Developing an HIV/AIDS Education Curriculum for Takalani Sesame, South Africa's Sesame Street

The HIV/AIDS pandemic in South Africa has prompted a need for extensive efforts to educate citizens of all ages about the disease and ways of coping with its impact. This paper describes the process of developing an HIV/AIDS education curriculum for Takalani Sesame, an educational media project for young South African children. The process began with formative research with adults and children, and extensive discussions with HIV/AIDS health specialists. Guided by the research and advice from specialists, a team of educators developed a comprehensive curriculum that the Takalani Sesame production team will use to create HIV/AIDS education messages for television, radio and outreach materials for children ages 3-7 and the adults who care for them.     

Mentoring retrained teachers: extending the web

Novice teachers need support if they are to survive the reality of school. A web of relationships involving members of the school community, mentors outside the school community and a university tutor has been shown to be an effective way of providing this assistance. This article describes an extended web of assistance offered to a group of 11 teachers retrained to teach science. As they made the transition to science teaching these teachers identified a need for guidance and support in learning about a new subject and a new school environment. In some cases the school community was able to provide this guidance and support but in other cases the retrained teachers were met with scepticism by their fellow teachers and needed assistance from other sources. The extended web of relationships they accessed included district consultants provided by the employer, mentors located outside of the school, fellow graduates and a university tutor. All retrained teachers were also assisted in their development as reflective teachers by the production of a portfolio. The addition of an online component to the portfolio, allowing the sharing of ideas between the retrained teacher and the university tutor coordinating the program is proposed as a valuable component of the mentoring network.     

DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIOUR AND EXCLUSIONS FROM SCHOOLS: REDEFINING AND RESPONDING TO THE PROBLEM

Behaviourally challenging pupils are a permanent feature of the education culture in the United Kingdom. The realisation that this is not a temporary phenomenon is an important ‘re‐definition’. The problem should be seen as part of normal provision.

Permanent exclusions from school are rising. Causes of behaviour leading to exclusion should not be assumed to originate within the child. Re‐definition requires recognition of their difficulties.

’Market economy’ and stretched resources militate against the ability of schools to implement recommended measures. There are issues for decision‐makers at all levels including targeting resources. Projects show exclusion is costly and damaging. The funding of preventative schemes would enable teachers to teach and not deny pupils their educational rights.     

An investigation of proportional time spent in various communication activities by college students

This article examines ethics of consultants from the perspective of counter‐rational organizational theory. First, a set of four ethical questions, derived from Kohlberg, are presented. Second, a real consulting scenario is described, and the author's intervention is outlined. Finally, the implications of the case to consulting practice are discussed.     

Foreign and international

GLOBAL MEDIA ECONOMICS: COMMERCIALIZATION, CONCENTRATION AND INTEGRATION OF WORLD MEDIA MARKETS edited by Alan B. Albarran and Sylvia M. Chan‐Olmsted (Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1998‐$54.95, ISBN 0–8138–2690‐X, 376 pp., charts, tables, references, index)

ATTACKS ON THE PRESS IN 1997: A WORLDWIDE SURVEY BY THE COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS edited by Alice Chasan (New York: Committee to Protect Journalists [330 7th Avenue, 12th Floor], 1998‐free from CPJ by request [voice: 212–465–1004; fax: 212–465–9568; E‐mail: info@cpj.org], no ISBN or OCLC, 443 pp.)

UNFINISHED BUSINESS: TELECOMMUNICATIONS AFTER THE URUGUAY ROUND edited by Gary Clyde Hufbauer and Erika Wada (Washington: Institute for International Economics, 1998‐$15.95, paper, ISBN 0–881132–257–1, 248 pp., tables, charts, notes, appendix)

GLOBAL NEWS ACCESS: THE IMPACT OF NEW COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGIES by Carla Brooks Johnston (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1998‐$59.95, ISBN 0–275–95774–8, 304 pp., photos, boxed Internet directories, notes, further reading, index)

BEYOND THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT: A DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE FOR BUSINESS by Leon T. Knauer, L. Andrew Tollin, Kathryn A. Zachem, and M. Veronica Pastor (Rockville, MD: Government Institutes, 1998‐$89.00, ISBN 0–865587–675–4, 681 pp., notes, charts, bibliography, index)

COMMUNICATION & TRADE: ESSAYS IN HONOR OF MEHEROO JUS‐SAWALLA edited by Donald M. Lamberton (Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, 1998‐$65.00, ISBN 1–57273–110–9, 305 pp., tables, references, index)

PRIVATIZATION AND COMPETITION IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS: INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS edited by Daniel J. Ryan (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1997‐$65.00, ISBN 0–275–95813–2, 209 pp., charts, tables, bibliography, index)

THE GLOBAL JOURNALIST: NEWS PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD edited by David H. Weaver (Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press “IAMCR Series,”; 1998‐$89.50, ISBN 1–57273–168–0, 492 pp., tables, references, index)

RECONVERGENCE: A POLITICAL ECONOMY OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN CANADA by Dwayne Winseck (Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press “The Hampton Press Communication Series,”; 1998‐$76.50, ISBN 1–57273–144–3, 379 pp., tables, notes, references, index)     

Beyond Usability: The Study of Functionality of the 2.0 Online Catalogue (OPAC)

A usability test of Copac was carried out to inform developments in both its usability and functionality. Participants were assigned tasks, using specific system features, and their actions and thoughts were collected through think aloud to reveal potential issues with the system. Retrospective thinking and subsequent reflection were gathered in a focus group to provide greater insight into perceived functionality (current and potential) of the system. The study demonstrated the importance of the application of usability principles in the interface design. Many of the issues associated with search, records display, and use of specific features related to the attributes of ease of use, appearance, navigation, and terminology and provided the evidence base for re-design. The study also highlighted the importance of the users’ perceptions and expectations of functionality in the specific usage contexts. Continued user testing is recommended to inform further development of functionality in the broader contexts of information use to ensure the value and use of the system features are evident in the system design and meet the expectations of its users.     

Teaching First-year Medical Students Where to Go First: Connecting Information Needs to e-resources

The purpose of this project was to introduce first-year medical students to electronic resources that are best suited for different types of background questions. Specific questions from a case study were presented, and the students generalized them into a “type” of question. They then identified the best e-resources for that type of question. This is their first introduction to the lifelong learning competency in the Indiana University School of Medicine competency-based curriculum.     

Quality of Effort and Career Preparation Differences Between African American and White Community College Students

This study examined data from a random sample of 500 White students and 500 African American students who have taken the Community College Student Experiences Questionnaire to determine which factors in the environment impact their career preparation. The results showed that interaction with faculty had the strongest impact on career preparation for all students. Counseling services were significant for African American students. The African American students indicated they put more effort into student-faculty interactions and peer interactions than White students, and they reported greater gains in career preparation.