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The primary purpose of this study was to develop an alternative model, the Prelaboratory Preparation Period (PLPP), to be used to introduce freshman level students to weekly laboratories and to evaluate student academic achievement as the result of attending the Prelaboratory Preparation Period. The sample was composed of 233 students taking introductory chemistry at Auburn University. The data were collected over a four quarter period of time. A posttest‐only control group design with five experimental and three control groups was used to investigate the effect of the Prelaboratory Preparation Period. A Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was used to determine if significant differences existed between academic achievement of the experimental and control groups. Results of the analysis indicated that a significant difference (α = 0.05) in academic performance existed between the two groups. It was concluded that the Prelaboratory Preparation Period increased the academic achievement of students enrolled in an introductory chemistry course.

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Rowsey and Ley asked undergraduate students in education and engineering to estimate the mean salaries for four groups: beginning teachers in Alabama, all teachers in Alabama, beginning teachers in the United States, and all teachers in the United States. Although estimates made by prospective engi neers were generally more accurate than were those made by prospective teachers, both samples underestimated mean salaries for all but one group, be ginning teachers in the United States. Males in both samples generally sub mitted more accurate estimates than did the females. Prospective teachers indi cated that non-salary benefits, such as personal satisfaction of teaching and ad vantages of the school calendar, were important aspects in their decisions to become teachers. Of the engineering students who had once considered teaching, most reported that low salary was the primary reason they did not pur sue a career in education.

Thirty‐five research scientists from the academic areas of Chemistry, Geology, Physics and Zoology were surveyed to obtain information regarding the effect of teachers and formal schooling on their decisions to become scientists. All subjects included in the study held the PhD. degree and were actively involved in research. Data analysis indicated that 63 percent of the subjects had identified a genuine interest in science by the time they were in the ninth grade, but only 9 percent of them attributed this interest to their elementary or junior high school teachers. The data revealed that 43 percent of the population were influenced to become scientists by one or more high school teachers. Also, one‐third of the subjects had made the decision to become a scientist by the time of high school graduation. Most of the other two‐thirds of the individuals studied decided to become scientists because of the influence of college professors in their freshman‐and sophomore‐level courses. The subjects were asked if particular events that occurred in junior or senior high school science classes positively influenced them to become scientists. Seventy‐eight percent of the subjects responded that there were no classroom activities occurring that attracted them to science.