The development, validation, and applicability of The Personnel Evaluation Standards

Michigan State UniversityAir Force Human Resources Laboratory     

Curriculum development through Delphi

This article reports on the use of the Delphi method for curriculum design in higher education. The basic Delphi methodology is outlined along with possible goals and objectives in a Delphi study. The results of an actual case study in the use of the Delphi method for curriculum development are reported. Attention is given to the problem of selecting participants for a Delphi exercise, followed by recommendations for future research.     

文艺复兴时期关于亚里士多德《修辞学》的论争:传播理论的跨文化解读

本演讲探讨了欧洲早期文艺复兴期间(大约1350-1700)为解读亚里士多德的《修辞学》中的论述所做出的努力,讨论了欧洲的注释者在理解亚里士多德的《修辞学》中所遇到的困难,关注了当时学者意料之外的某些论争,并力图阐释引起这些论争的原因。作者认为,人们力图阐释关于一种文化的论述并力图从另一种文化的需求和兴趣来解读这种论述的努力对中美两国具有重要意义,这些阐释所可能引发的结果也具有积极意义。作者的这种解读对当今世界——对中国和“西方”国家富有更为广泛的意义——因为他在试图解读产生于一种文化而被转译到另一种文化的修辞学和传播学理论。作者指出,在欧洲文艺复兴时期,人们相信修辞学和社会很大程度上是一回事。修辞学能够使人们避免暴力、摆脱兽性,使许多不同人的思想统一起来,促成一种包容各种矛盾的和谐社会。修辞学使我们变得文明。     

Teaching evolution: Understanding and applying the nature of science

The influence of a 3-week institute upon secondary biology and earth science teachers regarding their experiences with respect to the teaching of evolution was investigated. The institute directors, with National Science Foundation (NSF) funding, hoped to foster an understanding of the nature of science, provide enhanced content, and support a forum for teachers to discuss problems common to the teaching of evolution. Analysis of data indicated statistically significant increases in participants' acceptance of the theory of evolution and their understanding of both applied evolutionary principles and the applied nature of science. In addition, a significant reduction in participants' perceived anxieties regarding the teaching of evolution was achieved. Further, a qualitative examination of Stages of Concern (SoC) profiles indicated a slight shift by participants toward the use of more student-centered instruction. Finally, data were collected from 9 of the original 19 participants at a voluntary follow-up session, 8 months after the formal institute. Scores from all of the data-collection instruments (with the exception of SoC profiles) exhibited a slight decline. These decreases were not, however, statistically significant. Examination of SoC profiles, however, indicated a much stronger adoption by follow-up participants for the use of student-centered instructional strategies for the teaching of evolution.     

Recognition and Multiculturalism in Education

Charles Taylor's 'Politics of Recognition' has given philosophical substance to the idea of 'recognition' and has solidified a link between recognition and multiculturalism. I argue that Taylor oversimplifies the valuational basis of recognition; fails to appreciate the difference between recognition of individuals and of groups; fails to articulate the value of individuality; fails to appreciate the difference between race and ethnoculture as dimensions of identity; and fails to appreciate equality as a recognitional value. The value of recognition in education goes beyond multiculturalism, and the reasons for multiculturalism go far beyond recognitional concerns.     

Sleep and Academic Performance in U.S. Military Training and Education Programs

ABSTRACT— This review examines the effects of military training regimes, which might include some degree of sleep deprivation, on sleep–wake schedules. We report a 4-year longitudinal study of sleep patterns of cadets at the United States Military Academy and the consequences of an extension of sleep from 6 to 8 hr per night at the United States Navy's Recruit Training Command. These studies provide an opportunity to observe sleep in a college-age population and also to record sleep patterns over an entire 4-year college experience, adding to our understanding of the changes in sleep patterns over the life span.     

Three educational values for a multicultural society: Difference recognition,national cohesion and equality

Educational aims for societies comprising multiple ethnic, cultural and racial groups should involve three different values—recognizing difference, national cohesion and equality. Recognition of difference acknowledges and respects ethnocultural identities and in educational contexts also encourages mutual engagement across difference. National cohesion involves teaching a sense of civic attachment to a nation and to one’s fellow citizens of different groups and identities. ‘Multiculturalism’ has traditionally been understood to support the first value but not as much the second, a charge made by ‘interculturalism,’ a newer idea in Europe and francophone Canada. But Tariq Modood, this year’s Kohlberg Memorial Lecturer, has argued that national integration has always been a goal of multiculturalism. However, neither multiculturalism nor interculturalism has placed sufficient emphasis on equality as a social and educational ideal. Equality is a complex idea that involves both equal treatment by teachers of students from different groups, and also relative equal student outcomes among different groups.