SELF-PERCEPTION IN WRITING: THE EFFECTS OF WRITING WORKSHOP AND TRADITIONAL INSTRUCTION ON INTERMEDIATE GRADE STUDENTS

This study compared the self-perception - specifically in terms of writing - of fourth- and fifth-grade students whose teachers used a writingworkshop approach with those whose teachers used a traditional approach. The measure used was the Writer Self-Perception Scale (Bottomley, Henk, & Melnick, 1997/1998). No significant differences were found between the scores of students who had been taught by the two teaching approaches. The findings of this study suggest that individual teachers are more important than strategies or approaches in affecting the writer self-perception of intermediate-grade children.     

Kierkegaard on the Problems of Pure Irony

Søren Kierkegaard's thesis, The Concept of Irony, contains an interesting critique of pure irony. Kierkegaard's critique turns on two main claims: (a) pure irony is an incoherent and thus, unrealizable stance; (b) the pursuit of pure irony is morally enervating, psychologically destructive, and culminates in bondage to moods. In this essay, first I attempt to clarify Kierkegaard's understanding of pure irony as “infinite absolute negativity.” Then I set forth his multilayered critique of pure irony. Finally, I consider briefly a distinctly theological component in Kierkegaard's critique. I argue that this feature of Kierkegaard's account can and should be distinguished from the broadly ethical critique of pure irony that I sketch in the second section, even if these components of Kierkegaard's position are found together as a unified whole in The Concept of Irony. My overall goal in this essay is to reveal the subtlety and plausibility of Kierkegaard's critique of pure irony. I also attempt to disclose the richness of the Hegelian account of ethical life to which Kierkegaard recurs in his thesis.     

The ABCs of analogical abilities: Evidence for formal analogical reasoning abilities in 24‐month‐olds

Solving formal analogy problems requires the identification of an initial term and the transformation that occurs between the initial two terms as well as the determination of the final term. Experiment 1 tested 24‐month‐olds' ability to determine final terms when they were shown the initial term and told the transformation that was to occur. Children selected their responses from an array of two principled distracters. The children were able to determine the correct final term when they were given information about the initial term and transformation. Experiment 2 tested 24‐month‐olds' ability to solve final‐term problems, partial analogies, and complete analogies. The children solved all the three types of problems.     

Institutional Productivity Ratings and Publishing Trends in Nine Literacy Journals: 1972–2012

This study examined the productivity of faculty members who published in nine leading literacy professional journals from 1972–2012. Those universities with the greatest number of articles written by literacy faculty members are listed. This listing was also adjusted according to number of literacy faculty members at each institution, resulting in a productivity index that shows the average number of articles published per faculty member. Results from this study extend the work of four previous studies on institutional productivity in literacy journals.