Examines the debate over creation and evolution in Wilmington, North Carolina's principal newspapers in order to consider the ways in which this debate exemplifies patterns of public discussion among academics and non academics, including conflicting attitudes about education, authority, and persuasion. Proposes ways to read and intervene in such…

Examines three non-deliberate models which reinscribe the suppression of indifference of the bourgeois public sphere in public deliberation. Explains the primary implication has been the construction of separate realms of public and private and particular discourse forms for each realm. Asserts that ends eventually must be determined by…

A systematic evaluation of signs and messages at 42 recreation areas in California and Arizona focused on type of site, managing agency, density of message locales, sign attributes, and message content. The vast majority of messages presented behavioral commands and were negatively worded. This striking imbalance points to concerns in visitor…

Offers a rebuttal to the article "Does Experience in the Arts Boost Academic Achievement?" by Elliot Eisner in which Eisner wants to restore the arts-based and arts-related ends of art education. Reviews Eisner's research, evidence, and theoretical foundations in order to assert the influence of arts education on students' academic success. (CMK)

Observes that students cannot be expected to make critical judgments on controversial issues like the global environment without some instruction in the logic of critical reasoning. Describes two argument forms, convergent reasoning and inference, and provides instructions for an interactive activity that uses examples from industrial ecology and…

Discusses the importance of critical literacy education, and highlights its history in development of education settings. Outlines the steps in critical debate, and describes the three styles of formal debate. Notes that jurisprudential inquiry is a key instructional method for learning to think about social policy, and describes three competency…

Defines historical research in music education by specifically evaluating the history and usage of each of the four words: (1) music; (2) historical; (3) education; and (4) research. Finds that the good of historical research in music education is both intrinsic and extrinsic because it benefits the researchers and their audiences. (CMK)

Considers how many students find speaking in large group, whole class or "public" contexts intimidating. Explores what constitutes an effective "public" speaker at GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) level, and suggests various teaching strategies as starting points. (SC)

Examines the impact of persuasive fear appeals promoting condom usage to prevent AIDS. Indicates that inherent level of anxiety influences how both the threat and the efficacy of recommended responses are perceived, but that trait anxiety/repression-sensitization has no influence on attitudes, intentions, behaviors, perceived manipulation, or…

Tests predictions based on reactance theory, postdecisional regret, and language expectancy theory in a study altering logical style (inductive versus deductive) and language density in messages to parents advocating family sun safety. Finds influence of message varies by stage of progression to action, which has implications for tailoring health…

Uses a theoretic model of attention to messages to guide a series of laboratory/field experiments involving mass media, classroom instruction, and health interventions. Draws on individual differences in need for novelty as a basis for identifying target audiences likely to engage in health-risk behaviors and as a guide for designing messages…

Examines the metaphor of the "wall separating Church and State" for its argumentative functions in the discourse of Supreme Court argumentation. Traces the rise and fall of this influential metaphor over time as it achieves paradigmatic status, becomes regulated by common usage, and achieves contested status. (PA)

Describes how one teacher adapted the Toulmin argumentation model to improve discussion in introductory literature classes. Describes the method and its application to literary texts. Shows how it enables students with no particular attraction to literature to invent and respond to arguments about a text, ground those arguments in the text, and…

Argues that teacher-researchers should search for ways to accommodate their writing about college composition to broader, nonacademic audiences to clarify and improve the prospects of literacy in democratic culture. Provides evidence of professional writers who have taken up the cause of speaking publicly, if not always ethically, about college…

Compares the persuasiveness of using statistical versus narrative evidence (case studies or examples) across 15 investigations. Indicates that when comparing messages, statistical evidence is more persuasive than narrative evidence. (PA)