The effectiveness of propositional manipulation as a lecturing method in the statistics knowledge domain

The current experiment examined the potential effects of the method of propositional manipulation (MPM) as a lecturing method on motivation to learn and conceptual understanding of statistics. MPM aims to help students develop conceptual understanding by guiding them into self-explanation at two different stages: First, at the stage of propositions (statements referring to single statistical concepts and ideas), and subsequently, at the stage of more complex problems that comprise a set of relevant propositions. A total of 71 bachelor students in psychology who were preparing for the re-sit of their inferential statistics exam participated in one of two possible lectures. Topic, content, lecturer, and duration of both lectures were the same, and in both lectures five true/false hypotheses were presented. Students in the first lecture (control group) discussed interactively the truth or falsity of each hypothesis. In the second lecture (MPM group), this interactive discussion was structured by presenting a number of short open-ended questions along with each hypothesis. Conceptual understanding was measured by means of a twelve items multiple choice test. Further, the intrinsic motivation inventory was administered to examine motivation to learn. The results indicate that MPM does not lead to enhanced motivation to learn but can facilitate conceptual understanding development among students.     

Basic Books on Mass Media

RESHAPING THE MEDIA: MASS COMMUNICATION IN AN INFORMATION AGE by Everette E. Dennis (Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1989—$35.00/16.95, ISBN 0-8039-3660-5 hard, 0-8039-3661-3 paper, 205 pp.)

MACROMEDIA: MISSION, MESSAGE AND MORALITY by Ralph L. Lowenstein and John C. Merrill (White Plains, NY: Longman, 1990—price not given, paper, ISBN 0-8013-0471-7, 309 pp.)

MEDIA USA: PROCESS AND EFFECT edited by Arthur Asa Berger (White Plains, NY: Longman, 1991—price not given, paper, ISBN 0-8013-0452-0, 461 pp.)

THE MEDIA READER edited by Manuel Alvarado and John 0. Thompson (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990-$45.00/19.95, ISBN 0-85170-258-9 hard, 0-85170-259-7 paper, 360 pp.; published in London by British Film Institute)

MEDIA ETHICS: CASES & MORAL REASONING by Clifford G. Christians, Kim B. Rotzoll, and Mark Fackler (White Plains, NY: Longman, 1991—price not given, paper, ISBN 0-8013-0650-7, 445 pp.)

COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE: LANGUAGE, PERFORMANCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND MEDIA edited by Sari Thomas and William A. Evans (Norwood, NJ: Ablex, 1990—price not given, ISBN 0-89391-497-5,375 pp.)

INSIDE THE MEDIA by Conrad C. Fink (White Plains, NY: Longman, 1990—price not given, paper, ISBN 0-8013-0257-9, 398 pp.)

MEDIA IMPACT by Shirley Biagi (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1990 price not given, paper, ISBN 0-534-12660-X, 411 pp.)

MASS MEDIA VI: AN INTRODUCTION TO MODERN COMMUNICATION by Ray Eldon Hiebert, Donald F. Ungurait, and Thomas W. Bohn (White Plains, NY: Longman, 1991—price not given, paper, ISBN 0-8013-0453-9, 666 pp.)

THE MEDIA MATRIX: DEEPENING THE CONTEXT OF COMMUNICATION STUDIES by Scott Eastham (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1990—$8.75, paper, ISBN 0-8191-7715-6, 127 pp.)

MODERN MASS MEDIA by John C. Merrill, John Lee, and Edward Jay Friedlander (New York: Harper & Row [now HarperCollins], 1990—price not given, ISBN 0-06-044470-3, 608 pp.)     

THE ROLE OF STUDENT INVOLVEMENT AND PERCEPTIONS OF INTEGRATION IN A CAUSAL MODEL OF STUDENT PERSISTENCE

This study uses a revised integrated model ofundergraduate persistence to examine first-yearretention at a private, highly selective researchuniversity. Findings from the study provide strongsupport for use of the model in futurestudies.