The eastern public speaking conference

THE LEGISLATIVE STRUGGLE. By Bertram M. Gross. New York: McGraw‐Hill Book Co., 1953; pp. xviii+472. $6.50.

MASON'S MANUAL OF LEGISLATIVE PROCEDURE. By Paul Mason. New York: McGraw‐Hill Book Co., 1953; pp. 640. $6.50.

I AM HAPPY TO PRESENT. By Guy R. Lyle and Kevin Guinagh. New York: The H. W. Wilson Company, 1953; pp. 265. $3.00.

THE MIRACLE OF LANGUAGE. By Charlton Laird. New York: The World Publishing Co., 1953; pp. xii+308. $4.00.

PHONETICS IN ANCIENT INDIA. By W. S. Allen. London Oriental Series, Volume 1. London: Oxford University Press, 1953; pp. x+96. $3.00.

SUPERVISING PEOPLE. By George D. Halsey. (Revised edition). New York: Harper &; Brothers, 1953; pp. 238. $3.00.

COMMUNICATION IN MANAGEMENT. By Charles E. Redfield. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1953; pp. xvi+290. $3.75.

ADULT EDUCATION, THE COMMUNITY APPROACH. By Paul H. Sheats, Clarence D. Jayne, and Ralph B. Spence. New York: Dryden Press; pp. xiii+530. $5.75.

THE ART OF EFFECTIVE TEACHING. By C. B. Eavey. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, pp. 298. $3.75.

HOW TO BECOME A BETTER READER. By Paul Witty. Chicago: Science Research Associates, Inc., 1953; pp. viii+304. $5.00.

READING ALOUD. By Wayland Maxfield Parrish. (Third Edition). New York: The Ronald Press Company, 1953; pp. iv+572. $4.25.

TIME FOR TRUE TALES AND ALMOST TRUE. By May Hill Arbuthnot. New York: Scott, Foresman and Co., 1953; pp. 396. $3.50.

THE COLLECTED PLAYS OF W. B. YEATS. By W. B. Yeats. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1953; pp. 446. $5.00.

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1953; pp. 344. $5.00.

TILBURY TOWN: SELECTED POEMS OF EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON. By Lawrence Thompson. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1953; pp. xvi+144. $3.50.

THESE THAT I HAVE LOVED. AN ANTHOLOGY OF LIVING POETRY AND PROSE. By Mildred Welker Hufstater. New York: Pageant Press, 1953; pp. xiv+112. $3.00.

LITERARY MASTERPIECES OF THE WESTERN WORLD. Edited by Francis H. Horn. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1953: pp. xix+255. $3.50.     

Media Effectiveness in a Malaysian Park System

Abstract

The effectiveness of three media formats (guides, booklets, and signs) were compared for use on a nature trail at Kinabalu Park, Malaysia. Based on a multiple-choice, cognitive test taken by 1,194 visitors, the guide treatment scores were significantly higher than the other media treatments. There was no difference between booklet and sign treatments, and all the media treatments scored higher than the control group (F _3,1190 = 173.76, α = .05). A second experiment compared only booklet and sign media. There was still no difference in effectiveness (Paired t test, t = 0.22, df = 566, p □ .05). The first language and educational backgrounds of visitors influenced media effectiveness. However, age, sex, residence, interest level, prior knowledge, and prior park visitation did not influence the relatively great effectiveness of the guide treatment. Other factors, such as cost, time, and numbers served, may justify use of media formats other than guides.     

The ‘dissertation marathon’ in doctoral distance education

Participation in “communities of practice” is often depicted as a central feature of various theoretical understandings of the social nature of learning. How are such communities of practice to be enacted in distance education, which, by definition, implies spatial detachment? This article reflects on the dimensions of communities of practice experienced by four students undertaking doctoral studies by distance education, working in different countries than the one in which the institution of their studies is based, and at four different phases of their doctoral program. In each writer’s experience, community of practice involvement was identified as critical in program completion, yet the source of the learning community was in each case outside of institutional provision.     

Long-term instructional development: A 20-year ID and implementation project

This article describes the development and implementation in the schools over a 20-year period of the Energy Source Program, a comprehensive K-12 energy education curriculum. The program was developed beginning in 1980 using state-of-the-art development procedures for that time and has been used to date by more than 12 million American students to learn about energy and energy issues. End-of-unit posttest scores for the elementary and high school units averaged above 80% for their field tests. Data obtained from a large sample during the first three years of installation of the program in the schools indicated that posttest scores remained at a level during installation similar to that during the field-test phase. A study conducted in the early 1990s by an independent research organization to assess the program's long-term effects revealed that grade 6 students who had used one or more units from the program had significantly greater energy knowledge and better energy conservation habits than students who had not used any units. A set of 10 guidelines are offered for long-term instructional development and implementation projects. He supervised the development of the Energy Source Program from 1980 to 1984 while serving as a consultant to EDS. Kay Ice was Director of Program Development at EDS, and she was a primary writer and developer of the Energy Source Program. She has been president of EDS since 1999. Fred Niedermeyer was the founding president of EDS. He was project director of the Energy Source project, and he played a major role in all aspects of the project from its inception until his retirement in 1999.     

Creativity in Art: The feasibility of assessing current conceptions in the school context

The article reviews different views of creativity, building on the work of Czikszentmihaly. It offers a definition of creativity in terms of trait/process/product. The issue of how creativity might be assessed is explored using this definition and some illustrative examples are provided. The article concludes that creativity can and should be assessed but that this must be with an appropriate methodology. Such assessment is important not only for assessing students' work but also for evaluating curriculum content, in order to promote curriculum development in the teaching of creativity.     

Factors associated with concussion-symptom knowledge and attitudes toward concussion care seeking in a national survey of parents of middle-school children in the US

Background:Developing appropriate concussion prevention and management paradigms in middle school(MS)settings requires understanding parents’general levels of concussion-related knowledge and attitudes.This study examined factors associated with concussion-symptom knowledge and care-seeking attitudes among parents of MS children(aged 10-15 years).Methods:A panel of 1224 randomly selected U.S.residents,aged ≥18 years and identifying as parents of MS children,completed an online questionnaire capturing parental and child characteristics.The parents’concussion-symptom knowledge was measured using 25 questions,with possible answers being“yes”,“maybe”,and“no”.Correct answers earned 2 points,“maybe”answers earned 1 point,and incorrect answers earned 0 point(range:0-50;higher scores=better knowledge).Concussion care-seeking attitudes were also collected using five 7-point scale items(range:5-35;higher scores=more positive attitudes).Multivariable ordinal logistic regression models identified predictors of higher scores.Models met proportional odds assumptions.Adjusted odds ratios(aORs)with 95%confidence intervals(95%CIs)(excluding 1.00)were deemed statistically significant.Results:Median scores were 39(interquartile range:32-44)for symptom knowledge and 32(interquartile range:28-35)for care-seeking attitude.In multivariable models,odds of better symptom knowledge were higher in women vs.men(aOR=2.28;95%CI:1.71-3.05),white/non-Hispanics vs.other racial or ethnic groups(aOR=1.88;95%CI:1.42-2.49),higher parental age(10-year-increase aOR=1.47;95%CI:1.26-1.71),and greater competitiveness(10%-scale-increase aOR=1.24;95%CI:1.13-1.36).Odds of more positive care-seeking attitudes were higher in white/non-Hispanics vs.other racial or ethnic groups(aOR=1.45;95%CI:1.06-1.99)and in older parental age(10-year-increase aOR=1.24;95%CI:1.05-1.47).Conclusion:Characteristics of middle school children’s parents(e.g.,sex,race or ethnicity,age)are associated with their concussion-symptom knowledge and care-seeking attitudes.Parents’variations in concussion knowledge and attitudes warrant tailored concussion education and prevention.