Regulation

Bill F. Chamberlin and Charlene J. Brown, eds., THE FIRST AMENDMENT RECONSIDERED: NEW PERSPECTIVES ON THE MEANING OF FREEDOM OF SPEECH. AND PRESS (New York: Longman, 1982---$27.95)

Marc A. Franklin, CASES AND MATERIALS ON MASS MEDIA LAW (Mineola, N.Y.: The Foundation Press, 1982---$26.00)

LEGAL AND BUSINESS ASPECTS OF THE ADVERTISING INDUSTRY 1982 (Practicing Law Institute, 810 7th Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10019---$30.00, paper)

PRIVACY (Social Issues Resources Inc., P.O. Box 2507, Boca Raton, Fla. 33432---two loose-leaf volumes containing a total of 180 articles, $117.00, also available separtately at $65.00 and $52.00 respectively)     

Multimedia and Online Video Case Studies for Preservice Teacher Preparation

Case studies have been used successfully as a part of teacher education. There are many possibilities in extending the impact of case studies through the use of technology. Video and the Internet could enable demonstration of more examples, dissemination beyond the walls of the classroom, and discussion between geographically dispersed preservice teachers. Several projects are now investigating the possible ways that technology might enhance or extend text case studies. After exploring four existing products, four essential elements for video case studies are proposed. As video case studies move to the Internet, additional issues arise and these are also explored.     

Measuring Quality: A Comparison of U.S. News Rankings and NSSE Benchmarks

College rankings and guidebooks have become big business. The prominent role played by rankings and guidebooks is problematic because the criteria used to evaluate institutions have little to do with the quality of education students receive. Designed as an alternative to college rankings, NSSE assesses student engagement in activities that contribute to learning and success during college. This study compared the NSSE scores for 14 AAU public research universities with their rankings by U.S. News and World Report.     

Post-secondary Science Students’ Explanations of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Randomness</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Variation</Emphasis> and Implications for Science Learning

The concepts of randomness and variation are pervasive in science. The purpose of this study was to document how post-secondary life science students explain randomness and variation, infer relationships between their explanations, and ability to describe and identify appropriate and inappropriate variation, and determine if students can identify sources of variation. An instrument designed to test statistical concepts was administered to 282 college students from three universities, ranging from introductory non-science majors to science graduate students. Students readily distinguished between causes of variation. A naïve no-pattern concept of randomness persisted from first-year non-science majors to senior-level science majors, contributing to incorrect responses on the variation instrument. Students’ expressions of randomness were better predictors of performance on the variation instrument than their expressions of variation. It is argued that inclusion of everyday language uses of randomness in instruction can bridge the gap between vernacular and scientific uses of this term.     

Design,implementation, and evaluation of a multi-disciplinary professional development program for research mentors

ABSTRACT

Undergraduate research experience has been shown to enhance student learning and improve persistence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Researchers studying undergraduate research experiences have largely focused on student outcomes and have seldom investigated the outcomes of graduate and postdoctoral mentors. Here, we report a non-credit, year-long mentor professional development program designed for graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and research staff in STEM. Mentors attended a series of six interactive and discussion-based workshops and mentored first-year undergraduate students in independent summer research projects. We report evaluation findings for three mentor cohorts using a combination of qualitative analysis of mentoring philosophies and quantitative assessment of pre- and post-surveys about mentoring objectives and skills. Results indicate that mentors gained self-efficacy in some objectives and skills. However, many other objectives and skills remained unchanged. We explore possible explanations for the lack of more broad-scale gains across survey items and present ideas for program improvement.     

Medieval and renaissance glass technology in Valdelsa (Florence). Part 1: raw materials, sands and non-vitreous finds

A significant number of archaeological finds of the 13th–16th century from the Tuscan sites of Germagnana and Gambassi in Valdelsa—FI, was studied by different physico-chemical investigations (SEM–EDS, ICP, Mössbauer spectroscopy, XRD, XRF, TG-DTA) in order to contribute to clarify the production methodology and the pre-industrial glass manufacture technology. The studied samples are mainly non-vitreous finds as production waste, refractory materials, crucibles and raw materials; also vitreous finds as frits, skims, glasses (glass masses, glass working waste and finished products) have been taken into consideration. The obtained petrographic and physico-chemical data strongly suggest that both Gambassi and Germagnana glass manufactures were strictly connected with the sources of vitrifiable materials, situated in Tuscan sand quarries. In particular a comparison between sands from the neighbouring quarries and appropriate finds of the two archaeological sites evidences that the employed vitrifiable materials possibly belong to La Casina La Cava resort. The archaeological classification, based on macroscopic observation and stratigraphic position, was compared and verified with the scientific classification of the examined finds of Germagnana and Gambassi sites based on their composition, morphology and physico-chemical properties.