Combination Classrooms Revisited

In their box score review, Mason and Burns (1997) conclude that while comparisons of combination and single‐grade classes show no general differences in student achievement, combination classes nevertheless have a small negative effect. Based on the results of a best‐evidence synthesis (Veenman, 1995) and a meta‐analysis of an extensive and international research base (Veenman, 1996), I argue that there is no empirical evidence at this moment showing student learning to suffer in combination classes. Mason and Burns also conclude that the negative instructional effects characteristic of combination classes are compensated for by placing better students and teachers in combination classes. On the basis of my best‐evidence synthesis and meta‐analysis, however, I can find no indication of the selection bias suggested by Mason and Burns.     

Mindfulness for Teachers: A Pilot Study to Assess Effects on Stress,Burnout, and Teaching Efficacy

Despite the crucial role of teachers in fostering children's academic learning and social–emotional well‐being, addressing teacher stress in the classroom remains a significant challenge in education. This study reports results from a randomized controlled pilot trial of a modified Mindfulness‐Based Stress Reduction course (mMBSR) adapted specifically for teachers. Results suggest that the course may be a promising intervention, with participants showing significant reductions in psychological symptoms and burnout, improvements in observer‐rated classroom organization and performance on a computer task of affective attentional bias, and increases in self‐compassion. In contrast, control group participants showed declines in cortisol functioning over time and marginally significant increases in burnout. Furthermore, changes in mindfulness were correlated in the expected direction with changes across several outcomes (psychological symptoms, burnout, and sustained attention) in the intervention group. Implications of these findings for the training and support of teachers are discussed.     

The roles of value predispositions,communication, and third person perception on public support for censorship of films with homosexual content

This study aims to examine the roles of value predispositions, communication, and third person perception on public support for censorship of films with homosexual content in Singapore. Findings from a nationally representative telephone survey of adults showed that the majority of Singaporeans supported stricter censorship of films with homosexual characters. Conformity to norms, intrinsic religiosity, and Asian orientation were positively associated with public support for censorship. Media exposure and perceived negative media effects on self were negatively associated with public support for censorship. Our results supported the perceptual component but not the behavioral component of the third person effect.     

Promoting preventive behaviors against influenza: Comparison between developing and developed countries

Applying the health belief model, this study examined young adults' intention to adopt preventive behaviors against influenza infection in developing countries (Thailand and Cambodia) and developed countries (the USA and Singapore). Self-efficacy was the only variable significantly related to behavioral intention in the developing countries. In contrast, perceived threat, expected benefits, and media attention were significant predictors in the developed countries. Trust in information sources also had a consistent impact across the two samples. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.     

Self-Publishing: Opportunities and Threats in a New Age of Mass Culture

Developments in vanity presses, electronic publishing and social media have led to outstanding growth in the publishing industry. Eighty percent of people believe they have a book in them and the opportunities provided by new technologies are responding to their needs. This raises important questions: What effect will these developments have on the industry? In this environment, is quality control feasible? How will potential readers find their treasure? Will book publishing remain a cost-effective activity? We will examine the publishing industry looking for the answers to these questions and may just find that things are not as bleak as we initially thought.     

Foreign Communications

The Media: Contexts of Study (114 pp.---$6.30)

The Study of Culture 1 (152 pp---$7.65)

The Study of Culture 2 (144 pp.---$7.65)

The Audience (104 pp.---$6.16)

Media Organization 1 (106 pp.---$6.l6)

Media Organization 2 (60 pp.---$5.31)

Media and Society 1 (92 pp.---$6.16)

Media and Society 2 (53 pp.---$4.25)

Secrecy and the Right to Know, by Dina Goren (Ramat Gan, Israel: Turtledove Publishing, 1978---no price given)

Newspapers: The Power and the Money, by Simon Jenkins (London: Faber & Faber, 1978---E1.95, paper)

The Abuse of Power, by James Margach (London: W.H. Allen, 1978---95 p, paperback)

The Spanish Media Since Franco, by William Chislett (London: Writers and Scholars Educational Trust, 1978---£3.00)

T.J. Allard's Straight Up: Private Broadcasting in Canada 1918-1958 (Canadian Communications Foundation, 165 Sparks St., Ottawa, Ontario KiP 5S2---$10.95 1 paper including mailing)

Oswald H. Ganley's The Role of Communications and Information Resources in Canada (Program on Information Resources Policy, 200 Aiken, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. 02138---$10.90, paper--ask for Working Paper W79-1)

Anthony Smith's The Newspaper: An International History (London: Thames and Hudson, 1979 ---$14.95)     

Including the other: regulation of the human rights of mobile students in a nation-bound world

The world’s three million cross-border international students are located in a ‘gray zone’ of regulation with incomplete human rights, security and capabilities. Like other mobile persons such as short-term business and labour entrants, and refugees, students located on foreign soil do not enjoy the same protections and entitlements as do citizens. International students are affected by two different national regulatory regimes, in the nations of citizenship and of education. But they are fully covered by neither. Their position is vulnerable and uncertain, mediated by non-citizen status and the related facts of cultural difference, information asymmetry and communication difficulties. Referring to research on international education in Australia, which has the world’s fifth largest international student population, the article focuses on the manner in which the subordinated outsider status of international students magnifies the problems they face. It considers what might be done to enable them to access comprehensive protections, empowerment and human rights as defined in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights.     

Purpose and preference in educational podcasting

The application of podcasting for educational purposes is growing fast in universities. There are several benefits of this asynchronous, direct communication and interaction between teacher and student. Nonetheless, the benefits, the pedagogical value of podcasting the traditional lecture format, have come into question. Furthermore, issues have been raised regarding lengthy and costly download times, and the fact that students need to make time to listen to them. For these reasons, using short 3–5‐minute podcasts that summarise the lecture have been suggested. This paper explores how students interact with different types of podcasts. The study compares download and course evaluation data of a series of short‐summary podcasts with full‐lecture podcasts produced for the same university course. The findings show that students value full‐lecture podcasts as highly as the short‐summary podcasts, despite the fact that full‐lecture podcasts are downloaded to a markedly lesser degree. The cause of this anomaly appears to lie in the different purposes that dictate podcast use. The paper concludes by noting that both full‐lecture and short‐summary podcasts serve as useful tools for student learning in university contexts.