International Communications

THE SOVIET PROPAGANDA MACHINE by Martin Ebon (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1987—$22.95)

CLANDESTINE RADIO BROADCASTING: A STUDY OF REVOLUTIONARY AND COUNTERREVOLUTIONARY ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION by Lawrence C. Soley and John S. Nichols (New York: Praeger, 1987—$47.95)

ASSIGNED TO LISTEN: THE EVESHAM EXPERIENCE, 1939–43 by Olive Renier and Vladimir Rubinstein (London: BBC External Services, 1986—L3.95, paper, plus 25% more to cover postage and packing outside of the U.K.)

INDEPENDENCE, LIBERATION, REVOLUTION: AN APPROACH TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE THIRD WORLD by Tran Van Dinh (Norwood, NJ: Ablex, 1987—$37.50)

FOLLOWING THE FOOTPRINTS: PROTECTING FILM AND TV RIGHTS IN THE WORLD SATELLITE MARKETPLACE edited by Charles Firestone and Daniel Brenner (Communications Law Program, UCLA School of Law, University of California, Los Angeles 90024—price not given, paper)     

Eighth grade students’ representations of linear equations based on a cups and tiles model

This study examines eighth grade students’ use of a representational metaphor (cups and tiles) for writing and solving equations in one unknown. Within this study, we focused on the obstacles and difficulties that students experienced when using this metaphor, with particular emphasis on the operations that can be meaningfully represented through this metaphor. We base our analysis within a framework of referential relationships of meanings (Kaput 1991; Kaput, Blanton, and Moreno, et al. 2008). Our data consist of videotaped classroom lessons, student interviews, and teacher interviews. Ongoing analyses of these data were conducted during the teaching sequence. A retrospective analysis, using constant comparison methodology, was then undertaken in order to generate a thematic analysis. Our results indicate that addition and (implied) multiplication operations only are the most meaningful with these representational models. Students also very naturally came up with a notation of their own in making sense of equations involving multiplication and addition. However, only one student was able to construct a “family of meanings” when negative quantities were involved. We conclude that quantitative unit coordination and conservation are necessary constructs for overcoming the cognitive dissonance (between the two representations—drawn pictures and the algebraic equation) experienced by students and teacher.     

Does musical training improve school performance?

In a retrospective study, we compared school performance of 53 children practicing music (group 1) with 67 controls not practicing music (group 2). Overall average marks as well as average marks of all school subjects except sports were significantly higher in children who do (group 1) than in those who do not practice music (group 2). In a multiple regression analysis, musical training, parent’s income, and educational level (grades) correlated significantly with overall average marks. A slight decrease of overall average marks over 4 years from grades 3 to 6 was found in the control group only. Musical training evidently correlates with children’s better performance at school, but is obviously part of a multifactorial dependence. Continuous musical training appears to help achieve and maintain school performance at a high level over time.     

Public participation in the arts in the United States: Summary of the national endowment for the arts 1997 survey

The 1997 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts examines the extent to which adult Americans throughout the US participate in the arts ‐ by attending live events and exhibitions, listening to and watching broadcast or recorded arts programmes, as well as personally performing or creating art themselves.

Respondents indicate that 35 per cent of American adults visited an art museum or gallery at least once in 1997. Other popular activities included attending ‘musical plays’ (25 per cent), non‐musical plays and classical music (both 16 per cent). Twelve per cent of the populated went to performances of jazz and dance other than ballet. Reading literature and visiting a historic park or an arts/crafts fair also had high participation rates ‐ the former, 63 per cent, and the latter two, about 47 per cent.

The chapter is divided into eight sections. The first three sections describe total participation, rates of participation, and participation by demographic group for each arts activity by types of participation: attendance at live events, participation through media, and active participation. The fourth section is devoted to socialisation, the amount of education and exposure to the arts. The fifth compares participation rates for the arts and other leisure activities. The sixth section focuses on music preferences, and the seventh on the geographical distribution of participation in the arts. The final section presents a summary and conclusions. Appendices to the report provide background and history of the survey, details of its methodology and analysis, and the questions asked in the survey.     

Metaphors in the Teaching of Mathematical Problem Solving

This article reports on a study¹ that investigated the teaching of mathematical problem solving from a teacher's perspective. The study focused on three teachers and their way of making sense of teaching problem solving. Data collected through interviews and classroom observations were analyzed in the context of an interpretive qualitative study to understand the meanings of the participants' classroom processes. The findings indicated that the participants unconsciously constructed personal metaphors that became the basis of their conceptualization of problems and making sense of their teaching. Community, adventure and game were determined to be the key metaphors of the three participants, respectively. These metaphors embodied their personal experiences and personal practical beliefs that provided the unique meanings associated with their classroom processes. The outcome suggested that the study of such metaphors could be a promising avenue in enhancing mathematics teacher education and in problem solving research in the quest to make the teaching of problem solving more meaningful and effective in a classroom context.     

Classroom Practices for Context of Mathematics Word Problems

How do teachers conceptualize and deal with context of mathematics word problems in their teaching? This question is discussed based on a study of 14 experienced teachers at the elementary, junior high and senior high school levels. Bruner’s notions of paradigmatic and narrative modes of knowing formed the basis of analysis of data from sources that include interviews and classroom observations. The findings highlight the teachers’ conceptions of problem context and teaching approaches for each of these modes of knowing. All of the teachers used the paradigmatic mode in their teaching but with different depth and most engaged in some form of the narrative mode to create a classroom environment that was motivational for students to learn word problems. The paper also highlights characteristics of these two modes as they relate directly to word problems and discusses implications for instruction, learning and teacher development.     

Infants' Instrumental Use of Their Mothers to Achieve Their Goals

In order to investigate very young children's active contribution to managing interaction with others, we examined 6–13-month-old infants' instrumental use of their mothers to reach goals. We examined the idea that infants are already involved at 6 months in managing interaction with adults, with rapidly increasing instrumental use of mothers between 6 and 13 months. 64 mother-infant pairs were videotaped during structured episodes in which the investigator instructed the mother to challenge the infant to use her instrumentally to get access to or to work a toy. Already at 6 months of age, infants used their mothers instrumentally in 36% of the episodes. The amount of infants' instrumental use of their mothers increased to 67% of episodes at 9 months and continued increasing to 78% of the episodes by 13 months. These results suggest early and rapid development of infants' management of joint activities from as early as the middle of the first year of life.     

做自由呼吸的自己

在生活节奏越来越快,压力越来越大的今天,节奏感十足、朗朗上口的"神曲"充斥着大街小巷,然而,还有这样一种风格迥异的音乐——民谣。与"神曲"不同的是民谣能够给人们带来耳目一新的"小清新"感,感受到一种如微风拂过脸颊的惬意,其间似乎还夹杂着一股清香。今天我们就一起来欣赏这样一首歌曲——《做自由呼吸的自己》。