Computationally rational agents can be moral agents

Ethics and Information Technology - In this article, a concise argument for computational rationality as a basis for artificial moral agency is advanced. Some ethicists have long argued that...     

When the atmosphere warms it rains and ice melts: seventh grade students’ conceptions of a climate system

Although many environmental and science educators have explored students’ conceptual understandings, misconceptions, and knowledge of the greenhouse effect, global warming, and climate change, few have investigated the ways students conceptualize climate as a system or how components of the system influence climate. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to begin the process of understanding how US students conceptualize a climate system. A total of 42 seventh grade students (ages 12–13) from the Midwest completed an open-response task. From the inductive analysis of student written responses, 22 codes emerged that reflected students’ conceptions of the climate system. From these codes, three path diagrams were constructed that illustrate these students’ conceptions about how a climate system influences climate and how greenhouse gases and global warming impact the climate system. A generalized model of students’ conception of a climate system was generated. Students in this study conceptualized a climate system in a unidirectional, linear, cause and effect relationship that emphasized the atmospheric component of the climate system.     

How the web was won … by some

HILJ readers may have encountered the phrase library 2.0 which has polarised librarians, with some sceptical whether library 2.0 offers anything new. Others are confident that the convergence of service goals and ideas with emerging Web 2.0 technologies will lead to a new generation of library services. Andrew Tattersall's article, 'How the Web was Won', belongs in the latter camp. His thesis is that Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 have opened up a whole new world for exploration by information and library professionals. Although the Web has created problems for the modern day explorer, potentially there is a bright future for information professionals if they are to succeed in deploying the resources.     

Teacher collaboration: 30 years of research on its nature,forms, limitations and effects

ABSTRACT

This article reprises and reflects on 30 years of the author’s work on teacher collaboration. The distinctive nature of this work has not been in making a case for teacher collaboration in terms of its benefits for students, teachers, or educational change. These arguments are widely available elsewhere. Rather it has examined ways of collaborating that are available to teachers, how formal or informal collaboration should be, how collaborative efforts can be misused or misdirected, and what factors must be considered when deliberately designing teacher collaboration so it will have the most beneficial effects. The article discusses the explanatory and strategic power of three concepts in particular—contrived collegiality, professional capital, and collaborative professionalism. Conclusions are drawn about next steps for educational research in terms of establishing clear typologies of teacher collaboration in relation to their impact and appropriateness in different circumstances.     

Learning about Global Issues: Why most educators only make things worse

Over the last 25 years many educators have stressed the need for students to learn about global issues and have often taken this to be a relatively unproblematic area of pedagogy. An important Canadian study on the impact of teaching about such issues, however, suggests that the learning process may be much more complex than was previously assumed. This article reports on a pilot research project in the UK which monitored student responses to learning about global futures and found much more going on beneath the surface than meets the eye. It would seem that strong cognitive, affective and existential responses need to be recognised and acknowledged as part of any journey towards personal and political change.     

University spin-out companies and venture capital

The creation of university spin-out companies that create wealth is a major policy objective of governments and universities. Finance is a catalyst of this wealth creation yet access to venture capital is a major impediment faced by these companies. In this article we adopt a finance pecking order perspective to examine the problems faced by those university spin-out companies seeking to access venture capital. We triangulate evidence from spin-out companies, university technology transfer offices and venture capital firms in the UK and Continental Europe to identify the problems and to suggest policy developments for these parties as well as government. We compare perceptions of high-tech venture capital firms that invest in spin-outs with those that do not, and also consider VCs’ views on spin-outs versus other high-tech firms. Our evidence identifies a mismatch between the demand and supply side of the market. In line with the pecking order theory, venture capitalists prefer to invest after the seed stage. However, in contrast to the pecking order theory, TTOs see venture capital as more important than internal funds early on. We develop policy implications for universities, technology transfer offices, academic entrepreneurs, venture capital firms and government and suggest areas for further research.     

校园中的流浪者[五]

Hunting, in which the young man was an apt scholar, was now the order of the day. Tiburcio was an artist in woodcraft as well as in his knowledge of the habits of animals and birds. On chilly or disagreeable days they would take out the pack of dogs and beat the thickets for the javeline. It was exciting sport to bring to bay a drove of these animals. To shoot from horseback lent a charm, yet made aim uncertain, nor was it advisable to get too close range. Many a young dog made a fatal mistake in getting too near this little animal, and the doctoring of crippled dogs became a daily duty. All surplus game was sent to the ranchito below, where it was always appreciated.