The Social and Demographic Characteristics of Direct and Delay Entry Nursing Students in Australian Universities

This national study compares the social and demographic characteristics of direct and delay entry nursing students in a earlier group of 1551 students in higher education programs (1987‐1990) with the national study group of 2295 students sampled in 1995. Using a specially constructed socio‐economic variable for comparison the analyses demonstrated a significant difference in the socio‐economic level of the household for the direct entry group but not for the delay entry group. There was also a significant difference between males and females in their direct and delay entry patterns. Further, there was a significant difference in the location of school attended for most of their secondary education for the direct entry group but not for the delay entry group. For both direct and delay entry students there was a significant difference in the number of siblings, the level of education attained by the mother and the income received by the mother in the households of the earlier and latter study groups.     

Contrasting computer input devices for teaching children with severe learning difficulties to read

Many teachers make the assumption that CAL systems which use a touch screen are more effective for children with severe learning difficulties than those which use a concept keyboard. These two experiments look at which is more effective in helping these children to maintain a previously acquired sight vocabulary, and to learn new sight words. It was predicted that the touch screen would prove more effective because it places fewer information processing demands on pupils. Surprisingly, no difference was found between the two systems.     

Advertising

Francesco M. Nicosia (ed.) Advertising, Management, and Society: A Business Point of View (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1974—available in hardback and paper but prices not given)

W.A. Evans' Advertising Today and Tomorrow (London: Allen & Unwin, 1974—about $15.00)

Robin Wright's The Day the Pigs Refused to Be Driven to Market: Advertising and the Counter Revolution (New York: Random House, 1974—$7.95)     

Looking Back on Lessons Learned: Gifted Adults Reflect on Their Experiences in Advanced Classes

The purpose of this study was to learn about gifted adults' experiences in advanced classes and attitudes about advanced classes or gifted programs for their children. Participants were 88 adults (33 men and 55 women) who have been participating in a longitudinal study of academically talented individuals since their high-school graduation in 1988. Participants responded to open-ended questions via mailed surveys. Eighty-five percent of participants described their academic experiences in advanced classes as positive, whereas slightly fewer participants (59%) described their interpersonal experiences in advanced classes as positive. Seventy-five percent of participants with children described signs of giftedness in their children, and 88% of participants indicated that they would support advanced placement for their children if it were recommended by the school. Implications of the findings were discussed and directions for future research were provided.     

Television and Families: What Do Young Children Watch with Their Parents?

A sample of 271 3- and 5-year-olds and their families participated in a 2-year longitudinal study of television viewing patterns. 5 1-week diaries for all family members were collected at 6-month intervals. Programs were categorized as: (1) child informative, (2) child entertainment, (3) news and informative, (4) sports, (5) comedy, (6) drama, (7) action-adventure, and (8) variety-game. The majority of child programs were viewed without parents, while the majority of adult programs were watched with parents. Coviewing patterns of adult programs were predicted from parents' individual viewing habits, but not from the child's. Coviewing declined with age. Parental encouragement and regulation of viewing were orthogonal. Children whose parents encouraged viewing watched more child informative programming; children of restrictive parents watched less entertainment programming. Encouraging parents coviewed more than nonencouraging parents. Results support the assertion that parental viewing preferences, habits, and orientations toward television influence children's viewing, both with and without parents.     

A SELECTED LIST OF TEXTBOOKS AVAILABLE FOR USE IN THE GRADED SUNDAY SCHOOL

This study investigates Suhrawardi's epistemological and philosophical point of view in order to analyze and elicit its educational outcomes. His philosophy, which can be called eclectic philosophy (involving intellect and intuition), regularly proposes a different philosophical system with intuitionist outlook. It is the combination of two philosophical and mystical views, namely Aristotle's logical reasoning and Plato's mysticism. Suhrawardi has rather suggested this belief in the field of acquiring knowledge by humans that depends on three levels of knowledge, namely intuitive knowledge (using senses), knowledge via observation (mystical intuition), and illuminated knowledge. The third level of knowledge leads a human to the verity of knowledge. Therefore, this view about knowledge, and process of this knowledge acquisition, will have educational implications such as aims, principles, and teaching–learning methodology.     

Distance training for operating equipment: A cost‐benefit and return‐on‐investment analysis

Abstract

This study takes the perspective of an equipment vendor that is providing training on its equipment. The study shows that the total cost of Remote Access Distance Learning (RADL), training provided over a voice and data network, is higher than the total cost of classroom‐based training (CBT). However, the profits from RADL are higher than the profits from CBT, since it is possible to charge students a higher price for RADL than for CBT.