The Effects of Two Methods of Teaching Social Studies on Immediate Retention.

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Abstract
The problem of this study was to determine the differential effects on immediate retention of two methods of teaching social studies. One method incorporated immediate knowledge of the correct response while the other provides no knowledge of the correct response. The subjects used in the study were twenty-three matched pairs of accelerated, eighth-grade students and nineteen matched pairs of slow, eighth-grade students. The variables upon which the subjects were matched were age, sex, level of ability, and score on a social studies achievement test. Two series of treatments were used in the study, and t-tests were run to determine if there was a significant difference in the mean performance of the groups. The following conclusions were drawn from the study: (a) Provision of knowledge of results in a method of teaching social studies material to eighth-grade accelerated subjects had no significant effect on retention scores of the subjects, (b) Provision of knowledge of results in a method of teaching social studies material to eighth-grade, slow subjects had a positive and significant effect on the retention scores of the subjects, (c) Accelerated, eighth-grade subjects scored significantly higher scores of retention than did slow subjects regardless of the method used.