“Life Between Fingers”: A Response to News Photography of an “Urban Ghetto”

This photo essay updates research previously presented in Visual Communication Quarterly about news characterizations of a “Black neighborhood” in Iowa City, Iowa. Shot by preschoolers in the city's Southeast Side, the images in this essay—peppered with the inadvertent appearance of the photographers' fingers—added to an artistic value that cast life there being other than dangerous, dark, and devious. Whereas hands can often be used to conceal, the fingers in these photographs frame special and specific glimpses of life, ultimately presenting a counternarrative to neighborhood characterizations constructed by news photographs.     

Word Reading Fluency: Role of Genome‐Wide Single‐Nucleotide Polymorphisms in Developmental Stability and Correlations With Print Exposure

The genetic effects on individual differences in reading development were examined using genome‐wide complex trait analysis (GCTA) in a twin sample. In unrelated individuals (one twin per pair, n = 2,942), the GCTA‐based heritability of reading fluency was ~20%–29% at ages 7 and 12. GCTA bivariate results showed that the phenotypic stability of reading fluency from 7 to 12 years (r = 0.69) is largely driven by genetic stability (genetic r = 0.69). Genetic effects on print exposure at age 12 were moderate (~26%) and correlated with those influencing reading fluency at 12 (genetic r = 0.89), indicative of a gene–environment correlation. These findings were largely consistent with quantitative genetic twin analyses that used both twins in each pair (n = 1,066–1,409).     

Strain,depressed mood and suicidal thoughts among maltreated adolescents in the United States

Almost one-fourth of maltreated adolescents report they have thought about killing themselves in the last two weeks. We draw on Agnew's strain theory to develop a model to account for variability in suicidal thoughts among this high-risk group. We used data from a nationally representative sample of 572 maltreated adolescents, aged 11–15. One dimension of relational strain (poorer relationship with peers) and greater depressed mood were directly related to whether adolescents did or did not think about suicide. Depressed mood mediated the relationship between two strain variables (relationship with caregiver and with school) and suicidal thoughts. Child maltreatment strain (being severely harmed) and substance use were not directly related to suicidal thoughts; however, depressed mood appeared to mediate the relationship between drug use and suicidal thoughts. Adolescents who experience child maltreatment and who appear to be disconnected from caregivers, friends and school should be screened for depression and suicidal thoughts.     

A contribution to the history of assessment: how a conversation simulator redeems Socratic method

Assessment in education is a recent phenomenon. Although there were counterparts in former epochs, the term assessment only began to be spoken about in education after the Second World War; and, since that time, views, strategies and concerns over assessment have proliferated according to an uncomfortable dynamic. We fear that, increasingly, education is assessment-led rather than learning-led and ‘counter to what is desired’ in an ugly judgemental spirit whose moral underpinnings deserve scrutiny. In this article, we seek to historicise assessment and the anxieties of credentialising students. Through this longer history, we present a philosophy of assessment which underlies the development of a new method in assessment-as-learning. We hope that our development of a conversation simulator helps restore the innocence of education as learning-led, while still delivering on the incumbencies of assessment.     

Impact of childhood maltreatment on physical health-related quality of life in U.S. active duty military personnel and combat veterans

Previous studies have found an association between childhood maltreatment (CM) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and to a lesser extent have considered whether psychiatric symptoms may explain the relationship. This study aimed to further our understanding of the link between CM and HRQoL by testing whether posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depressive symptoms mediate the relationship between childhood maltreatment and physical HRQoL. Mediation models were examined in a sample of male Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) active duty and combat veterans (n = 249). PTSD and depressive symptoms mediated the relationship between CM and overall physical HRQoL, as well as participation in daily activities due to physical health, bodily pain, and social functioning. Mediation of the relationship between childhood maltreatment and physical and social functioning by depression and PTSD symptoms may lend support to neurobiological hypotheses that childhood maltreatment sensitizes the nervous system and after repeated trauma may lead to the development of psychiatric symptoms, which have a major impact on morbidity and mortality.     

Redefining Information Literacy to Prepare Students for the 21st Century Workforce

Information literacy instruction–a set of skills taught in order to identify and find the information needed to solve a problem—traditionally follows a formalized academic model. It assumes information skills can be applied universally and learned individually. However, this approach does not correspond to the social and specialized learning practices in the workforce. This article presents an argument for faculty and librarians to collaborate and redefine information literacy guidelines using specific disciplinary requirements while incorporating non-formal and informal workplace learning practices. This approach would better prepare students for the social and collaborative learning required in a 21st century workforce environment.     

Reinforcement and the Scholarly Response

Abstract

Failure is Impossible Women Teaching for Change: Gender, Class and Power By Kathleen Weiler South Hadley, Massachusetts: Bergin &; Garvey, 1988, 174 pages, $29.95 hardbound, $12.95 softbound Reviewed by Martha Kendall

Just the Right Medicine Exhortations on Liberal Education: A Dean Speaks His Mind By Robert L. Spaeth Collegeville, Minnesota: Office of Academic Affairs, St. John's University, 1988, 110 Pages, $4.95 softbound Reviewed by Pheme Perkins

Are Intellectuals as Irrelevant as They Seem? The Last Intellectuals: American Culture In the Age of Academe By Russell Jacoby New York: Basic Books, 1987, 290 pages, $18.95. Reviewed by Joseph A. Amato