Comparing Simple and Advanced Video Tools as Supports for Complex Collaborative Design Processes

Working with digital video technologies, particularly advanced video tools with editing capabilities, offers new prospects for meaningful learning through design. However, it is also possible that the additional complexity of such tools does not advance learning. We compared in an experiment the design processes and learning outcomes of 24 collaborating participant pairs (dyads) using 2 contrasting types of video tools for history learning. The advanced video tool WebDIVER supported segmenting, editing, and annotating capabilities. In the contrasting condition, students used a simple video playback tool with a word processor to perform the same design task. Results indicated that the advanced video editing tool was more effective in relation to (a) fostering student understanding of the topic and acquisition of cognitive skills, (b) the quality of student design products, and (c) the efficiency of dyad interactions. The implication of our experimental findings for constructivist design-based learning is that mediating functions of video tools may be used as cognitive and social supports, for example when students learn by solving design tasks in school.     

Consultative Supervision and Mentor Development: an initial exploration and case study

Abstract

The paper focuses on the conversations between one student teacher and her mentor during the mentor's first year in that role. Analysis of the conversations makes a modest contribution to the slim but growing literature on the process of mentoring in practice. The research adopts a methodology which not only aims to elicit what the mentor's practice is, but also explicitly aims to promote mentor development. Finally, the paper presents a case for exploring such participatory methodologies in future research on mentoring.     

Students' understanding of theory in undergraduate education

This paper investigates undergraduate students' application of theory in their analysis of problems presented in authentic leadership cases. Taking a phenomenographic research approach, the paper identifies two levels at which students understand ‘theory’: Level 1-Theory as knowledge acquired from books; Level 2-Theory as support for problem solutions. Only the students at Level 2 understanding achieved the highest learning outcome described by the Bologna Reforms. This result may be accounted for by the difference in the students' pre-conceived understanding of the events and relationships in the analysed cases. The phenomenographic assumption explains why the authentic cases are problematic. The high relevancy of the learning object – as an authentic case – may reduce the effect of variation, in this case the educational environment that is the mechanism for learning according to variation theory.     

Teaching to address diverse learning needs: development and validation of a Differentiated Instruction Scale

In the province of Quebec, Canada, a trend towards full inclusion has impelled teachers to adapt their instruction to meet the needs of both advanced and weaker learners in regular school settings. The main purpose of the present investigation was to develop and validate the Differentiated Instruction Scale (DIS), which assesses the use of instructional adaptations and academic progress monitoring strategies in general education classrooms. A total of 125 elementary school teachers participated in a cross-sectional study, allowing us to develop and validate the DIS. Overall our results show that the DIS is composed of two factors that are consistent with the predicted constructs (instructional adaptations and academic progress monitoring). Evidence of convergent validity is provided through correlations among DIS' subscales and two criteria: (1) teachers' autonomy support and (2) perceptions of school climate. Results also reveal that teachers tend to use instructional adaptations that do not require much preparation or tailored instruction. The DIS could thus be used in future research to investigate outcomes of differentiated instruction. Moreover, it could provide useful information on optimal strategies for promoting learning in children with different abilities in general education classrooms.     

Historical Views of Film

Ted Sennett's Warner Brothers Presents: The Most Exciting Years--From "The Jazz Singer" to "White Heat" (New Rochelle, N.Y.: Arlington House, 1971---$11.95)

Leif Furhammar and Folke Isaksson's Politics and Film (New York: Praeger, 1971---$12.50)

Peter Cowie (ed.) The Concise History of the Cinema: Volume I, Before 1940. (Cranbury, N.J.: A.S. Barnes, 1971---$3.50, paper)

Roy Armes' The French Cinema since 1946: Volume I, The Great Tradition (Cranbury, N. J.: A.S. Barnes, 1970---$2.95, paper)

Gordon Gow's Hollywood in the Fifties (Cranbury, N.J.: A.S. Barnes, 1971---$2.95, paper)

Edward Wagenknecht's The Movies in the Age of Innocence (New York: Ballentine, $2.95, paper)

Thorold Dickenson's A Discovery of Cinema (New York: Oxford University Press, 1971---$8.50 with a paperback edition available)

Rachael Low's classic History of the British Film (London: Allen and Unwin, 1971---price not known)

Bob Thomas' The Heart of Hollywood: A 50-year Pictorial History of the Film Capital and the Famed Motion Picture and Television Fund (Los Angeles: Price/Stern/Stern, 1971---$7.95)

Bob Harmon's Hollywood Panorama (New York: Dutton, 1971---$3.95, paper)     

General Motion Pictures

Eileen Sheahan's Moving Pictures: An Annotated Guide to Selected Film Literature With Suggestions for the Study of Film (South Brunswick: A.S. Barnes and Company, 1979 – $9.95 hardcover)

Anthony Slide, Films on Film History (Metuchen, New Jersey: The Scarecrow Press, 1979 – $12.00 hardcover)

Hannah Elsas Miller, Films in the Classroom: A Practical Guide (Metuchen, New Jersey: The Scarecrow Press, 1979 – $12.50)

Roy Pickard, Hollywood Gold: The Award Winning Movies (New York: Taplinger, 1979 – $1 4 .95/$9.95)

Legal and Business Problems of Financing Motion Pictures 1979 (Practising Law Institute, 810 Seventh Ave., New York, N.Y. 10019—$20, paper)

Nancy Allen's Film Study Collections: A Guide to Their Development and Use (New York: Frederik Ungar, 1979—$14.00)

David McNicoll, eds. A Guide to Film and Television Courses in Canada (Canadian Film Institute, 75 Albert Street, Suite 1105, Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5E7 – $6.95)

Film Periodicals: A new journal, Discourse: Berkeley Journal for Theoretical Studies in Media and Culture (P.O. Box 4667, Berkeley, California 94704 – $9.00 for three issues for individuals, $12.00 for institutions, and $18.00 foreign)

Don Allen, ed. The World of Film and Filmmakers: A Visual History (New York: Crown, 1979—$19.95)

Raymond Fielding, comp. A Bibliography of Theses and Dissertations on the Subject of Film: 1916-1979 (Houston, Tx.: University Film Association Monograph No. 3, 1979—$6.50, paper)     

History of intercollegiate debating in Ohio

HANDBOOK OF GROUP DISCUSSION. By Russell H. Wagner and Carroll C. Arnold. Boston: Houghton‐Mifflin Co., 1950; pp. v + 322. $2.75.

DISCUSSION IN HUMAN AFFAIRS. By James H. McBurney and Kenneth G. Hance. New York: Harper and Bros., 1950; pp. viii + 432. $3.00.

GROUP THINKING AND CONFERENCE LEADERSHIP. Techniques of Discussion. By William E. Utterback. New York: Rinehart and Co., 1950; pp. vii + 248. $2.50.

SPEECH FOR EVERYDAY USE. By Elizabeth G. Andersch and Lorin C. Staats. New York: Rinehart and Co., 1950; pp. x + 218. $2.50. STUDENTS' WORKBOOK, $0.50.

PUBLIC SPEAKING FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS. Second Edition. By Lionel Crocker. New York: American Book Co., 1950; pp. xi + 508. $4.00.

BASIC SPEECH. By Jon Eisenson. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1950; pp. xi + 344. $3.00.

DYNAMIC PUBLIC SPEAKING. By George M. Glasgow. New York: Harper and Bros., 1950; pp. vii + 315. $2.50.

SPEECH PROJECT AND DRILL BOOK. By Leroy T. Laase. Dubuque, Lowa: William C. Brown Co., 1950; pp. ix + 255. $2.25.

SPEECH EDUCATION IN OHIO. By Franklin H. Knower. Columbus: Ohio State University, 1950; pp. iv + 157.

THE ART OF SCENIC DESIGN. By Lee Simonson. New York: Harper and Bros., 1950; pp. 174. $4.50.

SPEAK FOR YOURSELF. Essentials of Reading Aloud and Speaking. By J. S. Driver. New York: Harper and Bros., 1948; pp. x + 206. $2.75.

PERSUASIVE SPEAKING: PRINCIPLES AND METHODS. By Robert T. Oliver. New York: Longman's, Green and Co., 1950; pp. xi + 272. $3.00.

NEW DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN POLITICS. By E. C. Smith and A. J. Zurcher. New York; Barnes and Noble, Inc., 1949; pp. viii + 437. $3.25.

HANDBOOK OF BIOLINGUISTICS. By Clarence Meader and John Muyskens. Toledo: Toledo Speech Clinic, 1950; pp. xxi + 330. $10.00     

Applying an Integrative Technology Adoption Paradigm to Health App Adoption and Use

The present study employs an audience-centered approach to examine motivations for mobile fitness app use. We explicate and test an Integrated Technology Adoption model, which incorporates perspectives on competition, self-esteem, self-efficacy, and audience uses and gratifications. An online survey of 469 respondents reveals that app adoption intentions were predicted by internal competition orientations and gratifications, exercise self-efficacy, social utility motives, and attitudes toward the app. External competition decreased behavioral intentions related to app use. Study results thus provide support for an integrative model linking social cognitive factors with a new set of mobile app uses and gratifications.