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This paper examines how critical thinking is perceived and transmitted in higher education (HE) classrooms using two Vietnamese undergraduate programmes as case studies. The analysis of semi-structured interviews with teachers, supervisors and institutional leaders from both programmes reveals transmission of critical thinking is impacted upon by power relations from not only outside, in the form of cultural and political ideologies, but also "within" the pedagogic discourse itself. Guided by Bernstein's concepts of the pedagogic device, classification and framing, the discussion centres on how organisational and pedagogic decisions on critical thinking prepare Vietnamese students to think, or not, 'the unthinkable'. While teachers cannot unilaterally alter official curriculum texts to make critical thinking accessible to all students, it is the former's engagement, or not, in the re-organisation of curricular texts, and the use of particular pedagogic practices that can bring about change.

"Criminal careers" denotes ways in which offenders develop specialisms and versatility, but studies linking delinquency to social skills deficits have not attempted to explore cognitive, internalised processes by which such "careers" might be chosen. This study investigated criminal minds via script theory: "internal" scripts are used to guide behaviour, "situational" scripts are knowledge of everyday events, and "personal" scripts are a sequence of actions towards a desired goal. This research investigated whether criminal career offenders develop situational scripts for offending and whether such situational scripts express an internalised identity, which manifests as a personal script. Thematic analysis of data derived from "criminal career offenders" supports the notion of criminal situational scripts, with emergent themes considered evidence of personal scripts. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)

Parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) is widely used by speech and language therapists to improve the interactions between children with delayed language development and their parents/carers. Despite favourable reports of the therapy from clinicians, little evidence of its effectiveness is available. We investigated the effects of PCIT as practised by clinicians within a clinical setting. Eighteen consecutive children referred for speech and language therapy because of their delayed language were entered in the study. A within-participants design was used, and the procedure was similar to that used clinically. Blind assessments were conducted twice before therapy to monitor change without therapy and once after completing PCIT. Significant changes in a parent rating scale, the children's mean length of utterance and the ratio of time of child to parent speech were found after the therapy. No changes were detected prior to therapy. The similarity of the design to clinical practice and the use of several clinicians suggest that the findings can be generalized to other settings and clinicians. These findings are a first step in evaluating PCIT; we now need to show that parents can maintain their newly acquired skills in interaction, and that this benefits their children's communication.

With the exception of lecturing staff, research on occupational groups and cultures within the UK higher education system is relatively sparse. This paper focuses upon one specialist group, to-date under-researched but which plays a central role in contemporary higher education administration: graduate research administrators. This occupational group is of particular interest as its members administer and manage an increasing complex and key area of university life, which in many cases appears to span the putative occupational divide between "academic" and "administrative" work. Based upon qualitative interviews with 27 research administrators, and using some of Bourdieu's conceptual devices, the paper analyses particular kinds of informal occupational knowledge and practice, necessary in order effectively to "do" the complex task of research administration in the pressurized environment of contemporary British higher education.

One of the challenges of the Biotechnology industry is keeping up to date with the rapid pace of change and that much of the information, which students learn in their undergraduate studies, will be out of date in a few years. It is therefore crucial that Biotechnology students have the skills to access the relevant information for their studies and critically evaluate the vast volume of information and its sources. By developing information literacy skills, which are part of lifelong learning, Biotechnology graduates are better prepared for their careers. Students also need to understand the issues related to the use of information such as social, political, ethical, and legal implications. This paper will outline the embedding of information literacy skills within the Biotechnology degree at the University of South Australia. Examples of specific activities and their link to assessment will be discussed. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

Art and design practice-based PhDs have been developing in the United Kingdom for the past 15 years, yet there has been almost no research on how these degrees are experienced by students and their supervisors. This article sets out to remedy this lacuna by portraying some of the problems encountered by students in working toward such degrees and some of the solutions they arrive at with the aid of their supervisors. The article is based on extensive qualitative interviewing of both groups.

Contract researchers constitute a marginal occupational group within the UK higher education system, and they manifest a high degree of turnover, in terms of leaving employment and returning to it. This article, which is based on qualitative interviews, examines some of the informal work which social science contract researchers engage in as they attempt to return to employment within academia. First, by examining the vocabularies of motive held by researchers, the article depicts why individuals should make efforts to return to such a marginal occupation. Second, the article then depicts the various kinds of informal work which researchers engage in so as to raise their employment chances. These different kinds of work are portrayed at an interactional level and at the level of individual identity.

Describes novel ways in which the Orlando Project, based at the Universities of Alberta and Guelph, is using Standardized General Markup Language (SGML) to create an integrated electronic history of British women's writing in English. Discusses the types of documents being created and the related SGML requirements. (DSK)

Researches the relationship between the PhD student and supervisor. Examines two strategies used by supervisors in supervising social science students: a loosely structured approach and a tightly controlled one. Finds that effective supervision depends one a balanced involvement with students, and the possession of certain qualities such as flexibility and sensitivity. (DSK)

A discussion of the structure of the social sciences doctorate in the United Kingdom looks at the debate over whether the doctoral degree process should be viewed as education or training, the situation in other countries, graduate student learning and development processes, collegiality, the graduate student-advisor relationship, and student selection. (Author/MSE)

An approach combining social worker and geneticist expertise in adoption is outlined in the study involving 180 families. Genetic counseling has shown to be an essential safeguard to the preservation of the adoptive family unit. (Author/SW)