Toward an Expanded Concept of Rhetorical Delivery: The Uses of Reports in Public Policy Debates

Preparing students for civic engagement requires new knowledge about the uses of documents for advocacy and social change. Substantial social change results from repeated rather than from single rhetorical acts. Reconsideration of the rhetorical canon of delivery suggests expanding the concept beyond its present connection to publication (visual design, medium) to a rhetorical situation comprehensively defined. Delivery may take place over time and embrace a web of activities including field work, updates, and interconnections with other publications.     

Australian PhDs by LIS educators, researchers and practitioners: Depicting diversity and demise

Analyses of more than 73,000 PhD thesis records in a comprehensive database of bibliographic records from all Australian universities from 1948 to 2006 demonstrate that PhDs on LIS-related topics reveal not only diversity of content, but also the diverse nature of the researcher's academic disciplines. This diversity includes researchers from within and outside LIS who bring to LIS–or take away–a variety of methods, approaches, theories and understandings. With 27 of Australia's 39 universities having produced LIS-related PhD graduates, the distribution through the Australian university system is evident and emphasizes the transferability of skills and knowledge which graduates bring to their work. It is possible that the diversity of researcher's disciplines, combined with the dangerously low numbers of LIS graduations, may also threaten the future of LIS research and education in Australia. Based on the findings of this study, the sustainability of LIS research and research training for the next generation in Australia is under threat.     

Evaluation of a University‐Based Mentoring Program: Mentors’ Perspectives on a Service‐Learning Experience

Researchers in the educational field have investigated how a caring adult can best provide mentoring support to youth placed at risk and what functions a mentoring program should serve to promote healthy mentoring relationships. However, the perspective of mentors rarely has been sought to elicit their evaluation of a mentoring program or recommendations for programmatic change. The purpose of this article was to investigate the views of university students serving as mentors in high‐need high schools or community centers. We asked 49 students, primarily undergraduates across a range of liberal arts disciplines, who were participating in a university‐based service‐learning mentoring program for youth attending high‐poverty high schools: (a) what activities they engaged in with mentees, (b) how they benefited from the mentoring program, and (c) how they perceived the program and what recommendations they had for change. Findings revealed specific suggestions that mentoring program coordinators can adopt to address mentors’ concerns and promote sustained, durable mentoring relationships for youth.     

The effect of music therapy services on classroom behaviours of newly arrived refugee students in Australia—a pilot study

This pilot study examined the effects of a short‐term music therapy program on the classroom behaviours of newly arrived refugee students who were attending an intensive ‘English as a Second Language’ secondary school. A cross‐over design with two five‐week intervention periods was employed with group music therapy sessions conducted one or two times per week. Data from the Behaviour Assessment Scale for Children were used to evaluate a range of positive and negative school behaviours. A significant decrease in externalising behaviours was found with particular reference to hyperactivity and aggression. No significant differences were found in other behaviours. Explanations and implications of these findings are discussed.     

Information technology in education: policy and provision in Hong Kong schools

Abstract

This article reviews the Hong Kong policy (1998) on information technology in education (ITE). Key proposals in the policy and the rationales presented for introducing new technology in schools are examined. It is suggested that initiatives presented would have been difficult to implement fully without more far-reaching changes in education policies and school practices. Now, other proposals for reform of education in Hong Kong have been released. The ways in which these recent proposals for reform support existing initiatives in ITE are identified and discussed. Available data on the implementation of ITE are also reviewed. It is suggested that while a comprehensive policy framework has now been developed, the ‘vision’ for ITE may take some time to be realised.     

Incompatible Rhetorical Expectations: Julia W. Carpenter's Medical Society Papers, 1895–1899

This article examines 3 papers presented before the Cincinnati Academy of Medicine by 19th-century physician Julia W. Carpenter. The article identifies 3 strategies Carpenter used to negotiate the incompatible rhetorical expectations for women and for physicians. The published records of academy discussions provide evidence for Carpenter's colleagues' reactions to each strategy, revealing the complexity of her rhetorical situation and demonstrating the complex links among rhetorical practice, professional identity, and a communicator's social position.     

How Can Community Colleges Better Serve Low-Income Single-Mother Students? Lessons From the For-Profit Sector

Low-income single-mother students are disproportionately choosing to attend for-profit schools over community colleges when pursuing associate’s degrees and subbaccalaureate certificates. For-profit schools offer single mothers juggling school, employment, and family the benefits of accelerated degree programs along with enhanced convenience and streamlined student services. Community colleges can become a more appealing and feasible option for low-income single-mother students by adopting some of these characteristics while concurrently advertising their relative affordability and high level of academic rigor.