Encouraging the development of higher-level study skills using an experiential learning framework

Teachers have only recently considered how study skills support in higher education (HE) can be delivered in a way that encourages experiential learning. This paper aims to substantiate, or otherwise, the idea that a carefully developed initiative can encourage the experiential learning of study skills. In addition, it considers whether such an approach might also allow student access to some of the higher-level study skills required for successful university study. Focus group data were used to evaluate a module delivered to sports students at a post-1992 university in the UK. This data suggested that the module facilitated learning in each stage of Kolb's experiential learning cycle. Moreover, there was evidence that the module encouraged students to undertake an ‘epistemological shift’ in which they moved from seeing knowledge as a set of uncontested facts to seeing it as something that they are expected to question and contribute to themselves.     

The Question of Competence: the origins,strengths and inadequacies of a leadership training paradigm

During the 1990s the Teacher Training Agency showed its commitment to adopting elements of a 'competence' model of educational management training in the construction of the National Standards for Headteachers (TTA 1997, 1998). These same 'standards' have come to underpin the most ambitious programme of educational management training and development ever attempted in the UK (Glatter 1997) including the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH), the Headteachers' Leadership and Management Programme (HEADLAMP) and the Leadership Programme for Serving Headteachers (LPSH). This article attempts to trace the origins of competence-based approaches to management training and suggests that the model, though having much to commend it, contains within it a variety of underlying and unresolved tensions.     

Research productivity in communication: An analysis, 1996‐2001

The study provides an analysis of those scholars who produced a substantial number of articles in 24 communication journals during the period, 1996‐2001. The purpose of the study was to update the information provided in previous studies. Using data similar to that previously found in the Index to Journals in Communication Studies, the authors found that during the period a number of new names has appeared. As a result, the authors develop a list of the top one percent (50) of those researchers, as well as providing data on the institutions which these scholars represent. The minimum number of articles necessary during the period to be included was nine.     

The effects of office aesthetic quality on students' perceptions of teacher credibility and communicator style

This study examined the effects of office aesthetic quality on students' perceptions of teacher credibility and communicator style. Ninety‐seven individuals from introductory communication courses participated in this experiment. Participants were assigned to visit either a low or a high aesthetic quality office, or to a no‐office exposure control group, prior to evaluating a videotaped sample of an instructor lecturing in a basic communication course. Results indicated that office aesthetic quality influenced participants' evaluations of teacher credibility and communicator style.     

International Communications

Mark J. Hopkin's Mass Media in the Soviet Union (New York: Pogasus, $8.95)

Richard E. Wood's Shortwave Voices of the Torld (Gilfor Assoc., P.O. Box 239, Park Ridge, N.J. 07656, $6.35 hardback, $3.95 paperback

Heinz-Dietrich Fischer and John C. Morrill, International Communications: Media, Channels, Functions (Hasting, $12.95)     

Evaluation of Sexual Content in Teen-Centered Films From 1980 to 2007

Film has become a popular form of entertainment among teenagers and provides images from which teens model behaviors and form attitudes. This study addresses the understudied area of the portrayal of teen and adult sexual behaviors over nearly three decades in the top-grossing teen-centered films from 1980 to 2007. This study analyzes the frequency, nature, character portrayals, and consequences of sexual behavior. The results show that teen-centered films are replete with passionate kissing and sexual dialogue yet contain a modicum of implied intercourse and intimate touching. Moreover, the frequency of such occurrences has remained surprisingly constant over the last three decades. This research also reveals that teen-centered films, as a source for sexual socialization, are relatively impoverished when it comes to responsible messages dealing with abstinence, safe sex practices, and the health risks associated with sex.     

From Pride to Smugness and the Nationalism Between: Olympic Media Consumption Effects on Nationalism Across the Globe

To measure relationships between Olympic media viewing and nation-based attitudes, 6 nations (Australia, Bulgaria, China, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and the United States) were surveyed in the 5 days immediately after the 2012 London Olympics. A total of 1,025 respondents answered questions pertaining to four measures of nationalism: patriotism, nationalism, internationalism, and smugness. The amount of Olympic viewing resulted in significantly higher scores for patriotism, nationalism, and smugness, but not internationalism. In addition, differences by nation are reported, revealing considerable differences in nationalism measures among the 6 nations studied; for instance, the United States was the lowest of the 6 nations regarding internationalism yet highest of the 6 nations regarding smugness. Conclusions related to theory and the role of Olympic media content are offered.     

Popular Reading Collections in Public University Libraries: A Survey of Three Southeastern States

Offering a separate, popular reading collection can be a valuable public service in academic libraries. Popular reading is also known as leisure reading, recreational reading, and reading for pleasure. These phrases are synonyms for an interest in reading bestsellers, mysteries, romance novels, biographies, graphic novels, humor, self-help, or popular nonfiction, among other literature categories. This article examines the survey data of popular reading collections in the public universities of three southeastern states. It also discusses the popular reading collection at the author's library, also located at a southeastern public university, and analyzes the data from both circulation records and a survey of more than 100 patrons who used the collection during the fall 2008 semester.