Demophilia: A Discursive Counter to Demophobia in the Early Republic

The term “democracy” is ambivalent—in the history of the United States, it has played both god term and devil term, and inspired both sacrifice and trembling. Robert L. Ivie has mapped the discourse by which American policy elites have said “no” to democracy—the rhetoric of “demophobia.” This essay complements his analysis by mapping the discourse by which Americans began to say “yes” to democracy during President Thomas Jefferson's administration—the rhetoric of “demophilia.” Understood as a discursive formation, demophilia creates space for rhetoric and deliberation that is closed by demophobia. In the process, demophilia disciplines democracy by producing deliberative subjects properly attuned to civil speech.     

“The Effort of Reason,and the Adventure of Beauty”: The Aesthetic Rhetoric of Randolph Bourne

We are still coming to terms with the legacy of Randolph Bourne. Although he died at the age of 32 just as the United States was cheerfully entering the First World War under the banner of “democracy,” the words he penned in an unfinished essay still resonate in the American social conscience: “War is the Health of the State.” This maxim, once thought the exclusive property of leftist radicals, now can be heard echoing from every political corner of the blogosphere as progressives and libertarians alike find cause to question the motives of governmental power. Yet despite his reappearance as a symbol, Bourne in many ways remains as forgotten as ever—perhaps even more so as his once provocative claim has been transformed into a talking point. This essay endeavors to recapture the voice of Bourne in all its complexity, seeking to place him at the forefront of the contemporary American intellectual tradition as one of its most piercing critics, most visionary poets, and most eloquent rhetors. Specifically, we show how Bourne's critique of the “State” foresaw the rise of the technological society organized by ideological propaganda, how his vision of the Beloved Community anticipated our modern ideals of global transnationalism, and how his literary essays practiced a form of aesthetic rhetoric which employed dramatistic methods to bring about a new state of expanded social consciousness.     

The place of the closed book,invigilated final examination in a knowledge economy

This paper examines the origin and implications of adult learners’ emotions in the context of an online distance learning programme at the Open University of Cyprus. Various methods for gathering data about learners’ emotions related to online learning are used, such as emotion diaries, semi‐structured interviews, and email messages. The paper highlights the multiple directions adult learners’ emotions can take and the significance of learners’ interpretations of their emotions in relation to the online learning methodology. The issues of social and emotional communication and contact emerge as critical in the exploration of adult learners’ emotions in the context of online learning.

Le rôle des émotions dans l’expérience de l’apprentissage en ligne: Défis et possibilités

Cet article examine l’origine et les implications des émotions qu’éprouvent les apprenants adultes dans le contexte d’un programme d’apprentissage en ligne à l’Université Ouverte de Chypre. On a utilisé différentes méthodes pour recueillir des données sur les émotions que ressentent les apprenants par rapport à l’apprentissage en ligne, citons les journaux personnels d’émotions, les entretiens semi‐structurés et les courriels. L’article fait apparaître les directions multiples que peuvent prendre les émotions des apprenants adultes et la signification de leurs différentes interprétations de ces émotions par rapport à la méthodologie de l’apprentissage en ligne. Les problèmes de communication sociale et émotionnelle et de contact apparaissent critiques dans cette exploration des émotions des apprenants adultes dans le contexte de l’apprentissage en ligne.

Die Rolle von Emotionen in der Praxis des Online‐Learning: Herausforderungen und Möglichkeiten

In diesem Papier werden Entstehung und Folgen von Emotionen erwachsener Lerner im Rahmen eines Online – Fernlehrgangs an der Open University of Cyprus untersucht. Es werden dazu verschiedene Methoden der Datenerfassung von Emotionen bezüglich des Online‐Lernens benutzt, z.B. Gefühle‐Tagebücher, halb strukturierte Interviews und E‐Mail‐Nachrichten. Dieses Papier beleuchtet die vielen Richtungen, in die die Emotionen erwachsener Lerner gehen können und die Bedeutung, die die Interpretation ihrer Gefühle in Bezug auf ihre Online‐Lern‐Methodologie hat. Die Fragen nach sozialer und emotionaler Kommunikation und nach Kontakt erweisen sich als kritisch bei der Untersuchung der Emotionen erwachsener Lerner in Zusammenhang mit dem Online‐Lernen.

El papel de las emociones en las experiencias de aprendizaje en línea: desafíos y oportunidades

El presente artículo examina el origen y las implicaciones de las emociones de los estudiantes adultos dentro del contexto de un programa de aprendizaje a distancia de la Universidad Abierta de Chipre. Se utilizan varios métodos para recoger datos sobre las emociones de los estudiantes relacionadas con el aprendizaje en línea. Podemos mencionar los diarios de emociones, las entrevistas semi‐estructuradas y los mensajes de correo electrónico. El presente trabajo pone de manifiesto las multiples direcciones que las emociones de los estudiantes adultos pueden tomar y la significación de las interpretaciones de sus propias emociones con respecto a la metodología de aprendizaje en línea. Las cuestiones de la comunicación y del contacto social y emocional son elementos críticos en la exploración de las emociones de los estudiantes adultos dentro del contexto de aprendizaje en línea.     

Academic progress in the 16–19 curriculum: some senior staff perceptions of current monitoring systems and operational procedures

In outlining its programme of target-setting for post-16 provision in 1997, the DfEE sought to promote the monitoring of academic progress in order to raise achievement both at institutional level and also at the individual student level. This article, based on research conducted in schools and colleges in North and West Yorkshire, focuses on the latter and examines senior staff perceptions of current monitoring systems and operational procedures. The article gives an overview of the main systems used and how these are adapted to suit the circumstances of a particular institution. The authors suggest that in general the implementation of target-setting has been viewed positively, largely due to the current flexibility for senior staff to adapt whatever system best suits their needs. It recommends that this should be seen as a strength of the current situation and that the introduction of more uniform systems should be avoided if it is at the expense of meaningful procedures adapted to local requirements.     

Assessing Pre-Service Teacher Attitudes and Skills With the Technology Integration Confidence Scale

As technology integration continues to gain importance, preservice teachers must develop higher levels of confidence and proficiency in using technology in their classrooms (Kay, 2006 Kay, R. H. 2006. Evaluating strategies used to incorporate technology into preservice education: A review of the literature. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 38: 383–408. [Taylor &; Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]). The acceptance of the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) by National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) has compelled teacher education programs to reexamine their curricula. However, most of these efforts lack the theory-based measures (Netemeyer, Bearden, &; Sharma, 2003 Netemeyer, R. G., Bearden, W. O. and Sharma, S. 2003. “Scaling procedures: Issues and applications”. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) of NETS-T dispositions and proficiency. In an effort to address this need, the Technology Integration Confidence Scale (TICS) was developed at Brigham Young University's McKay School of Education. This article describes the development of the TICS, which consists of 28 self-efficacy items based on tasks described in the NETS-T. It was pilot tested on preservice teachers during the spring 2006 term (N = 52), and the results were analyzed for item functioning and reliability. Evidence was also gathered to support the result's validity.     

The Construction of Knowledge in Classroom Talk

Social interaction is important for the development of knowledge (M. Chapman, 1991 Chapman, M. 1991. “The epistemic triangle: Operative and communicative components of cognitive competence.”. In Criteria for competence: Controversies in the conceptualization and assessment of children's abilities Edited by: Chandler, M. and Chapman, M. 209–228. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.  [Google Scholar]). Social interaction, however, takes many forms, and J. Piaget (1977/1995) proposed that the construction of knowledge is facilitated in cooperative as opposed to constraining relationships. These views of knowledge development were drawn on in a study of classroom talk in higher education, namely in 2 first- and 2 fourth-year college and university psychology classes. Classroom talk was recorded, transcribed, and analyzed following conversation analytic (H. Sacks, 1992 Sacks, H. 1992. Lectures on conversation Vol. 1–2, Oxford, England: Basil Blackwell.  [Google Scholar]) and social pragmatic (W. Turnbull, 2003 Turnbull, W. 2003. Language in action: Psychological models of conversation. New York, NY: Psychology Press..  [Google Scholar]) approaches. Examination of how cooperation and constraint were constituted in the corpus was based on N. Mercer's (1995, 2000) categorization of different ways of making reasoning manifest, namely exploratory talk, or the joint negotiation of ideas; disputational talk, or the competitive negotiation of knowledge claims; and cumulative talk, or the uncritical addition of knowledge claims. Analysis focused on the sequential structures of classroom talk in and through which reasoning is achieved. Analysis revealed that most fourth-year talk was exploratory, whereas most first-year talk was disputational or cumulative.     

ESCOT: Coordinating the Influence of R&D and Classroom Practice to Produce Educational Software From Reusable Components

In a 3-year project, a consortium of university, nonprofit and commercial educational software developers formed a testbed for the rapid assembly of educational software from reusable component tools. This testbed incorporated interactive learning tools from a variety of university, nonprofit, and commercial developers, and hosted decentralized authoring teams consisting of teachers, developers and educational technologists. Within its testbed, the Educational Software Components of Tomorrow (ESCOT) project achieved notable success in (a) producing a large collection of technology-rich learning activities with reuse rates estimated at 90% and (b) scaffolding authoring teams in successful and rewarding collaborative development experiences. Fortunately, since ESCOT was funded as a National Science Foundation research project, we have had time to reflect on the conditions that led to our achievements. In this article, we reflect on the three activities of the project that we believe were most responsible for its success: (1) the selection of a unit of software production (2) the development of a strategy to allow reuse of interoperable software components and (3) the structuring of a distributed, team-based authoring process. We observe that a common characteristic across these activities was reciprocal influence from both the fields of research-based software development and teaching practice.     

Elsevier Compendex and Google Scholar: A Quantitative Comparison of Two Resources for Engineering Research and an Update to Prior Comparisons

Elsevier's Compendex product (and its ancestor, Engineering Index) has been a de rigeur indexing tool for searching the primary literature in engineering for many years. However, the price of Compendex continues to rise while at the same time, broader, lower-cost or even free alternatives to such expensive indexing tools have proliferated. This paper seeks to quantitatively and, to a lesser extent, qualitatively compare Compendex to Google Scholar.