Developing interest in reading with film

Summary A specially designed motivational version of the filmKidnapped, using only a few interesting episodes, was more effective in motivating the withdrawal from school libraries of the book by the same title than a longer version which presented the whole story in condensed form. There was no reliable difference between the two film groups in the amount of reading done, but there was some indication that the motivational version stimulated boys to read more carefully, and a greater proportion of them therefore made higher scores on an objective test. The results of this experiment suggest that producers of classroom films in this particular field need to consider the possibility of making fewer general purpose films and developing more films around very specific objectives of teaching. One of these which needs attention is the problem of motivation covered by this study. In its program of excerpting feature films for school use, Teaching Film Custodians, the organization which developed the film materials used in this experiment, is moving in the direction of selecting shorter excerpts for meeting more specific teaching objectives. This study tests the bypothesis that a high-school teacher can do a more effective job in motivating students to read a book by using a film made up of only a few interesting episodes than a film which gives the complete story of the book. Mark A. May is professor of Educational Psychology, director of the Motion Picture Research Project of the Department of Education, and director of the Institute of Human Relations at Yale University. He is also president of the Board of Trustees of Teaching Film Custodians. Nelle Lee Jenkinson is assistant director of the Division of Audio-Visual Education of the St. Louis Public Schools.     

The effects of developmental placement and early retention on children's later scores on standardized tests

The relationship between early school retention as a result of preschool and kindergarten developmental testing and children's later academic achievement was examined. Two hundred twenty-three children were coded as Traditional, Overplaced, or “Buy a Year,” depending on their scores on the Gesell Screening Test and their subsequent school placement. Their performances on the full Gesell Developmental Test, 3rd grade New York State PEP Tests in reading and math, and the Stanford Achievement Test (SAT) were compared. Those children who scored as immature on the Gesell Screening Test and who were retained a year according to the Gesell Developmental Placement Program had the lowest scores on all measures, even though they were almost a year older than the other two groups of children at the time of the PEP and SAT testing.     

The effects of service provider employment status and service quality exchange on perceived organizational image and purchase intention

Volunteers are a major labor source in sports; however, the impact of volunteers on organizational image or on customers’ repatronage intentions has not been studied. An experimental study (2 × 3 factorial design) was employed to explore the effect of Employment Status of the service provider and perceived Quality of Service Exchange on Perceived Organizational Image and Intention to Attend a Game with 461 college students who were potential customers of college sports. Quality of Service Exchange included Technical Aspects (presenting of information vs. presenting of no information) and Relational Aspects (willingness to help vs. unwillingness to help). Results showed that both Perceived Organizational Image and Intention to Attend a Game were primarily determined by Quality of Service Exchange. Employment Status and the interaction term between Employment Status and Quality of Service Exchange only minimally influenced the two dependent variables. This suggests that potential customers of college sports did not distinguish the service of volunteers from that of paid-employees.     

The effects of pre-first-grade programs on student reading and mathematics achievement

Pre-first programs and grade retentions have been ways that school personnel have attempted to address the problem of school failure. However, the benefits of these practices on student achievement have not been consistently supported in the research literature. This study investigated both the short- and long-term effects of pre-first programs on students' academic achievement in reading and mathematics, using three comparison groups. No significant differences were found in six of the eight analyses conducted, indicating few, if any, positive effects from the pre-first program. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

经典英语谚语

不善始者不善终。 遗臭万年。 色厉内荏。 猫有九命。[第一段]