Addressing competing logics between the mission of a religious university and the demands of intercollegiate athletics

The purpose of this study was to examine the strategies within a faith-based university for managing competing institutional logics of its NCAA Division II affiliated athletic department. Utilizing a case study methodology, the authors collected data from athletic department members and university administrators and faculty. Within the context of this study, our data indicated that the religious academic culture of the university often conflicted with the athletic expectations of winning and marketing the university. Our findings indicated certain strategies that were effective for resolving the conflicting logics within the athletic department. Particularly, members of the athletic department drew from the strong religious culture of the university to guide their operations. The implications of this research within the field of sport management and broader organizations are discussed.     

The translucent cadaver: An evaluation of the use of full body digital x-ray images and drawings in surface anatomy education

It has been noted by staff at the Faculty of Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University that medical students neglect the study of surface anatomy during dissection. This study reports on the novel use of Lodox® Statscan® images in anatomical education, particularly the teaching of surface anatomy. Full body digital X‐ray images (Lodox Statscan) of each cadaver (n = 40) were provided to second year medical students. During dissection students were asked to visualize landmarks, organs, and structures on the digital X‐ray and their cadaver, as well as palpate these landmarks and structures on themselves, their colleagues, and the cadaver. To stimulate student engagement with surface anatomy, dissection groups were required to draw both the normal and actual position of organs on a laminated image provided. The accuracy of the drawings was subsequently assessed and students were further assessed by means of practical identification tests. In addition, students were asked to complete an anonymous questionnaire. A response rate of 79% was obtained for the student questionnaire. From the questionnaire it was gathered that students found the digital X‐ray images beneficial for viewing most systems' organs, except for the pelvic organs. Although it appears that students still struggle with the study of surface anatomy, most students believed that the digital X‐rays were beneficial to their studies and supported their continued use in the future. Anat Sci Educ. © 2012 American Association of Anatomists.     

Talking about death: Implementing peer discussion as a coping mechanism to overcome fears about dissection,death, and dying

Many studies have reported on the perceptions of medical students toward dissection. It is important to understand the feelings and symptoms experienced during dissection so that they can be adequately handled. Prior to dissection, first year students are given lectures on aspects of dissection, death and dying, and death rituals in various cultures. Two separate questionnaires, one given during the first week of dissection and another given one month into the program were then completed anonymously by dissection groups. The questions were designed to be open‐ended, thereby encouraging group discussion amongst students. The questionnaires were used to determine the perception of students to dissection and to discover if these perceptions change during the dissection program. The first questionnaire revealed that students do experience fears and anxiety prior to and at the beginning of dissection; however, most of these fears dissipated by the time of the second questionnaire. One month into dissection students cited talking to peers as their main coping mechanism and fewer students mentioned emotional detachment from their cadaver as a coping mechanism, as was the case in the first questionnaire. Dissection was perceived as a positive experience by our student cohort and most students cited the main advantage of dissection as the ability to visualize organs in three dimensions. The comprehensive answers received from the students indicated that thorough discussion of feelings amongst peers occurred, introducing students to an important coping mechanism at an early stage of their learning. Anat Sci Educ. © 2013 American Association of Anatomists.     

Meaning in film/video: Order,time and ambiguity

Film and video techniques are examined through the insights of cognitive psychology and an experimental paradigm adapted from studies of verbal behavior.     

She’s Hot,for a Politician: The Impact of Objectifying Commentary on Perceived Credibility of Female Candidates

The way female politicians are discussed in traditional and new media may contribute to the way individuals evaluate those candidates. Objectification theory suggests that framing individuals in a way that reduces them to their physical characteristics is detrimental to perceived agency. To that end, an experiment was designed to determine the impact of objectifying comments on the evaluation of female candidates. Researchers created two Facebook feeds discussing a hypothetical female candidate. For both feeds, the discussion focused on the candidate’s policy credentials, with one feed containing commentary on the female candidate’s body. Aspects of credibility and suitability for office were impacted by objectifying commentary, implying the need for future research directed at the specific impact objectification has on candidate evaluation.     

James Quin's acting

Theatre histories often pay only cursory attention to this actor who was one of the leading performers on the London stage of his day. This article surveys the comments of Quin's contemporaries and summarizes his talents and weaknesses.     

Enhancing Students’ Conceptual Understanding by Engaging Science Text with Reflective Writing as a Hermeneutical Circle

Students can have great difficulty reading scientific texts and trying to cope with the professor in the classroom. Part of the reason for students’ difficulties is that for a student taking a science gateway course the language, ontology and epistemology of science are akin to a foreign culture. There is thus an analogy between such a student and an anthropologist spending time among a native group in some remote part of the globe. This brings us naturally to the subject of hermeneutics. It is through language that we attempt to understand an alien culture. The hermeneutical circle involves the interplay between our construct of the unfamiliar with our own outlook that deepens with each pass. It can be argued that for novice students to acquire a full understanding of scientific texts, they also need to pursue a recurrent construction of their comprehension of scientific concepts. In this paper it is shown how an activity, reflective-writing, can enhance students’ understanding of concepts in their textbook by getting students to approach text in the manner of a hermeneutical circle. This is illustrated using studies made at three post-secondary institutions.     

Enabling Students to Develop a Scientific Mindset

This paper is centered on getting students to understand the nature of science (NOS) by considering historical material in relation to modern philosophers of science. This paper incorporates the methodology of contrasting cases in the calculus-based introductory physics course on optics and modern physics. Students study one philosopher all semester as a group project and report regularly on how their philosopher would view the subject matter of the course. Almost all of the students were able to argue successfully on the final examination about all three philosophers. Students become aware that the same textual material can be viewed in a variety of ways. The answers that students give about the NOS have become clearer at the end of the course.