Evolution 2.0. The Unexpected Learning Experience of Making a Digital Archive

Studies in the history of science and education have documented that the reception and understanding of evolutionary theory is highly contingent on local factors such as school systems, cultural traditions, religious beliefs, and language. This has important implications for teaching evolution in primary and secondary schools. No universal strategy can be applied in overcoming the barriers of learning that exist and that are part of the practical and daily life in classrooms all over the world. In light of this, a huge challenge is to make high standard teaching materials fit to specific target audiences readily available. As more and more schools require teachers to use low cost or free web-based materials, in the research community we need to take seriously how to facilitate that demand in communication strategies on evolution. This article addresses this challenge by presenting the learning experience of making a digital archive of Danish Darwin editions that marked the beginnings of a series of public engagement and teaching initiatives including, among other things, comprehensive new websites, exhibits, lecture series, television documentaries, and a computer game.     

Utilizing Video Conferencing to Introduce an International Perspective to Foundation Practice

Video conferencing has much potential to enrich international social work education. In this educational initiative, video conferencing was used to deliver a joint foundation social work practice class to students attending an MSW degree program both in the United States and in Ireland. Student feedback indicated that they gained an appreciation of the global nature of social work practice. They reported a deeper understanding of shared theoretical perspectives in relation to client engagement, and of the differences in many fields of practice. Students recommended additional opportunities for international discourse using both synchronous and asynchronous distance education methods.     

Behavioural disorders in Danish schools: a quantitative survey

Behavioural problems in schools have been a topic of political debate in Denmark recently. The last time the topic was in the news was before the establishing of special educational provisions for pupils with social and emotional disorders in the 1960s. As a result of the recent debate, a national survey was made. It shows that the incidence of serious problems is 10 per cent. Comparisons with earlier studies indicate that there is an increase in behavioural problems during the first years of primary schooling. A multivariate analysis shows that pupils gender, the degree of urbanization, teacher experience and geographical location are significant predictors of disturbance, while school size, class size, teacher age and gender are insignificant.     

Re-imagining ‘Bildung zur Humanität’: how I developed the Dialogos approach to practical philosophy through action inquiry research

This paper presents an account of how I developed the Dialogos approach to practical philosophy through action inquiry research. The process of development is understood as a contribution to the reconstruction of the notion ‘Bildung zur Humanität’ as an ideal in education. Core perspectives, traditions and purposes involved in the action inquiry research process are outlined, discussed and divided into three phases: the humanistic–pedagogical phase, the ethical–philosophical phase, and the existential–spiritual phase. The Dialogos approach was later systematically tried out and evaluated through philosophical dialogues in empirical action research processes in the Gandhi Project and the Reconciliation Project.     

Multiplicity and Its Discontents: Life on the Counseling Farm

This paper argues that a recurrent ideological theme of counseling history is the transition from viewing people as singular to conceptualizing them as multiple or diverse. Unfortunately, however, these laudable multiplicity movements regularly revert to a position of singularity. The implications of this ideological cycle for counseling practice are discussed.     

Creating Teachable Moments... and Making Them Last

The article investigates what the content (rather than the process) of instruction can do to motivate oftentimes ill-prepared students with predominantly extrinsic interests in their education. Among the four content-related conditions of classroom learning that are described, particular emphasis is placed on the relationship between teaching for cognitive dissonance and reflective self-assessment. The former is seen as a main condition for creating teachable moments, the latter as a vehicle for turning them into lasting learning experiences. The discussion of these issues is based on work done in three specific courses and on additional evidence from the literature.