ANALYSIS OF INSTRUCTIONAL CONSULTANTS' QUESTIONS AND ALTERNATIVES TO QUESTIONS DURING THE PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION INTERVIEW

This study sought to determine the relation between Instructional Consultants' communication skills and competence using videotapes of simulated Problem Identification interviews. A quantitative analysis identified the frequencies of questions and alternatives to questions used, and the qualitative analysis examined the content of the verbalizations in the context of the session. Few quantitative differences were observed across consultants' competency levels, with the exception that Competent consultants posed the most clarifying statements and fewest expert opinions. However, the qualitative analysis indicated that the quality of the verbalizations best accounted for the consultants' communication skill levels. These results suggest that it is the familiarity with the Instructional Consultation model that enabled the consultant to guide the session and use effective communication. Training recommendations include building an understanding of the underlying assumptions of the consultation model and rehearsing communication skills within that context.     

Partnerships between the old and the new: Examining the strategic alliances between broadcast television networks and internet firms in the context of convergence

Abstract

This study applied a resource‐based view (RBV) strategy framework to analyze the major broadcast television networks’ alliances with Internet firms in the United States from 1998 to 2001 in the context of the convergence between the Internet and television. The findings show that the television networks primarily contributed property‐based resources, while the Internet firms largely contributed knowledge‐based resources to the alliances. The findings also indicate that the broadcast networks’ alliance structural preferences were influenced by the resources they contributed to and what they desired to access through the alliances. The networks used their property‐based resources as a basis to form Internet alliances, and in return they obtained access to Internet firms’ knowledge‐based resources that are essential in creating an Internet presence for the broadcasters.     

Diversity of body types in network television programming: A content analysis

This study uses content analysis to examine the diversity of men and women's body types on primetime network television programs and afternoon soap operas in order to compare male and female portrayals and to determine if the portrayals of both genders reflect the real population. The results show females are portrayed in a smaller range of body types and are more slender than males; heavier body types are less likely to be in romantic situations, wear revealing clothing, and are older than thin body types; and television body types are generally thinner than the real population.     

Information Technology and Gender. Problems and Proposals

The paper examines the possible reasons why there is a gender bias towards males studying computing at secondary school level. The authors have surveyed recent research in the area of information technology (IT) and gender, highlighted some of the major areas for discussion and made a number of recommendations for improving classroom practice. The recommendations are arranged under five headings: access to the curriculum; course design; teachers' attitudes and teaching styles; language; assessment issues; and the role of technology. The aim is to alert teachers to the importance of considering how gender bias is being perpetuated, and then to examine how practice can be improved. The recommendations follow the example already set by the Association for Science Education in the United Kingdom, and note the work done in Scotland by the General Teaching Council in addressing gender as a key issue. Although the discussion focuses upon the Scottish context and in particular the development of computing studies, many of the points apply equally well to the introduction of IT as a cross‐curricular theme at both the primary and secondary stages. This is particularly relevant as IT is a significant development within the 5‐14 Programme in Scotland and mirrors innovation in the area of IT in England and Wales.     

The Long, Long Way: Young Children Explore the Fabula and Syuzhet of Shortcut

In the picture book Shortcut (1995), the mediated telling of the fabula (the story) by David Macaulay results in a nonlinear and nonsequential syuzhet (the plot). Several metafictive devices used in the construction of the syuzhet of Shortcut draw attention to its status as text and fiction. Although researchers and theorists have written about metafiction, there is a lack of research that has explored students' literary understandings of and responses to books with metafictive characteristics. As well as defining metafiction and identifying various metafictive devices described in the literature, this article discusses young children's responses to and understandings of some of the metafictive devices in Shortcut.     

From Behind the Pupil's Desk to the Teacher's Desk: A qualitative study of student teachers' professional learning in Hong Kong

This paper presents a qualitative study of student teachers' school-based learning in a teacher education program for secondary school teachers in Hong Kong. Learning to teach is examined through the lens of a personal-professional conceptualization of learning. An in-depth study of two cases of student teachers' professional learning is reported. Research methods used include interviewing, tape-recording supervisory meetings, field observation and document analysis. Through an inquiry into the individual's interaction with pre-training influences, the teacher education program and the teaching practice context in the two cases, this study extends our understanding of student teachers' professional learning in terms of the formation of the teaching self and the process of framing in the action and socio-professional contexts of teaching practice.     

Deaf and hard-of-hearing adolescents’ experiences of inclusion and exclusion in mainstream and special schools in Sweden

This study examines the question of which school environment – special or mainstream school – is more favourable for deaf and hard-of-hearing students in Sweden, when it comes to their well-being, and their social and academic inclusion. The aim is threefold: first to compare the well-being of adolescents who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, who are deaf or hard-of-hearing and have additional disabilities, and who have no disabilities; second to compare the adolescents from the two deaf and hard-of-hearing groups and their experiences of inclusion and exclusion in school; and third to ascertain if any gender differences exist between the two groups of deaf and hard-of-hearing students concerning their experiences of inclusion and exclusion. A total of 7865 adolescents (13–18 years of age) answered a total survey about the life and health of young people in a county in Sweden. The results show that both boys and girls in the hard-of-hearing groups rated their well-being lower and were less satisfied with their lives than pupils without disabilities. They also show that the hard-of-hearing boys and girls attending special school were more satisfied with their lives and to a greater extent felt included both socially and academically than students in mainstream school.