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    A study of the effect of hypnotic susceptibility on senior secondary school students taught by regular subject instruction or by an accelerated learning method : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1993) Coates, Francis Colin
    In this study a Sixth Form Certificate class in Human Relations was taught by accelerated learning methods through the whole academic year. All students in this class were matched closely with students not involved in the Human Relations area. Accelerated Learning approaches are based on the original work of a Russian Psychiatrist who called his early work Suggestopedia. Lozanov believed that the effective use of suggestion was the key to speeding the acquisition of knowledge and improving its retention. Relaxation skills are a prime feature of accelerated learning when students receive passive instruction while relaxing to baroque music. The study measured the students on both academic performance and measures, pre and post treatment, of anxiety and self-esteem. At the end of the year all students were assessed on level of susceptibility to hypnotic suggestion. A division was made into those regarded as high or low in susceptibility to suggestion, and the results of testing examined in the light of level of responsiveness to suggestion. In both the treatment and non-treatment classes students rated as high for suggestibility performed better than students rated low for responsiveness to suggestion, however the high-suggestible students in the Accelerated Learning class performed significantly better than all other subjects in the study. It was possible to conclude that the process of instruction via accelerated learning techniques significantly raises the academic performance and self esteem levels, while decreasing both trait and state anxiety levels. The implications of these results for teachers and for future research on the use of suggestion in the classroom is also discussed.
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    The learning and transfer of science process skills in New Zealand secondary school distance education : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master in Education, Massey University, Palmerston North
    (Massey University, 1998) Latimer, Margaret Anne
    This study investigates whether the science process skills of processing and interpreting scientific information, carrying out an investigation, communicating information and using information can be transferred across the strands of the Science in the New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 1993b). The data were collected during the 1995 school year and was from a level 6 science course developed by the Correspondence School. Measurements of student performance were taken from moderated teacher-marked activities and were analysed using group means comparisons of each science process skill taught and pair-wise comparisons of students' performance. A representative population sample, chosen by using stratified random sampling, was surveyed on how they viewed the skills offered in the level 6 science course. The fulltime teachers who marked the level 6 science course in 1995, were also surveyed about the success of the course. The broad method used to conduct this research was illuminative evaluation. Results indicate, that while whole process skills such as carrying out an investigation may be transferable, other science process skills are more context bound and less likely to be transferred.
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    Affect and memory : an investigation of a learning task that utilizes affect as an aid to memory : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1985) Steffens, Stephen Frederick
    This thesis explored through experimental and correlational conditions the relationship of affect and memory. Some of the individual and situational factors that were associated with the variance in performance were identified. One hundred and twenty children between nine and twelve years of age in three widely separated schools participated in the study. The children were provided with lists of words to learn by using five learning tasks. A learning task that involved affect achieved memory performances that were quantitatively greater than the results achieved after other learning tasks. The empathic ability of the children was measured through an analogue. The children responded how individuals felt in certain video excerpts. The empathic ability of the children was related significantly to memory performances achieved after the learning task that involved affect. A questionnaire was answered by the children that gave their perceptions of their mother's and their father's behaviours and feelings. Various statments appeared that were consistently and significantly related to the empathic ability of the children. These items indicated that the factors of support, anger-anxiety, and demand were differentially related to the empathic ability of the children. A model of relationships that included the child's perceptions of the parents, the empathic ability of the child, and memory performances achieved after the learning task that involved affect was presented. Some implications for classroom implementation were advanced.