British Communications

LAW OF INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM: REGULATION OF ELECTRONIC MEDIA by Verena A.M. Wiedemann (Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, 1989—about $40.00, ISBN 3-7890-1649-7, 336 pp.)

KEEPING FAITH/ CHANNEL FOUR AND ITS AUDIENCE by David Docherty, David Morrison, and Michael Tracey (1988—$29.00, paper, ISBN 0-86196-158-7, 184 pp.)

GODWATCHING: VIEWERS. RELIGION AND TELEVISION by Michael Svennevig, Ian Haldane, Sharon Spiers and Barrie Gunter (1988—$18.00, paper, ISBN 0-86196-199-4, 67 pp.)

PATTERNS OF TELETEXT USE IN THE UK by Bradley S. Greenberg and Carolyn A. Lin (1988—$18.00, paper, ISBN 0-86196-187-0, 58 pp.)     

Texas Community College Funding: Nonmetropolitan and Metropolitan Ad Valorem Tax Rates and Revenue

This article examines ad valorem tax rates per $100 valuation and the resultant tax revenues per in-district contact hour for Texas nonmetropolitan and metropolitan public community colleges. The results of the analyses indicate no difference in ad valorem tax rates between these institutions but demonstrate differences in the resultant tax revenues. Recommendations for further research are provided.     

Smarter,Better, Faster,Cheaper

This article examines and critiques the leadership capacity of department leaders in a high school and attempts to gain a deeper understanding of how department leaders perceive their role as teacher leaders, making a distinction between what an individual department leader does in his or her position and teacher leadership as a form of continuous learning and innovation through collaboration. How do department leaders practice leadership to improve student learning? The author provides an investigation and analysis of the current level of leadership capacity exhibited by department leaders in a high school. A close look at the role and function of department leaders in this high school reveals an absence of the teacher leadership necessary to promote the broad-based leadership capacity that results in improved student achievement.     

Cultural Competence Training for Healthcare Professionals Working with LGBT Older Adults

The population of the aging lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community is significant and growing rapidly. As LGBT individuals age and begin to move into healthcare communities, they are fearful of apathy, discrimination, and abuse by healthcare providers and other residents. Person-centered cultural competence and sensitivity among service providers is necessary in order for LGBT individuals to share the same quality of life as other members of the aging community. Programming developed to educate healthcare professionals and aging-services providers on issues related to aging as an LGBT adult must be thoughtfully evaluated to show both efficacy and impact.     

Design and development research: a model validation case

This is a report of one case of a design and development research study that aimed to validate an overlay instructional design model incorporating the theory of multiple intelligences into instructional systems design. After design and expert review model validation, The Multiple Intelligence (MI) Design Model, used with an Instructional Systems Design (ISD) Model, was tested for use by four practicing instructional designers. Instruction developed for learners using this model was then evaluated measuring post-test and attitudinal scores with 102 participants. This report also provides a reflection on the lessons learned in conducting design and development research on model validation. The procedures and findings have implications for the processes involved in instructional design model validation through designer use and program implementation.

Lecturing graphing: What features of lectures contribute to student difficulties in learning to interpret graph?

Some studies suggest that individuals having completed undergraduate science programs are often poorly prepared to use graphs in ways typical of their disciplines. Science and technology studies have identified competency in graphing as being of central importance to the practice of a scientific discipline. Given the centrality of graphing to the practice of science, an important aspect of becoming enculturated into the practices of a scientific discipline is being able to use and interpret graphs in ways that are typical to that discipline. For example, competency in this usage is important to reading, interpreting and understanding journal articles in a discipline. Undergraduate science students spend a considerable amount of time in lectures where graphical representations play a major role in the presentation of subject matter. To gain an understanding of the use of graphs in lectures and how this use contributes to student understanding, this paper provides a microanalysis of graph use in lectures drawn from artifacts compiled from videotaping all lectures and seminars in a thirteen week ecology course. This analysis focused on both the text and the geestural references made in the reading of a graph in an ecology lecture. We conclude that the common ground existing amongst scientists that help them reach an agreed upon interpretation of a graph is missing from the present lectures and then discuss the constraints this places on students, learning about graphs in lectures.     

Concealment of Child Sexual Abuse in Sports

Researchers and theorists offer a strong base of research in physical activity for high risk groups, particularly sedentary children, adults, and the elderly. Little research examines the lifelong healthy movement behaviors of former competitive athletes. This paper raises some important questions relevant to this population, in particular the disturbing, yet limited research pointing to a serious failure of former competitive athletes to necessarily live longer, healthier, and more physically active lives. The scarce research that seems to highlight this neglected problem is outlined and hypotheses that may contribute to this phenomenon are offered and categorized in the following three sections: atypical physical behaviors found in the sporting realm, utilitarian uses of physical activity, and the long-term consequences of athletic identity. Suggestions are offered to direct future research and to implement practical intervention strategies and educational programs.