The Influence of Female Lead Characters in Political TV Shows: Links to Political Engagement

This study examined political television dramas with lead female characters, proposing a model that links viewing of these shows with political engagement. A survey revealed that regular viewers of Madam Secretary, The Good Wife, or Scandal reported feeling transported by these programs’ narratives and parasocial relationships with the main characters (i.e., women in positions of political leadership). These responses were also related to increases in political interest and self-efficacy, with interest predicting real-world political participation. The findings illustrate that these political dramas have prosocial implications, including the non-stereotypical representation of women as well as increased political engagement among viewers.     

DEVELOPING AND USING INTERDISCIPLINARY CASE STUDIES IN TEACHING GERIATRICS TO PRACTICING HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS

Continuing education programs for health care professionals who practice in geriatrics are an important part of improving the health care provided to older adults. Programs utilizing active forms of learning that mimic the clinical environment are more successful at changing the behavior of health care professionals than traditional didactic styles of teaching. Problem-based learning methods allow learners to identify their own areas of strength and weakness and to work toward improvement in a manner best suited to their needs. This article describes an interdisciplinary team of educator-clinicians in geriatrics who developed clinical case studies embodying these approaches as one method of improving the learning process for adult health care providers. An actual sample case study is presented as an illustration of the principles embodied in this process. Lessons learned from the development and use of these case studies are summarized in the context of improving the quality of continuing education programs for health care professionals in geriatric practice.     

Bringing Inclusion into Focus: A Camp-based Research Study

ABSTRACT

As an increasing number of Jewish summer camps welcome campers with disabilities, it becomes more important to understand the experience of these campers and that of their neurotypical peers. In this study, campers with disabilities and neurotypical campers participated together in a photography activity. Photographs and their accompanying narratives were analyzed, yielding three categories of results: (1) camp community and responsibility (2) Jewish experience at camp; and (3) challenges and opportunities. Results are discussed in terms of enhancing the experience of inclusion at camp for all campers.     

Lessons That Last: Former Youth Organizers’ Reflections on What and How They Learned

This study examines the learning outcomes and learning environment of a youth organizing program that has been effective in promoting individual as well as social change. Drawing on interviews with 25 former youth organizers from the program, this study explores the lessons that stay with them as they transition to young adulthood and the factors they believe facilitated this lasting learning. Results show that the learning outcomes and the features of the learning environment that the participants identify reflect key tenets of Freirean critical pedagogy. As young adults, the participants indicate that they continue to draw on the critical thinking, introspection, communication, and interpersonal skills they developed as youth organizers, and they highlight the value of relevant content, an open atmosphere for discussion and debate, and peer education in promoting such durable learning. The relevance of critical pedagogy to the learning sciences is discussed.     

A Cross-Linguistic Investigation of English Language Learners' Reading Comprehension in English and Spanish

This study investigated the associations of oral language and reading skills with a sample of 282 Spanish-speaking English language learners across 3 years of elementary school. In the 3rd grade, the English and Spanish decoding measures formed two distinct but highly related factors, and the English and Spanish oral language measures formed two factors that showed a small positive correlation between them. The decoding and oral language factors were used to predict the sample's English and Spanish reading comprehension in the 6th grade. The decoding and oral language factors were both significant predictors of reading comprehension in both languages. The within-language effects were larger than the cross-language effects and the cross-language effects were not significant after accounting for the within-language effects.     

对高校《世界地理》教材中澳大利亚地理环境结构特征的不同看法

澳大利亚仅仅是降水量的分布由北、东、南三面沿海向内陆逐渐减少,呈半环状分布图式。在降水量呈半环状分布的特征影响下,从北、东、南三面沿海向内陆植被由森林逐渐变为草原,再变为荒漠。但是由此得出,气候类型和自然带的分布也有类似的图式,“地理环境呈半环状结构”是不妥当的。澳大利亚的气候类型、植被和自然带的分布,都表现出明显的纬向地带性特征,都是与一定的纬度位置、海陆位置密切相联系的。这样理解既有利于掌握全球地理环境分布的规律性,也有利于突出区域地理环境的特征。     

School mathematics in culture-conflict situations

In times of cultural change, education plays an especially important role. The writer suggests that even mathematics curricula, which have traditionally been considered culture-free, have a role to play in fostering mutual understanding amongst members of different cultures, after a period of cultural upheaval. Anthropological and educational sources are used to suggest points of relevance when a mathematical curriculum is designed for multi-cultural classrooms.The substance of this paper is the same as that in an article written for the journal,Cultural Dynamics.