Social epistemology is a broad set of approaches to the study of knowledge and to gain information about the social dimensions. This intellectual movement of wide cross-disciplinary sources reconstructs the problems of epistemology when knowledge is considered to be intrinsically social. In the first chapter, "Social Epistemology and Social…

A study was undertaken to determine which types of verbal humor are preferred by children and to discover how well adults can predict what children will perceive as humorous. Fifteen adults (education students, parents, and teachers) were asked to rate 25 jokes on a four point scale ranging from not funny at all and not very funny to kind of funny…

Suggestions for communicating and therefore teaching college students effectively are put forth. Emphasis is on lively interactions between students and teachers, with additional focus on the instructor's need to understand student needs both in the classroom and after graduation. Specific methods are illustrated with classroom examples for…

German-American cultural contrasts and contrasts between different German regions are illustrated through reference to fairy tales, folk heroes, regional jokes and anecdotes. Examples of legendary figures, fairy tales, and jokes are provided with suggestions on their use to illuminate the German culture and subcultures. The footnotes provide…

Effective marketing instructors commonly share a love for their students, an affinity for the subject matter, and a devotion to continuous quality improvement. The purpose of this article is to highlight 10 anchor points for teaching Principles of Marketing, which are designed to better engage students in the learning process. These anchor…

This paper argues that there are common factors in successful classroom practice with regard to managing behaviour in classrooms, and particularly when teachers successfully meet the needs of pupils with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD). These common factors could be used to predict the success of current and future…

This guide for teaching Tagalog as a second language is designed for training Peace Corps volunteers. It consists of 140 lessons based on cartoons from a Philippines newspaper. Each lesson contains a one- to three-panel cartoon in Tagalog with English translation, vocabulary and grammar notes, comprehension questions, and notes on related cultural…

This annual journal issue contains 24 papers on issues of faculty development, instructional improvement, knowledge and teaching, and communication in higher education. Many of the papers were developed for the annual conference of the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education (POD). The papers are: (1) "Teaching…

Teacher effectiveness literature has supported the contention that a recurring theme in examining the qualities and attributes that constitute effective teachers is the use of humor in the classroom. However, most of the research did not appear to consider the potential differential effects on the students' perceptions of teachers' use of humor…

In order to help teachers of business communication look for new and innovative ways to improve their teaching, this book offers a "how to" approach to various topics in business communication. The ideas expressed in this book are a collaboration of 32 members of The Association for Business Communication who served on the Teaching…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 12 titles deal with the following topics: (1) the relational nature of humor, (2) pragmatism and transaction, (3) within-channel redundancy versus between-channel redundancy in instructional material and its association with…

Humor is an excellent teaching tool because, in addition to preventing classroom boredom and monotony, it introduces lateral aspects of language such as irony, sarcasm, mockery, elision, ellipsis, and euphemism. Humor in language can be approached interactively or structurally through a variety of activities. It can be used to expand vocabulary,…

Educational researchers can provide unusual perspectives to their research if they include humor and irony. Looking at topics from the reverse (the critical attitude, the aesthetic perspective) allows researchers to see patterns, details, and meanings which are normally hidden from view. This aesthetic perspective enables artists, critics, and…

Focusing on reading comprehension instruction at the word, sentence, paragraph, and larger unit levels, the articles in this volume were drawn from a variety of sources. The three articles in the first section deal with theoretical bases and conceptual concerns. Specific topics covered include the argument for a discourse analysis model, the…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 13 titles deal with the following topics: confessional rhetoric in the poetry of Anne Sexton, rhetorical criticism, the Hippocratic oath, messages communicated through team sports as a medium of social interaction, the silent…