LONG-TERM OUTCOMES OF EARLY CHILDHOOD SCIENCE EDUCATION: INSIGHTS FROM A CROSS-NATIONAL COMPARATIVE CASE STUDY ON CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING OF SCIENCE

The purpose of this research was to explore the long-term outcomes of either participating or not participating in early childhood science education on grade 6 students?? conceptual understanding of science. The research is situated in a conceptual framework that evokes Piagetian developmental levels as both potential curriculum constraints and potential models of efficacy. The research design was a multiple case study of grade 6 children from 3 schools in China (n?=?140) who started formal science education in the third grade and grade 6 children from 3 matched schools in Australia (n?=?105) who started learning science in kindergarten. The students?? understanding was assessed by a science quiz and an in-depth interview. The data showed that participating children from the high socioeconomic schools in China and Australia had similar understandings of science. Divergence between the medium and low socioeconomic schools, however, indicated that the grounding in early childhood science education in Australia may have placed these children at an advantage. Alternative explanations for the divergence, including the nature of classroom instruction in the two countries, are discussed.     

Incorporating technologies into a flexible teaching space

Higher education institutions are increasingly exploring how they can use emerging technologies to develop and enhance the learning experiences offered to students. These activities have mainly focused on developing student‐centred facilities. The University of Warwick has taken the next step by developing a space (the Teaching Grid) specifically designed to meet the needs of teaching staff across the institution. This paper describes how the Teaching Grid supports teachers by providing a flexible experimental space together with a rich collection of established and new technologies, and with comprehensive staff support. We analysed the use of the facility during the first 30 months of operation, using data collected from 119 case studies, in order to present a perspective on how they have used the technologies and how this has impacted on their teaching practice. We present a taxonomy that provides a concrete framework to support future analysis of and comparisons between such spaces.     

The Dialectical Relationship Between Place and Space in Education: How the Internet Is Changing Our Perceptions of Teaching and Learning

In this essay Michael Glassman and Jonathan Burbidge explore the idea of a dialectical relationship between the traditional place(s) of teaching/learning settings and the challenges to our perceptions created by the new spaces of the Internet. The authors examine this topic in the context of a three‐stage evolution of humans' relationship with new technologies: (1) fear of how new technologies will change our everyday actions, (2) recognition of emerging technologies as tools capable of offering new possibilities in our activities, and (3) integration of new technologies into productive everyday activities. The Internet is moving quickly through all three stages, but this process takes different forms with disparate populations. What makes recognition of the fast‐moving integration of Internet technology important in the field of education is that students and educators are often at different points in this process. It is critical that we are aware of the role technology is playing in the classroom, in particular the dynamic dialectical relationship between space and place.     

The Third Place: The Library as Collaborative and Community Space in a Time of Fiscal Restraint

In a period of fiscal constraint, when assumptions about the library as place are being challenged, administrators question the contribution of every expense to student success. Libraries have been successful in migrating resources and services to a digital environment accessible beyond the library. What is the role of the library as place when users do not need to visit the building to utilize library services and resources? We argue that the college library building's core role is as a space for collaborative learning and community interaction that cannot be jettisoned in the new normal.     

General Motion Pictures

Anthony Slide A COLLECTOR'S GUIDE TO MOVIE MEMORABILIA—WITH PRICES (Wallace Homestead Book Company, 1912 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa 50305—$12.95).

Richard L. Stromgren and Martin F. Norden. MOVIES: A LANGUAGE IN LIGHT (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1984—$15.95).

Jonathan Rosenbaum, FILM: THE FRONT LINE 1983 (Arden Press, 1127 Pennsylvania Street, Denver. Colorado 80203—$10.95).

James L. Limbacher's SEXUALITY IN WORLD CINEMA (Metuchen. New Jersey: Scarecrow Press, 1983—$72.50 for two volumes).

Al Clark: THE FILM YEARBOOK-1984(New York: Grove Press, 1984—$12.95, paperback).

ANNUAL INDEX TO MOTION PICTURE CREDITS: 1982 (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1983—$150.00).

Nancy Allen and Robert L. Carringer AN ANNOTATED CATALOG OF UNPUBLISHED FILM AND TELEVISION SCRIPTS (Graduate School of Library and Information Science. Publications Office, 249 Armory Building, 505 E. Armbry Street, Champaign, Illinois 61820—$15.00, paper).     

Books of the Month

THE INTERNATIONAL NEWS SERVICES by Jonathan Fenby (New York: Schocken Books, 1986—$19.95)

MARKETPLACE FOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS: REGULATION AND DEREGULATION IN INDUSTRIALIZED DEMOCRACIES edited by Marcellus S. Snow (New York: Longman, 1986—$34.95)     

FOREIGN OFFICE CONTROL OF REUTERS DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR

I disagree with Professor Putnis' claim that the Foreign Office instigated a leveraged buyout of Reuters in 1915. Putnis' thesis is questionable for several reasons. (1) It is at odds with a general unwillingness on the part of government to interfere in the affairs of private business. (2) The fear of a hostile foreign takeover was neutralized and there was no compelling reason to buy out Reuters. (3) It is improbable that the Foreign Office would have devised a plan to take over Reuters before other aspects of wartime mobilization, such as armaments, were decided. Instead, I argue that Reuters initiated an agreement with the Foreign Office to fulfil its strategic aims. Once this is appreciated, the long-term and significant effects of the buyout become apparent.     

Book reviews

Interactive Television. TV of the future or the Future of TV Eds. Jens F. Jensen & Cathy Toscan, Media & Cultural Studies 1, Aalborg University Press, Aalborg, Denmark, 1999, ISBN 87–7307–625–2 / ISSN 1399–1752 http://www.forlag.auc.dk/en/

Killer Content: Strategies for Web Content and E‐Commerce written by Mai‐Ian Tomsen. Addison‐Wesley, 2000, 224 pages, ISBN: 0201657864. http://www.aw.com

The Business of Digital Television written by Chris Forrester. Focal Press, Oxford, Auckland, Boston, Johannesburg, Melbourne, New Delphi, 2000. ISBN 0 240 51606 0. http://www.focalpress.com