In defence of speech codes

It has been strongly maintained that speech codes at universities interfere with academic freedom, and also, to the contrary, that such speech codes must be developed to restrain appeals to academic freedom that function to restrain the freedom of marginalized groups to participate fully in the university. This essay argues that forms of speech can in fact constrain the freedom, including legitimate academic freedom, of many persons, not only, but importantly including, marginalized groups; that speech codes have always existed; and that reasonable ones can be developed which do not interfere with freedom of teaching, learning, and research in the university; and in particular that definitions of academic freedom such as that developed by the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) are compatible with such speech codes.     

In defence of anonymity: Rejoining the criticism

This article is a response to the growing criticisms of the British Educational Research Association (BERA) and Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) ethical guidelines on anonymity and pseudonymity as default positions for participants in qualitative educational research. It discusses and responds to those criticisms under four headings—illusion, impossibility and undesirability, access and quality—and extends the explication of difficulties to quantitative approaches using an example from value‐added effectiveness research. The article discusses potential flaws in the arguments made against anonymous and pseudonymous research, and presents some issues for the research community to take forward. Finally, some suggestions are offered for a modified code of practice regarding anonymity and pseudonymity, which attempts a more subtle capture of difficulties in the field and qualifies the existing rationale to take account of previously unconsidered technical concerns.     

In defence of multimodal re‐signification: a response to Håvard Skaar's ‘In defence of writing’

Responding to ‘In defence of writing’ by Håvard Skaar, published in issue 43.1 of this journal (April 2009), the present article argues that (1) compared with text production ‘from scratch’, producing texts through copy‐and‐paste requires a different type of – rather than less – semiotic work, and that (2) digitally produced writing may involve the same amount of semiotic work as texts produced through digitally retrieved images. Supporting the argument with data drawn from the writer's teaching experience in three first‐year graduate courses of Scientific English for the Health Professions, the article discusses the changes in the abilities that are foregrounded/backgrounded (more/less required and developed) in the use of copy‐and‐paste for text production. The results indicate that rather than privileging one mode over another, the learners' semiotic work can be better assessed through a multilayered process of re‐signification and re‐elaboration of texts and contents into multiple modes. The conclusions suggest new priorities for teaching, learning and assessment in the light of the changes in our contemporary semiotic landscape.     

谈对位联防的综合防守效应

随着篮球进攻技术的提高、战术的完善、规则的不断修改 ,对防守技、战术的要求越来越高 ,本文就对位联防战术的针对性、综合性、攻击性特点 ,探讨在篮球比赛实战中的应用。     

In defence of writing: a social semiotic perspective on digital media,literacy and learning

From a learning perspective, social semiotics researchers tend to focus on the liberation latent in the multimedia options available through the new media. It is true that digital media democratise the possibilities open to the general public of a more varied and comprehensive text production than ever before, both in and outside school. Participating in this text production naturally implies a richer potential for learning. But digital technology also allows us to opt out of, and thus avoid, semiotic work. With this as the starting point, the present article sets out to highlight the pedagogical benefits associated with the written mode, precisely in an age when the digital media are making multimodal forms of expression increasingly available to us all.     

In defence of a pedagogy of the heart: theory and practice in the use of imaginal knowledge

This article outlines one of the theoretical approaches to pedagogy of the heart, drawing specifically on the work of Hillman and his concept of imaginal knowledge. Imaginal knowledge, as opposed to evidence-based and critical pedagogy, illuminates the imagination and moves the heart towards humanistic action. In this paper, we argue that this is an area neglected in the education of professionals. The paper provides a number of methodological strategies for integrating education of the heart with critical and evidence-based knowledge. These strategies deal with how to evoke the imagination and move the heart and then progress to issues of classroom communication and the management of emotions. The context is the teaching of supporting sciences to health professionals in the university sector.     

In defence of non-epistemic aspects of nature of science: insights from an intercultural approach to history of science

Cultural Studies of Science Education - The focus of this article is to expand María del Mar Aragón, José Antonio Acevedo-Díaz and Antonio García-Carmona’s paper...     

述《新唐书》的边防观

欧阳修等人修<新唐书>受到北宋王朝以防守、退让为安边长策的既定基本国策,又是为朝廷士大夫赞同的国家大计的影响,注入对周边少数族事迹的论赞之中,形成带有北宋朝廷积弱积贫国势印记的边防观.<新唐书>持取这种边防观来评价历史上的对外战争,就得出了几乎是全盘否定汉唐武功的偏颇看法.