Music in Audio‐visual Materials

Music has an important place in theatre productions and in instructional audiovisual material. Why is this, what functions has the music and what are its effects? Literature on music in audio‐visual material and on its design is very scarce. The concept of music and its characteristics are described in some detail, indicating that music per se has no referential meaning. The theory is presented that music has an emotional effect that can be manipulated by the developer of audio‐visual material. On the other hand, music offers resources for commenting and structuring audio‐visual material.     

A case study on written comments as a form of feedback in teacher education: so much to gain

In Higher Education, much of a lecturer’s time is spent on supplying students with written comments as a form of feedback on assignments. Although it is clear that students use these comments to make adjustments to their assignments, it is doubtful that these comments create a learning effect. This may indicate that the way feedback is supplied and/or the quality of the feedback lacks information for improving future performance. In this case study, written feedback has been analysed and the perception of students on the quality of written feedback in relation to their learning behaviour has been taken into account.     

'Horrors of Holland': Explaining Attitude Change Towards Euthanasia and Homosexuals in The Netherlands, 1970 1998

In this article, we investigate changes in public opinion inthe Netherlands toward two controversial issues: homosexualsand euthanasia. We find that a rapid decrease in oppositionto both issues in the seventies and early eighties was followedby a period of a stable minority opposition. We identify relevantperiod and cohort indicators to test which characteristics areassociated with the changes in the attitudes. We collected periodand cohort characteristics that are applicable to both of theattitudes, but specific attitude-related circumstantial conditionsas well. For both attitudes, it turns out that the changingcomposition of Dutch society with regard to religiousness accountsfor the largest changes in public opinion. Furthermore, we findthat the influence of religion on both the attitude towardseuthanasia and the attitude towards homosexuals became strongerover time, whereas the influence of educational attainment weakenedover time. Received for publication April 13, 2006. Accepted for publication April 23, 2007.     

A CAI program for instructing text analysis and modelling of word problems to educable mentally retarded children

Educable mentally retarded children prove to be poor mathematic word-problem solvers. This study is aimed at improving the poor word-problem solving ability of these children. In doing so, a computerised training programme was developed in which instruction focused on the construction of adequate problem representations. This was accomplished by both instructing the children to analyse the problem text thoroughly and by having them represent the problem situation described. The efficacy of this training procedure was demonstrated in a multiple-baseline design across five subjects after some data were removed (p < 0.05). It was assumed that the complexity of the training procedure and shortcomings in the feed back mechanism used obscured the overview of the problem-solving strategy. Suggestions are offered concerning the revision of this training procedure.     

Training of perceptual-cognitive skills in offside decision making

This study investigates the effect of two off-field training formats to improve offside decision making. One group trained with video simulations and another with computer animations. Feedback after every offside situation allowed assistant referees to compensate for the consequences of the flash-lag effect and to improve their decision-making accuracy. First, response accuracy improved and flag errors decreased for both training groups implying that training interventions with feedback taught assistant referees to better deal with the flash-lag effect. Second, the results demonstrated no effect of format, although assistant referees rated video simulations higher for fidelity than computer animations. This implies that a cognitive correction to a perceptual effect can be learned also when the format does not correspond closely with the original perceptual situation. Off-field offside decision-making training should be considered as part of training because it is a considerable help to gain more experience and to improve overall decision-making performance.     

Boys’ and girls’ educational choices in secondary education. The role of gender ideology

This study aims to explain why boys and girls in secondary education choose different educational tracks. We argue that adolescents internalise gender expectations as to what is “appropriate” male and female behaviour in their gender ideology. Gender ideology can affect educational choices by influencing (1) how adolescents evaluate their competence in certain subjects (competence beliefs), (2) what they find important in a future occupation (occupational values) and (3) what school subject they prefer right now (subject preferences). Longitudinal data collected among adolescents at age 15 and 16 (N = 1062) are used. Multinomial path models show that gender ideology shapes boys’ occupational values and subject preferences, whereas for girls it shapes their competence beliefs. Only for boys this leads to gender-stereotypical educational choices, however. Our results support the idea that gender expectations are stricter for boys than for girls and may prevent men from entering more feminine career tracks.     

Speech and Voice in Instructional Programmes

Abstract

Literature search shows that, compared to vision, very little attention has been given to audio as a vehicle of information. This contrasts strongly with the daily use of audio in direct as well as in mediated communication. New technologies relate audiovisual instruction with computer‐assisted learning. New challenges and new questions appear from this development. A number of cases of deliberate application of audio are briefly described. Applying audio in AV/CAI format, one has to deal with aspects of dominance and redundancy in auditory‐visual presentation which are still not clear. Describing acoustic and informational characteristics of audio and qualities of voice and speech may be helpful for the designer of auditory materials.