Media Framing of Capital Punishment and Its Impact on Individuals' Cognitive Responses

It is well known that mass media have the ability to frame a sociopolitical issue in specific ways, which can have considerable impact on the public's thoughts and perceptions regarding the issue. Through analyzing coverage of capital punishment in the New York Times since 1960 and then conducting an experiment in which we assessed individual-level responses to differently framed news stories, we show (a) the dramatic emergence of a new “innocence frame” within the past 10 years that accentuates imperfections in the justice system, and (b) the much greater impact of this frame on individuals' thoughts—in particular on those who favor the death penalty—when compared to the traditional morality-based frame. We suggest that the latter finding can be explained because individuals tend to resist changing their interpretations of issues based on arguments that contradict their core moral or religious beliefs; however, they seem quite receptive to new information along dimensions that they previously had not considered. This research also implies that U.S. trends toward lower sentencing rates and eventual public opinion changes are likely to continue as long as media and public discussion remains focused on questions regarding flaws in the justice system.     

Does "sneaky fox" facilitate learning? Examining the effects of seductive details in physical education

While seductive details are enjoyable, they are unimportant content or activities intentionally inserted to make class fun and interesting. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of seductive details on students' learning of net games in physical education. Participants were 240 middle school students. A videotaped lesson example named "outfox your opponent" was used as the stimulus, and a 2 x 3 (condition x grade) factorial analysis was designed. The results showed that seductive details directly interrupted students' recall of important learning content and transferring problem solving in learning net games. It is suggested that the function of seductive details on learning should be reconsidered when designing effective motivational strategies in physical education.     

Cross‐Cultural Management Learning Through Innovative Pedagogy: An Exploratory Study of Globally Distributed Student Teams

This article presents an innovative pedagogy based on student participation in globally distributed project teams. The study questions the link between student learning of intercultural competence and the global teaming experience. Data was collected from 115 students participating in 22 virtual intercultural teams. Results revealed that students learned from the teaming experience, especially those with more prior international experience. The study contributes to the body of knowledge on innovative and collaborative pedagogy on global student teams, provides an analysis of the impact of the teaming experience on student learning, and provides insights on international and collaborative course design.     

Swimmers’ Compliance to Training as a Function of Observation: A Pilot Study

While seductive details are enjoyable, they are unimportant content or activities intentionally inserted to make class fun and interesting. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of seductive details on students' learning of net games in physical education. Participants were 240 middle school students. A videotaped lesson example named “outfox your opponent” was used as the stimulus, and a 2 x 3 (condition x grade) factorial analysis was designed. The results showed that seductive details directly interrupted students' recall of important learning content and transferring problem solving in learning net games. It is suggested that the function of seductive details on learning should be reconsidered when designing effective motivational strategies in physical education.     

Talent Sleuth Extraordinaire: An Interview With Camilla P. Benbow

Independent study is one of the most effective methods for providing individualized instruction to the gifted child in the regular classroom.