Examines how postwar women's magazines introduced television to the American housewife. Reveals the way television was imbricated in the gendered division of labor and leisure at home by exploring how the magazines deliberated on the problems television posed for women's domestic chores and the efficient functioning of the household. (KEH)

Argues that courtroom trials observed face-to-face are distinct from televised mediated trials and the different rules result in very different things being communicated to an audience. Cautions that televised trials should be approached as a media event that represents a discrete genre of television programing. (KEH)

A study investigated how second language learners responded when native speakers signaled difficulty in understanding them. Types and frequency of learner responses were examined in relation to communication tasks and to native speakers' different signal types. Results supported the construct of comprehensible output, the influence of linguistic…

Reports a survey of sixth, eighth, and tenth graders to assess the relationship between exposure to television advertisements containing sports celebrity endorsements of smokeless tobacco products with attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions about the use of smokeless tobacco. Reports that a simple exposure model does not explain the effects of…

Describes a public library program designed to stimulate appreciation of adult fiction written in and about the contemporary western United States. Discussion covers project objectives, oral interpretation of literature, project phases, study guides and bibliographies, staff orientation, lectures, evaluators, personnel, publicity, problems, and…

Compares the processing strategies of Indonesian and U.S. university students using an international news story attributed either to a high- or low-constraint source. Finds that audiences in censored news environments are more critical in distinguishing among news sources but less critical of the unconstrained news itself. (SR)

Discusses the field of television aesthetics and its contribution to education. Highlights include visual and auditory perception; cognition; composition of television images; and criteria for the analysis and evaluation of educational or instructional television programs, including content, medium, impact on the audience, perceptual factors,…

Describes visitor-oriented exhibits at the Natural History Museum that utilize precise principles of communication for educative purpose. These exhibits are designed on the basis of detailed knowledge of the audience, extending attention to the entire gallery as an experience rather than providing notice to individual exhibits, while taking…

Teaching children to think critically about the media, particularly television, is discussed in terms of research on children's understanding of television; the interrelationships between cognitive, affective, and social factors; and the nature of child discourse and audience response to the media. Development of a more complex theoretical basis…

This study, with 60 mothers of infants and toddlers with developmental disabilities, examined the effectiveness of using videotapes as part of a group parent education program. Parents in the group that saw the videotapes reported less perceived stress, a more positive view of their child's functioning, and higher levels of perceived belonging…

Presents an interview with Keith Lockhart, the conductor and music director of the Boston Pops orchestra. Lockhart reflects on the role of music in education and society and describes ways he tries to communicate with young audiences. Includes a brief biography of the conductor. (MJP)

A sample of 144 fourth and sixth graders was presented with five children's news stories, in television form or in one of three print versions. Results indicated that children who watched news on television remembered the stories better than children who read one of the three print versions, regardless of their level of reading proficiency.…

Explores various tools that presenters utilize to set the stage for their presentations and enhance audience retention, focusing on similarities to successful theatrical presentations. The four tools include setting the stage prior to the program, using the set effectively, selecting and placing props carefully, and considering oneself the…

Concepts and methods in the field of child development are understood better when observed or experienced, as opposed to described in a standard textbook or lecture format. We describe a live demonstration ill which commonly-taught developmental phenomena (e.g., Piagetian concepts, gender understanding, theory-of-mind abilities) are performed in…

Just as the spoken word, virtual discourse in the listserv-assisted composition class unites the writer and the audience into a group. On-line writing takes the form of dialogue, and the reading of the on-line text does not shatter the audience but gathers them into collectivity. Since writing on the listserv is less rule-governed, students are…