Tracing discursive processes of shared knowledge construction in a technology-enhanced higher education setting

This study focused on combining both the group- and individual-level analyses in studying a collaborative activity in technology-enhanced interactions in a higher education setting. The aim was to make visible, with empirical examples, the quality of the students' web-based discussions and trace the route for shared understanding. By quantifying various communicative functions, the analysis provided general knowledge on the quality and purpose of the discussion in the group and highlighted the different functional positions each student had within the group. However, only a detailed interpretative analysis of the relationships between specific thematic contents, communicative functions, and the collaborative features of the discussion, in the temporal frame, made it possible to trace and gain a deeper understanding of the true acts of collaboration. It also highlighted the individual participants' different participatory and discursive positions in the different phases of the task. Over the study, it became evident that any attempts to define a collaborative activity from either the group's or individual's perspective would only result in a partial interpretation of the collaborative enterprise.     

Key block theory application for rock slope stability analysis in the foundations of medieval castles in Slovakia

This research investigates the stability of rock slopes in the foundations of selected medieval castles in Slovakia. In the first phase, static analysis of the 45 selected medieval castle rock slopes was performed, where more than 12,000 potentially unstable blocks were analyzed and the factor of safety in static condition was calculated using the key block theory implemented in the Kbslope module of PTworkshop software. Based on results of the static stability analysis, a pseudo-static analysis was performed adopting the seismic acceleration in accordance with Slovak Technical Standards – Seismic actions on structures. This was implemented by calculating the vectors of horizontal force acting upon shear failure in the direction of the slope face with a zero vertical component. When non-finite and tapered blocks were ignored, the results proved that 14% of the 12,217 blocks investigated under static conditions could be considered unstable. This number increased to 23% under pseudo-static conditions, when seismic acceleration was implemented in the stability calculations. A detailed stability assessment of the Gymes Castle located in western Slovakia was carried out with delineation of blocks prone to rock sliding and proper stabilization methods, based on joint sets orientation measurements performed on the 3D point cloud generated by laser scanner.     

Reading Occupied Istanbul: Turkish Subject-Formation from Historical Trauma to Literary Trope

Abstract

The Allied occupation of Istanbul is a little-known historical event outside of Turkey and the Middle East. European powers occupied Istanbul between 1918 and 1923 to enforce the partition of the Ottoman Empire after WWI in the construction of the Modern Middle East. Almost 100 Turkish novels that address occupied Istanbul have appeared over the last ninety years, beginning even before Allied armies left Istanbul in 1923. Turkey's present Middle Eastern re-emergence and post-Kemalist reassessment of secular modernity has also led writers and intellectuals back to the occupation of Istanbul. To examine why Turkish authors return repeatedly to the trope of occupied Istanbul, this essay surveys the first canonised novels about occupied Istanbul written during the Kemalist monoparty period (1923–50): Shirt of Flame by the exiled feminist and nationalist Halide Edib (1884–1964), Sodom and Gomorrah by the Kemalist ideologue Yakup Kadri Karaosmano?lu (1889–1974) and Outside the Scene by Turkey's first experimental, modernist author Ahmet Hamdi Tanp?nar (1902–62). As bilingual Istanbul intellectuals, all three made occupied Istanbul a central drama in their fictions. However, each represented it differently as a formative event in the construction and critique of the nation-state and of modern Turkish subject-formation.     

Should digital files be considered a commons? Copyright infringement in the eyes of lawyers

In this article, we draw on a survey conducted with elite upcoming lawyers from all around the world to shed new light on the ethical acceptability of file sharing practices. Although file sharing is typically illegal, our findings show that lawyers overwhelmingly perceive it as an acceptable social practice. The main criterion used by lawyers to decide on the ethical acceptability of file sharing is whether or not the infringer derives any monetary benefits from it. Further, our findings show that lawyers in the public sector (including judiciary and academia) are even more tolerant of online copyright infringement than those in the private sector. Interestingly, our data suggests that this is largely the result of self-selection: lawyers who lean more on the side of broad disclosure and social sharing tend to orient themselves toward the public sector. Implications for the current state of the debate on the reform of copyright law are discussed.     

Influence of Process Parameters on Chlorinated Biocide Decontamination by li-CO2 on Artificially Contaminated Model Materials

ABSTRACT

Previously, heavy use of biocides for the treatment of objects made of organic materials in museum collections (e.g. ethnographic, historical collections) was very common. Now suitable decontamination methods/technologies are being sought. A decontamination treatment by li-CO₂ was optimized that considered the specific requirements of museum objects. The treatment was tested on model materials artificially contaminated with biocide solutions containing dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), pentachlorophenol (PCP), lindane, and permethrin or cypermethrin. High decontamination was achieved for DDT, lindane, PCP, and permethrin on artificially biocide loaded wool and wood model materials. Optimal process parameter settings for li-CO₂ decontamination include a single 30?min cycle for woolen materials and three sequential 30?min cycles each for wood. These methods allow a reduction of at least 90% of all biocides for wool and between 70% and 85% for wood. Decontamination of the latter was more effective for less polar biocides as DDT and permethrin. Despite a significant improvement in decontamination for wood using co-solvents such as acetone, ethanol, and methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE), their use is not recommended due to the increased risk of damage to the objects, in particular if a surface coating is present.     

Structure and development of pre-service physics teachers’ professional knowledge

ABSTRACT

Teachers’ professional knowledge is considered one of the most important predictors of instructional quality. According to Shulman, such professional knowledge includes content, pedagogical content and pedagogical knowledge. Although recent research shed some light on the structure of the dimensions of professional knowledge, little is known how teacher education impacts pre-service physics teachers’ professional knowledge. In an effort to address this issue, we examined the content, pedagogical content and pedagogical knowledge of N?=?200 pre-service physics teachers enrolled in different years of teacher education at 12 major teacher education universities in Germany. We used structural equation modelling (1) to examine the relations amongst pre-service physics teachers’ content, pedagogical content and pedagogical knowledge, (2) to explore how the three kinds of knowledge and their relations differ across different stages of teacher education and (3) to identify factors affecting the level of each component of professional knowledge. Our findings suggest that content, pedagogical content and pedagogical knowledge represent distinct types of knowledge. Furthermore, our findings show that in the first years of professional education, pedagogical content knowledge is more closely related with general pedagogical knowledge while in later years, it is more closely related with content knowledge, suggesting that it develops from a general knowledge about teaching and learning into knowledge about the teaching and learning of specific content. Finally, beyond school achievement and years of enrolment as predictors, we find in particular the amount of classroom observations to have a positive impact on the professional knowledge of pre-service physics teachers.     

Co-existing Notions of Research Quality: A Framework to Study Context-specific Understandings of Good Research

Minerva - Notions of research quality are contextual in many respects: they vary between fields of research, between review contexts and between policy contexts. Yet, the role of these co-existing...     

Cross-Sectoral Mobility Funding and the Challenge of Immersion: The Case of SSH

Minerva - Project funding rarely demands much change on behalf of the recipient. In contrast, cross-sectoral mobility funding requires recipients to change their environment and often some aspects...