11,801 research outputs found

    Ontology-Supported Scaffolding for System Safety Analysis

    Get PDF
    System Safety Analysis is a valuable task used when trying to ensure that any thing that can be represented with the systems-model does not behave in some manner that is undesirable to the stakeholders in that system. It's a creative task, with no known correct solution, with limited tool support. This thesis investigates the possibility of providing support to analysts undertaking this task through the use of ontology and pedagogy in an artificially intelligent tool. An ontology to capture the system-model as understood by System-Theoretic Accident Model and Processes (STAMP) was authored, building on an existing set-theoretic representation. This required the authoring of underlying ontology-modules, including one for Control Systems and one to capture sufficient information for use with Situation Calculus. Together these capture information to be used in reasoning about system behaviour. During System Safety Analysis a user extends this ontology to model their system, and the intelligent support tool interprets it to offer its advice. The intelligent support tool uses Contingent Scaffolding to tailor its support to the user, this pedagogical strategy was chosen as it's been shown to enable the learner to produce a better quality product than they would be capable of alone. Contingent Scaffolding depends upon knowledge of past behaviour of the learner so that interventions can be pitched at the correct level for the learner. Typically ontology authoring tools use a synchronic view of the ontology, and so don't capture the required history. This tool uses Situation Calculus to capture a diachronic view of the ontology such that the history of authorship can be reasoned with to apply the Contingent Scaffolding framework defined herein. To evaluate the practicability of this approach the ontology and scaffolding were implemented in software. This surfaced an issue with the inability to inverse dependencies in Prolog, which was important to make the tools reuseable and shareable. These were overcome by Protocols provided in Logtalk. The code was then applied to other domains, such as robotics planning by a third-party, demonstrating generalisability of the intelligent support tool. A user study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the intelligent support tool, in which novices undertook a System Safety Analysis. The tool was able to effectively provide support where definitions were missed and additional patterns of behaviour were identified that are indicitive of the user needing support. The thesis makes a number of contributions including: a systems ontology with a focus on capturing hypothetical and realised behaviour, a formal definition of a contingent scaffolding framework that can be used with ill-defined tasks, and the use of dependency inversion in Prolog to enable sharing of libraries. The primary contribution is in the use of a diachronic view of ontology authoring to provide support, which has been successfully exploited and has scope for providing a platform for many more applications

    Refactoring the Whitby Intelligent Tutoring System for Clean Architecture

    Get PDF
    Whitby is the server-side of an Intelligent Tutoring System application for learning System-Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA), a methodology used to ensure the safety of anything that can be represented with a systems model. The underlying logic driving the reasoning behind Whitby is Situation Calculus, which is a many-sorted logic with situation, action, and object sorts. The Situation Calculus is applied to Ontology Authoring and Contingent Scaffolding: the primary activities within Whitby. Thus many fluents and actions are aggregated in Whitby from these two sub-applications and from Whitby itself, but all are available through a common situation query interface that does not depend upon any of the fluents or actions. Each STPA project in Whitby is a single situation term, which is queried for fluents that include the ontology, and to determine what pedagogical interventions to offer. Initially Whitby was written in Prolog using a module system. In the interest of a cleaner architecture and implementation with improved code reuse and extensibility, the initial application was refactored into Logtalk. This refactoring includes decoupling the Situation Calculus reasoner, Ontology Authoring framework, and Contingent Scaffolding framework into third-party libraries that can be reused in other applications. This extraction was achieved by inverting dependencies via Logtalk protocols and categories, which are reusable interfaces and components that provide functionally cohesive sets of predicate declarations and predicate definitions. In this paper the architectures of two iterations of Whitby are evaluated with respect to the motivations behind the refactor: clean architecture enabling code reuse and extensibility

    Compliance Safety and Health Officer Apprenticeship Program Expenditure Analysis

    Get PDF
    The purpose of this study was to explore ways to reduce expenditures in the compliance safety and health officer\u27s apprenticeship program at Virginia Department of Labor and Industry

    Uptake of an OHS code of practice by construction firms : barriers and enablers in an Australian industry

    Get PDF
    The Australian construction industry, reflecting a global trend, is moving towards the implementation of a voluntary code of practice (hereafter VCP) for occupational health and safety. The evidence suggests that highlyvisible clients and project management firms, in addition to their subcontractors, look set to embrace such a code. However, smaller firms not operating in high-profile contracting regimes may prove reticent to adopt a VCP. This paper incorporates qualitative data from a high-profile research project commissioned by Engineers Australia and supported by the Australian Contractors’ Association, Property Council of Australia, Royal Australian Institute of Architects, Association of Consulting Engineers Australia, Australian Procurement and Construction Council, Master Builders Australia and the Australian CRC for Construction Innovation. The paper aims to understand the factors that facilitate or prevent the uptake of the VCP by smaller firms, together with pathways to the adoption of a VCP by industry

    Responsible Design - an experiment in collaboration

    Get PDF
    The imminent impact of the climate change has forced architecture schools to rethink their pedagogic structures. Using a scaffolded approach in our new MArch studio, we can demonstrate that the multiple narratives are required to deliver a responsive building capable of being durable, resilient and flexible. We argue that understanding these intertwined narratives is an essential method in dealing with the dynamic character of a building under construction, in use and reuse. The paper plots the structured narrative in a necessary linear fashion, where each phase employs specific methods of enquiry to deliver quantitative data that supports evidenced design decisions. However measurement is not everything, because the student teams must find a way of balancing the objective with the qualitative. The studio remains an open looped learning paradigm where the students are encouraged to reflect on the processes to build for themselves a leadership and decision model for future practice. This is an iterative cyclical model where invention, crisis and paradigm shift are built in. Through learning histories (both shared and personal), through storytelling (Roth & Kleiner, 1998), the story of the MArch Collaborative Studio at TU Dublin is revealed

    과학 논변 수업에서 나타나는 교사들의 대화적 스캐폴딩 실행과 학생들의 행위주체성 탐색

    Get PDF
    학위논문(박사)--서울대학교 대학원 :사범대학 과학교육과(생물전공),2019. 8. 김희백.본 연구에서는 과학 수업에서 나타나는 교사의 대화적 스캐폴딩 실행과 전략을 주제별로 탐색하였다. 대화적 탐구는 교사와 학생 사이의 상호작용을 요구하고 있어서, 교사의 대화적 스캐폴딩에 대해 학생들이 보이는 논변적 행위주체성을 탐색하는 것이 필요하다. 본 연구는 조작에 초점을 둔 탐구활동 및 실험활동 수행이 어려운 필리핀 생물 수업에서 인지에 초점을 둔 탐구 교수/학습 방법으로 논변활동을 활용할 가능성을 탐색하는데 그 목적을 두고 있다. 본 연구에서는 필리핀의 과학 교사 4명과 그들이 가르치는 학생들을 참여자로 하여 질적 사례 연구가 수행되었다. 총 20차시의 수업에 대한 녹화, 녹음 전사본을 주된 자료로 사용하였으며, 반복적 비교분석법을 사용하여 담화에서 드러나는 교사의 대화적 스캐폴딩과 학생들의 논변적 행위주체성을 찾았다. 또한 질적 자료들의 타당성을 확보하기 위해 설문조사, 공식 및 비공식 면담, 비참여 관찰 자료를 추가적으로 사용하였으며, 이러한 자료를 활용하여 교수/학습의 본성, 교실 논변활동의 본성과 장점에 대한 교사들의 지식과 신념을 이해할 수 있었다. 근거이론의 반복적 비교분석법을 통하여 우발적 지원 단계(contingency phase)와 지원 소멸 단계(fading phase)에서 나타나는 교사의 대화적 스캐폴딩 실행 및 학생들의 논변적 행위주체성을 찾아내어 범주화하였다. 4개 반에서 각각 5차시씩 총 20차시의 수업을 분석하여 우발적 지원 단계로부터 지원 소멸 단계로 이행하는 논의과정을 찾고, 여기서 드러나는 교사와 학생 간의 대화적 상호작용을 대주제와 소주제로 범주화하였다. 선행연구에서 제시된 분석틀 활용 방법과 데이터로부터 귀납적으로 찾아내는 방법을 혼합·적용하여 각 주제들을 도출하였다. 코드체계는 교사와 학생의 대화적 상호작용을 이해하기 위해 만들어진 것으로, 대화의 유형 분석과 대화에서 나타나는 역할 분석에 초점을 두었다. 대화적 스캐폴딩은 학생들의 행위주체성 발현을 위해 교사가 담화적 지원으로 제공한 것이다. 학생들은 우발적 지원 단계에서는 요청된 반응을 주로 하면서 대화적 탐구에 참여하고자 한 데 비해, 지원 소멸 단계에서는 요청받지 않은 반응을 하면서 대화적 탐구에 참여하였다. 본 연구는 교사와 학생들의 대화적 상호작용에 초점을 두고 있어서, 두 단계에서 나타나는 교사의 대화적 스캐폴딩 프롬프트와 학생들의 반응이 모두 기록되었다. 교사의 대화적 스캐폴딩 프롬프트는 개념적, 분석적, 반성적으로 범주화되었고, 이들은 각 단계별로 다른 역할을 한다고 드러났다. 교사의 스캐폴딩은 우발적 지원 단계에서는 사전 지식 연계 요구, 내용의 재요약 요구, 수업 담화에 기여 요구, 진술의 재구성 요구, 예상된 반응을 위한 힌트 제공, 학생들의 지속적인 토론 참가를 위한 책임감 부여 등의 역할을 한 데 비하여, 지원 소멸 단계에서는 토론 지속을 위한 지원, 토론 확장을 위한 프롬프트 제공, 학생들의 역량 확장 기회 제공 등의 역할을 하였다. 대화적 상호작용에서 학생들이 드러낸 논변적 행위주체성은 두 단계에서 모두 긍정적 역할을 하였다. 자신의 주장 제공과 지지를 위한 추론을 하였으며, 기존 주장에 대한 명료화, 이에 대한 반박과 평가 과정에서 비판적 사고를 드러냈다. 연구 결과에서 4명의 교사는 논변활동 지원을 위해 서로 다른 대화적 스캐폴딩 실행을 보인 것으로 나타났는데, 이러한 차이는 교사들의 교수/학습에 대한 지식과 신념, 논변활동의 본성과 장점에 대한 지식과 신념이 다양한 수준을 보인다는 것과 관련이 있다. 이러한 신념들은 논변활동의 교수적 접근(SSI 기반 또는 내용 기반)에 대한 프레이밍에 영향을 미쳤고, 더 나아가 그들의 대화적 스캐폴딩 실행과 전략에 영향을 주었다. 교사가 우발적 지원 단계에서 교수적 접근에 대한 프레이밍과 관련하여 제시한 대화적 스캐폴딩 실행은 적절한 인식적 실행을 위한 전략 구사하기, 협상 문화 구축하기, 개념적-반성적 질문하기, 공동의 합의를 위해 학생들의 아이디어에 유연한 자세 가지기로 나타났다. 지원 소멸 단계에서는 학생들의 지식 자원 인식하기, 학생의 대화적 상호작용 참여 의지에 민감하기 등의 스캐폴딩을 보였다. 각 교사는 우발적 지원 단계에서 학생들의 논변적 행위주체성 지원을 위해 두 가지의 서로 다르지만 연관된 대화적 스캐폴딩 전략을 사용하였다. 교사 Loida는 SSI 기반 수업에서 적절한 인식적 실행을 위한 전략을 구사함으로써 1) 학생들로 하여금 사전 과학 지식을 사용하여 단순한 개념으로부터 추상적인 개념을 구성하도록 하였고, 2) 그들이 실제로 경험했음직한 시나리오를 제공하였다. 교사 Carlo는 협상 문화 구축을 위해 1) 중립적 관점을 제공함으로써 통합 방향의 협상이 이루어지도록 하였고, 2) 이질적 아이디어를 수렴시켜 공동의 합의를 이끌어내었다. 교사 Don은 내용 기반 수업에서 1) 사실적인 정규 개념을 이용한 질문하기, 2) 반성적 탐구를 통한 논의 확장하기를 실행함으로써 개념적-반성적 질문의 스캐폴딩을 드러냈다. 마지막으로, 공동의 합의를 위해 학생들의 아이디어에 유연한 자세 가지기를 보인 교사 Maria는 1) 대화적 실행에서 우발적 지원을 강화하였고, 2) 학생들의 지지 증가와 이들의 담화적 정체성 증진을 조율하였다. 분석 결과는 필리핀의 과학 수업에서 논변활동을 통해 인지에 초점을 둔 탐구학습이 가능함을 보여준다. 조작에 초점을 둔 탐구활동 및 실험 기반 탐구 활동 수행이 제한적인 필리핀 교실 환경에서 탐구 기반 교육의 긍정적인 대안을 제공한 연구라 하겠다. 교사의 대화적 스캐폴딩 실행이 그들의 교수/학습의 본성, 교실 논변활동의 본성과 장점에 대한 다양한 수준의 지식/신념과 관련되었다는 결과로 볼 때, 예비 교사와 현직 교사들의 구성주의적 신념을 계발시킬 수 있는 교사 전문성 향상(PD) 프로그램이 요구된다. 이러한 프로그램은 교사들로 하여금 탐구 기반 교수에 대한 프레이밍을 갖도록 하고 대화적 스캐폴딩을 통하여 논변활동과 같은 탐구 기반 교수 실행을 할 수 있도록 도울 것이다. 또한, 이러한 교사 전문성 향상 프로그램이 모국어 기반 다언어 교육(MTB-MLE) 프로그램의 성공과 함께 논변활동 촉진을 위한 언어 사용 극대화에 그 목적을 두는데 대해 함의를 제공하고, 추가적인 후속 연구를 제안하였다.The study thematically explored the teachers dialogic scaffolding practices and strategies in classroom argumentation implementation. As dialogic inquiry involves interrelated responses, students expressions of argumentative agency in response to their teachers dialogic scaffolding were also thematically explored. This study was conducted to investigate the potentials of classroom argumentation to become a minds-on inquiry teaching method in the Philippine biology education due to the limitations of schools for hands-on or laboratory-based instructions. The study employed the qualitative multiple-case study research design which involved four science teachers and their students in the Philippines. Robust amount of data which were analyzed through constant comparison method to establish themes representative of the teachers dialogic scaffolding and students expressions of argumentative agency where taken from audio- and video transcripts of a total of 20 lesson transcripts; five lessons observed from each teacher. These were supplemented with other data obtained through survey, formal and informal interview, and non-participant observations to establish the teachers profile regarding their knowledge and beliefs on the nature of teaching and learning and on the nature and advantages of classroom argumentation. Thematic analyses for both the teachers dialogic scaffolding practices and students expressions of argumentative agency in both the contingency and fading phases followed the grounded theory methodology through constant comparison method. This was applied to the total of 20 classroom transcripts (five from each) of the four classes to develop the themes and subthemes which represented the interrelated categories of teachers and students dialogic exchange which sustained their argumentative discussions from the contingency phases to the fading phases. In the coding process, themes were developed using the combined inductive and template approaches which merged the a priori and data-driven codes. The codebooks that were generated were particularly focused on types of dialogues and the roles played by these dialogues to establish the interplay of teachers and students dialogic interactions. Dialogic scaffolding in this study was used as discursive support provided by the teachers to elicit students expressions of argumentative agency. Students expressions of argumentative agency on the other hand, were focused on their willingness to participate in the dialogic inquiry with solicited responses in the contingency phases and unsolicited responses in the fading phases. As the study was focused on the dialogic exchange, the roles of the teachers dialogic scaffolding prompts and students responses were noted in both the contingency and fading phases of their discussions. Teachers dialogic scaffolding prompts were classified as conceptual, analytical, and reflective and were expressed in different roles such as linking statements to prior knowledge, recapitulating, appropriating, recasting, cued eliciting, and increasing perspectives in the contingency phase while supporting, being a tool for communication, and extending students capacities in the fading phase. Students dialogic roles to express their argumentative agency on the other hand, can either be constructive which supported or provided reasons to claims or critic which clarified, challenged, or evaluated existing claims. Results showed that the teachers had different dialogic scaffolding practices for classroom argumentation implementation. These differences were affected by their varying levels of knowledge and beliefs on the nature of teaching and learning and on the nature and advantages of classroom argumentation. These beliefs eventually affected their framing of instructional approaches to implement classroom argumentation (SSI-based or content-based) which further influenced their dialogic scaffolding practices and strategies. Four themes, which were associated to their framing of instructional approaches, emerged as the teachers dialogic scaffolding practices in the contingency phase namely: 1) appropriation strategies, 2) enactment of the culture of negotiation, 3) conceptual-reflective questioning, and 4) flexible affirmations of students ideas for collective consensus. In the fading phase, two themes represented the teachers dialogic scaffolding and similarly, these were aligned to their instructional approaches to classroom argumentation implementation. In order to implement their personal dialogic scaffolding practices, each teacher employed two different but related dialogic scaffolding strategies to support the students expressions of argumentative agency in the contingency phases. In the SSI-based classes, using the appropriation strategies, Teacher Loida dialogically scaffolded the students by: 1) using prior scientific knowledge to build abstract concepts from simple ones, and 2) providing scenarios that may be experienced by the students. In the enactment of the culture of negotiation, Teacher Carlo used the strategies: 1) offering neutral points of view as prerequisites for integrative negotiation, and 2) converging disparate ideas leading to collective consensus. In the content-based classes, Teacher Don implemented his conceptual-reflective questioning by: 1) questioning using factual-canonical concepts, and 2) extending discussion through reflective inquiry. Finally, using the flexible affirmations of students for collective consensus, Teacher Mara implemented this by: 1) providing reinforcement for a mutually contingent dialogic exercise, and 2) revoicing to increase students backing and enhance their discursive identity. Results of the analysis point out the possibility of implementing classroom argumentation as a minds-on inquiry process in the Philippine biology education. This is in response to the advocacy for inquiry-based teaching despite the limits posed by the scarcity of resources for hands-on or laboratory-based inquiry teaching practices. With the varying dialogic scaffolding practices of the teachers employed in this study based on their varying levels of knowledge and beliefs on the nature of teaching and learning and on the nature and advantages of classroom argumentation, the study recommends professional development (PD) programs that would facilitate the development of the constructivist beliefs of pre-service and in-service education. This would eventually lead them to framing and implementing inquiry-based teaching such as classroom argumentation through their dialogic scaffolding. Implications for pre-service and in-service teachers PDs which aim to maximize the use of language in promoting classroom argumentation with the success of the mother tongue-based-multi-language Education (MTB-MLE) program in the Philippines were discussed. Further recommendations for future related studies were discussed.Table of Contents Contents Page Dedication ii Acknowledgement iii Abstract vi Table of Contents x List of Tables xiii List of Figures xiv Chapter 1. Introduction 1 1.1. Statement of the Problem 8 1.2. Objectives of the Study 12 1.3. Significance of the Study 13 1.4. Limitations of the Study 15 1.5. Overview of the Dissertation 16 Chapter 2. Theoretical Framework and Conceptual Definition of Terms 19 Chapter 3. Review of Related Literature 26 3.1. Dialogic scaffolding argumentation as an inquiry-based approach in science education 27 3.2. Defining a dialogic learning environment . 31 3.3. Scaffolding in science education 35 3.4. Argumentative agency in the current research 37 3.5. Developing students epistemic agency for classroom argumentation 40 3.6. Advantages of classroom argumentation 42 3.7. Developing teachers PCK for argumentation teaching 43 3.8. The secondary school science education in the K to 12 curriculum of the Philippines 45 3.9. Improving the constructivist teaching approaches of science teachers in the Philippines 47 Chapter 4. Methodology 50 4.1. Research design 50 4.2. Sampling and settings of the study 52 4.3. Participants of the Study 54 4.4. Classroom dynamics 57 4.5. Data collection 59 4.5.1. Procedure 59 4.5.2. Instruments 61 4.6. Data analysis and interpretation 65 4.6.1. Analysis and interpretation on the teachers dialogic scaffolding practices and implementation strategies for students expressions of argumentative agency in both the contingency and fading phases 66 4.6.2. Descriptive analysis and interpretation on the teachers knowledge and belief systems on nature of teaching and learning and on the nature and advantages of classroom argumentation 68 4.6.3. Analysis and interpretation on what and how the students expressed argumentative agency as a response to their teachers dialogic scaffolding practices in both the contingency and fading phases 70 4.7. Establishing the research quality 74 4.8. Ethical considerations 75 Chapter 5. Results and Discussion 77 5.1. Teachers dialogic scaffolding practices 80 5.1.1. Dialogic scaffolding practices and implementation strategies in the contingency phase 80 For the SSI-based implementing teachers 80 Theme 1: Appropriation strategies 81 Theme 2: Enactment of the culture of negotiation 90 For the content-based implementing teachers 97 Theme 3: Conceptual-reflective questioning strategies 98 Theme 4: Flexible affirmations of students ideas for collective consensus 107 5.1.2. Teachers dialogic scaffolding practices and implementation strategies in the fading phases 114 Theme 1: Recognition of students scientific knowledge capitals for the SSI-based implementing teachers 116 Theme 2: Sensitivity to students willingness to participate in the dialogic exchange in the content-based classes 130 5.2. Teachers knowledge and beliefs on the nature of teaching and learning and on the nature and advantages of classroom argumentation 144 SSI-based implementing teachers 144 Content-based implementing teachers 154 5.3. Students expressions of argumentative agency in response to their teachers dialogic scaffolding practices and strategies 165 5.3.1. Theme 1: Neutral and immediate application of scientific knowledge in the dialogic response in the contingency phase 168 5.3.2. Theme 2: Use of science concepts, willingness to take part, and recognition of the advantages of turn-taking in the fading phase 190 Chapter 6. Summary and Conclusion 217 Chapter 7. Implications and Recommendations 229 References 234 국문초록 254 Appendices 258 I. Communications 258 II. SNU IRB Approval Sheets 259 III. Sample Research Instruments 267 A. TBTLQ 267 B. TKBAS 268 C. TBTLI 269 D. TDSAOC 270 E. TSCAIG 271Docto

    Biological Signatures of Emotion Regulation in Children

    Full text link
    Emotion regulation (ER) is a key predictor of positive adjustment throughout the lifespan. Despite decades of research on discrete ER strategy use, ER may be more appropriately measured in terms of the breadth of emotional range, or the degree to which one can flexibly modulate emotional responses. Yet little is known about ER flexibility in childhood. Also, given the crucial role of caregiver support in children’s emotional lives, ER may be most accurately measured in developmentally appropriate and ecologically valid social contexts. Further, few developmental studies have capitalized on the growing evidence base surrounding biological signatures of ER. This study harnessed two target biological signatures that highlight emotional range as an aspect of ER flexibility: the late positive potential (LPP), an index of neurocognitive flexibility, and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), an index of physiological flexibility. These metrics were examined as predictors of child behavioral ER and emotional adjustment, and evaluated in terms of their sensitivity to social context. Eighty-six (44 female; Mage = 6.94, SD = 1.13) 5-to-8-year-olds completed a Directed Reappraisal Task (DRT) in which unpleasant pictures were paired with either reappraisal or negative interpretations while EEG and ECG were recorded. Social context was systematically manipulated such that children either completed the task alone, with parent present but not interacting, or with parent scaffolding child ER. ECG was recorded while dyads completed two emotionally challenging behavioral tasks. Neurocognitive flexibility indexed by the LPP was bolstered by experimentally-manipulated parent presence or scaffolding of child ER during the DRT, and also by spontaneous patterns of behavioral parent scaffolding. In contrast, while RSA was not sensitive to social context, greater physiological flexibility indexed by RSA suppression predicted greater parent-reported ER, and fewer symptoms of psychopathology. Taken together, results highlight the importance of bio-behavioral multimethod approaches to examine biological signatures of ER in children in terms of context-sensitivity and flexibility

    Fresh or frozen? Classifying ‘spare' embryos for donation to human embryonic stem cell research

    Get PDF
    This article is available open access, funded by the Wellcome Trust. It is distributed under a Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). Copyright @ 2010 Elsevier Ltd.United Kingdom (UK) funding to build human embryonic stem cell (hESC) derivation labs within assisted conception units (ACU) was intended to facilitate the ‘In-vitro fertilisation (IVF)-stem cell interface’, including the flow of fresh ‘spare’ embryos to stem cell labs. However, in the three sites reported on here, which received this funding, most of the embryos used for hESC research came from long term cryopreservation storage and/or outside clinics. In this paper we explore some of the clinical, technical, social and ethical factors that might help to explain this situation. We report from our qualitative study of the ethical frameworks for approaching women/couples for donation of embryos to stem cell research. Members of staff took part in 44 interviews and six ethics discussion groups held at our study sites between February 2008 and October 2009. We focus here on their articulations of social and ethical, as well as scientific, dimensions in the contingent classification of ‘spare’ embryos, entailing uncertainty, fluidity and naturalisation in classifying work. Social and ethical factors include acknowledging and responding to uncertainty in classifying embryos; retaining ‘fluidity’ in the grading system to give embryos ‘every chance’; tensions between standardisation and variation in enacting a ‘fair’ grading system; enhancement of patient choice and control, and prevention of regret; and incorporation of patients’ values in construction of ethically acceptable embryo ‘spareness’ (‘frozen’ embryos, and embryos determined through preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) to be genetically ‘affected’). We argue that the success of the ‘built moral environment’ of ACU with adjoining stem cell laboratories building projects intended to facilitate the ‘IVF-stem cell interface’ may depend not only on architecture, but also on the part such social and ethical factors play in configuration of embryos as particular kinds of moral work objects.The Wellcome Trus

    Of Tigers, Ghosts and Snakes: Children's Social Cognition in the Context of Conflict in Eastern Sri Lanka

    Get PDF
    This paper is based on field research with Tamil children and adolescents in the war-affected district of Batticaloa in eastern Sri Lanka. It examines young people's experiences of conflict in terms of their social worlds and their relations with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE), finding both to be permeated with ambiguity and dissonance. According to established understandings of social cognitive development this would suggest a significant threat to children's social perception, awareness and skills. Yet, it is found that these children and adolescents hold unexpectedly secure values of sociality. In light of this evidence, the paper raises various questions about the adequacy of current theoretical perspectives on social cognition from psychology and anthropology. In particular, it re-evaluates the common emphasis upon the critical importance of mutuality and durability in the socio-cultural dimension for effective cognitive development.
    corecore