Two recent books provide varied resources for exploring ethical issues in the social sciences. Reflection on ethical issues aims to sensitize scholars to a range of consequences of their research, and to scholars' responsibilities to their discipline, their colleagues, and the public. This review article assesses the utility of these texts (and of…

In metabolic terms, publishing in the humanities is more couch potato than sprinter. An idea can take years to move from light-bulb stage to manuscript to finished book. Add another year, or two or three, before an author can expect to see reviews of that book in academic journals. That slows down an already glutted system. "It's just appalling…

The dilemma of reconciling developmentally appropriate, constructivist reading instruction with mandated high-stakes tests was confronted by four second-grade teachers through their selection of two active professional development methods. To continue and deepen their use of an interactive model of reading focused on comprehension, the teachers…

In this review essay J.J. Chambliss assesses the current state of the field of philosophy of education through analysis of four recent edited compilations: Randall Curren's "A Companion to Philosophy of Education"; Nigel Blake, Paul Smeyers, Richard Smith, and Paul Standish's "The Blackwell Guide to Philosophy of Education"; Wilfred Carr's "The…

In May 2007, the faculty book club that the author facilitates read Chris Bohjalian's novel "The Double Bind" (Shaye Areheart: Harmony, 2007). Bohjalian, a local author, agreed to meet them in Burlington for drinks and conversation. When he arrived, the author and her class introduced themselves, passed around some nachos, and began their…

This article provides an overview of the three-volume reference set, "Treaties with American Indians: An Encyclopedia of Rights, Conflicts, and Sovereignty" published by ABC-CLIO. This reference work is edited by Donald Fixico, Arizona State University, and dedicated to the people of his tribes: (1) Shawnee; (2) Sac and Fox; (3) Seminole; and (4)…

The pressing need to improve achievement in American schools is widely recognized. In "Tests, Testing, and Genuine School Reform," Herbert J. Walberg draws on scientific studies of tests and their uses to inform citizens, educators, and policy makers about well-established principles of testing, current problems, and promising evidence-based…

Reviews are an important resource for readers' advisory and collection development. They are also a helpful promotional tool, introducing patrons to what is new on the shelf. This resource includes: (1) Tips for writing strong, relevant reviews; (2) Different ways reviews can be used to promote your library; and (3) A chapter by Joyce Saricks…

Problem-based learning (PBL) is well suited for courses in the history of medicine, where multiple perspectives exist and information has to be gleaned from different sources. A student, an archivist, and a teacher offer three perspectives about a senior level course where students explored the antecedents and consequences of medical technology.…

In this essay Stefan Neubert argues that John Dewey was a philosopher of reconstruction and that the best use we can make of him today is to reconstruct his work in and for our own contexts. Neubert distinguishes three necessary and equally important components of the overall project of reconstructing Deweyan pragmatism: first, to make strong and…

This article is the first of a series of three that reviews the citation patterns of references cited in the entire collection of International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) journal articles (1962-2007) and all chapters published in the three editions of "Handbook of Human Performance Technology" (1992, 1999, and 2006). It includes an…

APA Books® announces the "APA Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology"--the first offering in an new reference series covering core and emerging subdisciplines, the "APA Handbooks in Psychology." I/O Psychology is both a science/practice and an applied/basic research discipline. Appropriately, the "APA…

An emphasis on diversity is one of the greatest challenges in my teaching. Everyone, myself included, enters the course with a set of expectations for human behavior, and literature can be very disruptive of these expectations. International literature, for example, often disrupts the narrative expectations of readers who were trained by stories…

Just when one thinks every topic has been covered to the fullest, somehow, talented writers, creative artists, and forward-thinking editors come up with new takes and fresh angles. This is particularly true of the books selected as the best of 2009. The hallmarks of the nonfiction this year include some unusual scientists, from two brothers who…

This article reviews "Queer Online: Media, Technology and Sexuality," edited by Kate O'Riordan and David J. Phillips (2007). Although essays in "Queer Online" are welcome contributions to cyberqueer studies inasmuch as they underscore critical themes in cyberqueer lives, they sometimes lack the much-needed empirical basis for youth, parents, and…