MUMEDALA—An approach to multi-media authoring

The MUMEDALA (MUlti-MEDia Authoring LAnguage) system is an authoring facility that is designed to enable the creation and control of a sophisticated interactive learning environment. Such an environment might contain a variety of channels that enable (1) the presentation of instructional material, and (2) the capture of student response and monitoring data. The latter provides the means of achieving highly individualized instructional schema based upon the use of a range of teaching media. This paper presents an overview of the MUMEDALA system, its design features and the progress being made towards its realization.     

Values and Practice: History teaching 1971-2001

From the biographical perspective of his own career as a history teacher and trainer, the author explores how the ideological ferment of the last 30 years has shaped the values and principles that have informed classroom practice in the period. The paper contrasts the tolerant, progressive humanism of the post-war era with the intense political controversies of the 1970s and explains how history teachers who recognised the post-modern dilemma and responded with new approaches and methods found themselves blamed for moral decline and falling standards. The arguments of Thomas Greenfield and Alasdair MacIntyre, with their frank acknowledgement of the contested nature of truth and knowledge, are compared with the certainties of Rhodes Boyson, Sheila Lawlor and Melanie Phillips. The History National Curriculum, with its apparatus of objectives and levels, is criticised as an incoherent set of bureaucratic procedures designed to close down classroom debate that appeared to threaten the established order. Research from Texas is cited as evidence that this standardised method may hinder teaching and learning, inducing compliance rather than understanding. In conclusion, a visit to the Beth Shalom Holocaust Centre provides an example of how effective history teaching engages with inescapable controversy and is trivialised by an excessive concern with objectives, tests and examinations.     

A Practical Introduction to Authoring for Computer-Assisted Instruction. Part 10: knowledge-based CAL

Within all modern societies human survival depends critically upon the generation, dissemination and assimilation of vast quantities of information. In situations where there is rapid technological change, conventional information and knowledge transfer mechanisms are often both inappropriate and inadequate. This paper examines the role of computers as knowledge/information transfer agents and how knowledge-based computer-assisted learning may provide an effective and efficient means of aiding learning and training processes.     

A Practical Introduction to Authoring for Computer Assisted Instruction. Part 3: MICROTEXT

MICROTEXT is a new CAI authoring facility that has recently been developed by the United Kingdom's National Physical Laboratory. This paper presents an overview of the language, describes the mechanism of lesson creation and then outlines some of the applications for which we have been using it.     

The Immigrant Experience: Differences in Acculturation,Intercultural Sensitivity,and Cognitive Flexibility Between the First and Second Generation of Latino Immigrants

This study tested the assertion that intercultural communication competence develops as a result of intercultural adaptation. Surveys were collected from a sample of 216 first- and second-generation Latino immigrants in the US. It was predicted that first-generation immigrants would score higher on cognitive flexibility, intercultural sensitivity, and biculturalism than second-generation immigrants because of their direct exposure to two cultures. These hypotheses were not supported, as second-generation immigrants scored higher on all three measures. As predicted, bicultural orientation was correlated with both cognitive flexibility and intercultural sensitivity. The findings are discussed with attention to immigrants' acculturation strategies.     

Strategic planning: Evolution of a model

In the 1990s many institutions are faced with pressures to serve the needs of society while facing declining financial resources. This increases the need for institutions to properly plan for the future. The literature shows that many institutions have not embraced the need for strategic planning. This article reviews the systems approach to strategic planning as a method to enhance the planning processes. Planning models in the literature were examined, and a new model specifically oriented to institutions of higher education is presented. The model uses the concepts of the systems approach, combines elements of models in the literature, and shows the relationships and responsibilities of elements of the institution.Thomas S. Barker holds a B.S.B.A. from Christopher Newport University, an M.B.A. from Old Dominion University, and a Ph.D. in Higher Education from the University of North Texas. He is a principal in an educational consulting firm and has written on international education and technology transfer. Special interests include international education, developing countries, and cross-cultural ethics. Howard W. Smith is currently Professor of Higher Education and Interim Dean of the College of Education at the University of North Texas. He holds a B.S. in Education from Southwest Missouri State College and M.Ed. and Ed.D. degrees from the University of Missouri-Columbia. His current interests are higher education administration, planning, accreditation, and teacher education.     

Gene-environment processes linking aggression, peer victimization, and the teacher-child relationship

Aggressive behavior in middle childhood is at least partly explained by genetic factors. Nevertheless, estimations of simple effects ignore possible gene-environment interactions (G × E) or gene-environment correlations (rGE) in the etiology of aggression. The present study aimed to simultaneously test for G × E and rGE processes between aggression, on the one hand, and peer victimization and the teacher-child relationship in school, on the other hand. The sample comprised 124 MZ pairs and 93 DZ pairs assessed in Grade 1 (mean age = 84.7 months). Consistent with rGE, children with a presumed genetic disposition for aggression were at an increased risk of peer victimization, whereas in line with G × E, a positive relationship with the teacher mitigated the genetically mediated expression of aggression.