Review and criticism

Selected legal decisions of 1981

Media and the Russian Publicy, Ellen Propper Mickiewicz (New York: Praeger, 1981).

Media Power Politics, David L. Paletz and Robert M. Entman (New York: The Free Press, 1981).

Politics As Communication, Robert G. Meadow (Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation, 1980).     

Response to “violence in our schools: Implications for teacher education,” volume 35 number 3

Dr. Morgan discusses the recommended content of economics courses, describes several significant projects in economics education, and provides sources from which teachers may obtain complete reports of these projects.     

Comprehending Spatial and Contextual Information in Picture-Text Instructions

The information content of picture-text instructions for two assembly tasks was classified according to a taxonomy of information (Bieger & Glock, 1984/1985). The location, in picture or text, of spatial, contextual, and operational information was then experimentally manipulated and the effect on comprehension was assessed by measuring the speed and accuracy of performance of 120 undergraduate students. It was found that textual presentation of spatial information produced fewer errors, while pictorial presentation of spatial information reduced performance times dramatically. It was further found that pictorial presentation of contextual information substantially reduced assembly times and slightly reduced the number of assembly errors. There were no differences between pictorial and textual depiction of operational information. Results are discussed in terms of implications for the design of instructional materials and the acquisition of information from picture-text materials.     

Academic Attitudes and Performance as a Function of Differential Grading Systems

An empirical investigation of the Princeton University pass-fail system is presented. Findings based on questionnaire and academic performance data indicate that the pass-fail grading alternative is not the panacea that some educators envisioned. It is suggested that further study of the pass-fail system be undertaken before it becomes a permanent grading procedure in our Universities.     

ATTITUDES TOWARD EDUCATIONAL MEDIA: IMPLICATIONS FOR EDUCATIONAL GERONTOLOGY

This study was conducted to determine if there is or is not a difference in attitudes toward educational media between older adults and younger adults. Attitudinal information was gathered from the two groups utilizing an instrument entitled “Controversy in Academia” a 39‐item Likert‐type questionnaire. The questions from the instrument were divided into six groups, and six operational hypotheses were generated to effect testing. The results indicated that there were no basic differences between the attitudes toward educational media expressed by older adults and those expressed by younger adults.