Television network news reporting by female correspondents: An update

Although a content analysis of 1247 network news reports indicates that significant differences still exist in male and female‐reported story topics, the scope and importance of women's reporting assignments appear to be improving.     

Testing Logic-based and Humor-based Corrections for Science,Health, and Political Misinformation on Social Media

Misinformation causes a range of negative impacts. One proposed solution is applying critical thinking techniques to neutralize misinformation by explaining its misleading techniques or logical fallacies. This study tests the efficacy of corrections after exposure to misinformation that adopt inoculating techniques. We test two forms of rhetorical correction—logic-based and humor-based—across the issues of climate change, gun control, and HPV vaccination. We find that results vary across topics, with both logic-based and humor-based corrections reducing misperceptions only for HPV vaccination. More research is needed to test the efficacy of logic-based and humor-based corrections across different issues.     

An Issue of Trust: Are Commercial Databases Really Reliable?

Entrepreneurial researchers utilize databases on new and emerging businesses that provide the contact data and other demographic information for research samples. Based on a literature review, the integrity of this data is often assumed, and the vendor's claims as to its accuracy are relied upon. This article tests the accuracy and reliability of one such database, the U.S. New Business database from ReferenceUSA. Specifically, these businesses were contacted to test the validity of the information provided. The research findings suggest that the U.S. New Business database from ReferenceUSA is not a vetted database, and researchers cannot rely on the vendor's promise of accuracy.     

The impact of an intervention on children's reading and spelling ability in low-income schools in India

The aim of this study using a quasi-experimental design was to investigate whether utilising synthetic phonics in schools catering for low-income families in India would increase reading and spelling attainment in English. Over 500 children in 20 schools took part in the 6-month programme. Just over half of the children experienced lessons organised around the synthetic phonics materials, whilst the other children continued with their normal English lessons. The findings show that there were statistically significant differences between the intervention and control groups in the improvements of the children in their test scores in reading and spelling.     

The relative quality and cost-effectiveness of private and public schools for low-income families: a case study in a developing country

The “mushrooming” of private schools for low-income families has been widely noted in the literature; however, very little is known about the quality of these schools. This research explored the relative quality of private unaided (recognised and unrecognised) and government schools in low-income areas of Hyderabad, India. A preliminary census to locate unrecognised private schools – not on official lists – was conducted. Data were collected on achievement and background variables for 3,910 pupils from a stratified random sample of schools. Using multilevel modelling shows that pupils in private unrecognised and recognised schools, when controlled for age, pupil's IQ, and class average IQ, achieve higher scores in mathematics and English than equivalent pupils in government schools. There is no significant difference between private and government schools in pupil achievement in Urdu. The achievement advantage for private schools did not arise because of greater resources available, at least in terms of per pupil teacher salaries.     

Understanding Cross-Cultural Meaning through Visual Media

Lack of shared meaning can make communication difficult for people of different cultures. Perceptions and practical experience are important influences when devising and developing online learning experiences in cross-cultural contexts. In this study, 15 educational designers studying for their Masters Degree were asked to contribute their interpretations to an ongoing study of what meaning and interpretations were generated from a series of different learning environments offered via the Web. Course materials were designed in Australia and delivered into Hong Kong, SAR, and China. Students did not always interpret the visual information in the manner expected by the original designers. This paper discusses the outcomes of the investigation relating students' perceptions of the appropriateness of the western interface design guidelines as they applied them to a number of exemplary Chinese WWW sites, highlighting the cultural differences in meaning and representation. Comprendre les diversités culturelles À travers les images. Le manque de sens partagé peut rendre difficile la communication entre peuples de différentes cultures. L'expérience pratique et les diverses perceptions peuvent avoir leur importance lors de la conception et le développement de projets de formation en ligne dans des contextes multiculturels. Dans cette étude, quinze concepteurs multimédias, du niveau de la maîtrise, ont été sollicités pour étudier les différentes interprétations et perceptions générées par différents cours offerts sur le Web. Les cours ont été produits en Australie et diffusés À Hong Kong, en SAR, et en Chine. Les étudiants n'ont pas toujours décodé les informations visuelles selon les voeux de leurs concepteurs. Cet article analyse les résultats de cette investigation portant sur la perception qu'ont les étudiants chinois, par exemple, de directives proposées par des auteurs occidentaux, laissant apparaître d'importants écarts dans la représentation qu'ils s'en font. Interkulturelle Bedeutung durch visuelle Medien verstehen> Kommunikation zwischen Menschen verschiedener Kulturen kann durch die Verwendung von Begriffen mit nicht gemeinsamer Bedeutung erschwert werden. Eigene Wahrnehmungen und praktische Erfahrungen sind wichtige Grundlagen für den Entwurf und die Entwicklung von Online-Lehrgängen in interkulturellen Kontexten. In dieser Studie wurden fünfzehn Kursdesigner, die für ihre Masters Degrees studierten, darum gebeten, ihre Interpretationen einer laufenden Studie über die Frage, welche Bedeutung und Interpretationen durch eine Serie von über das Netz angebotenen verschiedenen Lernumgebungen generiert wurden, abzugeben. Die Kursmaterialien wurden in Australien gestaltet und nach Hongkong, SAR China, übermittelt. Die Studenten interpretierten die visuelle Information nicht immer in der Weise, wie das von den Original Designern erwartete worden war. Dieses Papier erörtert die Ergebnisse der Untersuchung, die die Wahrnehmungen der Studenten über die Sinnentsprechung der westlichen Schnittstellenentwurfsrichtlinien in Beziehung setzt, indem sie sie auf eine Anzahl vorbildlicher chinesischer Web-Sites anwandten und damit die kulturellen Unterschiede in Bedeutung und Darstellung hervorhoben.     

Writing critical race theory and method: a composite counterstory on the experiences of black teachers in New Orleans post-Katrina

Using a critical race theory lens, the authors propose a way of writing race research using composite counterstories. Drawing on data from a yearlong study of school rebuilding in the time period immediately after Hurricane Katrina devastated the City of New Orleans, the authors examine the experiences of African-American educators in the school rebuilding efforts. Cook and Dixson look specifically at how composite counterstories speak back to racialized constructions of black educators that justified their post-Katrina displacement and usher in an era of school reform in which New Orleans is described as “ground zero” for the expansion of charter schools, the disempowerment of teachers’ unions, and the re-organization of teacher preparation. Given the context of the research, the authors argue that researchers should consider how composite counterstories facilitate racial research and ensure the protection of research participants.     

Developing a characterisation of citizenship education: issues arising from work undertaken in a higher education network

In order to understand better the way in which the emerging field of citizenship education is being characterised we reflect on work emerging from a higher education network (citizED) for citizenship education. Three of the four authors of this article are closely involved in that network. CitizED was established with funding from the Teacher Training Agency (TTA) (now the Training and Development Agency for Schools, TDA) in order to establish a network and provide resources to support the initial training of citizenship teachers. We analysed download data from the network's website, a sample of the resources produced by the network, and interviewed a sample of users and developers. In this article we identify who is using the resources, how they are using them and what form of citizenship education is developing as a result. We argue that there is now a clear citizenship teacher education community that uses common resources for a variety of purposes. We suggest that there is some consensus in relation to the official characterisation of citizenship, but that ‘turf wars’ still exist in this contested field.