A study examined the collaborative process in young children and also the role that the collaborative process played in improving the quality of classroom instruction. Subjects were approximately 60 students in a grade 3/4 pod of two classroom teachers at the University Elementary School, Calgary. A teaching unit of 6 weeks duration dealing with…

The Public Relations section of the proceedings contains the following 14 papers: "Telling the Truth in Public Relations: An Application of the Narrative Paradigm" (Stephen P. Banks); "Teaching Fund Raising in Public Relations Programs: A National Study of the Attitudes and Behaviors of Educators" (Kathleen S. Kelly); "The…

When students are learning to write, one-to-one teacher-student conversations taking place around the students' writing and writing processes are especially important. Two examples illustrate the multiple and connected processes of reading and writing that are associated with composing in a high school English class. The first conversation, in a…

This study examined a smoking intervention program, which employed group competitions with rewards, to determine its effects on adolescents' smoking-relevant beliefs, their subjective norms, and peer influence. Initially, 1,187 seventh graders in Burlington, Clinton, and Muscatine, Iowa were surveyed in 1984. Data were gathered from a re-survey…

This paper reviews the literature on the causes of job burnout, a condition which has been linked with high personnel turnover, friction with co-workers and supervisors, increased dissatisfaction with both the job and the organization, job withdrawal, decreased productivity and absenteeism. The paper discusses the communication skills necessary to…

The journalism studies section of the proceedings includes the following 11 papers: "Ethics Interactions between Reporters and Editors: An Assessment of Differences in Ethical Orientations and Their Effects on the Newsroom" (Kevin R. Stoner); "All Brides are Not Beautiful: The Influence of Charlotte Curtis on Women's News Coverage…

The miscellaneous studies section of the proceedings includes the following 14 papers: "The News Shapers" (Lawrence C. Soley); "Journalism and Mass Communication Journal Reviewers: Their Standards and Perceived Roles in the Research Process" (Stanley T. Wearden and Fred F. Endres); "Celebrity Advertising: Perception,…

This study focused on verbal and nonverbal immediacy behaviors of teachers, the relationship between immediacy variables and cognitive learning, as well as homophily, interpersonal solidarity, and student attentiveness at the senior-high school level. Subjects, 87 female and 73 male senior-high school students enrolled in interpersonal…

To increase understanding of workplace literacy, a study investigated whether data from structured interviews conducted in two previous studies of job literacy and job performance relationships support the process model of literacy proposed by Linda Flower and John Hayes, "A Cognitive Process Theory of Writing." In both studies, this…

To determine formal principles of discourse processing and production, a study reviewed theories in various disciplines related to language and/or thought and thereby rationalized an approach of quantitative matrix analysis to the problems caused by discrepant discourse structures encountered in second language learning. Statistical analyses of…

Two studies investigated the effects of training on how accurately observers (college students) decoded a complex nonverbal stimulus. In the first experiment, observers viewed silent videotapes of 16 third and fourth-grade school children who were listening to an easy or a difficult lesson. Half of the children were responding spontaneously, while…

A study traced the development of state open-meeting laws, beginning with the concept of open access presented in English common law and extending to the present time. Responses to inquiries were solicited from state press association managers. Analysis of the responses received, as well as secondary sources, identified current legislation and…

Values are the evaluative and judgmental facet of a culture's "personal orientation system," helping its members determine what is right or wrong, good or bad, important or unimportant. However, the values which are of primary importance to citizens of a particular country may be of only secondary or tertiary importance to citizens of…

Analysis of school documents, teacher and principal interviews, and teacher conflicts in an elementary school uncovered both an explicit rule structure fostering a desired school image and a series of implicit rules accepted by the faculty but at times contradicting the organizational image. Established master contract guidelines featured (1) care…

A study examined S.L. Bem's Gender Schema Theory as it relates to communicator style. It was hypothesized that (1) speakers using a "powerless" speech style would be perceived less positively than would "powerful" speakers, and (2) sex-typed subjects, that is, those who adhere to a traditional sex role schema, would perceive…