Educating for inquisitiveness: A case against exemplarism for intellectual character education

ABSTRACT

One natural application of Linda Zagzebski’s exemplarist moral theory (EMT) is found in the context of moral and intellectual character education. Zagzebski discusses this application in her recent book, commenting that ‘exemplars can serve as a guide for moral training’ (p. 129) and endorsing ‘the learning of virtue by imitation’ (p. 129). This theme has been pursued compellingly by authors working at the intersection of virtue ethics and education, contributing to an emerging case for exemplarist-based approaches to character education. I focus on intellectual character education and draw attention to an interesting case in which exemplarism in the classroom may be seen to inhibit, rather than promote, the development of intellectually virtuous character. This is the case of virtuous inquisitiveness.     

When inclusion excludes: a counter narrative of open online education

Open education aspires to democratize education, promote inclusion and effect change through social justice. These aspirations are difficult to realize in open, online environments, which enable multiple, and often conflicting, perspectives. This paper proposes a counter-narrative that surfaces certain operational norms of the internet and foregrounds their exclusionary nature. We offer an illustrative inventory of some social media interactional patterns to examine communication used in open online education communities. This examination leads us to conclude that language online is subject to a dialectical tension that both includes and excludes. We conclude that a different language is needed in open online educational environments; one that embraces exclusionary structures and strategic ambiguity, as well as the aspirations to further democratize education via digital means.     

Ten Myths About Character,Virtue and Virtue Education – Plus Three Well-Founded Misgivings

Abstract

Initiatives to cultivate character and virtue in moral education at school continue to provoke sceptical responses. Most of those echo familiar misgivings about the notions of character, virtue and education in virtue – as unclear, redundant, old-fashioned, religious, paternalistic, anti-democratic, conservative, individualistic, relative and situation dependent. I expose those misgivings as ‘myths’, while at the same time acknowledging three better-founded historical, methodological and practical concerns about the notions in question.     

Loneliness,friendship quality and the social networks of adolescents with high‐functioning autism in an inclusive school setting

By definition, children with autism have poor peer relationships despite age and ability. When children enter adolescence, social problems typically worsen and feelings of loneliness and isolation may emerge. Thus, the overarching goal of the current study is to examine the social–emotional relationships of adolescents with autism and their typically developing (TD) classmates. Participants included 20 adolescents, 7 adolescents with autism and 13 TD classmates. All participants were enrolled in a drama class at a regular education high school in the Los Angeles area. Results indicate that adolescents with autism experienced significantly more loneliness than their TD classmates, had significantly poorer friendship quality in companionship and helpfulness, and had significantly lower social network status than their TD classmates. In addition, 92.4% of TD adolescents had secondary or nuclear social network centrality, which means that those adolescents were significantly connected and recognised in their classroom social structure although 71.4% of the adolescents with autism were either isolated or peripheral in their classroom. These findings imply that although inclusion in regular classrooms may allow adolescents with autism to be involved in the social structure of their classroom, they experienced more loneliness, poorer friendship quality and social network status as compared with their classmates. These results suggest that, perhaps, more intensive social skills' interventions that focus on friendship development are needed in adolescents with autism.     

Embracing online education: exploring options for success

As the marketplace for higher education changes, attracting and retaining students is of utmost importance. Providing successful course delivery methods (e.g. face-to-face, fully online, hybrid) offers an opportunity for universities to differentiate from each other. This research investigates the relationships involved in student acceptance of online course management systems. Business students at a university located in the southwestern region of the United States completed an online questionnaire. The results indicate support for the core relationships of the technology acceptance model. In addition, personal innovativeness and support services both demonstrated an influence on acceptance. As a response to competition, universities should identify and make use of particular students as champions of the institutions’ online delivery options. Furthermore, there exist the potential to increase the value of online course delivery through the administration of significant support services.     

A positive role for failure in virtue education

This article outlines a role for constructive failures in virtue education. Some failures can be catastrophic and push the agent toward vice, but other types of failure can have positive consequences, we’ll call these failures constructive failures, failures that help on the road to virtue. So, while failures are generally appealed to as examples of what to avoid doing, educators may want to actively create conditions that are likely to make their students fail. While failures may involve negative feelings in the short term, constructive failures, although they appear to pose obstacles in the learning process, actually help lead us to our goal, virtue. Crucially, constructive failures give us insights into situations and into ourselves, insights which make it more likely that we will succeed in the ultimate goal of virtue.     

A practical approach for applying online remote experiments: OnPReX

The development of Internet technologies stimulates the increase of online technology-supported education in universities. Online learning based on remote experiments is capable of diminishing the scantiness in practical courses. In this paper, we present online practical courses based on remote experiments (OnPReX). These courses consist of online experiments, interactive graphics and an online tutoring-system organised at the Berlin Institute of Technology (TUB). We developed two online practical courses, one focusing on classical and the other on modern physics, for bachelor and intermediate diploma engineering students. Our online practical courses based on remote experiments took place in two test phases during two semesters. These courses were evaluated and the results were used to improve the courses. Our online practical courses on remote experiments have successfully been integrated as electives at the TUB.     

Hannah Arendt and Karl Jaspers: the time of friendship

ABSTRACT

This paper provides an introduction to the enduring friendship between Hannah Arendt and Karl Jaspers. It shows how their intellectual development as public educators was sustained by their ongoing dialogue which flourished not in spite of but because of their huge differences of circumstance and personality. This friendship between two renowned scholars raises – by implication at least – the question as to what part friendship plays in academic and intellectual development and to what extent institutions, in their administrative systems and practices, encourage or even allow for the kind of friendship that Arendt and Jaspers shared. The paper does not seek to address these questions directly, but rather to ground them in the particularities of a unique correspondence between two major public intellectuals and to highlight their relevance for those currently working in the higher education sector.     

Theoretical foundations for enhancing social connectedness in online learning environments

Group social structure provides a comfortable and predictable context for interaction in learning environments. Students in face‐to‐face learning environments process social information about others in order to assess traits, predict behaviors, and determine qualifications for assuming particular responsibilities within a group. In online learning environments, however, negotiating social information and maintaining social connectedness can pose challenges for participants. Nonverbal strategies one typically uses for enhancing communication and overcoming ambiguity – such as an approving smile or a questioning brow – must be approached differently while learning online where fewer sensory communication channels are typically available. We present the theoretical foundation for how social information processing and group structure theories may be combined to assist instructional designers in further examining the social system perceived by the online learner. We propose a framework for thinking more systematically about the development of group social structure in online learning environments.     

A capability approach for online primary and secondary students with disabilities

A capability approach was used to identify and synthesise research studies about online students with disabilities in primary and secondary school (aged five to 18 years) in an attempt to describe the experience from an empirical perspective. A capability approach is intended to maximise agency and can be used to describe the extent to which individuals are able to use limited resources to build a satisfying and enjoyable life. In this analysis, a derived capability set was used to narrow the larger body of research about primary and secondary students in online education in order to consider only studies that described ways in which students successfully used online education to maximise agency. The derived capability set was: autonomy, judgement, practical reason, affiliation, high school graduation and a desire to help others. A method for deriving the capability set and ways in which a capability approach fails to describe this experience are discussed.     

iSpy: seeing what students really do online

Numerous studies have shown that college students use computers, the internet, and social networking websites (SNS) at high rates; however, all of these studies have relied on self-report measures of technology use. Research in other areas of human behavior has shown that self-report measures are considerably inaccurate when compared to actual behaviors. This study produces more effective estimates of the time that college students spend on computer and internet activities by using logging software to collect data on actual use. A sample of 45 students installed a computer monitor for two months. The results show that social networking was the most popular computer activity, with Facebook being the most popular SNS. Furthermore, the results also suggest that students may be able to somewhat regulate their computer use in ways that could benefit them academically. For instance, students spent significantly more time using the university's learning management system when classes were in session and less time watching videos. Although there are some limitations of monitoring computer usage, such monitoring is an effective method of evaluating frequency of use.     

网络课程的特征分析

现代远程教育的网络化发展使得网络课程逐渐趋于成熟和实用。网络课程具有学科课程、网络教育资源以及网络课程的个性等三个方面的特征，网络课程教材也具有若干特性。     

Perceptions of friendship among adolescents with autism spectrum conditions in a mainstream high school resource provision

Establishing and maintaining friendships is frequently challenging for young people with autism spectrum conditions (ASC). However, few studies have explored influences on friendship development, meaning that knowledge of friendship formation processes remains limited at a critical point in social development. As friendship can impact on well-being and the success of educational inclusion, addressing this issue is important and timely. This study explores friendship among adolescents with ASC, and in particular the meaning and nature of friendship, including perceived influences on its development. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine participants: three adolescent students with ASC, a parent of each student and key teachers. Students were found to have an understanding of friendship, although parents often felt it was theoretical and did not correlate with their own experiences. All of the students expressed a desire for friendship and reported having experienced loneliness. Friendships tended to centre on structured activities such as computer games, which provided both support and obstacles for friendship development. Further individual and contextual influences included levels of maturity, understanding of social rules, school environment and peer acceptance. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to research and practice in educational settings.     

Social technologies for online learning: theoretical and contextual issues

Three exemplars are presented of social technologies deployed in educational contexts: wikis; a photo-sharing environment; and a social bookmarking tool. Students were found to engage with the technologies selectively, sometimes rejecting them, in the light of their prior conceptions of education. Some students (a minority in all the studies) were unsympathetic to the educational philosophy underpinning the technology’s adoption. The paper demonstrates, through an examination of in-context use, the importance of sociocultural factors in relation to education, and the non-deterministic nature of educational technology. The academic study of technology has increasingly called into question the deterministic views which are so pervasive in popular discourse and among policy-makers. Instead, sociocultural factors play a crucial role in shaping and defining technology and educational technology is no exception, as the examples in the paper show. The paper concludes by drawing out some implications of the examples for the use of social technologies in education.     

Mathematics and online learning experiences: a gateway site for engineering students

This paper focuses on the preliminary design of a multifaceted computer-based mathematics resource for undergraduate and pre-entry engineering students. Online maths resources, while attractive in their flexibility of delivery, have seen variable interest from students and teachers alike. Through student surveys and wide consultations, guidelines have been developed for effectively collating and integrating learning, support, application and diagnostic tools to produce an Engineer's Mathematics Gateway. Specific recommendations include: the development of a shared database of engineering discipline-specific problems and examples; the identification of, and resource development for, troublesome mathematics topics which encompass ideas of threshold concepts and mastery components; the use of motivational and promotional material to raise student interest in learning mathematics in an engineering context; the use of general and lecture-specific concept maps and matrices to identify the needs and relevance of mathematics to engineering topics; and further exploration of the facilitation of peer-based learning through online resources.     

流媒体技术在《语文基本能力训练》网络课件中的应用

流媒体技术在网络课件中的应用使教学课件丰富了表现力。本介绍流媒体技术，并结合我们目前制作的网络课件，讨论了网络课件如何应用流媒体技术。