Verbal aggression: A study of the relationship between communication traits and feelings about a verbally aggressive television show

This study investigated the relationship between people's communication tendencies for sending and receiving verbally aggressive messages with their opinions and feelings about a verbally aggressive television show. Participants (N=216) completed measures of verbal aggressiveness and psychological hurt before viewing a 7‐minute clip from the television show Daddy Dearest. Participants then completed measures for show affinity, character affinity, and show realism. The results showed that people who were verbally aggressive, tended to watch more television weekly, and did not report being hurt by receiving verbally aggressive messages, expressed more affinity for the character and the show and perceived the show to be similar to real life. People who reported greater psychological hurt from receiving verbally aggressive messages and tended to watch more television weekly also reported that the show was similar to real life.     

Relational messages associated with nonverbal involvement,pleasantness, and expressiveness in romantic couples

Previous research suggests that individual nonverbal cues and cue complexes communicate multiple relational messages simultaneously. This work examines the contention that nonverbal percepts may predict relational message interpretations in romantic relationships. Results provide support for the hypothesis that nonverbal cues indicative of greater involvement, pleasantness, and expressiveness connote messages of intimacy. Specifically, the current study reveals that perceptions of intimacy and composure are associated with greater vocalic involvement. Interpretations are provided in line with the social meanings model.     

A Balancing act: ethical dilemmas of democratic teaching within critical pedagogy

This article discusses practitioner research that focused on student resistance to teaching about the apartheid past and issues of ‘race’ in a first year English studies course at a predominantly Afrikaans and ‘white’ university in South Africa. The study aimed to explore the way in which students and the teacher engaged with a form of critical pedagogy moment–by–moment in the classroom. In this article, I turn the analytical spotlight onto myself, analysing the way in which my own multiple and sometimes contradictory identity positions as an educator play themselves out. In particular, I explore the tensions between my preferred ‘democratic’ teaching style, and my moral or ethical views. I argue that this tension creates a dilemma for teaching within critical pedagogy, which is not easily resolved. I also reflect on the experience of researching my own teaching practice, and attempt to understand how my research insights were developed, linking this to the distinction between reflective practice and action research.     

Exploring the Boundary Conditions of the Redundancy Principle

This experiment investigated whether study of a scientific text and a visual display that contained redundant text segments would affect memory and transfer. The authors randomly assigned 42 students from a university in the southwestern United States in equal numbers to 1 of 2 conditions: (a) a redundant condition, in which participants studied a scientific text that described plate tectonics and a corresponding visual display that contained redundant segments from the text; or (b) a nonredundant condition, in which participants studied the scientific text and a corresponding visual display that lacked the redundant text segments. Embedding redundant text segments within the visual display enhanced performance on 3 measures of memory but not on a measure of transfer. The authors discuss the theoretical and practical implications using the cognitive theory of multimedia learning.     

How the Media Misleads the Story of School Consumerism: A Perspective From School Finance

Noting the dramatic rise in media reporting on the topic of school commercialism and consumer activity in schools, this research explores the fiscal benefits of such activities. Though a variety of activities frequently associated with school consumerism generate revenues for schools, in the example of student activity fees there is very little correlative evidence that suggests substantive and systematic shifts are under way in how schools are funded. A central argument is that the media representation of school consumerism may exaggerate the significance and effects of consumer and consumer behavior in schools, specifically in terms of the fiscal contribution of fee-based revenue. This argument is explored using quantitative methods to investigate fee-based revenue among U.S. public school systems.     

Articulating syntactic and numeric perspectives on equivalence: the case of rational expressions

Our study concerns the conceptual mathematical knowledge that emerges during the resolution of tasks on the equivalence of polynomial and rational algebraic expressions, by using CAS and paper-and-pencil techniques. The theoretical framework we adopt is the Anthropological Theory of Didactics (Chevallard 19:221–266, 1999), in combination with semiotic aspects from the instrumental approach to tool use. The analysis we present is based on interviews carried out with a 10th grade student who participated in our research. Our findings highlight the mathematical knowledge (technological discourse) constructed in the process of confronting, differentiating, and articulating the several mathematical techniques and theoretical ideas (pertaining to the numeric perspective and the syntactic perspective on algebraic equivalence) related to the designed equivalence tasks.     

Exploring who we are in the context of global reforms in education: the Second Level Support Service in conversation

How will the Second Level Support Service (SLSS), established to support curriculum reform and the professional development of teachers, sustain its own professional development and identity in a climate of change and uncertainty? How will the SLSS maintain its vision of continuous professional development in the midst of educational reform? This article reports on a research project undertaken jointly by the SLSS and the Department of Education and Professional Studies, University of Limerick, designed to support the professional development of the SLSS, as it addressed, in a reflexive way, the questions posed above. The article outlines: the context, including the public policy context, in which the research was undertaken; the research design which incorporates narrative enquiry and collegial conversation; and some of the main themes which emerge from the three focus groups, whose conversations provided the research data. Chief among these themes is the degree to which the vision and practice of the SLSS supports or challenges the view of teachers and teaching which underlies the reform of education. The article offers some concluding remarks which relate the project to critical theory and organisational development.     

Cognitive style of gifted and average readers

Thirty gifted and 30 average readers were selected from a population of 300 eighth, tenth, and twelfth grade students in small towns or rural areas in Kansas. Students were classified as field independent or field dependent. It was found that gifted and average readers used the same reading strategies but there were significant differences in how frequently some strategies were used. There were also significant differences in how frequently some strategies were used by field independent and field dependent readers. Gifted readers scored significantly higher than average readers on the Hidden Figures Test. No significant differences in the frequency of reading strategy use were found between field independent gifted readers and field dependent gifted readers or between field independent and field dependent average readers.     

Reducing Student Bias Against Older Adults Through the Use of Literature

Human services educators must address the issue of students’ bias toward older adults to encourage interest and meet the growing need for professionals in the field. The use of literature can challenge students’ preconceptions of older adults while innovative teaching methods can guide their development of more tolerant views and introduce them to a field that they may have previously given little consideration. Based on a model of cultural competence development, teaching strategies, learning objectives, literature, and an evaluation are suggested.