MEASURING MUSICAL TALENT USING COMPLEX UNITY OF A PIECE OF MUSIC

Usually special factors thought to correlate with music are taken as tools for measuring musical ability: pitch, rhythm, musical intelligence. It is expected that these tests will differentiate between people. Here elements of an approach to using the unity of music itself for differentation are offered, based on the hypothesis that a musical composition might, in a later stage of development, not only correlate highly with validated ability tests but, because of its closeness to real life, make a positive contribution to the further development of musical ability tests.     

Ein Testverfahren für optimierende Codegeneratoren

Die im Rahmen der Modell-basierten Entwicklung eingebetteter Steuerungs- und Regelungssoftware eingesetzten optimierenden Codegeneratoren müssen einer intensiven Qualit?tssicherung unterzogen werden. Dem Einsatz von Testsuiten kommt dabei eine zentrale Rolle zu. Der Beitrag beschreibt den Aufbau einer modularen Testsuite für Codegeneratoren und schl?gt einen Testansatz vor, der eine systematische Prüfung der vom Codegenerator angewendeten Optimierungstechniken erm?glicht.     

Law and Ethics

TELEVISION & ETHICS: A BIBLIOGRAPHY by Thomas W. Cooper, et al. (Boston: G.K. Hall, 1988—$45.00 [$55 for export], ISBN 0-8161-9866-8)

MEDIA ETHICS IN THE NEWSROOM AND BEYOND by Conrad C. Fink (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1988—price not given, ISBN 0-07-O20976-6)

FREEDOM OF SPEECH ON PRIVATE PROPERTY by Warren Freedman (Westport, CT: Quorum Books/Greenwood, 1988—$39.95, ISBN 0-89930-323-4)     

‘No One Should Destroy the Forest': Using photo-based vignette interviews to understand Kenyan teachers' views of the environment

In the midst of the current environmental crisis, scientists, academics, authors, and politicians worldwide are urging citizens to create sustainable communities. However, there is little capability to build a sustainable society without an informed, active, and engaged populous. This requires more than just environmentally knowledgeable citizens. It requires a society that understands the principles of the environment and can also exemplify them in daily life. In order to create a more environmentally literate world, there has been a push for environmental education integrated into schools. This qualitative study sought to examine Kenyan teachers’ perspectives on the human–nature interaction by conducting vignette focus-group interviews. It is a subject not widely explored but vital for conservation not only in this area, but also other areas that seek to have an ecological informed populous. The vignettes were created using photographs and explanations of the photographs that the participants collected and emailed to the authors. For the focus-group vignette interviews, there were a total of 55 participants (30 females and 25 males). After InVivo analysis, we had 6 codes (resentment, pride, perils, blame, pragmatism, and self-interested) within 3 major themes. This study has implications for informing science education to combat these traditions of subjecting students to a science curriculum that demotes Kenyan cultural heritage and lifestyle. By incorporating local knowledge such as the ideas discussed in this paper into Kenyan science education, Kenyans can reach one of most challenging objectives of education, which is to produce children who are fundamentally aware of their environment.     

How effective is instructional support for learning with computer simulations?

The study examined the effects of two different instructional interventions as support for scientific discovery learning using computer simulations. In two well-known categories of difficulty, data interpretation and self-regulation, instructional interventions for learning with computer simulations on the topic “ecosystem water” were developed and tested using a sample of 124 eighth graders in science classes. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of instructional support for domain-specific factual, conceptual, and procedural knowledge acquisition. Students who received either only instructional support for data interpretation or only for self-regulation achieved the highest learning outcomes. However, a combination of instructional support for data interpretation and self-regulation seemed detrimental for knowledge acquisition. Students who received instructional interventions for both data interpretation and self-regulation also showed the highest values of perceived cognitive load. High cognitive load could be a reason for why a combination of particular instructional interventions does not lead to the expected positive learning outcomes.     

GRANDPARENTS PARENTING GRANDCHILDREN: EXTENT OF SITUATION,ISSUES INVOLVED,AND EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS

The number of grandparents who are parenting their grandchildren is growing. This paper examines the extent of this phenomenon and examines some of the issues these grandparents face this "second time around" in parenting. Implications for the educational community are discussed.     

Why nonverbal immediacy matters: A motivation explanation

Instructional communication behaviors have been routinely associated with student learning outcomes for the past 40 years; however, the explanations for why these relationships exist remain somewhat controversial. Specifically, the relationship between immediacy and learning outcomes continues to be disputed. This study used Self-Determination Theory to evaluate the utility of students’ need for relatedness and their intrinsic motivation to learn as sequential mediators of the teacher immediacy-student learning relationships. Results of a structural equation model supported the theory’s hypothesis, as relatedness and intrinsic motivation to learn operated in serial to mediate the immediacy-learning relationship. These results indicate Self-Determination Theory is a well-suited framework for explaining the relationship between instructors’ communicative behaviors (e.g., immediacy) and their effects on student outcomes.     

INCEPTION,GROWTH, AND DEVELOPMENT OF A COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: LESSONS TO BE LEARNED

Community colleges, increasingly, are having to look for funding sources other than state revenues, local taxation, and student fees and tuition. More and more community colleges are recognizing fund raising as an alternative funding source. Because community college fund raising is in an embryonic stage, research addressing community college foundations has been limited. This research project involved a case study of one community college foundation. The project looked at why the foundation was established, what factors influenced the development of the foundation, and the way it evolved to the present day. The findings are suggestive to other community colleges seeking to begin a foundation or to strengthen the existing one.