Learning by the Sun: Observing Seasonal Declination with a Vertical Sundial

We designed and constructed a sundial for the purpose of observing the declination of the sun and thus marking solar seasonal variation. The 122 × 122 cm vertical sundial on the south-facing wall of our library has two unusual features: a nodus on the gnomon that casts a shadow of a point for marking the height of the sun and a large blank working space for students to mark the shadow of the nodus at different hours of the day and to connect the marks of 1 day in a line of declination. We discuss the design of a dial that emphasizes a working space for observations on solar declination, methods for determining the position of the nodus such that lines of declination can be observed every day of the year, mathematical procedures that minimize error in laying out the hour lines for this unusual design, the type of materials that are best suited for this design, and how students in an interdisciplinary honors colloquium on seasonal rhythms used the sundial. We also include two appendices on general sundial construction that indicates the information designers need to construct their own sundials.     

Positioning pedagogy—a matter of children’s rights

This paper foregrounds pedagogy in the realisation of children’s rights to non-discrimination and serving their best interests, as articulated in the UNCRC. Drawing on a mixed methodological study of teachers in 12 schools it does so through exploring teacher pedagogies in terms of how they 'think', 'do' and 'talk' pedagogy, conceived as their pedagogic 'habitus'. Findings confirm contradictions between teachers’ ideals and their practice that is significantly mediated by the socio-cultural context of their schools, gender and presence of migrant children. Especially striking is that neither social justice concerns nor children’s rights explicitly emerge in their narratives, in turn influencing how they ‘do’ pedagogy with different groups of children. This contradiction is understood as a dialectical process of re/action influenced by structures, policies and the exercise of power in local contexts. The UNCRC provides a generative mechanism within which to hold government to account for the impact of policies, especially in challenging contexts. To be realised in practice, however, it also needs to be embedded in teacher habitus, shaping their dispositions toward children’s rights to non-discrimination and serving their best interests in education.     

The culture of peace and peace education

In the present world situation, there is an urgent need for new strategies of peace based on the common fundamental interest of mankind, rejecting the use of force, and aimed at creating a new world order. Recognising the close interrelationship between culture and peace, and the extension of international interdependencies in reducing economic disparities, emphasis must be given to developing positive attitudes to peace in the minds of all men: a qualitative change in thinking has to occur before international security can be ensured without resort to military alliances and nuclear deterrence. The dangers inherent in the arms race require that education for disarmament be an integral part of peace education. Likewise, the connections between peace and other international objectives such as development and human rights, need to be stressed. Peace education should lead not only to a greater awareness of problems but also to a sense of responsibility and an active involvement in efforts towards promoting equal rights, economic and social development, and mutual respect and understanding among nations. The power of informed public opinion, internationally, in influencing governments towards peace and disarmament should not be underestimated; therefore, greater attention in peace education needs to be given to identifying and overcoming the structural, conceptual and cultural obstacles to peace. What is being undertaken in Romania, especially amongst young people, by way of education and action for peace, reflects a coherent policy, comprises a powerful and effective educational whole, and is contributing towards the building up of an international constituency of peace and disarmament.

---

Zusammenfassung In der gegenwärtigen Weltlage sind Friedensstrategien, die sich auf das gemeinsame fundamentale Interesse der Menschheit stützen, äußerst notwendig geworden. Sie lehnen die Anwendung von Gewalt ab und es ist ihr Ziel, eine neue Weltordnung zu schaffen. Wird die enge Beziehung zwischen Kultur und Frieden und der Ausbau internationaler gegenseitiger Abhängigkeiten zur Reduzierung wirtschaftlicher Ungleichheiten anerkannt, so muß der Entwicklung positiver Einstellungen zum Frieden ein besonderer Platz eingeräumt werden: eine qualitative Veränderung der Denkgewohnheiten muß eintreten, bevor internationale Sicherheit gewährleistet werden kann, ohne auf militärische Bündnisse und nukleare Abschreckung zurückzugreifen. Die Gefahren des Wettrüstens machen es erforderlich, daß Erziehung zur Abrüstung zum wesentlichen Bestandteil der Friedenserziehung wird. Ebenso muß die wechselseitige Beziehung, die zwischen Frieden und anderen internationalen Zielen besteht, wie Entwicklung schlechthin und Menschenrechte betont werden. Friedenserziehung sollte nicht nur zu einem größeren Problembewußtsein, sondern auch zu einem Verantwortungsgefühl und einer aktiven Teilnahme an solchen Bemühungen führen, die gleiche Rechte, die wirtschaftliche und gesellschaftliche Entwicklung und gegenseitigen Respekt und Verständnis für einander zwischen Nationen fördern. Der Druck der informierten Öffentlichkeit weltweit, Regierungen hinsichtlich Frieden und Abrüstung zu beeinflussen, darf nicht unterschätzt werden; deshalb muß in der Friedenserziehung größere Aufmerksamkeit darauf verwandt werden, strukturelle, konzeptuelle und kulturelle Hindernisse, die dem Frieden im Wege stehen, zu erkennen und zu nehmen. Was — besonders bei den jungen Menschen — in Rumänien in Sachen Friedenserziehung und -aktionen getan wird, spiegelt eine kohärente Politik wieder, enthält ein starkes und effektives erzieherisches Ganzes und trägt zum Aufbau einer internationalen Wählerschaft von Frieden und Abrüstung bei.

---

Résumé Un besoin urgent de nouvelles stratégies de paix basées sur l'intérêt commun et fondamental de l'humanité, refusant l'emploi de la force et visant à la création d'un nouvel ordre mondial se fait sentir dans le monde actuellement. En reconnaissant l'étroite corrélation entre la culture et la paix, l'extension des interdépendances internationales au niveau de la réduction des inégalités économiques, l'accent doit être mis sur le développement d'attitudes positives envers la paix dans l'esprit de tous les hommes: un changement qualitatif doit s'opérer au niveau du raisonnement avant que la sécurité internationale ne puisse être assurée sans avoir recours aux alliances militaires et à la force de dissuasion nucléaire. Les dangers inhérents à la course aux armements exigent que l'éducation pour le désarmement fasse partie intégrante de l'éducation pour la paix. Il faut souligner également les rapports entre la paix et les autres objectifs internationaux tels que le développement et les droits de l'homme. L'éducation pour la paix ne devrait pas conduire seulement à une plus grande conscience des problèmes mais aussi à un sens des responsabilités et à une participation active aux efforts faits pour promouvoir l'égalité des droits, le développement économique et social, le respect mutuel et la compréhension entre les nations. Il ne faudrait pas sous-estimer la force d'une opinion publique mondiale informée et son influence sur les gouvernements en matière de paix et de désarmement. Il faut donc, dans l'éducation pour la paix, accorder une plus grande importance à l'identification et à la suppression des obstacles à la paix du type structurel, conceptuel et culturel. Ce qui est entrepris en Roumanie, et particulièrement chez les jeunes par la voie de l'éducation et de l'action pour la paix reflète une politique cohérente, renferme un tout éducatif efficace et puissant et contribue à la formation d'un collège électoral international de paix et de désarmement.

     

Assessment and its outcomes: the influence of disciplines and institutions

Existing research provides evidence at the module level of systematic differences in patterns of assessment, marks achieved and distributions of marks between different disciplines. This paper examines those issues at the degree course level, and suggests reasons for the presence or absence of those module-level relationships at this higher level. The analysis finds that both discipline and institution have large and roughly equal impact on the balance between assessment types. However, contrary to the suggestions in the literature, that balance has virtually no independent impact on degree outcomes. The analysis also discovers that, while there is only a small independent impact of disciplines on average degree marks compared to the institutional impact, disciplines do have a larger relative impact on the distribution of those marks.     

Convergence of sequences and series: Interactions between visual reasoning and the learner's beliefs about their own role

This paper examines part of a set of students who were followed during their first-term, first-year studies in formal definition-based real analysis at a British university. It explores the approaches to problems about convergence of sequences and series made by students who have a tendency to include visual imagery in their reasoning. We explore links between the students' mathematical behavior in solving these problems and their perception of their roles as learners. We develop a theory in which the tendency to visualize, coupled with the students' view of their role, can be used to account for their mathematical behavior. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Adolescents' Attitudes to the Role of Women

Over 500 British adolescents aged between 12 and 20 completed a questionnaire concerning their attitudes to the role of women. Relatively few of the 27 items yielded high consensus among the subjects. There were numerous sex differences which showed males to be more traditional and conservative in their attitudes to women than females. About half the items yielded significant age differences, but almost none class differences, with older children being more liberal and egalitarian in their attitude. By and large, these findings are in accordance with previous studies in the area. The results are discussed in terms of the socialisation of sex differences.     

The tuition dilemma in the Latin American University

Governments in Latin America appear to have reached the limits of public subsidy of higher education and they are searching for funding alternatives. Tuition is viewed as one of the means of diversifying support and thereby of reducing the financial pressures on the budgets of these countries. In addition to the economic rationale, advocates of tuition base their arguments on the inequities of public subsidy, on the concept of ‘the ability to pay’, and the need to redirect public subsidy to the elementary and secondary levels. Opposition to tuition is led by the students, with support from faculty and administration in higher education. Opposition is based on the ideology of ‘free’ education, which views higher education as a basic societal obligation and fears the ‘privatization’ of universities if governments do not fulfill their obligations. Tuition is much more than an economic issue and reflects a traditional distrust of government motives within higher education. Without additional sources of funds, however, it is likely that opportunity for higher education will be denied large numbers of students. It is ironic that expansion of opportunity may depend on the implementation of tuition as one method of raising financial support.     

Sources of shifts in pre-service teachers’ patterns of attention: the roles of teaching experience and of observational experience

A key requirement of successful initial teacher education is the development of professional vision, which includes shifting attention to features of the situation relevant to the specialized goals of teaching. Existing research hints at the value of targeted video-based courses in the development of professional vision, but often raises questions about the sources of shifts in the pattern of attention. We argue that existing work makes it difficult to distinguish whether shifts seen across video interventions are the results of the intervention, teaching experience, or methodological issues with the unbalanced use of videos in the data collection in these studies. Our first study suggests pre-service teachers’ teaching practice experience does not notably affect attention, but that choice of video does. Our second study addresses the methodological issues and suggests that we may discount different or unbalanced videos as a source of the shifts in the pattern of attention. Finally, by introducing a new synthesis of the results in the literature, we identify a previously hidden key distinction between studies and suggest reasons why different studies have shown different results in this area.     

Towards a philosophy of academic publishing

This article is concerned with developing a philosophical approach to a number of significant changes to academic publishing, and specifically the global journal knowledge system wrought by a range of new digital technologies that herald the third age of the journal as an electronic, interactive and mixed-media form of scientific communication. The paper emerges from an Editors' Collective, a small New Zealand-based organisation comprised of editors and reviewers of academic journals mostly in the fields of education and philosophy. The paper is the result of a collective writing process.