General Communications

Brent D. Ruben, ed. Communication Yearbook 2 (New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Books (Rutgers), 1978---$24.95)

Eric A. Havelock and Jackson P. Hershbell, eds. Communication Arts in the Ancient World (New York: Hastings House, J978---$12.50)

Kit Laybourne and Pauline Cianciolo's Doing the Media (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1978---$6.95, paper, with both library and trade hardbacks also available)

Periodicals: just begun under the (temporary) auspices of the Institute of Communication Research (122B Armory, University of Illinois, Champaign, Ill. 61820)

Warren K. Agee, Phillip H. Ault, and Edwin Emery's Introduction to Mass Communications (New York: Harper & Row, 1979---$7.95, paper)

Godwin C. Chu and Brent Cassan, Modern Communication Technology in a Changing Society: A Bibliography (1977, 162 pp., $1.50)

Syed A. Rahim, et al. Planning Methods, Models, and Organization: A Review Study for Communication Policy Making and Planning (1978, 260 pp., $3.00):     

Analogy in William Rowan Hamilton's New Algebra

This essay offers the first analysis of analogy in research-level mathematics, taking as its case the 1837 treatise of William Rowan Hamilton. Analogy spatialized Hamilton's key concepts—knowledge and time—in culturally familiar ways, creating an effective landscape for thinking about the new algebra. It also structurally aligned his theory with the real number system so his objects and operations would behave customarily, thus encompassing the old algebra while systematically bringing into existence the new.     

Connecting discourses: intertextuality in a primary school CSCL practice

This article investigates the multimodal discourses taking place in a primary school computer supported collaborative literacy environment, in which face-to-face talk in pairs is combined with computer-mediated communication. Following a socially mediated model of education, we have taken into account the collaborative process of the participants over time, the privileging processes, in relation to the discourse, afforded by the tasks and tools, and the classroom culture. We describe the contextualized nature of the interaction of children in a CSCL learning environment, by focusing on the intertextual connections that were made between different discourses. This paper highlights, in particular, the intertextual connections between written texts, face-to-face discourse and classroom culture.     

Perceptions of School and Aspirations of Rural Students with Learning Disabilities and Their Nondisabled Peers

This study examined the school perceptions and educational aspirations of 6,599 rural high school students, a sample that included 428 students with learning disabilities (LD). Regardless of disability status, rural high school students who had negative perceptions of school had less well‐defined postsecondary educational plans and less often aspired to complete college or pursue an advanced degree. Compared to nondisabled youth, rural students with LD were more likely to have negative perceptions of school and lower postsecondary aspirations. However, students with LD who had positive perceptions of school more often planned to pursue postsecondary education and aspired to complete college or an advanced degree. Implications for research and interventions pertaining to the educational attainment of students with LD are discussed.     

Healthy Birth Practice #4: Avoid Interventions Unless They Are Medically Necessary

Maternity care in the United States is intervention intensive. The routine use of intravenous fluids, restrictions on eating and drinking, continuous electronic fetal monitoring, epidural analgesia, and augmentation of labor characterize most U.S. births. The use of episiotomy is far from restrictive. These interventions disturb the normal physiology of labor and birth and restrict women’s ability to cope with labor. The result is a cascade of interventions that increase risk, including the risk of cesarean surgery, for women and babies. This article is an updated evidence-based review of the “Lamaze International Care Practices That Promote Normal Birth, Care Practice #4: No Routine Interventions,” published in The Journal of Perinatal Education, 16(3), 2007.