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The issue of program quality must be paramount on state educational agendas if the America 2000 preschool goal--that all children start school ready to learn--is to be attained. This paper describes four types of preschool programs (Project Head Start, Montessori, public preschools, and private day cares) and reviews the evidence on their effectiveness. First, Project Head Start's history, philosophy, and goals are discussed, as are the reasons for its popularity over the years. The paper next presents Montessori philosophy, goals, developmental theories, and curriculum, and distinguishes the approaches espoused by the Association Montessori International and the American Montessori Society. Then the paper examines the rationale for public school sponsorship of early childhood education; current state involvement in early education, as indicated by the preschool component of 1990 National Education Goals and the incorporation of preschool initiatives into state budgets; and the National Association for the Education of Young Children's research on quality indicators. Finally, the paper outlines the need for private child care; the range of programming options available; the difficulties in licensing; corporate and university day care; and state assistance provided to day care. Using this information, the paper recommends a model for public preschool programs that includes: (1) connections to service agencies to enhance family involvement; (2) effective teacher training; (3) attachment to existing public school buildings and interfaces with the elementary routine; and (4) curricular connections between preschool and kindergarten. (Contains 20 references.) (KDFB)

The primary objective of a project undertaken by the University of Dayton (Ohio) and a local school district was to create an environment of academic inquiry built on a strong foundation of collaboration between the school district and the university. Using the Getzel Model of organizational interaction, teachers were paid, encouraged, and instructed in academic inquiry through a collaborative effort between the school district and the university. Twenty projects were written, begun, and partially evaluated during the 1994-95 school year. The 20 projects followed a four-phase model designed to unite university and school district through a collaborative model of inquiry. The four phases involve: instruction-based dialogue; implementation by teachers and funding for their requirements; continuation and replication; and commitment of teachers to leadership. It is concluded that the following are important for the success of a research project such as this one: (1) trust and academic dialogue; (2) commitment to fundamental research, especially at the teacher level; and (3) interrelation among change and practical (action) and theoretical (basic) research. (Contains 13 references and an appendix with 15 University of Dayton Project--Ripley Union Lewis Huntington Schools research abstracts.) (MAH)

Case studies are presented of the induction and professional development of five young teachers, specifically focusing on the impact of structural and policy changes (external workplace environment) on the ideas of young teachers in schools (internal workplace environment). The case studies investigate issues of continuity and change in teachers' ideas about teaching. Subjects are graduates of the Diploma of Teaching (Primary) at Footscray Institute of Technology (now the Victoria University of Technology) in Melbourne, Australia. The main orientation of the teachers' earliest comments is towards their work with children and their preparation of those children for their lives ahead. Consequently, references are made to providing opportunities for children to develop employment and living skills and to have successful experiences which will enhance their self-esteem. Later, it seems that the values held most strongly by the teachers have persisted in their work in the classroom and are also applied to other parts of their teaching role including administration, organizational, and policy development duties. (Contains 16 references.) (JDD)

For at least three reasons, university English faculties should reassess their attitudes toward children's literature, a field of vital importance in children's education. First, specialists in children's literature are sorely needed in English departments, where courses on the subject properly belong (rather than in colleges of education). Second, it is a new field of scholarly research and analysis, and there is thus a great need for careful assessment of the cultural, artistic, historic, psychological, and philosophical significance of children's literature. Third, with the problems currently facing college and university English departments, self-interest dictates the need for expanding children's literature programs, including active, innovative graduate courses leading to master's and doctor's degrees in the field. (JM)

In spite of the fact that there has been an interest in children's theatre since after World War I and practically everyone--from the Junior League to the educationist--recognizes the need for and the value of good drama, there is a dearth of good drama of literary worth for children. It is true that children have been exposed to drama of some kind--there is intense interest in creative drama (especially on the part of educationists), there are anthologies of children's plays which range from mediocre to poor in literary quality, and there is a widespread practice of adapting literary works for juvenile theatre audiences. However, good drama must become part of children's literature because (1) it belongs there as an accepted literary genre; (2) teachers should be able to deal with it critically and practically on all levels; and (3) an art form needs an active and viable body of criticism in order to grow in stature. (JM)

The paper focuses on one aspect of the training and utilization of military manpower--specialty training for first-term enlisted personnel. Costs of both formal and on-the-job training (OJT) are considered, as well as the returns from training for first-time enlisted personnel. After a description of the conceptual framework the paper describes the pilot test of the method, conducted among Air Force Aircraft Maintenance Specialists at Norton Air Force Base, California. Data consisted of performance measures of 64 trainees based on 12 supervisors' estimates, and background information on the trainees. Regression analysis of 13 variables concerning the relationship between OJT costs and the personal attribute data demonstrated that OJT costs are a function of the quality and quantity of prior education, prior civilian job experience, and ability. Regression analysis applied to alternative specifications of the model yielded similar results and further research studies were planned. The study concludes that fundamental changes in military manpower resulting from the all-volunteer force have increased the relative cost of training inexperienced personnel, and that this change may necessitate the military's seeking major increases in retention rates or adopting new training policies. Seven tables accompany the text. (JR)

The effects of a creativity training program on 18 classes of middle grade and high school level educable mentally retarded (EMR) students were investigated. Ss received instruction with a systematic set of creativity training materials for a 12-week period while 12 control group classes continued regular classwork. Criterion groups were compared on creativity test performance, attitude toward school, and exhibited creativity characteristics. MANOVA and discriminant analysis yielded significant differences favoring the experimental group on all predictor variables, supporting the contention that EMR children may possess untapped creative ability that may be improved through systematic training. (Author/CL)

Classroom management is one of the most perplexing problems facing teacher educators and teachers. Teacher educators promote sound theories of how to acquire and demonstrate various competencies of classroom management but unsuccessfully relate these theories to the realities of the classroom. It is helpful to approach the problem of classroom management from an eclectic viewpoint with the aim of developing an eclectic model for teacher training. Competence in classroom management begins with decisions and decision making. The first competency encompasses the ability to look within, to make some objective statement about self, and then project how this will affect teaching behavior. The next sequence of competencies relate to intervention strategies or actions that can be taken if student behavior does not conform to expectations. An additional set of competencies is needed which specifically addresses the emotional needs of the child, his self concept development, and his emotional self-expression. Training in each area should begin at the cognitive level. Following success at the cognitive level, each teacher should be able to assimilate the concepts into an integrated schema of classroom management. The third phase in the training sequence is implememtation. Each student should be provided with actual classroom experiences that allow for implementing with children each of the concepts taught. (SK)

This study attempted to assess the linguistic competence of black lower-class speakers within each of two language systems: standard English and Black English. The subjects were 72 black kindergarten, third-, and sixth-graders in a predominantly black community in Toledo, Ohio. All children attending the school were considered lower-class, since 90 percent of the children's families were on ADC and 100 per cent of the children were eligible for the federal school lunch program. A variation of the Fraser, Bellugi, and Brown test of imitation, production, and comprehension of grammatical contrasts was used. The following categories were used to generate four practice items: affirmative/negative, change in noun, and prepositions. Eight categories were used to generate 24 sentence pairs for the test itself. Sentence pairs were in both Black and standard English. A speech production task was also used. The results showed that production of Black English decreased significantly with age. This finding suggests that, at least in a school setting, older black children have the ability to respond orally to a language task in standard English if they perceive the situation to be one in which they should do so. (TS)

Examining the nature of the communication process as a factor in resolving teacher concerns with discipline problems, this report identifies and defines networking in the school setting and summarizes a study of 500 exemplary schools by the Phi Delta Kappa (PDK) Commission on School Discipline. The report discusses various networking applications within schools, between schools, or among different school systems. The PDK Commission study sought to identify school programs and community projects that successfully ameliorated school discipline problems by establishing close liaison with parents, community agencies, and community resources. Its efforts resulted in a directory of such projects and a handbook of effective practices for use by other districts. The paper also discusses obstacles to networking in education, including the time required, lack of communication, publicity avoidance, and difficulty in replicating successful networking programs. Recommendations for the use of the PDK network are provided. (JEH)

Stressed is the use of art for developing creativity, perceptual skills, and cognitive skills in handicapped children. Art activities are suggested for the following handicapping conditions: visually handicapped, auditorily handicapped, cerebral palsy, emotionally disturbed, learning disabled, and mentally retarded. Described are sample art projects in printing and weaving. (SBH)

During the fall quarter 1972, a total competency-based educational research course was offered at Florida International University. At that time, the course was characterized by prescribed competencies, criterion-referenced evaluation, the absence of tests, credit-no credit grading, self pacing, unlimited recycling to criterion, and individual feedback. During the past three and one-half years the course content has remained relatively stable, but course procedures have changed. Most of the changes have been in the area of student evaluation and have been based on student performance data, student and instructor feedback, and the results of experimental research conducted within the course. It has now been determined that (1) prespecified competencies and criterion-referenced evaluation are essential and desirable components of a competency-based research course; (2) testing of subcompetencies is apparently essential in order to assure comprehension of prerequisite knowledge; (3) credit-no credit grading is unacceptable on both philosophical and practical grounds to students, instructors, employers, and graduate schools; (4) self pacing is detrimental to both students and instructors; and (5) unlimited recycling is inefficient and unproductive, even when accompanied by intensive, individualized feedback. (RC)

The many ways in which children use language are examined in this paper, and classroom implications are outlined. The first part of the paper discusses such topics as young children's focus on meaning in language, teachers' tendency to examine language in terms of form rather than meaning, and the importance of the student/teacher interaction process. It identifies the seven language functions described by M. A. K. Halliday--instrumental, regulatory, interactional, personal, imaginative, heuristic, and informative--and tells how children develop ideas about the ways language should be used in the classroom. The paper then presents transcripts of conversations of first grade children engaged in such classroom activities as looking at a book, play-acting, and building with blocks. It discusses the children's languge in relation to Halliday's categories and concludes that teachers' awareness, listening skills, and interactions with children make the critical difference in the development of a child's full range of language functions. Finally, transcripts of kindergarten children's retellings of stories are presented as evidence of young children's awareness of book language. The paper concludes by advising teachers to provide situations in which children focus on meaning and use language for their own purposes. (GT)

This paper comments on and suggests alternatives to assumptions concerning child-rearing currently held by many Australians. That family-child relationships change as societies and economies change is a fact not commonly taken for granted, but is a conclusion reached by scholars examining the history of childhood. Recently in Australia, as elsewhere, a major change has taken place: child-bearing is no longer the main function of the family. More than a million married women have entered the work field--a domain which is still geared to male expectations of full-time employment and continuous careers. Such expectations are likely to change, however, and new forms of parenthood may emerge in the near future. Under these conditions, child care providers should recognize that (1) protection of children need not be only the parents' responsibility; (2) the satisfaction of children's needs is not necessarily more important than the satisfaction of parents' needs; (3) the biological mother need not continuously and exclusively provide child care; (4) there is no one right way of being a good parent; and (5) the family is not the only institution responsible for rearing children. For both social and professional reasons, early childhood educators should prepare for the emergence of new forms of parenthood and prepare, as well, to make their expertise available as a resource to new forms of family and to the preschool child. (Author/RH)

The position of this paper is that evaluation is a type of research. This conclusion is based on philosophy of science concepts, the nature of scientific method, and evaluation literature. The argument is made that scientific method is one of several inquiry strategies, that the terms scientific method and research are synonymous, and that evaluation is a type of research located at the applied end of a basic-to-applied continuum. Following exposition of the basic argument, supportive discussions are presented related to the role of evaluators, the nature of evaluation problems, the manipulation and control issue, and the use of evaluation results. The following conclusions are made: (1) energy being devoted to evaluation theory development should be redirected to more productive pursuits; (2) evaluators should be capable of differentiating between evaluations for which research designs are appropriate and those for which they are not. If appropriate, the goal should be the maximum amount of manipulation and control feasible; (3) evaluation should be treated as an area of specialization within research training programs; and (4) research courses should treat evaluation as a type of applied research. (Author/RL)

Reported in this document are proceedings of a forum on the relationships between the child and the family. Held March 1981 in Melbourne, Australia, the forum was jointly sponsored by the Institute of Family Studies and the Victorian Child Development and Family Services Council (CDFSC). Specifically, the purpose of the forum was to enable participants to discuss current and future research needs and to look at what is being done in the research within the seminar topic. Following a brief introductory overview of the forum's objectives and a description of the CDFSC's role and functions, the document presents the eight papers given in the forum. Titles of the papers are "Research on the Child's Experience of Family Life,""Children's Rights in Victoria,""Research and Evaluation in the Office of Child Care,""Research and Advocacy for Children,""Ethnic Group Children,""Research into Child Maltreatment,""Children's Conceptualisation of Development," and "Children, Families and Physical Disability: A Research Review." (Author/MP)

Two surveys were conducted to determine the attitudes of public relations practitioners and educators regarding whether public relations practitioners should be licensed. Questionnaires were mailed to public relations practitioners to obtain data for the first survey, and a second survey was mailed several months later to public relations educators. Data revealed that only 2.9% of the practitioner respondents felt that public relations practitioners should be licensed by the government. In addition, 81% of the educators surveyed disagreed or strongly disagreed with the idea of government licensure of public relations practitioners. Thirty-two references are provided. (DF)

A pilot study was conducted to address the professional and personal roles male and female public relations students hope to play within 10 years after their graduations and to determine whether any differences were significant enough to warrant more extensive study of this phenomenon. The null hypotheses employed included: (1) there will be no significant differences between the professional roles male and female public relations students hope to play; and (2) there will be no significant differences between the personal roles male and female public relations students hope to play. Subjects, 25 senior-level public relations students at a large, public midwestern university, were asked to supply responses to the question "How do you see yourself and your role in the practice of public relations 10 years from now? Responses were coded according to Broom's four major public relations roles: expert prescriber, communication technician, problem-solving process facilitator, and communication facilitator. Results indicated that there were no significant differences between the number of male students hoping to play the eventual roles of problem-solving process facilitator, expert prescriber, and communication technician; rejecting the first null hypothesis in part. There were significantly more females than males who sought to play the role of communication facilitator en route to their eventual tenth-year roles. For those students desiring public relations careers, there were no significant differences between genders. The second null hypothesis failed rejection since there were no significant differences between the genders when the personal roles were identified. (Two tables of data are included.) (MG)

Papers presented at the City University of New York's English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) Council conference on the relationship between text and context in college second language instruction include the following: "Reading Research: New Directions and Implications for ESL" (M. Trika Smith-Burke); "Two ESL Readers: Case Studies of Reading Comprehension Strategies" (Ellen L. Block); "Reading, an Essential Part of the Writing Process" (Gay Brookes, Martha Clark Cummings, Jean Withrow); "Easy Doesn't Do It: Introducing ESL Readers to 'Real English'" (Nancy Erber Cadet); "Aesopic Double 'Takeoutables'" (Mary J. Regan); "Two Walks: Ways of Presenting Poetry" (Jean McConochie); "Vygotsky's Theory of Cognitive Processing: A Possible Grounding for Second Language Acquisition Research" (Gay N. Washburn); "Vygotskian Theory and Language Testing" (Jack Gantzer); "Person to Person: Structured Conversations between ESL Students and Native Speakers" (Carol Montgomery); and "A Writer's Strategy for Talkers: The Oral Journal" (Sally Mettler). (MSE)

This study examined the effects of age, sex, and setting on interpersonal physical distance (IPD) preferences among 160 1st, 5th, 9th, and 12th grade white public school students. Within each grade, subjects were tested two at a time in same-sex pairs. Subjects' IPD preferences were tested by both direct and indirect modes of measurement in "corner" and "center" settings. Indirect measures were poorly correlated with the direct measures and showed no effects. Analysis of the direct measures showed IPD to be greater among older than among younger children; greater among males than among females; and greater in the corner than in the center setting. There were also significant interactions of age with sex and with setting. Sex differences were less marked among younger than among older subjects. Younger and older subjects reacted differently to the corner and center settings, with the youngest children maintaining closer IPD in the corner setting and all other subjects maintaining closer IPD in the center setting. (Author/CS)

Social analysis of HIV emphasizes structural inequalities influencing individual capacity to engage in safer sexual practices. Such analysis has led to structural interventions with women sex workers to prevent HIV infection. Advancing the analysis of the social practice of condom use by women sex workers entails conceptualizing gender as a structural relation and theorizing the connection between structure and action. Against this background we analyzed structural relations -- of economic security, work conditions, access to education and health care, interpersonal violence, and household relations -- in the context of a structural intervention -- that enable women sex workers to enact safer sexual practices in encounters with clients and husbands. We used cross-sectional survey data (from Project Parivartan) collected at three time points (between 2006-2009) from samples of women generated using respondent-driven sampling. Our analysis includes only women who reported sex in the last 7 days with clients and with husbands and also reported their condom use practices during that time. We used multinomial logistic regression analysis to predict the odds of women's "membership" in one of 3 categories of condom use practice (consistent, consistent with clients only, not consistent) based on structural influences measured by 17 independent variables. The analysis suggests economic factors are no longer primary obstacles to safer sexual practice among sex workers; the presence of husbands in sex workers' households starkly constrains their ability to practice condom use in all sexual encounters; intervention exposure and seeking sexual health services are crucial to women enacting safer sexual practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the diffusion of WorkFinder, an intelligent task recommendation system, in Wikipedia. We investigate both factors that predict who adopts WorkFinder and its impact on adopters' future contributions to this online community. Analyzing logged data about participants' activities in Wikipedia, we found that both individual characteristics and social ties influence adoption. Specially, we found that highly involved contributors were more likely to adopt WorkFinder; and interpersonal exposure to innovation, cohesion, and tie homophily all substantially increased the likelihood of adoption. However, connections to admin contributors, i.e. those more prominent contributors in Wikipedia community, did not influence adoption. Finally, although the WorkFinder innovation saw limited distribution, adopters made significantly more contributions to Wikipedia after adoption than their non-adopter counterparts in the comparison group. (124 words). ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses results of a RDD telephone survey of a national sample of U.S. adults (N = 500) to investigate factors relating to individuals' willingness to talk with their doctors about clinical trials and their intentions to participate in future clinical trials. Predictor variables are the perceived fairness of doctor-patient interactions and trust in doctors; controls include demographics, clinical trial awareness, prior experience with clinical trials, visits to doctors in the last 12 months, and personal health status. Using hierarchical regression, the results showed that when respondents were more positive about the fairness of interactions and more trusting of their doctors, they were also more willing to talk to their doctors about clinical trials. There was a positive relationship between willingness to talk and intentions to participate in future trials but no relationship between trust in doctors and intentions to participate. A negative relationship between the perceived fairness of interactions and intentions to participate emerged when we entered willingness to talk to doctors into the model. It appears that when respondents were more negative about their interactions with doctors but still willing to talk to their doctors about clinical trials, they were more likely to express intentions to participate. In contrast, respondents who were more positive about their interactions with doctors and also willing to talk to their doctors about clinical trials were less likely to express intentions to participate. We reflect on possible explanations for this unexpected finding in the conclusions. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of "social role" has long been used in social science describe the intersection of behavioral, meaningful, and structural attributes that emerge regularly in particular settings and institutions. We use structural signature methods to identify key roles in a large distributed collaboration system (Wikipedia) by examining the distribution of edits across types of pages and the structure of relationships between editors. We distinguish between technical editors, substantive experts, vandal fighters, and social networkers and demonstrate key ways that their patterns of interaction and contribution differ. We conclude by considering how differential entry into and retention in particular roles may affect the operation of the larger social system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines support for government monitoring of the Internet as a means to explore how experience with information technology may moderate the impact of individual predispositions on judgments about information-based civil liberties. Employing survey data collected from a nationally representative sample, our analysis examines the interaction of Internet use, informational trust in the Federal government, and privacy evaluations on public support for governmental monitoring of the Internet. These findings suggest that higher levels of experience with information technology may magnify the effect of informational trust and lessen privacy concerns, and thus increase the public's overall comfort with government intrusions into online information disclosures and transactions. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: I want to develop further the argument outlined in the attached paper, suggesting that we need to pay closer attention to the way a democratic South Africa could contribute to new dynamics in the world system. Arguing that world-systemic discussions often overlook the importance of state policies, I suggest that in at least three ways, South Africa's new stance could open new possibilities for Africa: in changing the continent's military dynamics, in providing new technology and capital for redesigning the continent's infrastructure, and in providing a new voice in international discussions. As I revise the paper, I expect to develop the theoretical argument to suggest that acknowledging a role for state action would allow us to construct more dynamic theoretical understanding of how the capitalist world system changes over time. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research studied homophily of network ties in distributed teams in both task-related instrumental networks and non-task related expressive networks. Homophily of network ties were examined in terms of both demographic and social characteristics, including gender, race, geographic location and group assignment. Social network data were collected from 32 students enrolled in a distance learning class from two universities. MQAP regression analysis showed that homophily in gender and in race had no significant impact on the development of either instrumental or expressive ties. In instrumental networks, both homophily in group assignment and in location had significant impact on the development of network ties. In expressive networks, homophily in location still had significant impact on the development of network ties, but the impact of homophily in group membership was only close to significant (p = .06). Further analysis on bonding ties with people of the same group and bridging ties with people from different groups showed that bonding social capital could exert significant influence on performance. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Religiosity and spirituality are terms that are not clearly or consistently defined in sociological research. The terms are used interchangeably in the literature despite attempts at clarification. There is no clear definition for one term that is not used for the other term by someone, somewhere. Because of the inconsistency and overlap, I thought it would be interesting to do a factor analysis of existing data to see if respondent behaviors or their reported perceptions or feelings fit any existing definitions of the terms 'religious' and 'spiritual.' The 1998 General Social Survey has a religion module. Lisrel 8.72 executed a confirmatory factor analysis. The results indicate a one factor solution with high correlations between all variables. It appears that the respondents as well as the researchers mix the terms. To clarify the terms and what they mean to people, in an attempt to be consistent, would require a qualitative study. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the character and degree of domestic empowerment claimed by low-income women in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Power relations at the household level constitute both a difficult and a necessary venue for change to advance women's participation in processes of democratization. A central question this paper addresses is: What are the factors that enhance women's claims to power in three domestic arenas: as economic actors in their households, in complementary or "traditional" household gender relations, and in challenges to masculine domination at home? The conceptual discussion considers various understandings of "empowerment" and ideas about the relationship between women's work in the paid labor market and their power in the household. Analysis of survey data reveals negative consequences for women working in the forefront of Mexico's export-led development project. Women's incorporation into a feminized labor market, which severely limits their capacity to bargain over the terms and conditions of work and uses feminine subordination to control workers in the work place, dampens their empowerment relative to other working women. Moreover, a key strategy for women subverting the gender regime appears to be using resources to "exit" masculine dominated households rather than to bargain harder or voice their own interests, leaving masculinity and gender norms intact despite altered material relations in households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which examined how group assignment and location can function as such foci to influence the development of individual social capital in a distributed learning community. The impact of two different types of networks was examined. A longitudinal research design was used to evaluate the evolution of networks over time. Hypotheses where tested using students enrolled in distributed learning class. The results showed strong support for Feld's theory. While serving as foci of activities to organize social interactions, group assignment and geographic separation also function to fragment a community.

The aim of this study is to empirically investigate the relationship between communication styles, social networks, and learning performance in a CSCL Community. Using social network analysis and longitudinal survey data, we analyzed how 31 distributed learners had created collaborative learning social networks in a CSCL community where civil engineering students from two universities had collaborated on the design of aerospace systems using online collaboration tools. The results indicated that communication styles significantly influenced the way those students created and sustained collaborative learning social networks. We also found that the resultant social network properties were significantly affected learners' performance. The study suggests that both individual differences (communication styles) and social networks are critical elements in a distributed learning environment. We also propose that adding personality theory to structural analysis contributes to an enhanced picture of how distributed learners build their social and intellectual capitals in the context of a CSCL community.

Previous research indicates that friendship groups perform significantly better on tasks than acquaintance groups on a variety of tasks. However, research on the influence of social ties on individuals' performance appears mixed. The purpose of this study is to explore the utility of a social network approach applied to the quantification of communication process in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environments. Data were collected from twenty-eight senior level engineering students involved in a two-semester design course, which were distributed between two universities and relied on Internet-based collaboration technology to communicate. We found that individuals who establish new social ties in a distributed, technology dependent community perform significantly better than those who remained with familiar others. Additionally, we found that new instrumental ties have more influence on individuals' perceived class satisfaction. Further, our results suggest that more new instrumental and social ties seem to influence both actual class performance and perceived class satisfaction. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of qualitative telephone interviews with ten leading authors in the family. The aim was to assess the views of the scholars about their careers and changes in the family field in the past 20 to 40 years in which they have been active. The authors were selected for study based on being the most published authors in the 1990s in Family Relations, Journal of Marriage and the Family, and Journal of Family Issues. The top eight males from the list were interviewed. Two widely published women were added instead of the last two males of the top ten publishers. No authors who were members of racial or ethnic minorities were among these top ten. These researchers, who have become identified with many of the important directions in the family field, primarily collected their own data or applied a distinctive approach to already gathered data. Contrary to earlier decades when symbolic interactionism was the most commonly used perspective, five of the ten authors identified themselves as using the life course perspective in their work. The majority did not feel that theory had developed much in recent years nor did they feel that theory was used as much as a focus for the research of others. The authors identified new directions and approaches that they felt were becoming important in the family field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the development and evaluation of a Japanese version of the Sounds and Symbols(J-S&S), a symbol communication system originally developed in Australia at the beginning of 1970's. After the period of clinical application, an evaluation was done by giving a questionnaire to users and their parents. The results indicate that the J-S&S could be used as an effective AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) for the handicapped children without functional speech or writing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I have come to recognize what maquiladoras have produced in Ciudad Juárez, on the Mexican border with the United States, as a forewarning of the lot of ordinary people on the front lines of economic liberalization, if not political liberalization. The cityscapes of self-built housing and industrial parks and dance clubs and fast-food franchises reflect and mold the social relations of inequality -- between workers and managers, women and men, individuals and the state -- that are embedded in the city's built environment.. In this paper I offer views of Juárez as a place where Mexico's macroeconomic strategies and workers households' strategies intersect. In looking at Juárez one can situate global processes, for the city -- even as a center of drug- trafficking flows -- represents an expression of globalization (Campbell forthcoming). Some analysts consider border spaces as places among the foremost "staging grounds" of globalization (Sadowski-Smith 2002). Everywhere there is evidence of how the geopolitical boundary particularizes this place, and the border makes Juárez a prime location of economic liberalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective messages are often necessary steps toward informed decision making, especially in a health communication context. This study extends the risk information seeking and processing (RISP) model to explore the relative impact of cognitive processing, emotions, and social influences on individuals' decisions for clinical trial enrollment. Given that most previous research on the RISP model has examined environmental risks, clinical trials offer an interesting context in which to explore theoretical boundaries of the model, while also bringing this research to bear on a pressing medical issue: low enrollment in clinical trials. To generate theory-based recommendations to improve clinical trial enrollment messages, we examined potential differences in decision making between (a) healthy adults and (b) cancer patients and their caregivers. Our results indicated that emotions play a more substantive role in cancer patients' decisions to enroll, whereas cognitive processing and social influences have a greater influence on healthy adults' decisions. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A randomized field experiment with 53 adolescents tests the effects of a mobile phone game on likelihood to eat breakfast. Manipulations included varying positive and negative feedback from a virtual pet as it responded to photos of participants' breakfast meals. Additional tests compared the pet game to isolated formal features of the game such as sending in photos of breakfast consumed. Results indicate that participants with a virtual pet enabled to exhibit both positive and negative expressions were twice as likely to eat breakfast than those with a pet that was programmed to remain, at worst, in a visually neutral state (positive feedback only) and participants assigned to a condition that did not involve care for a pet but required breakfast photos. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The introduction of communication technology in public spaces both supports existing conversations in new ways and creates opportunities for new conversations to occur. This interplay between technology and communicative acts has been examined extensively in the classroom and the workplace and continues to extend from the desktop to the surroundings of everyday experience. This same phenomenon is also unfolding in the public space of art museums. We will look at how attribution of value and use of social presence information emerges amongst three different populations: museum experts/staff, museum aficionados (i.e. frequent museum visitors), and general museum visitors. From these three populations, we will examine how these groups construct meaning around new uses of technology in the public space of the museum. Will these new uses of technology, which make the attribution of value and use more salient to participants in the communicative acts, change the existing conversations and roles in museums? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]