Five commonly used educational psychology textbooks were reviewed in terms of the accuracy and comprehensiveness of their coverage of three controversial topics: Piagetian theory; self-fulfilling prophecy; and learning styles. Although textbook coverages were accurate as written, they often failed to convey the degree of controversy that exists…

Since current research and theory question many of the traditional methods and techniques of teaching vocabulary, a study was made to determine the content of 55 college vocabulary texts and the extent to which the content was consistent with empirical evidence. The study investigated the techniques used to teach word knowledge and whether they…

A study examined children's comprehension of and preferences for basal reader stories with differing levels of coherence. The subjects were 58 second grade students who each read orally three stories judged to differ substantially on the number of incoherences in the text. Incoherences were defined as confusing referents, unclear relationships…

The contexts and purposes for civic writing may influence the composition process as well as text features, and an analysis of the purposes and audiences for civic writing might yield an insight into the way that such writing stimulates the personal and moral development of both its readers and writers. An examination of two related pieces written…

A study investigated the differences between television news programming in Canada and the United States in three areas: ownership (public versus private), language (French versus English), and nation of origin (Canada versus the United States), in order to determine basic differences in network TV news content Canadian viewers may experience,…

Thinking skills and ethical judgment are needed in all areas of business, and instruction in these areas should be included in business communication courses. Authorities on the teaching of thinking generally agree that instructional objectives should cover creative and critical thinking skills, as well as the dispositions that enhance the use of…

A study was conducted to determine how well-balanced and accurately the largest ethnic minority groups are portrayed in major contemporary basal reader series. The amount of ethnic minority content by group and by basal series was investigated, as were the qualitative aspects of that content: the locale of the story, the socioeconomic class…

A study explored the effects of word processing on the revision strategies of 20 advanced college freshmen enrolled in a required writing course. Subjects were divided into two groups of 10, each of which alternately wrote a series of four essays on and off the computer. For each essay students submitted three drafts, which were analyzed for…

A text is the locus of many intersecting processes, the origins, character, and operative principles of which should be the main focus of its discussion in a writing class. These processes can be classified into the four major components of the communicative act: the writer, the reader, the social conditions of communication, and the historical…

The writing of five first grade children was studied to determine whether findings of a previous study regarding children's concept of story structure would be demonstrated in the children's original compositions. The weekly sessions during the study included individual or group prewriting discussions, drawing and active writing, modeling by the…

Concurring that the more sociology and history draw upon each other's discipline, the better for both, this paper argues that the study of mass media presentations of deviance is one line of inquiry that lends itself to the realization of this dictum. The paper first explores some of the shortcomings that historians and sociologists share, noting…

To determine what messages women found in magazines regarding their roles in society in the late eighteenth century, a study analyzed three magazines: "The Ladies Magazine" (1792-93), "The American Magazine" (1787-88), and "The (Philadelphia) Weekly Magazine" (1798-99). All three featured a mixture of essays, verse,…

This document presents the results of a two-year study of a British Broadcasting Company children's news program which examined the goals and routines of the programmers, the program content, and audience response. Observations were made of program routines, the content was analyzed, and responses to the programs were obtained during informal,…

This paper discusses the cognitive effect of a highly successful 1985 British television program, "Edge of Darkness," which was viewed by millions and received critical plaudits and the accolade of the industry itself. The program is shown to represent a significant television event for formal and cognitive reasons that can usefully be…

This paper explains a research study that examined the contents of social studies textbooks in grades one to four in order to determine the concepts that the books presented. The purposes of the study were to determine: (1) if concepts from all of the social studies areas are represented in primary textbooks; (2) if fundamental social studies…