Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1998. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 144-150). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1998. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 144-150). Also available on the Internet.

A research report submitted to the faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science by combination of coursework and research. Johannesburg, 2016. / The aims of the study were to provide an overview of how online newspapers portray astronomy news in terms of framing and tone. The “tone” is used as a way to analyse and reflect on the mood of the article, whether the journalist reports about positive or negative news. The study sought to understand what aspects of astronomy news are covered by South African online newspapers because using real world examples and stories as a way of learning has a magnetic attractiveness to the majority of students. This is one of the reasons why a newspaper is the perfect teaching and learning tool because it is regarded as a medium that can heighten students’ knowledge, enhance students’ vocabulary skills, conceptual understanding and encourage a positive attitude towards learning. The study was underpinned by framing theory which suggests that presentation can influence the choices people make; it is a procedure where people improve a specific conceptualisation and change their perception about it. A mixed method was used since it combines both qualitative methods and quantitative methods to deal with different questions of the research study. A data collecting instrument was not required to conduct the study because the data was already available on the internet, however, the researcher developed and modified an instrument to analyse the available data. The Nisbet framework and a modified story analysis form were used as coding instruments. Newspapers articles were retrieved from the internet using search terms such as “SKA, astronomy, planets”. The samples were two online newspapers, the Mail & Guardian and News24 from 1st January 2012 to 31st July 2015. The quantitative results were divided into two, firstly for the Mail & Guardian and secondly for News24. Items that were analysed for each online newspaper were: news origin, news treatment, geographical focus, photos and graphics, framing techniques, the Nisbet framework, word average, and general reaction. The Mail & Guardian has longer news article lengths than News24. This might suggest that New24’s news articles are better to use since they are shorter and the aim of using newspapers is to make teaching and learning science fun and productive. The qualitative results indicated that astronomy articles in newspapers are flooded with scientific terms that are not explained. Teachers need to assess and make students think about the content from the newspaper story and to recognise that stories in the newspaper are written differently from school textbooks. The research study indicated that newspapers can be used and are useful in science class if they are used correctly and, at the same time, textbooks and other teaching materials are also used. The use of newspaper when teaching science is undoubtedly one of the effective ways of teaching science whether in an informal or formal learning context. Using newspapers increases students’ knowledge and improves students’ vocabulary skills to enhance conceptual understanding. Key words Astronomy, Mail & Guardian, News24, Story Analysis Form, Nisbet Framework, Informal Learning, formal learning and Science. / LG2017

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Nevada, Reno, 2005. / "May 2005." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-87). Online version available on the World Wide Web. Library also has microfilm. Ann Arbor, Mich. : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [2005]. 1 microfilm reel ; 35 mm.

Thesis (M.S.)--Florida State University, 2004. / Advisor: Dr. Marilyn J. Young, Florida State University, College of Communication, Dept. of Communication. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Jan. 12, 2005). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2010. / Title from title screen (site viewed May 18, 2010). PDF text: iii, 96 p. : col. ill. Publication: Dissertations and Theses from the College of Journalism and Mass Communications. Includes bibliographical references.

published_or_final_version / Journalism and Media Studies Centre / Master / Master of Journalism

This study looked at how different formats of online news story can affect the way users read and understand it.The researcher formatted one story taken off the wire into two different ways: simple text story and a story customized for Web presentation. As an example the researcher used the style of MSNBC.com, one of nation's leading providers of original online news content.One hundred and sixty subjects who participated in the study were split into two different groups reflecting their online reading habits: the users who read news in full (or slow readers) and the users who scan and/or skim online information (fast readers). Both groups were exposed to each type of online story presentation.With the help of an online instrument created for the purpose of this study the researcher monitored subjects' reading speeds and recall of different types of story.The data collected in the experiment were analyzed through two-way Analysis of Variance, or ANOVA, with equal sample sizes.Initial analysis of the data revealed no significant difference between the way both types of readers recalled the two stories. Further analysis, however, showed that the type of story presentation had an effect on the speed with which certain categories of subjects read the stories. Subsequent analysis revealed that it was fast readers who took statistically significant less amounts of time to read the story formatted for online presentation. / Department of Journalism

Diss. Göteborg : Univ., 2004.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 170-202). Also available on the Internet.