With the rapid development of the Internet, increasingly universities and colleges transfer some of their teaching assignments online. Online learning plays an important role in assisting or sometimes substituting for the traditional face-toace learning. An online message board is one of several online communication tools which are used to assist online learning. We have conducted a study on the role of the online message board in teaching one of these courses, an introductory course in calculus-based physics. The study analyzed students? use of the message board and investigated whether use is correlated with performance in the class. Results suggest that students have benefited from using the online message board. Both homework related message board activities and non-learning message boardn activities were found to be correlated significantly to the grades the students earned in the course.

Previous research on cosmetic surgery and teenage girls is limited and fails to provide information regarding how teenage girls construct these procedures. A social constructionist approach informed by a discursive psychology methodology was used to study how teenage girls and message board respondents construct cosmetic surgery through the language they use and the social actions performed through their talk. I analyzed questions posted by teenage girls between the ages of 13 to 19 on online message boards, as well as responses to these questions posted by other message board users. Social actions identified in the teenage girls talk included: advice and information seeking, approval seeking, and justification of cosmetic surgery. Social actions identified in the respondents talk included: provision of advice and information, warning, approval, disapproval, criticism and judgement, reassurance, empathy, encouragement, and support. In general, teenage girls constructed cosmetic surgery as a way for them to feel better about themselves, as a way for them to feel better about the body part they were seeking surgery for, and as a way for them to fit in and be accepted by others. The results of this study are discussed in relation to the existing research on teenage girls and cosmetic surgery, Daviss (1995) feminist perspective on cosmetic surgery, Fredrickson and Robertss (1997) objectification theory, and embodiment. Implications for teenage girls, parents of teenage girls, physicians, and psychologists are also discussed, and recommendations for future research are suggested.

Previous research on cosmetic surgery and teenage girls is limited and fails to provide information regarding how teenage girls construct these procedures. A social constructionist approach informed by a discursive psychology methodology was used to study how teenage girls and message board respondents construct cosmetic surgery through the language they use and the social actions performed through their talk. I analyzed questions posted by teenage girls between the ages of 13 to 19 on online message boards, as well as responses to these questions posted by other message board users. Social actions identified in the teenage girls talk included: advice and information seeking, approval seeking, and justification of cosmetic surgery. Social actions identified in the respondents talk included: provision of advice and information, warning, approval, disapproval, criticism and judgement, reassurance, empathy, encouragement, and support. In general, teenage girls constructed cosmetic surgery as a way for them to feel better about themselves, as a way for them to feel better about the body part they were seeking surgery for, and as a way for them to fit in and be accepted by others. The results of this study are discussed in relation to the existing research on teenage girls and cosmetic surgery, Daviss (1995) feminist perspective on cosmetic surgery, Fredrickson and Robertss (1997) objectification theory, and embodiment. Implications for teenage girls, parents of teenage girls, physicians, and psychologists are also discussed, and recommendations for future research are suggested.

The experience of a pelvic exam or Pap smear is something that, while necessary to maintain reproductive health, can be fraught with difficulty for women. Ouj, Igberase, Exe, and Ejikeme (2011) note that “[m]ost women feel a level of discomfort or pain and for some it is embarrassing, dehumanizing, degrading and associated with fear, anxiety and apprehension” (p. 637). However, little recent research has focused on the specific communication surrounding reproductive care for young women. The Internet is a common place for young people to seek health information, understand their own health risks, and seek social support from others. The current study utilizes information gleaned from the archives of an internet message board and sexual education website to examine the way that young women communicate about reproductive health care, risk, and social support with experts and peers in the online community. Results indicate that young women request, seek, and receive several different types of social support in the online community. Further, themes illuminate the complex nature of women’s concerns about potential risk and reproductive care.