Advertising and Media

Stuart Ewen's Captains of Consciousness: Advertising and the Social Roots of the Consumer Culture (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1976---$10.00)

Wilson Bryan Key's Media Sexploitation (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1976---$8.95)

Jib Fowles's Mass Advertising as Social Forecast: A Method for Futures Research (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1976---$10.95)

James E. Combs and Michael W. Mansfield (eds.) Drama in Life: The Uses of Communication in Society (New York: Hastings House, 1976---$18.50/10.50)

Walter E. Hurst and Don Rico's How to Be a Music Publisher (Seven Arts Press, 6605 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, Calf. 90026---$10.00 paper)     

LINKING STRATEGIC GOALS TO THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE BUDGET

Five years ago, Parkland College was faced with a challenge: how to link its strategic goals to the budget development and budget reallocation through an open, participatory, consensus‐based planning process. The strategic goals were developed collaboratively by community leaders, faculty, and staff using environmental scanning of key data and institutional performance indicators. After the strategic plan was approved by the college senate and the board of trustees, it was used to develop college and unit operational plans, which drive budgetary priorities and initiatives. In the last 6 years, the college has seen a decrease in the number of administrative positions, an increase in full‐time faculty teaching positions, an increase in the number of credit hours taught by full‐time faculty, an increase in instructional equipment purchases, and completion of a campus computer network integrating data communications, e‐mail, and Internet access. Instructional technology, methods and delivery of instruction, classroom assessment, and institutional effectiveness have become top college priorities. The process has earned the enthusiastic endorsement and respect of the faculty, staff, administration, and the board of trustees. The process also has built trust and cooperation and has facilitated the development of shared governance. This article discusses the impact and lessons learned from implementing such a process.     

Peer and Faculty Mentoring for Students Pursuing a PHD in Gerontology

The Graduate Center for Gerontology at the University of Kentucky incorporates three levels of mentoring in its PhD program. This project assessed satisfaction with peer and faculty mentoring and explored their perceived benefits and purposes. Core and affiliate faculty and current and graduated students were surveyed. Participants seemed satisfied with the mentoring they were giving and receiving, although all groups discussed limitations. Peer mentors were seen as social support and advice givers, while faculty mentors were viewed as responsible for direction and skill-building. These results can contribute to the development of new mentorship programs and the modification of existing ones.     

Teachers’ and principals’ reflections on student participation in a school science and technology competition

Background The European Union asks for renewed pedagogies in schools according to teaching strategies and necessary competences for the twenty-first century, instead of the often-used transmissive pedagogies. The national Swedish competition in science and technology for grade eight, The Technology Eight, provides an opportunity for teachers to work with instructional strategies in line with suggested pedagogies.

Purpose To investigate teachers’ and principals’ reflections on the competition in schools.

Sample Seventeen secondary school teachers and three principals from districts in the south-western part of Sweden participated in the study. All teachers had long experience of the competition, and their classes had reached at least the regional finals during the last year.

Design and methods Semi-structured interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and then analysed using content analysis. Focus was put on why the teachers decided to participate, how the teachers integrated the competition in their education and roles of the principals.

Results There were various reasons for participating in the competition. Teachers reported development of twenty-first-century skills such as better cooperation between the students. They also noticed an increased interest in science and technology and how learning in the subjects was stimulated. Furthermore, the teachers found participation in the competition to be positive for them too. They integrated the competition in ordinary education and gained teaching ideas as well as found connections to the curriculum. Participating in the competition seemed to be a tradition in most of the schools. The principals’ role was to facilitate the organisation around the competition and to provide social support.

Conclusions Participation in a school competition was considered as an instructional strategy with several positive outcomes. Use of this strategy can be supported by earlier suggestions to use pedagogies that are opposite to transmissive methods, enhancing students’ development of important skills for the future.     

Enhancing primary science: an exploration of teachers’ own ideas of solutions to challenges in inquiry- and context-based teaching

ABSTRACT

Studies of inquiry- and context-based science education (IC-BaSE) have shown that teachers find these approaches problematic. In this study, 12 primary school teachers’ reflections on challenges related to IC-BaSE are explored. The aim of the study was to investigate which challenges primary teachers experience when working with IC-BaSE and how these may be solved. Group discussions and individual portfolios were used for data collection. Content analysis showed that the challenges teachers experienced were mainly practical relating to: how to find contexts, lack of time, handling big classes, students working at different paces, handling materials, and the teachers' need of control. The teachers also presented their own ideas of solutions to the challenges.     

Promoting interdisciplinarity in engineering teaching

With funding from the UK' Royal Academy of Engineering, the University of Edinburgh has developed a series of truly interdisciplinary design courses aimed at improving penultimate-year students' ability to operate across disciplines and improve their preparation for industry. Led by a Visiting Industrial Professor, the course on hydropower design requires students to provide a full feasibility study of a small scheme in western Scotland tackling issues from hydrology through to grid connection. The course has had several very successful outcomes which include: appreciation of other engineering disciplines; experience of teams where different skills and expertise are available; demonstration of the links between engineering design and economic viability; introduction to non-technical areas essential to the UK Standard for Professional Engineering Competence; and enhancing interest in the hydropower sector in technological and career terms. The key message from this project is the need to ensure balance across tasks, within groups and staff support across disciplines.     

The Connection Between the Body and the Environment: a Changing View

Science & Education -     

Gerontology Doctoral Training: The Value of Goals,Program Perceptions,and Prior Experience Among Students

This study concerns the educational experiences and progression through the doctoral programs of two cohorts of students in 5 of the 6 gerontology doctoral programs within the United States. The project goals include assessments of change and/or stability in projected career trajectories, as well as an assessment of students' perceptions of the program-student fit in terms of curriculum, research experience, and faculty involvement. This paper focuses on the perceptions and expectations of students during their first year. Perceptions of the programs are mostly positive, but areas for improvement are identified. Further investigations of data through the subsequent years identify areas of focus for continued modification and potential improvement of doctoral programs.     

Correction to: The Connection Between the Body and the Environment: a Changing View

Science & Education - A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-021-00195-1     

Recent developments in the detection of melamine

In recent years, there were two reported outbreaks of food borne illness associated with melamine. The presence of melamine and its related compounds in milk, feed, and other foods has resulted in the need for reliable methods for the detection and accurate quantification of this class of contaminants. The sample pretreatment for melamine in a complex matrix usually involves a liquid extraction by a polar solvent, followed by a further clean-up with solid phase extraction. Analyses of melamine and related compounds are commonly carried out by liquid or gas chromatographic methods conjugated with mass spectrometry. Other innovative screening methods, which use antibodies, molecularly imprinted polymers, capillary electrophoresis, and gold nanoparticles, are also used to develop assays and biosensors to melamine. However, many of these methods have been hindered by matrix effects, the solubility of melamine-cyanuric acid complex, and background contamination. This article reviews recent developments for detecting melamine and discusses future directions.