Television and education: A review of research

Summary The existing research on television of interest to educators was analyzed and found to be grouped into four general categories: (a) studies of the general social effects of television, (b) content analyses, (c) studies of the educational effects of television, and (d) technical studies. Studies in each of these four categories were reviewed and generalizations drawn from them. No attempt was made to review related research that is, no doubt, applicable to the problems of television. For example, the vast amount of research information developed in the audio-visual field during the past 30 years was not touched. Future investigators will find that the existing television research and the existing audio-visual research provide only a sketch map of the field of audio-visual communication. To use these important instruments wisely, and this is particularly true of television, it is necessary that we know and understand much more. This is the challenge for future research. To the knowledge of the editor, this is the first comprebensive review of educational television research to be published. The organizing of the research into four categories—general social effects, content analyses, educational effects, and technical problems—the rather detailed reviewing of the results, and the drawing of general conclusions should greatly aid the educator in understanding the unique contributions of educational television. An attempt will be made in future issues of Audio-Visual Communication Review to supplement this review of research by regularly publishing, in “Research Abstracts,” reviews of the most recent television studies. Dr. James D. Finn is Associate Professor of Education and Chairman of the Audio-Visual Education Department, University of Southern California. This paper was originally prepared at the request of the California State Department of Education for inclusion in theBrochure of Background Materials: Educational Television for the Governor’s Conference on Educational Television, held in Sacramento, California, December 15–16, 1952. It was necessary to develop the material in a very short time, and the writer wishes to express his indebtedness to F. Dean McClusky and May V. Seagoe of the University of California, Los Angeles, and to Lester F. Beck and Nicholas Rose, his colleagues at the University of Southern California, as well as to several of his graduate students for helping in locating copies of the studies reviewed.     

Parent education: The Dreikurs model

The effects of a 10-week Dreikurs parent education program was investigated in terms of maternal attitudes, expressed practices, and parent-child behaviors. Variables assessed included maternal control, maturity demands, communication and nurturance. Using a Posttest-Only Control Group design, 60 mothers of kindergarten children in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, were randomly selected from a pool of 81 volunteers. The mothers (Ss) were randomly assigned to one of two treatment conditions: experimental and control. Ss in the experimental group participated in the Dreikurs parent education program, while control Ss received delayed treatment. Using Baumrind's (1967) Parent Interview Schedule and Scales, Ss were interviewed and rated regarding their child-rearing attitudes and practices. Ss were videotaped interacting with their kindergarten children in a structured situation and tapes were rated using Baumrind's (1967) Home Visit Sequence Analysis. Results indicated that Ss who participated in the Dreikurs program had more positive attitudes toward independence training and independence granting. Specific suggestions were made for further studies in terms of research design and revision of instruments. Additional suggestions included focus on personality characteristics of parents.The study formed the basis of a doctoral dissertation by the first authorThe paper was presented at the Eight International Conference and Seminar of Counseling, Oslo, Norway in July, 1978.The first author has moved to the University of Calgary since the study was completedInquiries or request for reprints should be directed to Dr. S. Robertson, Department of Educational Psychology, The University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2N 1N4.University of Alberta     

A University Program with “The Whole World as a Focus”: An Icelandic Response to Globalization

The International Studies in Education program at the University of Iceland illustrates how one university is responding to global trends in higher education. Through a case study we examined the significance of an innovative B.A. program, which is taught in English, aligned with values affirmed in critical multiculturalist scholarship, and designed to respond to demographic changes including a sharp increase in Iceland’s immigrant population. The experience of students, teachers, and administrators raises important questions about institutional responsibilities, both local and global; about the role of English in an international studies program; about de facto segregation of students; and about the significance of local context in global trends in higher education.     

The balanced equation to training chemistry ITAs

In an effort to meet the challenge of preparing new international graduate students in chemistry for assignments as teaching assistants (TAs), an innovative training program was designed which incorporated the collaborative efforts of language, pedagogy, and subject matter specialists. This paper describes the approach taken in providing discipline-specific training for new international TAs (ITAs) by providing the rationale and curriculum for such a program and describing the implementation of this program through the academic year. The paper concludes by describing the results of the project on those ITAs who participated and the benefits and limitations of using this approach.Mark W. Tanner obtained his Ph.D. (1991) in Educational Linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently, Coordinator of the International Teaching Assistant Program at the University of Washington. Sara Selfe obtained her Ph.D. (1984) in Organic Chemistry at the University of Washington. She is currently Senior Lecturer in the Chemistry Department at the University of Washington and is working to improve the opportunities for Native Americans in the sciences. Deborah Wiegand obtained her Ph.D. (1990) in Analytical Chemistry at Northern Illinois University. Currently she lectures in the Chemistry Department and is Director of the Women in Science Program at the University of Washington.This article previously was accepted for publication in Lewis, K.G. (Ed.). (1993).The TA experience: Preparing for multiple roles. Stillwater, OK: New Forums Press.     

The ally within: An innovatory approach to networking and staff development

This paper reports on an innovative approach to faculty development where the centralized unit has established a network of locally-based faculty developers. In contrast to the more conventional model of faculty development where centralized units are vested with the responsibility for devising programs for faculty development for the University at large, this model draws on the expertise of faculty already at work in a particular area. Once appointed, the locally-based faculty developer provides support to colleagues in their shared work place and also contributes to the program offered by the centralized unit. This alliance between the centralized unit and the locally-based faculty developer has led to positive outcomes for both parties, and for the University community.Philip Candy, professor and Director of the Academic Staff Development Unit at the Queensland University of Technology, received his Ed.D. from the University of British Columbia. His research interests are mainly in the theoretical and conceptual aspects of adult education, and constructivist approaches to research and teaching. His book,Self-Direction for Lifelong Learning, won the 1991 Cyril Houle World Award for Literature in Adult Education. Jill Borthwick, a senior lecturer in the Academic Staff Development Unit at QUT, is coordinator of the Unit's Teaching Development Program. Her Ph.D. on developmental approaches to teacher education is from the University of Queensland, and her research interests are predominantly in the areas of gender studies, and language and literacy.     

Establish a High-Efficiency System of Higher Education Investment

The current director of the Institute of Higher Education of Peking University is a forty-three-year-old professor, Min Weifang. After receiving a double masters degree in studies in higher education and organizational management, Professor Min was sent abroad by the state and received a doctoral degree from Stanford University in educational management and policy making. He then further undertook postdoctoral studies in the areas of educational economics and educational finance. After returning to China, he has been invited to undertake research work in the headquarters of the World Bank in the areas of educational investment and educational effectiveness. He is a national-level young expert who has made outstanding contributions in his fields of endeavor. At the moment, in addition to serving as an assistant to the president of Peking University, as the director of the Institute of Higher Education at Peking University, and as a faculty adviser to doctoral students, he also serves on the editorial board of the international journal Higher Education and holds the positions of Higher Education Investment Consultant for the World Bank and Group Leader of the Chinese Experts Group for the World Bank's loan program to educational development projects in the impoverished provinces and regions in China.     

THE INTEGRATION OF RESEARCH,EDUCATION, AND PRACTICE IN GERONTOLOGY: SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND

This article focuses on the development of education relating to aging in a specific professional education program: social work at the University of Queensland. A brief outline of features of the aged population and services for the aged in Queensland, an Australian state, is given as a background for describing one approach to gerontology education with the University of Queensland social work faculty. The challenges and tasks of curriculum development in relation to gerontology in a generic undergraduate course are described. Specific training in gerontology at a theoretical and practical level is provided through field practicums in an institution for the aged and proposals to extend this to a community‐based practice research program for the aged are outlined. To give a combined approach to social work, current research programs relating to this program — social policy and aging — are described.     

Merging Academics and Police Training: Washington State University’s Department of Police Science and Administration and the Law Enforcement Assistance Act of 1965

The Law Enforcement Assistance Act of 1965 prompted a nationwide movement to create and expand police education programs at colleges and universities across America. This paper details the actions of the well-established Washington State University Department of Police Science and Administration program in response to the passage of the 1965 Act. Among the actions taken, the program’s leaders responded to calls for their expert advice in setting up new programs, increased the number of undergraduates in their program to answer greater demands for college training opportunities for current and future police officers, and admitted more students to their graduate program so as to provide qualified teachers for new academic programs being created through the Act’s funding.     

An Analysis of Strategies for Teaching Environmental Concepts and Values Clarification in Kindergarten

Abstract

Earthwatching III: An Environmental Reader with Teacher's Guide, edited by Anne Hallowell, Tom Sinclair, Richard Hoops, and Stephen Wittman. University of Wisconsin, Madison: Institute for Environmental Studies and Sea Grant Institute, 1990. 160 pages. Paperback, $3.50 ($3.00 for ten or more). Reviewed by David C. Engleson.

The Global Ecology Handbook: What You Can Do about the Environmental Crisis, edited by Walter H. Corson, Boston: Beacon Press, 1990. 414 pages. Paperback, $16.95. Reviewed by David C. Engleson

Ecophilosophy: A Field Guide to the Literature, Donald Edward Davis. San Pedro, California: R &; E Miles, 1989. 137 pages. Paperback, $8.95. Reviewed by Deborah A. Simmons.

The Human Impact on The Natural Environment (third edition), Andrew Goudie. Basil Blackwell, Ltd., 1990. 388 pages. Paperback, $17.50. Reviewed by Margaret Millett Zemach.

Envisioning a Sustainable Society: Learning Our Way Out, Lester W. Milbrath. State University of New York Press, 1989. 403 pages. Paperback, $18.95. Reviewed by Margaret Millett Zemach.     

A university-wide model for coordinating internships

Colleges and universities of varying enrollments and academic missions can implement a university-wide model for coordinating internships and other credit-generating field experiences by following and/or modifying a program developed at Illinois State University. All credit-generating supervised work experiences in local, state, national and international businesses, agencies, institutions and organizations areplanned, administered andsupervised at the department level and coordinated through a university-wide central office which functions as a clearing house and resource center for students, faculty, administrators and potential employers. The program does not include those experiences associated with Teacher Education.     

Schools as Clinics: Learning About Practice in Practice

The Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut is committed to the intentionality of interweaving course work and practice in its 5-year teacher preparation program, the Integrated Bachelor's and Master's program. It offers a wide range of field experiences to teacher candidates. Teacher candidates enter the program at the beginning of their junior year and complete the program after they finish their 5th-year postgraduate master's degree studies. This article describes the program requirements and experiences. In essence, it intends to provide an illustration of the interwoven teacher education curriculum as promoted by Darling-Hammond and other scholars.     

Second order change: Impact of a college renewal program over time

A structured faculty professional development program which deliberately seeks to bring about change can yield lasting benefits for both the individual and the institution. Ten individuals who entered a program for the professional renewal of faculty between 1983 and 1987 were interviewed to discover what impact the program had on their professional development and on their contributions to the institution. Their experiences exhibit external and internal changes, with individuals being able to reflect upon their gains, contributions, and future directions. A basic model for support needed to bring about lasting change includes the elements ofpower, vision, structure, andresources.Joyce P. Lunde received her Ph.D. in English from the University of Minnesota. She is an educational development specialist and associate professor of agricultural education at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. She is currently co-director of New Partnerships in Agriculture and Education (NUPAGE), a curriculum project funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.     

The impact of a peer-tutoring program on quality standards in higher education

The purposes of this study were, on one had, to determine the impact of a peer tutoring program on preventing academic failure and dropouts among first-year students (N = 100), from Civil Engineering, Economics, Pharmacy, and Chemical Engineering careers; while, on the other hand, to identify the potential benefits of such tutoring program on the cognitive and metacognitive learning strategies and social skills of student mentors in their last year of studies or already in a postgraduate program (N = 41) at the University of Granada (Spain). After building and selecting the measurement instruments necessary to gather demographic and academic relevant information on both samples, and assigning first-year students to either an experimental or control group, the intervention consisted of ten 90-min tutoring sessions during the first semester lead by student tutors who, in turn, had undergone four 3-h training sessions on tutoring contents like planning and time management, cognitive and metacognitive learning strategies, motivational strategies and the use of materials designed ad hoc for this program. The results show differences in favour of the treatment group on grade point average, performance rate, success rate and learning strategies and, also, statistically significant pre-post differences for the tutors on learning strategies and social skills.     

Scholarship and Research in the Graduate Program

In a report entitled Reshaping the Graduate Education of Scientists and Engineers (National Academy of Sciences, 1995), the Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy proposed a modified PhD training model that retains an emphasis on intensive research experiences, while incorporating additional experiences to prepare graduates for an increasingly diverse job market. The National Science Foundation (NSF) subsequently instituted the Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program to foster interdisciplinary training of doctoral students. Faculty in kinesiology graduate programs are often well positioned to contribute to such interdisciplinary training programs. We highlight an example of such a program, specifically the NSF IGERT program on Musculoskeletal and Neural Adaptations in Form and Function at Arizona State University. Both benefits and challenges of IGERT participation are considered.     

Teaching theory and applications together: An exploratory teaching program, in the liberal arts

An exploratory approach to teaching and learning is described. The program incorporates real-world projects as class activities, which dramatically alters the traditional motivational structure of both students and professors. The approach is based on the principle that learning is most effective when the goals of instructors and students are congruent. The literature indicates that the traditional liberal arts classroom format makes such congruence unlikely. In this program, the key element to harmonizing student-teacher goals and objectives involves the inclusion of outside clients. They provide projects to be completed by student teams assisted by their professors and adjunct experts. In the process students gain opportunities to learn by doing and assume greater responsibility for course organization. Professors engage their undergraduate students in a manner more like graduate students and become more focused on educational outcomes than on lecture content. We conclude by discussing the major successes and problems incurred in attempting to integrate such a program into a standard liberal arts curriculum.Professor Wichman received the B.A. and M.A. degrees from California State University, Long Beach and his Ph.D. from the Claremont Graduate School. He was on the founding faculties of Delta College in Michigan and California State University, San Bernardino. Currently he is Professor of Psychology at Claremont McKenna College and Director of the Aerospace Psychology Laboratory. Trained in both social and physiological psychology, he conducts research on the effects of stress on aviators and the performance of astronauts while in orbit. As a Sloan Foundation Fellow he worked on the design of the space station. He is author of the bookHuman Factors in the Design of Spacecraft and is currently designing passenger compartments for a new rocket being developed by McDonnell Aerospace. Dr. Wichman holds commercial pilot and flight instructor rating and teaches flying as an avocation. Professor Teeples is Boswell Professor of Economics at Claremont McKenna College, where he has taught since 1970, serving as department chairperson from 1977–1981 and again from 1992–1995. He holds an M.A. degree from the University of California, Berkeley and a Ph.D. from UCLA, both in Economics. At the inception of Claremont McKennas' Practicum Program in 1991, he became its first Director and continues in this position. His published work includesProgram Budgeting for State and Local Government and a variety of econometric studies estimating cost functions for urban water delivery systems and the cost implications of private versus public ownership of water utilities.     

New College of the University of South Florida

On July 1, 1975 the private New College of Sarasota, Florida became New College of the University of South Florida, a state institution. Since this merger New College has maintained its innovative approach, its high academic quality, and its main means of instruction, thecontract. Its off-campus study program has, however, declined in the number of students who utilize it. The main decline in numbers has occurred in group studies/travel groups and extensive cross-cultural studies. Reasons for the decline are varied and not all may be attributable to the merger of the previously private institution with a state university.     

THE AGING POPULATION AS A CHALLENGE FOR THE HELPING PROFESSIONS: SOME OBSERVATIONS ON A RECENT CONTINUING EDUCATION PROGRAM

This article reviews a recent continuing education program held at the University of Western Australia, Perth. The program addressed some of the crucial issues facing professionals in the field of aged services and comprised a one‐day seminar and a series of workshops. It was hosted by the Department of Social Work and Social Administration over a six‐week period and examined a wide range of issues in gerontological social work practice.     

INSTITUTIONAL PUBLICATION PRODUCTIVITY IN SELECTED GERONTOLOGY JOURNALS, 1984‐1993

Researchers in several disciplines have been interested in institutional research publication productivity as a means of assessing institutional reputation in a given field. However, no previous research has specifically examined institutional productivity in the field of gerontology. The authors selected six non‐medical, non‐biological scholarly journals devoted to gerontological issues. Each was examined issue by issue for the 10‐year period 1984‐1993 to determine the institutional affiliations of contributing authors. Institutional rankings for the composite six journals for the total period and each of the two 5‐year periods were determined by awarding credit to the authors’ institutions based on authorship order. The six journals were: Activities, Adaptation, and Aging; Educational Gerontology; The Gerontologist; Gerontology and Geriatrics Education; the Journal of Applied Gerontology; and the Journals of Gerontology (Social Sciences and Psychological Sciences sections only). In the composite of the six journals, the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), the University of Southern California, Duke University, Pennsylvania State University, and the University of Florida emerged as the five most productive individual institutions for the overall 10‐year period on this one measure of program quality.     

Students' ability to visualize set expressions: An initial investigation

Visualization is a powerful tool for understanding and solving mathematical problems. The use of Venn diagrams to visualize set expressions, however, is problematic for many students and may actually hinder their problem-solving efforts. In this study, 92 university students construct visual representations of eight set expressions. Through the use of a production system model and detailed analyses of students' work and verbal protocols, it is discovered that (1) competent and error-prone students construct and use procedures to complete set translation tasks, and (2) two-thirds of the observed errors arise from the consistent implementation of ill-formed procedures. The procedural origins of students' errors are identified and conjectures are offered regarding the perceptions and experiences that lead to the development of erroneous translation procedures.NotesThis article is based on the author's doctoral dissertation completed in 1992 at Indiana University under the direction of Frank K. Lester.