Visual Rhetoric

Visual Rhetori

The DR-TA: Avoiding Common Pitfalls

The Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DR-TA) described by Stauffer (1969, 1980) is currently being used by many classroom teachers at all levels of instruction. The DR-TA is a procedure which improves students\u27 reading-thinking skills by encouraging students to establish their own purposes for reading. The superiority of the DR-TA is well established (Stauffer, 1976), and teachers who use the strategy effectively indicate that students do increase their abilities to reason while reading. However, elements of the DR-TA are being distorted or misused by some teachers who may then wonder why children don\u27t seem to respond like they\u27re supposed to. Some suggestions for instruction may assist teachers in the effective use of DR-TA

The DR-TA: Avoiding Common Pitfalls

The Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DR-TA) described by Stauffer (1969, 1980) is currently being used by many classroom teachers at all levels of instruction. The DR-TA is a procedure which improves students\u27 reading-thinking skills by encouraging students to establish their own purposes for reading. The superiority of the DR-TA is well established (Stauffer, 1976), and teachers who use the strategy effectively indicate that students do increase their abilities to reason while reading. However, elements of the DR-TA are being distorted or misused by some teachers who may then wonder why children don\u27t seem to respond like they\u27re supposed to. Some suggestions for instruction may assist teachers in the effective use of DR-TA

Sustainability and the future: a case study on environmental perspectives of the future generation of scientists

In the natural sciences, countless studies have sought to quantify the environmental impacts of varying anthropogenic activities and have predicted and modeled future scenarios for the natural world under the siege of human forces. Faith for the study of and action to ameliorate environmental impacts is often put in the hands of scientists. However, little research has been conducted to look at the attitudes and perceptions future scientists have towards the environment with regard to anthropogenic environmental impacts, sustainability, and the future. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative case study was to take an intensive look at one such group of future scientists, the Sputnik Institute (pseudonym) 2010 scholars. Specific questions addressed through the research included: What do students with an aptitude for the sciences perceive as our greatest environmental threats and solutions to said problems? What emotional impacts are associated with internalizing thoughts on environmental issues? How do thoughts on environmental issues impact perceptions of the future? What role does spirituality/religious beliefs and family play in perceptions of environmental issues? What are participant\u27s major sources of information regarding environmental issues? When interviewed post-program, have participants gained further knowledge regarding Sustainability and what would they wish to cover if given the option to take a course on Sustainability? Multiple approaches were employed to answer the outlined questions including, but not limited to: pre and post open ended questions, multiple semi-structured interviews, post program interviews, participant reflexivity, critical self reflexivity, and participant observations. Findings of the study indicate that indeed, the future generation of scientists are concerned for both current and future anthropogenic environmental impacts as well as the feasibility of achieving sustainability, though they may currently lack the educational tools necessary to make a switch to a sustainable paradigm a reality

“Process Values” and “Deep Values” in Evaluation

Background: Many evaluation theorists and practitioners have advocated the application of cultural values to the evaluation process to ensure cultural appropriateness and responsiveness.    Purpose: This article draws a distinction between these “process values” and “deep values” in evaluation, using the specific example of cultural values to illustrate. The application of “deep values” refers to the deliberate and systematic inclusion of [in this case, cultural] values in the very definitions of “quality” and “value” used in an evaluation, and in the evaluative interpretation of evidence. Setting: Not applicable. Subjects: Not applicable. Research Design: Not applicable. Data Collection and Analysis: Not applicable. Findings: Not applicable. Conclusions: Including “deep cultural values” in the “merit determination” or “valuing” step in evaluation is partly about ensuring the right voices are at the sense-making table, but it’s also about having practical evaluation-specific methodologies for systematically and transparently building in those cultural values.     Keywords: values, ethics, culture, indigenous communities, communities of color, evaluation methodology, validit

Marketing Evaluation as a Profession and Discipline

It can be a bit like pushing sand uphill with a pointy stick, as they say here in New Zealand. One of the great challenges in developing evaluation as a discipline is getting it recognised as being distinct from the various other disciplines to which it applies. In this piece, I offer a few reflections on the challenges with this, recount a story where a group of practitioners from outside the discipline actually sat up and took notice, and propose some possible solutions for moving us forward