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Programed College Vocabulary
Fifth Edition
by George W. Feinstein
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TO THE INSTRUCTOR
A student fell in love with his English teacher and sent her a long passionate letter. She returned his letter with unflattering corrections in red ink to his vocabulary and spelling.
One pleasant feature of this programed textbook is that student errors in vocabulary and spelling are discreetly corrected in the margin of each exercise, eliminating any possibility of embarrassment or resentment on the part of a student.
A dentist once claimed that operating on an elephant's teeth was easy except for "getting Jumbo to spit into the little sink." We have had a similar problem, maneuvering a huge bulk of words into a small space. Hundreds of useful words have been added to this fifth edition of Programed College Vocabulary. New chapters include Natural Science, also Fine Arts and Philosophy. Thus, this edition exposes students to terms from a broader range of college courses than earlier editions.
Other innovations include Characterization Words and Short Words II. Some of the tests have been revised. Like a box of soap flakes, this edition could be labeled "new and improved." Accompanying this edition is a new Instructor's Manual that provides chapter tests and review materials.
Psychologists insist that a student can learn practically anything, including the theory of relativity, if only it is broken down into easy steps. But how does an English instructor find enough class time or conference time to help each student individually with the thousand details of composition? Programed learning offers a possible solution, particularly where factual data such as vocabulary must be mastered. Industrial firms and educators have adopted programed techniques with startling success.
Programed College Vocabulary has been designed to supplement freshman English. This book differs from most vocabulary textbooks in that (1) it focuses on literary and academic terms, and (2) it is self-instructional. In short, the approach is pragmatic. Programed College Vocabulary stresses those words that are particularly useful to college students, and it elicits from each student a stream of active responses with immediate verification, a process that psychologists call reinforcement. Furthermore, hundreds of additional responses are called for in the teacher-administered tests accompanying this book, so that even the reinforcement gets reinforced. The system works. The book has now been adopted in more than two hundred colleges and universities, and reports as to the program's effectiveness are extremely encouraging.
Class procedures are flexible. The teacher can leave vocabulary instruction entirely to the programed text itself and simply give chapter tests to the class, as a checkup, at convenient intervals. But the Instructor's Manual includes additional study suggestions as well as tests, and the teacher may wish to devote further class time to enrichment of each chapter. Thus, the freshman English course may take on brave new dimensions.
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