THE ‘ACTIVE’ TELEVISION VIEWER SOME PRELIMINARY DEFINITIONS OF CONCEPTS AND MEASURES

This note summarises the main points that have arisen from the first phase of the Active Audience project, which the Centre for Television Research has undertaken with sponsorship from the BBC. This research has been designed to look at the nature of the television audience not in the usual way of counting heads and noting down who watches what, but in terms of why people watch television and how they respond to what they are being offered. Essentially this project is exploratory and represents an effort to analyse and understand the experience of the audience with television from two points of view. Firstly, by studying the motivation of the audience to watch television, as shown from the expectations different people attach to their viewing; and secondly, by concentrating more specifically on the perception and interpretation of the broadcast material which may determine programme preferences and strengthen or weaken the motivation of the audience to watch television.

These two ways of looking at television, that is from a ‘general motivation’ and a ‘perception and meaning’ angle, have been explored during the initial phase of the research, using the ‘family case‐study’ method. This involved the in‐depth study of a small number of individuals in their family context, by means of intensive repeated interviewing about their TV viewing and their life‐style more generally. The conducted case‐studies provided many insights of the role and significance of television within different styles of life and pointed to a number of practical implications for broadcasters, concerning both programme‐making and programme‐planning.     

Developments in the Teaching of Secondary School Mathematics

Abstract

Through the Purdue Opinion Panel, preferences for 12 television program types, and the relationship of these preferences to a criterion of self-reported grades, were investigated in a research sample of 974 boys and 1026 girls, representative of the national population of high school students. Television program types most preferred were comedy, detective stories, westerns, dramas and specials, mysteries, and movies. Programs least preferred were cartoons, variety, and music and dance. Television program types associated with higher grades were news and documentaries, and drama and specials; programs associated with lower grades were movies, westerns, cartoons, mysteries, detective stories, variety, and music and dance. Preferences for comedy and sports events were not associated with the criterion of reported grades.     

THE SELECTION OF COMMUNICATION CHANNELS BY THE ELDERLY TO OBTAIN INFORMATION

Effective communication is a concern of those involved in programs for the elderly. The primary focus of this study is the influence of audience variables on the selection of communication channels by the elderly to obtain information.

Five county aging‐service programs and four AARP chapter meetings were surveyed. Participants indicated how they usually obtained information about five different topics of special concern to older adults. The communication channels included five media: Television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and brochures/leaflets, and three interpersonal channels: Friends/relatives, professionals, and organizations.

Education, age, income, and living arrangements were related to communication channel selection. Elderly people who did not complete high school were less inclined to select any of the channels. Age was a factor, especially if the individual was over 80 years old. A lower income influenced the selection of two print media (newspapers and magazines), along with two interpersonal sources (relatives/friends and organizations). Individuals living alone were less likely to be reached through newspapers and organizations. Gender did not directly influence source selection.

Television and newspapers were the most preferred channels for information, followed by friends/relatives, brochures/leaflets, and organization. Radio, magazines, and professionals were the least often selected channels.

The most difficult‐to‐reach segment of the sample shared three characteristics: Those with less than a high school education and lower income tended to have a lower information‐seeking orientation, and in some cases being older was a factor.     

Teaching Television-A Review of John Hartley’s Uses of Television

This is to review and analyse the chapters of one of John Hartley’s works Uses of Television, and compare it with different readers related to the studies of TV. It mainly discusses teaching television in four parts: the effect of the audience on television, textual tradition and television, television and citizenship, and television as transmodern teaching.     

The Children's Television Workshop goes to school

Repackaging existing educational television series to fit the needs of more narrowly defined audiences is a cost-effective way of delivering high-quality educational television into the schools. This article discusses both the technological and program-design barriers to wider use of television in classroom instruction and details the steps that the Children's Television Workshop took to make3-2-1 Contact, its educational television science series, a more effective science teaching tool.     

Ideological Dilemmas in Special Needs Education: practitioners’ views

Abstract

This study explored what sense groups of educators from Pennsylvania, USA and Northamptonshire, England made of policy issues in the special needs education field. The aim was to find out first, to what extent individual educators recognised the presence or not of dilemmas associated with the identification of pupils with special educational needs, a common curriculum for all, parent‐professional relationships and integration in mainstream classes; and second, whether they believed that these dilemmas could be resolved and how they would resolve them. It was found that educators in both countries saw dilemmas associated with the identification, common curriculum and integration, but not with parent—professional relationships. Resolutions of the dilemmas showed a similar set of contrasting perspectives in both countries. These findings are interpreted as illustrating the ideological nature of the dilemmas which underlie policy issues in special needs education.     

The importance of networks for newly qualified teachers in upper secondary education

Background and purpose:?The interest in raising the competence of teachers through networks and network activities is increasing. This article is based on the voices of four newly qualified teachers who give us the opportunity to listen to experiences in authentic surroundings. The purpose of this article is to gain better insight into the type of networks newly qualified teachers maintain, develop and create to develop as teachers. The research question is: What is the importance of networks for the professional development of newly qualified teachers in upper secondary education?

Main argument:?The main finding of the article, based on in-depth interviews with four newly qualified teachers, is that being acknowledged by colleagues is decisive for professional development. Furthermore, the school’s programme of meetings to some extent contributes to developing the respect and trust of the newly qualified teachers, who also need to find time and opportunities for reflection in personal networks outside school. The relational and emotional aspects of the teaching profession produce a need for guidance processes where the ethical dilemmas of the profession can be raised. When these dilemmas arise, the newly qualified teachers actively look outside school to grasp opportunities for professional development. The teachers appear to be very active in their own professional development, and they have ambitions to develop as teachers for the benefit of the pupils and the school.

Conclusions:?Systematic guidance is highlighted as fundamental for these teachers’ learning.     

An exploration of how programme leaders in higher education can be prepared and supported to discharge their roles and responsibilities effectively

Background: Within Higher Education in the United Kingdom (UK), programme leaders are under increased pressure to be more productive and are expected to undertake a complex range of demanding activities. However, perceptions of the role through the lens of the programme leader have not been explored sufficiently. Clearly, a university’s ability to enhance and sustain improvement in programme delivery depends largely upon its ability to nurture and foster professional learning, most notably at a programme level. The need for a review of programme leader training and support was reinforced through the experience of facilitators at programme leader workshops at one Higher Education Institution in the UK. Critically, these workshops highlighted a need to review and enhance the preparation and on-going training and support available to programme leaders.

Aim: The overall aim of this study was to explore the role of the programme leader, in order to gain an in-depth understanding of what the role involves and a detailed appreciation of the knowledge and skills required to discharge the role effectively and efficiently. Such insight would inform the review of the provision of initial and on-going training and support workshops for new and experienced programme leaders. Indeed, the ultimate aim was to drive improvements in programme leader performance.

Method: A qualitative design was selected to allow the complexity of the programme leader role to be explored and captured. A purposeful sample (n = 25) was recruited from a range of newly appointed and experienced undergraduate and postgraduate programme leaders and associate deans with academic quality assurance and learning and teaching expertise across seven schools in one post-1992 university in England. In total, four semi-structured focus group interviews were conducted. A modified version of the data analysis method advocated by Chenitz and Swanson was employed to examine the data.

Findings: Four dynamic, interrelated conceptual categories form the basis of the emergent findings. These are Operational Diversity, which addresses the different duties carried out by participants, highlighting certain tensions in their ability to meet the demands placed upon them; Interaction with Others, which identifies the diverse range of stakeholders that shape and impact on the multifaceted programme leader role and highlights the importance of collaborative working; Mechanisms of Support, which describes the training and personal development experience of the participants and the extent to which it matches their needs; and Required Knowledge and Skills, which considers the need for initial and on-going training to enable programme leaders to meet the demands of this role.

Conclusion: Examination has revealed that within an ever-changing Higher Education sector in the UK, the role of a programme leader is not without challenge as most have to deal with complex academic, pastoral, moral, administrative and pragmatic decisions on a daily basis. Moving forward must involve bespoke preparation and on-going training and support. Specific emphasis should be placed on opportunities for self-reflection, debriefing and the sharing of experiences with peers. At the heart of on-going training and support should be the strategic engagement of students, professional staff and other key personnel from services offered across a university.     

浅谈电视采访技巧

电视记者是观众的代表,他代表观众去感知、去观察、去发现、去判断新闻事件。那么如何当好观众代表?记者要代表观众做些什么呢?本篇论文从实际出发,以作者亲身感受为主介绍了电视记者在采访中应掌握的业务技能,并结合大量采访实例,具有较强的实践性。     

浅谈工学结合在电视接收技术课程实践中的运用

在电视接收技术课程教学中,要加强实践教学,培养学生职业技能,突出工学结合特色.采用电视接收技术课程实习与家用电子产品维修工中级工技能考核相结合的"双证融通"项目模式,在实践中取得了较好的教学效果.     

Environmental education in television narratives: a Brazilian case study

Abstract

This article discusses recent Brazilian research on the relationship between environmental education and cultural studies. Television narratives about the environment and/or sustainability in our everyday lives are used to pose some initial questions about this relation. First, culture is discussed briefly showing how it potentially relates to teaching and informs our role as environmental educators. We argue that culturalist perspectives on research in environmental education politicise teaching practices, even though they are in a context that strays from prerogatives that envisage a future world marked by sustainable development and a green economy. We investigate the impacts of television narratives and images on our everyday lives wherein we are consistently taught particular written and visual messages about how to plan for our future. Examples are draw from the teaching effects of a Brazilian television programme called Repórter Eco, broadcast on a public television network, including the sustainable management of the baru (a typical tree from the Brazilia Cerrado). We argue the educational aspects of television programmes should receive critique, as the relationships established between people and various media artifacts produce particular meanings and ways of seeing the world. This presents a challenge for teachers as examining these subjective ways carefully requires critical examination, not only in terms of education for sustainability or environmental preservation, but also teaching using media.     

Selected bibliography of research on programming at the Children's Television Workshop

This article is an annotated bibliography of 36 formative, summative, and theoretical research studies on the four educational children's television series the Children's Television Workshop has produced since 1969:Sesame Street, The Electric Company, 3-2-1 Contact, andSquare One TV.     

以优秀的新闻资讯节目突出重围——谈西部城市电视台的生存发展之路

中国电视市场竞争日趋激烈,在中央、省、市三级竞争格局中,央视和省级卫视凭借明显的政策、资源和覆盖优势,在市场化和产业化进程中获得长足发展,而为数众多的城市电视台,尤其是实力较弱的西部城市电视台,则面临收视、广告创收双重下降的危机。对于西部城市电视台来说,只有找准自身定位,发挥地缘优势,以贴近群众的优秀新闻资讯节目,才能拓宽生存和发展的空间。     

试论我国电视新闻变革的历史性转向

当下,媒介化社会已经真正来临。电视媒体在网络等新兴媒体的冲击和社会转型的影响下,遭遇了观众分流和公信力下降的现实危机。在新的媒介环境下,电视媒体选择了主动改变自身并积极与新兴媒体展开合作。在此过程中,我国电视新闻在融合和合作中发生了历史性转向,它不仅重新确立了直播日常化的基本理念,还将文本引入了一个相对开放的时空,并表现出＂即兴叙述的现场直播、超文本链接的传播平台、受众改变的主体创造＂等新的特征。     

Accent in British Television Commercials

Television commercials can be used for studying language interaction. Accent application in television commercials is particularly interesting since it indicates a reliance on prejudice towards and against certain accents in the viewing audience. Accent use in British television commercials is studied with respect to British dialect and sociolect preferences and with respect to non‐British accents of English specifically and foreign accents generally. The implications of accent choice are investigated and discussed.     

The Television University is Moving Ahead

On the morning of February 6, 1979, an audience of several hundred thousand, with a joyful feeling of welcoming the newly arrived spring, sat in front of their television sets. This was the day when a joint opening ceremony was held by the Central Broadcast Television University and the various local broadcast and television universities. Leading comrades concerned from the Center and the provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, as well as many well-known personages in the cultural and scientific fields, all came personally to extend their good wishes. On February 8, China's famous mathematician Hua Luogeng, chemist Li Su and English professor Li Funing separately taught the first lessons in mathematics, chemistry and English. From that time on, the Television University has turned a new page in China's socialist education undertaking with a brand new form and distinctive features.     

TELEVISION IN THE TEACHING OF CHEMISTRY: A REVIEW FROM FURTHER EDUCATION

The uses and potentialities of educational television as described by recent authors are reviewed, and television compared with film from the viewpoints of producer and audience, while off‐air recordings are compared with ‘home‐made’ programmes.

The author concludes with an extensive review of the literature concerned with the uses of television in the teaching of chemistry. While the review does not attempt to list every possible reference, none of the few that have been omitted adds substantially to the uses mentioned, and the survey should provide a basis for those interested in beginning research in this field, as well as those contemplating the introduction of television into chemistry teaching.

The article was prepared in connection with research into student attitudes to educational television, the results of which will appear in the next issue of the Journal.     

The globalization ofSesame Street: A producer's perspective

Sesame Street, the Children's Television Workshop's pioneering educational television series for preschoolers, has become an international—as well as an American—institution. Licensed versions, adaptations, and coproductions of the series have been seen in approximately 115 countries. Children in 65 countries have viewed the series in its English-language form. In addition, the program has been coproduced in 13 other languages for broadcast in 50 countries. Each local adaptation ofSesame Street is unique, reflecting the varying educational, social, and cultural needs of children from country to country. This article documents the spread ofSesame Street—and the CTW research and development model—abroad, and includes several case studies of different foreign adaptations ofSesame Street.He works withSesame Street coproductions worldwide, providing onsite consultation through all phases of project development and production.