Conflict,risk and authority: female faculty members' stories of change

Abstract

Most studies of gender and information technology have investigated gender differences in the relationships between education and achievement, and attitudes towards and use of computers. Few have explored gendered experiences of faculty members using learning technologies in higher education. The study on which this article is based explored the experiences of 47 Canadian female faculty members integrating information and communications technologies (ICTs) into the higher education learning environment. The stories they told suggest that learning to use ICT in ways coherent with their values may be an intensely personal process of cognitive and cultural change for these women, in which beliefs and values may be examined and even realignedas they develop personal, moral authority. When faculty members explicitly contextualize the process as social, relational learning, it has the potential to be transformative at personal and societal (institutional) levels. The interrelated theoretical constructs of transformative or action learning, the development of authority-into-agency, and technology issues related to feminist pedagogy frame the three illustrative narratives of experience presented.     

The effects of gender‐role expectations upon perceptions of communicative competence

Several researchers have proposed that power, rather than gender, accounts for women using more powerless language than men. The present study examined the specific interaction context of bargaining and compared power with gender as potential predictors of the use of threats, one particular form of powerful language. Grounded in an interactional/social exchange view of power as dependence in social transactions, this study represented a marked departure from past studies of gender‐based language. The results largely supported power rather than gender as the best predictor of the use of powerful language in an interactional context involving bargaining.     

Argumentativeness and verbal aggressiveness as a function of locus of control

This study examined argumentativeness, verbal aggressiveness, and general control expectancies. Two hundred ten (N=210) participants completed the Argumentativeness Scale, the Verbal Aggressiveness Scale, and a modified version of the Three‐Factor Locus of Control Scale. Results indicate that individuals who reportan internal control orientation were found toreport lower levels of argument avoidance than externals. Externals reported higher levels of verbal aggressiveness than internals. Further, an external locus of control orientation was positively related to verbal aggressiveness. Internal locus of control orientation was negatively related to tendency to avoid arguments. The findings provide further evidence into the relationship between control expectancies and aggressive communication traits.     

Audience orientations toward new media

The proliferation of new communication technologies over the last 2 decades has increased opportunities for audience activity by offering more choices and greater control aver the communication process for media consumers. However, extant research on the degree of user activity with new media portrays conflicting views of audience members as more active or more passive. This study attempts to sort out this issue by exploring audience activity levels among users of new and traditional media, as indicated by instrumental or ritualized orientations toward media use. Results indicate that new communication technologies are motivated by both instrumental and ritualized motives, but are used more instrumentally than traditional channels, particularly among older users.     

Belonging in science classrooms: Investigating its relation to students' contributions and influence in knowledge building

Meaningful participation in science and engineering practices requires that students make their thinking visible to others and build on one another's ideas. But sharing ideas with others in small groups and classrooms carries social risk, particularly for students from nondominant groups and communities. In this paper, we explore how students' perceptions of classrooms shape their contributions to classroom knowledge building in science across a wide range of classrooms. We examine the claim that when students feel a sense of belonging in class, they contribute more and perceive their ideas to be more influential in knowledge building. Data comes from classroom exit tickets (n = 10,194) administered in 146 classrooms as part of a 10-state field test of a new middle-school science curriculum, OpenSciEd, which were analyzed using mixed effects models. We found that students' sense of belonging predicted the degree to which they contributed ideas out loud in class (Odds ratio = 1.57) as well as the degree to which they perceived their contributions as influencing others (Odds ratio = 1.53). These relationships were particularly strong for students who reported a lower a sense of belonging. We also found significant differences by both race and gender in whether students said they contributed and believed their ideas influenced those of others. These findings suggest that a learner's sense of belonging in class and willingness to contribute may be mutually reinforcing, highlighting the need to promote content-specific strategies to foster belonging in ways that support collaborative knowledge building.     

Film Directors

Andrew Sinclair, John Ford (New York: The Dial Press, 1979 – $11.95)

Jeanne Basinger, Anthony Mann (Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1979 – $10.95)

Richard Leiterman by Alison Reid (120 pages, $5.50 in paper)

Federico Fellini: A Guide to References and Resources by John C. Stubbs with Constance D. Markley and Marc Lenzini (246 pages, $30.00)

Richard Lester: A Guide to References and Resources by Diane Rosenfeldt (152 pages, $15.00)

Ernest Lubitsch: A Guide to References and Resources by Robert Carringer and Barry Sabath (262 pages, $20.00)

Sidney Lumet: A Guide to References and Resources by Stephen E. Bowles (151 pages, $15.50)

Ken Russell: A Guide to References and Resources by Diane Rosenfeldt (140 pages, $14.00)

John Schlesinger: A Guide to References and Resources by Nancy J. Brooker (130 pages, $14.00)

Frederick Wiseman: A Guide to References and Resources by Liz Ellsworth (212 pages, $ 24.95)     

The Effects of “Friend” Characteristics on Evaluations of an Activist Group in a Social Networking Context

Research suggests that individuals use cues about the popularity of a cause or group to make judgments. This bandwagon phenomenon has found particular support in online contexts. However, perceptions regarding the group may also depend on the identity of those supporters. We employed a 2 × 2 × 2 experiment to test the effect of number of affiliates and affiliate race and age on feelings toward the group, its page, and intended support. Results suggest that feelings are not subject to a consistent bandwagon effect but rather are moderated by race, with White participants exhibiting more positive feelings when seeing a page with few Black affiliates or many White affiliates. This result contrasts with findings for age, which serves to moderate only intended page use.     

From Pride to Smugness and the Nationalism Between: Olympic Media Consumption Effects on Nationalism Across the Globe

To measure relationships between Olympic media viewing and nation-based attitudes, 6 nations (Australia, Bulgaria, China, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and the United States) were surveyed in the 5 days immediately after the 2012 London Olympics. A total of 1,025 respondents answered questions pertaining to four measures of nationalism: patriotism, nationalism, internationalism, and smugness. The amount of Olympic viewing resulted in significantly higher scores for patriotism, nationalism, and smugness, but not internationalism. In addition, differences by nation are reported, revealing considerable differences in nationalism measures among the 6 nations studied; for instance, the United States was the lowest of the 6 nations regarding internationalism yet highest of the 6 nations regarding smugness. Conclusions related to theory and the role of Olympic media content are offered.     

Modernism,state sovereignty and dissent: media and the new post-cold war movements

Post-cold war theories of the press and foreign policy have noted a new, less consistent relationship between political and media elites. Political communication scholars have developed three general models in response, but these do not seem to map well to press coverage of the anti-globalization movement that has emerged in recent years. This paper argues for a new theory of the press and oppositional politics in an environment that has altered the equilibrium between media, political elites, and interest groups. The new political environment results from three principal causes: the erosion of state sovereignty over the political economy, the elimination of the Soviet system as a rhetorical resource for movement critics, and new information technologies that alter movement structure and thus increase its resilience. Analysis of two streams of media content, news and editorial, on the protests at the 1999 meetings of the World Trade Organization reveals an anomalous reversal for received theories of media and elite power in the way the mainstream press covers movement politics.