Social and ethical dimension of the natural sciences, complex problems of the age, interdisciplinarity, and the contribution of education

In view of the complex problems of this age, the question of the socio-ethical dimension of science acquires particular importance. We approach this matter from a philosophical and sociological standpoint, looking at such focal concerns as the motivation, purposes and methods of scientific activity, the ambivalence of scientific research and the concomitant risks, and the conflict between research freedom and external socio-political intervention. We then point out the impediments to the effectiveness of cross-disciplinary or broader meetings for addressing these complex problems and managing the associated risks, given the difficulty in communication between experts in different fields and non-experts, difficulties that education is challenged to help resolve. We find that the social necessity of informed decision-making on the basis of cross-disciplinary collaboration is reflected in the newer curricula, such as that of Greece, in aims like the acquisition of cross-subject knowledge and skills, and the ability to make decisions on controversial issues involving value conflicts. The interest and the reflections of the science education community in these matters increase its—traditionally limited—contribution to the theoretical debate on education and, by extension, the value of science education in the education system.     

Relevance matters. Eighteen-month-olds’ use of relevant informative pointing as a predictor of two-year-olds’ language abilities / La relevancia es importante. El uso de gestos deícticos relevantes e informativos por parte de niños de año y medio como factor predictor de las capacidades lingüísticas a los dos años

Abstract

The significance of pointing gestures in the development of linguistic communication is linked to their referential character and formation of common ground in use of gestures and speech. Our longitudinal study aimed to define the nature of this relationship more precisely and to explore whether the relevance vs lack of relevance of a child’s pointing gestures is related to development of language abilities. We developed a special protocol to measure relevant and irrelevant pointing gestures in 18-month-olds, sampled production of spontaneous speech and measured their language comprehension at two years of age. A group of 343 children was tested, and using structural equation modelling we showed that relevant gestures predict the level of development of language production and comprehension. As predicted, this association was not applied to irrelevant gestures. It is likely that a child’s more frequent use of relevant pointing gestures helps the caregiver to recognize the child’s communicative intentions and to comment on his/her behaviour appropriately. The identified developmental/predictive relationship is valid in both mentalistic and teleological interpretation of early communicative development.     

The role of context in a collaborative problem-solving task during professional development

This article analyses how a group of teachers managed the resources available while performing computer-supported collaborative problem-solving tasks in the context of professional development. The authors video-recorded and analysed collaborative sessions during which the group of teachers used a digital environment to prepare a pedagogical scenario for subsequent implementation in their schools. The findings provide evidence that some aspects of context management can be explained in terms of explorative (opening problem space) and focused (closing problem space) actions. The results indicate that (a) the focused problem-solving took place when the problem space reached a provisional stability and problem-solvers developed a plan for proceeding with the task, (b) the individual exploration of the context was associated with the process of appropriation of a digital educational environment, and (c) the collective exploration of the context fostered the advancement of collaborative problem-solving and the introduction of new elements in the joint problem space.     

‘Doing research was inspiring’: building a research community with teachers

This paper reports on a mixed-methods study related to K–12 teachers’ understandings of what research is, and what enables or inhibits teacher use of research in the classroom towards informing their instructional practices. In a collaboration exemplifying school board and university partnerships, we examined the nature of associations between teachers and education research(ers). Our findings indicated that teachers felt both connected and disconnected to research practices in education. Participants suggested ways to establish and sustain better links and collaborations among the communities of teaching and research. This paper emphasizes the importance of universities, schools and teachers working together to conduct meaningful research and apply current knowledge in the field of education.     

The girl with the garden gloves: researching the affordances of sensual materialities in the school garden

ABSTRACT

This article uses vignettes and photographs taken from ethnographic research to reframe the methodological assumptions within school garden research. New theoretical perspectives are applied to previous empirical school garden research that provides deeper understandings of both the teaching and the learning of ecoliteracy in such material contexts. Actor Network Theory and Social Semiotics further highlight the affordance of school garden spaces. We make public the conversations of a small research group about a perceived ethnographic turn towards materiality, aesthetics and agency.     

The West Wing and Depictions of the American Presidency: Expanding the Domains of Framing in Political Communication

This study uses framing to assess how the office of the President of the United States is depicted on NBC's The West Wing. This work represents a theoretical and empirical domain extension of framing in political communication, an area of study dominated by analyses of news content. Three distinct presidential depictions are analyzed: chief executive, political candidate, and private citizen. This quantitative content analysis of the 2001–2002 The West Wing television season addresses the frequency with which the fictional president performs these three roles and posits several hypotheses concerning the relative presentation of personality characteristics across contexts. All three roles are represented with substantive frequency, with the chief executive role dominating. Principled character traits are evident more often when the fictional President Bartlet is acting as chief executive than as a private citizen. Conversely, Bartlet presents more engaging personality traits when acting as a private citizen than as either chief executive or political candidate. Implications for these finding are outlined and future lines of research are detailed.     

Does On‐line Distance Higher Education Pay Off for Adult Learners? The Case of the Open University of Catalonia

The increasing opportunities created for adults by on‐line distance universities raise important issues about the payoff to such education. This study uses a unique set of survey data gathered by the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) in 2009 to estimate the earnings gains of the 2000–2003 cohorts of UOC students in six programmes of study over an average six‐year time frame between entering and one year after leaving their studies. It compares their gains with the earnings gains of comparable full‐time workers in the Spanish labour force by age, education level, and gender. The results show that those who studied in UOC's two‐year second‐cycle degree programmes had positive relative earnings gains but those in three‐year first‐cycle degree programmes did not. The study further discusses why adult learners might nevertheless study toward degrees for which payoffs appear low.