EMPLOYING SERVICE-LEARNING TO TEACH RESEARCH METHODS TO GERONTOLOGY STUDENTS

Undergraduate student interest in aging was examined in relation to age, gender, and contact with older adults. Interest in aging is conceived of along a continuum, ranging from initial interest-taking an aging course-to substantial interest as evidenced by academic and career interest. Undergraduate students who have taken an aging course (n = 189) and a stratified random comparison group (n = 261) self-assessed their interest in aging. Background information, including the frequency and duration of contact with older family and non-family individuals, was reported. Being female (p < 001) and having frequent contact with older family members (p < .01) significantly explains initial interest in aging. Initial interest in aging (i.e., taking an aging course) significantly contributes to substantial interest in aging (p < .0001) i.e., taking more aging courses, majoring in gerontology, working or planning to work with older adults. Contact with older adults positively affects undergraduate interest in aging. Interest in aging proceeds along a continuum, from preceding factors to initial interest in aging and then to substantial interest in aging. Aging courses and opportunities for interaction with older adults should be offered at the undergraduate level.     

Relevance in pedagogy and the problem of educational quality in Latin America

The educational reforms implemented in various Latin America countries at the end of the 60's and early 70's shared a common desire to ruralize rural primary schooling in the search for relevance. Some reforms promoted differentiated content for rural areas while others, notably the Mexican, emphasized the adaptation of standard material to the local context through the use of a progressive methodology of teaching.Questions are raised as to whether the Mexican approach is any the less dualist for adopting standard material and whether it represents a viable strategy for the improvement of the quality of education in rural schools. The progressive model of teaching proposed is seen to be based on a number of assumptions of unproven validity, especially with regards to its ability to promote social and political awareness. In practical terms it is seen to depend for its success on types of teachers and pupils that are largely unknown in rural areas, and on a type of school organization that should precede any such reform of methods.More a philosophy than a practical plan of action, the progressive methodology is unlikely to act as an adequate substitute for more expensive but more determined policies designed to tackle the basic problems of truancy, drop-out and poor pupil performance.     

Reading, Reasoning, and Literacy: Strategies for Early Childhood Education From the Analysis of Classroom Observations

Researchers have posited that children generally learn to read in environments that are trusting, comfortable, and offer small group or one-to-one adult support, all of which are characteristics of a high quality early childhood education program. This evaluation research study examines the Pre-Kindergarten Incentive Program, an early childhood demonstration program in Washington, DC designed to study several urban community-based sites. The authors facilitate a discourse on how all early childhood education programs can become high quality programs through standardized observations, evaluations, and constructive feedback. The article describes the demonstration program, highlights general findings from standardized classroom observations, discusses areas needing improvement, and presents strategies for addressing areas of challenge. It will reveal to early childhood educators how evaluation findings can improve teaching and learning techniques and environments in early childhood programs. The goal is to promote overall improvement in reading, reasoning, and literacy for children enrolled in early childhood programs and thereby better prepare them for kindergarten.     

Reading a note, reading a mind: children’s notating skills and understanding of mind

Are children’s understanding of mental states (understanding of mind) related to their notating skills, that is, their ability to produce and read written marks to convey information about objects and number? Fifty-three preschoolers and kindergarteners were presented with a dictation task where they produced some written marks and were later asked to read them back. Understanding of mind was assessed using two tasks. Children’s name-writing and language skills were assessed as covariates. Children’s understanding of their own and other’s mental states was associated with their notating skills. Findings are discussed in light of the reciprocal writer-reader relation: keeping an audience in mind when writing and a writer in mind when reading. This reciprocal relation is central to writing and reading development.     

Film and Society

Bill Nichols IDEOLOGY AND THE IMAGE: SOCIAL REPRESENTATION IN THE CINEMA AND OTHER MEDIA (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1981 —$29.95/$9.95)

David Pirie ANATOMY OF THE MOVIES (New York: Macmillan, 1981—$15.95)

Nancy Lynn Schwartz THE HOLLYWOOD WRITER'S WARS (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1982—$17.95)

Gilbert Ad air VIETNAM ON FILM: FROM THE GREEN BERETS TO APOCALYPSE NOW (New York: Proteus, 1981— $13.95). Adair begins with John Wayne's The Green Berets (1968)

Edward D. C. Campbell, Jr. THE CELLULOID SOUTH (Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 1981—$17.50)

Elizabeth Weatherford NATIVE AMERICANS ON FILM AND VIDEO (Available from Museum of the American Indian, Broadway at 155th Street, New York, NY 10032— $4.95, paper)     

International Communications

THE SOVIET PROPAGANDA MACHINE by Martin Ebon (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1987—$22.95)

CLANDESTINE RADIO BROADCASTING: A STUDY OF REVOLUTIONARY AND COUNTERREVOLUTIONARY ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION by Lawrence C. Soley and John S. Nichols (New York: Praeger, 1987—$47.95)

ASSIGNED TO LISTEN: THE EVESHAM EXPERIENCE, 1939–43 by Olive Renier and Vladimir Rubinstein (London: BBC External Services, 1986—L3.95, paper, plus 25% more to cover postage and packing outside of the U.K.)

INDEPENDENCE, LIBERATION, REVOLUTION: AN APPROACH TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE THIRD WORLD by Tran Van Dinh (Norwood, NJ: Ablex, 1987—$37.50)

FOLLOWING THE FOOTPRINTS: PROTECTING FILM AND TV RIGHTS IN THE WORLD SATELLITE MARKETPLACE edited by Charles Firestone and Daniel Brenner (Communications Law Program, UCLA School of Law, University of California, Los Angeles 90024—price not given, paper)     

Evaluating Flexible Delivery across a Tertiary Institution

An institutional evaluation of flexible delivery can lead to improvements in education practice, and gives the institution the opportunity to re-focus its strategic intent and correct practices that are contrary to that intent. In this paper, flexible delivery as a strategic emphasis of Universal College of Learning (UCOL) is outlined. The evaluation of the strategy's implementation is then described through the process, results and future directions of flexible delivery at UCOL. Flexible delivery was evaluated across the institution by interviewing heads of faculty and lecturers and mailing a questionnaire to students. The results are discussed not only in relation to distinct areas for improvement but also to the concept of drift from the original strategy. It is suggested that all tertiary institutions aiming to improve their practice when using flexible forms of course delivery should undertake similar evaluations on a regular basis.     

The Effect of Goal-Line Presentation and Goal Selection on First-Grader Subtraction Fluency

Math proficiency is related to math calculation fluency. Explicit timing provides repeated practice for math fluency. It is enhanced through goal setting, graphic feedback, and rewards. Self-selected goals have potential to increase performance for math fluency. This study compared the effect of goal lines, and researcher goals versus self-selected goals. The authors compared three groups: (a) researcher-selected goals only, (b) researcher-selected goals with goal lines, and (c) self-selected goals with goal lines. First-grade students completed subtraction probes and colored in a bar graph with their performance. When participants met or exceeded their goals, participants received rewards twice per week. Results indicated that the researcher-selected goals with goal lines procedures with explicit timing had the greatest effect on subtraction fluency for first-grade students. The researcher-selected goals with goal lines and self-selected goals with goal lines groups outperformed the researcher-selected goals-only group.     

A historical sketch of intercollegiate debating: II

Mediaeval Artes Praedicandi: A Hand‐List. By Harry Caplan. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1934; pp. 52. $1.50.

“The Four Senses of Scriptural Interpretation and the Mediaeval Theory of Preaching,”; Speculum, IV, No. 3, July, 1929.

“Classical Rhetoric and the Mediaeval Theory of Preaching,”; Classical Philology, XXVIII, No. 2, April, 1933.

“ ‘Henry of Hesse’ on the Art of Preaching,”; Publications of the Modern Language Association, XLVIII, No. 2, June, 1933. All by Harry Caplan.

The Making of a Pulpit Orator. By John A. McClorey, S.J. Macmillan, 1935. $2.00.

Public Speaking. By Donald Hayworth. New York: The Ronald Press Company, 1935; pp. 442.

The Debaters’ Workbook: State Medical Service. Prepared by A. W. Heath. Waverly, Ill.: Waverly Forensic Press, 1935; pp. 82. $.75.

Language and Its Growth. By H. F. Scott, W. L. Carr, and G. T. Wilkinson. Chicago: Scott, Foresman &; Co., 1935; pp. 389. $2.00.

A Dictionary of Modern American Usage. By H. W. Horwill, New York: Oxford University Press, 1935; pp. ix+360. $3.25.

The Thorndike‐Century Junior Dictionary. By E. L. Thorndike. Chicago: Scott, Foresman and Co., 1935; pp. x+970. $1.32.

On the Teaching of Junior High School English. By Emma Glaser. New York: D. Appleton‐Century Co., 1935; pp. 307.

Stammering and Allied Disorders. By C. S. Bluemel. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1935; pp. 182.

The Gentleman from New York: a Life of Roscoe Conkling. By Donald Baer Chidsey. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1935; pp. 438.

How to Win a Sales Argument. By Richard C. Borden and Alvin C. Busse. New York: Harper and Bros., 1935.

Public Speaking for Everybody. By Charles W. Mears. New York: Harper and Bros., 1935.

French Pronunciation. By Jeanne S. Marie. Philadelphia: Plank Printing Co., 1935; pp. 70.

The Best English. By H. C. Wyld. New York: Oxford University Press, 1934.

So‐o‐o‐o You're Going on the Air. By Robert West, M.A. New York: Rodin Publishing Co., 1934; pp. 215.

The Professional Discussions—of the Ninth Annual Convention of the American Speech Correction Association, 1934. Edited by Robert West, Ph.D. Madison, Wisconsin: College Typing Co., 1935.

A Guide to Play Selection. By Milton Smith. New York: D. Appleton‐Century Co., 1934. $1.25.

The Art of the Drama. By Fred B. Millett and Gerald Eades Bentley. New York. D. Appleton‐Century Co., 1935; pp. 253. $2.25.

Parliamentary Law and Procedure. By John Q. Tilson. Washington: Ransdell, Inc., 1935; pp. xv+176. $2.50.

Speech Making. By F. J. Griffiths. New York: Oxford University Press, 1935; pp. 96.

The Technical Man Sells His Services. By Edward Hurst, S.B. New York: McGraw‐Hill Book Company, 1933; pp. 239.

Scenery Simplified. By Glenn R. Webster and William Wetzel. Eldridge Entertainment House, Franklin, Ohio, 1934; pp. 167. $1.50.