Promoting secondary school students’ evaluation of source features of multiple documents

The current research examined whether instructional activities centering on contrasting cases promoted secondary school students’ evaluations of source features present in a multiple-documents inquiry context. Two hypothetical students’ document evaluation strategy protocols were designed: One featured more sophisticated strategies commonly enacted by experts and better college students and a second featured less sophisticated strategies commonly enacted by secondary school students. A series of classroom-based activities required that students compare/contrast the two protocols to decide which were the best strategies when analyzing multiple scientific documents and why. The findings demonstrated that students who previously participated in the intervention activities included more scientific concepts from more useful documents when generating essay responses from memory, displayed better rankings of the usefulness of the set of multiple documents, and offered more principled justifications based on source feature evaluations of trustworthiness compared to students who instead received typical classroom instruction. We discuss the instructional implications of a contrasting-cases approach in facilitating secondary school students’ usage of source features within multiple-documents inquiry contexts.     

India: Demographics for Publishers

The essential demographic data and related information for India is provided specifically for the publishing industry. The focus has been placed on the economics, education and computer industry in relation to the complex cultural factors of different languages and religions. The role of India in relation to the other three BRIC countries or Brazil, China and Russia is explored.     

Female genital mutilation: the penultimate gender abuse.

OBJECTIVE: The five goals established for the development of this article were to: (1) provide an historical overview of the practice, (2) describe the procedure and its sequelae in realistic terms, (3) explore cultural justifications for the continuation of this action, (4) evaluate inherent moral/ethical/legal issues and, (5) focus worldwide professional attention on a gender-specific child atrocity. METHOD: A review of the past and current historical, popular and professional literature was undertaken to determine the precursors, magnitude, settings, rationale, and moral-ethical-legal-treatment issues associated with this mutilating procedure. RESULTS: Four forms of female genital mutilation were identified. These are: (1) sunna (removal of the prepuce of the clitoris); (2) clitoridectomy (removal of the prepuce and the clitoris); (3) excision (removal of the prepuce, clitoris, upper labia minora and perhaps the labia majora); and, (4) infibulation (removal of the prepuce, clitoris, labia minora, and labia majora). The "surgery" is performed most frequently by untrained midwives who use sharp rocks, razor blades, kitchen knives, broken glass, or even their teeth. As a rule, no anesthetics, antiseptics, analgesics or antibiotics are available to victims. Consequently, these females typically suffer from massive short-term and long-term physical, emotional, sexual and obstetrical sequelae. CONCLUSIONS: The justifications tendered by proponents do not withstand moral-legal-ethical scrutiny. Female genital mutilation is a violation of human rights and an atrocity perpetrated against helpless individuals who are unable to provide informed consent and who must therefore be protected through education and legislation.     

An update on NCAA college freshman academic requirements: the impact on students with LD

A recent landmark settlement between the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the U.S. Department of Justice addressed many crucial issues relating to the eligibility of high school students with learning disabilities (LD) and their participation in college freshman athletics. Although the changes agreed upon in the consent decree should have wide-ranging ramifications generally in favor of students with LD, the more subjective nature of these changes opens the door for inevitable inconsistencies, biases, and possible abuses. In addition, larger issues remain unresolved, including (a) the NCAA's denial that is covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act, (b) the inconclusive status of whether college athletics is a major life activity, (c) the NCAA acting as a de facto national school board without rigorous research for setting policy on an informed basis, and (d) the lack of serious initiative on the part of the NCAA to take on a more supportive role in educational reform.     

Ethical leadership and ethical decision making: A meta-analysis of research related to ethics education

Ethical leadership and ethical decision making in organizations have been the focus of many concerns related to ethics, especially in light of high-profile corporate scandals. The importance of educational preparation for ethical leadership has been highlighted in the general literature and the library and information science literature. This article is based on a meta-analysis of research related to ethics education in business. The meta-analysis considers issues of research design, methodologies used, populations studied and other data analyzed, the nature of the researchers, and the dissemination of the research in the journal literature. It is intended to inform the study of ethics and ethics education in general and in other professional disciplines, such as library and information science. The research results indicate the limited number of research methodologies that have been used in the study of ethics education. Past research has largely focused on undergraduates, particularly in relation to the impact of ethics curricula on their learning/cognitive development and on measures of perceptions and changes in perceptions of ethical issues.     

社会需要与武术的发展

中华武术 ,从其萌发、产生、演变和发展至今 ,都是受中国社会经济发展和社会需要的影响和推动。在新的社会时期 ,武术如何适应现代社会需要 ,并在国内、国外蓬勃发展起来 ,是我们武术工作者目前面临的一个严肃问题。     

立法建制 加强体育院校教师队伍的建设

在制度和机制创新方面需要采取 5种措施 :即建立依法管理的制度 ,形成校方与教师之间的互动约束力 ;建立竞赛聘任机制 ,增强教师队伍建设的活力 ;建立激励优秀拔尖人才脱颖而出的分配机制 ,形成发挥自身潜能的动力 ;构建教师继续教育制度 ,形成一种提升力 ;建立师德教育和奖励制度 ,形成一种凝聚力