Music and Popular Culture

Gaye Tuchman, Arlene Kaplan Daniels, and James Benet, eds. Hearth and Home: Ima9es of llomen in the Mass Media (New York: Oxford University Press, 1978—no price given, but available in hardback and paperback)

Maurice Horn's Women in the Comics (New York: Chelsea House, 1977—$15.00)

Charles K. Wolfe's Tennessee Strings: The Story of Country Music in Tennessee (Knoxville, Yniversity of Tennessee Press, 1977—$3.50, paper)

Anthony Hopkins' Downbeat Music Guide (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1977—$4.95)

Peter L. Skolnik's Fads: America's Crazes, Fevers & Fancies From the 1890s to the 1970s (New York: Crowell, 1978—$9.95)     

Germs in space. Joshua Lederberg,exobiology, and the public imagination, 1958-1964

Under the leadership of Joshua Lederberg, some American biologists and chemists proposed exobiology as the most legitimate program for space research. These scientists used the fear of contamination--of earth and other planets--as a central argument for funding "nonpolitical," "scientifically valid" experiments in extraterrestrial life detection. Exobiology's resemblance to popular science fiction narratives presented a significant challenge to its advocates' scientific authority. Its most practical applications, moreover, bore an unseemly resemblance to the United States Army's research on biological weapons. At the same time that exobiologists wanted to use the media to attract support for their program, they had to monitor their statements carefully in order to maintain their view of exobiology as a peaceful, scientifically valid research program. In examining how exobiology's creators positioned their work in comparison to other space sciences as well as science fiction, this case study highlights how cultural and political imperatives entered science through practice and narrative during the Cold War.     

Curricular Considerations for Supporting Careers in Computer Graphics

This paper examines the needs of students who, in the past, may have chosen to major in computer science or some other aspect of information technology as a way of achieving the goal of finding a job in the computer graphics field. The growth in computer graphics has lead to increased job opportunities in the industry. However, these jobs require fluency in both art and computing that an individual course or even a sequence of several courses cannot provide. In the past, there has been discussion of curricula for isolated graphics courses as part of a BS/CS degree, but industry demands more preparation than what one or two courses can deliver. This paper surveys and compares the two extant Bachelor of Science degrees in Computer Graphics with the intent of encouraging dialog on the possibility of a four-year curriculum supporting this discipline.     

Some reactions to the advent of campaigning by radio

Public files were examined at selected commercial broadcast stations to evaluate broadcasters' compliance with FCC rules and to measure public use of the files.     

New technologies,new multimodal literacy practices and young children's metacognitive development

This paper discusses concepts of learning through ‘collaborative multimodal dialogue’. It draws on an ESRC‐funded study (RES‐000‐22‐2451) investigating 3‐ and 4‐year‐old children's encounters with literacy as they engage with a range of printed and digital technologies at home and in a nursery. The study goes beyond analysis of spoken language, giving a more complete understanding of literacy learning processes through detailed analysis of how children use multiple communicative modes as they experience literacy in different media. These experiences underpin metacognitive development and are crucial to children's abilities to act strategically in future situations. Drawing on notions of literacy as social practice, this paper discusses how the advent of new technologies has introduced new dimensions into young children's literacy learning, the implications of which have not yet been fully recognised in early years policy guidance, training or practice.     

Monitoring Rater Performance Over Time: A Framework for Detecting Differential Accuracy and Differential Scale Category Use

In this study, we describe a framework for monitoring rater performance over time. We present several statistical indices to identify raters whose standards drift and explain how to use those indices operationally. To illustrate the use of the framework, we analyzed rating data from the 2002 Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition examination, employing a multifaceted Rasch approach to determine whether raters exhibited evidence of two types of differential rater functioning over time (i.e., changes in levels of accuracy or scale category use). Some raters showed statistically significant changes in their levels of accuracy as the scoring progressed, while other raters displayed evidence of differential scale category use over time.