The posts continue: becoming

This paper describes assumptions of representational logic and phenomenology that organize much of Enlightenment humanism and one of its knowledge projects, conventional humanist qualitative methodology. The author argues that the ontological critiques of “post” theorists, including Foucault, Derrida, Baudrillard, Lyotard, and Deleuze and Guattari, were set aside in favor of epistemological projects following World War II and that, in general, the “posts” had little effect on that methodology. Those critiques are now being put to work and extended in the new empiricism and new materialism to re-imagine being, always an ethical task. Whether humanist qualitative inquiry can survive the ontological turn is a question to consider.     

Using the Internet for Gerontology Education: Assessing and Improving Wikipedia

Older adults, students, professionals, and the general public increasingly turn to the Internet and to Wikipedia for information. Wikipedia, the world's sixth most used website, is by far the most widely used open-source information site. Among its nearly four million English-language encyclopedia articles, how thorough is coverage of key gerontology topics?

Focusing on 315 important terms found across four leading gerontology sources, almost 3 out of 10 terms had no Wikipedia article at all, including some surprising omissions. And another 3 out of 10 terms had articles that treated the topic without any specific mention of aging. Only about 4 out of 10 terms had articles with content focusing on aging; however, using various measures, the articles that were relevant rated comparatively high overall.

This popular encyclopedia is a work in progress and was found to have considerable room for improvement in its coverage of gerontology. Interested parties can upgrade its content by working as individuals, as organized WikiProjects, or in academic courses. This paper describes how faculty can incorporate assignments where students expand and improve Wikipedia pages based on course research about specific aging topics. While educating their students, they can simultaneously help educate older adults as well as the general public about gerontology.     

Introducing Case Management to Students in a Virtual World: An Exploratory Study

This paper discusses a small, exploratory study introducing students to case management using role-plays conducted in a virtual world. Data from pre- and posttest questionnaires (to assess self-efficacy regarding a range of case management tasks) suggest students felt more confident in their abilities after virtual role-play participation. Also discussed is preparing students for learning in a virtual world, some best practices to consider when developing virtual world experience, and larger contextual issues of increased broadband access to avoid exacerbating educational disparities.     

Taking a Cue in the Inner-City

This article uses a narrative analysis approach to explore the stories of student teachers' experiences developing a teaching persona during student teaching. In keeping with the narrative format, the researcher presents the participants' stories in a first-person narrative. The participants had similar experiences in the realm of developing their teaching personae: two common themes included their ideal versus actual personae and past and present influences on personae. Findings indicate that pre-service teachers carefully consider their teaching personae and draw on various sources to construct the personae that they believe will be successful.     

A Desperate Comedy: Hope and alienation in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot

Abstract

This article is both a personal response to Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot and an examination of the concept within literature of making the strange familiar and making the familiar strange. It discusses the educative force and potential of Beckett’s strangers in a strange world by examining my own personal experiences with the play. At the same time the limitations of Beckett’s theatre are explored through the contrast with the work of Berthold Brecht, who sought to make the familiar strange as a method of political enquiry to facilitate the transformation of the capitalist state. Parallels are drawn between the possibilities of both theatre and education as tools for social transformation and change.     

An empirical test of a communibiological model of trait verbal aggressiveness

The purpose of this study was to test Beatty and McCroskey's communibiological model of trait verbal aggressiveness. In general, this model views trait verbal aggressiveness as an expression of temperament; specifically, that trait verbal aggressiveness represents low thresholds for the fight or flight (FFS) neurobiological system. This model further contends that behavioral inhibition circuitry (BIS) moderates FFS activation by tempering aggressive impulses, otherwise FFS activation would manifest itself in the form of physical rather than verbal attacks. Beatty and McCroskey (1997) propose that low thresholds for stimulating the behavioral activation system (BAS) should be related to trait verbal aggressiveness to the extent that the construct involves a proactive rather than a purely reactive interpersonal function. Because previous research indicated that psychoticism (P), neuroticism (N) and extroversion (E) represent psychological manifestations of the FFS, BIS, and BAS systems, respectively, hypotheses linking P, N, and E to trait verbal aggressiveness (VAS) were tested. A multiple regression equation based on disattenuated correlations explained approximately 46% of the variance in VAS scores. Specifically, (1) the results for P and N were consistent with predictions derived from Beatty and McCroskey's model, and (2) the results for E were indicative of a purely reactive function of trait verbal aggressiveness. Implications for theory and research are discussed.     

Trade union studies in British universities: Changing patterns,changing problems

In Japan, the average span of human life is expanding rapidly and the gap in education between the elderly and the younger generation is becoming wider. Though local education authorities provide many courses for older groups, most of them are short and include too many subjects. Successful courses offer the elderly opportunities to learn about modern society in relation to their personal experiences. Kominkans (Citizens’ Public Halls) play an important role in enhancing co‐operative learning between generations.     

Estrategias de instrucción para el estudio de textos disciplinares en los grados intermedius

RESUMEN

El propósito de este estudio es evaluar la eficacia de la instrucción sistemática en las destrezas de estudio de textos de ciencias sociales. El grupo que siguió un entrenamiento sistemático rindió a un nivel significativamente más alto que el grupo control (sin instrucción) y que el grupo de comparación (que reproducía el método de las clases tradicionales), entre los que no hubo diferencias. También se encontraron diferencias significativas entre los grupos en el tiempo dedicado al estudio. La muestra entrenada disminuyó el tiempo de estudio sin disminuir su rendimiento. En el postest retardado, casi todos los estudiantes entrenados utilizaron algún tipo de estrategia, aunque no fuera exactamente el método de estudio en el que habían sido entrenados. En definitiva, se apoya el uso de la instrucción sistemática para enseñar un método de estudio a alumnos que presentan deficiencias en esta destreza.