Effects of Pretend Imagery on Learning Dance in Preschool Children

Play is important in child development and learning. The intent of this study was to assess the effects of play, using physical movement and pretend imagery, on learning dance. Four preschool dance classes, encompassing 32 children ages 3–6, were randomly divided into pretend imagery groups and traditional teaching groups. The classes were videotaped over 3 weeks and rated for speed of learning new motor skills, future recall of the skills, attentiveness to the task, and enjoyment during the task. As hypothesized, results found that children in the pretend imagery group had significantly better visual fixation on the instructor, engagement in and enjoyment during the task, and needed less prompting and time to recall and a shorter amount of time to learn the skill than children in the traditional teaching group. There is little research in this area of learning and play, but the results of this study suggest more is warranted.     

After the belt: school processes in low‐exclusion schools

Corporal punishment was abolished in Strathclyde in 1982, leading to new discipline systems in the schools. This study examines the exclusion rate in 57 secondary schools during the following three years. The aim was to identify low exclusion schools and outline their common policies, practices and attitudes. Across the full social spectrum, the prevalence of disadvantage in intake is associated with exclusion rate. This association is not inevitable, however, as six low exclusion schools in disadvantaged areas were identified. These schools have little in the way of unconventional or radical features in their discipline and support systems. Their effectiveness lies in their preventive approach which is rooted in their ideology.     

A Competency‐Based Human Resource Development Strategy

This article explores some of the major issues in developing and implementing a competency‐based human resource development strategy. The article summarizes a brief literature review on how competency models can be developed and implemented to improve employee performance. A case study is presented of American Medical Systems (AMS), a mid‐sized health‐care and medical device company, where the model is being used to improve employee performance and gain a competitive advantage.     

Improving Schools in Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Areas – A Review of Research Evidence

Schools in difficult and challenging circumstances have received increasing policy and to some extent research attention in recent years. Improving schools in these circumstances is likely to prove a difficult process. This literature review has attempted to collect research on improving schools in these areas. Themes emerging from the literature include: a focus on teaching and learning, leadership, creating an information-rich environment, creating a positive school culture, building a learning community, continuous professional development, involving parents, external support and resources. The crucial issue of sustaining improvement is also discussed.     

General Media and Related Subjects

Paul Wasserman and Janiece McLean's Consultants and Consulting Organizations Directory (Detroit: Gale Research Co., 1973—$45.00),

Brian Rust's The Complete Entertainment Discography from the mid-1890s to 1942 (New Rochelle, N.Y.: Arlington House, 1973—$12.95)

Stefan Kanfer's A Journal of the Plague Years (New York: Atheneum, 1973—$7.95)

K. Aubrey Stone's I'm Sorry, the Monopoly You Have Reached is not in Service (New York: Pallantine/Grassroots, 1973—$1.50, paper)

Richard F. Hixson's Mass Media: A Casebook (New York: Crowell, 1973—price not known, paperback),

Donald I. Rogers' Since You Went Away (New Rochelle, N.Y.: Arlington House, 1973—$8.95),     

FACULTY DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION IN TEXAS COMMUNITY COLLEGES

This study surveyed Texas community colleges to assess the extent of faculty development programs and the means, the purpose, and degree to which they were evaluated. Ninety percent of the 62 community colleges responded to the Fall 1985 survey with 93% of the respondents indicating that they had organized faculty development programs. The data gathered revealed that most programs were group oriented, perceived as effective, and offered at higher rates than previous studies have indicated. However, the methods used to determine effectiveness were, on the whole, not measures of changes in teacher or student behavior. In addition, there is little evidence that the programs are being used as a major instrument for institutional change and improvement that is linked to the accomplishment of college goals and the establishment of accountability. It is suggested that faculty development programs can improve by being more diligent in the pursuit of opportunities to effectively evaluate outcomes and by focusing on more individual than group activities.     

The Attentional Blink in Developing Readers

The attentional blink refers to a reduction in accuracy that occurs when identifying the second of two targets presented within approximately 500 msec of each other. This research explored individual differences in the attentional blink in a sample of 86 children (aged 8–10) with normally developing reading skills. The attentional blink was examined in relation to general reading performance as well as specific orthographic and phonological reading subprocesses. No associations were evident between attentional blink duration and reading ability. However significant correlations did exist between each of the three reading measures and mean second target correct given first target correct (T2|T1) performance across all lags, with less skilled readers exhibiting inferior performance regardless of the temporal lag between first and second targets. Performance on a rapid naming task mediated some of the relationship between mean T2|T1 performance and reading, yet the association remained significant when this factor was accounted for.     

Changing the Agenda for Research into Students' Views about University Teaching: Four shortcomings of SRT research

The conceptions of learning that students hold and how these change are dependent on several factors, including their schooling, personal traits of students and the academic environment of the tertiary institute (e.g. departmental policies, attitudes and behaviour of staff). This document discusses whether the conceptions of learning students (in this case, second year medical students) hold can be related to their academic ability. From a phenomenographic perspective (Marton et al., 1993), it would appear that students who were selected in the present study for their good academic record expressed more transformative conceptions of learning than did their less academically achieving peers, who appeared to rely on memorisation and recall. Based on the results of this study, 'academic ability' might then be a reflection of the conceptions of learning students hold. It would be interesting to extend this study to include students in other disciplines, experiencing other curricula and at different year levels.