Postracial fantasies,blackness, and zombies

The essay mainly performs a structural and formal analysis of the logics and affective economies of postracial fantasies so as to eventually offer the Zombie trope as a mode of analysis figuring alternative ways of thinking race relations. The essay contends that the Zombie, when articulated with discourses and feelings of the postracial, signifies the unleashing of black bio-threat bodies upon a population; and that enjoyment of the postracial and the Zombie Apocalyptic genre obscures and resuscitates this signification. As a brief case study, the essay discusses the display, materiality, and “bloody” enjoyment of the “Zombie Obama” target mannequin by gun enthusiasts and preppers.     

“Voice” and “voicelessness” in rhetorical studies

This essay begins with the observation that the term “voice” is frequently used in rhetorical studies literature. Interestingly, rhetorical “voice” means different things to different scholars. This essay seeks to accomplish two tasks related to “voice.” First, it clarifies the conceptual confusion regarding “voice” found in the literature by relating it to a tension between “speaking” and “language.” Second, to avoid this tension, this essay presents a case study in which a notion of “voice” is posited that is constitutive of the public acknowledgment of the ethical and emotional dimensions of public discourse.     

Science Lives: School choices and ‘natural tendencies’

An analysis of 12 semi-structured interviews with university-based scientists and non-scientists illustrates their life journeys towards, or away from, science and the strengths and impact of life occurrences leading them to choose science or non-science professions. We have adopted narrative approaches and used Mezirow's transformative learning theory framework. The areas of discussion from the result have stressed on three main categories that include ‘smooth transition’, ‘incremental wavering transition' and ‘transformative transition’. The article concludes by discussing the key influences that shaped initial attitudes and direction in these people through natural inclination, environmental inspirations and perceptions of science.     

Science education and affect

Thought experiments are tools often used by physicists. Learning authentic physics then also means that students need to develop a familiarity with the reasoning processes of thought experiments. This study examines the nature of learning processes that involve communication about image‐based micro‐worlds in optics. The results of this study show that students’ investigations often have the structure of thought experiments. Thought experiments that use computer‐based microworlds are powerful because they capitalize on the human capability for imagery that allow learners to ‘see’ the physical processes and construct qualitative understandings. In this study, the structure of students’ activities as thought experiments arose from their collective efforts which started with the construction of an optics simulation. In the course of the activities, students’ understanding evolved from fragmented views of optical situations to system views that included multiple components. Collaborative thought experiments are therefore emergent phenomena, triggered by the events as a whole rather than being pre‐designed. In the course of the activities, students who participated in collective problem solving gradually adopted shared graphical representations and meanings.     

Responding to children's drawings

This article aims to explore the issues that face primary school teachers when responding to children's drawings. Assessment in art and design is an ongoing concern for teachers with limited experience and confidence in the area and, although children's drawings continue to be a focus of much research, the question of what it is that teachers say to young children that has a positive impact on the development of their drawing is under-explored. The article aims to identify the components of what constitutes children's competence in observational drawing through a detailed analysis of a drawing made by a 6-year-old child. Connections between the teaching of drawing and the teaching of literacy are highlighted, and the article concludes that children who are able make confident representations of the visual world are better placed to express their own ideas, thoughts and experiences through art.     

Reality Therapy and Personalized Instruction: A Success Story

Abstract

A longitudinal pilot study investigating the cumulative effects of reality therapy counseling and individualized instruction on the control expectancy and success rates of high-risk community college students was conducted. Findings support the tentative hypotheses that control expectancy, achievement, and holding power can be modified by instruction and counseling. The study was conducted over a three-year period at a community college in southeastern North Carolina.     

Evaluating a Classroom Multimedia Programme in the Teaching of Literacy

This paper explores classroom interventions using a particular form of multimedia ICT, and looks to study pupil learning gains which accrue from its use. Work within the Literacy Hour in eight schools was detailed in order to evaluate the effectiveness of this communication system and the research data include pre- and post-test assessments, along with interviews with classroom teachers and pupils. The children are presented with a series of journalistic tasks and classroom activities which they resolve through the use of a compact and coordinated information system. The outcomes demonstrate that children can become self-directive and very active, exploratory, learners in a very short period of time. They quickly enjoy the freedom and control which the system permits, and through which they can be shown to enhance particular literacy skills. The lessons to be learned here relate to the management and organisation of classroom teaching in the face of systems which promote rapid devolution of learning to the learner.     

Vocational Expectations and Self‐Stigmatizing Views Among Collegiate Recovery Students: An Exploratory Investigation

Collegiate recovery programs (CRPs) provide support for students in recovery from substance use disorders. Little research exists examining factors relevant to this population, making it challenging to prioritize recovery and educational goals. This study used a national sample (N = 80) of students involved in CRPs to investigate the relationships among self‐stigma, quality of life, psychological health, and vocational expectations. A regression model revealed these factors to explain 34% of self‐stigmatizing views in this sample.     

The influence of temperature and humidity on swelling and surfactant migration in acrylic emulsion paint films

It has often been observed anecdotally and implied through experimentation that acrylic emulsion paintings accumulate and entrain soils over time due to the inherent mechanical softness in artist's acrylic paint films, through the presence of hydrophilic film components, and by virtue of the ubiquitous presence of surfactant moieties on these film surfaces once they dry. In the present study, it has been this last effect that we have sought to describe more fully in terms of surfactant responsiveness to both temperature and relative humidity (RH). Surfactant hydration and dehydration under varying temperature and RH conditions affects the ultimate partitioning of the surfactant at the paint–air interface, as well as the inherent size, aggregation tendencies, and solubility of surfactant in the bulk paint materials which contain components that are highly responsive to changes in temperature and RH (e.g. polyacrylic or polymaleic anhydride-type dispersal materials). In this work, analytical techniques including three-dimensional microscopy and quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation were used to add to and reinforce current understanding of the physical and mechanical changes to acrylic paint films with temperature and RH. The migration of surfactant at the film surface was studied using desorption electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry and attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared microscopy.