“Wearing a mask” vs. connecting identity with learning

Contemporary insights regarding identity emphasize its situated, negotiated nature (i.e., identity is shaped by – and shapes in response – the contexts in which it is formed;  and ) Recent work also suggests that this identity/context intersection holds powerful implications regarding engagement in learning (Brophy, 2008). This pair of qualitative studies drew from contemporary models connecting learning with identity (Study 1: cultural modeling, Lee, 2007 and third-space/hybrid-identities, Gutiérrez, 2008; Study 2: Kids’ business inquiry projects, Fairbanks, 2000) to explore the nature and impact of such connections among disaffected ninth-grade English students at a high-needs school. Results demonstrate evidence of: (1) a significant connection between identity and learning; (2) students’ negotiation of engaged patterns of participation; (3) the relevance of student voice to this process; and (4) the impact of connections between identity and learning on students’ participation in, and affective response to, learning.     

Smart RTI: A Next-Generation Approach to Multilevel Prevention

During the past decade, responsiveness to intervention (RTI) has become popular among many practitioners as a means of transforming schooling into a multilevel prevention system. Popularity aside, its successful implementation requires ambitious intent, a comprehensive structure, and coordinated service delivery. An effective RTI also depends on building-based personnel with specialized expertise at all levels of the prevention system. Most agree on both its potential for strengthening schooling and its heavy demand on practitioners. In this article, we describe Smart RTI, which we define as making efficient use of school resources while maximizing students' opportunities for success. In light of findings from recent research, we discuss three important features of Smart RTI: (a) multistage screening to identify risk, (b) multistage assessment to determine appropriate levels of instruction, and (c) a role for special education that supports prevention.     

General Mass Communications

Jerry Robinson's The Comics: An Illustrated History of Comic Strip Art (New York: Putnam, 1974—$15.00)

A History of the Comic Strip [Crown, 1968—$3.95, paper]

Perry and Aldridge's The Penguin Book of Comics [Penguin, 1967—$4.95, paper]

Reitberger and Fuchs' Comics: Anatomy of a Mass Medium Little, Brown, 1972— 6.95, paper—this last is discussed in 4:6:4 ; of which the latter appears the best competition to this new volume)

Arthur Asa Berger's The Comic-Stripped American (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1974—$2.95, paper)

Eli M. Oboler's The Fear of the Word: Censorship and Sex (Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1974—$10.00)

The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (3937 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19104—$4.00/3.00 per issue)

Ted Klein and Fred Danzig's How to Be Heard: Making the Media Work for You (New York: Macmillan, 1974—$9.95)

Douglas R. Berdie and John F. Anderson's Questionnaires: Design and Use (Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1974—$7.50)

S.H. Steinberg's Five Hundred Years of Printing (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1974— $3.25, paper)     

Cultivating Creativity: I can't promise you a rose garden

Drawing upon research with Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) advisors, high-school principals, and two district-level administrators, we examine the potential and limits of the safe-space discourse that encompasses the aims of GSAs. We argue that this discourse conceals heteronormative school environments, which supplies the groundwork for hostility perpetrated against LGBT students. We then delineate three strategies–organizational, pedagogical, and systemic–toward altering the safe-space discourse to a forward-looking, social-justice discourse that fosters the eradication of heteronormative school processes.     

Empathetic Responses and Attitudes about Older Adults: How Experience with the Aging Game Measures Up

This study aimed to assess the impact of pre-professional education on students' knowledge and attitudes about aging, including the option of a simulated learning activity. Using a mixed design, groups of nursing and nutrition students (n = 127) were randomly assigned to experience the Aging Game. Pre- and posttest observations included measures of anxiety, attitude and empathy. In the Aging Game, students played the role of an elderly adult with common physical disabilities during various scenarios and then reflected on the experience. As a result, students became more familiar with what being an older adult felt like, and increased understanding and empathy.     

Academic users’ interactions with ScienceDirect in search tasks: Affective and cognitive behaviors

This article presents part of phase 2 of a research project funded by the NSF-National Science Digital Library Project, which observed how academic users interact with the ScienceDirect information retrieval system for simulated class-related assignments. The ultimate goal of the project is twofold: (1) to find ways to improve science and engineering students’ use of science e-journal systems; (2) to develop methods to measure user interaction behaviors. Process-tracing technique recorded participants’ processes and interaction behaviors that are measurable; think-aloud protocol captured participants’ affective and cognitive verbalizations; pre- and post-search questionnaires solicited demographic information, prior experience with the system, and comments. We explored possible relationships between affective feelings and cognitive behaviors. During search interactions both feelings and thoughts occurred frequently. Positive feelings were more common and were associated more often with thoughts about results. Negative feelings were associated more often with thoughts related to the system, search strategy, and task. Learning styles are also examined as a factor influencing behavior. Engineering graduate students with an assimilating learning style searched longer and paused less than those with a converging learning style. Further exploration of learning styles is suggested.     

Building a technology foundation for future teachers

It is fitting that the teachers of tomorrow are provided with the correct modeling of technology in their first education class. To separate technology from education is both impossible and foolish. The sooner college students are exposed to the latest forms of technology, the more equipped they will be to integrate these tools into their teaching strategies for the benefit of future learners.