Accept or Decline? The Applicant Perspective  VIDEO
This ABC News program considers the higher education endgame where the applicants, once so keen to pitch themselves to top colleges and universities, are now wooed by those who accepted them as the schools seek to close the deal. Several Georgetown University staff members, one candidate who is Georgetown-bound, and two who choose to turn the university down share their perspectives on a variety of key topics: affirmative action, financial aid, and campus culture, to name only three. (23 minutes, color)

Admit, Defer, or Reject? The Admissions Perspective  VIDEO
After the grades, test scores, essays, and other credentials of students seeking early admission reach the colleges and universities of their choice, the waiting game begins. In this ABC News program, correspondent Michel Martin goes inside Georgetown University’s admissions process to take an in-depth look at how that august institution makes its rulings on the many hopefuls who apply—ten for each available slot. Representative committee participants, including a member of the admissions staff, a dean, a faculty member, and an undergrad, give their views, as do some high school students hoping to make the cut. (23 minutes, color)

Alternative and Charter Schools: Educating Outside the Box VIDEO
Amy, a sixteen-year-old expelled from her high school, thinks alternative education is the best thing to happen to her; Lolita takes her daughter, Jana, to a charter school, despite the inconvenience, because she believes in the curriculum. The first half of this NewsHour program on new patterns in education looks at a special breed of alternative school where disruptive students benefit from low teacher-pupil ratios and an emphasis on individualized study using computers. The second half explores the popularity of charter schools—from just one in 1992 to over 1,700 in 25 states today—and the battles that have arisen over them. Talks with students, parents, and teachers illustrate the educational frustrations that prompted these innovative strategies. (22 minutes, color)

APPLYING THE RASCH MODEL  BOOK
Trevor Bond has worked with leading Rasch theoreticians for more than 15 years, advising developmentalists and teachers on how to conduct and interpret Rasch analyses of their own data. The goals of this authored volume are: *to present an accessible overview of the basic properties and principles of Rasch analysis, that does not require a sophisticated statistical background; *to demonstrate how Rasch analysis can be applied to generic problems encountered by psychologists and educators; and *to prepare readers for performing their own analyses and interpreting the results. This book is ideal for researchers in the human sciences interested in learning how to implement the Rasch model with their own data.

Bilingualism: A True Advantage VIDEO
In today’s global economy, being bilingual is a distinct advantage. This program looks at the nationally recognized bilingual education program at San Antonio’s De Zavala Elementary School, where Spanish-speaking children are being prepared to compete in the marketplace by developing new skills in English while maintaining their skills in Spanish. The program also follows a group of college students who are realizing the professional and personal benefits of being able to speak two languages. It concludes with a conversation with Cheech Marin, who shares his views on the importance of cultural identity. (28 minutes, color)

Comprehending, Composing, and Communicating VIDEO
This program models the use of instructional conversations among students and between students and teachers; identifies the skills that students develop independently in an instructional environment; demonstrates how cognitive maps are used to present, organize, and record information; and shows how authentic assessment is used to determine the direction of learning activities. Reading comprehension is largely viewed as a process of discovery; teachers can help students proceed effectively through this process by helping them master the conventions of comprehending, composing, and communicating ideas, or reading, writing, speaking, and listening. The program shows how teachers can actively value clarity, provide a variety of resources beyond the single text, and help students learn to learn as we all learn in the world outside of school. (37 minutes, color)

Creative Controversy and Performance Assessment VIDEO
Students in grades seven and eight demonstrate a cooperative debate strategy called academic controversy, as they argue whether the benefits of industry outweigh the result—acid rain. The program models the use of CD-ROMs and other information technologies for student research. The topic of performance assessment is explored by several experts and applied to this project and other activities. (42 minutes, color)

Cultural Bias in Education  VIDEO
This program examines roadblocks to Latino academic advancement as well as productive educational models; explores the relationship of standardized testing and cultural diversity and questions whether cultural bias can be eliminated from standardized testing; and looks at early childhood education programs and the factors that deter Latino families from participating in them. (28 minutes, color)

Digital Divide: Teachers, Technology, and the Classroom VIDEO
As the digital revolution sweeps across America, many young people are experiencing what has come to be known as the digital divide. The first hour of this program examines the push to wire America’s schools, addressing crucial issues such as integration of technology into curriculums, budget trade-offs that leave low-tech subjects starving for scarce funds, and the need for ongoing hardware and software support. In the second hour, more experts, innovators, and students look into the question of community and home access to computers and the Internet. In addition, they explore the fundamental alienation felt by many girls and students of color in the computer arena, and stress the importance of fostering a climate of inclusion. (2 hours in two parts, color)

Fragments of Genius: Understanding Savants VIDEO
By any standard, Derek Paravacini is an exceptional pianist. Stephen Wiltshire can draw whole cityscapes from memory with uncanny accuracy. Both are savants with severe learning disabilities due to autism. Focusing on these two case studies, the program looks at how a disability sometimes unlocks extraordinary abilities, as well as how research on savants has led to a better understanding of brain function. Allan Snyder, professor of science and the mind at the University of Sydney, discusses several theories of savant skills, while Dr. Bruce Miller shares his work on dementia which led him to identify a region of the brain that when damaged produces savant behavior. Original BBCW broadcast title: Fragments of Genius. (50 minutes, color)

Further Approaches to Learning VIDEO
This program explores alternative approaches and explanations of learning, including latent learning, learning sets, insight learning, ethology, social learning, and neuroscience. The program emphasizes the recent move towards a cognitive theory of learning and examines research in this area. The program includes archival film featuring B. F. Skinner and Dr. Robert Epstein, who demonstrated apparent "insight" learning in pigeons using behaviorist techniques. Skinner, speaking just before his death, claims that reinforcement rather than higher mental processes is at work in learning. The cognitive behaviorists think differently! (57 minutes, color)

Graphic Organizers and Portfolios VIDEO
Graphic organizers including "The Fishbone" are used by students studying life science. Teachers discuss the complex topic of student portfolios and explain various ways of organizing and assessing them. A demonstration of hands-on technology called the "Science Olympics" places students in teams and uses their multiple intelligences to create a science project out of readily available materials. (48 minutes, color)

How We Study Children: Observation and Experimentation  VIDEO
This timeless program asserts that the testing of a causal hypothesis involving cognitive development is best done through a combination of observational and experimentational methods. Kathy Sylva and Peter Bryant, both of the University of Oxford, and other researchers share their insights into categorizing and codifying patterns of play through observation, avoiding common experiment-related pitfalls such as covariation and unintentional bias, and mitigating artificiality, a challenge to practitioners of both approaches. (25 minutes, color)

Improving Comprehension: The Pursuit of Ideas VIDEO
This program illustrates how teachers structure learning activities that foster independent learning around a central concept; identifies student-centered activities that make learning interesting, purposeful, and meaningful; models ways for teachers to guide students as they construct meaning and develop strategies for independent learning; and provides examples of how students can work together to develop real satisfaction through real learning. The program shows what teachers can do to help students develop an information base of both content and process for future learning, and how they can do it: make thoughtful decisions about curriculum, design lessons that encourage construction of meaning, stress process as well as content knowledge, create a supportive and nonjudgmental learning environment, and emphasize factors for success. (47 minutes, color)

Integrating Instruction and Assessment VIDEO
This program explores the nature of authentic assessment and its impact on curriculum and instruction; identifies the economic and political pressures for accountability, which have driven school systems to adopt inadequate approaches to assessment; and highlights alternative assessment strategies and tools—those that help teachers make good instructional decisions, as well as those that help students develop self-monitoring and self-assessment strategies of their own. Many standardized tests currently in use are administratively efficient and psychometrically accurate, but for a variety of reasons have served to distort instruction and the definition of the achieving student. This program addresses the need for alternative instruments of assessment—assessment that is multidimensional and longitudinal, involves use of educational resources, addresses possibilities for improvement, reflects good classroom practice, and demonstrates clear standards shared by teachers and students. (42 minutes, color)

Learning in Context: Probing the Theories of Piaget and Vygotsky  VIDEO
This program presents recent work by developmental psychologists that emphasizes the influence of contextual factors in learning and performance. Three sets of experiments involving children are examined: tasks in which deliberately gender-biased instructions are provided; tasks requiring cooperation between asymmetrical pairs of peers; and tasks involving training of students by adults and by peers. The intriguing results of these tests shed light on the impact of stereotyping on performance; the effects of self-perception on competence; and the influence of different teaching approaches on learning. Implications for adults are considered as well. (31 minutes, color

Meeting the Needs of All Students with Technology  VIDEO
Technology equalizes learning opportunities and expands learning challenges for a wide range of students. Using compelling classroom footage, this program features innovations that are empowering all types of learners. Examples of adaptive technology for physically and visually challenged students include IntelliKeys, TouchWindow, Braille ’n Speak, and audio-based computer software. For those in gifted and talented programs, high-tech role-playing scenarios and multimedia projects help them to sharpen critical thinking skills. And for students in need of tutoring, there is even the Homework Hotline satellite TV show. (69 minutes, color)

Observing Children VIDEO
Examines the importance of observing children to make sure they are developing properly both physically and emotionally. Children also reveal information about their developmental level and readiness to learn as they react with their environment. Record keeping and charting observations are explored. (11 min.) A Meridian Production.

OBSERVING CHILDREN IN THEIR NATURAL WORLDS  BOOK
This second edition updates the methods based on new technologies, updates and increases the number of examples, and reorganizes so the theoretical material is up front. The author's decisions were guided by having used the first edition in classes at two universities. Consequently, he received feedback on the book from a variety of different perspectives--from groups of very conscientious and competent students and from colleagues around the world who have used the book. By consensus, the most popular aspect of the first edition was the organization of the book, where the student/researcher is guided through conceptualizing, designing, implementing, and writing up the research project. This basic organization is the same as in the first edition, however, within this organizational frame things have changed. The discussion of the place of direct observational methods in relation to different "qualitative" and "quantitative" research traditions has been kept, but expanded. Discussions of the use of direct observations in naturalistic settings (drawing from research methods in ethology and ethnography) and in more contrived settings (drawing from experimental psychology) are extended. Relatedly, an extended discussion has been added on theories of science guiding different research assumptions.

Online Learning: Students and Teachers as Researchers VIDEO
Technology is blurring the distinction between teaching and learning, as instructors and students mine the riches of the Internet. In this program, teachers from grade school to high school describe how the Internet is being used to do dynamic research. Some students work on WebQuests, which facilitate safe, self-directed discovery experiences; others engage in collaborative simulations and shared research; and still others design Web sites and even act as a profitable Internet Service Provider. Finding lesson plans online and approaches to steering students away from inappropriate Web sites are considered as well. (39 minutes, color)

Outdoor Math VIDEO
An outdoor education consultant has developed some creative teaching units whose goal is to help teachers extend their math programs beyond the classroom. This program shows students refining their estimating skills in the schoolyard and reviewing double-digit divisor division in the field. (26 minutes, color)

The Rassias Method of Teaching Languages  VIDEO
The language-teaching method of Dartmouth College’s John Rassias is as effective as it is unusual, helping students to more quickly learn any of approximately 180 languages. Filmed at Dartmouth and in China, where Dr. Rassias was invited to teach his verbal-based approach to language acquisition, this classic program documents the lively workshops involving the flamboyant professor and the reserved Chinese teachers who both strive to master his fast-paced methodology and struggle to integrate his techniques into their traditional, reading-oriented curriculum. (52 minutes, color)

Recognizing Children with Special Needs VIDEO
It's often difficult to determine a solution, unless you know all of the symptoms. This is especially true for parents who see their children less than does their child-care provider. In these cases, it is essential that you, as the child's primary caregiver, not only recognize their special needs, but additionally respond to them. This video describes a wide range of special needs symptoms from minor balance and movement problems to major or grand-mal seizures. (18 min.) A Meridian Production.

The Study of Attention VIDEO
Do we really have to pay attention to control and direct all our behavior? How is it that we focus our attention on one input or stimulus and ignore the rest? This program answers these questions by examining the following concepts: the selective attention models of Broadbent and Triesman are described using real-life examples such as air traffic controllers; divided attention theories are described and evaluated; and the area of visual attention is illustrated by the demonstration of the visual search technique and the Stroop test. (43 minutes, color)

The Study of Memory VIDEO
This program introduces the basic terms used in the study of memory such as encoding and storage and retrieval, and looks briefly at the historical ideas about memory. Modern theories are explained using diagrams and real-life examples, and the program then goes on to discuss current research in the area of everyday memory. The reasons for forgetting are explored and the biological basis of memory outlined. In addition, the program examines ways of improving memory. The program emphasizes the radical shift from laboratory-based research to the study of memory in everyday life. The program also includes eight exercises for viewers to take part in, including memory tests and a video clip of a robbery to test recall for eyewitness testimony. (74 minutes, color)

Study of the Child: Theories of Development VIDEO
This video presents child development theories in action: cognitive, psychosexual, psychosocial, behaviorist, social learning, and sociocultural. The video focuses on the fact that theories often force caregivers to dwell on "parts" rather than "the whole child." A realistic interpretation of theories from Piaget, Freud, Erickson, Gesell, Skinner, and Vygotsky will clearly show the contradictions and lead to powerful discussion about how theories have impacted child development education. Not available for preview.
One 29-minute video.

Students as Multimedia Authors VIDEO
Multimedia used to be the province of professionals, but today even 2nd-graders are making high-tech presentations. This program illustrates the process of multimedia authorship, in which teachers serve as facilitators and students learn how to learn. Classroom footage from grades two to twelve shows how students go about researching, planning, constructing, presenting, and assessing their projects, which include slide shows, digitized movies, and electronic portfolios. The impact of brainstorming, peer tutoring, and creative collaboration on communication skills and socialization is underscored. (49 minutes, color)

TELEVISION AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT  BOOK
Television continues to play a major role in the lives of most children and adolescents, but current research also reflects the explosive growth in new technologies and their widespread use by young people. Integrating information from communication literature as well as from child development and other psychological domains, author Judith Van Evra presents a summary and synthesis of what is currently known about the media's impact on children's physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development, to help discern the complex and significant interplay between other forces in a child's life and the use of various media.