Continuing Education: a Challenge and a Commitment∗

A variety of important life consequences for literacy are widely assumed in the contemporary discourse on adult literacy with little, if any empirical research to support them. As a result, they have been variously labelled as ‘myths’ (Coombs 1985), ‘doubtful promises’ (Hinzen 1983), proclamations of ‘faith’ (Winchester 1990) and ‘claims in search of reality’ (Wagner 1992). Part of the problem here is that the effects of literacy are often identified without first defining what literacy is. Naturally, if literacy is ambiguously or broadly defined, virtually any consequence can be attributed to it. Thus, the first task of any researcher, educator or policymaker involved with issues of adult literacy is to make his or her definitions of literacy and the scope of each definition's applicationsexplicit. Within the field of adult literacy education, Lytle and Wolfe (1989) provide a useful conceptual categorization for literacy in terms of four metaphors: literacy as skills, tasks, practices and critical reflection. This paper extends Lytle and Wolfe's framework to identify what consequences are attributed to literacy within each of the four metaphors, focusing on adults in the developing world.     

A Discriminant Analysis of the Mmpi for Female College Students in Health and Education

This study attempted to detemine whether biographical factors might be identified which would distinguish between teachers receiving high and low student assessments. More than 3,000 high school seniors named the most and least effective teacher they had experienced. Most and least effective were defined in terms of the three major patterns of classroom teacher behavior identified by Ryans. Teachers named by three or more seniors completed a biographical questionnaire. Effective teachers numbering 125 and ineffective teachers numbering responded. A coefficient of correlation was found for each of the biographical items and the criterion, teacher rating. Significant correlations were found for amount of mother’s formal education, mobility of teacher, number of books read annually, home ownership, and student-teacher relationships.     

An examination of the physical and the digital qualities of humanities research

Traditionally humanities scholars have worked in physical environments and with physical artefacts. Libraries are familiar places, built on cultural traditions over thousands of years, and books are comfortable research companions. Digital tools are a more recent addition to the resources available to a researcher. This paper explores both the physical and the digital qualities of modern humanities research, drawing on existing literature and presenting a study of humanities scholars’ perceptions of the research resources they use. We highlight aspects of the physical and digital that can facilitate or hinder the researcher, focusing on three themes that emerge from the data: the working environment; the experience of finding resources; and the experience of working with documents. Rather than aiming to replace physical texts and libraries by digital surrogates, providers need to recognise the complementary roles they play: digital information environments have the potential to provide improved access and analysis features and the facility to exploit the library from any place, while the physical library and resources provide greater authenticity, trustworthiness and the demand to be in a particular place with important material properties.