Editor's page, 2001–2003

On August 8, 1974, having been toppled from power by the Watergate scandal, Richard M. Nixon became the first President to resign his office before completing his term. In his resignation speech, Mr. Nixon attempted to vindicate himself before the American people. Analysis of Mr. Nixon's address reveals that his strategies of denial of intent and transcendence to a larger context were largely unsuccessful in securing closure with his audience.     

Holistic Media Education: An Assessment of the Effectiveness of a College Course in Media Literacy

The general purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of a college course in media literacy. Specifically, the course took a holistic approach to media literacy and was designed to heighten college students' awareness of media structures, content, and impact, as well as to encourage students to become more critical/informed participants in the media environment. A pre-test, post-test, control group post-test only, quasi-experimental design was employed to assess the effectiveness of this approach to media literacy education. Overall, students' responses produced significant differences between the control group and the experimental groups' post-test scores on most (but not all) dependent measures. The implications of these results and suggestions for future research were discussed.     

Simmering on the Back Burner: Communication with and Disclosure of Relationship Alternatives

The term “back burner” describes a desired potential romantic/sexual partner with whom one communicates with the intent of establishing a future romantic or sexual connection. Contemporary communication technologies (e.g., mobile phones, social networking applications) facilitate connections with back burners. Two survey studies (Ns = 347, 374) showed that back burner communication is relatively common among college students; however, college students also have many romantic or sexual interests that they do not consider back burners. Additionally, although most college students will not fully disclose their communication with back burners to their partners, approximately half fully disclose communication with romantic or sexual desirables to their partners. Therefore, the results of this study suggest that back burners can be distinguished from those with whom we would entertain having a romantic or sexual connection. Theoretically, they can also be distinguished from other types of casual sexual relationships.     

Freshman perceptions of instructor fairness and expertise: A problem in course evaluation

This paper reports a study based on Bruner, Shapiro and Tagiuri's conception of lay personality theory. The trait implication questionnaire adapted from Bruner et. al. was used to investigate the way in which freshmen students make inferences about instructor fairness and expertise. Results are discussed in light of their implications for the use of student course evaluations.     

The ‘dissertation marathon’ in doctoral distance education

Participation in “communities of practice” is often depicted as a central feature of various theoretical understandings of the social nature of learning. How are such communities of practice to be enacted in distance education, which, by definition, implies spatial detachment? This article reflects on the dimensions of communities of practice experienced by four students undertaking doctoral studies by distance education, working in different countries than the one in which the institution of their studies is based, and at four different phases of their doctoral program. In each writer’s experience, community of practice involvement was identified as critical in program completion, yet the source of the learning community was in each case outside of institutional provision.     

Book reviews and notes

CRITICS OF SOCIETY: RADICAL THOUGHT IN NORTH AMERICA by T. B. Bottomore. New York: Pantheon Books, 1968. viii + 150 pp. $4.95

TWO WORLDS OF CHILDHOOD by Urie Bronfenbrenner. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1970. x+ 190pp. $7.95.

JACQUES BARZUN ON WRITING, EDITING, AND PUBLISHING by Jacques Barzun. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1971. xi + 130pp. $1.35.

STUDENT HOUSING: ARCHITECTURAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS by William Mullins and Phyllis Allen. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1971. vii+248pp. $25.00.

ARCHITECTURE FOR THE EDUCATIONAL THEATRE by Horace W. Robinson. Eugene, Oregon: University of Oregon, 1970. 147 pp. $7.50.