Bottom up ethics - neuroenhancement in education and employment

Neuroenhancement involves the use of neurotechnologies to improve cognitive, affective or behavioural functioning, where these are not judged to be clinically impaired. Questions about enhancement have become one of the key topics of neuroethics over the past decade. The current study draws on in-depth public engagement activities in ten European countries giving a bottom-up perspective on the ethics and desirability of enhancement. This informed the design of an online contrastive vignette experiment that was administered to representative samples of 1000 respondents in the ten countries and the United States. The experiment investigated how the gender of the protagonist, his or her level of performance, the efficacy of the enhancer and the mode of enhancement affected support for neuroenhancement in both educational and employment contexts. Of these, higher efficacy and lower performance were found to increase willingness to support enhancement. A series of commonly articulated claims about the individual and societal dimensions of neuroenhancement were derived from the public engagement activities. Underlying these claims, multivariate analysis identified two social values. The Societal/Protective highlights counter normative consequences and opposes the use enhancers. The Individual/Proactionary highlights opportunities and supports use. For most respondents these values are not mutually exclusive. This suggests that for many neuroenhancement is viewed simultaneously as a source of both promise and concern

Decentralization, identity construction, and conflict : education under Aceh's special autonomy : a dissertation presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Development Studies, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

This study contributes to the existing literature on decentralization by exploring the relationship between decentralization, identity construction and conflict in the context of decentralization reform in Indonesia. Using the concept of bottom-up autonomy as its theoretical lens, this study explores the impact of political decentralization on the autonomy of Aceh and examines the notion that autonomy can contribute to peaceful management of intra-state conflict. The study involves research into education stakeholders in the two districts of Aceh and uses the qualitative methods of pairwise ranking, semi-structured interviews, observation, and document analysis. More specifically, the impact of decentralization on the autonomy of Aceh is investigated through perceived changes in three areas of education: the curriculum, the structure, and the financing of education. The results demonstrate that the autonomy agreed between Aceh and the Indonesian government has contributed to extensive bottom-up autonomy for Aceh by accommodating the distinct identity of the Acehnese and by providing a political framework for local empowerment. Through providing frameworks for the accommodation of local identity and for local empowerment, the form of bottom-up autonomy resulting from political decentralization has offered negotiated avenues for managing intra-state conflict peacefully. These frameworks have hopefully created common ground for both parties to sustain peace. However, this study also revealed that there is potential for internal discontent within Aceh society as a result of perceived unequal access to resources. This study does not, therefore, emphatically conclude that political decentralization necessarily reduces conflict. Instead, this research suggests that political decentralization which results in extensive bottom-up autonomy may be a tool for promoting a more peaceful management of conflict between regions and the central state than would otherwise be possible

Education from the bottom up: UNICEF's education programme in Somalia

This case study looks at UNICEF's education programme in Somalia carried out between 1991 and 2010. Highlighted are the contexts in which the programme operated, the challenges it faced, and the ways it adapted and learned.Daraasaadkani wuxuu muujinayaa barnaamijka waxbarasho ee UNICEF ay ka qabatay Soomaaliya sannadaha 1991 ilaa 2010: barnaamijka ay ku dhaqaaqtay, doodihii ay la kulantay iyo sidii ay ula qabsatay.Questo studio presenta il programma di educazione dell'UNICEF effettuato in Somalia tra il 1991 e il 2010: i contesti in cui ha operato il programma, le sfide che ha dovuto affrontare e modi in cui si è adattato

Enterprise Agility: Why Is Transformation so Hard?

Enterprise agility requires capabilities to transform, sense and seize new business opportunities more quickly than competitors. However, acquiring those capabilities, such as continuous delivery and scaling agility to product programmes, portfolios and business models, is challenging in many organisations. This paper introduces definitions of enterprise agility involving business management and cultural lenses for analysing large-scale agile transformation. The case organisation, in the higher education domain, leverages collaborative discovery sprints and an experimental programme to enable a bottom-up approach to transformation. Meanwhile the prevalence of bureaucracy and organisational silos are often contradictory to agile principles and values. The case study results identify transformation challenges based on observations from a five-month research period. Initial findings indicate that increased focus on organisational culture and leveraging of both bottom-up innovation and supportive top-down leadership activities, could enhance the likelihood of a successful transformation

Review of the Book \u3ci\u3eShakespeare, Einstein, and the Bottom Line: The Marketing of Higher Education\u3c/i\u3e

[Excerpt] Befitting a former journalist, Kirp\u27s book is extraordinarily well-written; once one picks it up it is hard to put down. Some economists may be put off by a book that contains no equations, tables, figures or regression results. Such an attitude, however, would be misguided and any academic economist interested in better understanding how market forces are reshaping higher education should read Shakespeare, Einstein, and the Bottom Line

Critical thinking and the disciplines reconsidered

This paper argues that Moore's specifist defence of critical thinking as ‘diverse modes of thought in the disciplines’, which appeared in Higher Education Research & Development, 30(3), 2011, is flawed as it entrenches relativist attitudes toward the important skill of critical thinking. The paper outlines the critical thinking debate, distinguishes between ‘top-down’, ‘bottom-up’ and ‘relativist’ approaches and locates Moore's account therein. It uses examples from one discipline-specific area, namely, the discipline of Literature, to show that the generalist approach to critical thinking does not ‘leave something out’ and outlines why teaching ‘generic’ critical thinking skills is central to tertiary education, teaching and learning, and employment opportunities for students. The paper also defends the assessment of critical thinking skills

Maximizing German to English Translation Proficiency: A Bottom-Up Approach Study

In the realm of language education, the adoption of effective teaching methodologies holds paramount importance. This study addresses the discernible gap in the literature concerning the impact of a bottom-up approach on German-to-English translation. By scrutinizing the discrepancy between theories and practices, this research aims to shed light on the transformative potential of this innovative pedagogical approach. Conducted within the German Language Education Study Program at the Faculty of Language and Literature, Makassar State University, this qualitative descriptive research encompasses students enrolled in the Einfuehrung in der Uebersetzungwissenschaft (Introduction to Translation) course during the odd semester of 2020/2021. The study's focal points include assessing students' mastery of translation theory as a foundational element for achieving overarching learning objectives, examining the strategies employed by instructors in implementing the bottom-up approach, developing tailored materials designed to inspire and engage students for optimal learning outcomes, and evaluating students' proficiency in translating German texts into English following the application of the bottom-up approach. Through comprehensive assessments utilizing testing as a primary data collection method, the results unequivocally demonstrate the affirmative impact of the bottom-up approach on the translation proficiency of students in transmuting German texts into English. This study reaffirms the pivotal role of innovative pedagogical approaches in enhancing language learning outcomes and underscores the significance of incorporating the bottom-up approach into German-to-English translation courses

Age 5 cognitive development in England

Children’s development in the early years has been shown to be related to their success in later life in a range of areas including education, employment and crime. Determining why some children do better than others in the early years is a key issue for policy and is crucial in attempts to reduce inequalities. This research examines differences in early child development by examining the factors associated with the cognitive ability of children up to age 5 using cognitive assessments administered as part of the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) and teacher reports of child ability. The results show that younger children, those with low birth weight, lower parental education, lower income and living in social housing is related both to lower achievement, on average. and the probability of being at the bottom of the distribution of cognitive scores at age 5

Metadata standards in the German funding program "Innovationswettbewerb INVITE". Which standards are used for which purpose? A contribution by INVITE Meta and the Digitalbegleitung (technological monitoring and research) within the framework of the German funding program INVITE

This paper is about the definition and recommendation of metadata standards for the field of continuing vocational education and training. The standards were discussed in a bottom-up approach and selected in several workshops attended by projects from the German funding program “INVITE” on behalf of the BMBF (German Federal Ministry of Education and Research). (DIPF/Orig.)In diesem Paper geht es um eine Darstellung und Empfehlung von Metadatenstandards für den Bereich der beruflichen Weiterbildung. Die Standards wurden bottom-up in mehreren Workshops durch Projekte aus dem Innovationswettbewerb INVITE des BMBF diskutiert und auf dieser Basis ausgewählt

Inclusive Education Reform in Kazakhstan: Civil Society Activism from the Bottom-Up

It is a common discourse in Kazakhstan that policy-making is state-driven and top-down with weak engagement by civil society. One of the educational reform initiatives announced by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan is a transition to an inclusive education model by 2020. The present study sought to challenge the traditional perspectives on the policy-making process and to investigate to what extent and how civil society in Kazakhstan contributes to inclusive education reform. Described as a phenomenological inquiry, this study employed a qualitative approach, interviewing seven representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) about their contribution to inclusive education reform in Kazakhstan..