Resolution of parent–child conflicts in the adolescence

The aims of the study were: (1) to examine whether adolescents’ attachment and the perceived quality of the communication with their parents relate to effective resolution of parent–child conflicts and (2) to determine whether the pattern of associations changes with adolescents’ gender and age. The sample consisted of 295 adolescents who filled the questionnaires. Structural Equations Models showed that secure attachment predicted a positive communicative climate, which in turn, predicted a more frequent use of negotiation. Secure attachment was related to the use of withdrawal strategies. Anxious attachment was related to high levels of criticism and disputes with parents, which, in turn, predicted the use of all conflict resolution styles. Avoidant attachment was not related to any of the conflict resolution styles. No differences were found in the pattern of associations by gender and age. The relevance of the findings for the social relational perspective to conflict resolution is discussed.     

Short animation movies as advance organizers in physics teaching: a preliminary study

Background : Advance organizers are instructional materials that help students use previous knowledge to make links with new information. Short animation movies are a possible format and are well suited for physics, as they can portray dynamic phenomena and represent abstract concepts.

Purpose : The study aimed to determine guidelines for the construction of an instructional short animation movie, with the role of an advance organizer. A film was created in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the approach, making part of a physics lesson and concerning the subject ‘moment of a force’.

Sample : The study took place in a Brazilian school in the city of Arapoti, in the south region of the country. Thirty-eight students participated, having an average age of 16 and following the third year of high school.

Design and methods : Criteria drawn from a literature review directed the construction of the movie and the lesson. Data were collected using pre- and post-tests; registers of oral comments were also done during the class. The post-test included open-ended questions, allowing students to write remarks concerning the lesson and the animation.

Conclusions : The article describes steps and guidelines to orient the process of designing an animation movie with the role of advance organizer. Data indicated that the movie facilitated the construction of links between pre-existent knowledge and the new information presented in the lesson. The proposed methodology can be considered a valid framework to derive similar approaches.     

The power of networks in the marketing of pedagogical ideals: the Dalton Plan in Great Britain (1920–1925)

ABSTRACT

The Dalton Plan is well known in educational historiography. But there are also unanswered questions such as: how is it possible that a pedagogical experiment begun in the United States in February 1920 had, by the month of March, already come to be known first hand by a visiting English educator? The objective in this article is to find an explanation for the rapid expansion and huge popularity of the Dalton Plan in Great Britain in the early 1920s. This is attempted theoretically by using the concepts ‘educational network’ and ‘pedagogical product’, and empirically by using unexplored documents and correspondence concerning Helen Parkhurst’s trips to Great Britain. It ends with the conclusion that, in Great Britain, as early as 1922, the Dalton Plan became a commercial product that was exploited in similar ways to the work of Maria Montessori.     

Film Criticism and Theory

John Caughie, Theories of Authorship (Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1981 -- $28.00 hardcover).

André Bazin, French Cinema of the Occupation and Resistance (New York: Frederick Ungar, 1981 -- $12.95).

Syndy M. Conger and Janice R. Welsch (eds.), Narrative Strategies (write Essays in Literature Office, Western Illinois University, Macomb, Illinois 61455 -- $8.00 in paper only).

Film Periodicals

On Film (P.O. Box 3531, Los Angeles, California 90051 -- $2.00 per issue)

John Mercer, The Informational Film (write Stipes Publishing Company, 10-12 Chester Street, Champaign, Illinois 61820 -- $9.50 in paperback).

George Wead and George Lellis, Film: Form and Function (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1981 -- no price given).     

HIGHER EDUCATION REFORM AND WESTERN ASSISTANCE IN HUNGARY: THE TEMPUS EXPERIENCE

The TEMPUS programme was started in the early 1990's in a unique political climate in eastern European countries. It was a very considerable innovation as a complex and efficient higher education programme, targeted at the real needs of the recipients. As no higher education strategies existed at that time in the region, TEMPUS was not able to support comprehensive structural changes, at least in Hungary, in the university sphere. Its unique success in terms of efficiency can be traced back to the presence of the European dimension, the professional management of the Programme, and the very appropriate emotional challenge it has presented both in the East and the West.     

Toward an instructional design model based on learning objects

The present moment in the history of higher education requires setting strategies and specific action plans to guarantee a place in the highly competitive and demanding world scenario. The incorporation of information and communication technologies is one of the feasible paths to be considered, but this requires formulating proposals insuring appropriate use of said technologies seeking improvement of education quality. For this purpose, Universidad de La Sabana has developed an instructional design model based on learning objects.