Philips,Rob et al (2012) Evaluating e‐learning Routledge (New York & London) isbn 978‐0‐415‐88194‐4 207 pp £25.99 http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415881944/

This book seeks to formalise approaches to e‐learning by ensuring that e‐resource design is evaluated and appropriately supported by evidence. The book is aimed at academics who design e‐learning systems and need to devise scholarly evaluation research to assess their success. If this book's likely to relate closely to what you do, I suggest you borrow a copy so you can assess it for yourself. John G Hedberg     

Introduction: Political Communication in Asia

This study analyses the structure of programmes of the Bangladesh Television (BTV) broadcast over a period of 23 years (1966–89). It presents an analysis of programmes of ten different time‐points, and determines the changes over this time period. The ratio of imported and domestic programmes in Bangladesh Television is also studied. One of the findings of this study is that television in Bangladesh is used predominantly as a medium of entertainment since its inception in 1964 and is still being treated as such. Despite phenomenal development in the technical facilities, its structure of programmes remains almost the same. This study also reveals that Bangladesh Television is still dependent upon imported programmes to a large extent to feed its transmission hour.     

Scan Rate: A New Metric for the Analysis of Reading Behaviors in Asynchronous Computer Conferencing Environments

This article introduces a new computer conferencing metric called Scan Rate, which is a measure of students' and instructors' online reading speed. The term “scan” refers to the practice of either skimming through a message at an unusually rapid pace or reading a message partially and then stopping before the end is reached. It is proposed that the Scan Rate metric offers a useful way of monitoring how thoroughly students attend to the messages they read. Four analyses illustrate the utility of the metric. These reveal that (1) scan rates increase with message size, (2) students are more likely to scan the messages of their peers than messages written by their instructor, (3) students engage in scanning practices more frequently than instructors, and (4) scan rates are partially a function of class size and class configuration.     

ONE'S OWN TEACHER AND THE CHOICE OF THE TEACHING PROFESSION

Gustafsson, J.‐E. Differential Effects of Imagery Instructions on Pupils with Different Abilities. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 21, 157‐179. A study investigating interactions between imagery instructions and aptitude variables is presented. A group of seven fifth‐grade classes was given imagery instructions in the reading of a short text, while another group read the text in a regular way. Three different outcomes covering different types of learning were registered. Tests of verbal ability and spatial (or imagery) ability were used as aptitude variables. The data analysis indicated that there were differences for the girls between the treatment groups among the aptitude variables; the results for the girls thus had to be excluded. A positive effect of imagery instructions was found for boys high in verbal and imagery ability with respect to the acquisition of simple terms. For other outcomes and groups of subjects either no effect or a negative effect was found.     

Theatre U.S.A.: Actual and potential

IN PRAISE OF PROMETHEUS: HUMANISM AND RATIONALISM IN AESCHYLEAN THOUGHT. By Leon Golding. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1966; pp. ix+137. $5.00.

THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND OF AESCHYLEAN TRAGEDY. By Anthony J. Podlecki. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1966; pp. x+188. $7.50.

TWELFTH NIGHT AND SHAKESPEARIAN COMEDY. By Clifford Leech. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1965; pp. vii+88. $3.50.

HAMLET AND REVENGE. By Eleanor Presser. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1967; pp. xiv+287. $7.50.

THE THEATRE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. By Marvin Carlson. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1966; pp. xii+328. $10.00.

ROYALL TYLER. By G. Thomas Tanselle. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1967; pp. xvi+281. $7.50.

DRAMAS FROM THE AMERICAN THEATRE 1762–1901. Edited and Introduction by Richard Moody. Cleveland: World Publishing, 1966; pp. 873+illus. $15.00.

THE LANGUAGE OF CRITICISM. By John Casey. New York: Barnes &; Noble, 1966; pp. xii+205. $5.75.

MARK TWAIN'S LETTERS TO HIS PUBLISHERS, 1867–1894. Edited with an introduction by Hamlin Hill. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967; pp. xiv+388. $10.00.

MARK TWAIN'S SATIRES AND BURLESQUES. Edited with an introduction by Franklin S. Rogers. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967; pp. viii+485. $10.00.

MARK TWAIN'S WHICH WAS THE DREAM. Edited by John S. Tuckey. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967; pp. xi+588. $10.00.

AMBROSE BIERCE: A BIOGRAPHY. By Richard O'Connor. Boston: Little, Brown, 1967; pp. 333. $6.95.

W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM. By M. K. Naik. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1966; pp. ix+221. $4.95.

REMEMBERING MR. MAUGHAM. By Gar‐son Kanin. Foreword by Noel Coward. New York: Atheneum, 1966; pp. vi+313. $5.95.

SOMERSET AND ALL THE MAUGHAMS. By Robin Maugham. New York: New American Library, 1967; pp. 224. Paper $0.95.

FROM PROUST TO CAMUS: PROFILES OF MODERN FRENCH WRITERS. By André Maurois. Translated by Carl Morse and Renaud Bruce. Garden City, N.Y.: Double‐day, 1966; pp. 368. $5.95.

RELIGION AND THE AMERICAN MIND: FROM THE GREAT AWAKENING TO THE REVOLUTION. By Alan Heimert. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1966; pp. x+668. $12.50.

THE GREAT AWAKENING: DOCUMENTS ILLUSTRATING THE CRISIS AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. Edited by Alan Heimert and Perry Miller. Indianapolis: Bobbs‐Merrill, 1967; pp. lxx+663. $7.50; paper $3.75.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. By Ralph Ketcham. New York: Washington Square, 1965; pp. xiv+226. $3.95.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN: ENVOY EXTRAORDINARY. By Roger Burlingame. New York: Coward‐McCann, 1967; pp. 255. $5.75.

DANIEL WEBSTER AND THE SUPREME COURT. By Maurice G. Baxter. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1966; pp. ix+265. $6.75.

THE PAPERS OF WOODROW WILSON, Vol. II, 1881–1884. Edited by Arthur S. Link. Princeton, N. J.: Princeton University Press, 1967; pp. xvi+680. $15.00.

THE PRESIDENCY OF WOODROW WILSON: PRELUDE TO A WORLD CRISIS. By Leon H. Canfield. Rutherford, N. J.: Fairleigh Dickenson University Press, 1966; pp. xv+299. $6.00.

LANDON OF KANSAS. By Donald R. McCoy. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1966; pp. x+607. $8.50.

CHANGING VIEWS ON BRITISH HISTORY: ESSAYS ON HISTORICAL WRITING SINCE 1939. Edited by Elizabeth Chapin Furber. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1966; pp. xii+418. $9.00.

HUMAN COMMUNICATION THEORY: ORIGINAL ESSAYS. Edited by Frank E. X. Dance. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1967; pp. x+333. $6.50.

NEBRASKA SYMPOSIUM ON MOTIVATION: 1966. Edited by David Levine. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1966; pp. ix+209. $5.95; paper $2.75.

COMMUNICATION: THEORY AND RESEARCH. Edited by Lee Thayer. Springfield, Ill.: Charles C Thomas, 1966; pp. xv+583. $22.50.

COMMUNICATION: CONCEPTS AND PERSPECTIVES. Edited by Lee Thayer. Washington: Spartan Books, 1967; pp. viii+440. $14.00.

COMMUNICATION AND PUBLIC RELATIONS. By Edward J. Robinson. Columbus: Charles E. Merrill, 1966; pp. 618. $9.50.

THE PLAY THEORY OF MASS COMMUNICATION. By William Stephenson. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1967; pp. x+225. $5.00.

MICROCOSM: STRUCTURAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL AND RELIGIOUS EVOLUTION IN GROUPS. By Phillip E. Slater. New York: John Wiley, 1966; pp. ix+276. $7.95.

MODERN INTERNATIONAL NEGOTIATION: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE. By Arthur Lall. New York: Columbia University Press, 1966; pp. xii+404. $8.95.

BIOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF LANGUAGE. By Eric H. Lenneberg. Appendices by Noam Chomsky and Otto Marx. New York: John Wiley, 1967; pp. xvi+489. $14.95.

PORTRAITS OF LINGUISTS: A BIOGRAPHICAL SOURCE BOOK FOR THE HISTORY OF WESTERN LINGUISTICS, 1746–1963. Edited by Thomas A. Sebeok. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1966; pp. xvi+580, I; 605, II. $27.50 set.

THE APHASIC CHILD: A NEUROLOGICAL BASIS FOR HIS EDUCATION AND REHABILITATION. By Alice Calvert Roberts. Foreword by Louis D. Boshes. Springfield, Ill.: Charles C Thomas, 1966; pp. xi+79. $4.50.

CHILDHOOD APHASIA AND BRAIN DAMAGE: VOLUME III, HABILITATION. Edited by Sheldon R. Rappaport. Norris‐town, Pa.: Pathway School, 1966; pp. vii+ 120. Paper $3.25.     

Graduate study and research

Speech Correction on the Contract Plan. By Ruth B. Manser. New York: Prentice‐Hall, Inc., 1935; pp. xix + 333.

Leadership in a Changing World. Ed. by M. David Hoffman and Ruth Wanger. New York: Harper and Bros., 1935 ; pp. xv + 418.

Your Telltale English. By Sophie C. Hadida. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1935 ; pp. 419. $2.00.

Propaganda; Its Psychology and Technique. By Leonard W. Doob. New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1935; pp. x + 424. $3.00.

The 1932 Campaign: An Analysis. By Roy V. Peel and Thomas C. Donnelly. New York: Farrar and Rinehart, 1935; pp. viii + 242. $1.50.

A B C of Reading. By Ezra Pound. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1934; pp. xii + 197.

Lotteries. Compiled by Helen M. Muller. New York: H. W. Wilson Co., 1935 ; pp. 128. $0.90.

Old Age Pensions. Compiled by Julia E. Johnsen. New York: H. W. Wilson Co., 1935 ; pp. 295. $0.90.

Socialized Medicine. A debate reprinted from the University Debaters’ Annual for 1933–1934. New York: H. W. Wilson Co., 1935 ; pp. 31: $.35.

Road To War: America 1914–1917. By Walter Millis. Boston and New York: Houghton Miffiin Company, 1935 ; pp. ix + 466. Index. $3.00.

Speech Therapy. By Emil Fröschels. Translated from the German by Joseph Noyes Haskell. Boston: The Expression Company, 1933 ; pp. 252.

Speech in Childhood: Its Development and Disorders. By George Seth and Douglas Guthrie. New York: Oxford University Press, 1935 ; pp. x + 224. $3.50.

A Study of Illiteracy in C.C.C. Camps. Washington: Bulletin 110068 of the United States Office of Education, Department of the Interior, 1935.

Propaganda and Promotional Activities. An Annotated Bibliography. By H. D. Lasswell, R. D. Casey, and B. L. Smith. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1935 ; pp. 450.

World Politics and Personal Insecurity. By H. D. Lasswell. New York: Whittlesey House, 1935 ; pp. 307.

Fox. By Christopher Hobhouse. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1935; pp. 320. $3.50.

Architecture for the New Theatre. Edited by Edith J. R. Isaacs. Published for the National Theatre Conference. New York: Theatre Arts, Inc., 1935 ; pp. 125. $2.50.

Directing for the Amateur Stage. By Leslie Crump. New York: Dodd, Mead &; Co., 1935; pp. xi + 235. $2.50.

Freedom of the Press. By George Seldes. Indianapolis: The Bobbs‐ Merrill Co., 1935 ; pp. 380. $2.75.

Psychology of Acting. By Lorenz Kjerbühl‐Petersen, translated by Sarah T. Barrows. Boston: Expression Company, 1935 ; pp. 255. $3.50.

Congress or the Supreme Court. Edited by Egbert Ray Nichols. New York: Noble &; Noble, Inc., 1935; pp. 476. $2.00.

Aphasia: A Clinical and Psychological Study. By Theodore Weisenburg and Katherine McBride. New York: The Commonwealth Fund, 1935 ; pp. 634. $5.00.

Current English. By Arthur G. Kennedy. Boston: Ginn &; Co., 1935; pp. xiii + 737. $3.50.

The Development of Modern English. By Stuart Robertson. New York: Prentice‐Hall, Inc., 1934; pp. vii + 559. $2.50.

The Politician: His Habits, Outcries, and Protective Coloring. By James Harold Wallis. New York: The Frederick A. Stokes Co., 1935; pp. x + 333. $3.00.

Play Production. By M. V. C. Jeffreys and R. W. Stopford. London: Methuen &; Co., New York: E. P. Dutton &; Co., 1933; pp. xviii + 199. $2.50.

The Genesis and Growth of English. By J. S. Armour. New York: Oxford University Press, 1935; pp. xi + 182. $1.25.

The Neutrality Policy of the United States. Compiled by Julia E. Johnsen. The Reference Shelf, vol. X, no. 7. New York: The H. W. Wilson Company, 1936; pp. 267. $0.90.

How to Conduct Group Discussion. By A. F. Wileden and H. L. Ewbank. Madison: Extension Service of the College of Agriculture, University of Wisconsin, 1935; pp. 64.

Who Should Pay the Doctor Bills. By H. L. Ewbank and Martin P. Anderson. Madison: Extension Service of the College of Agriculture, University of Wisconsin, 1936; pp. 38.

Effective Speech: First Course. By Lousene Rousseau and Mary E. Cramer. New York: Harper &; Bros., 1936; pp. xii + 300. $1.20.

The Science and Art of Speech. By Charles Robert Walsh. New York: Benziger Bros., 1935; pp. xvii + 193. $2.60.

Mediaeval Artes Praedicandi: A Supplementary Hand‐List. By Harry Caplan. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1936; pp. 36.

Masks and Marionettes. By Joseph Spencer Kennard. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1935; pp. ix + 129. $3.50.

The Public Speaker's Scrapbook. By William G. Hoffman. New York: Whittlesey House, 1935; pp. xi + 269. $2.50.

For Stutterers. By Smiley Blanton, M.D., and Margaret Gray Blanton. New York: D. Appleton‐Century Co., 1936; pp. xi + 191. $2.00.

Basic Speech and Voice Science. By L. S. Judson and A. T. Weaver. Madison: The College Typing Company, 1933; pp. iv + 218. $4.25.

Anecdotal History of the Science of Sound, to the Beginning of the 20th Century. By Dayton C. Miller. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1935 ; pp. xi + 114. $2.50.

Lucius Q. C. Lainar. By Wirt Armistead Cate. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1935 ; pp. xiii + 594. $5.00.

Disorders of Speech and Voice, 4th ed. By Robert West. Madison: College Typing Co., 1935; pp. 144. $2.75.

Bibliography of Disorders of Speech and Voice. By Robert West. Madison: College Typing Co., 1934; pp. 21. $0.50.

Signals and Speech in Electrical Communication. By John Mills. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1934; pp. 281. $2.75.

Something About Words. By Ernest Weekley. New York: E. P. Dutton and Co., 1936; pp. 233. $1.75.

A History of the Philadelphia Theatre 1835–1855. By Arthur. Herman Wilson. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1935 ; pp. 724. $6.00.

How to Develop Your Speaking Voice, By E. H. Baxter Rinquest. Denver: Frank J. Wolf Publishing House, 1935; pp. 228.

An Experience Curriculum in English. A Report of a Commission of the National Council of Teachers of English. W. Wilbur Hatfield, Chairman. New York: D. Appleton‐Century Company, Inc., 1935; pp. x + 323. $1.50. (To members of the N.C.T.E. $1.00.)