Discusses how earlier in his career the author did nothing to make nonfiction an integral part of his curriculum, nothing to help students critically read it or, more important, use it to inform the nonfiction he was asking them to write. Discusses a series of writing assignments using nonfiction. (SG)

Examines argument from the televised impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton concerning the similarity of the Clinton case to the Linda Battalino case and asks if the argument does or does not represents an "ad hominem" argument. Provides an introduction to the viewpoint of informal logic and a summary of the various forms of…

Offers a critical analysis of Rep. Barney Frank's speech delivered in the House of Representatives concerning the "Defense of Marriage Act." Argues that Frank attempts to persuade colleagues by advancing two "ad hominem" arguments, one of which could potentially shift the focus from the need to defend marriages from same-sex…

Nursing students (n=27) were exposed to persuasive messages about AIDS, risk, and nurses' roles over 4 months. Compared with 47 controls, pre/posttest data confirmed that the messages changed beliefs and attitudes about caring for people with AIDS. (SK)

Skills of argument are important for effective consideration of social issues and participation in democratic institutions. Such skills applied to a juror-reasoning task have been found to have a relationship with how well possible verdict choices might be considered. As justice in the jury system requires that jurors give full consideration to…

Research on age-related effects in L2 development often invokes the idea of a critical period--the postulation of which is customarily referred to as the Critical Period Hypothesis. This paper argues that to speak in terms of the Critical Period Hypothesis is misleading, since there is a vast amount of variation in the way in which the critical…

The purpose of this article is to discuss critically the idea of inclusion as social justice. The authors outline the multiple discourses on inclusion and the disparate meanings of social justice that permeate the inclusive education literature. They assume that greater conceptual clarity will strengthen ongoing reform efforts and help educators…

In this article, the author argues that there is a big conceptual difference between number lines and number strips and that number lines should be consistently used as early as Y1. Her interest in the use of the number line as a powerful image of the real numbers, and how this is introduced in the early years, comes from her own experience as a…

In response to an invitation to explore the idea that potential guidelines be considered for qualitative inquiry in environmental education research, this article argues that prerequisite understanding of the nature and scope of qualitative inquiry required for such a task will reveal the problem inherent in it. Understanding the diverse…

This project teaches students about persuasion techniques, especially as governments use them. Most project examples came from the work of the U.S. military's modern Psychological Operations division. Social psychology students (a) reviewed influence techniques; (b) examined posters, leaflets, and other persuasion tools used in World War II, the…

The study reported on here explores the claim that computer conferencing is a valuable environment for students to rehearse academic debates and arguments which can then be drawn on in their written assignments. In order to carry out the exploration, the functional linguistic concept of ENGAGEMENT was employed. ENGAGEMENT comprises six sets of…

Two experiments examined the impact of counterfactual thinking on persuasion. Participants in both experiments were exposed to short video clips in which an actor described a car accident that resulted in serious injury. In the narrative description, the salience of a counterfactual was manipulated by either explicitly including the counterfactual…

Smith's article "On Construct Validity: Issues of Method and Measurement" is a fine tribute to L. J. Cronbach and P. E. Meehl (1955) that clarifies the current state and future directions in the understanding of construct validity. Construct validity is a dynamic process, and fit indices need to be used at the service of understanding, not in…

Ironic texts offer pleasure both as what Burke called "ordinary" and "pure persuasion." Readers may engage these symbolic dimensions simultaneously, but in different relative proportions. Using the coincidence of the 1986 sentencing of sanctuary movement members and the rededication of the Statue of Liberty, we offer four possible interpretive…

Hip-hop as content in a first-year writing course offers students a powerful way to connect with their worlds. This article draws on Marcel Proust as a kind of rhyme to legitimate hip-hop as a substantive expressive medium to achieve artistry in writing.