Do the effects of computer-assisted practice differ for children with reading disabilities with and without IQ-achievement discrepancy?

This study was designed to assess whether the effects of computer-assisted practice on visual word recognition differed for children with reading disabilities (RD) with or without aptitude-achievement discrepancy. A sample of 73 Spanish children with low reading performance was selected using the discrepancy method, based on a standard score comparison (i.e., the difference between IQ and achievement standard scores). The sample was classified into three groups: (1) a group of 14 children with dyslexia (age M = 103.85 months; SD = 8.45) who received computer-based reading practice; (2) a group of 31 "garden-variety" (GV) poor readers (age M = 107.06 months; SD = 6.75) who received the same type of instruction; and (3) a group of 28 children with low reading performance (age M = 103.33 months; SD = 9.04) who did not receive computer-assisted practice. Children were pre- and posttested in word recognition, reading comprehension, phonological awareness, and visual and phonological tasks. The results indicated that both computer-assisted intervention groups showed improved word recognition compared to the control group. Nevertheless, children with dyslexia had more difficulties than GV poor readers during computer-based word reading under conditions that required extensive phonological computation, because their performance was more affected by low-frequency words and long words. In conclusion, we did not find empirical evidence in favor of the IQ-achievement discrepancy definition of reading disability, because IQ did not differentially predict treatment outcomes.     

Integrating Free Computer Software in Chemistry and Biochemistry Instruction: An International Collaboration

At the Universidad de Caldas, Manizales, Colombia, we used their new computer facilities to introduce chemistry graduate students to biochemical database mining and quantum chemistry calculations using freeware. These hands-on workshops allowed the students a strong introduction to easily accessible software and how to use this software to begin to explore computer modeling. Each workshop was scheduled for 2 h and each included a tutorial exercise to familiarize the students with the main menus and features of the software. In addition, accompanying lectures and practical laboratory sections were provided. Both courses were taught in Spanish although the written instructions were in English. This was not a problem since these students have a comfort level with reading English. Student feedback following these workshops was highly enthusiastic and positive. This international collaborative will impact both the teaching and research goals for this cohort of graduate students.     

Impact of Adding Internet Technology on Student Performance and Perception of Autonomy in Fundamentals of Electronics Course

The coupling of the traditional classroom instruction and a virtual learning environment (VLE) in an engineering course is critical to stimulating the learning process and to encouraging students to develop competencies outside of the classroom. This can be achieved through planned activities and the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs), resources designed to complement students’ autonomous learning needs. A quantitative analysis of students’ academic performance using final course grades was performed for a fundamentals of electronics course and we examine students’ perception of their autonomy using surveys. The students’ progress and attitudes were monitored over four consecutive semesters. The first began with the design of the intervention and the following three consisted in the implementation. The strategy was focused on the development of course competencies through autonomous learning with ICT tools presented in the VLE. Findings indicate that the students who did the activities in the VLE showed an increase in performance scores in comparison with students who did not do them. The strategy used in this study, which enhanced perceived autonomy, was associated with a positive effect on their learning process. This research shows that a technology-enhanced course supported by ICT activities can both improve academic performance and foster autonomy in students.     

Books on Broadcasting

Albert C. Book and Norman D. Cary's The Television Comercial: Creativity and Craftsmanship (Decker, $6.95 paperback)

Stuart N. Hyde's Television and Radio Announcing (Houghton-Hifflin, $9.95)

William O. Johnson Jr.'s Super Spectator and Electronic Lilliputian (Little-Brown, $6.95)     

Unhomely spaces and deviant subjectivity: The sociohistorical homelessness of female juvenile offenders

The girls inhabiting the deviant subject position of female juvenile offenders have no home in normalized total social institutions. This paper wonders about and wanders through various historical and contemporary studies "about" female juvenile offenders and discusses the intersections of the unhomely spaces (Bhabha, 1994) that exclude and even abandon those in this subject position. The juvenile female offender seems to be "outside" of culture, existing in an impossibly homeless space. This is vital work to interrupt and complicate the assumptions that limit the spaces of being for the girls studied. Using critical discourse analysis (Fairclough, 1995) and deviant historiography (Terry, 1991) in a hybrid methodology, the discursive spaces of im/possible being will be highlighted. A recent report from the American Bar Association and the National Bar Association highlights the gaps and failures of the system when it comes to girls. By analyzing the intersections of historical discourses constructing the female juvenile offender as deviant, this paper highlights the im/possibility of "home", that is the "unhomely spaces" of the social institutions catering to these girls and the homelessness of the deviant girl within and against the hegemonic discourses - thus troubling what it means to research the "homeless".