An account is given of the emergence of the concept of work as a basic component of mechanics. It was largely an achievement of engineer savants in France during the Bourbon Restoration , with Navier, Coriolis and Poncelet playing the major roles. Some aspects of the eighteenth-century prehistory are described, and also concurrent developments in French engineering. The principal problem areas were friction, hydraulics, machine performance and ergonomics, and especially in the last context the developments became involved with social and (...) even philosophical movements in the 1820s. Education played an important role throughout; several of the principal sources are textbooks. (shrink)

This paper offers an account of the emergence of the human from the natural, for the species and for the individual. I show how human sciences are possible, and suggest some strategies for change based on the understanding that the human sciences provide.

In this study, we aimed to investigate how prospective science teachers, who participated in a series of explicit-reflective activities for NOS teaching, understood "science in a social and cultural context" in the context of a biographical documentary film. We adopted a phenomenological approach. The data were analyzed descriptively by considering the aspects of nature of science and the levels of understanding as defined in Dilthey's hermeneutic approach. In this way, we determined participants’ levels of hermeneutic understanding regarding the nature of (...) science. The findings show that the participants regarded science within the framework of aspects of the consensus view blended with somewhat authentic interpretations and at a basic level of understanding from the point of view of hermeneutics. This finding highlights the importance of integrating the hermeneutic approach into the teaching process in understanding science. (shrink)

In a context of high-stakes accountability in teacher education, concerns are emerging about challenges to the already tenuous position of elementary social studies teacher education. In this case study, the author administered a survey to elementary social studies teacher educators in Georgia and conducted follow-up interviews focusing on the impact of edTPA on elementary social studies teacher education and the ways in which they are navigating the new context of teaching elementary social studies methods. The findings reveal the possibility of (...) further decline of social studies in elementary teacher education programs due to elementary edTPA's singular focus on literacy and math content pedagogy along with the high-stakes nature of edTPA process. Implications for future research on edTPA and elementary social studies education are discussed. (shrink)

Where does the object or idea begin, and where does it end as ‘unseen’? There is scope in Maori philosophising to think of the seen object or its idea in various ways, including as materially constituting the self and the rest of the world; as incomplete for a mental representation; as constituted in itself by the unseen ; and as co-constitutional with nothingness and presence. The possibilities of the seen object are several, especially if the concept of ‘seen’ is understood (...) as immediately determined by its other. This paper considers the consequences of the seen and unseen and the illogical in Maori thought for ‘teach-learn’ and in particular for the translation of teach-learn as ‘ako’ in the Maori language. It also discusses some possibilities for the term ‘porangi’, which is often quoted in relation to ‘madness’ but has deeper metaphysical potential that combines the reality of gloom/unseen alongside a heady potential. I refer to this phenomenon as ‘giddying abjection’ and turn it towards unpicking the certainty that ako as teach-learn replicates. Porangi can refer to self-derision, and I take certain statements of mine and destabilise them from their certainty. In that act I hope to show that students and scholars could follow a similar path with their own statements and, in so doing, subject their own utterances to madness. (shrink)

Using data from the Survey of the Status of Social Studies ( S4), this article describes the instructional decisions and practices of elementary teachers in two neighboring states, one where social studies is tested and another where it is not. We define students’ opportunity to learn within these states as a composite of three variables: time allocations for social studies (teacher reported instructional time), methods for teaching social studies (teacher reported instructional strategies), and content focus (teacher reported content emphases and (...) state-mandated curriculum standards). Our guiding research question for this study was: To what extent do teachers’ perceptions of elementary school social studies instructional practices and content vary between two states with different testing policies for social studies? Initial findings revealed notable differences that could not be explained by testing policies alone. Therefore, we conducted an exploratory content analysis of the elementary social studies curricula in these neighboring states. We uncovered curricular differences that suggest that state standards influence teachers’ decisions in both what and how they choose to teach social studies. However, there were curriculum differences that did not align with S4 instructional methods and content focus output. Thus, we concluded that other factors apart from the curriculum guide teachers’ decision-making. Results provided evidence that students have different opportunities to learn based on (1) state testing policies in social studies, (2) curriculum content, (3) how social studies is delivered (e.g., stand-alone versus integration), and (4) time allocated to social studies. We concluded that these variables constrict or expand students’ opportunity to learn social studies and may influence teachers’ pedagogical and content choices in elementary social studies. (shrink)

The goal of the present study is to explore whether the affective states of a pedagogical agent in an online multimedia lesson yields different learning processes and outcomes, and whether the effects of affective PAs depend on the learners’ emotion regulation strategies and their prior knowledge. In three experiments, undergraduates were asked to view a narrated animation about synaptic transmission that included either a happy PA or a neutral PA and subsequently took emotions, motivation, cognitive outcomes tests. Across three experiments, (...) the happy PA group reported more positive emotions and higher level of motivation than the neutral PA group. Moreover, the happy PA prompted higher germane load than a neutral PA in Experiment 3. However, adding a happy PA to the screen did not improve learning performance. In addition, in Experiment 2, learners’ usage of emotion regulation strategies moderated the effectiveness of affective PA on positive emotions in learners. Specifically, happy PAs increased the positive emotions of students who used expressive suppression strategy but not those who used cognitive reappraisal strategy. In Experiment 3, the effectiveness of affective PAs was not moderated by learners’ prior knowledge. Results support the cognitive affective theory of learning with media that students are happier and more motivated when they learn from happy PAs than from neutral PAs. (shrink)

An experiment was conducted to test the effectiveness of brief instruction in information structuring (i.e., representing and integrating information) for improving the coherence of probability judgments and binary choices among intelligence analysts. Forty-three analysts were presented with comparable sets of Bayesian judgment problems before and immediately after instruction. After instruction, analysts’ probability judgments were more coherent (i.e., more additive and compliant with Bayes theorem). Instruction also improved the coherence of binary choices regarding category membership: after instruction, subjects were more likely (...) to invariably choose the category to which they assigned the higher probability of a target’s membership. The research provides a rare example of evidence-based validation of effectiveness in instruction to improve the statistical assessment skills of intelligence analysts. Such instruction could also be used to improve the assessment quality of other types of experts who are required to integrate statistical information or make probabilistic assessments. (shrink)

The present study tested the assumption that self-ratings, such as those used for measuring state anxiety, do not measure a one-dimensional transcendent entity but involve decisions based on a multi-dimensional judgment. Two groups of subjects were presented with a balanced nine-item state anxiety questionnaire. Each group received a different set of instructions (a standard set and an altered instruction set suggesting unidimensionality of the questions in the questionnaire). It was hypothesized that this change in instructions would impact the structure of (...) the data. The impact of the instructions was detectable at the level of the observed correlation between the negative and positive composites, Cohen's (1988) q=-0.27$. A multigroup confirmatory factor analysis showed that positive and negative wording factors correlated more strongly when unidimensionality was suggested than when standard instructions were used, q=-0.54. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. (shrink)

The book suggests a new perspective on the essence of human language. This enormous achievement of our species is best characterized as a communication technology - not unlike the social media on the Net today - that was collectively invented by ancient humans for a very particular communicative function: the instruction of imagination. All other systems of communication in the biological world target the interlocutors' senses; language allows speakers to systematically instruct their interlocutors in the process of imagining the intended (...) meaning - instead of directly experiencing it. This revolutionary function has changed human life forever, and in the book it operates as a unifying concept around which a new general theory of language gradually emerges. Dor identifies a set of fundamental problems in the linguistic sciences - the nature of words, the complexities of syntax, the interface between semantics and pragmatics, the causal relationship between language and thought, language processing, the dialectics of universality and variability, the intricacies of language and power, knowledge of language and its acquisition, the fragility of linguistic communication and the origins and evolution of language - and shows with respect to all of them how the theory provides fresh answers to the problems, resolves persistent difficulties in existing accounts, enhances the significance of empirical and theoretical achievements in the field, and identifies new directions for empirical research. The theory thus opens a new way towards the unification of the linguistic sciences, on both sides of the cognitive-social divide. (shrink)

McGovern, Kevin The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) released a new Instruction on bioethics on 12 December 2008, and titled it as Dignitas Personae. A brief summary of the new Vatican Instruction on bioethics is presented, which is aimed at contributing to the formation of conscience, and to promote biomedical research which is ethically sound and which truly serves human beings.

A methodology for using philosophy to guide teaching preparation and practice. In Teaching from an Ethical Center, Cara E. Furman proposes a process for bringing philosophical inquiry into teacher education and adopting it as a centering tool to enrich teaching practice and help teachers act justly. Under Furman's thoughtful guidance, both experienced and preservice teachers will find that engagement with philosophy can be a useful means of clarifying for themselves the educational ethics, values, and pedagogy that guide their work. Using (...) firsthand accounts, recommended resources, and thought exercises, Furman prompts readers to explore the many benefits for both educators and their students of the act of reading and making sense of philosophical texts and thinking philosophically through daily dilemmas. Furman encourages teachers to engage in philosophical reflection as part of their professional preparation as well as their in-classroom practice. She illustrates how the focus on core values that emerges from this practice can be applied to everyday teaching dilemmas such as student behavior concerns and conflict management. Offering tips for adapting activities to different audiences, she shows how student participation in such inquiry supports hermeneutics, cultivates student voice, and helps build a culture of trust and interdependence through classroom collaboration. Filled with practical wisdom, this insightful work advances philosophical inquiry as a foundation for an inclusive education. Furman's tools and methods offer continuous opportunities for reflection and affirmation, enhancing educators' ability to adapt to new challenges and, when necessary, to resist. (shrink)

Daga (the Bulgarian word for “rainbow”) was a Bulgarian comic magazine launched in 1979 and regularly published until 1992. Its remarkably westernized aesthetic greatly impacted an entire generation of readers. Included in its variety of stories (history, sci-fi, literary classics) is an action-packed account of Spartacus’ exploits. For ten consecutive issues (1979–1983), the story spanned the hero’s life from a more fanciful narrative of his early years in Thrace to the better-documented events in Italy and his death. The paper explores (...) the plotline, characterization, and visual aspects of “Spartak” to reveal the eponymous hero’s significance for young Bulgarian readers in the 1980s. Drawing on the cultural and historical context, I argue that Spartacus was well suited to serve as a role model and a national hero by embodying the proletarian anti-imperialist struggle and also, notably, because of his supposed place of birth near the river Strimon in modern-day Bulgaria. I also look at examples of contemporary comics, including a new graphic novel based on Daga’s story published in 2020, and consider the transmutations of the hero to suit the post-communist (and anti-communist) ideological agenda, characterized by a departure from the proletarian image of Spartacus in favor of more conservative, aristocratic features. (shrink)

This article discusses the merits of teaching legal analysis and writing and of developing a legal writing program at a faculty of law, and recommends that law faculties around the world incorporate this subject. Once absent from the American law school curriculum, this subject has become a required subject in all American law schools over the past 25+ years. The article suggests steps for implementing a legal writing course or program, and offers a variety of resources for doing so.

도덕과 수업의 주요한 목적 중 하나는 의미 있는 도덕적 앎을 형성하는 것으로 도덕적 의미는 인식주체에게서 발생하는 것이며, 의미 발생에서 우연은 배제될 수 없다. 만약 우연을 배제하고 조작적이고 공학적으로 도덕과 수업에 접근한다면, 학습내용이 전달 될 수는 있어도 의미 있게 수용되기는 어렵다. 이러한 난점으로 인해 도덕과 수업에서는 체제적 접근에 대한 대안적 관점을 요청한다. 그 대안을 찾기 위해서는 체제적 접근에 전제된 설명의 논리부터 재고할 필요가 있다. 도덕과 수업이 체제적이고 조작적인 행위로 이해되는 배경에는 설명의 논리가 있기 때문이다. 설명의 논리는 학생보다 우월한 지능을 가진 교사가 (...) 학생에게 지식을 전달하는 행위로 교육을 이해하며, 이 과정에서 교사의 전달에 대한 학생의 번역은 간과된다. 도덕과 수업에서 도덕에 대한 교사의 번역은 학생의 번역에 의해 의미가 발생하며, 나아가 새로운 의미로 확장된다. 이처럼 도덕과 수업을 번역과 번역으로 연결된 과정으로 이해할 때, 체제적 접근에서 간과하는 상징으로서의 교수, 공백으로서의 교수텍스트 구성, 우연으로서의 학습이라는 측면은 재조명될 수 있다. 도덕과 수업에서 이러한 측면들을 부각시키면, 도덕과 수업은 일종의 시 행위와 같다. 이러한 이해에 터하여 시 행위와 도덕과 수업의 닮음을 도출할 수 있다. 시 행위와 닮은 도덕과 수업에서 교수텍스트는 불변체적 의미와 더불어 불확정성을 전제하는 변체적 의미를 갖는다. 도덕과 교수텍스트가 갖는 불변체적 의미라는 제약성과 변체적 의미에서 가능한 개방성은 학생의 반응에 의해 도덕적인 수업으로 전환된다. 이 전환은 텍스트와 독자가 심미적으로 상호 교통하는 의식에서 비롯되듯이, 도덕과 학습에서 교수텍스트가 의미 있는 앎으로 수용되기 위해서는 학습목표를 의식하지 않는 학습이 가능해야 한다. (shrink)

초등학교에서 환경교육은 여러 교과에서 이루어지고 있다. 각 교과의 환경수업은 그 교과의 특성 및 교과와 관련된 환경교육의 내용을 반영하여 구성된다. 도덕과의 환경수업에도 환경교육과 관련된 내용 및 도덕과의 특성이 반영된다. 초등학교 도덕과 교육과정에서 환경교육과 직접적으로 관련된 지도요소는 ‘생명의 소중함’과 ‘올바른 자연관과 환경 보호’이다. 도덕과는 이 지도요소를 통해 동식물의 생명을 소중히 여겨야 하는 이유와 자연과의 관계에 대한 도덕적 인식을 중심으로 접근한다. 초등 도덕과의 환경교육은 사실적 이해를 중심으로 하는 교과와는 달리 규범적 접근을 중심으로 한다는 측면에서 차별된다. 도덕과의 정체성을 반영하면서 규범적 내용에 접근하기 위해서는 생명과 (...) 자연에 대한 윤리적 탐구를 중심으로 수업이 전개되어야 한다. 특히 도덕과 환경수업은 동물 생명의 도덕적 지위, 식물 생명의 도덕적 지위, 전체 자연계의 도덕적 지위에 대한 윤리적 탐구라는 논리적 순서로 형식적 응집성이 구성될 수 있다. 이를 위해서는 개체주의적인 윤리적 확대주의에 근거한 동물 생명의 도덕적 지위의 해명, 개체주의적 탈인간중심 윤리에 근거한 식물 생명의 도덕적 지위의 해명, 전체주의적 탈인간중심 윤리에 근거한 전체 자연의 도덕적 지위의 해명을 근거로 수업을 구성할 수 있다. 이를 반영한 구체적인 수업 안은 ‘사람과 동물의 공통점 찾기’, ‘공통점을 대하는 모습’, ‘공통점을 대하는 모습이 다른 이유 생각하기’, ‘식물이 죽으면 사라지는 것’, ‘비생명체의 가치 이해하기’로 전개된다. 물론 이러한 수업의 예시는 비판적으로 재구성될 수 있다. 하지만 초등 도덕과의 정체성이 반영된 환경수업을 위해서는 윤리적 탐구를 통한 환경 의식을 함양이라는 목적은 유지되어야 한다. (shrink)