Propaganda

CUBAN-AMERICAN RADIO WARS: IDEOLOGY IN INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS by Howard H. Frederick (Norwood, NJ : Ablex, 1986—$34.50)

IMPERIALISM, MEDIA, AND THE GOOD NEIGHBOR: NEW DEAL FOREIGN POLICY AND UNITED STATES SHORTWAVE BROADCASTING TO LATIN AMERICA by Fred Fejes (Norwood, NJ: Ablex, 1986—$32.50)

PROPAGANDA AND PERSUASION by Garth S. Jowett and Victoria O'Donnell (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1986 price not given)

EXPORTING THE FIRST AMENDMENT: THE PRESS-GOVERNMENT CRUSADE OF 1945–1952 by Margaret A. Blanchard (New York: Longman, 1986—$39.95)

COMMUNICATION FOR ALL: NEW WORLD INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION ORDER edited by Philip Lee (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1986—$11.95, paper)

WESTERN BROADCASTING OVER THE IRON CURTAIN edited by K.R.M. Short (New York: t. Martin's Press, 1986—$32.50)     

Rhetoric and Materiality in the Museum Park at the North Carolina Museum of Art

The material rhetoric of physical locations like the Museum Park at the North Carolina Museum of Art creates “spaces of attention” wherein visitors are invited to experience the landscape around them as a series of enactments that identify the inside/outside components of sub/urban existence, as well as the regenerative/transformative possibilities of such existence. Such rhetorical enactments create innovative opportunities for individuals to attend to the human/nature interface. These rhetorical enactments also create and contain tensions that come to the fore when they are employed as authentic mediations of nature, when they function as tropes to promote development of natural space, and/or when they are translated into discursive environmental argument.     

The fear factor: students’ experiences of test anxiety when taking A-level examinations

This paper presents the findings of a pilot study that explored students’ experiences of test anxiety when taking A-level examinations. Four focus groups were convened with a sample of 19 participants in the south of England to explore the triggers of test anxiety and the perceived need for interventions to assist high test-anxious students cope with the examination process. The findings suggested that the participants experienced two types of anxiety: ‘pre-exam anxiety’ (relating to, for example, revision and mock examinations) and ‘exam-day anxiety’ (relating to practical concerns, such as school policy on the arrival of students and the time available to complete the examination). Only three participants reported feeling that their examination performance was significantly impaired by test anxiety; most reported that a degree of anxiety aided their performance. With test anxiety perceived by most participants as motivational and useful, there was little support for any interventions from examination boards, parents or teachers to help reduce or manage test anxiety. However, based on participants’ experiences of the pre-examination period, it is suggested that test anxiety may impede students’ ability to prepare for their examinations, and that interventions during this stage may be useful. The findings also imply that there are some practical steps that could be taken by the educational community to help reduce students’ test anxiety.     

From the Court to the Classroom: Opportunities for Engagement,Learning, and Identity in Basketball and Classroom Mathematics

This study explored support for engagement in 2 settings: a high school basketball team and high school mathematics classrooms. Specifically, the study examined 3 aspects of these practices: (a) access to the domain, (b) opportunities to take on integral roles, and (c) opportunities for self-expression in the practice. Drawing on videotape and interview data from 2 African American high school students' participation in basketball and mathematics class, as well as interviews with players' teachers and coaches, this article analyzes how these 3 aspects of practices afforded differential engagement across settings. Findings indicated that the practice of basketball supported deep engagement as players had greater access to an understanding of the domain, were assigned and took up a unique role that was integral to the practice, and had opportunities to express themselves and feel competent. The high school mathematics classroom differentially afforded these opportunities, with 1 student taking them up and the other being unable to, and thus being less engaged. Potential implications of these 3 aspects of the practices for students' practice-linked identities and learning are discussed.     

Preschool Student Learning in Literacy and Mathematics: Impact of Teacher Experience,Qualifications, and Beliefs on an At-Risk Sample

Few studies investigating the impacts of teacher characteristics and beliefs about the importance of early skill learning have included measures of children's learning outcomes. This study investigated how teachers' educational attainment, experience, and beliefs impact the development of letter identification and number concepts (enumeration, cardinality, and numeral identification). One hundred thirty-eight 4-year-old children from low-income homes attending public preschool programs were the focus of a study based on findings that early learning is impacted by family characteristics and teachers' perceptions of children's eagerness to learn (West, Denton, & Germino Hausken, 2000 West, J., Denton, K. and Hausken, Germino E. 2000. America's Kindergartners (NCES 2000–070), Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics..  [Google Scholar]). Children's skills were assessed fall and spring, with more change found in spring measures of letter identification than in measures of number concept skills. Teachers' educational attainment was found to strongly influence development of letter identification, with teacher experience a weaker influence. For number concepts, teacher education and experience were equivalent influences. Teachers' beliefs about literacy and mathematics were weakly related to children's learning outcomes, but added to the variance accounted for beyond the influence of teacher education and experience in the development of numeral recognition. More information is needed from studies focusing on children learning across the school year on how structural and process features influence young children's learning.     

Understanding the causes and management of problem behaviour in Zimbabwean schools: teacher perceptions

Problem behaviour continues to present a challenge for school-teachers worldwide. Since school-teachers around the globe have different conceptualisations of what constitutes problem behaviour, the purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of Zimbabwean school-teachers about their perceived causes of problem behaviour among students in school, and how they usually deal with the problem behaviours. A Problem Behaviour Survey developed specifically for this study was administered to a convenience sample of 62 teachers enrolled in a part-time postgraduate diploma at a local university in Zimbabwe. Participants identified bullying, fighting, violence, fighting, truancy, drug/alcohol abuse and sexual immorality as the most prevalent problem behaviours in their schools. Results of this study also demonstrated that few teachers thought that physical punishment was an effective way to manage problem behaviour and that school-teachers should be allowed to use it. These findings were important in helping school-teachers and administrators to develop a better understanding of problem behaviour in their schools as a pre-requisite to the development of more effective behaviour management practices.     

Biomechanical response to systematic changes in impact interface cushioning properties while performing a tennis-specific movement

Abstract

It is currently not known whether human responses across typical sports surfaces are dependent on cushioning or frictional properties of the interface. The present study assessed systematic changes in surface cushioning (baseline acrylic, rubber, thin foam, and thick foam) as participants performed tennis running forehand foot plants wearing a basic neutral shoe (plimsolls). It was hypothesized that systematic decreases in peak rates of loading, heel pressures, and perceived hardness would be yielded as surface cushioning increased (impact test device). A common acrylic top surface provided consistent frictional properties across surfaces. Kinetics (AMTI, 960 Hz and Footscan Pressure Insoles, 500 Hz), kinematics (Peak MOTUS, 120 Hz), and cushioning perception were assessed. Peak and mean loading rates of vertical ground reaction force, peak horizontal force, peak heel pressure, and rates of loading demonstrated significant correlations (P < 0.05) with the participants' perceived levels of cushioning and matched mechanical rankings of surface cushioning. In contrast, peak impact force was lowest on the least cushioned surface. Kinematic responses were not significantly different between surfaces. Present evidence supports ‘‘peak rate of loading'' as a more suitable indicator of surface cushioning than peak impact force. Although cautionary, biomechanical support is also provided for mechanical methods of surface cushioning assessment.     

Is That Even Checkable? An Experimental Study in Identifying Checkable Statements in Political Discourse

The first step in journalistic fact-checking of political discourse is identifying whether statements contain “checkable facts” (i.e., not opinions). This randomized controlled experiment investigated how different demographic factors (age, gender, education, profession, and political affiliation) are associated with the ability to discern if statements contained checkable or noncheckable facts, as well as what impact training in identifying checkable facts can have on overall outcomes. A total of 3,357 participants identified checkable and noncheckable statements from a fictional political speech extract containing eight statements. Overall, participants were able to correctly identify an average of 69% of statements. Specific demographic factors (being male, young, and university educated) were positively associated with increased performance as well as working in professions that commonly analyze data, such as research. Participating in a short training session significantly increased participants’ performance. Initial political affiliation slightly reduces the ability to assess whether statements made by named politicians contained checkable facts.