This paper examines how pre-university students shared and constructed knowledge in the context of GP (general paper) by interacting through individual virtual characters across five cycles of enactive role play sessions. Contextualized scenarios on the topic of euthanasia were developed in "Second Life". Role-playing the virtual characters…

This research describes a method applied in a third-year Russian language course designed to push students' writing proficiency to the Intermediate/Advanced threshold and beyond and the findings associated therewith. The approach centered around argumentation and debate, a subject usually designed to improve students' command of logic and…

This longitudinal case study describes the factors that affect an experienced teacher's attempt to shift her pedagogical practices in order to implement embedded elements of argument into her science classroom. Research data was accumulated over 2 years through video recordings of science classes. The Reformed Teacher Observation Protocol (RTOP)…

Given the increasing import of asynchronous discussions to achieving learning objectives, this analysis proposes an exploratory assessment model that involves three levels of analysis, i.e., argument structure, disagreement, and interaction. The model promotes objective, systematic assessment; streamlines the assessment process; and clearly…

Researchers studying technology development often examine how rhetorical activity contributes to technologies' design, implementation, and stabilization. This article offers a possible methodology for studying one role of rhetorical activity in technology development: knowledge consolidation analysis. Applying this method to an exemplar case, the…

In this paper I wish to comment upon the use of polemical argument in philosophy of education and education. Like Foucault, I believe that a whole morality is at stake because polemical argument obfuscates the search for truth at the expense of truth and the other's veracity, integrity and dignity. The use of polemics is illustrated by two…

Inoculation messages employed in past studies have been consistently preventative. Yet, if inoculation strategies are to be used in mass media campaigns, researchers need to know what the effects will be on all audience members--not just those known to support a message sponsor's position. A 3-phase experiment was conducted involving 558…

In 1970, the author learned a simple step in making essays from his advisor. His advisor used a drawing of the Parthenon to illustrate the creation of a five-paragraph essay. It was obvious that his advisor was hesitant on teaching them a very simple concept of essay writing because it was pretty mechanical. Like his advisor, a lot of teachers…

A basic understanding of statistical ideas, and especially the idea of statistical modelling involving exposure to statistical data analysis, is as fundamental to an understanding of modern society and its artefacts as is language literacy. Thus, statistics should become a central feature of the mathematics curriculum. This implies, among other…

This study examined how intellectual openness affected the extent to which students engaged in the processes of critical thinking in computer-supported collaborative argumentation (CSCA). This study found: a) indications of differences in the number of personal rebuttals posted in reply to direct challenges between more versus less open students…

The internal and external validity of scores on the two-scale Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR) and its recent revision, the Paulhus Deception Scales (PDS), developed to measure two facets of social desirability, were studied with three groups of forensic clients and two groups of college undergraduates (total N = 519). The two…

The present investigation sought to advance Psychological Reactance Theory (PRT) by examining whether trait reactance and sensation seeking influence the magnitude of a perceived threat, state reactance, and reactance restoration. Results revealed that high trait reactant (HTR) and low trait reactant (LTR) individuals and high sensation seekers…

In asynchronous threaded discussions, messages posted near the end of the week provide less time for students to critically examine and respond to ideas presented in the messages than messages posted early in the week. This study examined how the day in which messages are posted (early, midweek and weekend) in computer-supported collaborative…

This essay argues for the value of an ecological metaphor in conceptualizing, designing, and enacting research in writing studies. Such a metaphor conceives of activities, actors, situations, and phenomena as interdependent, diverse, and fused through feedback. This ecological orientation invites composition scholars to research rhetorically: to…

We report a study of a class of 28 sixth graders engaged in an extended computer-supported argumentive discourse activity. Participants collaborated with a same-side peer in arguing against successive pairs of peers on the opposing side of an issue. Meta-level awareness was facilitated by conducting the dialogs via instant messaging software,…