Examines the growing body of literature for and against affirmative action. The author includes articles and books that chronicle the history of affirmative action and the backlash against it, personal narratives by blacks experiencing affirmative action programs firsthand, and two books that discuss India's attempts since 1948 to address the…

In two experiments, affect-based and cognition-based attitudes toward a person were induced by varying sequence of affective and cognitive information presented to subjects while holding content constant. Results indicated affect-based attitudes were most effectively changed by affective persuasive appeals, whether these appeals were produced by…

Suggestions are offered by fund-raising professionals on the following topics: choosing the best night for phonathons; effective teasers for envelopes; type of reply envelopes used; use of precalling postcards; letter length; return rate for mail solicitations; return rate for phonathons; and avoiding common mistakes in mail requests, phonathons,…

A law school professor analyzed data on pass/fail grading and conventional grading in his legal negotiation class over 11 years to determine statistically significant differences in performance of the two groups of students. Grades for both negotiation simulation exercises and written papers were analyzed. Results showed differences between the…

Relates the Internet and the concept of cyberspace to education. Addresses the definition of educational cyberspace, cyberspace as culture and continuum, and the origins of cyberspace. Explores related aspects including on-line and off-line cyberspace, hypertexuality and asynchronous communication, and educational cyberspace as dystopia. (CMK)

Focuses on constructivism and its implications for curriculum theory and practice. Warns against relying on theory, stating that no single theory can provide an adequate foundation for educational practice. States that the constructivist and situated learning movement offers a challenge for curriculum theory, practice, and research. (CMK)

Explores social education and the nature of social knowledge, focusing on reconstructivism, John Dewey's criticism of reconstructivism, the two developments that unraveled the reconstructionist counter-socialization argument, and the current emphasis in social education on the loss of respect for the core values and objective methods for…

Presents an assignment in which students choose a historical medical document, focusing on bloodletting techniques, tendon repair in the calf, or phrenology, and then convince the doctor or specialist who wrote the document that he was incorrect or did not use the best medical treatment. Provides historical background on phrenology. (CMK)

Examines whether students engage in biased assimilation during in-class debates. Finds that biased assimilation only occurs when the student is arguing for her or his existing position on an issue. Concludes that, in order to eliminate biased assimilation, teachers should encourage students to debate the opposite position of their preconceived…

Explores the problematic issues, deficits, and open questions that have received little attention in the discussion on self-controlled learning although they arise in both theory formation and research practice. Discusses perspectives for a further development of both theory and research practice and of the practice of self-directed learning in…

Believes that social studies teachers should help their students use logical argument and learn to recognize a fallacious argument. Offers a description and conceptualization of critical thinking. Discusses common fallacies of informal arguments after defining fallacy and syllogisms. Provides three considerations for classroom discourse and…

Examines what the metaphor "teaching as persuasion" would mean in the domains of philosophy, anthropology, and teacher education, asserting that if such a metaphor is to be widely accepted by the educational community and the public, then this discussion is necessary. The metaphor suggests that in teacher education, learning to teach…

Analyzes the teaching of linguistics and ethics of representing linguistic issues in a persuasive way, examining tensions between telling it like it is and telling it in a way that students will listen. The paper highlights persuasion, the introduction of linguistic concepts, the importance of understanding dialects and their role in education,…

Reports findings of a survey on genre analysis of 117 commercial letters in English exchanged by fax between a Brazilian company and two European companies. The letters were analyzed in terms of shared communicative purposes and rhetorical features that together contribute to the building-up of the resulting generic structure named "Business…

Hernandez (1989) argued that teacher educators who teach multicultural education courses too often focus on curricular or content aspects of multicultural education and rarely deal with the process of changing teachers' belief systems related to multicultural education. This article presents a host of practices that have supported teachers'…