The Power of Images - Television and Film Research Paper

The Power of Images - Television and Film - Research Paper Example Like written and auditory media, there is video and audio-visual media which has gained immense popularity and importance in the recent years due to its information richness and ease of use. This includes, for example, films, photographs, videos, posters and images. These can be communicated through a wide variety of electronic channels such as TV, internet as well as non-electronic ones like signboards and public displays through which information can be transmitted to a large number of people at the same time. Images presented through visual entertainment media can influence an individual, his personality, ambitions, rationality and feelings in a great way. And through communication with a larger audience simultaneously visual entertainment media can have a great impact on our society & cultural development, as it is becoming a mainstream form of communication technology. For media has been known to bring out major revolutions and changes in the world contemporarily. For example the foundation and coverage of Libyan Revolution through the social network (Bomberowitz, 2011). This is because the visual entertainment media in the form of TV, internet and other sources have provided the general public with greater freedom of expression opportunities, and are hence bundled with the fundamental concepts of human needs which reinforce their collective voice and afford new opportunities. The widespread use of computers and easy availability of internet everywhere around the world has turned up many new talents and boosted peoples lifestyles in a great manner. Artists now try to engage with the people through various forms of social and visual media to exchange thoughts and promote what is good. This has surely brought a new change in American lifestyle. Visual entertainment media in its most fundamental form is provided to us through TV. In the beginning of Television there were just

Understanding the experiences of special education students who did Dissertation

Understanding the experiences of special education students who did not complete high school - Dissertation Example The purpose of this qualitative case study is to identify the common experiences of special education students who decide to drop-out of high school and the common factors that contribute to the decision to drop-out of high school. The case study will be comprised of male and female special education high school students who dropped out of school at Ridgeville High School (pseudonym for a Virginia high school) during their third and fourth years in the school years 2007-2008 and 2008-2009. The sample population will consist of students between the ages of 16-20. The sampling size will be 15 although 33 students will be initially contacted. The study will be a phenomenological study and will therefore be conducted by virtue of semi-structured interviews designed to identify the common experiences of students who dropped out of school close to graduation. The results of the semi-structured interview will be compared and analysed by virtue of a qualitative data analysis. The results wil l be coded and categorized generally using a phenomenological reductionism method. Once the data are collated and sorted and commonalities are identified, all possible conclusions will be analysed so that a final conclusion can be drawn. Using information from interviews with recent dropouts from Ridgeville High School, in conjunction with findings from current literature, this study will contribute to the development of recommendations for more effective dropout prevention programs for special education students. Descriptors: Achievement gap Disability Drop-out Drop-out prevention IDEA 2004 Dropping out IEP Inclusion NCLB QDA Special Education Student Engagement ACKNOWLEDGMENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii TABLE OF CONTENTS iii CHAPTER ONE 1 INTRODUCTION 1 Background 2 Problem Statement 12 Purpose of the Study 15 Research Questions 15 Scope of the Study 16 Limitations and Delimitations 17 Definition of Terms 19 Research Plan 21 CHAPTER TWO 24 LITERATURE REVIEW 2 4 Introduction 24 Overview 25 Institutional reasons for dropping out 38 School belonging and dropout rates 44 Special education services and dropout rates 47 Exit exams 49 Inclusion: Does it reduce dropout rates? 54 Teachers and inclusion 64 Dropout prevention programs 71 IEP programming 74 Transition programming 76 Programs attending to social and academic elements of student lives: Finn’s participation-identification model of school engagement-belonging 79 School belonging and engagement and special education 91 Case studies of best practice school engagement programs that have improved the retention level of special education students in high school 98 Conclusion 102 CHAPTER THREE 104 METHODOLOGY 104 Introduction 104 Research Questions 105 Design 106 Active Observation 112 Intensive Interview 113 Data Collection Procedures 116 In-depth Interviews 117 The Researcher’s Role 120 Qualitative Data Analysis 120 The Coding Process