Higher-order units in reading instruction

Gibson and her colleagues have presented arguments and evidence suggesting that the most appropriate unit to teach in reading is neither the single letter nor the whole word but a higher-order unit determined from examining grapheme-phoneme correspondences. The present study employed a computer analysis of the most frequently occurring (approximately 18,000) words in the English language. All letter strings from two to seven letters in length (here after called ngrams) were output with all the words in which the ngram appeared printed beneath the ngram. In addition type and token frequencies of each ngram were calculated and printed in separate rank order and alphabetic lists. Preliminary analysis of the consistency of mappings of various ngrams suggests that many are potentially useful for reading instruction. Current research with the computer is designed to extend the preliminary analysis.     

音乐声，当轻歌曼唱已沉寂

音乐声，当轻歌曼唱已沉寂， 依然在记忆里震颤不息; 芳馨，当馥郁的紫罗兰已凋敝， 还活跃在花香引起的感觉里。     

Broadcasting

CHANNELS OF POWER: THE IMPACT OF TELEVISION ON AMERICAN POLITICS by Austin Ranney (New York: Basic Books, 1983---$14.95)

TURNED-ON TV/TURNED-OFF VOTERS: POLICY OPTIONS FOR ELECTION PROJECTIONS by Percy Tannenbaum and Leslie Kostrich (Beverly Hills, Calif.: Sage Books, 1983---$25.00)

NEWSWATCH: HOW TV DECIDES THE NEWS by Av Westin (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1982---$6.95, hardcover also available)

BROADCAST REGULATION: SELECTED CASES AND DECISIONS by Marvin R. Bensman (Washington, D.C.: University Press of America, 1983---$19.50/8.75)

MODULARIZATION AND PACKAGING OF PUBLIC TELEVISION PROGRAMS by John Carey et al. (Washington, D.C.: Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Office of Policy Development and Planning, 1983---price not given, paper)

PRIME-TIME TELEVISION: A PICTORIAL HISTORY FROM MILTON BERLE TO “FALCON CREST” by Fred Goldstein and Stan Goldstein (New York: Crown 1983---$25.00)     

The Use of Evaluation Criteria to Improve Academic Discussion in Cooperative Groups

Teachers remark that during Cooperative Learning (CL), the academic nature of the group discussions and the resulting group products can be disappointing. Often, this may be due to a lack of understanding on the students’ part on the elements that make up an exemplary product. This study examined whether clearly articulated evaluation criteria (EC's) would alter the nature of the group's discussion and subsequently improve students’ learning. The groups using the EC spent more time evaluating their products, discussing the content of their unit and task than students not using the evaluation criteria. The evaluative and task‐focused talk at the group level were modestly, yet significantly correlated with individual scores on an essay test following the unit. These findings suggest that the presence of clear and accessible criteria for evaluation can improve the academic nature of group discussions and individual learning gains. The findings provide a practical way to apply current assessment practices to classrooms using CL strategies.     

Transfer of persistence from fixed-ratio barpress training to runway extinction

Two experiments were performed to investigate transfer of persistence across different situations and response topographies. Experiment I demonstrated that FR 100 barpress training increased resistance to runway extinction as compared with a control. In Experiment II, resistance to extinction in the runway was systematically and positively related to terminal ratio requirements of prior barpress training.     

Student and staff perceptions and “the pursuit of excellence” in british higher education

This article, using a variety of data from the Rowntree Research Project at the University of Lancaster, attempts to reconstruct student and staff perceptions of the teaching/learning reality of higher education, and in particular their perceptions of excellence. Ambiguities and confusions are noted in staff perceptions of excellence and important differences between staff and students in their perception of teaching/learning realities.It concludes by discussing implications for staff/student communication and for the admission of students to higher education.This article is a shortened and partly rewritten version of a paper of the same title delivered at the Third International Conference on Higher Education, University of Lancaster, September 1975.