Empirical studies and theory suggest that educational dialogue can be used to support learners in the development of reasoning, critical thinking and argumentation. This paper presents an educational design for synchronous online peer discussion that guides student dialogue in ways that lead to improved argumentation and collaborative knowledge…

This paper reports some methodological approaches to the analysis of argumentation discourse developed as part of the two-and-a-half year project titled "Enhancing the Quality of Argument in School Science" supported by the Economic and Social Research Council in the United Kingdom. In this project researchers collaborated with…

Oratory is now gone and is virtually an anachronism. And by the same token, declamation has lost its place in the prevailing pedagogy. To memorize a speech and deliver it expressively is a throwback, a relic of an earlier century. In an era when individuals, and pluralism reign, memorizing and reciting a speech is often dismissed as mechanical,…

This article reports on a teacher book club consisting of six novice teachers who met over a 2-year period beginning with their first entry into the profession to cultivate their teacher knowledge, identity, and development in a social/supportive context. The teachers met approximately every 6 weeks over the course of the academic year (7 times…

Norenzayan, Smith, Jun Kim, and Nisbett (2002) investigated cultural differences in the use of intuitive versus formal reasoning in 4 experiments. Our comment concerns the 4th experiment where Norenzayan et al. reported that, although there were no cultural differences in accuracy on abstract logical arguments, Koreans made more errors than U.S.…

This article describes some implications of using a multiple literacies perspective in the construction and implementation of literacy curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment in early childhood and elementary classrooms. After briefly laying out a theoretical perspective in sections focusing on early literacy, academic learning, literacy beyond…

Social workers understand that assessing the implications of a policy for individual citizens like Veronica, a 51 year-old African American woman whose retirement will be jeopardized by President Bush's plan for social security, is often a good yardstick by which to measure the impact of a change. Moreover, social workers understand that policy…

The students, who debate develop the skills of critical learning, argumentation and presentation quickly. A high school teacher illustrates the way she combined essay writing and debate to address a range of language arts standards and also help students become better-informed participants in a democracy.

Alan Block's (2004) major criticism of the authors' study revolves around the notion that they have attempted to quantify their students' sense of calling in an existentially inauthentic, spiritually delimiting way. For, as he puts it, "identifications of presence are impossible." The authors cannot accept this pronouncement if only for the simple…

For many students, public speaking is a communication apprehension inducing event. Others may enter the public speaking classroom as confident speakers but are restrictive in their approach to topic selection and alternative solution development. Both scenarios present a particular challenge for teachers who require students to present a variety…

The ability to communicate persuasively is an important managerial tool. Surveys of both students and employers underscore the importance of oral and written communication skills and persuasion to successful careers in business. Writing persuasive documents to customers, subordinates, superiors, or stakeholders requires the ability to analyze the…

A positive psychology framework is consistent with counseling psychology's historic claim of focusing on strengths and optimal human functioning. The major articles in this issue of The Counseling Psychologist introduced many innovative, provocative, pragmatic, and useful ideas, strategies, and models related to this framework. For the most part,…

The ability to critically evaluate whether information presented actually supports a given claim is essential for cognitive and social development. This paper presents a study focusing on developmental and contextual aspects of this ability (called antilogos). We tested antilogos for different variables: age group (Grades 8 and 10), direction of…

In the academic ranks of schooling, writing tasks move gradually from a focus on the transmission of knowledge to the transformation of knowledge. As a more complex writing task, knowledge-transforming requires writers to engage in the rhetorical act of persuading readers of their work's value, significance, and credibility. At the graduate level,…

Challenges in reconciling trade liberalization policies and efforts to protect the natural environment provide useful illustrations to underscore important concepts in management education. In particular, the three-way interactions among government, business, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) over economic and environmental trade-offs serve…