Using online glossing lessons for accelerated instruction in ASL for preservice deaf education majors

Teachers of deaf and hard of hearing students must serve as language models for their students. However, preservice deaf education teachers typically have at most only four semesters of American Sign Language (ASL) training. How can their limited ASL instructional time be used to increase their proficiency? Studies involving deaf and hard of hearing students have revealed that glosses (written equivalents of ASL sentences) can serve as "bridges" between ASL and English. The study investigated whether glossing instruction can facilitate hearing students' learning of ASL. A Web site was developed in which ASL glossing rules were explained and glossing exercises provided. Posttest scores showed the experimental group improving from 39% to 71% on ASL grammar knowledge. These findings indicate that online glossing lessons may provide the means to obtain ASL skills more readily, thus preparing deaf education teachers to serve as ASL language models.     

Telecommunications Technology

Ithiel de Sola Pool, The Social Impact of the Telephone (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1977—$15.95)

Gerald F.J. Tyne Saga of the Vacuum Tube (Indianapolis: Howard W. Sams, 1977—$9.95, paper with a hardback available as well)

Ronald W. Clark Edison: The Man Who Made the Future (New York: Putnam, 1977— $12.95)     

Computer: The use of computer‐mediated communication in training students in group problem‐solving and decision‐making techniques

Abstract

A cost‐effectiveness analysis of training Army National Guard soldiers by audio teletraining technology was conducted. The trainees were n = 225 soldiers nationwide. About half of the trainees received training in a three‐week Unit Clerk Course through traditional residence training, and the remainder received the same instruction through audio teletraining. Objective performance data were collected from written tests on sixteen of the forty‐seven tasks taught. The percentage of trainees in the audio teletraining group that reached criterion (93%) on the first test was significantly higher (by statistical test) than the residence group (85%). In comparing costs, the audio teletraining group had lower training costs per trainee. Projected on an annual basis, the Army National Guard can save $292,404 per year through the use of audio teletraining for the Unit Clerk Course.     

Cardiac Function Tests as Indexes of Fitness

Abstract

Ventricular function measurements such as the Tension Period (TP) and the Q to First Heart Sound Interval (Q-1HSI) have received increasing attention as possible simple indexes of a person's cardiovascular fitness. In order to evaluate the usefulness of these tests for measuring fitness, they were compared with fitness scores obtained using a standard fitness test. The fitness score (Physical Work Capacity-150) of 31 male subjects was determined and correlated with their TP and Q-1HSI measurements taken at rest. The results showed little correlation between the PWC-150 and the TP (r = .21) or between the PWC-150 and the Q-1HSI (R = .13). The resting heart rate actually showed a closer correlation with Physical Work Capacity (r = –.53) than did either of the ventricular function measurements. Thus, from the results obtained in this study, cardiac function tests do not appear to offer a good substitute for the more strenuous tests of cardiovascular fitness.