gaming, operations research, and educational
role playing.

Business and management games are in use by large
corporations for training and selection of management per—
sonnel. Recently their use has spread to colleges and uni-
versities, both in the United States and abroad, for teach—
ing and research purposes. According to Cherryholmes (1967),
the first political game originated in Europe before World

War II. Nothing more was done until the late 1950's when

 

-A

ii

(
(ll

 

91

'\

l

 

17

a group headed by Dr. Guetzkow created the Inter Nation
Simulation at Northwestern University. Political games,
generally simulating national or international situations,
have been developed and are in use for research and teach-
ing purposes.

The use of games in secondary schools is also in—
creasing, in areas such as economics, history, political
science, family studies, career planning and others.

Very little has been done with this tool in the
teaching of home management and there is a void in the lit—
erature so far. An adapted version of the Life Career Game
was presented briefly to college students at Michigan State
University in a family decision-making course during the
Fall of 1967 and the Winter of 1968. At Washington State
University a game for teaching family decision—making to
college students is in the developmental stage as yet.
(Price, Personal Communication)

Characteristics of Simulation Games
as Educational Techniqges

Characteristics of simulation ggmes.--According to
Schild (pp. 11-13), one of man's most impressive and per-
suasive features is his ability to adjust his behavior to
the requirements of the situation--his tremendous capac-
ity to learn. But at the same time, there are great limita-
tions to this capacity, both in educational settings and
outside of them. One reason for this paradox, Schild be-

lieves, lies in the differential capacity of people to learn

18

or to teach. Two other related factors which he explores
are the structure of the learning situation and the orien-
tation of the learner in the learning situation. Schild
further indicates that the ordinary classroom situation does
not structure effective contingencies for the specific be-
havior, knowledge, and comprehension to be acquired by the
students.

Students would presumably learn much more if put
in an environment where survival was dependent upon having
a certain knowledge, understanding or skill. It is a com-
mon experience of those who teach to have really learned
a subject when faced with the need to explain it to others.
In practice, students cannot be put into real-life situa-
tions, but simulated environments can be constructed instead.
"A situation can be established in the classroom to simulate
the real-life environment. This can be done as a game."
(Schild, p. 13)

The learner's belief in the possibility of his con—
trolling the environment seems to be crucial for learning
in general, and for management especially. The question
is whether games of simulated environments may have any
effect upon this belief. Although no good evidence is
available, it seems reasonable to hypothesize that exposure
to a series of games may increase the player's sense of
control, as they go through a series of environments in
each of which success or failure is clearly contingent upon

their behavior, rather than on luck or on arbitrary external

19

powers. (Schild, p. 19)

For Abt (1965: p. 1) play, simulation and gaming
are ascendent educational techniques. Learning theory has
found learning dependent on active participation of the
learner, as well as on reinforcement, feedback, variety,
comprehension and perceived relevance, all of which occur
in games.

Various authors, especially Abt, Attig, Boocock and
Schild, believe that games can overcome at a modest cost
many of the shortcomings of currently used educational meth-
ods and techniques, such as in the areas of motivation, in-
tellectual initiative, structural understanding of funda-
mental relationships and organizing concepts, creativity
and intuition, problem-solving strategies and negotiating
skills.

An educational game, according to Abt (1965: p. 7)
is

. . . a situation of multiplayer mixed conflict and
cooperation simulating a process or a series of
events which is to be understood by the student.
A game is a human player simulation of a dynamic
model of some abstract, symbolic or real-world proc—
ess. The uncertain outcome depends primarily on
player factual knowledge, structural comprehension,
and communication and negotiating skills.
According to his observations, self-directed learning in
games occurs in three usually successive phases, as a re-
sult of the active participation and intense involvement
of the students: (p. 8)

l. Learning_facts, which the game context and dy-

namics present.

20

2. Learning_processes of the changes which occurred
in the variables over time, and which are simulated by the
game.

3. Learning alternative strategies of decision-mak—
ing, with their relative costs and benefits, risks and po-
tential rewards.

Abt further indicates that because these three levels
of learning can occur simultaneously in multiplayer teams,
individual games can accommodate a broad range of student
age and ability, with the slower students also learning from
the faster ones. This authority has also found that cultur-
ally deprived students respond relatively much better to
game teaching than to the less dynamic, more expository
methods. (1965, p. 8)

The following is a summary of characteristics of
the game method as discussed by Abt. (1965: p. 8) Simula-
tion game 5 :

1. Combine the dramatic arts and the systems sci-
ence.

2. Place emphasis on developing analytic approaches
and organizing concepts transferable to other problems iden-
tified by students.

3. Encourage intuitive thinking as well as analysis
by use of analogy, testing of limiting conditions and vis—
ual expressions of solutions.

4. Attempt to make learning entertaining and rele-

vant to students' life experiences.

21

5. Make use of realistic, adult materials.

6. Involve role-play, with self—directed student
participation.

7. Develop communication and negotiation skills
by means of team activities.

8. Provide a cross—disciplinary, concrete experi-
ential view of problems.

9. Build abstraction capabilities on multiple sen-
sory experience.

Another important characteristic of games is that
they do not suppress but instead use the student's way of
viewing things. In Abt's opinion, they "present concrete
problems in a simplified but dramatic form that mediates
between the dryness of abstraction and the confusion of
multi-variable reality." (Abt, 1965: p. 9)

Games develop in students an awareness of probabil-
égigg. They also exert pressure on them to make decisions
based on insufficient data. These two factors together
lead players to develop logical decision-making strategies,
taking into account both probabilities and costs. Educa-
tional games also offer students gpportunities to make ex-
Lflgrations, while being at the same time protected from
irreversible consequences, encouraging the taking of risky
alternatives while providing at the same time realistic
evaluations of their effectiveness. (Abt, 1965: p. 9)

The student player gains a growing sense of struc-

Eur—e among the game variables, which corresponds to a

22

growing sense of structure of the subject simulated by the
game. This, according to Abt, greatly expands the student's
attention span: "The longer and more concentrated the learn-
ing episode, the greater the student's understanding and
confidence in the intellectual satisfactions of subsequent
episodes.” (Abt, 1965: p. 10) This observation fits in with
Bruner's discussion of the importance of mastering the struc-
ture of a field in order to successfully transfer its prin-
ciples to other situations and problems. (p. 17)

One of the main problems of secondary students is
their need to find relevance between what they are learning
now and their future expectations which should help them
understand, predict and control their own future environment
and their actions in a socially acceptable way. Too often
they do not perceive a meaningful relationship between school
learning and real life. (Boocock and Coleman, pp. 216-17;
Abt, p. 10) “Games and simulations that model reality can
present the great issues and problems of contemporary soci-
ety on a level of specific human action that directly relates
the student's decisions to the larger world." The relevance
Qfeducationalggames as perceived by students is related
both to content and to methodology. (Abt, 1965: p. 11)

Educational games constitute a method of teaching
analytic problem solving that incorporates also the human
aspects. The intellectual and social skills necessary to
solve adult socio-economic problems are developed in concert

in these games, in the same way as they must be applied in

23

adult life. (Abt, 1965: pp. 11-12)

Simulations also provide rapid feedback to students:
success and failure brought as consequences of decisions
made by the players are much more immediate than in real
life. This is another feature of games that facilitates
learning.

In recent years, evidence has been accumulating on
the contribution of games to learning. But the evaluation
of a teaching method is extremely difficult. Schild points
out that the "true test of an instructional innovation can
only be made when it is applied on a broad basis in the
standard setting of everyday classroom activity." He adds
that the data available and the initial theoretical consid-
erations provide sufficient justification to put games to
the test of day-to-day use in schools. (Schild, pp. 16—17)

Schild also warns that games should not be seen as
purely motivating devices or as means of relaxation for stu-
dents, but that they are in themselves contexts for learn-
ing; games constitute the contingencies which produce the
behaviors, knowledges and comprehension which are to be
acquired. (p. 17)

Games and some related simulation technigues used
in education.--Games are one of several simulation tech—
niques currently in use for education and training purposes,
especially in business and management. Greenlaw, Herron
and Rawdon (p. 10) indicate that business gaming has some-

times been likened to the case study method; both are

24

similar in that each method calls for analysis and discus-
sion of a particular problem or set of problems; they differ
in that gaming calls on participants to assume a role them-
selves in a currently developing situation, rather than an-
alyze problems that were faced by others. In games, players
become actively involved in, and help shape, the situation;
in the case study, students make an intellectual analysis,
with less degree of emotional involvement than that produCed
in games.

Business games resemble more closely other simulated
techniques such as role playing, in-basket problem, incident
process and operation suburbia. The first three seem appli-
cable also to the teaching of home management. All these
forms of simulation in education have one central feature
in common with gaming: the participant performs in a hypo-
thetical situation and receives feedback both from the in-
structor and from other participants as to the appropriate-
ness of the actions taken. Games differ from them in two
respects: (1) games are structured around a model comprised
of a set of mathematical statements characterizing the sim-
ulated environment and defining the relationships between
decisions made and results achieved; and (2) games provide
for sequential decision-making rather than for isolated de-
Cisioning experiences. (Greenlaw, Herron and Rawdon, p. 13)

Simulationggames as student—centered teaching tech-
nigues.--Considerable interest has been generated in the

Past two decades in student—centered instruction, as

25

contrasted with instructor-centered instruction. McKeachie
presents the characteristics of student-centered instruction
along two dimensions: goals and methods of teaching. (pp.
143-46) Goals are determined by the group, including both
students and instructors; there is emphasis on affective-
type goals, rather than on intellectual or practical ones.
The methods used encourage a high degree of verbal partici—
pation and inter-student participation; instructors accept
all contributions from students, regardless of their qual-
ity; there are attempts to create highly cohesive groups
out of these classes; through the exercise of group deci-
skkaaking powers in planning their course, students feel
that they can influence their fate to a greater degree;
finally, a greater amount of time is devoted to personal
experiences and problems of the students as a means for
fostering self—insight.

Values of student-centered instruction.--Research
comparing student-centered with instructor-centered teach-
ing shows mixed or contradictory results, with no definite
advantage attributable to any one of them. McKeachie be—
lieves that reasons for these contradictory results may lie
in the different meanings attributed to student-centered
teaching by various researchers, and in that researchers
have attempted to handle too many variables with any one
design. In the cognitive area, while student—centered in-
struction has failed to show significantly higher learnings,

at least it has not decreased the learning of facts. More

26

hopeful findings appear in the area of affective learnings,
such as improvement in adjustment and growth in social skills,
increase of empathy, gains in self-insight and in independ—
ence. There are evidences that student-centered classes

gain much more on these affective variables. (McKeachie,

pp. 148-50; Lehman, pp. 334-35)

Relationships of simulation games and student-cen-
tered instruction.--Of the dimensions spelled out by
McKeachie for student-centered instruction the following
also apply to simulation games by:

l. Emphasizing affective goals at least as much
as intellectual goals.

2. Calling for a high degree of inter-student par-
ticipation. (The teacher is only a coordinator during play
sessions.)

3. Producing a high degree of cohesiveness within
the teams. (This may not necessarily hold true for the
whole class, as teams compete against each other for the
payoff.)

4. Increasing the feeling of efficacy or potency
experienced by players--the feeling that they can influence
their own destiny to a greater extent than they thought
possible before playing the game. (Boocock, 1966: pp. 140—
150)

On the basis of the analysis of the dimensions pre-
sented above, simulation games may be categorized as being
more student-centered than instructor-centered teaching

techniques.

27

Advantages and Limitations of Simulation
Games as Educational Technigues

Advantages.--Most authors indicate that, as an edu-
cational technique, simulation games will not displace others,
but they believe that they can become effective tools for
teaching if used properly and when well integrated into a

curriculum.

Some of the main advantages of using simulation games
for teaching home management have been isolated from the
literature. (Greenlaw, Herron and Rawdon, p. 255; Kibbee,
Craft and Nanus, pp. 9, 41-43; Washington State University,
p. 17)

1. They condense a large amount of decision-making
experience into a relatively short period of time.

2. They integrate a knowledge of particular func—
tions in such a way that the importance of overall balance
among these functions is understood; they demonstrate the
interaction existing between decision—making areas.

3. They make clear the need to reach decisions with
incomplete data on matters which are not always clear cut.

4. They provide the experience of role-playing
different roles built into a managerial situation.

5. Through a novel use of the time dimension, or
its "playback" character, simulation games demonstrate viv-
idly the effects of sequential decision-making, as partici—
pants experience how present decisions affect, limit or de-
termine future decisions.

6. They facilitate experimentation. It is always
possible to return to a previous decision point of the game
and proceed again from it, making a different set of deci-
sflomsand compare the outcomes of these with the previous
decisions made.

7. Simulation games call attention to the impor-
tance of determining the significant factors in a situation
and relating these properly to long range planning.

28

8. The participants become personally involved in
a realistic situation in which they must work together under
time pressures in developing their decision-making abilities.
This stresses for them the need to organize effectively for
group decision-making.

9. Many simulation games place emphasis on the ef—
fective selection of information from a large mass of data,
its organization and analysis, which result in framing vari-
ous alternative solutions.

10. Simulation games require the consideration of
the responses other people might make to certain decisions,
and expose students to different viewpoints of fellow players.

11. Some simulation games provide practice for stu-
dents in the use of certain analytical tools, such as budget-
ing or accounting in business.

12. The feedback provided by these games is highly
objective, as it is provided by a set of programmed rela-
tionships which transform input decisions into performance
reports; the participants evaluate their decision-making
effectiveness with objective data.

13. Many authors stress the high degree of involve-
ment produced in the players of these games. Kibbee, Craft
and Nanus suggest four main reasons why this happens: (1)
participants welcome the opportunity to experiment with
strategies and theories in a "safe" learning environment;
(2) the orientation of the game towards group performance,
instead of being an instructor-guided activity; (3) as a
byproduct, there is opportunity to learn about human rela-
tionships; and (4) the game environment establishes rapport
between the instructor and participants, offers a common
focus for discussion, makes instruction relevant to the
participants' own problems, makes them more receptive to
new ideas.

14. Simulation games allow the introduction of stu—
dents to cross-cultural and cross-socioeconomic situations,
which usually constitutes a broadening educational experi-
ence.

15. The motivational value of simulation games is
reported to be remarkably high. For students they bridge
the time interval usually existent between learning certain
concepts and putting them to use; they also allow the in-
Structor to assume a role of "coach" in helping students
learn, while removing the need for him to act as a judge
0f their outcomes, since games are self-judging devices.

29

Limitations.--Some of the limitations of simulation
games as educational techniques are pointed out by Abt. (1966:
p. 9)

1. Most simulation games provide for uniformity of
initial player resources, while in real life this is seldom
true and might make the game unrealistic to students.

2. Most games have fixed uniform rules, clearly
known by the players. In real life, the "rules of the game"
are continually, although slowly modified by the players,
are often tacit instead of explicit and sometimes they are
not completely known to the players.

3. Formal games are mostly pure competitions, with
only one winner, resembling more the competitive struggles
of war, political and economic combats. But most political,
economic and social processes are at least partly coopera-
tive, some of them are mostly so. In cooperative processes
all the players "win," although perhaps in different degrees.

These characteristics of games may contribute to
making them appear unrealistic to students. Kibbee, Craft
and Nanus (p. 9) see other sets of limitations in the use
of simulation games:

4. Their higher cost, in money and personnel, than
other educational techniques.

5. Simulation games require more time and more
planning to run.

6. Intense emotions and interpersonal rivalries
developed by the players may present problems.
Effects of Simulation Games
Used in Education
A remarkable aspect of the development of simula—
tion games is the extent to which they have been accepted
without hard evidence regarding their effectiveness as

teaching tools. Several authors point out that very little

scientific research has been done to validate the effectiveness

30

of games as teaching techniques. (Boocock, October, 1966:
p. 8; Kibbee, Craft and Nanus, p. 9; Greenlaw, Herron and
Rawdon, p. 49) However, this is true of other teaching
techniques as well.

Most of the research already done is of an explora-
tory nature, generating hypotheses but testing few of them.
The research designs used in those studies were not truly
experimental, leaving many uncontrolled factors and much
unexplained variance. Data collection techniques and in-
struments generally lacked in precision and relied heavily
on the player's opinions about the experience. In some
cases, games were administered in only one session, rather
than integrated with a course curriculum.

Certain of the studies compared the effects of a
simulation game with the effects of some other methods:
game versus case study, game versus case study and problem
papers, and game versus lecture-discussion. (Robinson et
al., 1966; Robinson and Snyder, 1964; Garvey and Seiler,
1966) Most other studies have compared the effects on stu-
dents playing different games. (Boocock, 1966; Inbar, 1966;
Cherryholmes, 1963) The effects of the games upon students
have been reported along two main types of outcomes; cog-
nitive or intellectual, and affective. The affective out-
comes include several components: motivation, enjoyment,
relevance, and certain attitudes. In general, the findings
raported in the various studies are inconsistent, as it

Often happens in cases of research on teaching methods.

31

Simulation_games and intellectual learning.--The
assumptions regarding the effects of games in facilitating
cognitive learning to a greater degree than other methods
are not sustained by empirical data.

Cherryholmes, using the findings presented in six
different studies, tested three hypotheses in this area:
(1) students participating in simulated games would learn
more facts and principles, (2) they would retain longer
this information, and (3) they would acquire more critical
thinking and decision-making skills than would students ex-
posed to conventional teaching methods. His analysis led
him to reject all three hypotheses.

Actually, only in the study by Garvey and Seiler
analyzed by Cherryholmes was retention data collected eight
weeks after the treatments had been applied. Furthermore,
only in this one study were data collected on critical think-
ing and decision-making skills; their findings do not sup-
port the superiority of either of the two teaching methods
involved.

Each of the studies analyzed by Cherryholmes col-
lected data on learning, but no evidence has been produced
supporting the hypothesis that students would learn more
through simulation games. Even if students did not learn
more facts and principles through simulation games, there
is no evidence that they learn less than through exposure
to other teaching methods. And it may well be that games

do help students to appreciate better the complexity and

 

IIAI

v-s.

..

5‘

5.

'-

ll.

32

the interdependence of certain elements of the environment,
teaching them thereby to cope intelligently with large and
complicated problems. The foregoing is not easily portrayed
through other teaching techniques. (Boocock and Coleman,

pp. 229-34; Boocock, 1966: pp. 137-39)

The findings reviewed seem to indicate not a rejec—
tion of the assumptions stated before, but rather the ten-
tativeness of the evaluations made so far as to the use of
simulation games in education. Also indicated is the need
to replicate or conduct more studies with larger population
samples or to develop better criterion measures and to use
the games for longer periods of time integrating them into
a given course or unit.

Simulationggmes as motivators.--The most immedi-
ately impressive characteristic of simulation games in edu-
cation is probably the high level of involvement, interest
and enjoyment evidenced by the players. Some researchers
feel that increased motivation is the greatest advantage
of this teaching tool.

Although it is difficult to quantify a variable
like motivation or enthusiasm, the data available from each
study are consistent in pointing to the high proportion of
students who indicate having enjoyed learning through games
and liking them better than their regular classroom activ-
ities. Students generally maintain a high level of activ-
ity and participation in the sessions; they also communicate

more of their experiences to others outside of class; fewer

33

discipline problems happen during play sessions than in reg-
ular classes. (Boocock and Coleman, pp. 224-25; Boocock,
1966: pp. 54-63; Inbar, 1966; Garvey and Seiler, p. 99;
Attig, p. 26; Wing, p. 32; Cherryholmes, 1963: p. 89)

Robinson et al. attempted to measure students' in-
terest as a multidimensional factor. They compared five
perceptual measures, i.e., the students' perception of their
interest in the experience, with five behavioral measures
which reflected the students' interest and involvement in
the course. Their findings indicate that the undergraduate
students in their study, perceived the case study as more
interesting to them, but on the contrary, their behavior
evidenced greater involvement in the simulation sections.
The researchers concluded that behavioral measures are more
effective in discriminating students' interest.

Inbar analyzed some of the factors affecting the
degree of enjoyment of the players and concluded that the
major explanatory variable for the differential enjoyment
was the size of the group to which the players were assigned,
i.e., to larger groups corresponded lesser enjoyment.

Boocock very adequately summarizes her findings in
relation to enjoyment and explains some of the reasons why
games are attractive to students as follows:

. . . the players' perception of the game is that
it is enjoyable in itself, partly by virtue of be-
ing a game, but that it also frees them from the
authority and pressures of the classroom structure,

allowing them to work with and learn from each other.
(1966: p. 63)

34

Simulation games and attitude changes.-—According
to Boocock, (1966: p. 103) there is considerable and fairly
consistent set of data suggesting that simulation games can
become vicarious experiences for students, giving them a
feeling of what the real life situation simulated in the
game is like. This generates an appreciation and understand—
ing of problems and situations new or removed from the stu-
dents' experiences.

To some degree, games affect the players' attitudes
towards the roles simulated. In some of the political games
the basic image of a politician was not affected, but in
the Life Career Game, players tended to broaden their view
of women's role and many of them developed greater empathy
towards roles new to them. (Boocock, 1966: pp. 103-104)
Students playing the Inter Nations Simulation declared to
have gained a more realistic understanding of international
problems, of the complexities of international relations,
of the problems and goals of other nations, as well as a
greater appreciation for the conflicts faced by people in
high level decision—making roles. (Guetzkow et al., pp.
179-84) Other studies report changes in attitudes towards
a more realistic view of the world. (Boocock, 1963: p. 33;
Cherryholmes, 1963: pp. 93-104)

Boocock reports some indications that young peOple
may acquire greater confidence, or feelings of "efficacy,"
in their own abilities to understand and control the world

around them as a result of participating in simulation games

35

where success or failure was linked to their own actions.
Self-confidence has been found related to performance in

a variety of real life situations, including learning. This
kind of effect produced by games has been studied by only

a few researchers. (Boocock, 1966: pp. 142-50)

In summary, the data available does not substanti-
ate the claims for the efficacy of simulation games as edu-
cational tools but an examination of the evidences reported
indicate the value of doing further research on this tool.
If games can teach cognitive elements as well as other meth-
ods, and if they can produce changes in the affective areas,
hardly touched by other classroom methods, then their value
cannot be denied at this point.

Implications of Simulation Games
for Teaching Home Management

 

According to the literature reviewed, simulation
games constitute viable teaching techniques for cases in
which initiative, understanding of structural relationships
of a field, problem-solving strategies, and communication
and negotiating skills need to be taught. Opportunities
for students to explore and experiment in solving problems
while receiving realistic evaluations of their effectiveness
are also provided by simulation games. Situations and learn-
ing outcomes that meet these characteristics are a part of
many disciplines in the social sciences, and special refer-
ence has been made earlier to the fields of business, man-

agement and political science.

36

Management, a basic form of human behavior, pivots
around decision-making. Many of the concepts and processes
basic to management are also crucial in home management;
these include, among others, decision-making, goals, re-
sources, alternatives and values. Management and home man—
agement skills encompass those of identifying problems and
alternative solutions; the making of choices based on recog-
nition of values and goals; the implementation of the choice
and the evaluation of the outcomes in terms of the goals
and satisfactions obtained. Because of the abstractness
of such concepts, these disciplines face difficulties in
conveying them efficiently to their students.

It has been postulated that for learning to occur,
the learner needs to take responsibility for his own learn-
ing, and at the same time to become actively involved and
interested. The literature reviewed stresses the fact that
an outstanding characteristic of simulation games is that
they increase motivation and involvement of students.

If simulation games are capable of conveying effi-
ciently to players abstract concepts and processes, keeping
them actively involved in the learning contexts provided
by the simulation, then we may assume with Schild that games
can constitute the contingencies which will produce those
behaviors, knowledges and skills students need to acquire

to become effective home managers. (Schild, 1966: p. 17)

CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

The purpose of this study is to compare two methods
of teaching home management decision-making concepts to high
school students. This chapter presents the following method-
ological aspects: hypotheses formulated, treatments used,
development of the criterion measures, selection of the sam—
ple, experimental design used, collection of data, and meth—

ods of quantification employed with cognitive items.

Hypotheses

 

Teaching methods, one of the many factors upon which

 

learning depends, constitutes the independent variable in
the study. Two different approaches to teaching a certain
content were compared in order to establish their relative
effectiveness. The experimental method, considered as
learner—centered, featured the use of a decision-making
simulation game; the control method, more conventional, did
not use simulation techniques.

The dependent variable is that of learning outcomes,
focusing upon the intellectual or cognitive, as well as upon
the affective area, and with emphasis in the last one.

Cognitive or intellectual learnings are considered

at the first three, and lower, levels spelled out in the

37

38

Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook I: knowledge,
comprehension and application. (Bloom, 1965: pp. 201—205)

In the affective area, the learnings selected for
the study were those of: interest in the subject—matter
of home economics and home management specifically, inter—
est in the decision-making unit, enjoyment of the decision-
making unit, relevance of the topic of the unit to their
needs, and degree of empathy towards other people in de-
cision—making situations. These factors were measured
through the student's perception of them.

On the basis of the preceding variables, the follow-
ing hypotheses were formulated:

1. Students in experimental sections will learn
significantly more home management (decision-making) facts
than will students in the control sections.

2. Students in experimental sections will evidence
significantly greater comprehension of home management (de-
cision-making) facts and principles than will students in
the control sections.

3. Students in the experimental sections will evi-
dence significantly greater ability to apply home management
(decision-making) concepts and principles than will students
in the control sections.

4. Students in the experimental sections will evi-
dence a significantly greater increase of interest in the
.subject-matter (home economics and home management) than

VVill students in the control sections.

l"

-
vu-

39

5. Students in the experimental sections will evi-
dence a significantly greater interest in the decision-
making unit than will students in the control sections.

6. Students in experimental sections will enjoy
the decision-making unit significantly more than will stu-
dents in the control sections.

7. Students in the experimental sections will per-
ceive the decision-making unit as significantly more rele-
vant to their needs and problems than will students in the
control sections.

8. Students in the experimental sections will evi-
dence a significantly greater change in their empathetic
ability than will students in the control sections.

A five per cent level of significance was chosen

for testing these hypotheses.

Design

Because the study involves a comparison of the ef-
fects of two treatments upon groups of students, an experi-
mental design constituted the best choice for such a purpose.
As is often the case in educational research, it is very
difficult to meet all the requirements of truly experimental
designs.

The design used in this study fits in the one
Campbell and Stanley call "the non-equivalent control group
design" which they describe thus:

One of the most widespread experimental designs in
educational research involves an experimental group

40

and a control group both given a pretest and a post-
test, but in which the control group and the experi-
mental group do not have pre-experimental sampling
equivalence. Rather, the groups constitute natu-
rally assembled collectives such as classrooms, as
similar as availability permits but yet not so sim-
ilar that one can dispense with the pretest. The
assignment of X (the treatment) to one group or the
other is assumed to be random and under the experi-
menter's control. (1963: p. 47)
According to these authors, if the researcher is free to
assign the treatments at random, even if the groups differ
in the mean scores on the pretest, such a study may approach
true experimentation. (1963: p. 50) Such a design can be
regarded as controlling the main effects of history, matu-
ration,testing and instrumentation, as these variables would
affect both the experimental and the control groups. (Camp-
bell and Stanley, 1963: p. 48) Thus this study is a quasi—
experimental design involving two treatments assigned at
random to classroom groups. One treatment, called experi-
mental, involves the use of a simulation game, whereas the
other treatment, called control, uses more traditional teach-

ing approaches. A common pretest was administered to both

groups before applying the treatments.

Treatments
Experimental treatment.--The experimental treatment
featured a combination of teaching techniques including
lectures, discussions, and playing a simulation game called

The Life Career Game.1 One kit containing the materials

1The Life Career Game was designed by Dr. Sarane S.
Boocock at Johns Hopkins University. It is now available to
the public through the Simulmatics Corporation of New York.

41

for playing this game was provided to each experimental
class. This game is designed to provide players a vivid,
involving experience making decisions in the life of a fic-
titious person, Anne or Bob, who at the beginning of the
game is a high school student. Each round of play is equiv-
alent to one year in the life of this person.

The experimental treatment was prepared entirely
by the researcher and given to the teachers as a ”package."
This package contained a set of teaching-learning objectives,
a set of home management concepts in the area of decision-
making and a series of generalizations pertaining to each
concept (Appendix I). This decision-making unit was divid-
ed into five lessons and each lesson was prepared in an out-
line form. Two discussion guides were also supplied as sug—
gestions to the teachers on how to relate the theoretical
concepts and generalizations of decision-making to the ex-
periences the students would live through playing the game.

The organization of the experimental unit was as
follows:

--First lesson: Teacher introduces the Life Career
Game to the class. Students play a first round.

-—Second lesson: Teacher and students discuss se—
lected concepts of home management and decision-making and
relate them to the game experience.

--Third and fourth lessons: Students play the game
Continuously, for as many rounds as they can complete.

--Fifth lesson: Teacher and students discuss the

42

remaining concepts of management and decision-making and
relate them to the game experience.

Both experimental and control schools were asked
to set aside one regular class period before teaching the
first lesson, and another after the fifth lesson. The pre—
test and posttest questionnaires were administered to the
students during those two periods respectively.

Control treatment.-—The teachers assigned to the
control treatment received from the researcher only a set
of the teaching-learning objectives and the concepts and
generalizations of home management and decision-making they
were to teach (Appendix II). The objectives and the content
were the same for both experimental and control classes.

Control teachers were asked to design the decision-
making unit they were to teach in relation to the objectives,
concepts and generalizations prepared by the researcher.
The teachers selected their own learning experiences and
materials, and planned fully the five lessons they were to
teach.

Their teaching plans were checked by the experi-
menter before being implemented in order to avoid the use
of any simulation technique in their teaching. The nature
of the experimental treatment was not revealed to the con-
trol teachers at that time, in order to prevent possible
Contamination of the treatments.

Development of the experimental unit.——Since the

game selected for use in this study deals with four types

43

of decisions commonly made by adolescents, it seemed to be
most appropriate for teaching decision-making processes and
related concepts to adolescents.

The first step in the development of the unit proper
was to define its specific content by selecting some concepts
of decision-making that seemed best portrayed in the game.

A time limitation was imposed on the length of the unit in
order not to cause undue disruption of regular high school
schedules. The home management literature was studied in
search of generalizations to be included for each concept.
Behavioral objectives for teaching-learning were next stated.
Learning experiences were then selected, with the playing

of the game as the central one. A general teacher-student
discussion was chosen to complement the game.

After the objectives had been agreed upon, the con-
tent spelled out and the learning experiences selected, the
unit was shaped in a sequence of five lessons of approxi-
mately one hour each. Two discussion guides were also pre—
pared for lessons two and five; these were offered as sug-
gestions to the teachers, to show how they could help stu-
dents relate management theory and their game experiences.

A brief description of each of the lessons follows.

First lesson: Students learn the game and play a

 

round of it.
Second lesson: Discussion by teacher and students;
the teacher presents the concepts and generalizations re-

lated to the universality of decision-making, types of

44

decisions, values, goals, resources, and their relationships
to decision-making. She helps students to perceive these
concepts and generalizations in the context of the game they
played in the first lesson.

Third and fourth lessons: Playing the game again

 

for two consecutive periods. It was considered necessary
that students play several rounds of the game to facilitate
their perception of concepts such as the interrelationships
and sequentiality of decision-making, to understand the role
of decision-making in a person's life, to develop empathy
with other people in decision-making roles.

Fifth lesson: The fifth and last lesson was again

 

a discussion by the teacher and the students. The teacher
helped them to analyze the role of decisions in a person's
life, the ongoing characteristic of decision—making, the
concept of alternatives, the existence of risk and uncer-
tainty in decision-making. That decisions have consequences
which can be predicted, and that certain criteria can be
applied in judging decisions was included. As before, the
material for the discussion was obtained from the students'

experiences in playing the game in lessons three and four.

Development of Instruments
Instruments for data collection include a pretest
(Appendix III) and a posttest (Appendix IV) to be adminis-
tered to students, a "Daily Record of Classroom Teaching"
(Appendix V), and a "Daily Record of Teacher-Student Con-

tacts" (Appendix VI) to be filled by teachers.

n.

in

n

 

45

The pretest and ppsttest.--Students in each class
answered two questionnaires: one administered before being
exposed to the unit called the "pretest," and another im-
mediately after the unit was completed, called the "posttest."
Both questionnaires were similar since certain sections were
common to both. The pretest questionnaires asked for data
regarding the following three areas of interest to the study:
(1) Background information, such as the student's grade, sex,
major, plans for future studies, residence and socio-economic
status of his family; (2) Affective data, specifically their
interest in home economics as compared to other school sub-
jects, their interest in home management within home econom-
ics, and their attitudes towards people in two different
decision-making situations. (3) Cognitive data, which made
up the bulk of the questionnaire. These items were devel-
oped at the three levels of cognition the study proposed
to research: knowledge, comprehension and application.

Items to measure knowledge were designed as multiple-choice
questions: 1, 2, 3, and 4 in part III; and numbers 3, 5,

6, 9, and 10 in part IV of the questionnaire. Comprehension
items were based on short case stories included in the ques-
tionnaire. The items include multiple choice, rating and
matching questions identified as question 5 in part III,

and questions 1, 2, and 4 in part IV of the questionnaire.
Application items were also based on cases and used rating,
multiple choice and short essay questions. Questions 5

through 12 in part IV of the questionnaire measured application.

46

The posttest questionnaire asked for data on the
affective and cognitive areas only. The same questions used
in the pretest dealing with students' interest in home eco—
nomics and home management were included, as well as the
two questions dealing with their attitudes towards people
in certain decision—making situations. Questions concerned
with the students' reaction to the unit were added, however,
such as the students' interest expressed through their per-
ception of their behavior and interest in the unit, the de-
gree to which they enjoyed the unit, and the relevance which
they believed the unit had for them. As in the pretest,
Likert-type items were used in some of the affective ques-
tions. The same cognitive questions that were used in the
pretest were used in the posttest.

Eleven items taken from the Marlowe-Crown Social
Desirability Scale (1960: p. 351) were included in the post—
test (see question 8, part I, posttest form of the question-
naire). These were selected from among the thirty—three
items in the original scale, choosing those that would be
more meaningful for the age group involved in this study.
This scale was included in order to determine to what degree
the answers provided by the students would reflect what they
believed to be socially acceptable rather than their true
feelings, reactions and knowledge. The items were arranged
with the intention of avoiding a positive or a negative re-

Sponse pattern.

47

Develppment of the qpestionnaires for students.-—
Originally the researcher intended to use instruments already
developed for measuring interest, empathy and decision—making
skills. As the search for instruments adequate for this
study proved unfruitful, the instruments mentioned earlier
had to be developed.

The first step in the design of the questionnaires
for the students was stating the behavioral outcomes expect-
ed from the unit. Separate questions were prepared to eval—
uate each of these outcomes. The best of these questions
were organized in a first tentative version of the question—
naire.

Four judges were then asked to analyze separately
the questionnaire. These judges were staff members in home
economics education and in home management at Michigan State
University. They were instructed to appraise the test in
regard to the following aspects especially: (1) level of
cognition of the items, (2) their content validity, (3) ade-
quacy of directions and vocabulary for high school students,
and (4) social acceptability of the items. The judges were
also asked to answer the questions, in order for the re-
searcher to find out what distractors and items obtained
the highest agreement of responses and could therefore be
more clearly scored.

After selecting the better items as indicated by
the judges' analysis, a new version of the questionnaire

Was constructed. This was then pretested with a group of

48

13 twelfth grade students in a high school close to East
Lansing. The range of ability of these students was wide:
six were on the honor roll in their school while the others
had a C average or less.

In this pilot test students were asked to complete
the questionnaire within a one-hour class period. Their
critical comments were encouraged, and many gave valuable
reactions and suggestions after answering the questionnaire.
These students thought the test was "too long.“ Many of
them had difficulties understanding directions for several
of the questions. They also had positive comments to make.
They thought that the questionnaire was "interesting" and
"different" from the tests they usually had in school. The
majority also liked it because "thinking," rather than "facts"
were required to answer it. The group was timed. The fast-
est students, which the teacher indicated were the better
ones, completed it in 25 to 30 minutes. The slower ones,
which were also the poorer students, needed about 45 minutes
to complete it.

An item discrimination index was calculated for one
of the questions that presented most difficulties. The six
items for which this index as well as the percentage agree-
ment of the responses were higher were selected for inclusion
in the final form of the question. (See question No. 5,

Part III, of the questionnaire.)

After the questionnaire was shortened, and the clar—

ity of the directions and mechanical aspects of it were

49

improved, it was duplicated for use in the schools in its
pretest form.

For the posttest form the questions in the affec—
tive area were developed by the researcher and improved with
assistance of home economics education staff members. Only
the first part of the questionnaire was changed for the post-
test form.

Daily record of classroom teaching.--The teachers
were asked to record daily a summary of their activities in
relation to the unit. Two forms were developed by the ex-
perimenter for this purpose. In the "Daily Record of Class—
room Teaching" the teachers indicated for each lesson the
length of time spent in it, the number of students attend—
ing, and what concepts and generalizations were covered.

The methods and techniques used in teaching were also list-
ed, as well as their subjective evaluations of the number

of students participating, the quality of their contributions
to the class, and the atmosphere of interest existent. This
form was filled by teachers and supervising teachers.

Daily record of teacher-student contacts.-—In the
"Daily Record of Teacher-Student Contacts" each teacher wrote
down the type and number of contacts they had with their
students in relation to the unit; these were limited to con-
tacts initiated by the students. It was assumed that a
greater number of contacts would indicate a higher degree
of interest and involvement in the unit. All teachers filled

out these two forms. The control teachers were asked, in

50

their case, to send the experimenter a copy of their lesson
plans, whenever possible.

Other data.--Teachers were asked to look through

 

the school records for information on three items for each
student: intelligence, achievement and reading ability.
There were difficulties in collecting this data, as some
schools have a policy of not revealing the content of their
records. In the cases where available, the tests used by
the school to measure intelligence and reading ability are
not uniform, and comparison across schools is limited.
Other limitations of these data relate to the fact that
only in a few cases were recent measures available on these
two variables for all students in the project. Intelligence
level measured through IQ tests was provided by 14 schools.
Reading ability scores were provided by 11 schools. Grade
point averages as measure of achievement were provided by
15 schools. The data on reading level was by far the most
incomplete in terms of the number of schools and the number

of students for which scores were available.

Selection of the Classes and Teachers
The sample in this study was comprised of 18 senior
high school home economics classes in different schools used
as student teaching centers by Michigan State University.
These were chosen from among the home economics classes in
the high schools where: (l) the regular home economics

teachers agreed to participate in the study by allowing

51

her student-teacher to take an active role in the project,
and (2) the student-teachers assigned to the schools had
volunteered to participate.

Procedure for selecting the sample.-—During the fall
of 1967, a letter signed by the researcher and her thesis
director was sent to 55 Michigan State University supervis-
ing teachers explaining the proposed study and asking for
their cooperation (Appendix VII). The supervising teachers
were asked to indicate their own interestsin participating
in the study and also to state whether their school prin-
cipalsallowed the schoolsto participate. These teachers
were also requested to return a one-page questionnaire in—
dicating their willingness or inability to cooperate, and
to supply some information about their school and the level
to which their winter term student-teachers were to be as-
signed (Appendix VII).

The MSU home economics students who would student-
teach during the winter term were also contacted by the re-
searcher during the fall term. The study was explained to
them at that time and they were asked regarding their will—
ingness to participate provided their school also indicated
approval. Certain information on each student was gathered
at that time in order to apply the criteria for their selec-
tion later on.

Twenty of the original group of 55 schools met the
requirements specified both for the school and the student

teacher and these were selected to participate in the study.

52

The home economics teachers in each school were asked to
select one 12th grade section within the school for the
project.

One-half of the twenty schools was randomly assigned
to the experimental treatment by using a table of random
numbers, and the other was automatically assigned to the
control treatment. Later on, two schools assigned to the
control group dropped out of the study for various reasons.
One of them had problems scheduling the decision-making unit
into a new experimental program of their own, and in the
other case the principal did not consider it appropriate
to involve in the project the section of boys selected by
the home economics teacher.

Finally, the sample was comprised of one home eco-
nomics class from each of the 18 senior high schools; ten
of them received the experimental treatment and the other

eight received the control treatment.

TABLE 1

NUMBER OF CLASS GROUPS INCLUDED IN THE STUDY

 

 

 

Treatment
___ Experimental Control Total
Pretest N=lO N=7 l7
Posttest N=lO N=8 18

k

The different number of groups under the control

treatment, seven in the pretest and eight in the posttest,

53

occurred because in one school unforeseen problems led to
cancellation of the pretest but not of the posttest, which
was duly administered.

Rationale for the choice of teachers.-—Several
reasons seemed to justify the use of student-teachers, as
teachers in this study: (1) the need to train those using
the simulation game in the experimental treatment, which

2 (2) the assur-

was to be done in campus during fall term;
ance that teachers knew the home management theory on which
the decision-making unit was based (this could not easily

be assumed when using regular home economics teachers with
varied backgrounds in this content area); (3) greater homo-
geneity was assumed to exist among student-teachers than

among supervising teachers on certain factors related to
teaching such as teaching experience, professional training,
sets of teaching patterns and styles.

Characteristics of the teachers.——The student-teachers
selected to participate in the study met the following re-
quirements considered important to the purposes of this in—
vestigation:

1. Both the student-teachers and their Supervising

Home Economics Teachers had indicated their willingpess to

ggoperate in thegprgject.

2As it happened later, though, the final selection
of the sample and assignment to treatments could not be done
Until January and this advantage was lost to the project.

54

2. The student—teachers had been assigned to teach
at the senior high school level, and within that, they would
have a 12th grade section.

3. The student-teachers had taken two courses in
the Department of Home Management at Michigan State Univer—
sity that provided them with knowledge and understanding of
the theory of management and decision—makipg the researcher
was using to develop the units to be taught. These courses
were: (1) HMC 331, ”Management and Decision-Making in the
Family," and (2) HMC 332, "Home Management Residence."

4. The student-teachers were at a comparable class
13321, Almost all of them were first term seniors, only
one was a third term junior (assigned to the control group)
and one was a second term senior (assigned to the experi-
mental group).

5. They had comparable teachinggexperience. All
of them but one had no previous teaching experience. The
exception was one girl (assigned to the experimental group)
who had taught a first grade class for two terms before,
on subjects not related to home economics.

The student-teachers were also comparable in age
and in achievement level; the majority were 21 years old

and their grade point averages fluctuated between 2.0 and

2.98.

55
Training of Experimental Teachers
and Collection of Data

Before teaching could be started it was necessary
to train the teachers assigned to the experimental treat-
ments in the use of the game, and to explain to them the
unit that had been developed by the experimenter.

To do this visits were made to all the experimental
schools except to one whose teacher was trained by the ex-
perimenter at Michigan State University. During the train-
ing session that lasted about two hours, a briefing was
given to both the teacher and to her Supervising Teacher
whenever possible on the following: general outline of the
study, description of the experimental unit, description
of the questionnaires for studentsand records for teachers
together with instructions for their administration, and
a detailed description of the game and instructions on how
to use it with students. Certain materials were left in
each school as follows: two sets of teachers' records,
copies of the unit outlines and discussion guides for each
teacher and Supervising Teacher, as well as one kit contain-
ing all the materials and forms necessary for playing the
game with the class.

Visits to control schools were also scheduled when-
ever possible. During such visits, the researcher gave the
teachers detailed instructions and copies of the outline
for planning their unit, as well as questionnaires for stu-

dents and the records for the teachers. Other control schools

56

that were not visited, received all the instructions and
materials by mail, and in some cases arrangements were made
by telephone.

Teachers and Supervising Teachers were asked to fit
the unit into their regular schedules in the second part
of the Winter term of 1968, which corresponded to the be-
ginning of the second semester in the high schools in early
February. This would allow the student-teachers a period
of several weeks to become acquainted with the school and
the students, as well as to acquire some experience in the
classroom before teaching the unit for this project. The
units were taught and questionnaires were administered in
all participating schools at certain times during the period
from the middle of February to the first week in March.

The pretests were administered by the Supervising
Teachers in an effort to avoid biasing the teachers. The
posttests, however, were administered by the teacher since
that was done after theunit had been completed.

The researcher was not in the classrooms at any time
during testing or while the teaching was in progress. The
analysis of the outcomes of teaching was planned solely on
the basis of the students' gain scores on the test, and on
the students' reactions as recorded in their posttest and
in the teachers' daily records.

After all the data had been gathered, it was mailed

by each teacher or Supervising Teacher to the researcher.

57
Quantification Procedure for
Eggpitive Level Items
A different means of quantifying the items at each
cognitive level was developed. Procedure used for each
level is discussed separately below.

Knowledge: Five of the nine test questions measur-

 

ing knowledge (see p. 45) were scored simply as l or 0, de-
pending on whether the best or the right answer had been
given. The other four questions were also scored in terms
of "right" or "wrong," but each one had two possible correct
answers and thus it was worth two points. The range of pos-
sible scores in knowledge level was 0 to 13 points.

Comprehension: Four questions were used to measure
comprehension (see p. 45). Each of them had several dis-
tractors which were scored in terms of "right" or "wrong."
Right answers were, in this case, those agreed upon by the
judges that analyzed the items in the process of developing
the instrument. Right answers were worth one point, and
the wrong ones zero. At this level, scores could range
between 0 and 35 points.

Application: Developing a scoring system for the
application level was a more involved process. All the
application questions were considered together in relation
to a central element, instead of each one independently as
in the two previous levels. A series of decision-making

patterns were developed using as the central element the

alternative chosen by the student as the best course of

58

action for either Mike or Liz. Questions 7(1) and 11(1)

in part III of the questionnaire list the decisions. Four
other elements were included in the patterns: (1) the reason
chosen by the student to support the decision made, (2) his
ranking of the positive factors, (3) his ranking of the lim-
iting factors, and finally, (4) the prediction he made as

to the consequences of the decision if it were implemented.

Either judges and the researcher or the researcher
alone set up the patterns for scoring. Four graduate stu-
dents in home economics education and home management served
as judges. They were asked to consider each decision sep-
arately and rate (a) three supporting reasons, (b) the three
most positive and the three least positive factors, and (c)
the three most limiting and the three least limiting factors
for each decision. Their ratings were then analyzed; the
reasons and factors with highest agreement were considered
as the "most adequate" reason and the "most and least pos—
itive" and "most and least limiting" factors.

The consequences predicted for the decisions were
analyzed by the researcher only. They were scored on the
basis of criteria established for consequences within the
pattern. The criteria and scoring system used for each
element is as follows:

(1) Decision

Each of the decisions listed in questions 7(1) and
11(1) was classified as either "most adequate," "acceptable"

or "inadequate," taking into consideration the characteristics

59

of the fictitious person and the appropriateness of the de-
cision for whom it was made; these categories received three,
two and one point respectively.

(2) Supporting reasons

Each of the reasons listed in questions 7(2) and
11(2), part IV, was also classified as "most adequate,"
"acceptable" or "inadequate," and received three, two or
one point respectively. This categorization was done on
the basis of the logical relationship of the reason chosen
to the decision selected.

(3) Ranking of positive factors

The "most positive" factors and two "least positive"
factors could be ranked for each decision (see questions 5
and 9, part IV). Each of them was worth one point if prop-
erly ranked, thus a total of four points could be earned
in this aspect of the pattern. The basis for ranking was
also the logical relationship of the factors or character-
istics of the situation to the decision selected.

(4) Ranking of limiting factors

As with the positive factors, two "most limiting"
and two "least limiting" factors could be ranked in ques—
tions 6 and 10, part IV. Four points could also be earned
here as in the previous item. The basis for ranking these
factors was the same as for ranking the positive factors.

(5) Prediction of the consequences

In questions 8 and 12, part IV, students were asked

to predict the possible consequences of the decisions they

60

had chosen within a short and a long time span: one year
and five years respectively. Each prediction stated that
could be logically related to the decision and the situation
and feasible within the time span received one point. Some
students gave two predictions at each level, thus earning

as many as four points for choice of consequences in the
pattern.

An alternative was provided in these questions for
those students who would not make predictions. Two points
were assigned to those cases in which the student gave a
sound rationale for not predicting, such as indicating the
need for more information before a prediction could be made,
or pointing up factors that might intervene and change the
situation. No points were credited to answers where the
reasons offered were irrational or unrelated to the decis-
ion and the situation.

In the application level, scores could range from

O to 36.

CHAPTER IV

FINDINGS

The purpose of the study was to determine whether
the use of a simulation game in combination with lecture
and discussion is as or more effective than conventional
methods used for teaching home management decision-making.

A quasi-experimental design was employed involving random
assignment of 18 schools to control and experimental groups.
The experimental classes used a “packaged” unit including
objectives, content and learning experiences, with the major
learning experience being the playing of a simulation game
called The Life Career Game. Control classes received the
same objectives and content but these teachers devised their
own learning experiences. Teachers for both treatment groups
were student-teachers from Michigan State University who
had a common background of knowledge in home management and
decision-making. Eight hypotheses were stated in relation
to cognitive and affective areas of learning.

The purpose of Chapter IV is to present and discuss
findings of the study as follows: reliability of the cri—
terion measure, description of the participating classes,
teaching methods and aids employed by the control teachers,
cognitive learnings, affective learnings, student interest

and participation in the unit.

61

62

Reliability of the Student Questionnaire
In order to appraise instrument-centered errors,
an internal consistency coefficient was calculated using
the analysis of variance method developed by Hoyt and
Stunkard (1952: pp. 756-58). The coefficients are pre-
sented in Table 2. Since the analysis of variance method

Table 2.--Reliability coefficient computed by two-way
analysis of variance on questionnaire for students

 

 

Variable Reliability Coefficient
Cognitive:

Knowledge .613

Comprehension .804

Application .761
Affective:

Empathy .570

Social desirability .540

Enjoyment of the unit .916

Relevance of the unit .899

Interest in the unit -.349

 

tends to yield lower values than other methods, in the cog-
nitive area, application and comprehension are considered
to have reached an acceptable reliability level for com—
parison of group means. All of the affective variables,
excepting interest in the unit, also achieved acceptable
or good reliability levels.

The fact that knowledge was made up of only nine
scores possibly explains its lower reliability. For in-
terest in the unit, the unreliability evidenced by the neg-

ative coefficient may be explained in part at least as due

63

to the confounding coding procedure used; three of the five
items would need to be recoded in the opposite direction
and the reliability coefficient computed again in order to

know its true value.

Description of the Sample

The sample in this study consisted of 17 high school
home economics classes taken as intact groups. Class size
ranged from 14 to 31 at the pretest level, with a total of
358 students, while at the posttest level class size ranged
from 10 to 28 with a total of 336 students.

One-way analysis of variance tests performed with
pretest data permitted comparison of the schools on a series
of variables before the treatments were applied. As reported
in Table 3, the results indicated that classes were signif-
icantly different on eleven variables and they were similar
on five variables. Those variables that were considered as
background characteristics of the sample will be described
in this section. Other variables will be discussed as part
of the cognitive or affective findings, whichever is rele-
vant.

Characteristics on which classes were similar.--The
classes were similar on six variables:

(1) Sex. The majority of the students were girls,
with only three classes, two control and one experimental
having mixed groups of boys and girls. In two of the classes

boys outnumbered girls.

64

Table 3.--Comparison of control and experimental schools
on pretest variables by means of one-way analysis of
variance tests

 

 

Different
(Significance Not No. of
Variable of F test) Different Schools

Grade in school 0.0005 17
Residence 0.0005 17
Major 0.0005 Trade 17
Age x 17
Socioeconomic status x 17
IQ 0.019 14
Grade point average 0.0005 15
Reading ability 0.0005 11
Plans for further study x 17
Interest in home economics x 17
Interest in home manage-

ment 0.003 17
Empathy x 17
Total Cognitive Score 0.0005 17
Knowledge 0.011 17
Comprehension 0.046 17
Application 0.0005 17

 

(2) Age. The overall mean age for the entire sam-
ple was 17.

(3) Further studies. A majority of the students
indicated they planned to pursue further studies after high
school. In all but one school from 50 to 85 percent of them
answered the question affirmatively.

(4) Socioeconomic status. The students' socio-
economic status (SES) was rated by means of the National
Opinion Research Center (NORC) Scale applied to the occupa-
tion of the head of the household. The overall mean NORC
rating for the 17 groups was 63, which corresponds to occu-

pations such as beautician and nurses' aid for women, machine

65

operator and construction worker for men, none of which
requires a college education. The mean rating of the NORC
scale itself is 71 with a range from 34 to 94. The means
of the classes in this study ranged from 52 to 70, which
places the sample in the upper lower and middle socioeco-
nomic levels.

Characteristics on which classes were different.--
Classes were significantly different on eleven variables
(Table 3). Some of them will be described here: grade
students were in school, residence, major, intelligence,
reading ability and achievement scores. Overall means for
control and experimental classes were computed for each var-
iable and compared by means of a t test (see formula in
Appendix X).

(1) Grade in school. The intent of the study was
to focus on students in the twelfth grade, but a majority
of the classes in the study were formed by a combination
of students from two or three grades. It is the writer's
understanding that such grade combinations are a very com-
mon practice for home economics classes in secondary schools.
Only four classes, two control and two experimental, contained
exclusively seniors, and one control class had only juniors.
Control schools had a greater range of grade levels, while
experimental schools tended to concentrate more upper class
students. Differences between control and experimental over-
all means were found to be not significant.

(2) Major. In the pretest questionnaire students

66

indicated in which major they were enrolled. Only the "trade
or technical" major was distributed evenly among the classes,
and this was the major checked by the smallest number of
students in all schools (Table 4, p. 205). Students in ex—
perimental classes concentrated heavily in "business and
commercial" and the "college preparatory" majors, followed
by "vocational home economics." Control classes also con-
centrated heavily on the "business and commercial" major,
followed by ”other" and "college preparatory." Under the
category "other" many students indicated enrollment in a
general program. Group means were computed for "business,"
"college preparatory" and "vocational" majors, but the dif—
ferences for control and experimental were too small to be
significant.

(3) Residence. Students were asked where they lived.
According to their perceptions, students from both the ex-
perimental and control classes tended to concentrate in the
suburbs. For experimental classes this was followed by resi-
dence in rural non-farm areas and in cities, while for the
control classes the order was reversed. Farm, village and
town were the residence categories from which fewer students
said they came, while more students declared they lived in
suburbs (Table 5, p. 206). Control and experimental means
for "city," "suburb" and “rural non-farm" residence were
compared and found to be not significantly different.

(4) Intellectual ability. As a measure of intellec-

tual ability, the most recent IQ score available for each

67

student in the school records was collected through the
teachers. Neither the tests used, nor the time when the
measures were taken coincided for these schools--in fact,
they differed widely. However, since standardizing these
measures was considered an impossible task, no attempts were
made to do so. The range of class mean scores for the 14
schools that provided this information was from 87 to 107.
Data in Table 6 indicate that the range within the experi-
mental schools is comparable to that in the control schools.
No significant differences were found when overall control
and experimental means were compared.

(5) Achievement. Grade point averages as measures
of achievement were collected in each school. The range
for the means of the 15 schools that provided these data
was from 1.7 to 2.8. The overall control mean was higher
than the experimental mean but not significantly different
(Table 6). Caution must be exercised in the interpretation
of these small differences since there are some limitations
on the comparability of these measures among schools.

(6) Reading ability. Reading ability data were very
incomplete with only eleven schools reporting. As with IQ,
different tests were reported used by the schools, and the
measures had been taken at various times in the development
of the children. Though a highly significant difference
on this variable among schools was indicated, any interpre—
tation must take into account the limitations of the data.

The total range of mean scores was from 9 to 101. A wider

68

Table 6.--C1ass means for intelligence (IQ), achievement

(G.P.A.) and reading ability

 

 

Reading
Schools IQ, G.P.A. ability
Control:
2 107.143 2.493 49.428
4 96.000 2.071 24.454
6 102.733 2.526 9.357
8 1.671
10 95.352 2.361 38.200
12
14 98.950 2.325
Mean 100.013 2.168
Experimental:
1 97.428 1.886 52.000
3 97.500 2.077 33.333
5 101.087 2.224
7 100.273 2.136 47.636
9 97.047 1.976
11 103.458 2.256 26.800
13 96.105 2.257 38.368
15 86.857 101.600
17 2.857
18 94.677 1.796 48.000
Mean 97.394 2.099

 

spread, as well as higher means were found among the experi-
mental schools (Table 6).

In general, then, it can be concluded that although
classes were significantly different from each other on vari-
ables such as grade level, intellectual ability, achievement,
major and residence, they were not different on these same
variables when grouped as control and experimental classes.

Characteristics of the schools.--0nly two factors
will be discussed in relation to the schools themselves:
their approximate size and their location.

The size of the schools was measured in terms of

69

total school enrollment, as indicated by the Supervising
Teacher. For the eight control schools, enrollment ranged
from 600 to 3,139 students. Less than half, or three schools,
had fewer than 1,000 students, while more than half had 1,700
or more students. For the ten experimental schools, the
range was from 565 to 2,200. More than half, or six schools,
had less than 1,000 students. In general, the experimental
schools were smaller in size than the control schools (Table
7, p. 207).

Rural, small town, suburban and urban schools, in—
cluding some inner city schools, were represented in both
the experimental and control groups.

Methodsggnd MaterialslUsed by Control Teachers
in Teachipgthe Decision-Making Unit

Control teachers were asked to fill a daily summary
sheet indicating what they did in each lesson in terms of
the time allocated; content covered; methods, techniques
and materials used; and some reactions of class members to-
ward the lessons. These records were submitted to the re-
searcher together with other data gathered from each class.

The teaching methods and techniques used by seven
control teachers in order of most use were: discussions
and lectures, case studies, writing and readings. Films
and filmstrips were the teaching aids most frequently used.
A summary of the methods and materials used by these teachers
is presented in Table 8.

An examination of the context in which the unit was

70

Table 8.--Frequency of use of different methods, and mate-
rials in seven control schools for teaching the decision-
making unit

 

Lessons Total times
Methods and materials lst 2nd 3rd 4th 5th methods used

Methods and Techniques:

General teacher-

student discussion 6 6 7 6 6 31
Lecture 4 3 3 3 3 16
Case studya l 2 1 l 2 7
Small group discussion - l 3 2 l 7
Writing (in class

and homework) 3 l l l l 7
Readings l 2 2 1 - 6
Role playing - - - - 3 3
Brainstorming 1 - l - - 2
Analysis of decision - - - 1 l 2
Panel discussion - - - - l 1
Quiz - l - — - 1
Materials and Aids:

Film or filmstrip 3 1 1 - -
Handouts - 3 - - - 3
Newspaper materials

(ads, letters,

headlines) l - - 1 - 2
Overhead projector 1 - - 1 - 2
Charts 1 - - - - 1
Pictures from magazines 1 — - - - 1
Flash strips - - - - l l

 

aIn one case, the case study was written by the
students themselves.
taught in the control schools showed that in three classes
it was included in "Home and Family Living," and in one class
it was taught in "Clothing"; although no information is avail-
able on this for the other three classes, it may have been
in Home Management or Family Living units.

Most control schools used some kind of teaching aid

in the decision—making unit, but a particular aid was

71

generally used only by one school, and in a few cases by
two schools. For instance, two schools used case study
materials chosen from the same book, and two schools used
the same filmstrip. In another two schools, similar hand-
outs were given to students on value identification and on
definitions and summary of the unit. In general in this
group the range of methods and techniques used was much

greater than the range of materials and aids employed.

Findings in the Cognitive Area

Three cognitive variables were measured in this
study with both the pretest and the posttest. An hypoth-
esis was stated for each of the three levels of cognition:
knowledge, comprehension, and application. Sources of data
for the first hypothesis (knowledge) were questions 1, 2,
3, and 4 in Part III and questions 3, 5, 6, 9 and 10 in
Part IV of pretest and posttest. Sources of data for the
second hypothesis (comprehension) were questions 5 in Part
III and l, 2, and 4 in Part IV; data corresponding to hy-
pothesis 3 (application) were obtained from questions 5
through 12 in Part IV. All of these questions were included
in both the pretest and posttest questionnaire (Appendices
III and IV).

Homogeneity of all classes on cognitive variables
at the pretest level was tested by means of a one-way anal-
ysis of variance. The results showed that the seventeen

classes were significantly different from each other on

72

their knowledge, comprehension and application of home man-
agement concepts and principles (Table 3). However, when
classes were grouped according to the treatment to which
they were assigned and when their two overall means were
compared through t tests, differences between them were too
small to be significant. Thus, the group of control classes
and the group of experimental classes were not significantly
different from each other on cognitive variables before be-
ing exposed to the decision~making unit.

A shortened form of the Marlowe-Crown Social Desir-
ability Scale was included in the posttest questionnaire
in order to determine tovflmt.extent the need to appear so-
cially acceptable influenced students' answers. Correlations
were computed between their social desirability score and
each of the variables measured in the posttest. No signif-
icant relationships appeared between social desirability
and responses to the cognitive variables.

Mean scores for each class were computed for each
cognitive variable. Overall experimental and control means
were then computed on the basis of the class means for every
variable tested.

In order to increase precision in the analysis the
three null hypotheses corresponding to each predictive hy-
pothesis were tested by means of analysis of covariance,
using as a covariate the pretest mean on the same variable.
The .05 level of significance was chosen for acceptance or

rejection of the hypotheses. The predictive hypotheses and

73

the results of the analysis are as follows:

Hypothesis 1: Students in experimental sections
will learn significantlymore home management (decision-
making) facts than will students in the control sections.
Overall experimental and control means were compared through
the analysis of covariance. The analysis of all students
yielded an F value of 2.65. A second analysis done to com-
pare only the twelfth graders in the control and experimental
classes yielded an F value of 1.45 (Table 9, p. 208). Neither
of these values was significant. Thus the hypothesis was
rejected.

Hypothesis 2: Students in experimental sections
will evidence siggificantlygreater comprehension of home
management (decision-making) facts and_principles than will
students in the control sections. Comparison of experimental
and control mean scores yielded an P value of 2.14; when
only the twelfth grades were compared, the obtained F value
was 1.06; none of them significant (Table 10, p. 208). Hy-
pothesis two was rejected.

Hypothesis 3: Students in the experimental sections
will evidence significantlngreater ability to applyphome
management (decision-makigg)_concgpts and principles than
will students in the control sections.

As with knowledge and comprehension, overall appli—
cation means for control and experimental groups were com-
pared. The resulting F value of .131 for all students and

the F value of 1.44 obtained for the twelfth grade students

74

were not significant (Table 11, p. 209). Hypothesis 3 was
rejected.

Discussion.-—The rejection of the three cognitive

 

hypotheses and the size of the corresponding means for the
control and experimental groups can be interpreted as mean—
ing that the experimental method may teach the decision-
making concepts that were the content of the unit as well

as the control methods used in this study. This would be
especially true at the comprehension and application levels
where the means are very similar in size. The comprehension
mean scores for the experimental and control group were re-
spectively 15.02 and 15.35; the application mean score for
the experimental group was 15.99 while for the control group

it reached 15.63 (Table 12).

Table 12.--Means of cognitive scores

 

 

 

All students 12th grade
No. of No. of
Gropp observations Mean observations Mean

Knowledge:
Experimental 10 4.24 10 4.26
Control ' 8 5.44 6 5.15
Comprehension:
Experimental 10 15.02 10 14.78
Control 8 15.35 6 15.49
Application:
Experimental 10 15.99 10 16.38

Control 8 15.63 6 15.27

 

75

At the knowledge level an advantage appears evident
for the control group, whose mean of 5.44 is larger than
the experimental mean of 4.24, but this difference is not
significant (Table 12). This advantage can be explained
in part because students in experimental sections had more
facts, details and relationships to learn in order to under-
stand and play the game. Nothing comparable was demanded
of control students in any of the sections. Thus, in a short
time span, experimental students were faced with a double
learning task as they needed to learn both a complex game
and the subject matter of the unit. This point has also
been brought up by Garvey and Seiler who, in the conclusions
of their study indicate that the "demand was too great" on
students using a simulation technique in learning interna-
tional relations during a period of six weeks. (Garvey and
Seiler, 1966: p. 98)

The control methods were more successful in teach-
ing at the knowledge level, as evidenced by a mean gain of
1.52 points as compared to a mean gain of .47 points for

the experimental group (Table 14). The situation is reversed

Table l4.--Cognitive mean gain scores by treatment

 

Treatment Knowledge Comprehension Application
Control 1.52 .06 .41

Experimental .47 -.37 .67

 

76

at the application level where experimental classes gained
.67 points on the average as compared to .41 points for con—
trol classes. At the comprehension level learning actually
decreased by .37 points for experimental group, while the
control group had almost no gain (Table 14).

A separate analysis was done for only the twelfth
grade students in both treatment groups. The knowledge mean
score for the twelfth grade students in control classes was
lower than the mean score for the younger students at this
level. Practically no difference appeared between twelfth
graders and other students in the experimental group. At
the comprehension level control twelfth graders learned more
than the overall control group, while experimental twelfth
graders learned less. At the application level is where
the experimental twelfth grade students learned the most,
while control twelfth graders learned less than the overall
control group (Table 12).

No clear explanation is available for the negative
change at the comprehension level, especially for experi-
mental classes. Two things might possibly have happened:
(1) that learning did not take place at this level, or (2)
that learning actually occurred but that it was not measured
in the posttest. There seems to be some evidence pointing
in the last direction. Some students expressed negative
reactions to answering again the same questions they had
been asked on the pretest. Some indicated their displeasure

by writing comments in the posttest and in a few cases by

77

answering certain questions with deliberate meaningless pat-
terns. However, it was not possible to detect those cases
in which students might have answered the posttest care-
lessly, without interest, with just a "get it over with"
attitude. The fact that no grades were given in the unit
may have contributed to the problem in classes which normal-
ly are strongly grade-oriented.

An examination of mean IQ scores for those schools
that gained or lost points in the cognitive area indicated
that no relationship is apparent in either direction. As
indicated earlier, IQ scores were obtained only from 14
schools and were not comparable in terms of the tests used
to measure intelligence and of the age at which the students
had been measured. These factors precluded the possibility
of doing any statistical analysis relating intelligence to
learning as measured in this study.

A comparison of the experimental and control schools
shows that the majority of the classes that rated more neg-
atively the method and/or the teacher, were also the classes
where no cognitive learnings occurred, as shown in Table
15 (p. 210). In one of these experimental schools several
students related their lack of interest in the unit with
the way the game was presented to them, not as a game but
as a "You do it or else" situation. In such cases, the en-
joyment and fun elements inherent in "playing games" were
removed by the teacher's imposition. This seems to empha-
size the role enjoyment and interest play in facilitating

learning.

fltv

CV

H

b

3.4

.ns \

78

Findings in the Affective Area

Findings related to five affective variables will
be discussed in this section. Two of the variables, inter—
est in subject matter and empathy, were measured both with
the pretest and the posttest; the remaining three, interest
in the decision-making unit, enjoyment of the unit, and per-
ceived relevance of the unit to the students' needs and con-
cerns, were measured only with the posttest. A predictive
hypothesis was stated for each of these variables and its
corresponding null hypothesis was tested by means of anal-
ysis of variance or analysis of covariance. The .05 level
of significance was selected for accepting or rejecting the
hypotheses.

Homogeneity of all classes at the pretest level was
determined through analysis of variance on empathy and in-
terest in the subject matter. The classes were similar on
empathy scores and interest in home economics scores, but
they were significantly different on interest in home man-
agement scores. Further analysis done of this variable will
be presented along with correlations of the Social Desira-
bility Scale and each of the five variables.

Hypotheses IV through VII concerned with the affec-
tive variables and the findings related to each are presented
in the remainder of this chapter.

Hypothesis 4: Students in experimental sections will
evidence a sigpificantly greater increase of their interest

in the subject matter (home economics and home management)

79

than will students in the control sections. Data were ob-
tained from pretest and posttest questionnaire items, 1(g)
and 2(j), in part II (Appendices III and IV). Students were
asked to indicate their interest in home economics among
twelve other school subjects, and in home management among
thirteen areas of home economics, by checking on a five-point
scale from (1) "strongly interested," to (5) "strongly dis—
interested.“ The analysis of covariance used as covariates
the pretest measures for interest in home economics and in
home management. Two analyses were performed, one for total
enrollment of all classes, and a second for the twelfth grade
class enrollees only. F values as documented in Tables 16
and 17 (p. 211) indicate that interest in home economics
and/or interest in home management did not increase signif-
icantly for either the students as a whole or twelfth graders
in the experimental group over students as a whole or twelfth
graders in the control group. Hypothesis 4 was therefore
rejected.

Hypothesis 5: Students in the experimental sections
will evidence a sigpificantly_greater interest in the de-
cision-makingpunit than will students in the control sections.
Sources of data for this hypothesis were questions 1 through
5 in Part I of the posttest questionnaire (Appendix IV).
Interest of students in the decision—making unit was opera-
tionalized as three performance elements: doing additional
readings, talking about the unit with other people, and hear—

ing classmates talk about the unit. Two other, more

80

subjective, attitudinal components of interest were also
used. Students were asked to rate their interest in the
unit of a five-point scale, ranging from (1) "very inter—
esting" to (5) "boring," and they were asked to compare the
decision-making unit with other units they had had in home
economics, indicating whether they thought it to be (1) "more
interesting," (2) "equally interesting" or (3) “less inter-
esting."

Treatment means were computed on the basis of the
class means within each of the two treatments groups for
each of these five variables and compared through one-way
analysis of variance in order to test the hypothesis. Two
sets of analysis of variance were performed, one for all
students in the classes, and another for only the twelfth
grade students.

For "additional readings done" the F value for all
students was .262, and for twelfth graders it reached .368
(Table 18, p. 212). For the variable "talking about the
unit with other people,” the F value for all students was
.26, but for the twelfth grade students it reached 4.307
(Table 19, p. 212). For the variable "heard other people
talk about the unit," the P value for all students was .558,
and the value for twelfth grade students reached .201 (Table
20, p. 213). None of the above values was significant.

For the rating of “interest in the unit“ the F
value for all students was 3.44, and for the twelfth grade

students the value was 1.89 (Table 21, p. 213). For the

81

"comparison of the unit with other home economics units"
the F value for all students reached .041, but for twelfth
grade students the F value was .233 (Table 22, p. 214).
Since none of the above F values reached the .05 signifi-
cance point, hypothesis 5 was rejected.

Hypothesis 6: Students in experimental sections
will enjoy the decision-making unit significantly more than
will students in the control sections. Data for this hypoth-
esis were gathered through question number 7 in Part I of
the posttest questionnaire. Students were asked to rate
the degree to which they enjoyed the unit in general as well
as five unit components: the topics, the teaching methods
and materials, the teacher, the "opportunity to discuss and
analyze problems like these," and finally, "the opportunity
to talk about these problems with my classmates." A five
point scale, ranging from (1) "very enjoyable," to (5) "not
at all enjoyable" was used in this question.

The hypothesis was tested through one-way analysis
of variance performed separately on treatment means for each
of the six items. A first set of analyses was done for all
students in the classes, and a second one was done for only
the twelfth grade students. In all cases the experimental
and control means to be compared were derived from the cor-
responding class means.

The F value for enjoyment of the unit in general
was 2.37 for all students, which was not significant, but

for the twelfth grade students F reached 4.58, significant

82

at the .05 level. The F value for enjoyment of the topics

of the unit reached 4.3 for all students and 4.4 for the
twelfth graders, both of which are significant. The F values
for the enjoyment of the teaching methods and materials were
not significant: 2.94 for all students, and 1.04 for twelfth
graders. F values for enjoyment of the teacher reached 3.11
for all students, and .087 for twelfth grade students, both
not significant. F values for enjoyment of the "opportunity
to discuss and analyze problems like these" was a not sig-
nificant 1.153 for all students, but it climbed to 4.55 for
twelfth grade students, significant at the .05 level. F
values for enjoyment of the ”opportunity to talk about these
problems with my classmates" were 1.91 for all students,

and 4.24 for twelfth grade students (Tables 23 to 28, pp.
214-217).

Hypothesis 6 was rejected both for all students and
for twelfth grade students.

Hypothesis 7: Students in the experimental sections
will perceive the decision-making unit as significantlyxmore
relevant to their needs and problems than will students in
the control sections. Data to respond to this hypothesis
were gathered in the posttest questionnaire. Question num-
ber 6 in Part I was composed of a series of eleven items
representing possible outcomes of the decision-making unit
believed to correspond to areas of need or concern of young
people. Students were asked to indicate whether they felt

the unit would help them achieve these outcomes on a five-

83

point scale ranging from (1) "strongly agree" to (5) "strongly
disagree." Again analysis of variance was performed sepa-
rately on each item, both for the classes as a whole and for
the twelfth grade students only.

F values of items (a) through (k) for classes as a
whole and for twelfth graders are reported respectively:
item (a), "Make better decisions in my daily life," was the
only item of the eleven commanding an F value significant
at the .05 level. F values obtained were 11.002 and 6.32
for all students and twelfth grade students respectively
(Table 32). With this item, however, the mean score for
the experimental group was 2.65 and for the control group
was 2.27 giving a slight edge to the control group which
is contrary to the predictive hypothesis.

Since the other ten items (b) through (k), did not
reach significant F values, hypothesis 7 was rejected (Table
29).

Hypothesis 8: Students in the experimental sections
will evidence a significantly greater change in their em-
,pathetic ability than will students in the control sections.
Pretest and posttest questions 3 and 4, Part II, provided
data for hypothesis 8. These questions presented two situ—
ations of persons facing important decisions where students
were asked to react to each of several alternatives provided
for each decision on a five-point scale, ranging from (1)
Wstrongly agree,“ to (5) "strongly disagree." A total em-

pathy score was derived by adding the score checked for each

84

Table 29.—-F values and significance level for relevance
items

 

All students 12th graders
Relevance items F P F P

 

(a) Make better decisions in my
daily life 11.00 .004 6.32 .025

(b) Be more realistic about
what I can do and what I
cannot do 2.68 .12 2.19 .16

(c) Have greater control of my
life and my future 1.51 .23 1.05 .32

(d) Understand better myself
and others in everyday life 3.82 .07 3.65 .08

(e) Understand how the decisions
I make influence and bring
about other decisions 0.09 .76 .19 .67

(f) Realize that it is very
difficult to plan one's
life in advance because
so much depends on factors
one cannot control 12.31 .003 6.08 .03

(9) Make decisions promptly
instead of putting them
Off .740 .40 .104 .75

(h) Reach a greater number of
the goals I have set for
myself .058 .81 .238 .63

(i) Accept more fully the con-
sequences of my decisions .33 .57 .66 .43

(j) Realize that the decisions
that are best for me are
those made with considera-
tion of my values and which
allow me to achieve my goals .15 .69 1.66 .21

(k) Feel more confident about the
future and about myself .37 .55 .070 .79

 

85

alternative. The highest possible score of 45 points cor—
responded to the least empathy, and the lowest possible score
of nine points to the most empathy. Analysis of covariance
was used to test the hypothesis, first with all the students
and then with the twelfth graders only. F values were 2.17
for all students, nonsignificant, and .000 for twelfth grad-
ers. Hypothesis 8 was rejected (Table 30, p. 217).

Discussion.--One-way analysis of variance performed
on pretest scores for the two variables making up subject
matter interest indicated that 17 classes differed signif-
icantly from each other in their interest in home management,
but not in their interest in home economics (Table 3). Means
for interest in home management were computed for experimental
and control group on the basis of class means and compared
through t test. The non-significant t value indicated that
control and experimental classes as a group did not differ
on their interest in home management before being exposed
to the decision-making unit. The rejection of hypothesis
4 shows that neither did they differ at the posttest level,
after being exposed to the treatments.

The Social Desirability Scale was positively corre-
lated with interest in home economics, and negatively cor-
related with interest in home management, although these
correlations were not significant (Table 31, p. 218).

An analysis of group means shows that all groups
appeared interested in home economics and home management,

as evidenced by means ranging from 1.46 to 2.22 (Table 32),

e

R.“ F It.

86

Table 32.--Means of interest in the subject matter

 

 

 

All students 12th graders
No. of No. of

Group, observations Mean observations Mean
Interest in home
economics:
Experimental 10 1.73 10 1.68
Control 8 1.69 6 1.46
Interest in home
management:
Experimental 10 2.15 10 2.22
Control 8 1.96 6 1.81

 

clustered around the second most positive value in the rat-
ing scale. In general, control students appeared to be
slightly more interested in the subject matter than experi-
mental students. Twelfth grade students, both control and
experimental, seemed more interested in home economics than
the all-student groups. For interest in home management a
different situation is found in that experimental twelfth
grade students were less interested than the all-student
experimental group, while control twelfth graders were more
interested than the all-student control group (Table 32).
This selective negative effect of the experimental treatment
on the older students is possibly related to their more neg-
ative attitudes towards the unit, which are discussed later
in this section.

The means for additional readings done (Table 33)
indicate that in general experimental students did fewer

readings than control students. Means for twelfth grade

87

Table 33.--Means for three measures of interest in the unit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All students 12th graders

No. of No. of
Measure and group observations Mean observations Mean
Additional reading§_
done
Experimental 10 .217a 10 , .140
Control 8 .251 6 .180
Comments made about
unit
Experimental 10 .496 10 .355
Control 8 .547 6 .595
Comments heard about
unit
Experimental 10 .765 10 .705
Control 8 .690 6 .645

 

aAll means can be interpreted as percentages.

students show that these students declared having done fewer
readings than the all-student groups. The Social Desirabil—
ity Scale correlated negatively with this variable, but the
size of the correlation was not significant (Table 31, p.
218).

Experimental students in general reported having
talked less about the unit with other people. Twelfth grade
experimental students did the least talking, while twelfth
grade control students did the most talking (Table 33).

The difference between the two twelfth grade means was sig-
nificant at the .06 level. The Social Desirability Scale
correlated negatively with this variable at the .01 level.

Experimental students declared that they heard more

A.“

«10 .

Fl.“

Fl‘

88

of their classmates discuss or talk about the unit. Twelfth
grade students, both experimental and control, reported hear-
ing fewer comments than the all-student groups (Table 33).
The Social Desirability Scale again correlated negatively
with this variable at the .04 level.

Information on the kinds of comments heard about

the unit was also gathered (Table 34). Analysis of those

Table 34.--Means for kinds of comments heard about the unit

 

Kinds of Comments

 

 

 

Positive Negative Indifferent
All 12th All 12th All 12th
Group, students graders students graders students graders
Experi— a
mental .162 .09 .416 .35 .348 .26
Control .317 .24 .182 .08 .246 .30
P .05 .07 .01 .002 .27 .71

 

aAll means can be interpreted as percentages.

data shows that experimental students heard mostly negative
and indifferent comments while control students heard most-
ly positive and indifferent comments. The F values for
positive and negative comments were significant at the .05
level or beyond. Twelfth grade experimental students were
the ones hearing the fewest positive comments and the more
negative comments. Correlations of the Social Desirability
Scale with types of comments heard were all negative; the
only significant correlation was with "indifferent comments"

at the .001 level. The consistently negative correlations

89

of Social Desirability with these variables indicates that
the more socially acceptable these students wished to ap-
pear, the less apt they were to admit making or hearing com-
ments about the unit, or admitting that the comments heard
were indifferent. Thus, "no comment" or "no indifferent
comment" seems to be a socially desirable attitude for these
groups of high school girls.

In the rating of the unit as to how interesting they
thought it was, the twelfth grade students as a whole rated
it lower than the all-student groups; twelfth graders in
experimental classes gave it the lowest mean rating, 3.15

(Table 35). In the five-point rating scale used in this

Table 35.--Means for interest rating of the unit

 

 

 

 

All students 12th graders
No. of No. of
Gropp observations Mean observations Mean
Experimental 10 2.93a 10 3.15
Control 8 2.49 6 2.65

 

aThe scale used ranged from (1) "very interesting"
to (5) "boring.“
question, (1) was "very interesting," (3) was "indifferent"
and (5) was "boring." The Social Desirability Scale corre-
lated negatively, but not significantly, with this variable.
Students compared the decision-making unit with other
units studied in home economics as being either (1) “more

interesting," (2) "equally interesting," or (3) "less

90

interesting." Again twelfth grade students compared this
unit somewhat less favorably than the all-student groups,
and the experimental students compared it slightly less
favorably than the control students (Table 36). Social

Table 36.--Means for comparison of the unit with other home
economics units

 

 

 

All students 12thgraders _,

No. of No. of
Gropp observations Mean observations Mean
Experimental 10 2.19a 10 2.30
Control 8 2.16 6 2.22

 

aThe scale used in this item ranged from (1) "more
interesting" to (3) "less interesting.“
Desirability Scale correlation with this variable was pos-
itive but small and non-significant.

In general it can be said that although hypothesis
5 was rejected and no statistically significant differences
were found among the two treatment groups as to their inter-
est in the unit, analysis of the means indicated that the
experimental group revealed less interest than the control
group, and that twelfth grade students showed less interest
than the all—student groups. The negative correlations of
the Social Desirability Scale with most of these variables
would indicate the existence of certain sets of attitudes
of these teenagers that presumably affected their responses
in this area.

The rejection of hypothesis 6 and an examination

91

of group means indicates that in general control classes
seemed to enjoy the decision-making unit more than experi-
mental classes did. However, group means range from 2.05
to 2.93 indicating that students on the average tended to
rate the unit and its component parts as (2) "enjoyable"
to (3) “indifferent."

All control students enjoyed the teacher most, for
which the mean of 2.05 is the best rating obtained in these
means; they enjoyed least the unit in general, with a mean
of 2.42. Twelfth grade control students enjoyed most the
"opportunity to talk about these problems with my classmates,"
with mean ratings of 2.15 and 2.16 respectively. They en—
joyed least the teaching methods and materials, with a mean
of 2.58, followed by the teacher, with a mean of 2.41.

Experimental students, both the whole classes and
the twelfth graders, enjoyed most the teacher, with means
of 2.47 and 2.54 respectively, followed by the "opportunity
to discuss problems like these," with means of 2.54 and 2.59.
They enjoyed least the methods and materials, with high means
of 2.80 and 2.93 followed by the unit in general (Table 37).

From these ratings it appears that experimental teach-
ing methods and materials were the least enjoyed aspect of
the unit, but it is interesting to note that for control
twelfth grade students, methods and materials also was the
least enjoyed aspect.

The Social Desirability Scale correlated positively

with all six enjoyment items; the size of the relationship

ICU I

a»

he

a!

A.“

92

Table 37.--Means for enjoyment of the unit

 

 

 

Experimental Control
All 12th All 12th
Enjoyment items students grade students grade
a. Unit in general 2.75 2.91 2.42 2.37
b. Topics 2.67 2.70 2.36 2.26
c. Teaching methods and
materials 2.80 2.93 2.36 2.58
d. Teacher 2.47 2.54 2.05 2.41
e. Opportunity to discuss
and analyze problems
like these 2.54 2.59 2.32 2.15
f. Opportunity to talk
about these problems
with my classmates 2.56 2.66 2.33 2.16

 

was significant with item (e), "the opportunity to discuss
and analyze problems like these" at the .003 level, and with
item (f), "the opportunity to talk about these problems with
my classmates" at the .004 level. These two items were also
rated rather favorably by students in their enjoyment of
the unit rating. From the high correlations obtained with
Social Desirability it appears that these items received a
high affective investment from the teenagers in these classes
and that they would be considered socially acceptable feel-
ings to express.

Control students tended to agree more than experi-
mental students with all relevance items except (9) and (f).

Item (f), "Realize that it is very difficult to plan

one's life in advance because so much depends on factors

93

one cannot control" was the item receiving the highest agree-
ment, both from the experimental students, with means of
1.7 and 1.8, and from the complete control classes, with
mean of 2.1 where 1 is the strongest agreement. Twelfth
grade control students also agreed noticeably with item (f)
as indicated by a mean of 2.2 (Table 38). The extent of
this agreement suggests that for the experimental students
the game might have emphasized the complexity of decision—
making, but conveyed an exaggerated picture of the role of
chance in it. But the agreement from control students seems
to indicate that this feeling of powerlessness is extensively
shared by young people. Along the same line, students also
felt that the unit would not help them very much to achieve
greater control of their lives and their future, as means
for item (c) were 2.79 and 2.65 for complete classes and
2.82 for experimental twelfth graders (Table 38). Item (k),
“Feel more confident about my life and my future" received
high means of 2.82 and 2.75 from twelfth graders, indicating
that for twelfth grade students self-confidence and possi-
bility to control their own destiny is a concern where they
beliewed the decision-making unit would not help them greatly.
Items (e) and (j) received rather low means from
all groups (Table 38) indicating that in general students
felt the unit had helped them to understand the concept of
interrelationships of decision, item (e), and the criteria
erInaking adequate personal decisions, item (j).

Item (9), "Make decisions promptly instead of putting

b.

can

0—01

I!

94

Table 38.--Means for relevance items

 

Experimental

All
Relevance items

a. Make better decisions
in my daily life 2.65

b. Be more realistic about
what I can do and what
I cannot do 2.65

c. Have greater control of
my life and my future 2.79

d. Understand better myself
and others in everyday
actions 2.67

e. Understand how the de-
cisions I make influence
and bring about other
decisions 2.21

f. Realize that it is very
difficult to plan one's
life in advance because
so much depends on fac-
tors one cannot control 1.70

9. Make decisions promptly
instead of putting them
off 2.48

h. Reach a greater number
of the goals I have set
for myself 2.64

io.Accept more fully the
consequences of my de-
cisions 2.37

l- Realize that the decisions
that are best for me are
those made with consider-
ation of my values and
Which allow me to achieve
my goals 2.24

1" F'eel more confident about
the future and about my-

self 2.60
\

students

12th
grade

2.81

2.82

2.64

2.36

2.82

Control

All

students

2.41

2.65

2.42

2.60

2.59

2.32

2.51

12th

grade

2.33

2.69

2.05

2.75

{n
...

D‘-
p. o

95

them off" received higher agreement from the complete ex-
perimental classes, with a mean of 2.48, but in general
students did not think the unit would help them greatly
in this area.

In summary, both experimental and control students
felt the unit would help them most in areas related to items
(f), (e), and (j), and that it would help them least in re-
1ation to items (c), (h) "Reach a greater number of goals"
and (b) "Be more realistic about what I can do and what I
cannot do." Twelfth graders felt the unit would do more
for them in areas related to items (f), (j) and (e), and
that it would help them least in relation to items (k), (h)
and (c).

On item (a), "Make better decisions in my daily life"
is where there was the greatest difference between experi—
mental and control students, with control students agreeing
more than the experimental ones (Table 38).

The Social Desirability Scale correlated positively
with all relevance items except (9). Correlations were sig-
nificant at the .05 level only with items (d), “Understand

better myself and others in everyday actions," and (i) "Ac-
C9P1: more fully the consequences of my decisions." These
SOCially or affectively loaded items received greater agree-
ment from control students.

In this study empathy was defined as the capacity
to aCcept the less dogmatic or restrictive alternatives for

PBOple in decision-making situations. The two specific

96

situations used in the questionnaire dealt with a teenager
about to drop out of school and with the various roles avail-
able to a woman in today's society. With the exception of
item (c) in question 3, and of item (b) in question 4, the
remaining seven items had to be checked (1) "strongly agree"
to evidence greater empathy. Although the only analysis
of these data done up to this point threw all nine items
together, it is assumed that the two items that were to be
scored in reverse, with 5 instead of 1, will not invalidate
the results.

The mean for complete experimental classes, 23.65,
was lower than the mean for complete control classes, 24.78,
and lower than the mean for twelfth graders, 24.50 (Table

39). According to this, the younger students in experimental

Table 39.--Mean scores for empathy

 

 

 

 

All students 12th graders
No. of No. of
Group observations Mean observations Mean
Experimental 10 23.65 6 24.50
Control 8 24.79 10 24.50

classes showed greater empathy, while a slight trend to the
contrary appeared in control classes.

An examination of mean gain scores by schools showed
that all experimental classes lost points from pretest to
posttest in their empathy ratings; among control classes,

four lost points in a manner comparable to the experimental

97

classes, while the other three showed small gains. Experi-
mental classes, then, seemed to increase slightly in their
capacity to accept broader, less restrictive alternatives
for the two decision-making situations used in the test.
Further analysis done on the separate items making up the
two questions might be of interest to understand the kinds
of changes students experienced in this area.

Correlations of the Social Desirability Scale with
empathy items thrown together was positive but very small
and non-significant.

Teachers' Reports on the Interest and
Participatign of Their Students in
the Decision-Making Unit

Teachers and Supervising Teachers were asked to com-
plete two forms each day while teaching the decision-making
unit. In the first part of the form called "Daily Record
of Classroom Teaching" (Appendix V) the teachers provided
information on the content taught and the methods and mate-
rials they employed, which are presented in another section
of this report. In the second part of the form they indi-
cated the approximate number of students participating ver-
bally in class. Teachers also rated subjectively the qual-
ity of students' verbal contributions and the degree of
interest exhibited by other class members in two scales
where "1" indicates the least desirable extreme and "5"
indicates the most desirable one.

In the second form, "Daily Record of Teacher—Student

()

rt

1""

98

Contacts" (Appendix VI) the teachers reported the various
types of student contacts that were initiated by the students
and related to the decision-making unit; these contacts in—
cluded both those in class and outside of class. The number
of different students seeking these contacts was also reported.

Not all supervising teachers completed these forms,
thus the information presented here is based mainly on the
teachers' reports. In a few cases where small discrepancies
occurred between thetwo sets of ratings the average of the
two was used.

The number of students participating verbally in
class appears consistently higher for the experimental classes
(Column 1 in Table 40). All experimental teachers reported
that from 56 to 89 percent of their students were verbally
active in class, while almost all control teachers reported
that from 31 to 49 percent of their students were verbally
active.

A similar pattern appears in the proportion of stu-
dents seeking contact with the teacher in relation to the
unit (Column 2 in Table 40). Almost half of the experimental
teachers reported that 40 percent or more of their students
initiated contacts with them while only one-third of the
control teachers reported the same proportion. No statis-
tical tests were applied to these data to find the signif-
icance of these differences.

Class means were computed for quality of students'

99

Table 40.--Students' participation and interest in the de—
cision-making unit, as reported by the teachers

 

1 2 3 4 5
Quality
Class Par- Contacts of Con- Degree of Variety of
ticipation Initiated tribution Interest Contacts

 

Schools (%) (%) (Mean) (Mean) (Mean)
Experi-
mental:
1 80.0 25.0 3.90 4.30 2.0
3 85.0 2.75 3.00
5 66.0 44.4 4.00 4.10 2.60
7 61.5 31.0 2.60 2.80 1.20
9 81.0 67.0 3.40 3.60 3.80
11 62.0 17.0 2.50 2.25 1.20
13 89.0 50.0 2.75 2.75 3.00
15 59.0 30.0 2.80 2.80 0.80
17 56.0 25.0 1.40 1.40 1.80
18 59.0 52.0 3.50 3.20 3.60
Mean 3.13a 3.60a 2.27a
Control:
2 78.0 50.0 4.00 4.00 3.00
4 49.0 3.80 4.50
6 36.0 1.8 2.50 1.70 0.40
8 33.0 28.0 3.80 3.40 3.80
10 36.5 41.0 3.60 4.00 4.00
12 46.6 34.0 3.50 3.40 2.80
14 31.0 6.0 3.60 2.40 0.80
Mean 3.54 3.34 2.46

 

aSchool 17 was not included because of incomplete
records and other problems.
contributions, degree of interest and variety of contacts
sought by the students. Overall means by treatment were
compared through t test. No significant differences were
found, although the experimental mean for interest was higher
while the control means for variety of contacts and quality
of students' contributions were higher (Table 40).

In general it would appear from the teachers'

100

records that the experimental method was successful in achiev-
ing a higher degree of student involvement and interest,
while the control methods seemed to elicit a better quality

<of student's contributions and greater variety of contacts

with the teacher.

CHAPTER V
FINAL CONSIDERATIONS

Purposes and Hypotheses

The purpose of the study was to determine whether
simulation games, particularly the Life Career Game, would
be as effective, or better, for teaching abstract home man—
agement decision-making concepts than other teaching methods.

Eight hypotheses were formulated to accomplish the
stated purpose. Three hypotheses were related to learnings
in the cognitive domain and five hypotheses were related
to learnings in the effective domain. The hypotheses were
as follows:

1. Students in experimental sections will learn
Significantly more home management (decision-making) facts
than will students in the control sections.

2. Students in experimental sections will evidence
Significantly greater comprehension of home management (de-
cision—making) facts and principles than will students in
the control sections.

3. Students in the experimental sections will evi—
dence Significantly greater ability to apply home management
(deCiSion—making) concepts and principles than will students

in the control sections.

101

sub“

'n'll.

den

(in

de

E

102

4. Students in the experimental sections will evi-
dence a significantly greater increase of interest in the
subject matter (home economics and home management) than
will students in the control sections.

5. Students in the experimental sections will evi-
dence a significantly greater interest in the decision-
making unit than will students in the control sections.

6. Students in experimental sections will enjoy
the decision-making unit significantly more than will stu-
dents in the control sections.

7. Students in the experimental sections will per-
ceive the decision-making unit as significantly more rele-
vant to their needs and problems than will students in the
control sections.

8. Students in the experimental sections will evi-
dence a significantly greater change in their empathetic

ability than will students in the control sections.

Summary of Procedure

The sample for the study was comprised of eighteen
senior high school home economics classes in schools used
as student teaching centers by Michigan State University.
The study used a quasi-experimental design involving two
treatments assigned at random to the eighteen classroom
groups selected for participation. One treatment, called
experimental, combined lectures, discussion and playing a

simulation game as the major learning experience. The other

103

treatment, called control, used more traditional teaching
approaches. The experimental classes used a “packaged“ unit
prepared by the researcher, including objectives, content
and learning experiences. Control classes received the same
objectives and content but they were asked to devise their
own learning experiences and organize their unit.

Students were tested before the treatments were ap-
plied through a pretest questionnaire, and again immediately
after the units were completed, through a posttest question-
naire. The questionnaires used were developed for this study.
Other data were collected from the teachers through two daily
records, and from the school records.

Statistical analyses performed on the data included
one-way analysis of variance and analysis of covariance for
testing the hypotheses. Some differences among group means
were tested through t tests for unequal groups. Correlations
were computed to measure the relationships between social
desirability and other variables. A “stability coefficient"
was determined correlating students' responses to pretest
and posttest questionnaire items. An internal consistency
coefficient was determined using the Hoyt and Stunkard two-

way analysis of variance method.

Specific Conclusions
Cognitive 1earnings.--Three hypotheses related to
learnings in the cognitive area were tested; hypotheses pre-

dicted that experimental classes would learn significantly

104

more than the control classes at the levels of knowledge,
comprehension and application. Non-significant F values
obtained in all the analyses performed led to the rejection
of every hypothesis. In the cognitive area, specific con-
clusions are as follows:

1. Students grouped in control and experimental
classes showed no significant differences in their knowledge
of home management (decision-making) facts either before
or after the treatments were applied.

2. Students grouped in control and experimental
classes evidenced no significant differences in their com—
prehension of home management (decision-making) concepts
and principles either before or after the treatments were
applied.

3. Students grouped in control and experimental
classes evidenced no significant differences in their abil-
ity to apply home management (decision-making) concepts and
principles either before or after the treatments were applied.

A general conclusion in this area is that the experi-
mental method can teach the abstract concepts involved in
decision-making as effectively as the control methods em-
ployed in this study.

A trend appeared for greater effectiveness of the
experimental method with the older students at the higher
cognitive level, application, while the control methods were
more effective with the younger students at the lowest cog-

nitive level, knowledge.

("'—

H

(D

105

Affective 1earnings.--Five affective variables were
selected for study. Three of them were directly related
to students' reactions to the unit: interest in the unit,
enjoyment of the unit, and perceived relevance of the unit
for themselves. The other two elements were concerned with
the effect of the treatments on students' interest in the
particular subject matter and in their capacity to empathize
with people in decision-making situations.

An hypothesis was stated for each variable, predict-
ing that the experimental group would react more favorably
to the unit and that they would increase significantly more
their interest in home management and in home economics,
as well as their capacity to empathize with other decision-
makers. Non-significant F values yielded by the majority
of the analyses performed led to rejection of all hypotheses.
0n the basis of the statistical analyses performed on these
data, the following specific conclusions were reached:

4. Students grouped in experimental and control
classes did not differ significantly in their interest in
home economics and in home management, either before or af-
ter the treatments were applied. Both control and experi—
mental classes decreased slightly their interest in home
management.

5. Interest in the decision-making unit did not
differ significantly between control and experimental classes
as a group. Control students, however, seemed more inter-

ested than experimental students, and younger students showed

106

greater interest than twelfth grade students.

6. When grouped in experimental and control classes,

students did not differ significantly in their enjoyment

(of the decision-making unit. Control students, however,

.seemed to enjoy the unit more than experimental students.
(Zontrol twelfth grade students enjoyed it more than the com—
zllete classes, but in the experimental group it was the young-

ear students who enjoyed the unit to a greater degree.

7. Experimental and control classes as a group did

riot.differ significantly in their perception of the relevance
tihe decision-making unit had for their needs and problems.
133 general, control students, however, perceived the unit

as somewhat more relevant than experimental students. Among

eeacperimental students, twelfth graders perceived the unit

ears being less relevant to them than the younger students.
8. Experimental and control classes, as a group,

c1141 not differ significantly in their empathy scores, neither

in the pretest nor after the treatments had been applied.

Innis experimental group, however, evidenced a greater increase

111 its empathetic capability than the control group.

Final Discussion and Recommendations

The results of the study are non-conclusive in that

th€3 evidence neither supports nor destroys the claims made
f°r‘ the effectiveness of simulation games as teaching tech-

niques. Should replications be made, certain adaptations

would be necessary: (1) the Life Career Game used in this

107

experiment needs to be simplified and the number of rules
reduced in order to make it understandable, and thus maybe
more enjoyable and meaningful to high school students; (2)
more time needs to be allowed for a unit employing simula-
tion games than just the five lessons used in this study;
(3) the teacher participating in such a project needs to be
thoroughly knowledgeable of the game. It appeared that
teachers had problems themselves in understanding the game
and in relating the theory of home management to the game
model. It is also necessary to ascertain that teachers re-
ally understand the home management decision-making theory
before they attempt to teach it; (4) more than one teacher
is necessary for handling adequately the larger classes while
game sessions are proceeding; (5) the teachers' attitudes
seemed to be very influential as to the outcomes of the game
in certain classes. Failure of the teacher to understand
and respect the "play" nature of educational games will con-
vert the games into just another "school chore" or "bore"
for the students. This study gave some indication that neg-
ative effects on learning are likely to occur under those
CirCumstances; (6) more time devoted to discuss the outcomes
of the game must be allowed for students to profit the most
from their play sessions.

Home management does not seem to be an area easily
aGeeptfi‘cl by high school students. Many express preferences
for other areas of home economics, even if their ratings of

home management were not low within the range provided.

108

Some do not seem to see any need for study in this area;
others reject the idea of discussing and analyzing their
decisions or anybody else's. Many negative reactions were
expressed on this point in their questionnaires. It was
also evident that many young people in this study tended
to have a fatalistic outlook on life and to reject the no-
tion that a person can plan his life, or aspects of it, and
carry the plan through. They seemed to feel rather power-
less in facing their environment. It might be that these
value orientations and belief systems are a part of the
teenage culture, or that they are part of a lower class
culture to which many of these students belonged. It would
be of interest to establish the existence and source of such
fatalistic attitudes before the teaching of rationality and
other control concepts is attempted.

Although findings in the affective area indicate
that students in experimental classes were more negative
in their interest and enjoyment of the unit, and many ex-
pressed their dislike of the game, other students had the
opposite reactions. Many wrote that they found the game
to be "very realistic," that it presented situations they
or their friends were faced with, and some said it was "fun,"
"enjoyable" and "different" from the usual classroom routines.

Similar reactions were expressed by the teachers in
their daily records. Some of their comments indicated that
students became quite involved while playing the game and

making the decisions for their case person profile. In one

109

teacher's words: "They [students] became involved and were
actually disappointed or thrilled with the outcome of the
decisions." Other teachers commented that students worked
well in groups, and that playing the game kept them busy,
as well as enthusiastic and interested in what they were
doing. Still other comments pointed up to the students be-
ing interested in the unit in general and participating in
the discussion sessions.
/_ According to the teachers, some of the problems af-
‘ffec: ting negatively the unit were mostly related to diffi—
Qulties students had with the game. The most commonly ex-
Pressed problem dealt with the large number of rules of the
game and their complexity, in relation to the low reading
ability level of many of the classes involved in the project.
other difficulties stemmed from certain elements of the game
model that did not appear realistic to the students, such
as the scoring system, all of which seemed to act as stum-
bling blocks. Many students had difficulties comprehending
the relationships of the game situation to their own lives.
High absenteeism in some classes seemed to make continuity
of thought processes difficult. Some teachers felt that
”01‘s: time should have been allotted to the unit, both for
d"Lstcussion and for playing the game, since students were
in general very slow and were only able to complete a round
of Play or less in the class hour.

In general we might conclude that these teachers'

Comments tend to agree with what other writers have said

llO

regarding the high degree of student involvement, interest,
and participation observed during play sessions. It can

also be hypothesized that students' interest in and enjoy-
ment of the unit will be greater once the rules of the game

are simplified and expressed in a vocabulary adequate to

their reading level.

Teaching for higher cognitive learnings is an area
of concern in education. Methods, techniques and materials
need to be made available to classroom teachers for this
Purpose. Findings of this study seem to point to greater
effectiveness of the experimental method for teaching at
the application level, thus suggesting that with greater

refinements this particular game could be a valuable tool

in the classroom .

Finally, games should not be seen as "the" method,
but as an aid to effective teaching when used in conjunction

with other techniques, within the framework of home manage-

ment curriculum .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abt, Clark C. "Education is child's play." Paper presented
at the Lake Arrowhead Conference on "Innovation in
Education," December, 1965, pp. 1-6.

Abt, Clark C. "Games for learning." Cambridge, Massachu-
setts, Educational Services, Inc. The Social Studies
Curriculum Program. April, 1966. (Occasional Paper
No. 7), 24 pp.

Attig, John C. "The use of games as a teaching technique."
The Social Studies. LVIII (No. 1): 25-29. (Jan-
uary, 1967).

Bloom, Benjamin 3., ed. Taxonomy of Educational Objectives.
Handbook I: Cognitive Domain. New York: David
McKay, 1965.

Boocock, Sarane S. "An experimental study of the learning
effects of two games with simulated environments."
The American Behavioral Scientist. lO (2): 8—17.
October, 1966.

Boocock, Sarane S., and Coleman, James. "Games with simu-
lated environments in learning." Sociology of Edu-
cation. 39 (No. 3): 215-36. (Summer, 1966).

Boocock, Sarane S. "The effect of games with simulated en-
vironments upon student learning (unpublished Ph.D.
dissertation, The Johns Hopkins University, 1966).

Bruner, Jerome S. The Process of Education. New York:
Vintage Books. 1960. 97 pp.

Campbell, Donald T., and Stanley, Julian C. Experimental
and Quasi-Experimental Design Research. Chicago:
Rand McNally, 1963.

Cherryholmes, Cleo H. "Developments in simulation of inter-
national relations for high school teaching" (unpub-
lished Master's thesis, Emporia, Kansas: Kansas
State Teachers College, 1963).

Cherryholmes, Cleo. Lecture notes from Social Science Teach-

ing Institute, Summer, 1967. Michigan State Univer-
sity.

lll

112

Cherryholmes, Cleo H. "Some current research on effective-
ness of educational simulations: implications for
alternative strategies." The American Behavioral
Scientist. X, No. 2 (October, 1966). 4-7.

Cc>c>r1, Beulah I. Home Economics in the Public Secondary_
Schools. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Health,
Education and Welfare, 1962.

Cc>c>rl, Beulah I. Home Economics Instruction in the Secondary
Schools. New York: The Center for Applied Research
in Education, Inc., 1965.

Cx:<>vnn, Douglas P., and Marlowe, David. "A New Scale of So-
cial Desirability Independent of Psychopathology,"
Journal of Consulting Psychology (1960), 349—54.

Dawson, Richard E. "Simulation in the Social Sciences,"
Harold Guetzkow, ed. Simulation in the Social Sci-
ence Reading_. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey:
Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1962.

Garvey, Dale M., and Seiler, William H. A study of the ef-
fectiveness of different methods of teaching inter-
national relations tohigh school students. Emporia,
Kansas: Kansas State Teachers College. February,
1966. 152 pp.

Greenlaw, Paul S., Herron, Lowell, and Rawdon, Richard H.
Business Simulation in Industrial and University
Education. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-
Hall, Inc., 1962. 356 pp.

Gue tzkow, Harold. Simulation in International Relations:
Develgpments for Research and Teaching. Englewood
Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1963.

Guetzkow, Harold, ed. Simulations in Social Science Read—
ings. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall,
Inc., 1962. 199 pp.

H°Y132 <3iril J., and Stunkard, Clayton L. "Estimation of
test reliability for unrestricted item scoring
methods.” Edugational and Psychological Measure-
ment (1952). 756-58.

Inbar, Michael. “The differential impact of a game simulat-
ing a community disaster, and its implications for

games with simulated environments." (Unpublished
Ph.D. dissertation, The Johns Hopkins University,
1966).

113

Kik>1>£ee, Joel M., Craft, Clifford J., and Nanus, Burt.
Management Games. A New Technique for Executive
Development. New York: Reinhold Publishing Cor—
poration, 1961.

Kister, Joanna H. "Classroom Practices with Implications
for Guidance in Planning Home Management Teaching
Units." Unpublished Master's thesis, Ohio State
University, 1967.

Ki.\r]min, Laura. "The Beliefs and Reported Practices of Two
Groups of Pennsylvania Homemaking Teachers in the
Area of Home Management." Unpublished Ed.D. dis-
sertation, The Pennsylvania State University, 1962.

Kiraaizhwohl, David R., Bloom, Benjamin S., and Masia, Bert-
ram B. Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. Hand-
book II: Affective Domain. New York: David McKay,
1964.

Lehman, Irvin J. "Evaluation of Instruction," Evaluation
in Higher Educatigg, ed. Paul L. Dressel. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1961.

 

Martin, E. "Teaching executives via simulations." Business
Horizons, 2(2): 101, 1959. Cited by Dawson.

MCKeelchie, W. J. ”Student-centered versus instructor—cen-
tered instruction," The Journal of Educational Psye
chology, 4s (3): 143-50. March, 1954.

PaOlucci, Beatrice. "Excerpts: Basic elements of home
management." In: Approaches to Teaching_Home Man-
agement. Proceedings of a Home Management Confer-
ence, Pullman, Washington: Washington State Univer—
sity, August, 1966.

Paolucci, Beatrice. "Family decision-making." Focu .
New York: John Wiley and Sons (April, 1965), pp.
3-4 0

U)

 

Price, Dorothy. Personal communication. 1967.

Robinson, James A., et a1. "Teaching with Inter-Nation

 

 

Simulation and case studies." The American Polit-
ical Science Review, LX, No. 1 (March, 1966), pp.
53-630

Robinson, James A., and Snyder, Richard. A comparison of
simulation, case studies and problem papers in teach-
ing decision-making. (Evanston, Illinois: Coopera—
tive Research Project No. 1568, 1964, mimeo.).

ll4

Scflliglci, Erling 0. "Learning in Simulated Environments."
New Approaghes to Social Studies Instruction. Ed.
by Charles B. Myers. (Proceedings of the Rider
College School of Education Conference in Secondary
Education.) Trenton, New Jersey: School of Educa-
tion, Rider College, Spring, 1966, pp. 11-20.

Schd.lxi, Erling O. "The shaping of strategies." American
- Behavioral Scientist, 10 (No. 3): 1-4. November,
1966.

 

ShutiiJc, Martin, ed. "Game theory and the study of social
behavior: an introductory exposition." In: Game
Theory and Related Approaches to Social Behavior,
Shubik, ed. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1964.
390 pp.

Vocuirties, Kathy. "Factors Related to Distribution of Teach-
ing Time in Six Areas of Homemaking at the Second-
ary Level.” Unpublished Master's thesis, Ohio State
University, 1961.

W<'3L81"1.'i.1:lgton State University. Approaches to Teaching Home
Management. Proceedings of a Home Management Con-
ference. Pullman, Washington (August, 1966).

 

Wing, .Richard L. "Two computer based economic games for
sixth graders." The American Behavioral Scientist.
X, No. 3 (November, 1966), 31-34.

 

APPENDICES

APPENDIX I

Teaching Unit for the Thesis
.A. COMPARISON OF METHODS OF TEACHING HOME MANAGEMENT:

AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

By Virginia Lattes

Adviser Dr. Twyla Shear

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
College of Education
East Lansing, Michigan

Winter 1968

116

117

DECISION-MAKING UNIT FOR GROUP II

Overal 1 Objective :

To

become aware of decision-making, a key concept of

management, as a conscious process.

Gener a1 Objectives :

1. To understand the role of decision-making in a person's
life.

2. To become aware of the variety of factors to be consid-
ered in any decision-making situation.

3. To understand the relationship of an individual's values,
goals and resources, as well as those of his family,
to the management situation.

4. To know the key concepts of decision—making.

5- To realize that decision-making is an on-going process
in which previous decisions affect later ones.

5- To develop some degree of empathy with other people
in decision-making roles similar to one's own.

7- To work cooperatively towards common purposes in group

de cision-making .

Over 6.1 1 Concept :

Conscious decision-making.

C:°n<=€:l=>ts:

Management

DeCIision-making process

geCision—making situation

Cnterrelationships of decisions

omplexity of decisions

C Des of decisions

Egg-sequences of decisions

A1 e<Itiveness of decisions
ter natives

Vaer$

Goals

Resources

llllllll

118

DECISION-MAKING UNIT FOR GROUP II
Outline of the First Lesppn

Gener a1 Objective 5 :

1. To work cooperatively toward common purposes in group
decision-making.

2. To become aware of the variety of factors to be consid-
ered in any decision-making situation.

3. To develop some degree of empathy with other people
in decision-making roles similar to one's own.

Learn ing Experiences :

This first lesson of the unit (approximately 50 minutes)
will be devoted completely to playing the Life Career Game,
with participation of _a_1_1 students in the class. No lec-
ture will be given. The role of the teacher will be to
coordinate, facilitate and clarify students' questions in

order that they master the game.

--Preparation

The teacher should give to each student a copy of the
Rulozes of the Game enough in advance that they will have
time to become familiar with them before coming into this
£11331: session. It is important that the teacher herself
knows well the rules and understands the game at this point.

Before the class convenes, the teacher will prepare
the Classroom setting with the different elements the Game
cal11s for, i.e., Family Table, Job Table. Tables and chairs
can be arranged to facilitate small-group work.

Stlldents will play in teams of three or four each; the
composition of these groups should remain constant through-

ou
t the play sessions.

119

-—P1aying the Game.

The Game includes life profiles of two persons. The
teacher will assign the two profiles at random, each one
to be played by half of the teams. She will explain the
Game briefly to the class. This can be done in more than
one way, such as: (1) Play a round herself in front of
the class, explaining each step as she proceeds and show—
ing the steps by means of chalk board or flannel board or
overhead projector; (2) explain each step, asking the class
to make the decisions at each point, and showing the proc-
ess by means of a chalk board, flannel board, projector
or: enlarged versions of the game forms to be filled.

After the explanation, it will be necessary for stu-
dents to play a trial round; this will help the teams to
learn to work as groups and to perform smoothly the opera-
tions necessary. The trial round is not to be scored.

Hopefully, if the students know the rules in advance,
there may be time left for a first serious round of the
Game in this lesson period. Decisions made by the teams
in this first round should be scored by the teacher using
the game scoring system. If no time is left for scoring
in Class, the teacher should do it afterwards, since she
"111 keep each team's forms, identified.

No discussion of decision making concepts need occur

a
t this stage, unless a student brings up some pertinent

quest-1°11 .

120

Students should be encouraged to take home the Rules
of the Game after this session, in order to read them again

before their next play session.

121

DECISION-MAKING UNIT FOR GROUP II

Outline of the Second Lesson

Gener a1 Objpctives :

1. an: become aware of the variety of factors to be consid-
ered in any decision-making situation.

2. To understand that a person's values,
as well as those of one's family, affect one's

sources ,
management .

goals and re-

3. TR: know certain key concepts and generalizations in-
xnolved in decision—making.

Opjectives

General Objective 1.

To become aware of the
variety of factors to be
considered in any decision—
making situation.

- 'I‘o comprehend the meaning
of decision-making

- To distinguish among
decisions at different
levels of consciousness.

- To realize that there
are Various degrees of
ComPlexity in different
Choice situation

53:0 recognize that not

sa decisions have the

inme degree of importance
a Pet‘son's life.

- To identify central (main

ggtbasic) decisions and
-——SQJ:EJE§_(related) decis-

ions an .
<1 understand their
relationships .

Content

Every individual must make
decisions.

Decisions are made at differ-
ent levels:

(1) Informed or conscious,

made on basis of investigation
and deliberate thought;

(2) Uninformed or unconscious,
made under dictates of emotions
or for unexplainable reasons.

Not all decisions are equally
important and complex, i.e.,
contrast choosing a menu and
choosing a career or vocation,
or selecting a coat and select—
ing a college to attend.

It is important to try to be
informed and conscious in those
decisions that are central or
basic since they have far reach-
ing consequences and lead to
many other related decisions
(satellite).

122

For ex., if a high school girl
decides to get married (central
decision) she will have to make
related decisions about living
arrangements, schooling, occu-
pation outside the home, child-
ren and others. ‘

General Objective 2.

To understand the rela-

tionships of an individ-

ual' s values, goals and

resources, as well as

those of his family, to

the decision-making process.

- To know the meaning of A value is something highly
the concepts values, goals prized or a belief strong enough
and gesources. to influence decisions and ac-

 

tions. For ex., values commonly
held in the U.S. are: achieve-

- 1k: .recognize the role ment and success, activity and
Of values, goals and work, material comfort, efficien-
resources in decision- cy, among others.

Inakzirmg.

Individual values are influenced
by family, education, religion,
- To be able to identify friends and values of the so-
factors--values, goals ciety.
and resources--that oper-
ated in certain decisions. Values vary among individuals,
families and societies.
For ex., the value of efficien-
cy is high in the U.S. but
not so much in Eastern countries
or in Latin America.

Individual choices are influ—
enced by personal values, i.e.
the girl who values education
will decide to devote enough
of her time to getting school
work done properly instead of
doing other things first.

Values serve as guides for set—

ing goals.

Goals are the things or ideals
' people set out to accomplish.

Goals are ends towards which

plans and actions are directed.

Objectives

123

Content

The goals set affect decisions
made.

For example, if a girl sets her—
self a goal of going to college,
she will make decisions regarding
the quality of her school work,
time devoted to it, postponing
marriage, and others, in a way
conducive to her achievement of
the goal.

Goals usually have to be put in
some order of preference.

For ex., a girl with goals of
being popular, getting good grades,
dating, and achieving excellence
in sports will not be able to
accomplish everything. She must
learn to rank her goals in an
order of their importance to her
or of the possibility of achiev-
ing them and then work towards
their achievement.

Resources are the means used to

 

achieve goals.

Every individual and every fam-
ily has available both human
and non-human resources in vary-
ing degrees, i.e.:
Human: skills, knowledge,
attitudes, etc.
Non-human: time, money, serv-
ices, etc.

In choosing the resources to

use in any situation, consider
the gains and losses experienced
by using them vs. the gains and
losses derived by using other
resources.

Values, goals and resources are
closely interrelated in decision
making.

124

Learning Experiences :

The central learning experience designed for students
in this experimental unit is the simulation game. In this
lesson, the teacher must help students to build the concepts
and generalizations from their experiences in playing the
game as well as from other personal experiences they may
contribute.

Teacher and students as a class will discuss the game
played in the previous class period. The teacher will guide
the discussion using the set of questions prepared in the
materials attached. As far as possible, she should try
to derive the generalizations and facts presented here from

contributions made by the students.

125

DECISION—MAKING UNIT FOR GROUP II
Outline of Third and Fourth Lessons
General Objectives:

1 . To work cooperatively toward common purposes in group
decision-making.

2 - To become aware of the variety of factors to be consid-
ered in any decision-making situation.

3 . To develop some degree of empathy with other people
in decision-making roles similar to one's own.

4 . To understand the role of decision-making in a person's
life.

5 . To realize that decision-making is an on-going process
in which previous decisions affect later ones.

Learning meriences:

Lessons 3 and 4 (two periods of approximately 50 min-
Irtes each), will again be completely devoted to playing
1ihe Life Career Game. At this stage, students should have
Sireater awareness of the meaning and role of decision-making
and of the various elements that are part of it, i.e.,
Values, goals, etc.

The role of the teacher will be that of a coordinator.
She will alert students to consideration of values, goals
ark: resources in decisions made in the game.

Students will play in the same teams to which they were
aSsigned the first day, and with the same Profile. An im-
Portant element at this stage is that they have opportunity
ix) play 3 or 4 successive rounds of the Game in order to

Perceive the existence of a sequentialjattern and the

126

interrelationships of decisions made at different points
in a person's lifetime.

The teacher will score the decisions made by each team
at the end of each round; when they finish playing, each
team's total scores can be computed and compared, and a
winning team selected on basis of the greatest number of
accumulated points.

If any time were left in the fourth lesson for some
class discussion, the winning team can be asked to explain
their success: what kinds of decisions they made, based
on what factors or considerations, etc. A low scoring team
could also be asked to explain what were their decisions
and rationale for making them that way. In this discussion,
the teacher should help students relate their actions and

the outcomes to the concepts discussed in the second lesson.

127

DECISION-MAKING UNIT FOR GROUP II
Outline of the Fifth Lesson
General Objectives:

1. To understand the role of decision-making in a person's
life.

2. To become aware of the variety of factors to be consid-
ered in any decision-making situation.

3. To understand the relationship of an individual's values,
goals and resources, as well as those of his family,
to the management situation.

4. To know the key concepts of decision-making.

opjectives Content

General Objective 1.
To understand the role of
decision-making in a person's

life.

- To understand that decis— Decision-making is a mental
ion-making is an on-going process, with several inter-
process in which decisions related steps:

made limit the alternatives 1. Recognize the problem that
or courses of action for called for a choice--clar-
subsequent decisions. ify the problem and goa1(s)

involved.

2. Look for many possible
alternatives or courses
of action.

3. Think through each alter-
native to foresee what
might be the outcomes and
consequences of each if
chosen.

4. Make a choice.

5. Accept responsibility for
the decision and carry
it out.

Decision-making is a contin-
uous process; some decisions
will limit the alternatives
for subsequent ones.

Objgctives

- To realize that there al-
ways are several possible
alternatives in a choice
situation.

- To realize that people
perceive the alternatives
differently in light of
their values and goals.

- To become aware of the
existence of risks and un-
certainty in decision-mak-
ing.

- To realize that every de-
cision has consequences.

- To realize that the amount
and quality of the informa-
tion possessed helps to pre-
dict accurately the outcomes
of decisions.

— To be able to predict or
estimate the consequences
of decisions.

- To know the criteria by
which the effectiveness of
decisions can be judged.

- To be able to apply cri-
teria adequate for judging
the effectiveness of the
decisions to specific
situation.

128
Content

The more information one has
about a situation, the more
alternatives one recognizes
for consideration.

Because people hold different
values, goals and resources,

not all perceive the same a1-
ternatives for the same choices.

Considering the alternatives for
choice in light of one's values,
goals and resources, helps in
making the most advantageous de-
cisions.

There are usually advantages
and disadvantages to consider
in each of the alternatives
available in any situation.

Every decision has consequences
that affect the decision-maker
as well as other people.

The more relevant information
one has about a situation,

the better one can predict the
outcomes or consequences of a
decision.

Effective decisions are those

that:

(1) Conduce to the achievement
of the goa1(s), and

(2) Result in the most satis-
faction for the decision-
maker.

129

LearningExperiences:

As in Lesson 2, this lesson will also consist basically
in a discussion, by teacher and students as a class; the
game students played throughout three previous class per-
iods will serve as common experience for the group.

A set of questions is provided to be used as discussion
guide by the teacher.

Student participation is again very important, as they
will have a wealth of experiences from the game and from
their own lives which they need to analyze and relate to

the concepts and generalizations presented here.

130

DECISION-MAKING UNIT FOR GROUP II

Discussion Guide for the Second Lesson

Teacher: Starts discussing the Life Career Game with the
class. (Teacher draws from situations she observed or sit-
uations related to the playing of the game by students to
get at the notion of choice in an interesting way).
Question: Were the choices you made in the game realistic?
Answer: ...yes, we (students) also have to choose what

to study...or whether to stay in school or drop out...
whether to go to college or not...whether to belong to
certain groups for recreation and hobbies...

Question: What other people can you think of who also

make choices?

Answer: ...parents...teachers...ourselves...people in
public life (President, politicians)...

Teacher: (From answers offered by students arrive at the
generalization...). Every person must make choices or de-
cisions. (Write on board for all to see).

Qgestion: What choices did you make yesterday for the young
people in the game?

Answer: ...about their school and studies...about their
work...whether to help at home and how much...about their
fun and free time...

Teacher: (List answers to previous question on board).
.Question: What other kinds of decisions do people have

to make?

131

Answer: ...what clothes to buy...food to eat...buying cars,
furniture, equipment...participation in community and school
activities...(List on board these decisions also).

Teacher: Question: How differently do we make all these
decisions?

Answer: ...we take longer to make some...we talk it over
with other people for some of them, but not for others...

we "shop around" for some of the big ones...

(Help students arrive at the fact that we spend more
time making some of them, we think some are more important
and we gather more information. Other decisions we make
quickly, without thinking much or stopping to gather infor-
mation).

Teacher: (Try to get students to generalize into a clas-
sification of types of decisions).

Question: How might we classify decisions?

Answer: ...in more important and less important...in more
informed and less informed...automatic and thoughtful...
Teacher: (Arrive at classification from student contribu-
tions)

Decisions can be classified in two general kinds or
levels which we might call: (1) informed or conscious-—
those that we make on the basis of deliberate thought and
infbrmation gathering, i.e., when buying large pieces of
equipment, or a house, or choosing a school to attend.

Any important, central decision in our lives calls for

132

careful consideration of this kind; and (2) uninformed or
unconscious—-those decisions that we make under dictates
of emotions or for reasons we cannot explain; we do not
gather information or even think before we make them.
Question: In which classification or level would you place
the decisions you were making yesterday in the game?
Answer: In the first one.
Teacher: Please explain why they belong there.
Answer: ...because these decisions are important ones...
they are difficult to make...we looked for information,
i.e., about schools, or jobs, before we made them...it took
some time of talking among us before we could make them...
Teacher: Question: Why do you think these decisions are
important and hard to make?
Answer: ...because they have effects for a long time...
they can change the future of the person...they can make
him happy or unhappy for a long time...
Teacher: (From students' contributions, arrive at general-
ization). Some decisions are more important because they
have far reaching_conseguences in a person's life. These
we will call central (main or basic or key) decisions be-
cause they call for many other related ones that we will
call satellite decisions.

(Put diagram on board and write central and satellite

decisions in the example you use).

 

133

(Ask students to illustrate these two types of decisions)
Answer: ...i.e. Anne decides to get married--central de-
cision. Related (satellite) decisions that she might have
to make are:

- drop out of school?

- get a full time job?

- have children now or later?

— live away from her family?

- OtherSoooooo

Teacher: Question: What can we generalize from this?

(From students' contributions arrive at generalization).

It is important to be conscious or informed in those
decisions that are central for us since they have far-reach—
ing consequences and lead to many other related ones.
Teacher: (You can use the example provided here or else
draw from the profiles used an appropriate example, as

judged from the direction of the class).

Question: Why do you think Anne could be satisfied or un-

 

satisfied with her decision of getting married?

Answer: (Students can provide a variety of reasons for
both alternatives on basis of the information contained

in Anne's profile).

---she might enjoy having her own home and doing homemaking
activities...she will have the freedom and independence she
wants...she will have to work hard, no time left for the
fun she likes to have...she might have to get a job to get
enough money for living...her job may pay little, as she

is unskilled.....

Teacher: All of this seems to be saying to us that there

are many aspects to look at when we make a decision such

as this.

134

Question: Let us suppose Anne gets married and is happy
with her decision. (The teacher could use another example
here). How would you explain it?
Answer: (Help students respond in terms of the information
they have about the girl...).
---because her greatest desire is for a home of her own...
she dislikes school and has poor academic abilities...be-
cause she is unhappy at her mother's...because she enjoys
homemaking...because she is in love...
Teacher: Could we say then that these things have a cer-
tain 13132 for Anne, and have influenced the decision she
sass?
Question: What is a value?
Answer: Something very important for us...what we like
best...
Teacher: (From students' answers arrive at a definition).
"A yglgg.is something we prize highly or a belief strong
enough to influence our decisions and actions.“
Question: What other values, from the game and from your
own lives, can you think of that influence choices?
Answer: For Bob: education...family...

Others from students themselves....
(Put them on board for all to see and compare).
Teacher: From these examples we can see how values vary
from one person to another. We could say the same for fam-
ilies. Values held in Anne's family (education, a "decent

job," a "better life") are not exactly the same as in Bob's

family (education, family, mutual help).

135

Question: How would you explain the influence of values
on our decisions and actions?
Answer: ...because we try to get what we want most...we
work for the things we value...
Teacher: (From students' contributions, arrive at the fol-
lowing fact.) Values serve as guides for setting goals.
Question: And what is a goal?
(From students' answers, arrive at a definition of goals).
"Goals are ends or objectives that we try to achieve
or accomplish-—they give us direction for our actions and
planning."
We set out to achieve those thing§_that for us are im-
pgrtant, that reflect or involve our values.
Question: Let us see some illustration of this (ask the
class to provide examples).
Answer: ...if a girl values education, she will have goals
related to getting her school work done on time, to finish-
ing high school, maybe of going on with further education...
Teacher: Question: What illustrations of goals do you
find in the game situations?

Answer: For Anne: to have her own home.
For Bob: to finish high school.

Teacher: These two people seem to have some goals, but

for others, goals are not clear, or maybe they never even
thought about having them! But in general, we can say that
all people have many goals--some are long-range, some are

short-range--even if they are not conscious of having them.

136

Question: Whom do you think has better chances of achiev-

 

ing his or her goals?

Answer: ...those who know what they want...know their goals...
Teacher: (From students' answers arrive at the following
fact).

People who are conscious and clear about their goals
are more likely to achieve them--they will plan and make
their decisions in the direction of their goals, without
“getting lost" along the way.

As we said before, people generally have many goals;
often it is impossible to accomplish them all. Just think
of all the things you would like to do next Saturday!

Question: What can we do to solve this conflict of goals?

 

Answer: ...leave some things out...don't try to do every-
thing at the same time...

(From students' responses arrive at the following fact).
We must learn to put our_gpals into some order of prefer-
ence, importance or possibility of achieving them. Here
our values help again so that we can place first those goals
reflecting our strongest values in the situation we are in.
Teacher: Our goals are made clearer when we consider the

resources we have available to reach the goals.

 

Question: What are resources?
Answer: ...things we have...time...money...
(From students' responses, arrive at a definition).

Resources are the means we use to achieve our goals.

137

Question: What examples of resources do you find in the

 

game?

Answer: Anne's--average vocational skills...poor academic
skills...negative attitude towards school...
positive attitude and skills in homemaking...

a certain family income...family members and
boyfriend...

Bob's--above average academic abilities...effec-
tive study habits and use of time...emotional
maturity and sense of responsibility...family
income...fami1y members, one of them sick.

...each family has various goods and possessions...use many

community services and facilities (parks, libraries, hos—

pitals)...every person has the same amount of time...(Write
on board).

Teacher: Then we can generalize and say that every person

and family has available a series of resources in varying

degrees. Some of them are called human resources, i.e.,

skills, education, attitudes...; others are called non-human,

i.e., time, money, material possessions, services...

We are constantly making decisions about which of our

resources to use in order to achieve our goals.

Question: What kinds of considerations do you think we

 

should make when selecting resources for a given goal?
(From students' answers, arrive at the following fact).
We must take into consideration what we gain and what
we lose by using certain resources, and compare this with
what we gain and what we lose by using other resources.
Question: Can you illustrate this?

Answer: Students give their ideas.

138

...i.e., if I want a new sweater, I could either buy
it or make it myself...compare gains and losses derived
from each alternative, indicating what resources will be
used for each one, such as spending more time and skills
if available and saving money vs. spending more money but
.saving time.

Teacher: Now, to end our discussion we could summarize
with one final point. As we have seen, these three key
elements of decision-making--va1ues, goals and resources——
are very closely interrelated, i.e., our values indicate

to us what is important and desirable and lead to goal
setting; in order to achieve these goals in a manner com-
patible with our values we make use of the resources avail-

able to us.

139

DECISION-MAKING UNIT FOR GROUP II

Discussion Guide for the Fifth Lesson
Teacher: What decisions did you make this morning? Of
what type were they?
Answer: ...decisions to get up...get ready for school...
what to have for breakfast...Most are routine, simple de-
cisions, a few could be central or key ones.
Teacher: (Using the previous illustrations, make reference
to types of decisions already discussed and their varying
importance in the life of a person, such as central and
satellite, conscious and unconscious).

Today we will discuss again some of the basic elements
in decision-making, trying to analyze what you did when
you played the Life Career Game. We will also talk more
about the importance of decisions for determining quality
of living. Let us look first at a generalization that will
help us analyze the process you were going through when
you made decisions in the game.

(Have the generalization already on the board for all

to see).

Decision-making is a mental processy_with several inter-
related stgps:

(l) Recognizing the problem that calls for a choice--

making clear what the problem is and which are the
goals involved.

(2) Looking for all the possible alternative solutions
or courses of action available.

140

(3) Thinking through each alternative to predict what
might be the outcomes and consequences of each if
we chose it.

(4) Making a choice—-se1ecting one alternative.

(5) Accepting responsibility for the decision and carry—
ing it out.

Let us see now how we can apply the steps of this process
to your activities while playing the game. (Call in one
team to illustrate the five steps with one of their game
decisions).

Teacher: In this case, the initial problems were similar
for the game characters that you played, but because they,
and you, vary in terms of values, goals and resources, the
alternatives were different in each case.

Question: Working as part of a team, what alternatives

did other team members seem to perceive that you had not
considered initially?

Answer: (The teacher will probably have to help students
become aware that this happened by asking further questions
about the alternatives perceived by each member of one or
two teams)...in the education area some of the alternatives
were: to drop out of school, to change to other types of
schools, to complete high school, to prepare for college,
etc...students may mention these and others as perceived

by them.

Teacher: What generalization(s) would you derive from this?
(Help students arrive at them).

We can say that, in general, pegple do not all perceive

141

alternatives in the same wgy, even for the same choice.
Also related to this is the fact that, usually, in a choice
situation there are several alternatives, but our perception
of them is limited to the very few (sometimes only one)
that are acceptable to our values and goals. (Place them
on the board).

This different way of considering alternatives can orig-
inate conflicts in group-decision situations, such as the
one you were in while playing, or as happens in families.

Question: Can you illustrate these conflicts from your

 

experiences in playing the game?
Answer: (The teacher will probably have to help students
to bring out comments on some of their interpersonal dif-
ficulties related to differential perception of alternatives,
differences in values, etc.)...we couldn't reach agreement...
it took much discussion to arrive at a decision that all
would accept...we almost fought over our differences on
whether Bob should go on in school or not...
Teacher: What other factors do you think affect the num-
ber of alternatives open to us in a given choice?

(Put answers on board. From students' responses arrive

at the following factors).

(1) the amount and quality of information and knowledge
that we have about the situation; (2) decisions which we
made before; (3) our values, goals and resources, and those

of our family and community. (Place these on board).

142

Let us examine each one of these factors.
Question: Can you illustrate the first point in relation
to the Game?
Answer: (Help students to realize that in the areas of
education and work, the Game offers plenty of information
to help form several alternatives)...we had good informa-
tion about jobs to choose from...there was plenty of infor-
mation about different schools we could go to...
Teacher: We can also say that the more and better infor—
mation we possess, the less risky will be our decision.

Question: Why do you think it is so?

 

Answer: ...we can see what is best to do...we find out
what alternative offers more gains...we can see with which
alternative we will lose more...

Teacher: Yes, with plenty of information we can find out
what are the advantages and disadvantages of each alterna-
tive before we decide for one of them. The more informa-
tion we have, the better can be our decision. (Place on
board).

Question: Let us see some examples to illustrate this from

 

your experience in the game.

Answer: (Have students contribute pertinent illustrations,
helping them with further questions if necessary)...i.e.,

if one has information about different schools (or colleges),
how hard and expensive they are, one can pick that in which

one can make it...

143

Teacher: We can generalize then by saying that the more
information one has about a situation, the better one is
able to ppedict the conseguences of the decisions and the
less risky the decision will be. (Place on board).

Of course, sometimes we have to make decisions with
little or uncertain knowledge and we must be aware of the
risks involved.

The second factor affecting alternatives are decisions
we have made before.

Question: How is it that previous decisions affect later
ones?

Answer: ...few decisions are isolated...one decision
brings another...when a previous decision is an important,
central one, it results in a series of other related de-
cisions, not leaving much freedom in what we can do...
Teacher: Let us see some cases of this relationship in
action. (Ask students to relate some pertinent experiences.)
Answer: ...if a girl decides to get married, a decision
to have children will likely follow, and the arrival of
children will probably force a decision to quit the job
in order to take care of them, etc...

Teacher: (After the students contribute some examples of
the interrelationships of decisions, state the following
generalization). Then we can say that decision-making_is
a continuous process in which decisions are interrelated

and in a way_determine one another. (Place on board).

144

This is why we said before that decisions help shape
our lives. The central decisions that we make now will
have consequences all throughout our lives, for better or
worse. It is because of this that it is so important that
we make our central decisions consciously and well informed.

Question: When do you think we could be satisfied with a

 

decision we made?

Answer: ...if I get what I want...if consequences are good...
if I feel good about the results...

Teacher: (From students' answers arrive at the following
generalization). We can say then that effective decisions
are those which allow us to achieve ou£_goals with the most
satisfactions, in light of our values. (Place on board).
Question: Let us apply this criterion to a decision that
you made in the game. (Ask a team to volunteer a decision
they made, indicating whether it allowed them to reach their
goal, whether they believe the person could be satisfied
with the outcomes of it and why).

Teacher: Until now we have been discussing decision-making
and relating it especially to the areas with which the game
deals: education, occupation, leisure time use, and family
time. But through your illustrations we have also seen
that people are constantly making decisions in all areas

of life: family life and interpersonal relations, finances,
food, you name it. Also, we need to realize that in home

economics we don't generally consider decision-making by

145

itself, isolated, but in relation to all and each of the
areas: foods and nutrition, clothing, housing, child care,
etc. In each of them we are constantly making decisions.
Decision-making is considered to be the backbone of
one of our home economics areas, that of home management.
In fact, management consists of a series of interrelated
decisions and their implementation. Wise management allows
us to live the kind of life we want for ourselves and our

families.

146

ANNE'S PROFILE

Anne is almost 17 years old, although she is just starting
her junior year. She had to repeat a year in grammar school,
and even so she has just barely managed to be promoted each
year. Her verbal and quantitative skills are below average,
and she has never done well in English, social studies,
languages, math, science, and other academic subjects.

She has scored average in vocational skills tests, however,
and she works well with her hands.

Anne has gotten so used to being behind the other students
in her classes that she has given up trying. She dislikes
school and sees no relationship between her school work
and the kind of life she wants to have for herself. Since
her evenings are spent with her boy friend or at her part-
time job, she rarely has her homework done and is always
in trouble with her teachers. She is absent a lot, and
the truant officer has warned her mother that she may get
into real trouble if her attendance record does not improve.
She also got into trouble last year when she and two other
girls were caught smoking in the school building during
lunch hour.

For the past six months Anne has been going steady. Her
boy friend is 18 and has a job as a factory assembler.

He earned 53500 last year and has his own car. He wants
to marry Anne and has promised to take her to New York for
a honeymoon. He finished three years of high school and
doesn't think it is important for Anne to graduate.

Anne lives with her mother and younger sister. Her father
deserted the family when she was quite young, and her mother
supports the family on what she earns from waitress and
housekeeping jobs (usually about $3000 a year). She wants
Anne to stay in school and get enough education to get a
decent job. She is anxious for her daughter not to repeat
her own mistakes and thinks she is too young to marry.

But Anne wants to get away from the unhappiness of her home
and to have a chance to enjoy life. She figures that if
she worked full-time, she and her boy friend would have
enough money to get married and start saving for a house

of their own.

Although she likes excitement and would like to travel,
Anne's greatest ambition is to have a home of her own. She
has always helped her mother with the housework and is an
excellent cook. The one time she really shone in school
was in a 7th grade home economics course, where she learned
to use a sewing machine and made some curtains for home and
some simple clothes for herself. The teacher was impressed
by Anne's ability to work with her hands and felt that she
showed a flair for design.

147

BOB'S PROFILE

Bob is an extremely intelligent boy. He is just 15 years
old, but is already starting his junior year because he
skipped the third grade. He has above average ability in
all areas. His favorite subject is social studies, and
he has read almost every book the local library has on
history and archaeology.

Bob's greatest fear is that he will not be able to finish
high school. His father works in a factory which has been
closed down frequently during the past few years, and his
income last year was $4000. One of Bob's three younger
brothers has a heart disease, and although the local Heart
Association has provided for much free medical service,
this is still a big expense to the family. The little boy
has been out of school for over a year, so Bob's mother
cannot work outside the home.

Bob has helped his family as much as he can. He clerks

in a store about two hours every evening. Being the old-
est child in the family, and having had to take on family
responsibilities so early, Bob is in many ways mature for
his age. His mother often turns to him for comfort and
advice, and his younger brothers will do anything he tells
them to do. He has learned to concentrate and make good
use of his time. He has managed to get his good grades
even though he does not always have much time for homework.
But he worries about his future. Although he truly enjoys
his school work and would love to have a college education,
this seems out of the question. In fact, he feels perhaps
he should leave school when he is sixteen and get a full-
time job so that he can help his family. On the other hand,
he can see that his father was held back because of a lack
of education and job skills and Bob would like to do better.

Bob has not had much time for parties and fun with kids
his own age. He is somewhat shy, although well liked by
those who know him well. His teachers consider him quite
a remarkable boy and have urged him to get as much educa-
tion as he can.

APPENDIX II

Teaching Unit for the Thesis

A COMPARISON OF METHODS OF TEACHING HOME MANAGEMENT:

AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

By Virginia Lattes

Adviser Dr. Twyla Shear

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

College of Education

East Lansing, Michigan. Winter 1968

148

149

DECISION-MAKING UNIT FOR GROUP I

Overall Objective:

To

become aware of decision-making, a key concept of

management, as a conscious process.

General Objectives:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

To understand the role of decision—making in a person's
life.

To become aware of the variety of factors to be consid-
ered in any decision-making situation.

To understand the relationship of an individual's values,
goals and resources, as well as those of his family,

to the management situation.

To know the key concepts of decision-making.

To realize that decision-making is an on—going process
in which previous decisions affect later ones.

To develop some degree of empathy with other people

in decision—making roles similar to one's own.

To work cooperatively towards common purposes in group

decision—making.

Overall Concept:

Conscious decision-making

Concepts:

Management

Decision-making process
Decision-making situation
Interrelationships of decisions
Complexity of decisions

Types of decisions

Consequences of decisions
Effectiveness of decisions
Alternatives

Values

Goals

Resources

Objectives

To become aware of the
variety of factors to be
considered in any decision-
making situation.

--To comprehend the meaning
of decision making

--To distinguish among de-
cisions made at different
levels of consciousness.

--To recognize that there
are various degrees of com-
plexity in different choice
situations.

--To recognize that not all
decisions have the same de-
gree of importance in a
person's life.

--To identify central (main
or basic) decisions and
satellite (related) decis-
ions and understand their
relationship.

 

\

To understand the rela-
tionships of an individual's
values, goals and resources,
as well as those of his
family, to the decision-
making process.

150

Content

Every individual must make
decisions

Decisions are made at differ-
ent levels:

(1) Informed or conscious,

made on basis of investigation
and deliberate thought;

(2) Uninformed or unconscious,
made under dictates of emotions
or for unexplainable reasons.

Not all decisions are equally
important and complex, i.e.,
contrast choosing a menu and
choosing a career or vocation,
or selecting a coat and select-
ing a college to attend.

It is important to try to be
informed and conscious in those
decisions that are central or
basic since they have far reach-
ing consequences and lead to
many other related decisions
(satellite). For ex., if a
high school girl decides to

get married (central decision)
she will have to make related
decisions about living arrange-
ments, schooling, occupation
outside the home, children

and others.

Objectives

--To know the meaning of
the concepts values, goals
and resources.

--To recognize the role of
values, goals and resources
in decision-making.

--To be able to identify
factors--values, goals
and resources--that oper-
ated in certain decisions.

151

Content

A value is something highly
prized or a belief strong enough
to influence decisions and ac-
tions. For ex., values commonly
held in the U.S. are: achieve—
ment, success, activity and work,
comfort, efficiency, among others.

Individual values are influenced
by family, education, religion,
friends and values of the so-
ciety. ‘

Values vary among individuals,
families and societies.

For ex., the value of efficiency
is high in the U.S. but not so
much in Eastern countries or

in Latin America.

Individual choices are influenced
by personal values, i.e., the
girl who values education will
decide to devote enough of her
time to getting school work

done properly instead of doing
other things first.

Values serve as guides for set-

ing goals.

Goals are the things or ideals
people set out to accomplish.
Goals are ends towards which
plans and actions are directed.

The goals set affect decisions
made. For example, if a girl
sets herself a goal of going

to college, she will make de-
cisions regarding the quality

of her school work, time devoted
to it, need to save money for
college, postponing marriage,
and others, in a way conducive
to her achievement of the goal.

Goals usually have to be put
in an order of preference.

Objectives

To understand the role
of decision-making in a
person's life.

--To understand that de-
cision making is an on-
going process in which
decisions made limit the
alternatives or courses of
action for subsequent de-
cisions.

152

Content

For ex., a girl with goals of
being popular, getting good
grades, dating, and achieving
excellence in sports will not

be able to accomplish everything.
She must learn to rank her goals
in an order of their importance
to her and then work towards
their achievement.

Resources are the means used

 

to achieve goals.

Every individual and every fam-

ily has available both human

and non-human resources in vary-

ing degrees, i.e.,

Human: skills, knowledge, at-
titudes, etc.

Non-human: time, money, serv-
ices, etc.

In choosing the resources to

use in any situation, consider
the gains and losses experienced
by using them vs. the gains

and losses derived by using
other resources.

Values, goals and resources
are closely interrelated in
decision making.

Decision—making is a mental
process, with several inter-
related steps:

1. Recognize the problem that
calls for a choice--clarify
the problem and goal(s) in-
volved.

2. Look for many possible al—
ternatives or courses of
action.

3. Think through each alterna-
tive to foresee what might
be the outcomes and conse-
quences of each if chosen.

Objectives

--To realize that there
always are several pos-
sible alternatives in a
choice situation.

—-To realize that people
perceive the alternatives
differently in light of
their values, and goals.

--To become aware of the
existence of risks and
uncertainty in decision-
making.

--To realize that every

decision has consequences.

--To realize that the
amount and quality of the

information possessed helps

to predict accurately the
outcomes of decisions.

--To be able to predict
or estimate the conse-
quences of decisions.

--To know the criteria by

which the effectiveness of

decisions can be judged.

--To be able to apply cri-
teria adequate for judging

the effectiveness of de-

cisions to specific situa-

tion.

153

Content

4. Make a choice.

5. Accept responsibility for
the decision and carry it
out.

Decision making is a continuous
process; some decisions will
limit the alternatives for sub-
sequent ones.

The more information one has
about a situation, the more
alternatives one recognizes
for consideration.

Because people hold different
values, goals and resources,

not all perceive the same al-
ternatives for the same choices.

Considering the alternatives
for choice in light of one's
values, goals and resources,
helps in making the most advan-
tageous decision. ‘

There are usually advantages
and disadvantages to consider
in each of the alternatives
available in any situation.

Every decision has consequences
that affect the decision maker
as well as other people.

The more relevant information
one has about a situation, the
better one can predict the out—
comes or consequences of a de-
cision.

Effective decisions are those

that

(1) Conduce to the achievement
of the goal(s), and

(2) Result in the most satis—
faction for the decision-
maker.

APPENDIX III

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
College of Education

This questionnaire is part of a research study to gain
better understanding of teenagers. Your cooperation in
the study is very important and very much appreciated.

You can be sure that:
1. All information will be treated as absolutely_
confidential.
2. The questionnaire is not a test, there are no
"right“ or "wrong" answers. Answer the questions
according to your own opinion or judgment.

 

 

PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTIONS:

On the attached card you will find an identification
number. Please copy the number in the space below.

Number

 

Print your name on the card, using the name by which you
are registered in this school.
Now, place the card in the envelope and seal it.

 

PART I

In this section we will ask for some information about
you and your parents or the people you live with.

Please read each of the following questions carefully
and then supply the information asked for to the best of
your ability.

1. What grade of school are you in? 9 10 ll 12
(circle onE)

2. What is your sex? (Check one) Male Female

3. When were you born?

 

ITmonth) (day) (year)

4. Would you say that you live in a:

City Village
___Town In open country (but not a farm)

154

155

What is your program in school? (Check one)

Business and commercial

College preparatory

Vocational home economics or agriculture

Trade or technical (such as cosmetology, automotive
shop or machine shop)

___Other (explain)

 

Do you plan to go on to school after high school?
Yes No

If Yes, what kind of school do you think you might

attend? (Check more than one if necessary).

.___Training in the armed forces
Technical or trade institute (such as schools of
drafting, and beauty culture)
Business or secretarial school

Nurses' training

Community college or junior college

Four-year college

Other (explain)

 

 

Who is the head of the household? (check one)

Father

Mother
Stepfather
Stepmother
Other (explain)

 

Note: In items 8 to 12 below, answer about the person

8.
9.

10.

11.

12.

you indicated in question 7 as the head of the
household.

Is he (she) employed now? Yes No

What is his occupation when employed?

 

 

What is the name or title of his job? (such as farm
manager, mechanic, clerk or waitress)?

 

 

Does he own his own business? Yes No

Does he have people working for him or under him?

No Yes If Yes, about how many?

 

156

Note: If you answered 8 through 12 for your mother or other
female head of the household, skip to Part II. Other-
wise, answer 13 through 16 below.

13. Is she employed outside the home? Yes No

14. Has she ever been employed outside the home? Yes
No

15. What is her occupation when she is employed?

 

 

16. What is the name or title of her job (such as clerk,
operator or supervisor)?

 

 

PART II

In this section we will ask for your opinions about
the subjects you are taking in school, and also about some
situations of general interest to teenagers.

1. Directions: Please indicate how interested you are
in the following school subjects. Indicate your in-
terest by circling the appropriate number from the
list below:

1. Strongly interested

2. Interested

3. Indifferent

4. Disinterested

5. Strongly disinterested

X. I have not taken the subject

Circle “1“ if you are strongly interested, circle “2"
if you are interested, and so on. If you do not have an
opinion because you have not taken a particular subject,
you may circle "X.”

Be sure to circle only one number of the X for each

subject.

SI SD
a. Agriculture............... 1 2 3 4 5 X
b. Art....................... 1 2 3 4 5 X
c. Business.................. 1 2 3 4 5 X
d. English................... 1 2 3 4 5 X
e. Family Living............. 1 2 3 4 5 X

j.
k.
1.

2.

if

157

 

Foreign Languages........... 1 2 3 4 5 X
Home Economics.............. 1 2 3 4 5 X
mathematiCSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. l 2 3 4 5 x
Musj-COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO0.0.0 l 2 3 4 5 X
Physical Education.......... 1 2 3 4 5 X
Science..................... 1 2 3_ 4 S X
Social Studies.............. 1 2 3 4 5 X
Directions: Please indicate how interested you are
in the following areas of home economics. Indicate
your interest by circling the appropriate number from
the list below:
1. Strongly interested
2. Interested
3. Indifferent
4. Disinterested
5. Strongly disinterested
X. I have not taken the subject
Circle “1" if you are strongly interested, circle "2"
you are interested, and so on. If you do not have an

opinion because you have not taken a particular subject,
you may circle "X."
Be sure to circle only one number or the X for each

EEEE'
SI SD

a. Child development or child care....... 1 2 3 4 5
b. Clothing construction................. 1 2 3 4 5
c. Clothing selection and care........... 1 2 3 4 5
d. Consumer buying or consumer problems.. 1 2 3 4 5
e. Family finance........................ 1 2 3 4 5
f. Family and interpersonal relationships 1 2 3 4 5
g. Food preparation...................... 1 2 3 4 5
h. Food selection and buying............. 1 2 3 4 5
1. Health or home nursing................ l 2 3 4 5
j. Home management or decision-making.... l 2 3 4 5

X X X X X X X X X X

158

k. Home furnishings and decoration....... l 2 3 4 5 X
l. HOUSIHQ the famiIYOOOO0000000000000... l 2 3 4 5 X
m. Nutrition....OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCOO...O. l 2 3 4 5 x

Directions: Read the two following questions. Indicate
whether you agree or disagree with each statement by circ-
ling the appropriate number from the list below:

1. Strongly agree

2. Agree

3. Uncertain

4. Disagree

5. Strongly disagree

Circle "1" if you strongly agree, circle "2" if you
agree and so on. Be sure to circle only_one number for
each statement.

3. If a friend of yours was thinking of dropping out of
school, how would you feel?

SA SD
a. He may have acceptable reasons for l 2 3 4 5
dropping out of school, but not
everybody does.

b. Dropping out of school could be the l 2 3 4 5
best solution for him since it does
not necessarily close all future
opportunities for him.

c. He shouldn't drop out of school. 1 2 3 4 5
There is no excuse for anyone to
do such a thing.

d. In most cases, dropping out of l 2 3 4 5
school is the best solution for
people like him, with certain
kinds of problems.

Add your comments here

 

4. A woman today has many opportunities open to her in
the world of work as well as in her home and community.
A few of the possibilities are listed below. Indicate
whether you agree or disagree with each statement by
circling the appropriate number.

 

r...

E.

Ad<

159

Circle “1" if you strongly agree, circle "2" if you
agree, and so on. Circle only one number for each state-
ment.

SA SD
a. It is best for a woman not to work 1 2 3 4 5
after she is married, but it would
be acceptable for a short time if it
were necessary.

b. She should make marriage her only 1 2 3 4 5
occupation and family life her main
interest.

c. An intelligent woman with a good 1 2 3 4 5
education should be able to combine
a career with a home and family if
she chooses to.

d. A woman should participate in com- 1 2 3 4 5
munity activities besides taking care
of her home and family.

e. A woman should have a career if she 1 2 3 4 5
wants to, even if it means postponing
marriage or children.

Add your comments here

 

 

PART III

Make sure that you read each guestion carefully_before
you answer it. Follow the directions indicated for each
question.

1. Which of the statements below best explains what re—
sources are? (Check one).

Resources are:

a. the amount of education and intelligence people have.

. means people use to get what they need or want.

. things like money, time and energy.

. those material possessions that help people live a
better life.

2. Which of the statements below best explains what goals
are? (Check one).

Goals are:

a.
b.

C.

d.

3.

4.

160

purposes people hold consciously.

the main objectives a person wants to reach in life.
ends that provide direction for people's decisions
and actions.

what people value most highly.

Which of the statements below best explains what values
are? (Check one).

Values are:

some things we are committed to.

what parents believe is important for us.
strong beliefs that move us to action.
ends or purposes in our lives.

Which of the statements below best explains the rela-

tionship between values and decisions? —(Check one).

a.

b.

C.

d.

5.

A person needs to know what his values are and then
should stick to them when making a decision.

Values are an important factor to consider when mak-
ing a decision.

The choices people make are a reflection of their
values.

The emphasis given to values will vary from one choice
to another.

The brief cases listed below are real situations. Read
each one and indicate how informed and conscious you
think the decision-makers were by placing one number
from the list of alternatives in the space on the left.

Alternatives:

1. Probably well informed and conscious

2. Probably poorly informed and conscious

3. Probably uninformed and conscious (routine,
habit-like or impulse decisions).

Julie, 14, spent all of her weekly allowance on the
latest hit record; this left her with no money to
pay for her ticket to the big school game Saturday
which she had planned to attend for weeks.

Four college students enter into Canada to avoid the
draft.

When Lois stepped in the department store to buy some
much needed nylons, she found a lovely scarf on which
she spent all the money she had left.

161

___ds After 50 years in the U.S., George Paspas, 73, will
retire from his hat reblocking business; he intends
to return to his native village in Greece where he
has relatives.

e. Mary, 16 and quite overweight, selected a bright red
sweater with matching skirt and stockings for a new
winter outfit for herself.

f. The Yale Draft Refusal Committee reported that 303
university members signed pledges to resist induction
into the armed forces, calling the Vietnam war "un-
just.”

PART IV
ALL THE REMAINING QUESTIONS ARE BASED ON CASE STUDIES.

1. Read each case study thoroughly.

2. Follow the directions for the questions about
each case study.

3. Refer back to the case study, if necessary,
when answering.

CASE 1. UNMARRIED TEACHERS ADOPT GIRLS

Pompano Beach, Fla. (AP)--Twin school teachers, June and
Joan Marhefka, both 29 and unmarried, today had two 5-year-
old daughters to care for--orphans from Bogota, Colombia.
The children, Consuelo and Mariesol, arrived over the
weekend from South America for their first meeting with
the Marhefka sisters and found a little girls' bedroom out—
fitted with pretty clothes, stuffed pink animals, and jump-
ropes. There are bicycles hidden away for Christmas.
Joan and June Marhefka have been studying Spanish since
May when they applied to the Colombian government to adopt
a child. They were urged to apply to the South American
nation by a fellow teacher who had taught in Bogota.
Colombian law allowed the unmarried sisters to adopt
children of their own sex. The investigations by social
workers were completed this summer.
The sisters know about adoption. Although they are
the natural children of Mr. and Mrs. John Marhefka of
Johnstown, Pa., there was an adopted brother, two foster
brothers and a foster sister in the family.

1. In the case of the two teachers that you just read,
some of their behavior can be considered to be evidence
of their values.

162

Directions: In the space at the left of each behavior
place the number of the value it was most
likely produced by. The values listed
may be used more than once.

Behaviors Values

The twin sisters:

a. Are schoolteachers 1. Initiative
b. Are unmarried 2. Humanity
c. Applied for and adopted 3. Education

two little girls

d. Outfitted a little girls' 4. Independence
bedroom with clothes and toys

e. Studied Spanish 5. Not a product of
the teachers' values
f. Had adopted brothers in
their own family.

2. Below there is a list of possible outcomes of the
schoolteachers' decision to adopt the two little girls.
Read each outcome and place the number of the alterna-
tive you think fits it in the blank on the left. Do
this for both columns.

Alternatives:

1. Highly probable
2. Probable

3. Uncertain

4. Improbable

5. Highly improbable

 

 

Outcomes for the Teachers Outcomes for the Children
a. They will be happier a. They will be healthier
than if they hadn't and better cared for.
adopted the children.
b. Their freedom and inde- b. They will get more
pendence will be reduced. education and train-
ing for a career or
vocation.
c. The children will be c. They will miss their
a financial burden for country and original

them. family.

163

d. The children will inter- d. They will be happier.
fere with their work.

e. They will have to explain ___e. They will fare better
their decision to all new in life.
acquaintances in order

not to be criticized.

f. Potential husbands will
shy away from them.

3. In the case of the two teachers adopting the foreign
little girls, the decision made can be best described
as: (Check one).

a. A routine decision
___b. An informed decision
c. A central decision
___d. A satellite decision
CASE 2. JANE

Jane, 17, is a high school senior. She has above aver-
age intelligence and a good academic standing. She is in-
terested in working as a nurse or in teaching small children.

Jane's family can finance a good part of her expenses
if she wants to go on to college; her parents encourage her
to do so.

Jane enjoys sports and has become good at tennis while
in high school.

This year she has been dating a classmate who intends
to start working as soon as he graduates. He has no in-
terest in further studies for himself and doesn't under—
stand Jane's desire for a college education.

In the last few months Jane has made decisions in dif—
ferent areas. Read them and then proceed to read the di-
rections below before filling in the blanks.

I. II. JANE'S DECISIONS

1. She has decided to attend the local Community
College and possibly later transfer to the
State University and graduate after four years.

2. She applied for a full time summer job to
get extra money for college expenses.

3. She accepted a ring from Joe, the classmate
she has been dating this year.

 

164

4. She entered a school tennis tournament.

5. She bought a new winter coat and a couple
of skirts with matching sweaters.

 

6. She has told her mother that she intends to
help more at home on weekends.

 

4. Directions:

(1) Decide how complicated you feel each decision is.
To do this, place the letter of one of the alter-
natives listed below in the space provided under
Column I.

A. Highly complicated
B. Complicated, but not too much
C. Routine or very simple

 

(2) Now, decide how influential you think each decision
will be for Jane. How far and deeply might the
consequences of the decision affect her life or
the lives of others?

To do this, place the letter of one of the al-
ternatives listed below in the space under Column II.

X. Very influential

Y. Of some influence

2. Neutral or of little influence

CASE 3. MIKE

Mike is seventeen years old. He is a pleasant, well-
built boy and a natural athlete.

Mike is entering his junior year of high school. His
academic abilities are well below average, which means that
he will probably never do well at English, social studies,
languages, math, science, or any other academic subjects.
As a result of his limited academic abilities, coupled with
a rather happy-go-lucky attitude toward school, he has a
poor school record. He has been kept back twice. His
homework is not too bad, since he has lots of friends who
are willing to help him, but on tests he always scores
near the bottom of the class. He does seem to have aver-
age ability for vocational subjects, and he was once ad—
vised to take a vocational course.

Mike's father is a construction worker. His yearly
income is $6500 from this job and from factory work he
picks up during the winter months when construction work
slacks off. Mike's mother does not work. Neither of his
parents finished high school.

Mike has two younger sisters living at home. An older
sister dropped out of high school several years ago to get

165

married, and she now lives in another state. The pride

of the family is Mike's older brother, who is 25. He got
very good grades in school, won an appointment to the Naval
Academy, and is now a naval officer.

Mike's father raised a terrible row when Mike brought
home his last report card. He said Mike was just wasting
his time in school, and that if his marks did not improve
this year he would have to leave school and start earning
his own living.

Mike himself is not especially anxious to leave school.
He does not mind going to classes, and he enjoys sports
and being with his friends. He has never thought much
about what kind of career he would like. He has been dat-
ing a girl in his class who is in the college preparatory
course and who plans to go on to college. She urges Mike
to stay in school and try to get his diploma.

5. What do you consider to be the ppsitive factors in Mike's
case?

Directions: Rank the factors listed below, placing a
(l) in front of the most positive, a (2)
in front of the second most positive and
continue with the rest of them until you
give a (6) to the least positive one.

a. His athletic abilities and interest in sports.

. His average abilities for vocational subjects.

. His pleasant disposition and ability to make friends.
. His father's stern attitude about his grades.

. His girlfriend's encouragement that he stay in school.
. His good health and physical condition.

Ch

. What do you consider to be the limitipg_factors in Mike's
case?

Directions: As in question 5, rank the factors listed
below, placing a (l) in front of the most
limiting one, a (2) in front of the second
most limiting and continue with the rest
of them until you give a (6) to the least
limiting factor.

a. His apparent lack of goals and plans for the future.
. Limitations of his intellectual capabilities.

. Limitations of his economic resources.

. His attitude about his studies and his future.

. The poor school record he has built up.

. His devoting more time to sports than to studying.

7.

166

(1) What would you advise Mike to do? (Check one).

a. Make an effort to raise his grades so that he can
get into the college preparatory program next year.

b. Drop out of school now, and work at a job in which
his talents (such as his ability to meet people eas-
ily) can be used.

c. Work harder now to improve his grades, take a voca-
tional course next year and get his diploma.

d. Change now to an evening business course, working
during the day to earn his own living.

e. Join the Armed Services.

f. Other (Explain)

 

 

(2) What reason(s) do you have for your answer? (Check
the one you think is best).

a. A boy has to go to college if he wants to succeed
in this country.

b.5A person should not try to do more than what his
abilities and interests permit.

c. A boy from a family with limited resources has no
way of getting a good education.

d. A boy who starts to work while young can get a head
start in life.

e. Other (Explain)

 

 

Suppose Mike decided to follow your advice. What pre-
dictions, if any, are you willing to make about the
consequences of it: (a) in the next year, and (b) in
the next five years. If you feel you are unable to
make predictions, indicate your reasons for feeling
this way.

(a) In the next year

 

(b) In the next five years

 

 

(c) Reasons why you are unable to make predictions:

 

 

Comments:

 

“'1’ "‘_—“:l"

167

CASE 4. LIZ

Liz is fifteen and has done pretty well in school, al-
though her work tends to be uneven. Science and mathematics
come easily to her, but her abilities for English, social
studies, and languages, and for vocational subjects are
about average, and courses in these subjects are sometimes
a real struggle. She has been advised by the school guid-
ance counselor that she could probably do well in college
if she is prepared to work very hard.

Although she has a real talent for science and math,
Liz is careful not to seem too good in class, since her
mother and her friends have told her that being good in
science and math is "unfeminine."

Liz's main interest is music. She plays the piano and
the cello and has performed in a number of local recitals
and concerts. Most of her free time is spent in practice
or listening to records. Much as she loves music though,
she is honest enough to admit that she does not have enough
talent to succeed as a performer.

Liz has been dating a boy from her town, who has just
graduated from high school and is about to start his first
year at the State University. This is the first boy she
has dated. He wanted Liz to go steady with him, but her
parents felt that she was too young and that she should
go out with different boys while she was in high school.

Liz's father is a high school teacher, earning $7500
a year. He has encouraged her scientific interests and
could afford to put her through college if she were to go
to the state university and live at home. He would also
be willing to pay her tuition if she wanted to go away to
college. Liz's mother had two years of college before her
marriage. She has never had a job, but is active in clubs
and other community activities. Liz has one eight-year
old brother.

w- ~r---—.1r'

9. What do you consider to be Liz's positive factors?
Directions: Rank the factors listed below placing a
(1) in front of the most positive, a (2)
in front of the second most positive, and
continue with the rest of them until you

place a (6) in front of the least positive
one.

a. Her academic talent, especially in math and science.
b. Her musical abilities and interest.
c. The father's encouragement of her scientific interest.

d. The mother's encouragement of her feminine role.

e.
f.

10.

a.

b.

11.

168

The family economic resources.

Her parents' education and social position.

What do you consider to be Liz's limiting factors?

Directions: Rank the factors listed below in the same

 

way as you did in question 9 above, us-
ing the number (1) for the most limiting
factor and the number (6) for the least
limiting one.

Her lack of real talent in music.

Her mother and friends' attitudes about her proper
feminine role.

Her devoting so much time to music instead of her
school work.

Not committing herself enough to her studies.

Lack of definition of her goals and intentions for
the future .

Her parents' opposition to her going steady.

(1) What should Liz do? (Check one).

Work hard to raise her grade point average so she
can get into the college of her choice.

Not pay attention to the opinions of her mother and
friends and take extra work in science and math.

Plan to marry her boyfriend when she finishes high
school.

Work harder at developing her musical abilities so
she can make a career in music after she gets her
diploma.

Take a vocational course next year to prepare herself
to work full-time when she gets her diploma.

Drop out of school and devote all her time to music.

Other (explain)

 

 

e.

f.

12.

169

(2) What reason(s) do you have to support your answer?

(Check the one you think is best).

A woman doesn't need more than a high school education

if she wants to marry and have a happy family life.

A girl should get a college education if her family
can pay for it.

Women who have the intelligence and the inclination
should pursue studies in any field as long as they
want to.

d. In this country every person needs to get as much

education as possible in order to make it good.

A person should be free to pursue her real interests
in life without letting prejudices of others stand
in her way.

A girl shouldn't go to the trouble and expense of
going to college since she won't have to work all
her life anyway.

Other (explain)

 

 

Suppose Liz decided to follow your advice. What pre-
dictions, if any, would you be willing to make about
the consequences of it: (a) in the next year, and (b)
in the next five years. If you feel you are unable to
make predictions, indicate your reasons for feeling
this way .

(a) In the next year

 

 

(b) In the next five years

 

 

(c) Reasons why you are unable to make predictions:

 

 

Comments:

 

 

 

APPENDIX IV

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
College of Education
This is a follow-up to the unit you have just finished.

You can be sure that:
1. All information will be treated as absolutely con-
fidential.
2. This questionnaire is not a test, there are no
"right" or "wrong“ answers. Answer the questions
according to your opinion or judgment.

 

 

PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTIONS:

“a. da-fltu “r“-

On the attached card you will find an identification
number. Please copy the number in the space below.

Number

 

Print your name on the card, using the name by which you
are registered in this school.

Now,_place the card in the envelope and seal it.

 

PART I

In this section we will ask you to indicate some of
your reactions to the unit you have just completed, as well
as to some statements about personal characteristics.

Please read each question carefully and follow the
directions for answering it.

1. I have been interested enough in this unit to do some
additional readings:
Yes No
If Yes: (A) Where did you do the readings? (You may
check more than one).

School (library or teacher's materials)
City library

At friends'

At home

Other

170

171

(B) What materials have you read? (You may
check more than one).

___Books
___Magazines
___Newspapers
___Others

ase add your comments here

 

I'

 

This unit has interested me that I have talked about
it with other people.

Yes No

 

If Yes: With whom have you discussed it?

C1 as smates

Friends other than classmates

Teachers and other adults

Family members

Please add your comments here

 

3. I have heard other people in the class talk about this
unit. Yes No

If Yes: The comments were:

___Positive
___Negative
___lndifferent
___0ther (expl ain)

 

Please add your comments here

 

4. After having taken this unit I think it was: (Check one)

1» Very interesting

. Interesting

. Don't feel one way or another about it
. Rather uninteresting

___5 . Boring

Please add your comments here

 

172

In relation to other units studied in home economics
the decision-making unit was:

1 . More interesting
2. About equally interesting
3 . Less interesting

Please add your comments here

 

 

 

Directions: Read each of the following statements and
indicate how you feel about it by circling
the appropriate number from the list below:
1. Strongly agree
2. Agree
3. Uncertain or undecided
4. Disagree
5. Strongly disagree

This unit will help me to: SA SD

a. Make better decisions in my daily life 1 2 3 4 5

b. Be more realistic about what I can do 1 2 3 4 5
and what I cannot do

c. Have greater control of my life and my 1 2 3 4 5

future

(1. Understand better myself and others in l 2 3 4 5
everyday actions

e. Understand how the decisions I make in- l 2 3 4 5
fluence and bring about other decisions

f. Realize that it is very difficult to l 2 3 4 5
plan one's life in advance because so
much depends on factors one cannot

control

9. Make decisions promptly instead of l 2 3 4 5
putting them off

h. Reach a greater number of the goals 1 2 3 4 5
I have set for myself

i. Accept more fully the consequences of l 2 3 4 5

my decisions

173

Realize that the decisions that are 1 2 3 4 5
best for me are those made with con—

sideration of my values and which

allow me to achieve my goals

Feel more confident about the future 1 2 3 4 5
and about myself

Directions: The following incomplete sentences are
related to the decision-making unit you just finished.
Read each one and indicate how you feel about it by
circling the appropriate number from the list below:

1. Very enjoyable

2. Enjoyable

3. Neither enjoyable nor unenjoyable
4. Not enjoyable

5. Not at all enjoyable

VE NE

a. In general, I think the decision- 1 2 3 4 5
making unit was

b. The topics discussed were 1 2 3 4 5

c. The methods and materials used to teach 1 2 3 4 5
it were

(1. The teacher's enthusiasm and knowledge 1 2 3 4 5
of the subject-matter made her teaching

e. The opportunity to discuss and analyze l 2 3 4 5
problems like these was

f. The opportunity to talk about these 1 2 3 4 5
problems with my classmates was

8. Directions: The statements below are concerned with
personal attitudes and traits. Read each statement
and decide whether it is true or false as it appjies
to you personally.

Circle T if you think it is true, circle F if you think
it is false.

T F l. I never hesitate to go out of my way to help some-
one in trouble.

T F 2. It is sometimes hard for me to go on with my work
if I am not encouraged.

T F 3. I would never think of letting someone else be
punished because of my wrongdoings.

174

T F 4. On occasions I have doubts about my ability to
succeed in life.

T F 5. I am always careful about my manner of dress.

T F 6. If I could get into a movie without paying and
be sure I was not to be seen I would probably do
it.

T F 7. I like to gossip at times.

T F 8. I can remember "playing sick" to get out of some-
thing.

T F 9. When I don't know something I don't mind at all
admitting it.

T F 10. I have never felt that I was punished without a
cause.

T F 11. I have never deliberately said something that hurt
someone's feelings.

PART II

In this section we will ask for your opinions about
the subjects you are taking in school, and also about some
situations of general interest to teenagers.

l. Directions: Please indicate how interested you are
in the following school subjects. Indicate your in-
terest by circling the appropriate number from the list
below:

1. Strongly interested

2. Interested

3. Indifferent

4. Disinterested

S. Strongly disinterested

X. I have not taken the subject

Circle “1" if you are strongly interested, circle "2"
if you are interested, and so on. If you do not have an
opinion because you have not taken a particular subject,
you may circle “X."

Be sure to circle only one number of the X for each

subject.

175

SI
a. Agriculture.................... 1 2 3
b. Art............................ 1 2 3
c. Business....................... 1 2 3
d. English........................ 1 2 3
e. Family Living.................. 1 2 3
f. Foreign Languages.............. 1 2 3
9. Home Economics................. 1 2 3
h. Mathematics.................... 1 2 3
i. Music.......................... 1 2 3
j. Physical Education............. 1 2 3
k. Science........................ 1 2 3
1. Social Studies................. 1 2 3

##hkkbfibbhhh

U1

(flUlU‘IUIUlU'I

XX X X X ><>< X X >< XX

2. Directions: Please indicate how interested you are
Indicate

 

in the following areas of home economics.

your interest by circling the appropriate number from

the list below:

1. Strongly interested

2. Interested

3. Indifferent

4. Disinterested

5. Strongly disinterested

X. I have not taken the subject

Circle "1" if you are strongly interested, circle “2"

if you are interested, and so on. If you do not have an
opinion because you have not taken a particular subject,

you may circle “X."

Be sure to circle onlyjone number or the X for each

area.

SI
a. Child development or child care....... 1
b. Clothing construction.................

1
c. Clothing selection and care........... 1
d. Consumer buying or consumer problems.. 1

1

e0 Patnily financeOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

NM

wwwww

bnbubbnb

S

U'IU'IU'IU'IU'IU

><><><><><

176

Family and interpersonal relationships 1 2 3 4 5 X
Food preparation...................... 1 2 3 4 5 X
Food selection and buying............. 1 2 3 4 5 X
Health or home nursing................ l 2 3 4 5 X
Home management or decision-making.... 1 2 3 4 5 X
Home furnishings and decoration....... 1 2 3 4 5 X
. Housing the family.................... 1 2 3 4 5 X
L. Nutrition............................. 1 2 3 4 5 X

lirections: Read the two following questions. Indicate
whether you agree or disagree with each statement by circ-
ling the appropriate number from the list below:

11. Strongly agree

2. Agree

3. Uncertain

4. Disagree

5. Strongly disagree

Circle ”1“ if you strongly agree, circle "2" if you
agree and so on. Be sure to circle only one number for
each statement.

3. If a friend of yours was thinking of dropping out of
school, how would you feel?
SA SD
a. He may have acceptable reasons for 1 2 3 4 5
dropping out of school, but not
everybody does.

b. Dropping out of school could be the 1 2 3 4 5
best solution for him since it does
not necessarily close all future
opportunities for him.

c. He shouldn't drop out of school. 1 2 3 4 5
There is no excuse for anyone to
do such a thing.

d. In most cases, dropping out of l 2 3 4 5
school is the best solution for
people like him, with certain kinds
of problems.

Add your comments here

 

”‘

177

4. A woman today has many opportunities open to her in
the world of work as well as in her home and community.
A few of the possibilities are listed below. Indicate
whether you agree or disagree with each statement by
circling the appropriate number.

Circle "1” if you strongly agree, circle "2" if you
agree, and so on. Circle only one number for each state-
ment.

SA SD
a. It is best for a woman not to work 1 2 3 4 5
after she is married, but it would
be acceptable for a short time if it
were necessary.
b. She should make marriage her only 1 2 3 4 5
occupation and family life her main
interest.

c. An intelligent woman with a good edu— l 2 3 4 5
cation should be able to combine a
career with a home and family if she
chooses to.

d. A woman should participate in commu- l 2 3 4 S
nity activities besides taking care
of her home and family.

e. A woman should have a career if she l 2 3 4 5
wants to, even if it means postponing
marriage or children.

Add your comments here

 

 

PART III

Make sure that you read each question carefully before
you answer it. Follow the directions indicated for each
question.

1. Which of the statements below best explains what re-
sources are? (Check one).

Resources are:

a. the amount of education and intelligence people have.

. means people use to get what they need or want.

. things like money, time and energy.

. those material possessions that help people live a
better life.

—|."“‘ -—r--‘r'r

178

2. Which of the statements below best explains what goals
are? (Check one).

Goals are:

a.
b.

Co

d.

purposes people hold consciously.

the main objectives a person wants to reach in life.
ends that provide direction for people's decisions
and actions.

what people value most highly.

3. Which of the statements below best explains what values
are? (Check one).

Values are:

4.

some things we are committed to.

what parents believe is important for us.
strong beliefs that move us to action.
ends or purposes in our lives.

Which of the statements below best explains the rela-

tionship between values and decisions? (Check one).

a.
b.

Co

d.

A person needs to know what his values are and then
should stick to them when making a decision.

Values are an important factor to consider when mak—
ing a decision.

The choices people make are a reflection of their
values.

The emphasis given to values will vary from one choice
to another.

5. The brief cases listed below are real situations. Read
each one and indicate how informed and conscious you
think the decision-makers were by placing one number
from the list of alternatives in the space on the left.

Alternatives:

a.

1. Probably well informed and conscious

2. Probably poorly informed and conscious

3. Probably uninformed and conscious (routine,
habit-like or impulse decisions).

Julie, 14, spent all of her weekly allowance on the
latest hit record; this left her with no money to
pay for her ticket to the big school game Saturday
which she had planned to attend for weeks.

Four college students enter into Canada to avoid the
draft.

179

c. When Lois stepped in the department store to buy some
much needed nylons, she found a lovely scarf on which
she spent all the money she had left.

d. After 50 years in the U.S., George Paspas, 73, will
retire from his hat reblocking business; he intends
to return to his native village in Greece where he
has relatives.

e. Mary, 16 and quite overweight, selected a bright red
sweater with matching skirt and stockings for a new
winter outfit for herself.

f. The Yale Draft Refusal Committee reported that 303
university members signed pledges to resist induction
into the armed forces, calling the Vietnam war "unjust.”

PART IV
ALL THE REMAINING QUESTIONS ARE BASED ON CASE STUDIES.

1. Read each case study thoroughly.

2. Follow the directions for the questions about
each case study.

3. Refer back to the case study, if necessary,
when answering.

CASE 1. UNMARRIED TEACHERS ADOPT GIRLS

Pompano Beach, Fla. (AP)--Twin schoolteachers, June and
Joan Marhefka, both 29 and unmarried, today had two 5—year-
old daughters to care for--orphans from Bogota, Colombia.

The children, Consuelo and Mariesol, arrived over the
weekend from South America for their first meeting with the
Marhefka sisters and found a little girls' bedroom outfitted
with pretty clothes, stuffed pink animals, and jumpropes.
There are bicycles hidden away for Christmas.

Joan and June Marhefka have been studying Spanish since
May when they applied to the Colombian government to adopt
a child. They were urged to apply to the South American
nation by a fellow teacher who had taught in Bogota.

Colombian law allowed the unmarried sisters to adopt
children of their own sex. The investigations by social
workers were completed this summer.

The sisters know about adoption. Although they are
the natural children of Mr. and Mrs. John Marhefka of
Johnstown, Pa., there was an adopted brother, two foster
brothers and a foster sister in the family.

_-#-*fir"
1.

180

1. In the case of the two teachers that you just read,
some of their behavior can be considered to be evi-
dence of their values.

Directions: In the space at the left of each behavior
place the number of the value it was most
likely produced by. The values listed
may be used more than once.

Behaviors Values

 

The twin sisters:

a. Are schoolteachers 1. Initiative

b. Are unmarried 2. Humanity

c. Applied for and adopted 3. Education
two little girls

d. Outfitted a little girls' 4. Independence
bedroom with clothes and
toys

5. Not a product of the
e. Studied Spanish teachers' values

f. Had adopted brothers in
their own family.

2. Below there is a list of possible outcomes of the
schoolteachers' decision to adopt the two little girls.
Read each outcome and place the number of the alterna-
tive you think fits it in the blank on the left. Do
this for both columns.

Alternatives:

1. Highly probable
2. Probable

3. Uncertain

4. Improbable

5. Highly improbable

 

 

Outcomes for the Teachers Outcomes for the Children
a. They will be happier a. They will be healthier
than if they hadn't and better cared for.
adopted the children.
b. Their freedom and b. They will get more
independence will be education and train-
reduced. ing for a career or

vocation.

f.

181

The children will be a c.
financial burden for
them.

The children will inter- d.
fere with their work.

They will have to ex- e.
plain their decision to

all new acquaintances

in order not to be

criticized.

Potential husbands will
shy away from them.

They will miss their
country and original
family.

They will be happier.

They will fare better
in life.

3. In the case of the two teachers adopting the foreign
little girls, the decision made can be best described
as: (Check one).

a.

b.

Co

d.

Jane,

A routine decision
An informed decision
A central decision

A satellite decision

CASE 2. JANE

17, is a high school senior.

She has above aver—

age intelligence and a good academic standing. She is in-

terested in working as a nurse or in teaching small children.

Jane's family can finance a good part of her expenses
if she wants to go on to college; her parents encourage her
to do so. V

Jane enjoys sports and has become good at tennis while
in high school.

This year she has been dating a classmate who intends

to start working as soon as he graduates.

est in further studies for himself and doesn't understand

Jane's desire for a college education.

In the last few months Jane has made decisions in dif-

ferent areas.

Read them and then proceed to read the direc-

tions below before filling in the blanks.

He has no inter-

182

I. II. JANE'S DECISIONS

 

1. She has decided to attend the local Community
College and possibly later transfer to the
State University and graduate after four years.

2. She applied for a full time summer job to get
extra money for college expenses.

3. She accepted a ring from Joe, the classmate
she has been dating this year.

4. She entered a school tennis tournament.

5. She bought a new winter coat and a couple
of skirts with matching sweaters.

6. She has told her mother that she intends to
help more at home on weekends.

4. Directions:

 

(1) Decide how complicated you feel each decision is.
To do this, place the letter of one of the alter-
natives listed below in the space provided under
Column I.

A. Highly complicated
B. Complicated, but not too much
C. Routine or very simple

(2) Now, decide how influential you think each decision
will be for Jane. How far and deeply might the
consequences of the decision affect her life or the
lives of others?

To do this, place the letter of one of the al-
ternatives listed below in the space under Column II.

X. Very influential
Y. Of some influence
2. Neutral or of little influence

CASE 3. MIKE

Mike is seventeen years old. He is a pleasant, well-
built boy and a natural athlete.

Mike is entering his junior year of high school. His
academic abilities are well below average, which means that
he will probably never do well at English, social studies,
languages, math, science, or any other academic subjects.
As a result of his limited academic abilities, coupled with
a rather happy-go—lucky attitude toward school, he has a
poor school record. He has been kept back twice. His

183

homework is not too bad, since he has lots of friends who
are willing to help him, but on tests he always scores near
the bottom of the class. He does seem to have average abil-
ity for vocational subjects, and he was once advised to
take a vocational course.
Mike's father is a construction worker. His yearly
income is $6500 from this job and from factory work he picks
up during the winter months when construction work slacks
off. Mike's mother does not work. Neither of his parents
finished high school.
Mike has two younger sisters living at home. An older
sister dropped out of high school several years ago to get
married, and she now lives in another state. The pride of
the family is Mike's older brother, who is 25. He got very y
good grades in school, won an appointment to the Naval Acad— .
emy and is now a naval officer. .
Mike's father raised a terrible row when Mike brought a
home his last report card. He said Mike was just wasting ' .
his time in school, and that if his marks did not improve
this year he would have to leave school and start earning
his own living.
Mike himself is not especially anxious to leave school.
He does not mind going to classes, and he enjoys sports
and being with his friends. He has never thought much about
what kind of career he would like. He has been dating a
girl in his class who is in the college preparatory course
and who plans to go on to college. She urges Mike to stay
in school and try to get his diploma.

5. What do you consider to be the positive factors in Mike's
case?

Directions: Rank the factors listed below, placing a
(1) in front of the most positive, a (2)
in front of the second most positive and
continue with the rest of them until you
give a (6) to the least positive one.

 

a. His athletic abilities and interest in sports.

b. His average abilities for vocational subjects.

c. His pleasant disposition and ability to make friends.
d. His father's stern attitude about his grades.

e. His girlfriend's encouragement that he stay in school.
f. His good health and physical condition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. What do you consider to be the limiting factors in Mike's
case?

Directions: As in question 5, rank the factors listed
below, placing a (1) in front of the most
limiting one, a (2) in front of the second
most limiting and continue with the rest
of them until you give a (6) to the least
limiting factor.

7.

a.
0

Suppose Mike decided to follow your advice.

184

His apparent lack of goals and plans for the future.
Limitations of his intellectual capabilities.
Limitations of his economic resources.

His attitude about his studies and his future.

The poor school record he has built up.

His devoting more time to sports than to studying.

(1) What would you advise Mike to do? (Check one).

Make an effort to raise his grades so that he can
get into the college preparatory program next year.

Drop out of school now, and work at a job in which

his talents (such as his ability to meet people eas-

ily) can be used.

Work harder now to improve his grades, take a voca-
tional course next year and get his diploma.

Change now to an evening business course, working
during the day to earn his own living.

Join the Armed Services.

Other (Explain)

 

 

.Other (Explain)

(2) What reason(s) do you have for your answer?
(Check the one you think is best).

A boy has to go to college if he wants to succeed
in this country.

A person should not try to do more than what his
abilities and interests permit.

A boy from a family with limited resources has no
way of getting a good education.

A boy who starts to work while young can get a head
start in life.

 

 

dictions, if any, are you willing to make about the
consequences of it: (a) in the next year, and (b) in
the next five years. If you feel you are unable to
make predictions, indicate your reasons for feeling
this way.

What pre-

“PM “1'?“- "-7"—

185

(a) In the next year

 

 

(b) In the next five years

 

(c) Reasons why you are unable to make predictions:

 

 

 

Comments:

 

CASE 4. LIZ

Liz is fifteen and has done pretty well in school, al-
though her work tends to be uneven. Science and mathematics
come easily to her, but her abilities for English, Social
Studies, and languages, and for vocational subjects are
about average, and courses in these subjects are sometimes
a real struggle. She has been advised by the school guid-
ance counselor that she could probably do well in college
if she is prepared to work very hard.

Although she has a real talent for science and math,
Liz is careful not to seem too good in class, since her
mother and her friends have told her that being good in
science and math is "unfeminine."

Liz's main interest is music. She plays the piano and
the cello and has performed in a number of local recitals
and concerts. Most of her free time is spent in practice
or listening to records. Much as she loves music though,
she is honest enough to admit that she does not have enough
talent to succeed as a performer.

Liz has been dating a boy from her town, who has just
graduated from high school and is about to start his first
year at the State University. This is the first boy she
has dated. He wanted Liz to go steady with him, but her
parents felt that she was too young and that she should
go out with different boys while she was in high school.

Liz's father is a high school teacher, earning $7500
a year. He has encouraged her scientific interests and
could afford to put her through college if she were to go
to the state university and live at home. He would also
be willing to pay her tuition if she wanted to go away to
college. Liz's mother had two years of college before her
marriage. She has never had a job, but is active in clubs
and other community activities. Liz has one eight-year
old brother.

“Mfr—raw
I

186

9. What do you consider to be Liz's positive factors?

Directions: Rank the factors listed below placing
a (l) in front of the most positive, a
(2) in front of the second most positive,
and continue with the rest of them until
you place a (6) in front of the least
positive one.

 

a. Her academic talent, especially in math and science.
b. Her musical abilities and interest.
c. The father's encouragement of her scientific interest.

d. The mother's encouragement of her feminine role.

(‘- ...- rl- is ..r
4

e. The family economic resources. a,
f. Her parents' education and social position. I
10. What do you consider to be Liz's limiting factors?
Directions: Rank the factors listed below in the same
way as you did in question 9 above, using
the number (1) for the most limiting fac-
tor and the number (6) for the least lim-
iting one.
a. Her lack of real talent in music.

b. Her mother and friends' attitudes about her proper
feminine role.

c. Her devoting so much time to music instead of her
school work. »

d. Not committing herself enough to her studies.

e. Lack of definition of her goals and intentions for
the future.

f. Her parents' opposition to her going steady.
ll. (1) What should Liz do? (Check one).

a. Work hard to raise her grade point average so she
can get into the college of her choice.

b. Not pay attention to the opinions of her mother and
friends and take extra work in science and math.

 

187
c. Plan to marry her boyfriend when she finishes high
school.
d. Work harder at developing her musical abilities so
she can make a career in music after she gets her

diploma.

e. Take a vocational course next year to prepare herself
to work full-time when she gets her diploma.

f. Drop out of school and devote all her time to music.

g. Other (explain)

 

 

(2) What reason(s) do you have to support your answer?
(Check the one you think is best).

a. A woman doesn't need more than a high school educa-
tion if she wants to marry and have a happy family
life.

b. A girl should get a college education if her family
can pay for it.

c. Women who have the intelligence and the inclination
should pursue studies in any field as long as they
want to.

d. In this country every person needs to get as much
education as possible in order to make it good.

e. A person should be free to pursue her real interests
in life without letting prejudices of others stand
in her way.

f. A girl shouldn't go to the trouble and expense of
going to college since she won't have to work all
her life anyway.

9. Other (explain)

 

 

12. Suppose Liz decided to follow your advice. What pre-
dictions, if any, would you be willing to make about
the consequences of it: (a) in the next year, and
(b) in the next five years. If you feel you are un-
able to make predictions, indicate your reasons for
feeling this way.

.‘suym—l (fr .—
i

188

(a) In the next year

 

 

(b) In the next five years

 

 

(c) Reasons why you are unable to make predictions:

 

 

 

Comments:

 

 

 

 

APPENDIX V

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
College of Education

DAILY RECORD OF CLASSROOM TEACHING

Teacher's name:
. Supervising teacher
. Student-teacher

 

 

 

 

School Date
Lesson No. Length of period minutes

 

No. of students in class No. of students enrolled
Concepts covered

 

Generalizations covered

 

 

 

lSeszisss_es-Essr_9§_sss_esss_i£-asss§§s£xl ________________
Methods or Techniques Used Comments and Description

Lecture
General teacher-class
discussion
Small group discussion
Panel, symposium
Resource person (specify)
Reading (specify)
Role playing, sociodrama
Case study
Film or filmstrip
Tape, records
Others (specify)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

189

v t

190

Student Participation (limited to verbal participation)

No. of students participating
No. of students not participating

Directions: Read the descriptions for the next two items
and write the number corresponding to the situation you
observed in the box at the right.

 

Quality of students' contributions:

 

 

l 2 3 4 5 Rating
Unenthusiastic, Moderately enthu- Mostly enthusi-
negative or siastic, construc- astic, construc-
irrelevant tive and relevant tive and relevant

 

Interest exhibited by students:

 

 

1 2 3 4 5 Rating
One-third or Around half of Two-thirds or
less appear them appear more appear
interested interested interested

 

Comments

 

 

 

 

 

APPENDIX VI

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

College of Education

DAILY RECORD OF TEACHER-STUDENT CONTACTS

Teacher's name:
. Supervising teacher

 

. Student teacher

 

School Date

 

DIRECTIONS:

 

Please record separately for each day the number and
the different type of teacher-student contacts occurred
during and outside the teaching period; these should be
related to the decision-making unit. Record onlyjthose
contacts initiated by students.

No. of
Type of Contact Students Comments

Questions (asking to clarify
something from lessons, dis-
cussions, readings, etc.)
Relating personal experience
Seeking more information
Seeking reading suggestions

Offering suggestions

Commenting on their interest

 

Others (specify)

 

 

 

No. of different students

 

191

Amt—A. ‘4'.’ M-*—-'
L

APPENDIX VII

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY, East Lansing, Michigan 48823
College of Education, Erickson Hall

Dear Home Economics Supervising Teacher:

I am a graduate student in home economics education at
MSU, doing the research for my doctoral dissertation under
the guidance of Dr. Twyla Shear, Associate Professor of
Home Economics Education. My intention in this letter is
to explain to you something about the study and find out
whether you would become interested in having one of your
homemaking classes participate in it.

The proposed investigation focuses on the comparison
of selected methods for teaching home management to high
school students. We feel that this study will be of value
to home economics teachers in teaching home management be—
cause of its abstractness and complexness.

“.1“. '—-.“-‘ . ”It?
.—

The participation we are asking for is your willingness
to allow the MSU home economics student teacher who will
be in your school Winter Term, 1968, to be one of our ex-
perimental teachers.

With the help of Dr. Beatrice Paolucci, Professor of
Home Management, we have selected the decision-making proc-
ggg for the content of the unit in which the methods will
be tried. Teaching the unit requires only five consecutive
class periods of 45 to 60 minutes each, plus two additional
periods for administering a pre-test and a post-test to
the students. The experimental teachers will receive the
complete unit on decision-making, including objectives,
content and learning experiences. Only an outline of the
objectives and content to be taught will be provided to
the control teachers, who will have to plan their own
learning experiences for teaching the unit.

We have to select a group of at least six student
teachers to participate in our study; one—half of them
will teach using the experimental method, and the other
half will use the control methods. Of course, the student
teachers, as well as supervising teachers, must indicate
their willingness to participate in order to be selected
for our sample.

We need to collect the data during the coming 1968

Winter Term. We want the student teachers to be in the
Center for five weeks before teaching this unit. This

192

193

means that the selected group of student teachers in our
sample will be teaching the units to the designated classes
some time following February 5, 1968. The data should be
returned to me before March 9 or before the student teach-
ers leave the schools.

To indicate whether you are willing to participate in
the study or if you are unable to do so, please answer the
questions on the next page and return it to Dr. Shear in
the enclosed envelope. Please do not hesitate to write
to me if you feel you would like more information on the
project before making your decision.

With appreciation of any possible cooperation from you,
I remain

Sincerely yours,

Virginia Lattes

Twyla Shear, Coordinator
Home Economics Education Program

Enclosure

w

.58». _-

194

THIS PAGE IS TO BE RETURNED IN THE ENCLOSED ENVELOPE.

THANK YOU.

1. I would be willing to cooperate in the study as explained.
Yes No I need more information before deciding

2. The home economics student teacher will be assigned to
teach high school groups.

Yes No

If yes, please specify what grades she will teach.

Grades Number of Sections Anticipated Enrollment

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Please indicate the following characteristics of your
school.

Size of Community:
2,500 or Under
2,501 to 10,000
Over 10,001

Size of School:
Total Student Enrollment

 

Socio-economic Level:
Upper
Middle
Low
Mixed (specify)

 

4. If necessary, I am willing to administer the pre-test
to the students in the experimental class myself.

Yes No
Your Name
School Name

Address

 

APPENDIX VIII

Decision-Making Patterns for Mike

I. Decision:
a. Make an effort to raise his grades and get into the
college preparatory program next year.

It was considered an inadequate decision, worth 1 point.

Supporting reasons:
(1) Most adequate:
(a) A boy has to go to college if he wants to suc- p_
ceed in this country. '
It was worth 3 points. q

Reasons (b) through (d) were considered inadequate and .
worth 1 point. I

Positive factors regarding the decision:
1. Most positive (ranked as 1 and 2):
e. His girlfriend's encouragement that he stays
in school.
d. His father's stern attitude about his grades.
Each of them was worth one point.

2. Least positive (ranked as 5 and 6):
a. His athletic abilities and interest in sports.
c. His pleasant disposition and ability to make
friends.
Each was worth one point.

Limiting factors regarding this decision:
1. Most limiting (ranked as l and 2):
a. His apparent lack of goals and plans for the
future.
b. Limitations of his intellectual capabilities.
Each was worth one point.

2. Least limiting (ranked as 5 and 6):
c. Limitations of his economic resources.
f. His devoting more time to sports than to study-
ing.
Each was worth one point.
II. Decision:
b. Drop out of school now, and work at a job in which
his talents (such as his ability to meet people easily)
can be used.

It was considered an inadequate decision, worth 1 point.

195

196

Supporting reasons:
1. Most adequate:
b. A person should not try to do more than what
his abilities and interests permit.

It was worth 3 points.

2. Acceptable:
c. A boy from a family with limited resources has
no way of getting a good education.
d. A boy who starts to work while young can get
a head start in life.
Each of them was worth 2 points. Reason (a) was con-
sidered inadequate, worth one point.

Positive factors regarding the decision:
1. Most positive (ranked as l and 2):
c. His pleasant disposition and ability to make
friends.
f. His good health and physical condition.
Each was worth one point.

“g. .-I‘: i . 3.5.. on!
I
1

2. Least positive (ranked as 5 and 6):
d. His father's stern attitude about his grades.
e. His girlfriend's encouragement that he stay in
school.
Each was worth one point.

Limiting factors regarding this decision:
1. Most limiting (ranked as l and 2):
a. His apparent lack of goals and plans for the
future.
b. Limitations of his intellectual capabilities.
Each was worth one point.

2. Least limiting (ranked as 5 and 6):
c. Limitations of his economic resources.
f. His devoting more time to sports than to study—
ing.
Each was worth one point.

III. Decision:
c. Work harder now to improve his grades, take a voca-

tional course next year and get his diploma.

This was considered the most adequate decision for Mike,
worth 3 points.

Supporting reasons:
1. Most adequate:
b. A person should not try to do more than what
his abilities and interests permit.
It was worth 3 points.

197

2. Acceptable:
d. A boy who starts to work while young can get
a head start.
c. A boy from a family with limited resources has
no way of getting a good education.
Each was worth 2 points. Reason (a), considered inade-
quate, was worth one point.

Positive factors:
1. Most positive (ranked 1 and 2):
b. His average abilities for vocational subjects.
e. His girlfriend's encouragement that he stay in
school.
Each was worth one point.

2. Least positive (ranked 5 and 6):
a. His athletic abilities and interest in sports.
c. His pleasant disposition and ability to make
friends.
Each was worth one point.

Limiting factors:
1. Most limiting (ranked 1 and 2):
a. His apparent lack of goals and plans for the
future.
d. His attitude about his studies and about the
future.
Each was worth one point.

2. Least limiting (ranked 5 and 6):
c. Limitations of his economic resources.
e. The poor school record he has built up.
Each was worth one point.

IV. Decision:

d. Change now to an evening business course, working
during the day to earn his own living.

This decision was rated as inadequate and it was worth
one point.

Supporting reasons:
1. Most adequate:
d. A boy who starts to work while young can get a
head start.
b. A person should not try to do more than what his
abilities and interest permit.
Each of them was worth 3 points.

2. Acceptable:
c. A boy from a family with limited resources has
no way of getting a good education.
It was worth 2 points. Reason (a), considered inade—
quate, was worth 1 point.

.. '7‘.) V '

w om- q.

198

Positive factors:
1..Most positive (ranked 1 and 2):
b. His average abilities and interest in sports.
d. His father's stern attitude about his grades.
Each was worth one point.

2. Least positive (ranked 5 and 6):

a. His athletic abilities and interest in sports.

e. His girlfriend's encouragement to stay in school.
Each was worth one point.

Limiting factors:
1. Most limiting (ranked 1 and 2):
b. Limitations of his intellectual capabilities.
d. His attitude about his studies and his future.
Each was worth one point.

2. Least limiting (ranked 5 and 6): 3.

c. Limitations of his economic resources.
e. The poor school record he has built up.
Each was worth one point.

 

Decision:
e. Join the Armed Services.
It was considered an acceptable decision, worth 2 points.

Supporting reasons:
1. Most adequate:
c. A boy from a family with limited resources has
no way of getting a good education.
It was worth 3 points.

2. Acceptable:
b. A person should not try to do more than what
his abilities and interests permit.
It was worth 2 points. Reasons (a) and (d),considered
inadequate, were worth 1 point.

Positive factors:
1. Most positive (ranked 1 and 2):
f. His good health and physical condition.
b. His average abilities for vocational subjects.
Each was worth one point.

2. Least positive (ranked 5 and 6):
e. His girlfriend's encouragement to stay in school.
d. His father's stern attitude about his grades.
Each was worth one point.

199

Limiting factors:
1. Most limiting (ranked 1 and 2):
d. His attitude about his studies and his future.
b. Limitations of his intellectual capabilities.

Each was worth one point.

2. Least limiting (ranked 5 and 6):
a. His apparent lack of goals and plans for the

future.
c. Limitations of his economic resources.

Each was worth one point.

Decision—making Patterns for Liz

I. Decision:

a. Work hard to raise her grade point average so she
can get into the college of her choice.

This was considered as the most adequate decision for
Liz, worth 3 points.

. . stag-spam)”

Supporting reasons:
1. Most adequate:
b. A girl should get a college education if her

family can pay for it.

2. Acceptable:
d. In this country every person needs to get as
much education as possible in order to make good.
c. Women who have the intelligence and the inclina—
tion should pursue studies in any field as long
as they want to.
Each one was worth 2 points. Reasons (a), (c) and (f),
considered inadequate, were worth one point.

Positive factors:
1. Most positive (ranked 1 and 2):
a. Her academic talent, especially in math and
science.
c. The father's encouragement of her scientific
interests.
Each was worth one point.

2. Least positive (ranked 5 and 6):
d. The mother's encouragement of her feminine role.
b. Her musical abilities and interest.

Each was worth one point.

Limiting factors:
1. Most limiting (ranked 1 and 2):
d. Not committing herself enough to her studies.
e. Lack of definition of her goals and intentions
for the future.
Each was worth one point.

200

2. Least limiting (ranked 5 and 6):
f. Her parents' opposition to her going steady.
a. Her lack of real talent in music.

Each was worth one point.

II. Decision:

b. Not pay attention to the opinions of her mother and
friends and take extra math and science.

This decision, considered acceptable, was worth 2 points.

Supporting reasons:
1. Most adequate:
e. A person should be free to pursue her real in-
terests in life.
This was worth 3 points.

2. Acceptable:
c. Women who have the intelligence and the inclina- Y w
tion should pursue studies in any field as long I
as they want to.
d. In this country every person needs to get as
much education as possible in order to make good.
Each was worth 2 points. Reasons (a), (b) and (f),
considered inadequate, were worth 1 point.

Positive factors:
1. Most positive (ranked 1 and 2):
a. Her academic talent, especially math and science.
c. Her father's encouragement of her scientific
interest.
Each was worth 1 point.

2. Least positive (ranked 5 and 6):
d. The mother's encouragement of her feminine role.
b. Her musical abilities and interest.

Each was worth one point.

Limiting factors:
1. Most limiting (ranked 1 and 2):
b. Her mother's and friends' attitudes about her
proper feminine role.
e. Lack of definition of her goals and intentions
for the future.
Each was worth one point.

2. Least limiting (ranked 5 and 6):

a. Her lack of real talent in music.

f. Her parents' opposition to her going steady.
Each was worth one point.

III. Decision:
c. Plan to marry her boyfriend when she finishes high
school.

201

Supporting reasons:
1. Most adequate:

e. A person should be free to pursue her real in-
terests in life without letting prejudices of
others stand in her way.

It was worth 3 points.

2. Acceptable:

a. A woman doesn't need more than a high school
education if she wants to marry and have a happy
family life.

f. A girl shouldn't go to the trouble and expense
of going to college since she won't have to work
all her life anyway.

Each was worth 2 points. Reasons (b), (c) and (d),
considered inadequate, were worth 1 point.

Positive factors:
1. Most positive (ranked 1 and 2):
d. The mother's encouragement of her feminine role.

e. The family economic resources.

2. Least positive (ranked 5 and 6):
a. Her academic talent, especially in math and
science.
c. The father's encouragement of her scientific
interests.
Each was worth one point.

Limiting factors:
1. Most limiting:
f. Her parents' opposition to her going steady.
e. Lack of definition of her goals and intentions
for the future.
Each was worth one point.

2. Least limiting (ranked 5 and 6):
b. Her mother's and friends' attitude about her
proper feminine role.
c. Her devoting so much time to music instead of
her school work.
Each was worth one point.

IV. Decision:
d. Work harder at developing her musical abilities so
she can make a career in music after she gets her diploma.
It was considered acceptable and worth 2 points.

Supporting reasons:
1. Most adequate:

e. A person should be free to pursue her real in-
terests in life without letting prejudices of
others stand in her way.

It was worth 3 points.

 

202

2. Acceptable:

c. Women who have the intelligence and the inclina—
tion should pursue studies in any field as long
as they want to.

It was worth 2 points. Reasons (a), (b), (d) and (f),
considered inadequate, were worth 1 point.

Positive factors:
1. Most positive (ranked 1 and 2):
b. Her musical abilities and interest.
e. The family economic resources.

2. Least positive (ranked 5 and 6):
c. The father's encouragement of her scientific
interests.
a. Her academic talent, especially in math and
science.
Each was worth 1 point.

Limiting factors:
1. Most limiting (ranked 1 and 2):
a. Her lack of real talent in music.
e. Lack of definition of her goals and intentions
for the future.
Each was worth one point.

2. Least limiting (ranked 5 and 6):
c. Her devoting so much time to music instead of
her school work.
f. Her parents' opposition to her going steady.
Each was worth one point.

V. Decision:
e. Take a vocational course next year to prepare her-
self to work full time when she gets her diploma.

This decision, considered acceptable, was worth 2 points.

Supporting reasons:
1. Most adequate:

e. A person should be free to pursue her real in-
terests in life without letting prejudices of
others stand in the way.

It was worth 3 points.

2. Acceptable:

f. A girl shouldn't go to the trouble and expense
of going to college since she won't have to work
all her life anyway.

It was worth 2 points. Reasons (a), (b), (c) and (d)
were worth one point.

203

Positive factors:
1. Most positive (ranked 1 and 2):
d. The mother's encouragement of her feminine role.
e. The family economic resources.
Each was worth one point.

2. Least positive (ranked 5 and 6):
a. Her academic talent, especially in math and
science.
c. The father's encouragement of her scientific
interests.
Each was worth 1 point.

Limiting factors:
1. Most limiting (ranked 1 and 2):
e. Lack of definition of her goals and intentions
for the future.
c. Her devoting so much time to music instead of
her school work.

2. Least limiting (ranked 5 and 6):

a. Her lack of real talent in music.

f. Her parents' opposition to her going steady.
Each was worth one point.

VI. Decision:

f. Drop out of school and devote all of her time to
music.

This decision was considered inadequate, and was worth

one point.

Supporting reasons:
1. Most adequate:

e. A person should be free to pursue her real in-
terests in life without letting prejudices of
others stand in her way.

It was worth 3 points.

2. Acceptable:

c. Women who have the intelligence and the inclina-
tion should pursue studies in any field as long
as they want to.

It was worth 2 points. Reasons (a), (b), (d) and (f)
were worth one point.

Positive factors:
1. Most positive (ranked 1 and 2):
b. Her musical abilities and interests.
d. The mother's encouragement of her feminine role.

204

2. Least positive (ranked 5 and 6):
a. Her academic talent, especially in math and
science.
c. The father's encouragement of her scientific
interests.
Each was worth one point.

Limiting factors:
1. Most limiting (ranked 1 and 2):
a. Her lack of real talent in music.
e. Lack of definition of her goals and intentions
for the future.

2. Least limiting (ranked 5 and 6):
c. Her devoting so much time to music instead of
her school work.
d. Not committing herself enough to her studies.
Each was worth one point.

APPENDIX IX

DESCRIPTIVE VARIABLES

Table 4.--School major of students in 17 classes

 

 

 

1* Major
College
Schools Business Preparatory Vocational Tradea Other
Control b
2 .14 .14 .14 .07 .50
4 .64 .28 .00 .07 .00
6 .21 .31 .00 .21 .21
8 .31 .10 .00 .00 .59
10 .27 .23 .27 .09 .09
12 .38 .15 .35 .00 .11
14 .76 .19 .00 .00 .05
Mean .38 .19 .12
Experimental
1 .13 .27 .47 .07 .07
3 .50 .15 .25 .05 .10
5 .36 .12 .24 .08 .16
7 .15 .23 .23 .00 .23
9 .76 .00 .10 .05 .10
11 .28 .72 .04 .04 .00
13 .45 .30 .10 .05 .05
15 .19 .24 .05 .00 .57
17 .14 .32 .00 .09 .18
18 .71 .10 .10 .00 .06
Mean .39 .24 .14

 

aThe category ”trade or technical" was the only
non-significant one in the overall one—way analysis of var-
iance. All the others were significant at the .0005 level.

bAll figures can be read as percentages since data
were coded as 1-0 in each category.

205

206

Table 5.—-Residence as indicated by students in 17 classes

 

Residence
Rural,
Schools City Suburb Town Village Farm Non-farm

Control
2 .21a .21 .07 .14 .oo .36
4 .93 .07 .00 .00 .00 .00
6 .00 .31 .00 .00 .05 .63
8 .55 .07 .00 .10 .03 .24
10 .18 .73 .04 .00 .00 .00
12 .00 .54 .30 .11 .00 .04
14 .14 .62 .00 .00 .05 .19
Mean .27 .38 .19
Experimental
1 .66 .07 .00 .00 .06 .20
3 .00 .00 .10 .05 .30 .55
5 .00 .07 .56 .00 .16 .28
7 .69 .31 .07 .00 .00 .15
9 .09 .00 .00 .47 .09 .33
ll .12 .76 .00 .00 .00 .12
13 .05 .65 .00 .05 .00 .25
15 .62 .33 .00 .05 .00 .00
17 .00 .09 .09 .14 .00 .68
18 .22 .77 .00 .00 .00 .00
Mean .21 .31 .25

 

aAll figures can be interpreted as percentages since
data were coded 1-0 in each category.

 

207

Table 7.--Characteristics of schools participating in the
study

 

 

 

School Enrollment Size of community
Control
2 977 2,501-10,000
4 1,700 Over 10,000a
6 3,139 13,000
8 1,700 Over 10,000
10 1,700-1,800 Over 10,000
12 689 Under 2,500
14 600 2,501-10,000
16 1,780 Over 10,000b :_-
Experimental )
1 2,000 Over 10,000 '
3 825 2,501-10,000 i-m
5 680 Over 10,000
7 565 5,000
9 792 3,000
11 1,034 Over 10,000
13 760 2,501-10,000
15 2,200 Over 10,000c
17 900 2,501-10,000
18 2,000 Over 10,000

 

aPopulation 210,000.

bPopulation 211,000.

CPopulation 50,000.

208

Cognitive Variables

Table 9.--Analysis of covariance of knowledge scores

 

Source of Degrees of Adjusted Sum Adjusted Mean
Variance Freedom of Sguares Squares F P

All Students:

Between groups 1 5.34 5.34 2.65 .12
Within groups 15 30.22 2.01

Twelfth Graders:

Between groups 1 2.60 2.60 1.45 .25
Within groups 3 23.25 1.78

 

Table 10.—-Ana1ysis of covariance of comprehension scores

 

Source of Degrees of Adjusted Sum Adjusted Mean
Variance Freedom of Squares Squares F P

All Students:

Between groups 1 .42 .42 2.14 .65
Within groups 15 29.45 1.96

Twelfth Graders:

Between groups 1 1.71 1.71 1.06 .32

Within groups 13 22.03 1.62

 

‘,.

HZ "l—c -.‘s. ~II
l

‘2:

209

Table ll.--Analysis of covariance of application scores

 

Source of

Degrees of Adjusted Sum

Adjusted Mean

 

 

 

 

Variance Freedom of Sguares Sguares F P
All Students:
Between groups 1 .56 .56 .131 .72
Within groups 15 64.27 4.28
Twelfth Graders:
Between groups 1 4.23 4.23 1.44 .25
Within groups 13 38.12 2.93
Table l3.--Class mean gain scores on cognitive variables
Schools Knowledge Comprehension Application
Control:
2 3.93 1.07 .86
4 1093 -021 050
6 064 -102]. -2021
8 -074 1063 ‘096
10 1.33 .17 6.61
12 1056 “'092 -1088
14 2.00 -.10 -.05
Mean Gain 1.52 .061 .41
Experimental:
1 .93 .73 3.00
3 .30 .55 4.15
5 .52 -.52 -.48
7 1.00 .00 2.36
9 -082 -2017 029
11 -013 -056 -2013
13 000 "lo32 -2037
15 1082 -017 088
17 071 -l.57 -lo43
18 .37 1.31 2.44
Mean Gain .47 —3.72 .67

 

210

Table 15.--Negative ratings given by classes to method and
teacher in relation to class gains in the cognitive area

 

Cognitive Changes

 

 

 

Positive Negative
Negative Rating Negative Rating
School Method Teacher School Method Teacher
Experimental: Experimental:
1 5 x
3 9
7 11 x x
15 13
18 x x 17 x x
Control: Control:
2 6 x x
4 8
10 x 12 x

14

 

‘ «a LV-fi! ”Jr

211

Affective Variables

Table 16.--Analysis of covariance of interest in home
economics

 

Source of Degrees of Adjusted Sum Adjusted Mean
Variance Freedom of Squares Squares F P

All Students:

Between groups 1 .005 .005 .048 .83
Within groups 15 1.460

Twelfth Graders:

Between groups 1 .188 .188 .571 .46
Within groups 13 4.291 .330

 

 

Table 17.--Ana1ysis of covariance of interest in home
management. all students.

 

Source of Degrees of Adjusted Sum Adjusted Mean
Variance Freedom of Sgpares Squares F P

All Students:

Between groups 1 .139 .139 1.54 .23
Within groups 15 1.357 .090

Twelfth Graders:

Between groups 1 .592 .592 4.54 .053
Within groups 13 1.698 .131

¥

212

Table l8.-—Analysis of variance for additional readings

 

Source of Degrees of Sum of Mean
Variance Freedom Sguares Squares F P

All Students:

Between groups 1 .005 .005 .262 .61
Within groups 16 .317 .019
Total 17 .323

Twelfth Graders:

Between groups 1 .006 .006 .368 .55
Within groups 14 .227 .016
Total 15 .233

 

Table l9.-~Ana1ysis of variance for comments made about
the unit

 

Source of Degrees of Sum of Mean
Variance Freedom Squares quares F P

 

All Students:

Between groups 1 .0117 .0117 .26 .62
Within groups 16 .727 .045
Total 17 .739

Twelfth Graders:

Between groups 1 .216 .216 4.307 .057
Within groups 14 .702 .050

Total 15 .918

 

xpg -. _—"

213

Table 20.--Ana1ysis of variance for comments heard about

 

 

the unit

Source of Degrees of Sum of Mean

Variance Freedom Squares Squares F P

All Students:

Between groups 1 .025 .025 .558 .46
Within groups 16 .716 .045

Total 17 .741

Twelfth Graders:

Between groups 1 .013 .013 .201 .66
Within groups 14 .938 .067

Total 15 .951

 

Table 21.-~Ana1ysis of variance for interest rating of the

 

 

unit

Source of Degrees of Sum of Mean

Variance Freedom quares Squares F P
All Students:

Between groups 1 .868 .868 3.44 .08
Within groups 16 4.032 .252

Total 17 4.900

Twelfth Graders:

Between groups 1 .947 .947 1.89 .19
Within groups 14 7.011 .500

Total 15 7.959

‘

 

214

Table 22.-~Analysis of variance for comparison of the unit
with other units in home economics

 

Source of Degrees of Sum of Mean
Variance Freedom Squares Squares F P

All Students:

Between groups 1 .004 .004 .041 .84
Within groups 16 1.690 .105
Total 17 1.694

Twelfth Graders:

Between groups 1 .027 .027 .233 .63
Within groups 14 1.675 .119
Total 15 1.702

 

Table 23.--Analysis of variance for enjoyment of the unit
in general (a)

 

Source of Degrees of Sum of Mean
Variance Freedom Squares Sguares F P

All Students:

Between groups 1 .472 .472 2.37 .14
Within groups 16 3.187 .199

Total 17 3.659

Twelfth Graders:

Between groups 1 1.680 1.680 4.58 .05
Within groups 14 5.136 .367

Total 15 6.816

215

Table 24.-—Analysis of variance for enjoyment of the topics
of the unit (b)

 

Source of Degrees of Sum of Mean
Variance Freedom Squares Squares F P

All Students:

Between groups 1 .432 .432 4.305 .054
Within groups 16 1.605 .100
Total 17 2.037

Twelfth Graders:

Between groups 1 .715 .715 4.43 .054
Within groups 14 2.259 .161
Total 15 2.974

 

Table 25.--Ana1ysis of variance for enjoyment of teaching
methods and materials (c)

 

Source of Degrees of Sum of Mean
Variance Freedom Squares Sguares F P

All Students:

Between groups 1 .881 .881 2.94 .106
Within groups 16 4.794 .299
Total 17 5.675

Twelfth Graders:

Between groups 1 .461 .461 1.039 .32
Within groups 14 6.213 .443

Total 15 6.674

 

216

Table 26.--Analysis of variance for enjoyment of the
teacher (d)

 

Source of Degrees of Sum of Mean
Variance Freedom Squares Sguares F P

All Students:

Between groups 1 .811 .811 3.11 .097
Within groups 16 4.176 .261
Total 17 4.987

Twelfth Graders:

Between groups 1 .061 .061 .087 .77
Within groups 14 9.764 .697
Total 15 9.825

 

Table 27.--Analysis of variance for enjoyment of "the
opportunity to discuss and analyze problems like these"
(e)

 

Source of Degrees of Sum of Mean
Variance Freedom Squares Sguares F P

 

All Students:

Between groups 1 .197 .197 1.153 .29
Within groups 16 2.745 .171
Total 17 2.942

Twelfth Graders:

Between groups 1 .733 .733 4.55 .051
Within groups 14 2.257 .161

Total 15 2.990

 

217

Table 28.--Ana1ysis of variance for enjoyment of "the
opportunity to talk about these problems with my class-

mates" (f)

 

Source of Degrees of Sum of

Variance Freedom Squares-

All Students:

Between groups 1 .226
Within groups 16 1.893
Total 17 2.109

Twelfth Graders:

Between groups 1 .943
Within groups 14 3.117
Total 15 4.060

Mean
Sguares F P

.226 1.91 .186
.118

.943 4.24 .059
.222

Table 30.--Analysis of covariance for empathy

 

Source of Degrees of Adjusted Sum
‘Variance Freedom of Squares
All Students:

Between groups 1 5.34
‘Within groups 15 36.85
Twelfth Graders:

jBetween groups 1 .00004
Within groups 13 59.28

Adjusted Mean
Squares F P

5.34 2.17 .15
2.45

.00004 .000 .99
4.56

 

218

Table 31.--Corre1ations of social desirability with other
variables measured in the study

 

Variable Correlation P

Cognitive:

 

 

Knowledge -.068 n.s.
Comprehension -.060 n.s.
Application -.051 n.s.
Affective:
Empathy .027 n.s.
Interest in home economics .035 n.s.
Interest in home management -.049 n.s.
Interest in the unit:
Additional readings -.099 n.s.
Comments made -.133 .01
Comments heard -.113 .04
Kinds of comments heard:
positive -.050 n.s.
negative -.085 n.s.
indifferent -.192 .001
Interest rating of the unit -.033 n.s.
Comparison with other units .041 n.s.
Relevance of the unit:
item (a) .055 n.s.
item (b) .059 n.s.
item (c) .042 n.s.
item (d) .103 .05
item (e) .022 n.s.
item (f) .067 n.s.
item (9) .033 n.s.
item (h) .050 n.s.
item (1) .105 .05
item (j) .026 n.s.
item (k) .026 n.s.
Enjoyment of the unit:
item (a) .085 n.s.
item (b) .098 n.s.
item (c) .079 n.s.
item (d) .093 n.s.
item (e) .163 .003
item (f) .155 .004

 

219

Table 4l.--Analysis of variance for relevance item (a):
"make better decisions in my daily life"

 

 

Source of Degrees of Sum of Mean

Variance Freedom Sguares Sguares F P
All Students:

Between groups 1 .669 .669 11.002 .004
Within groups 16 .973 .061

Total 17 1.642

Twelfth Graders:

Between groups 1 1.417 1.417 6.321 .025
Within groups 14 3.138 .224

Total 15 4.554

 

Table 42.--Analysis of variance for relevance item (b):
"Be more realistic about what I can do and what I cannot

 

 

 

do"

Source of Degrees of Sum of Mean

Variance Freedom Squares Squares F P
All Students:

Between groups 1 .256 .256 2.68 .121
Within groups 16 1.526 .095

Total 17 1.783

Twelfth Graders:

.Between groups 1 .505 .505 2.19 .16
Within groups 14 3.225 .230

Total 15 3.730

 

220

Table 43.--Ana1ysis of variance for relevance item (c):
"Have greater control of my life and my future"

 

Source of Degrees of Sum of Mean
Variance Freedom Sguares Sguares F P

All Students:

Between groups 1 .092 .092 1.51 .23
Within groups 16 .972 .061
Total 17 1.064

Twelfth Graders:

Between groups 1 .162 .162 1.05 .32
Within groups 14 2.156 .154 ,
Total 15 2.318 ;

 

 

Table 44.--Ana1ysis of variance for relevance item (d):
"Understand better myself and others in everyday actions"

 

Source of Degrees of Sum of Mean
Variance Freedom Sguares Sggares F P

 

All Students:

Between groups 1 .280 .280 3.82 .068
Within groups 16 1.175 .073

Total 17 1.455

Twelfth Graders:

Between groups 1 .580 .580 3.65 .077
Within groups 14 2.225 .158

Total 15 2.806

 

221

Table 45.--Analysis of variance for relevance item (e):
"Understand how the decisions I make influence and bring

about other decisions"

 

 

 

 

Source of Degrees of Sum of Mean

Variance Freedom Sguares Squares F P
All Students:

Between groups 1 .010 .010 .091 .76
Within groups 16 1.876 .117

Total 17 1.886

Twelfth Graders:

Between groups 1 .048 .048 .188 .67
Within groups 14 3.609 .257

Total 15 3.658

Table 46.--Analysis of variance for item (f): ”Realize

that it is very difficult to plan one's life in advance
because so much depends on factors one cannot control”

 

 

Source of Degrees of Sum of Mean

Variance Freedom Squares Squares F P
All Students:

Between groups 1 .883 .883 12.31 .003
Within groups 16 1.148 .072

Total 17 2.031

Twelfth Graders:

Between groups 1 .661 .661 6.08 .027
Within groups 14 1.521 .108

Total 15 2.182

 

222

 

 

Table 47.-—Analysis of variance for relevance (9): "Make

decisions promptly instead of putting them off"

Source of Degrees of Sum of Mean

Variance Freedom Squares Squares F P

All Students:

Between groups 1 .062 .062 .740 .40

Within groups 16 1.343 .083

Total 17 1.405

Twelfth Graders: t
Between groups 1 .016 .016 .104 .75 ‘
Within groups 14 2.206 .157 n
Total 15 2.222 F"

 

 

Table 48.--Analysis of variance for relevance item (h):
”Reach a greater number of the goals I have set for myself"

 

 

Source of Degrees of Sum of Mean

Variance Freedom Squares Squares F P
All Students:

Between groups 1 .006 .006 .058 .81
Within groups 16 1.692 .106

Total 17 1.698

Twelfth Graders:

Between groups 1 .039 .039 .238 .63
Within groups 14 2.323 .166

Total 15 2.362

 

223

Table 49.--Ana1ysis of variance for relevance item (1):
”Accept more fully the consequences of my decisions"

 

Source of Degrees of Sum of Mean
Variance Freedom Sguares Squares F P

 

All Students:

Between groups 1 .012 .012 .332 .57
Within groups 16 .589 .037
Total 17 .602

Twelfth Graders:

Between groups 1 .107 .107 .656 .43
Within groups 14 2.295 .164
Total 15 2.402

“V

Table 50.--Ana1ysis of variance for relevance item (j):
“Realize that the decisions that are best for me are those
made with consideration of my values and which allow me to
achieve my goals"

 

Source of Degrees of Sum of Mean
Variance Freedom Squares Squares F P

All Students:

Between groups 1 .016 .016 .154 .69
Within groups 16 1.664 .104

Total 17 1.680

Twelfth Graders:

Between groups 1 .359 .359 1.66 .21
Within groups 14 3.032 .216

Total 15 3.392

 

. sum“ ’1
II
I

224

Table 51.—-Ana1ysis of variance for relevance item (k):
"Feel more confident about the future and about myself"

 

 

Source of Degrees of Sum of Mean

Variance Freedom Squares Squares F P
All Students:

Between groups 1 .035 .035 .368 .55
Within groups 16 1.519 .094

Total 17 1.554

Twelfth Graders:

Between groups 1 .020 .020 .070 .79
Within groups 14 4.074 .291

Total 15 4.094

 

1.1

APPENDIX X

t Formula Used in the Study

 

 

t = 1 2
2 1
s 1 1
ham—v
1 2
df = nl + n2 - 2

225

‘IV4 A '

 

 

'rw

HICHIGRN STATE U

II \II WI
0

NIV. LIBRnRIEs
"II“ I) W )W II) N WI
98

35424

 

312931