Basic communication fidelity: An extension

The concept of Basic Communication Fidelity represents the degree of congruity between cognitions of two or more individuals following a communication event. Measurement of the concept is expanded beyond source/receiver comparison of cognitions implanted in a communication source in the form of geometric forms to include self‐oriented cognitions generated by an individual communicator in an environment reflecting stability of self‐oriented cognitions over the duration of the interaction. Results increase potential application, precision and explanatory value of the construct.     

Competition,conduct, and ratings in local television news: Applying the industrial organization model

This study explores how competition and competition intensity affect the amount of time devoted to local television news and the number of employees assigned to news activities. It also studies how the amount of time devoted to news and staff size affect newscast ratings. The author concludes that competition and its intensity did affect the amount of news presented locally and newscast ratings in the market examined.     

Perception Matters: What Message Are We Sending to Faculty with Departmental Book Allocations?

Perception can be everything. As librarians consider the ever-changing nature of the library's role on campus, they may want to adopt a philosophical approach to restructuring the traditional library materials budget from the perspective of perception rather than from the perspective of cost-cutting, creating staff efficiencies, or even collection development. By looking at the role faculty play in building the library's collection, conclusions can be formed about what the library's budget structure and budgetary interaction with faculty convey about the library's priorities as an institution and with regard to its role within the campus community as a whole.     

Name Disambiguation—Learning From More User-Friendly Models

Library catalogs do not provide catalog users with the assistance they need to easily and confidently select the person they are interested in. Examples are provided of Web services that do a better job of helping information seekers differentiate the person they are seeking from those with similar names. Some of the reasons for this failure in library catalogs are examined. This article then looks at how much information is necessary to help users disambiguate names, how that information could be captured and shared, and some ways the information could be displayed in library catalogs.     

Dyslexia‐friendly schools and parent partnership: inclusion and home–school relationships

This paper summarizes an action research project in five local areas in the south‐west of England which aimed to support parents of children with dyslexic difficulties who were experiencing problems in obtaining appropriate provision in mainstream schools. It was based on the importance of effective parental partnership and quality inclusive practice for children having dyslexic difficulties. A development officer worked over two years in the five participating LEAs that were selected to represent a range of professional practice with a mix of urban and rural populations. As part of the evaluation, the authors also examined longitudinally the educational experiences of a sample of parents. The paper includes a conceptual framework of parental agency in this field in terms of knowledge, identity and parental strategies, and the conditions under which parents escalate their strategies to secure appropriate provision for their children. The support provided by the development officer is analysed in terms of the kinds of support requests received, the kinds of support offered and qualitative evidence of the impact of this support. This research is theorized in terms of current ideas about parent‐partnership and theories about parent–teacher relations in terms of the diversity of parents. It highlights the significance of thinking about inclusive schooling and parent–school relations in terms of the interconnections between general systems for all, for those with special educational needs and those with specific difficulties. The policy and practice implications are interpreted in terms of the importance of a system of extended professionalism, which is inclusive of parents with learning difficulties and disabilities.     

EUROPEAN DISSERTATION SUMMARIES

Co‐operative learning means shared leadership where there is not just one leader in a group but where each member of the group is a leader. A leader demonstrates academic as well as collaborative skills in helping the group achieve a goal. Some academic skills are verbal interactions such as initiating ideas, responding by summarizing or suggesting procedures. Collaborative skills that build and maintain a good working relationship within the group include verbal interactions of praising group members and inviting others to get involved. The purpose of this study was to examine the verbal interactions and non‐verbal behaviours within unstructured learning groups. The verbal interactions were classified as positive if they aided the group to accomplish its goal and negative if they inhibited the group accomplishing its goal. Twenty‐eight students from seven intermediate‐grade level classrooms, grouped heterogeneously for sex and race and homogeneously for their ability in science, were selected for observation as they were doing a science activity. In general students’ verbal interactions were positive (i.e., there were more than four times more positive interactions than negative interactions). Further, in reviewing the positive interactions, students presented ideas more than four times as much as any of the other types of interactions. Females encouraged other members to participate in the activity significantly more than the males did. There was a trend in the number of times the equipment (clay) was handled; the males handled it more than the females as a function of race. Qualitative analyses revealed consistent patterns of interactions within groups of black and white males and females.     

Extract from new understandings of teachers' pedagogic knowledge 1

Abstract

The focus of this article is a comparative review of the science curriculum for England and Wales from the perspective of recent developments in the United States of America, Australia, New Zealand and the Canadian province of Ontario. In the comparison of science curriculum documents and the language deployed, questions are raised about differences as well as commonalities among and between documents from various jurisdictions. Issues discussed include: the varying emphases upon science topics and/or intended learning outcomes; integration with other curriculum areas; the content and organization of the science curriculum; and ways of assessing students’ performances and understandings. The article draws attention to the importance of comparative analysis which informs our understanding of the effects of curriculum change, its relation to students’ achievements in science, and the need to support the development of teachers.     

Institutionalisation of assessment capacity in developing nations: the case of Malawi

Building assessment capacity of educators has historically been unregulated practice in post-independence Malawi. However, recent attempts by government to integrate curriculum and assessment reforms and the introduction of continuous assessment in the system have represented a significant policy shift. These and several other initiatives have necessitated the empowerment, in terms of assessment knowledge and skills, of educators at different levels of the system to support implementation of the reforms. This paper discusses the strategies that Malawi has followed so far to institutionalise the development of assessment capacity and highlights the challenges that it has faced in its efforts to improve the capacity of its staff in assessment. Key lessons for other African and developing nations from the Malawian experience have also been noted.     

Bias among Professionals Who Erroneously Declare Students Eligible for Special Services

A computer simulation program was developed for the purpose of studying the processes diagnostic personnel in the schools engage in when making psychoeducational decisions about students. Initially, the program collected demographic data on 159 participants and assessed their knowledge base in assessment. Bogus referral information for one of sixteen “cases” was then provided and subjects were instructed that they were to make eligibility and classification decisions for the child. They were told that scores and other information (e.g., observations) were available to them on a variety of tests from among seven domains. Although the referral data indicated the student might be evidencing academic or behavior problems, all assessment data indicated a normal or average performance. Fiftytwo percent of the subjects (i.e., 83) declared the “average” child eligible for special education services; their classification decisions were further analyzed. Decisions about the 16 different children were found to be more a function of referral information than child performance data. The outcomes are discussed with regard to implications for the practice of psychoeducational assessment.     

Environmental Education and Environmental Advocacy: Revisited

Abstract

Environmental education and environmental advocacy have a contentious relationship. In this article, the author argues that there will always be uncertainty about educationally appropriate responses to controversial issues. Although uncertainty is inherent in this task, the choices are not dichotomous. The author also argues that education suggests a fluidity of meaning that shifts across a range of contexts, and what needs to be done will be found on a case-by-case and context-by-context basis in a mediated and negotiated third space. Some tentative guide-posts are offered.