The purpose of this study was to interpret the problems of educational evaluation from the perspective of the Bayesian approach, one which necessarily implies maximization of the subjective expectation of utility. Using this premise, the authors suggest several techniques which should be useful in improving the decision process in the following three educational evaluation situations : (1) In making career decisions, the drawing of decision trees should help in more clearly understanding the situation being faced. It is also suggested that employing a total evidence design will improve precision in the evaluation of uncertainties and in calculating expected utility. (2) In comparing teaching methods, it appears that traditional statistical methods such as the t-test and ANOVA are not really as well suited as are the more general Bayesian methods of calculating predictive distributions and expected utilities. (3) Finally, the authors advocate the use of expected values for sample information (EVSI) in evaluating the quality of the data collected as part of the decision-making process. This measure is extremely helpful in evaluating the appropriateness of educational evaluation itself under a great many different situations.

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The purpose of this study was to define and confirm the validity of those viewpoints fundamental to the evaluation of teachers' instructional skills. A questionnaire was prepared for 43 elementary school teachers to use in self-evaluation of two lessons, one on the Japanese language and the other on arithmetic. Their students were then asked to prepare self-evaluations on how well they thought they had understood and adapted to the same lessons. In addition, 38 student teachers were asked to prepare similar self-evaluations for two classes which they had conducted as part of their practice teaching sessions. A factor analysis of the teachers' responses resulted in the confirming of five basic viewpoints. These were titled (1) quality of planning, (2) understand-ability, (3) encouragement of student participation, (4) respect for each student's individuality, and (5) emphasizing of important points. As had been hypothesized, a relationship between the teachers' self-evaluations and the students' abilities to adapt to the lessons was found. It was also seen that, in general, in all five of these areas, student teachers tended to give themselves higher marks for their second lessons when compared with the results of their self-evaluations of their first lesson. This confirmed the validity of the five areas, or basic points of view found in this study.

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A software interface, named "GEOM," for Graph Emitter for Personal Media, was developed so that it would be possible to use FORTRAN and mainframe computer graphic software in conjunction with BASIC and personal computers in preparing instructional materials. GEOM converts graphics executed in FORTRAN into corresponding BASIC statements which then may be transferred to a personal computer via a TSS terminal. Not only may these graphics be displayed on a CRT, they may also be printed out on an XY-plotter connected to the personal computer. In effect, through as common a means as the telephone line, GEOM makes the accumulated software resources of FORTRAN available to teachers while they working at their personal computers in their own schools. Because GEOM output is written in BASIC and may also be transferred via floppy discs, it is anticipated that its use in the schools will grow rapidly.

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