Ethics and Visual Rhetorics: Seeing's Not Believing Anymore

When working with graphics and illustrations, technical communicators face ethical questions at almost every step. The visual rhetorics available offer help with evaluating visual components but little guidance on ethical issues. This article presents examples of ethical conflicts, describes some of the prominent visual rhetorics, and discusses ethical issues that need to be addressed. Some steps for improving ethical awareness related to graphics and illustrations are suggested.     

Writing flexibility in argumentative essays: a multidimensional analysis

Reading and Writing - The assessment of argumentative writing generally includes analyses of the specific linguistic and rhetorical features contained in the individual essays produced by students....     

Working toward transformational leadership in higher education

Before colleges and universities can develop leaders, they must develop a coherent vision of what leadership is. A reflection on James MacGregor Burns's concepts of transformational leadership suggests where that discussion might begin.     

Schedule-induced polydipsia contrast in the rat

Schedule-induced polydipsia was studied using a behavioral contrast paradigm. Food pellets were delivered to food-deprived rats on a response-independent FT 1-min schedule. Licking on a tube produced water on a MULT FR 10 FR 10, MULT FR 10 EXT, or MIXED FR 10 EXT for three rats (Experiment 1) and on a MULT VI VI, MULT VI EXT, or MIXED VI EXT schedule for three other rats (Experiment 2). On the FR schedules, rats could drink more water by increasing lick rates, but on the VI schedules the amount of drinking was fixed by the schedule parameters and was relatively unaffected by lick rates. Relative to MULT FR FR, positive polydipsia contrast was clearly demonstrated on MULT and MIXED FR EXT; but relative to MULT VI VI, contrast was not demonstrated on MULT and MIXED VI EXT. These data suggest that polydipsia contrast occurs only if increased licking permits increased drinking.     

Are they ready?

Patsy Allen has taught in and directed preschool, secondary, and college early childhood education programs. Currently, she is writing, consulting, and practicing her parenting skills with her three children in El Paso, Texas.     

Intervention fidelity in participatory research: a framework

ABSTRACT

In community interventions more generally, the concept of fidelity refers to the degree to which a program is delivered as intended. The present paper discusses ways in which fundamental aspects of participatory research challenge the concept of fidelity and differ from more traditional science-dominated approaches. We begin with a discussion of the fidelity concept and some of its strengths and limitations. We then discuss both social problems and proposed solutions as representing complex problems defying simple or permanent solutions. We suggest that three prominent aspects of participatory research highlight this complexity and pose challenges in assessing fidelity. First, in participatory research, the goal is not only scientific but also social action on a local issue as well. Second, the participatory process among varied partners is itself part of the intervention itself to be understood as affecting both processes and outcomes. Third, the goals of participatory research include community-level as well as individual-level changes. These issues are illustrated in a discussion of how culture is conceptualized and acknowledged in fidelity assessment. We conclude with some recommendations for approaching fidelty in participatory research in a way that appreciates its differences from more traditional paradigms underlying community interventions.