Why Teenagers Watch Television: implications for educational television

Few media producers have the opportunity to plan their productions on the basis of systematic research. In long‐term series planning, however, they should not hesitate to collect even quite simple data in order to assess their audience's tastes. The present paper outlines research into teenage viewing preferences undertaken prior to production of a series for CITY‐TV, Toronto. It summarises the information generated and illustrates the uses of a simple and informative research approach at the production level.     

Color television and educational TV

Conclusions Color television is so new that there is little concrete information on the subject. However, it seems logical to doubt that color will provide any general increased effectiveness to educational TV. In some areas, such as art and medicine, the impact may be great; but for the greater proportion of educational subjects, it will not contribute a great deal. In view of this, together with the present high cost of color TV, it would seem foolish for educational TV to delay development because color television is coming. The transition to color can always be made after the piomeering is done, when costs have gone down, when color receiver circulation is large enough to make color worth while, and when the numerous problems of color programming and production have been solved. What effect will color TV have upon educational TV programs? How expensive will color TV be for educational use? How will educational TV stations use color TV? What competition will commercial color TV offer to educational black and white TV stations? These questions are answered and an overview of the implications of color for educational TV is presented. E. G. Sherburne, Jr., was formerly Television Coordinator at the U. S. Navy Special Devices Center, Port Washington, Long Island, New York.     

NAEB research seminar for educational television and radio

To review the status of research in educational broadcasting, assess its adequacy in the light of contemporary requirements and propose a program of urgently needed research, 23 research specialists from organizations and institutions engaged in educational broadcasting participated in a five-day Seminar on Research in Educational Broadcasting. The Seminar was sponsored by the National Association of Educational Broadcasters with funds provided by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. Management responsibility was handled by The Ohio State University, which also generously contributed the services of many members of its staff. The Seminar was held December 9–13, 1957, on The Ohio State University campus in Columbus. For the past few years, Dr. Tyler has been director of the annual Institute for Education by Radio and Television.     

Perception: Its importance in educational television

Conclusion Since studies on physiology have been extremely important in the field of reading, the potential importance of similar studies in instructional television cannot be overlooked. Overcrowded schools, the teacher shortage, and the rising cost of education make it imperative that schools consider every new device available to give children a better education. However, these devices must not be accepted at face value with no consideration of their possible improvement or potential. Educators must begin striving for improvement of these devices. A good beginning would be in the area of the physiology of television viewing. Note: ThisAVCR supplement also includes papers by Abraham S. Luchins, Howard H. Kendler, Robert Glaser, Frederick J. McDonald, and James Deese, who wrote the summary and called the issue “a mine of possible applications” for audiovisual specialists. Since its publication, the demand for additional copies has been brisk. A limited supply is still available at $1.50 per single copy from the Publications Sales Division, National Education Association, 1201 Sixteenth Street, N. W., Washington, D. C. The discount for more than ten copies is 20 percent; for two to ten copies, the discount is 10 percent.     

Liking and learning from educational television

Summary The WKAR-TV Program Analyzer,an electric rating summaration device,was used to test a inescope of a composite television program for farm men and homemakers entitledTown and Country. Additional phases of the experiment involved interviews with each group tested on the Analyzer and completion of a questionaire by each subject. The subjects consisted of 20 farm men, 20 rural homemakers and 20 urban homemakers. The WKAR-TV Program Analyzer tests included 10 subjects in each group. Testing the hypothesis that “like-dislike” ratings of a TV kinescope shown as a film correlate negatively with “I am learning” ratings, the author showed that the “liking” scale measured different attributes of the program than did the “learning” scale. Irving R. Merrill is Director of Research at TV Station WKAR-TV, Michigan State University.     

Perceptions and practices of principals: supporting positive educational experiences for Aboriginal learners

The purpose of this paper is to describe the leadership perceptions and practices of principals who promote positive school experiences for Aboriginal students. This qualitative multi-case study encapsulates 14 semi-structured individual interviews conducted with nine principals from the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island. Findings indicate that the principal’s belief in students, emphasis on student belonging, promotion of relationships and promotion of culturally relevant school experience were seminal in creating a positive school experiences for Aboriginal students. An implication of the study is that leadership embodied via an Aboriginal worldview has great merit for fostering educational success for all learners, regardless of ethnicity.     

Genotype-environment correlations for language-related abilities: implications for typical and atypical learners

Recent behavioral genetic research has shown that genetic propensities are associated with individual differences in experiences, and thus, what may appear to be environmental effects can reflect genetic influence. This study examines passive genotype-environment correlations (GECs) for language-related abilities by comparing environment-child language associations in adoptive and nonadoptive families. The results provide evidence for the genetic mediation of the association between home environmental variables, such as the provision of toys and games, maternal involvement, and degree of intellectual/cultural orientation with children's language-related abilities. Developmental changes in passive GECs are considered, and the implications for typical and atypical learners are discussed.     

Evaluating the CTW model for producing educational television

This is the twelfth ERIC /ECTJ Annual Review Paper, preparation of which was supported by the ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) Clearinghouse on Information Resources, Syracuse University. The material in this article was prepared pursuant to a contract with the National Institute of Education. U.S. Department of Education. Contractors undertaking such projects under government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their judgment in professional and technical matters. Points of view or opinions do not necessarily represent the official view or opinion of the NIE. - Ed.     

Memory skills of deaf learners: implications and applications

The author reviews research on working memory and short-term memory abilities of deaf individuals, delineating strengths and weaknesses. Among the areas of weakness that are reviewed are sequential recall, processing speed, attention, and memory load. Areas of strengths include free recall, visuospatial recall, imagery, and dual encoding. Phonological encoding and rehearsal appear to be strengths when these strategies are employed. The implications of the strengths and weaknesses for language learning and educational achievement are discussed. Research questions are posed, and remedial and compensatory classroom applications are suggested.