Commonwealth Media

THE MILITARY AND THE MEDIA by Alan Hooper (Brookfield, Vt.: Gower Publishing, 1982---$38.00)

GOTCHA! THE MEDIA, THE GOVERNMENT AND THE FALKLANDS CRISIS by Robert Harris (London: Faber & Faber/New York: Harper & Row, 1983---$5.95, paper)

THE THIRD AGE OF BROADCASTING edited by Brian Wenham (London: Faber & Faber/New York: Harper & Row, 1982---$5.95, paper)

CHOICE BY CABLE: THE ECONOMICS OF A NEW ERA IN TELEVISION by C.G. Veljanovski and W.D. Bishop (London: The Institute of Economic Affairs, 1983---£2.50, paper)

From the London-based Centre for the Study of Communication and Culture, Robert A. White reports to us on the following recent British studies:

MEDIA LAW IN AUSTRALIA: A MANUAL by Mark Armstrong, et al. (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1983---price not given, paper)

MAKING A TV SERIES: THE BELLAMY PROJECT by Albert Moran (Paddington, New South Wales: Currency 'ress, 1983---A$14.95, paper)

TELEVISION IN THE EIGHTIES: THE TOTAL EQUATION by Rex Moorfoot (London: BBC Publications/Elmsford, N.Y.: Pergamon Press, 1983---$19.95/9.50)

CANADA'S VIDEO REVOLUTION: PAY-TV, HOME VIDEO AND BEYOND by Peter Lyman (Toronto: Lorimer and Co., 1983---$16.95/7.95)

INFORMATION SOCIETY PROGRAM PAPERS (Gamma, Faculty of Management, McGill University, 1001 Sherbrooke St. West, Montreal, Que. H3A 1G5---priced as noted, paper)

AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF CULTURAL STUDIES (School of English, Western Australian Institute of Technology, Bentley, W.A. 6102---A$15.00 per year/twice yearly)     

Teaching Critical Thinking in Undergraduate Science Courses

This paper reports on the design and evaluation of a project aimed at fosteringthe critical thinking abilities and dispositions of first year students at anAustralian university. Novel paper and pencil problems were designed tofoster the range of critical thinking abilities identified by Ennis (1991). Most ofthese critical thinking tasks relate to applications of chemistry and physics ineveryday life. Some of the tasks were developed from information and/orideas obtained from critical incident interviews with scientists in private andgovernment organisations. The first year university students were required toattempt the tasks in co-operative groups and to interact in these groups in waysaimed at fostering the dispositions of Ennis' ideal critical thinker (Ennis 1996).The project was evaluated from discussions with groups of students, fromcomments of tutors who observed the students working in groups and from aquestionnaire. Evidence obtained from these data indicated that many studentsconsidered their thinking skills were enhanced by their experience of attemptingthe tasks in small co-operative groups.     

Core competence and education

Core competence is a managerial concept used toanalyse and develop key elements of business strategy. This article outlines the concept and applies it topost-compulsory education in the UK. Afterconsidering educational characteristics which might beconsidered to delineate core competence, an economicapproach is adopted. The educational perspectivesuggests accreditation as the core competence ofUniversities. The economic approach suggests that themarket trend toward lifetime learning might best bemet by institutions developing a core competence inrelationship marketing. The article concludes byconsidering the implications for the institutionalstructure of post-compulsory education.     

The impact on career direction of a tertiary management programme for mid‐career ICT professionals

The motivation of mid‐career students can be expected to be more considered and intense than students whose studies continue from undergraduate programmes. How students perceive their personal circumstances and their career when they first make the decision to enrol and what happens as a result of their studies can reveal how mid‐career management programmes can be structured to ensure greater alignment with student needs and therefore greater student satisfaction. It can also inform curriculum development and marketing strategy. This investigation indicates that the motivators that triggered the enrolment decision often evolve into intrinsic motivators as a result of the study experience and this can lead on to deeper learning and greater satisfaction with learning outcomes. Self‐determination theory posits the need for autonomy as an antecedent of intrinsic motivation. Providing autonomy support in course content and curriculum design as well as competence support and relatedness in assignments and assessment can be expected to result in greater intrinsic motivation and deeper learning.     

Effects of individual and cooperative computer-assisted instruction on student performance and attitudes

In this study, the performance and attitudes toward instruction of learners working individually on a computer-based sex education lesson were compared with those of learners working cooperatively in dyads. A tatal of 60 eighth-graders received treatments that either required individual work or encouraged cooperation with a partner. Results indicated that students who worked cooperatively significantly outperformed those who worked individually. On an attitude measure, interactions were detected between instructional method and gender, as well as among instructional method, gender, and ability. High-ability males and females reported comparable attitudes toward each instructional method, but ratings for low-ability students were differentiated according to instructional method: Low-ability males responded most favorably, while low-ability females responded least favorably to individualized methods, and low-ability females responded most favorably and low-ability males least favorably to cooperative methods.     

Critical ionization potentials by positive-ion impact

The experiments of several previous investigators were repeated in substance with apparatus designed to make it possible to distinguish between ionization and certain spurious factors which have made questionable much of the existing evidence relating to ionization by positive-ion impact. A great many current-potential measurements and curves were obtained at different gas pressures and with a variety of electrical arrangements. The data and curves thus obtained present direct evidence (a) that the previously so-called “ionization current” is due to a secondary electron emission from the platinum walls of the ionization chamber, (b) that this secondary electron emission is produced by the impact of the positive ions with these metal walls, (c) that either there is no ionization in hydrogen gas by the impact of the positive ions accelerated by potential differences up to 925 volts, or that if this phenomenon exists, as is indicated by visual and spectroscopic evidence, its effects are so small at relatively low pressures (.012 mm.) that it is completely masked by secondary phenomena which make its detection by the ordinary direct methods problematic, and (d) that it seems possible that at relatively high gas pressures (considerably above .012 mm.), ionization by positive ions might be an important factor with accelerating potential differences between the ends of their M.F.P. well within this same range of voltages.     

My best teacher

Answer Me That! Suzanne E. Dennis. Illustrated by Owen Wood. New York: The Bobbs‐Merrill Company, 1969. 29 pp. $4.50.

Educational and Psychological Measurement. David A. Payne and Robert F. McMorris. Waltham, Mass: Blais‐dell Publishing Company, 1967. X + 419 pp. $4.95.

The Exceptional Infant. Jerome Hellmuth, ed. Seattle, Washington: Special Child Publications, 1967. 568 pp. $12.50.

The Green Thumb Story. Jean Fiedler. Pictures by Wayne Blickenstaff. New York: Scholastic Book Services, 1964. 48 pp. 350.

School Is . . . by the people in Room 122, P. S. 52, Buffalo, New York and their teacher Theresa Lopata. Designed and illustrated by Tim Lewis. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1969. 61 pp. $1.95.

The Principal Works with the Visually Impaired. Geraldine T. Scholl. Washington, D. C.: The Council for Exceptional Children, 1968. 62 pp. $1.50.

The Human Reproductive System. Morris Krieger. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., 1969. 96pp. $4.94.

Elementary School Science and How to Teach It. Glenn O. Blough and Julius Schwartz. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1969. 810 pp. $11.95.

The Changing Classroom: The Role of the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study. Arnold B. Grobman. Garden City: Doubleday &; Company, Inc., 1969. 370 pp. $6.95.     

OLDER ADULTS EARNING UNIVERSITY CREDITS: A DESCRIPTION

Of only 72 persons aged 62 and older who are enrolled for credit on campuses of the University of Wisconsin system, 48 responded to a questionnaire designed to assess demographic characteristics, attitudes toward lifelong education, and class format and group make‐up preferences. Respondents were more likely to be employed (60.4%), home owning (79.2%), and younger (M = 67.1, SD = 8.19; than both auditing and nonparticipant elders previously described (Hooper & March, 1978). Female credit earners reported preferring seminar format, while male credit earners preferred lecture format; these preferences are opposite to those expressed by auditing respondents in the earlier study. Only 16.3% of the credit earners had fewer than 12 years of education, and only 4.8% had no previous experience of the university through their own participation or that of members of their families. Implications of the findings for teachers of older students are discussed.