While much time has been spent deliberating about the definition of play, little emphasis has been placed on what children themselves perceive as play. The aim of the present study was to examine social context as a cue for children's perceptions of play and learning. Ninety-two children aged between four and six years (mean four years nine…

Although drawing has been used as research tool for well over a century in the fields of psychology and anthropology, drawing remains overlooked and underutilized in educational research. This article examines the promise of visual methods, and of drawing in particular, in accessing middle schoolers' perceptions as a means of informing the middle…

Purpose: To examine the perception of synthetic speech by individuals with severe intellectual disabilities using a closed-response format task. Method: Participants were 14 individuals with severe intellectual disabilities and a group of 14 typical individuals. A between-groups design was used to compare the performance of the 2 groups on word…

This paper presents a characterization of computer-based interactions by which learners can explore and investigate visual mathematical representations (VMRs). VMRs (e.g., geometric structures, graphs, and diagrams) refer to graphical representations that visually encode properties and relationships of mathematical structures and concepts.…

This study sought to determine the extent of the serial position effect in listening to French and to specify the relationship between problem areas in listening to French and the position effect. The study addressed three hypotheses relative to the serial position effect and listening to French: (1) Was there a significant difference between the…

Criticisms of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) have included speculation that the listening test places too much burden on short-term memory as compared with comprehension, that a knowledge of reading is required to respond successfully, and that many items appear to require mere recall and matching rather than higher-order…

One of the changes in the test stimuli of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children III (WISC-III) was the addition of color artwork on the Picture Completion (PC) and Picture Arrangement (PA) subtests. While the reactions of children and examiners to the color were positive during pilot testings and tryout, studies examining the effect of…

Designed to help create effective presentations, this guide describes the basic techniques and provides hints for producing professional, attention-getting overhead transparencies in a step-by-step procedure format. Eight topics are addressed in the guide: (1) eight steps to a successful meeting presentation; (2) advantages of overhead projection;…

The Advertising section of the proceedings contains the following 16 papers: "Ethics of Advertising Practitioners: An Explanation Based on a Classical Theoretical Framework" (Cornelius B. Pratt and E. Lincoln James); "Sex Roles in Frightening Film Newspaper Advertisements: An Overview of the Past 50 Years" (Melissa M. Spirek);…

This paper presents a new computer program called Zigzag, suited for investigating readers' mental activity during text processing. The program permits data collection of two different kinds, namely reading time and reading errors for each of the words read. The second dependent measure, reading errors, provides a better control of the readers'…

This paper reports on a study which was conducted to determine the impact of color on learning. The entire seventh-grade class from a Midwest junior high school was used in the study. Each student was randomly assigned into one of four treatment groups: (1) color-cued presentation, color-cued assessment; (2) color-cued presentation, black/white…

This paper discusses the development of a sociocultural and local, context-sensitive base for guidance in selection and evaluation of instructional media. The development of system relationships criterion specifically targeted at 16mm educational film is the focus of the paper. Banathy's educational systems model is used as a base upon which…

To determine if performance on short term auditory memory tasks is influenced by reading ability or sex differences, 62 third grade reading students (16 above average boys, 16 above average girls, 16 below average boys, and 14 below average girls) were administered four memory tests--memory for consonant names, memory for words, memory for…

This collection covers a variety of workshops and presentations related to the research, theory, technology, or implementation of some aspect of visual literacy. More than 40 authors are represented, with 12 of the papers dealing directly with television. The document begins with an overview and a keynote address by Neil Postman. Individual papers…

This article describes how an interdisciplinary science class uses visuals in ways that can be adapted across disciplines and academic levels. The key to the use of visuals is that they are integral to the learning of the students, whether we begin with visuals to improve writing and thinking or use written texts as the basis for visual…