Compressed speech by mnemonic joining: A negative implication for broadcasting

This study extended talk radio research to a developing nation setting. Results received from a Kingston, Jamaica sample of 268 adults, with access to 10 call‐in programs, supported the hypothesis that information and surveillance are the primary gratifications sought from call‐in radio programs in a developing nation. In contrast to U.S. results, reinforcement and companionship were less sought from talk radio listening. Lower socioeconomic status, lower educated, and higher isolated listeners were most apt to find gratification through a range of call‐in programs. These results indicate a potentially important role for call‐in radio in developing nations.     

On estimating finite mixtures of multivariate regression and simultaneous equation models

We propose a maximum likelihood framework for estimating finite mixtures of multivariate regression and simultaneous equation models with multiple endogenous variables. The proposed “semi‐parametric” approach posits that the sample of endogenous observations arises from a finite mixture of components (or latent‐classes) of unknown proportions with multiple structural relations implied by the specified model for each latent‐class. We devise an Expectation‐Maximization algorithm in a maximum likelihood framework to simultaneously estimate the class proportions, the class‐specific structural parameters, and posterior probabilities of membership of each observation into each latent‐class. The appropriate number of classes can be chosen using various information‐theoretic heuristics. A data set entailing cross‐sectional observations for a diverse sample of businesses is used to illustrate the proposed approach.     

Effects of Football Equipment on Thermal Balance and Energy Cost during Exercise

Abstract

Central core temperature, energy cost and pulmonary ventilation, heart rate, and sweat loss were measured on 5 football players while exercising on a motor driven treadmill at 6 mph for 20 min. Comparisons were made while subjects wore a football uniform and a hospital scrub suit. Core temperature was measured by a rectal thermistor inserted 4 in. into the rectum, energy cost and pulmonary ventilation by open circuit spirometry, heart rate by telemetry, and sweat loss by pre- and postexercise weight changes.

Core temperature, sweat loss, and peak exercise and end recovery heart rates while running in the uniform were significantly elevated compared to the scrub suit controls. Energy cost and pulmonary ventilation were greater (not significant) in the uniform primarily because of the added weight and, to a lesser degree, the reduction in available evaporative surface area.     

Effect of a Special Conditioning Class upon Students' Attitudes toward Physical Education

Abstract

This study was designed to compare concepts of the course “Physical Education” as held by incidental samples of 119 major students, 46 area teachers, and 283 area high school students. Communication content analysis procedures indicated six basic purpose orientations: (a) physical fitness; (b) sports-games; (c) total development; (d) social adjustment; (e) recreation; and (f) enjoyment. Various chi-square comparisons identified the existence of only one significant difference. That real difference occurred between the college–teacher group and the high school group: the majority (58%) of the college-teacher group gave “total development” as the purpose of physical education, while the students (100%) identified physical fitness and sports-games as the main purpose. In fact, 80% of the high school group claimed that the only purposes of physical education were to develop physical fitness and to learn and play sports-games.     

A longitudinal evaluation of a project-based learning initiative in an engineering undergraduate programme

Project-based learning (PBL) is a well-known student-centred methodology for engineering design education. The methodology claims to offer a number of educational benefits. This paper evaluates the student perceptions of the initial and second offering of a first-year design unit at Griffith University in Australia. It builds on an earlier evaluation conducted after the initial offering of the unit. It considers the implementation of the recommended changes. Evaluations of the two offerings reveal that students (in both the initial and second offering) generally enjoyed the experience, but that the second offering was found to be a significantly more enjoyable learning experience. Students in the second offering also reported a significantly better understanding of what they needed to do for the design projects and where to find the requisite information. The oral presentation aspect of the initial and second offerings received the lowest satisfaction rating. The inclusion (and delivery) of the computer-aided drawing component of the unit is seen as a positive aspect by some students, but many others comment on it negatively. The best aspects of the PBL unit and those aspects needing further improvement were similar to the findings of other investigations documented in the literature.     

Services and Supports for Students with Traumatic Brain Injury: Survey of State Educational Agencies

Long-term follow-up studies conducted during the K–12 school years suggest that challenges related to childhood traumatic brain injury (TBI) tend to persist or worsen over time. A 1999 survey of State Directors of Special Education revealed that most states had emerging initiatives for children with TBI and were expanding their capacity to serve this growing population. To determine whether significant changes in patterns of identification and service delivery had occurred, State Directors and brain injury consumer organizations were surveyed. Survey results show some improvement, but significant gaps remain. Most state education administrators perceive a gap between incidence of childhood TBI and identification of students with TBI to receive special education services. Recommendations for policy changes and research are provided.     

The lure of hegemonic masculinity: investigating the dynamics of gender relations in two male elementary school teachers’ lives 1

This paper is based on an investigation into the dynamics of masculinity in two male elementary school teachers’ lives. It draws on a poststructuralist approach to empirical analysis that is informed by Sondergaard who argues for the need to attend to the ‘constitution of social practices and cultural patterns’ through which subjects make sense of their lived experiences. This approach, it is argued, is supported by Convery who stresses the need to ‘sensitively confront’ the identity claims that are inscribed through teacher narratives. In this sense, the author provides an account of the dynamics of masculinity in two male elementary school teachers’ lives, which attend to issues of sexuality and social class in examining how gendered identity management impacts on pedagogical practices and philosophical approaches to teaching. This poststructuralist analytic inquiry, with its emphasis on interrogating essentialized notions of fixed identity, illuminates the contradictory practices of hegemonic masculinity in male elementary school teachers’ lives. Such empirical inquiry, it is further argued, is necessary given the failure of educational policy, in its insistence on the need for more male role models in elementary schools, to deal adequately with the complexities and significance of male teachers’ masculinities.