Boy Trouble: Rhetorical framing of boys' underachievement

This article examines discourse in the United States used to socially construct an “underachieving boys” moral panic. Employing discourse analysis I examine the adversarial rhetoric of claims-makers and the frames they deploy to undermine alternative and conflicting accounts (of females as disadvantaged) and to forestall any challenges to the scientific authority of their own (biological essentialist) account of crisis. I illustrate how this discourse adapts the rhetorical frame of gender equity from the discourse it politically opposes, and uses it to legitimate its own goals. I find that the framing of innocent victimized boys as scientific “truth” is aligned with a broader masculinity politics that blames certain “folk devils”, and a synchronic moral panic about fearsome (black) male youth. I conclude by considering the success of this moral panic as evidenced by changes in educational policies and practices in the United States.     

A Longitudinal Correlational Study of Students’ Performance in Supervised Industrial Work Experience and Classroom Instruction

Scholars in technology education are of the view that there should be some relationship between supervised industrial work‐experience and classroom instruction in order that the theory learned at school would have relevance to practice at the work place, especially as supervised industrial work‐experience has become an important component of well‐planned technology education programmes.

This study was therefore designed to determine the nature and extent of the relationship between supervised industrial work‐experience and classroom instruction. A research sample of 64 (comprising of 30 mechanical, 20 electrical and 14 civil) engineering technology students were alternatively exposed for three years to classroom instruction and its consequent sessional examinations on the one hand and supervised industrial work‐experience and the consequent performance assessment process on the other. Performance scores‐‐in percentages‐‐were collected from the two research situations. Product moment correlation coefficients were computed for the pairs of performance scores; first all the students’ scores were analysed together and then they were analysed in each engineering specialty.

It was found that:

(1) generally there was no statistically significant relationship between the students’ performances in classroom instruction and supervised industrial work‐experience;

(2) additionally (a) statistically significant relationship did not exist between students’ performances during the different periods of supervised industrial work‐experience and (b) there was a statistically significant relationship between the students’ performances in the classroom‐instruction situation.

It was recommended that industries should participate in the preparation of curricula for technology education programmes; and should train students on projects that have educational value and practical utility while more industrial‐work‐related instructions should be provided in technology education programmes.     

Indiscriminate mass surveillance and the public sphere

Recent disclosures suggest that many governments apply indiscriminate mass surveillance technologies that allow them to capture and store a massive amount of communications data belonging to citizens and non-citizens alike. This article argues that traditional liberal critiques of government surveillance that center on an individual right to privacy cannot completely capture the harm that is caused by such surveillance because they ignore its distinctive political dimension. As a complement to standard liberal approaches to privacy, the article develops a critique of surveillance that focuses on the question of political power in the public sphere.     

Examining degree production and financial context at public master’s colleges and universities in the United States: a distance function approach

Tertiary Education and Management - Using an output distance function as an analytic framework, stochastic frontier analysis (SFA), and a generalized true random effects (GTRE) model, this study...     

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Initiatives: A Survey of University Libraries in Nigeria

The study investigated the extent of adoption of electronic theses and dissertations in university libraries in Nigeria. Data collection for the study was via online questionnaire. The study revealed that digitization of theses and dissertations started between 1980 and 1995. It was found that only a few university libraries have embraced digitization of theses and dissertations in Nigeria. Benefits of electronic theses and dissertations were identified as improving university ranking and visibility, increasing access to the theses and dissertations, saving space in the library, enabling others link to the work with persistent URLs, preserving the work for future generations, and saving costs for students. Challenges such as unstable internet connectivity, lack of funding, irregular power supply, lack of information technology personnel, absence of electronic theses and dissertations submission policy, and copyright issues were identified. It is hoped that the study might provide insights useful for librarians planning to embark on the digitization of theses and dissertations project.