Reflections on tie Philosophy of Sport In Australia

With recent controversies surrounding the eligibility of athletes with disorders of sex development (DSD) and hyperandrogenism, as well as continued discussion of the conditions transgender athletes must meet to compete in high-performance sport, a wide array of scholars representing a diverse range of disciplines have weighed in on both the appropriateness of classifying athletes into the female and male categories and the best practices of doing so. In response to cases of high-profile athletes’ sex (and gender) being called into question, the International Olympic Committee, the International Association of Athletics Federations, and the National Collegiate Athletics Association, among others, published or updated policies addressing who is eligible to compete in the women’s sport category and under what conditions. This paper addresses the areas in which philosophical reasoning and ethical analysis can contribute to reopened debates about the surveillance of the women’s category in sport. Emphasis is placed on determining where the onus of responsibility should fall for ensuring the new policies are followed.     

Philosophy and educational policy: possibilities,tensions and tasks

In this study, we investigate two principals’ learning in a progressive district in the southern United States. Both principals talked about ‘ownership’ and ‘continuous progress'as key to education reform, yet their words carried different meanings for learning. Principals’ use of reform terminology was embedded within two distinctly different communities of principal's practice ‐‐ Total Quality Management and ‘whole language’. We conclude by discussing ways to bridge such gaps in understanding among principals and communities by creating opportunities for learning and discourse. Educational administrators might thereby talk about and explore the different nuances of meaning they bring to their practice.

     

The Power of the Storyteller in Religious Education

This article considers the role of the storyteller of religious narrative, not as presenter but as custodian of the narrative. Two case studies are examined. In the first it is shown how a storyteller can operate deliberately to attack and vitiate the received tradition about their chosen subject. In the second it is shown how an established religious story can be forced to illustrate counter-values to those of its originating tradition. From these it is argued that in religious education more attention needs to be paid to the power of the storyteller and the ethical issues that arise from the use and abuse of narrative.     

Are there any questions? one teacher’s view of students and their questions in a fourth-grade classroom

While many teachers agree that the questions students ask are valuable, researchers have found that student questions are notably absent from most classrooms. We know almost nothing about the exceptions to this—classrooms where teachers manage to elicit and use student questions effectively in instruction. One fourth grade teacher, known for her use of student questions, was selected for this study. Classroom observations and interviews were used to gather data; qualitative methods were utilized to analyze the teacher interviews and the interactions surrounding 260 questions students asked during observations. This paper highlights the teacher’s stance toward her students and their questions. 1) The teacher viewed her students as learners who asked questions to increase their understanding. 2) The teacher viewed the assumptions revealed by student questions, as ‘steps’ to the curriculum. 3) The teacher viewed her students’ questions through the lens of potential; that is, she responded to questions based on how they might promote the understanding of her students.     

How Much Cueing Is Needed in Instructional Animations? The Role of Prior Knowledge

Journal of Science Education and Technology - This study explored the effects of prior knowledge and cueing on the learning (retention, transfer, and matching) and mental effort of learners who...     

Student note-taking related to university examination performance

Student note-taking is an almost universal activity among university students, yet few naturalistic studies have examined relationships between note-taking practices and subsequent examination performance. Complete sets of notes on an introductory psychology course, involving 75 lectures presented by ten instructors, were obtained from nineteen male and nineteen female students. Notes on ten selected lectures (one per instructor) were analysed, and information derived about class attendance and the quantity, organization, and presentation of the notes. Variables based on this information were then correlated with performance on two three-hour final examination papers (one multiple-choice, one essay). High correlations were found between the quantity of notes and examination performance. Surprisingly, these correlations increased in subsamples consisting of those students who attended class most diligently. The correlations involving the multiple-choice examination tended to be higher than those involving the essay examination, most probably because of wider sampling of lecture content and a more factual orientation in the multiple-choice examination. The results appear to conflict with the advice given in student study guides, many of which suggest that students should be very selective and concise in their note-taking.     

Values,Coherence and the School

This article offers a number of philosophical reflections on the task of making the educational values of the school coherent. The meaning of ‘coherence’ in this context is explored, and the requirements for its achievement are considered in relation to the inescapability and complexity of educational values, the process of planning in relation to educational values and a number of issues which require particular attention. It is concluded that a serious and informed debate on educational values is needed if schools are to be properly supported in their efforts to achieve coherence in relation to them.     

Achieving Bologna convergence: is ECTS failing to make the grade?

Transparent and consistent credit transfer procedures are essential if EU Universities are to successfully build the European Higher Education Area and thrive in the emerging global knowledge economy. Currently, the European Credit Transfer System is the most widely used mechanism to enable credit transfer between universities in different EU nations. Using data from 20 universities in four EU member states, this paper examines the problems in calculating and using ECTS grades. The results demonstrate that the alignment of ECTS grades varies within nation states and show that, despite the fact that ECTS grading is a norm‐referenced system, while national systems are usually criterion‐referenced, the ECTS conversion tables provided by universities indicate straight line transference from institutional to ECTS grades. Given the anticipated increase in student mobility following the EU enlargement to 25 nations, this paper proposes a re‐alignment of ECTS towards a criterion‐referenced system. Such a new system would acknowledge and build on the diversity of EU higher education systems, unlike the current mechanistic system. The latter masks this diversity and is flawed in calculation and ad hoc in operation.