Partnering for research: A critical discourse analysis

Using a critical discourse analysis, informed by poststructuralist theory, we explore the research phenomenon of coerced partnership. This lens allows us to pay attention to the social relations of power operating in knowledge generation processes, especially as they affect feminist researchers in adult education. We propose an alternative vision of partnership which politicizes the term partnership, attends to civil society, maps resistances and values the process by all partners.     

Impacts of Multi‐representational Instruction on High School Students’ Conceptual Understandings of the Particulate Nature of Matter

This quasi‐experimental study examined 42 high school introductory chemistry students’ conceptual understandings of the particulate nature of matter (PNM) before and immediately after instruction. Two groups of students, who were taught by the same teacher, received one of two possible instructional interventions: Reform‐Based Teaching (RBT) or Reform‐Based Teaching with Multiple Representations (RBTw/MR). The RBTw/MR instruction differed from the RBT instruction in terms of the frequency of using multiple representations (visual, textual, oral) in relationship to the macroscopic phenomenon and the likely actions occurring at the submicroscopic level. Qualitative research methods, including open‐ended questionnaires and interviews, were used to investigate and describe participants’ conceptual understandings of the PNM over time. The findings indicated that before instruction all participants held a range of alternative conceptions about the aspects of the PNM. Post‐instruction findings indicate that the RBTw/MR instruction was more efficacious in promoting a scientific understanding of the PNM than was the instruction without multiple representations.     

The Professor as Librarian

This article does not propose that professors replace librarians, but shows that librarian functions are a natural part of the teaching activities. The author (B.A., Texas; M.A., Wayne State; Ph.D., Ohio State) has contributed articles and reviews, is editor of “The College Experience,” and is associate professor of language arts, California State Polytechnic College.     

Pro Bono Publico

Abstract

The dynamics of classroom authority are not always simple. Students come to school to increase their knowledge, and teachers presumably know more about their subject than do their students, but learning is not exclusively a one-way downward flow of information. Teachers learn from students and students often learn best when teachers do not exert their authority, at least in the conventional sense. Instructors who provoke thinking encourage students to encounter their own moments of illumination. This article presents the idea that learning through active resistance makes the information that students discover more valuable to them. Examples from the author's own classroom experiences are provided.     

Leadership without imposition

Community colleges require speech communication teachers with special competencies—competencies dictated by the educational goals, the student characteristics, and the community orientation of junior colleges. These teacher competencies should be taught through special master's degree programs and in‐service training provided by teacher education institutions and professional speech communication associations. Based on her experience as a teacher at community colleges in Texas and Illinois and as a director of teacher training in speech, the author suggests that community colleges are basically different than four‐year institutions, and need teachers with different skills.