An Examination of Integrated Marketing Communication in U.S. Public Institutions of Higher Education

This research examined the strategic process of integrated marketing communication and its application in U.S. public institutions of higher education. A quantitative survey analyzed 42 leading U.S. public colleges and universities as ranked by U.S. News & World Report. To further examine the findings of the survey, qualitative interviews were conducted with nine of the survey respondents. A four stage integrated marketing communication framework, based on studies of the American Productivity and Quality Center, served as the foundation for the research. The findings revealed the importance of leadership and formal communication mechanisms and demonstrated that integrated marketing communication strengthens branding.     

The Reality of Fiction and the Ethics of Storytelling in Eleanor Estes's <Emphasis Type="Italic">The Witch Family</Emphasis>

This essay examines Eleanor Estes's critically neglected 1960 novel The Witch Family, arguing that the novel anticipates some of the major preoccupations of later children’s literature in its early concern with issues of textuality. While Estes is largely known as a writer of simple family stories, The Witch Family is an innovative work of metafiction, which explicitly engages with a number of philosophical and literary-critical issues central to postmodern and poststructuralist discussion. Posing central and overt questions regarding the relationship between reality and fiction, the novel illustrates the contextual, communal, and relational aspects of language and finally suggests that the ability to tell stories ethically is tied to the recognition of one’s own contingent position within language.     

Children's Ideas about Strengthening Structures

This research focused on 181 school children's (aged 5-13 years) responses to an Awareness of Technology Survey question intended to explore their conceptual knowledge of structural strength. The survey responses showed that the children had many productive ideas about structural strength prior to formal classroom instruction. After instruction, the children's ideas showed little overall change. The Discussion explores how the framework of the programme and professional development opportunities did not help the teachers to implement the programme. Suggestions for productive classroom experiences related to structural strength include: introducing children to a greater variety of building materials; assisting children to explore the physical and mechanical properties of materials; practising with vocabulary needed to describe properties of materials; providing opportunities to understand the pushes and pulls at work in a structure; and promoting design technology discourse.     

Skater girlhood and emphasized femininity: ‘you can't land an ollie properly in heels’

This study draws from interviews with 20 girls in British Columbia, Canada who participated to varying degrees in skateboarding culture. We found that skater girls saw themselves as participating in an ‘alternative’ girlhood. Becoming skater girls involved the work and play of producing themselves in relation to alternative images found among peers at school, at skate parks, online and in music videos. The alternative authority of skater girl discourse gave the girls room to manoeuvre within and against the culturally valued discourse of emphasized femininity. A subgroup of middle class skater girls, the ‘in‐betweeners’, used skater girl discourse as a way of distancing themselves from the sexism evident in skater culture as well as emphasized femininity. They used one discourse against another and took advantage of contradictions within skater discourse to forge a positive identity for themselves.     

Changes in Academy/Industry/State Relations in Canada: The Creation and Development of the Networks of Centres of Excellence

The Networks of Centres of Excellence programme is perhaps Canada's most dramatic science policy innovation since theFirst World War. This article traces its development, using documentary analysis and interviews with the policy actors responsible for conceiving and implementing the programme.Established in 1989, the networks were explicitly designed to change the norms of science. The intention was to instil an approach to long-term fundamental research that considered possibilities of use from the start. Of equal importance was the idea that management was essential to produce knowledgein a network structure.     

Together yet Apart: perceptions of communication in the cross‐cultural context of a Papua New Guinean tertiary institution

A genuine debate on the Melanesian Way ... is a debate that requires a systematic, reflective and intellectual rigour. It is a task which Melanesian scholars must live with .... The vital contribution that is yet to be made toward rational discussion of Melanesian world‐view in all its aspects, is being delayed by the almost non‐existence of the rigour of an academic forum which would conceptualise Melanesian values. (Olea in Narokobi, 1988, p. 185)     

Relationship between perceived and observed student-centred learning environments in Qatari elementary mathematics and science classrooms

Recently, Qatar established educational reform in charter (independent) schools focusing on curriculum standards, student-centred teaching, standards-based assessment, English as the language of instruction, and extensive professional development. A primary area of emphasis was the creation of student-centred mathematics and science classrooms characterised by inquiry and active student participation. The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in the learning environments of Qatari mathematics and science classrooms at two levels: in higher- and lower-performing Qatari schools implementing the recent Education for a New Era reform elements; and in classes of teachers who experienced professional development focused on student-centred teaching strategies and those who did not. Participants included teachers and students in 47 grade 3 and 4 mathematics and science classrooms. Classroom observations were conducted and student learning environment surveys were administered at the beginning and end of the semester. Results indicated low levels of student-centred instruction, despite significant improvement over time. Few differences by level of school performance or professional development participation existed. However, Personalisation emerged as a key learning environment variable related to teachers’ implementation of student-centred instruction.     

A Library Compliance Strategy for Regional Accreditation Standards: Using ACRL Higher Education Standards with NEASC Standards

The Commission on Institutions of Higher Education (CIHE) of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) standards places less emphasis on quantifiable and arbitrary inputs and more emphasis on institutional effectiveness and assessment of student learning. NEASC includes the library throughout the standards and also has a long section specifically for the library. The authors advocate use of the ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries) Standards for Libraries in Higher Education alongside the NEASC standards to ensure a focus on outcomes and assessment of libraries in the context of other areas of the institution. An effective strategy for streamlining the assessment of library resources and services is provided.     

PAINTING THE ROSES RED: VOLUNTEERING IN THE COMMUNITY

To most of us engaged in higher education, volunteering is an activity confined to those moments outside work where one is found organising activities with the guides or running the local jumble sale; at Edge Hill Learning Services, however, staff took a fresh look at this community role and decided to bring it in from the cold and develop the concept.