Spectacles in hybrid Japan: Deconstruction,semiotic excess,and obtuse meanings in Lost in Translation

This essay’s purpose is to recover Fiskean deconstructive criticism as a means of examining the complexities of texts. Specifically, we argue that Lost in Translation’s moments of spectacle reveal that even in a text that reinforces White Orientalist views of Japan, the text’s obtuse meanings subvert, though not upturn, this dominant narrative. The film’s text reifies heteronormative masculinity and femininity with the blending of the pre- and postmodern Japan, yet obtuse meanings subvert the Western gaze and present hybrid queer spaces that complicate Western neocolonial domination. Subversion cannot completely overturn those meanings, but guerrilla opportunities allow for tactical resistance.     

Learning to collaborate: Can young children develop better communication strategies through collaboration with a more popular peer

Unpopular children are known to have poor communication skills and experience difficulty in collaborative situations. This study investigated whether pairing unpopular, 5 to 6 year-old, children with a more popular peer would promote more effective collaboration. The study also investigated differences in popular and unpopular children’s verbal and non-verbal communication. Thirty-six girls and 36 boys were placed in one of 12 popular, 12 unpopular or 12 mixed pairs. There were no mixed gender pairs. Children were filmed playing a collaborative game. Collaboration in popular pairs was more successful and less disputational than in unpopular pairs. Boys in unpopular pairs broke the rules of the game more often, argued more and did not monitoring their partners’ facial expressions effectively. With popular partners they argued less, were more likely to elaborate disagreements, looked at their partner for longer, smiled more and were more likely to offer him a small toy. Unpopular girls’ interactions were not markedly disruptive but they clearly benefited from being paired with a child with good communication skills. Popular girls modified their behaviour to take into account an unpopular partner’s need for support. These findings suggest that pairing popular and unpopular children may be a useful classroom organisation strategy.     

A skills development framework for learning computing tools in the context of engineering practice

Informatics is a first-year subject in the new Bachelor of Engineering/Graduate Diploma in Engineering Practice degree at the University of Technology, Sydney. All undergraduate engineering students must do this subject irrespective of their intended engineering discipline (civil, mechanical, environmental systems, electrical, telecommunications, computer systems). The focus of this subject is to introduce students to computational tools (such as spreadsheets and programming languages) and information retrieval tools (such as the World Wide Web), which support engineering, as well as looking at the effective and professional use of these tools. Informatics has three core elements: the development of specific skills which will assist students in both their studies and their professional practice; the development of an ability to continue to develop further skills independently; and consideration of a wide variety of issues related to the computational tools that the students are using. Examples of the issues covered include: privacy; accuracy of content; fraud; security; the professional and ethical responsibility of engineers for the results of their calculations; selecting the best tool for the job; and limitations of computational tools. This paper will review the activities and challenges the students faced, describe the approaches that we adopted and the various issues we raised, the expected and actual outcomes arising from the activities, and our plans for the future of the subject.     

Effectiveness of a Model Teacher Preparation Program for the Elementary Level

Journal of Science Teacher Education -