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The study discussed in this paper examined the pedagogical content knowledge of prospective secondary mathematics teachers with respect to the content area of functions and graphs. The pedagogical content knowledge was examined through an analysis of the transformation of knowledge and beliefs about the content and the learner into instructional practices. It is proposed that the transformation takes place through developing explanations, planning lessons, simulating teaching, and reflecting on teaching. The study documented the subject matter knowledge, the pedagogical content knowledge, and the beliefs about learners and mathematics as this potential transformation was taking place. An assessment of 11 prospective secondary mathematics teachers based on 5 tasks was designed to present a composite view of their pedagogical content knowledge in the area of functions and graphs. The task discussed in this paper was an audiotaped interview of prospective teachers' responses to vignettes of students solving problems in this content area. This task provided the opportunity for the prospective teachers to construct explanations in response to students' misconceptions. This task is considered important because it serves as the link between those tasks which examine baseline data sources and those tasks which examine the transformation process. Vignettes of teaching functions and graphs are included. (Contains 30 references.) (LL)

A study of participants over a 5-year period in the alumni seminar series (public and contemporary affairs education) at Iowa State University focused on identifying relevant factors that influenced alumni and spouses to participate, the degree of satisfaction experienced by participants, and how they made use of the information or knowledge gained. Questionnaires sent to 287 participants provided general background information, responses to a seminar participation scale (reasons influencing participation, responses to a list of possible actions resulting from participation, and an identification of educational experiences needed by alumni participants. Results of data from the seminar participation scale produced six distinct factors associated with seminar participation: (1) desire to be intellectually curious, (2) desire to escape from boredom through intellectual pursuits, (3) desire to serve others through intellectual pursuits, (4) desire to enjoy congenial people and the university, (5) desire to broaden a narrow education, and (6) desire to share intellectually with programs might be the area of spouse or couple involvement. The study also revealed strong programs might be the area of spouse or couple involvement. The study also revelaed strong attitudes of women participants concerning their desire for intellectual enrichment and involvement. A copy of the 8-page questionnaire is included in the study. (EA)

Viable employment options for persons entering the field of behavioral research are examined, and the need for such research in the field of health services is discussed. The following statistics are presented in tabular form: (1) number of doctorates awarded annually in psychology with five year intervals, 1920-1974; (2) age of psychology doctorates in 1977; (3) employment prospects of 1969-76 behavioral Ph.D.'s; (4) employment plans of 1969-76 behavioral Ph.D.'s; (5) type of employer for doctorates employed full- or part-time in psychology excluding postdoctoral appointees in three fiscal years: 1973, 1975, and 1977; (6) type of employer for doctorates employed full- or part-time in psychology excluding postdoctoral appointees: 1934-1976 cohort and 1971-1976 cohort; (7) committee recommendations for predoctoral and postdoctoral awards in the behavioral sciences; (8) committee recommendations for predoctoral and postdoctoral awards in health services research; and (9) major research problem areas for those focusing on health services research. (JD)

Students must learn more than facts if history is to become meaningful for them. They do not relate to names of battles, dates of treaties, or to statistics any more than adults do. They relate to individuals, emotions, and stories that have the ability to arouse their curiosity. The use of historical fiction and biography has the potential of helping students experience the past, and feel the joy and despair of those who have lived before. Teaching history in this manner requires a lot of time and energy from the teacher to create the atmosphere. If the unit is to be successful, the teacher must study the event and time period. The teacher will also need to be clear about the objectives of the unit and how those objectives will be met. Detailed units on the American Revolution and on Pioneers serve as examples of using historical fiction and biography. Included in these units are extensive lists of suggested children's books. (A list of teacher resources for both units and a 24-item bibliography are attached.) (RS)

This paper based on one dropout prevention specialist's experience in working with at-risk students, discusses the need for comprehensive and collaborative efforts to meet the special problems of these children. Various national and state statistics underscore the growing cost to society for the failure to fully educate those students who are at risk of dropping out. The Regional Education Service Agency in North Central West Virginia conducts a Dropout Prevention Program, which serves many underachievers who have already established a pattern of failure and low expectations. These students often live in poverty and face various family problems. Merely providing students with information on risk-taking behaviors appears to have little effect on their behavior. However, some successes are seen when students begin to see that the dropout prevention specialist cares about them, and they begin to care about what the specialist is trying to teach them. Through increased federal support of programs for at-risk youth, the schools and communities can and must meet the total needs of disadvantaged children. Efforts must be comprehensive in nature, providing preschool programs for all disadvantaged children, transitional first grade classes, non-graded elementary schools, middle schools structured around interdisciplinary teaching teams, and alternative learning programs for unsuccessful high school students. Ending the cycle of poverty and dependency will take collaborative efforts linking schools and the community to form a network of support. (KS)

This publication presents the papers and discussion highlights of an international colloquium on new communications technologies which was held to provide a forum for debate on economic, political and social impacts of new communication technologies by western representatives from media, academia, politics, and industry. The following papers were presented: (1) "Public Broadcasting--A Model for the Future?" (Richard Becker); (2) "Satellite Systems in the Western World--the U.S. Example" (Bert Cowlan); (3) "UNISPACE 82--A Successful Forum" (Lee Love); (4) "The PTTS and the New Technologies" (Dietrich Elias); (5) "The Impact of New Communication Technologies on the Third World" (Herbert J. Schiller); (6) "New Technologies and the Third World--A 'Distribution of Social Benefits'?" (Cees Hamelink); (7) "The New Communication Technologies and Research" (James D. Halloran); (8) "New Technologies and Their Impact on Relationships between Industrialized Countries" (Bernard Blin); (9) "Computers in Telecommunications Services" (Thilo Pohlert); (10) "The Electronic Technologies Markets in the Eighties" (Karl Joseph Frensch); (11) "Transnational Data Flow--A German Viewpoint" (Hans-Dieter Klee); (12) "Broadcasting Unions in the Future--Sports and News" (Werner Schneider); (13) "Communication Satellites--A Third World Perspective" (Neville D. Jayaweera); and (14) "Advertising and the Creation of Global Markets: The Role of the New Communication Technologies" (Noreene Janus). Also provided are introductory remarks by Reinhard Keune, a welcoming address by E. J. Kerbusch, an agenda for the colloquium, and a list of participants. (JB)

The discussion presented in this booklet was organized to foster international understanding by encouraging a genuine dialogue between the industrialized nations of the northern hemisphere and the developing nations in the southern hemisphere. The first section of the booklet presents introductory statements by the chairperson of the North-South Forum and by the head of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Media and Communication Department. The second half of the document presents the discussion of the forum, which focused on communication and media development in the Third World and the demand by the South for a more balanced share of the information flow, as well as related issues of worldwide economic and political crises and technological advancements in telecommunications. The discussion section is divided by speakers, with moderator comments by the FES head. The speakers cited in the report include a professor at the National Institute of Development Administration, Bankok, Thailand; the director of the Africa division of Deutsche Welle; the former Permanent Secretary of the Federal German PTT Ministry; the chairperson of the Board of directors of the Deutsche Presse-Agenture; a representative of URTNA, a regional association of African broadcasting organizations; a representative of the German Federal PTT Ministry; a representative from the Regional Mass Communication Research and Documentation Centre, Ecuador; and the head of Radio 4, Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation. (HTH)

A background paper sent to the participants of the Nairobi Conference inviting them to take part in a brainstorming on "Africa's Role in the North-South Dialogue on Communication" introduces this booklet. It is comprised of four articles, "Intensifying the Dialogue," which summarizes the proceedings and recommendations; "A Responsibility for Development," the keynote address; "Social Groups Demand a Fair Share"; and "Communication Training in Africa." The conference agenda and a report on The Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung--a political foundation--and its communication activities are also included. (DF)

The article describes a vocational habilitation program to train mentally disabled persons as electronic data processing (EDP) personnel. An economic rationale for employing disabled individuals is supported with market survey data, and the capabilities of disabled persons are shown in the preliminary results of a pilot EDP training program. Finally, a checklist to evaluate the potential suitability of a data center operation with mentally disabled employees is presented. (CL)

This paper examines the use of Virtual Reality (VR) at Swiss secondary schools. Despite many years of research, no well-founded data are available on the effects of the technology on children's learning success. It is assumed that VR is compatible with the learning theory of constructivism through the possibility of immersion, interaction, 3D representation and the possibility of adopting several perspectives. To investigate the topic, a vision has been developed for a learning unit within the competence area Nature and Technology on the subject "Plastics and its effects on the environment". Divided into five learning blocks, the learning unit provides the students with knowledge about the structure, production, recycling and environmental consequences with possible approaches to solutions. Ideas for possible VR applications were developed for each of these blocks. The vision was discussed in four interviews with teachers. The VR applications were commented and evaluated by 20 students of the same class. The topic "Environmental Problem Microplastics" selected for implementation is topical, fits into curriculum and is compatible with the specialist areas suitable for VR. In summary, it can be said that VR is still a long way from a nationwide deployment at the Swiss elementary school. Nevertheless, the educational institutions should observe the technology and develop an understanding of its possibilities through pilot tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically, political officials and citizens in the U.S. have publicly displayed hostility toward the immigrant community in the form of demonstrations, campaigns, and vandalism. But established communities have also publicly displayed amity toward immigrants. Group threat and competition theories suggest that threats to dominant group interests should instigate antiimmigrant activity, as the dominant group struggles to maintain power and privilege. Drawing from these theories, we argue that if these conditions are acting as threats to dominant group interests, then they should, if anything, deter pro-immigrant activity. We test these theories by examining how demographic, economic, and political contexts influence integrative efforts among the local established community. Specifically, we use negative binomial regression to estimate the monthly count of pro-immigrant collective action in 52 metropolitan areas across the U.S. in the year 2000. We find that increasing demographic competition and higher levels of political threat deterred pro-immigrant collective action, but higher levels of demographic threat motivated inclusionary activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The civil rights movement did more than end de jure racial discrimination; it prompted decades of mobilizing around issues of race and ethnicity. Scholars were quick to investigate racial and ethnic collective action, providing a wealth of information on the causes of the civil rights movement (Morris 1984), the mobilization of African Americans (Jenkins and Eckert 1986; McAdam 1982; Minkoff 1995b), and panethnic organizing among Asian Americans and Latinos (Espiritu 1992; Okamoto 2003, 2006; Padilla 1985). Meanwhile, many social movement scholars investigating racial mobilizing examined the white supremacist movement (Berbrier 1998; McVeigh 1999; McVeigh 2004). While these disparate research agendas provide valuable theoretical and empirical insights, a gap remains. Indeed, scholars tend to focus on either racial and ethnic minority collective action or marginal forms of white racial collective action such as the white supremacist movement, racial violence, and hate crimesâ?”notably extreme cases of intergroup conflictâ?”rather than on organizational processes. This study addresses this gap by examining the spectrum of racial majority organizations, including a) white supremacist and separatist organizations, b) racially conservative or "colorblind" organizations, and c) white ethnic and immigrant organizations. Using data from The Encyclopedia of Associations, the 5% PUMS datafiles, and LexisNexis Academic and Historical databases, this study analyzes racial reaction at the organizational level. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses important features of colorblind racial ideology in the U.S. Colorblind racial ideology may be considered as a more accurate depiction of the dominant belief systems regarding race. Organizational literature leads to the creation of public opinion. It reflects and contributes to the creation of issues hat are then reported in the press. Colorblind ideology is a preventative belief strategy that prevent changes, in racial progress or racial equity. The anti-affirmative action movement in the U.S. shows elements of colorblind ideology.

The historic Brown v. Board of Education decision rendered de jure racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional. In the wake of this decision, a nationwide school desegregation movement began with a goal of providing greater opportunities for students of different races and ethnicities to interact. Partially influenced by the contact hypothesis, desegregation proponents believed that close and sustained contact with members of other racial and/or ethnic groups would promote more racial tolerance. Several decades later, however, reviews of research in desegregated schools generally found only mixed support for the contact hypothesis. Given that research investigating the contact hypothesis and adolescents? racial attitudes is limited, it is difficult to treat these results as definitive. In this paper, we use a nationally representative sample of Asian, Black, Latino, and White adolescents to address this limitation. We also investigate possible mechanisms (i.e., interracial friendship, frequency of contact, and quality of contact) that might mediate the relationship between interracial contact and adolescents? racial attitudes. Our findings reveal that the opportunity for interracial contact is quite restricted. About two in ten youth nationwide have the opportunity for cross-racial contact. We also find that the effect of interracial contact on racial attitudes is weaker for youth of color than White youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]