Disciplinary,Gender and Course Year Influences on Student Perceptions of Teaching: Explorations and implications

The prevalent use of student ratings in teaching evaluations, particularly the reliability of such data, has been debated for many years. Reports in the literature indicate that there are many factors influencing student perceptions of teaching. Three of these factors were investigated at the University of Western Australia, namely the broad discipline group, course/unit year level and student gender. Data collected over 3 years were analysed. The outcomes of this study confirmed results reported by other workers in the field that there are differences in ratings of students in different discipline groups and at different year levels. It also provided a possible explanation for the mixed results reported in studies of student gender in relation to student ratings.     

Assessing Knowledge and Attitudes of U.S. Healthcare Providers about Benefits and Risks of Consuming Seafood

An online needs assessment survey of healthcare providers was developed and implemented to determine knowledge and attitudes about the benefits and risks of consuming seafood along with how this might impact patient/clientele counseling. Only 6 of the 45 knowledge items queried (13%) met the 80% subject mastery or proficiency with a total knowledge score of 56 ± 18%. Based on this survey, it was found that healthcare providers were less than proficient regarding all knowledge areas for seafood. Understanding of seafood safety and contaminants was low. In addition, while the majority (76%) of healthcare respondents knew the correct recommendation for seafood meals per week, they failed to identify the groups that were targeted by the Food and Drug Administration/Environmental Protection Agency (FDA/EPA) advisory about seafood and mercury and therefore could be providing inaccurate information. Attitudinal responses for 18 items resulted in an overall average score of 3.28 ± 0.47 meaning slightly agree (based on a 5‐point Likert scale strongly disagree—strongly agree). While trends showed that it was important to the respondents to provide accurate information (3.78 ± 1.06) about seafood to their patients, they felt more comfortable recommending that their patients follow government advice (3.52 ± 0.91) about both seafood safety and which seafood to eat over other sources. Combined with a low knowledge base, attitudinal responses indicate that there could be a barrier to both outreach education to these healthcare providers and to their patient counseling regarding seafood consumption. Results also showed that a combination of online, science‐based, easy to access information with the capability to provide brochure‐formatted information would appear to be the best way to communicate seafood safety, nutrition, and health information.     

The New Citizen

MITEINANDER SPRECHEN UND HANDELN: FESTSCHRIFT FÜR HELLMUT GEISSNER. Edited by Edith Slembek. Frankfurt (Main): Scriptor Verlag, 1986; pp. 360.

REALISM AND RELATIVISM: A PERSPECTIVE ON KENNETH BURKE. By Robert L. Heath. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1986; pp. xi + 270. $34.95.

THE INVENTION OF ATHENS: THE FUNERAL ORATION IN THE CLASSICAL CITY. By Nicole Loraux, translated from the French by Alan Sheridan. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1986; pp. xiv + 479. $35.00.

THE IDEA OF THE GOOD IN PLATONIC‐ARISTOTELIAN PHILOSOPHY. By Hans‐Georg Gadamer. Translated and with an introduction and annotation by P. Christopher Smith. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1986; pp. xxxii + 182. $20.00.

ARISTOTLE'S POETICS. By Stephen Halliwell. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1986; pp. xi + 369. $30.00.

THE LANGUAGE OF ETHNIC CONFLICT: SOCIAL ORGANIZATION AND LEXICAL CULTURE. By Irving Lewis Allen. New York: Columbia University Press, 1983; pp. 162. $22.00; paper, $11.00.

RHETORIC AND PRAXIS: THE CONTRIBUTION OF CLASSICAL RHETORIC TO PRACTICAL REASONING. Edited by Jean Dietz Moss. Washington: The Catholic University of America Press, 1986; pp. vii‐172. $24.00.

EPISTEMOLOGY AND COGNITION. By Alvin I. Goldman. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1986; pp. viii + 437. $27.50.

THE MIND'S NEW SCIENCE: A HISTORY OF THE COGNITIVE REVOLUTION. By Howard Gardner. New York: Basic Books, Inc., Publishers, 1985; pp. xv + 423. $22.50.

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN LANGUAGE AND DISCOURSE PROCESSES. Edited by Donald G. Ellis and William A. Donahue. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1986; pp. x + 285. $32.00.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE: FEMINIST LITERARY CRITICISM. Edited by Gayle Greene and Coppélia Kahn. New York: Methuen, 1985; pp. 273. $25.00; paper $10.95.

FEMINIST CRITICISM AND SOCIAL CHANGE: SEX, CLASS AND RACE IN LITERATURE AND CULTURE. Edited by Judith Newton and Deborah Rosenfelt. New York: Methuen, 1985; pp. xi + 273. $29.95; paper $12.95.

THE TOLERANT SOCIETY. By Lee C. Bollinger. New York: Oxford University Press, 1986; pp. 1 + 195. $19.95.

A WAR OF WORDS: CHICANO PROTEST IN THE 1960s AND 1970s. By John C. Hammerback, Richard J. Jensen, and Jose Angel Gutierrez. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1985; pp. x + 187. $29.95.

THE PANAMA CANAL IN AMERICAN POLITICS: DOMESTIC ADVOCACY AND THE EVOLUTION OF POLICY. By J. Michael Hogan. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1986; pp. viii + 291. $24.95.

THOUGHT AND CHARACTER: THE RHETORIC OF DEMOCRATIC EDUCATION. By Frederick J. Antczak. Ames, Iowa: The Iowa State University Press, 1985; pp. 242. $27.50.

THE INTERPRETATION OF MATERIAL SHAPES IN PURITANISM: A STUDY OF RHETORIC, PREJUDICE, AND VIOLENCE. By Ann Kibbey. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986; pp. xi + 203. $27.95.

SPEECH COMMUNICATION IN THE 20TH CENTURY. Edited by Thomas W. Benson. Carbondale: Southern Illinois Univ. Press, 1985; pp. xii + 475; $30.00.

TIME, NARRATIVE, AND HISTORY. By David Carr. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986; pp. ix + 189. $22.50.

CRITIQUE OF COMMODITY AESTHETICS: APPEARANCE, SEXUALITY, AND ADVERTISING IN CAPITALIST SOCIETY. By W.F. Haug. Introduction by Stuart Hall. Translated by Robert Bock. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1986; pp. vii + 185. $35.00; paper, $14.95.

NEW PERSPECTIVES ON POLITICAL ADVERTISING. Edited by Lynda Lee Kaid, Dan Nimmo, and Keith R. Sanders. Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 1986; pp. xx + 370. Cloth $34.50.

ADVERTISING THE AMERICAN DREAM: MAKING WAY FOR MODERNITY, 1920–1940. By Roland Marchand. Berkeley and London: University of California Press, 1985; pp. xxii + 448. $27.50; paper $14.95.

WORLD BROADCASTING IN THE AGE OF THE SATELLITE: COMPARATIVE SYSTEMS, POLICIES AND ISSUES IN MASS TELECOMMUNICATION. By W. J. Howell, Jr. Norwood, New Jersey: Ablex Publishing Corporation, 1986; pp. 332. $45.00; paper $27.50.

AMERICAN MYTH AND THE LEGACY OF VIETNAM. By John Hellmann. New York: Columbia University Press, 1986; pp. xi + 241. $24.95.

TELEVISION AND THE RED MENACE: THE VIDEO ROAD TO VIETNAM. By J. Fred MacDonald. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1985; pp. 1 + 256. $31.95; paper $14.95.

THE “UNCENSORED WAR”: THE MEDIA AND VIETNAM. By Daniel C. Hallin. New York: Oxford University Press, 1986; pp. vi + 285. $22.50.

CHILDREN AND TELEVISION: A SEMIOTIC APPROACH. By Bob Hodge and David Tripp. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1986; pp. vi + 233. $32.50.

MISUNDERSTANDING MEDIA. By Brian Winston. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1986; pp. v + 322. $22.50.     

Challenging perceptions of school councils in the primary school

As part of citizenship education, school councils have been set up in primary schools based on adult models of democratic committees. This article looks at children's and teachers' perspectives on their school councils and goes on to analyse the ways in which alternative strategies for addressing the constraints identified were developed in three Norfolk primary schools.