Argues that, as a movement, Afrocentrism is a clever but essentially simple-minded hustle that, in its desire to have the power to define, often justifies low-quality scholarship. Its central failure is the failure to recognize what African Americans have done to realize the truest meanings of democratic possibility. (SLD)

The American Federation of Teachers has developed a series of documents to help educators develop appropriate achievement standards or to describe the standards of other countries. Ordering information is given for these documents and kits for setting standards in particular disciplines. (SLD)

Although higher education in Scotland is part of the United Kingdom system, it has operated separately, with a distinctive focus on the assessment of quality in each academic subject. Internal and external quality assessment and assurance processes are described, and the lessons learned are explored briefly. (MSE)

Examined why graduate students take longer to complete humanities and social sciences degrees than natural sciences degrees. Found that field differences in knowledge structures and the organization of research have significant implications for research training. "Hard" fields have a directed supervision model and close relationship…

A longitudinal study, based on Holland's theory of occupational choice, found accentuation of initial group differences for artistic abilities in both male and female college students and for enterprising abilities of male students within academic subenvironments. Data support Holland's theory that students' initial selection of academic…

Focuses on languages for specific purposes, providing a brief historical perspective, examining it as a profession, discipline, or neither; its role in science and law; language for business purposes; and the position of English worldwide. (Author/VWL)

Drawing on experience in South Africa, college-student learning difficulties are approached as problems in accessing and mastering the cognitive processes needed to develop the specific academic literacy required for the disciplines. Based on this theory, the article argues for integration of such academic development into mainstream…

According to advocate Robert J. Marzano, standards are the only policy mandate that can significantly improve student achievement. The standards identification process was clumsy, but started a national conversation about desirable subject-area knowledge requirements. Standards content should be cut by two-thirds; teacher-made tests can be…

Schooling, which is shared to the extent that Americans share no other cultural or institutional experience, is perhaps the single greatest influence on how people understand the world around them and their places in it. English instruction, required as it is throughout formal schooling, constitutes perhaps the most powerful vehicle for shaping…

This paper centres on published research reports produced by members of the TESOL discourse community. The analysis extends the Hallidayan concept of given/new information from its origins (used for capturing information structure at the clause level) and relates it to the analysis of the macro-structural organisation of TESOL research reports.…

An ethnographic case study of issues related to research performance and promotion of research was conducted within the Creative and Performing Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (AHSS) disciplines of a regional university. The purpose of the study was to explore a variety of ways in which the research work of those disciplines could be made…

As an area of research, instructional communication has struggled to map out the role of communication in the teaching process. More recently, the scholarship of teaching and learning (SOTL) movement has emphasized the importance of applying the same systematic, informed rigor in the teaching that educators do in their research pursuits. Both…

Carolyn Miller's oft-cited "Humanistic Rationale for Technical Writing," published in 1979, tries to give technical communication faculty more cultural capital in English departments controlled by literature professors. Miller replaces a positivistic emphasis in technical communication pedagogy with rhetoric. She shows how technical knowledge is…

The paper's focus is on mentoring in the discipline of kinesiology. This is a particularly important issue for kinesiology as it constitutes a "low consensus" discipline. Universities will struggle with issues of preparing the future professorate, but fields of low consensus will have unique challenges. Mentoring is discussed as a possible…

In May of 2000, the American Sociological Association hosted a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning conference at James Madison University. The goal was to create a forum where faculty from across the country could reflect on the role of sociology in the burgeoning new scholarship of teaching and learning. In this article, the author explores the…