Shaping the Web: Why the Politics of Search Engines Matters

This article argues that search engines raise not merely technical issues but also political ones. Our study of search engines suggests that they systematically exclude (in some cases by design and in some, accidentally) certain sites and certain types of sites in favor of others, systematically giving prominence to some at the expense of others. We argue that such biases, which would lead to a narrowing of the Web's functioning in society, run counter to the basic architecture of the Web as well as to the values and ideals that have fueled widespread support for its growth and development. We consider ways of addressing the politics of search engines, raising doubts whether, in particular, the market mechanism could serve as an acceptable corrective.     

The Use of Clinical Reasoning Skills in the Setting of Uncertainty: A Case of Trial Femoral Head Migration

Clinical skills and medical knowledge enable physicians to overcome the uncertainty of emergent and rare clinical scenarios. Recently, a growing emphasis on evidence-based medicine (EBM) has flooded medical curricula of universities across the globe with guideline-based material, and while it has given teachers and students new tools to improve medical education, clinical reasoning must be reaffirmed in its capacity to provide physicians with the ability to solve unexpected clinical scenarios. Anatomical education in medical school should have two main objectives: to acquire anatomical knowledge and to develop the skill of applying that knowledge in clinical scenarios. The authors present a clinical scenario in which an unexpected and rare complication occurred during a routine elective hip replacement surgery. The general surgeon presiding over the case, also an anatomy professor, solved the problem using clinical reasoning and anatomical knowledge. It was a clear example of how clinical reasoning is key in approaching unprecedented, rare, or unknown complications. The intention of this scenario is to remind colleagues and medical schools that, although EBM is the standard, educators must uphold sound clinical reasoning to best prepare health care providers for their careers.     

Ecological dynamics of continuous and categorical decision-making: The regatta start in sailing

Abstract

Ecological dynamics of decision-making in the sport of sailing exemplifies emergent, conditionally coupled, co-adaptive behaviours. In this study, observation of the coupling dynamics of paired boats during competitive sailing showed that decision-making can be modelled as a self-sustained, co-adapting system of informationally coupled oscillators (boats). Bytracing the spatial–temporal displacements of the boats, time series analyses (autocorrelations, periodograms and running correlations) revealed that trajectories of match racing boats are coupled more than 88% of the time during a pre-start race, via continuous, competing co-adaptions between boats. Results showed that both the continuously selected trajectories of the sailors (12 years of age) and their categorical starting point locations were examples of emergent decisions. In this dynamical conception of decision-making behaviours, strategic positioning (categorical) and continuous displacement of a boat over the course in match-race sailing emerged as a function of interacting task, personal and environmental constraints. Results suggest how key interacting constraints could be manipulated in practice to enhance sailors' perceptual attunement to them in competition.     

Complexities of Vietnamese femininities: a resource for rethinking women's university leadership practices

This paper develops a dialogical encounter between northern-inspired theorisations of gender and Vietnam's historical and cultural differentiation identified through the presence of matriarchy in ancient societies and its popularity in folklore and contemporary politics. The article draws on interviews with 12 senior women from 8 universities in Northern and Southern Vietnam. Three main themes are explored: (1) the Vietnamese woman as ‘general of the interior’; (2) the ‘woman behind the throne’; and (3) ‘behind a woman is another woman’. These themes illustrate the distinctiveness of a historically produced Vietnamese gender order as reflected in current university women's experience. By providing insights into the complex dynamics of Vietnamese women's ‘informal power’, as evident in both spheres of home and university, the paper presents a discussion of forms of Vietnamese femininity that contributes to re-theorising Connell's concepts of ‘hegemonic masculinity and emphasized femininity’.     

Crossed looks: globalisations and curriculum in Guinea-Bissau

This article focuses on education in Guinea-Bissau in the context of globalisations, examining the concept of globalisation and its relation to education and the curriculum. It focuses on the relatively neglected area of national education policies in Guinea-Bissau, comparing differences and common points of interference/influence of multilateral (international and regional) and bilateral organisations in these policies. Data collection was based on content analysis of a corpus of documents – the Education Act, the document of Portuguese Cooperation Programme, the Education Sector Policy Paper, the Education for All National Plan of Action, and Policy n. 3/2007/CM/UEMOA – and field notes collected from 2009 to 2012. The article argues that there is a tendency for the homogenisation of curriculum policies, at least at the macro-level, due to the different types of pressures coming from international/regional organisations.     

Impact of grade retention and school engagement on student intentions to enrol in higher education in Portugal

Grade retention and inequalities that derive from grade retention can influence student school trajectories and careers. Grade retention can discourage students from education, and increase school failure and dropout. This study explored the relationship between grade retention and student intentions to enrol in higher education. We also studied the role of school identification and behavioural engagement in this relationship. The analysis is based on a sample of 1,089 students (grades 6 to 10) from Portugal, one of the European countries with the highest rates of grade retention. We employed multilevel probit regression modelling with random intercept and fixed slopes to explore both the individual and school level effects of grade retention. The analyses showed that retained students had a lower probability of intent to enrol in higher education and that there was a contextual effect of the number of retained students in the school, on students' probability of intent to enrol in higher education. This association was partially explained at the individual level by students' school identification. Retained students presented lower levels of school identification, which in turn results in lower probabilities of enrolling in higher education. Student behavioural engagement was not associated with grade retention nor student intentions. Our findings suggest the need for interventions that foster students' school identification to overcome the adverse effects of grade retention.