Havighurst's Developmental Tasks,Young Adolescents,and Diversity

The Harry Potter series furnishes many instances of both good and bad teaching. From them, we can learn more about three principles outlined in How People Learn (National Research Council 2000a). (1) Teachers should question students about their prior knowledge, as Professor Lupin does before his lessons; (2) we should encourage students to develop theoretical contexts in which to organize facts, perhaps through Socratic dialogue such as Professor Dumbledore uses with Harry; and (3) we should promote metacognition, as Harry, Ron and Hermione use when they discuss their successes and failures.     

The use of war and peace in the basic college speech course

This study reports a quantitative analysis of the prime time television offerings during the fall, winter, and springs seasons (1977–78) by three commercial network‐affiliated stations in a medium‐sized market. A total of 40 consecutive weeks of program listings were examined: 3 September 1977 through and including 9 June 1978. Thefindings of this study indicate that: (1) five (movies, comedy, crime drama, drama, and specials) of the 13 program‐types identified account for nearly 78% of the prime time programming, (2) results of a Friedman two‐way analysis of variance test demonstrate that no significant differences exist between the three stations' program menus, (3) affiliate preemption of the network feed occurred less than 3% of the time overall, and (4) overall, non entertainment programming was at best scant (2.4%). Suggestions for future research were included.     

Developing Digital Literacy in the Middle School Classroom

Students are growing up in a digital world where technology is constantly changing and evolving. However, their use of these technologies is often more social rather than academically as a way to advance their understanding of key concepts or skills as it relates to instructional content. Teachers know how to teach, and our students are definitely not afraid of digital tools, so our job as teachers is to merge good, sound teaching practices with media that helps students tap into the digital world in which they live. This article shares the process that was followed as 36 Grade 7 and Grade 8 students participated in a 9-week digital media course. The framework of the course used a highly scaffolded format that incorporated various technology tools while also exposing students to aspects of language arts and process writing. Throughout the 9-week course, the role of teacher and students constantly shifted as new roles were taken on by “experts” (the students) who emerged as part of the process.     

Right–left digit ratio (2D:4D) predicts free testosterone levels associated with a physical challenge

Abstract

There is evidence that the digit ratio (2D:4D) is a negative correlate of prenatal levels of testosterone, but there is no association between 2D:4D and the circulating levels of both total and free testosterone. Sports provide a physical challenge and participants often show increased levels of free testosterone immediately preceding and during competition. We tested this hypothesis of a link between 2D:4D and testosterone under challenge in 79 professional rugby players using the following procedures; (i) 25 players were physically challenged using a repeated sprint agility test, and saliva samples were assayed for testosterone immediately preceding the repeated sprint agility test (time 1) and 5 minutes (time 2) and 20 minutes after completion of the repeated sprint ability (time 3); (ii) 54 players were also tested for salivary testosterone in an unchallenged condition. We found that right-left 2D:4D was significantly and negatively related to testosterone concentrations at times 1, 2 and 3 following the repeated sprint agility test (P < 0.05) and there was no association between the 2D:4D and basal testosterone levels in the unchallenged group. We suggest that low right–left 2D:4D is a predictive marker of free testosterone responsiveness when trained men are physically challenged, and that this association is programmed by the action of prenatal testosterone.     

1. CBQ REVIEW ESSAY: Reality Television: Scholarly Treatments Since 2000

Edwin Emery, Phillip Ault and Warren Agoe's Introduction to Mass Communications (Dodd, Moad, $7.95)

Denis McQuail, Towards a Sociology of Mass Communications (Macmillan, paperback at ca.$2.50)

Marshall McLuhan, Culture is Our Business (McGraw-Hill, $10.00)

David Manning White, Pop Culture in America (Quadganglo paperbacks, $2.45)

Mass Culture (Free Press, $2.95)

Theodore Peterson, Jay Jensen and William L. River's The Mass Media and Modern Society (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, now edition to cost $8.95)     

More Film Books

Paul Trent and Richard Lawton's The Image Makers: Sixty Years of Hollywood Glamour (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1972—$20.00, but $16.95 before January 1, 1977)

Laurence Kardish's Reel Plastic Magic: A History of Films and Filmmaking in America (Boston: Little, Brown, 1972—$7.50)

David Manning White and Richard Averson's The Celluloid Weapon: Social Comment in the American Film (Boston: Beacon Press, 1972—$14.95)

Edward Mapp's Blacks in American Films: Today and Yesterday (Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1972—$7.50)

Charles Higham's Hollywood at Sunset (New York: Saturday Review Press, 1972—$6.95)

Jean Narbonl and Tom Milne (eds), Godard on Godard: Critical Writings by Jean-Luc Godard (New York: Viking Press, 1972—$10.00)

Kenneth H. Roberts and Win Sharples, Jr. A Primer for Film-Making: A Complete Guide to 16 and 35 mm. Film Prodution (New York: Pegasus/Bobbs-Merrill, $15.00/6.95)

Stephen Farber's The Movie Rating Game (Washington, D.C.: Public Affairs Press, 1972—$4.50)