Effective Theories in Physics

This open access book… There is significant interest in the Philosophy of Science community to understand the role that "effective theories" have in the work of forefront science. The ideas of effective theories have been implicit in science for a long time, but have only been articulated well in the last few decades. Since Wilson's renormalization group revolution in the early 1970's, the science community has come to more fully understand its power, and by the mid-1990's it had gained its apotheosis. It is still one of the most powerful concepts in science, which has direct impact in how one thinks about and formulates theories of nature. It is this power that this Brief sets out to emphasize through historical analysis and current examples. This is an open access book

Rethinking Multicultural Education: How might shi (勢)--inflected thinking enhance practice?

The overall purpose of this study is to explore the implementation of an ancient, philosophical Chinese style of thinking, shi (勢), as an analytical tool to the field of Education and examine how this approach might inflect professional practice of teaching and learning within Higher Education in the UK. The overarching aim of the study is to inquire into the effectiveness of current approaches to multicultural education as these relate to the practices of tutors and then, in the light of this, to consider the potential resourcefulness of drawing upon traditional Chinese concepts as inaugurating new ways forward. The methodology of this study is complex in that there are distinct phases to its execution. The initial focus is upon postgraduate students as they interact and participate as members of a multicultural group. This involved adopting a familiar Western framework and style of thinking in order to collect empirical data. The findings supported and contributed to existing knowledge of issues surrounding intercultural communication within group work and re-enforced the prevailing fixed nature of this orientation that little appears to have changed over recent decades. However, at the same point of time, I had been reading about shi (勢), which comes from Chinese philosophy. Its use as a tool in relation to Western styles of thinking is especially associated with the writings of Francois Jullien (1995). Using shi as a tool with which to analyse the data, a new direction emerged, one which involved bringing the practitioner into the mix and highlighting the importance of his/her role in multicultural group work. So, by moving the spotlight to the practitioner and comparing the thinking of a conventional practitioner with that of a shi-inflected practitioner as they engage with their students, insight is afforded into how an apparent static situation might be moved towards a more dynamic one. The findings indicate how a shi-inflected approach to practice necessitates a practitioner engaging with reflexivity and reflectivity and treating each teaching context as unique. This engagement can enhance a practitioner’s practice by helping to reduce the anxiety experienced by all students as they engage in multicultural group work and increase the potential for successful intercultural interaction from the start of a programme of study

The work-life balance of female adjunct faculty at Southern California community colleges

In community colleges, over 70% of faculty members are adjuncts, and over 52% of these adjuncts are women. Community colleges have been celebrated as institutions that include women in their philosophy of equity, openness, and democracy (Bailey, 2008). Women may be more likely to work at community colleges where the minimum requirement is a master’s degree for employment, compared to 4-year institutions that require doctorates, and allow them to balance their work and personal lives (Cohen & Brawer, 2008; Wolf-Wendel & Ward, 2006). This study examines the work-life balance of female adjunct instructors working at the community college level and utilizes the work-life balance theory to help understand the identity, relational style, motivation and drive, adaptive style, and strategies for these women. This study utilized a phenomenological, qualitative approach by having female adjunct faculty participate in one semi-structured interview; 20 women participated. Findings showed that the participants were often first generation college students, which resulted in the majority of the women having goals of achieving a different education level than their family members. Relationships also played an important role in helping participants balance work and family life. Most participants were very driven and have high motivation to pursue career goals and to become a full-time faculty member. Female adjunct faculty also demonstrated high levels of adaptability due to the inconsistent nature of being an adjunct faculty and having schedules that fluctuated and changed on a semester-to-semester basis. In community colleges, over 70% of faculty members are adjuncts, and over 52% of these adjuncts are women. However, there is a significant lack of research regarding these women and their experiences. Due to the sheer number of women faculty members represented in community colleges, it would be assumed that this would be a highly researched group (Townsend, 1995a, 1995b). However, there is a paucity of research on women faculty, particularly female part-time faculty, in community colleges. The topic of women within the community college level is an area that has been severely overlooked and under researched within higher education literature (Townsend, 1995a, 1995b; Twombly, 1993; Wolgemuth, Kees, & Safarik, 2003)

Coaching for soft-skill development: an action research study with project managers

Inspired by the limited literature regarding the benefits of coaching to the coach and prompted by personal experience as a project manager and coach, this participatory action research study takes the situation of professional project managers, who need soft skills, to explore the usefulness of coaching practice as a development approach. There is confusion around soft skills but coaching uses clearer personal and interpersonal skills, and associates philosophical aims including negotiation of a collaborative relationship. Development of soft skills is similarly unclear though real practice, feedback and reflection are essential components, which are often used in the development of novice coaches. Coaching practice is explored for its relevance to project managers. The action research included typical introductory coach training for managers, then facilitation of six coaching practice sessions with a previously unknown coachee (also a project manager). A pragmatist philosophy supported a focus on the practical learning from this coaching practice. Interviews elicited the soft skills noticed while coaching and then any changed use of soft skills at work. Data analysis used induction to identify project managers’ descriptions of learned and applied soft skills, deduction to group themes according to recognisable soft-skill groupings, and abduction led to a rationale for the application of learned skills. Findings show project managers benefit in respect of skills, personal confidence and can feel more like leaders, which contributes to the limited work on benefits to novice coaches. After coaching practice, project managers aim to support colleagues and to encourage them to contribute more, showing elements of managers’ coaching in the workplace. A general soft-skills framework of personal skills, effective communication and role-related skills is proposed for project managers. Keywords: project managers, soft skills, soft-skills development, benefits of coaching to the coach, managerial coaching, manager as coach

Subjectivity and reflexivity in an 'exemplary' virtual team

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University, 15/10/2003.This thesis discusses the findings of a 'virtual' ethnography of a 'virtual team' of teleworkers called 'FlexiTeam'. The concept of teleworking refers to workers who use Information and Communication Technologies to work flexibly in time and space. A 'virtual team' is a group of teleworkers organised into a 'team'. There are three substantive findings of this research. First, the discourses of virtual teamwork as 'effortless' and 'flexible' are subject to critique through a description of the forms of labour and (self-)discipline enacted on the part of FlexiTeam members in order to implement 'best practice'. Second, the analysis examines how team members' commitment to this 'best practice' can be understood in relation to their identity at work. This is explored using a theory of subjectivity as constructed through social relationships at work. The analysis focuses on FlexiTeam's social relationship with clients, their employing organisation and within the team. The client relationship is highlighted in particular because FlexiTeam are interesting in their role as 'teleworking consultants'. FlexiTeam not only practice but also sell the concepts of teleworking and virtual teams. Unlike existing studies of 'top-down' change imposed by management upon the workforce, FlexiTeam are active in the production of the very same discourse they also consume. It is argued that this production/consumption relationship constructs a reflexive dynamic for team members' subjectivity, as they strive to be 'experts', 'exemplars' and 'embodiments' of the 'best practice' discourse they sell. However, the third finding suggests that, for some team members, their relationship to the 'best practice' consultancy discourse is characterised less by 'internalisation' and more by ambiguity, ambivalence and instrumentality. This exposes the limits to the 'normalising' power of discourse, even in the case of a team who produce the discourse in question, thereby helping to develop a more sophisticated theory of the subjectivity/discourse relationship.ESR

Report on a Boston University Conference December 7-8, 2012 on 'How Can the History and Philosophy of Science Contribute to Contemporary U.S. Science Teaching?'

This is an editorial report on the outcomes of an international conference sponsored by a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) (REESE-1205273) to the School of Education at Boston University and the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University for a conference titled: How Can the History and Philosophy of Science Contribute to Contemporary U.S. Science Teaching? The presentations of the conference speakers and the reports of the working groups are reviewed. Multiple themes emerged for K-16 education from the perspective of the history and philosophy of science. Key ones were that: students need to understand that central to science is argumentation, criticism, and analysis; students should be educated to appreciate science as part of our culture; students should be educated to be science literate; what is meant by the nature of science as discussed in much of the science education literature must be broadened to accommodate a science literacy that includes preparation for socioscientific issues; teaching for science literacy requires the development of new assessment tools; and, it is difficult to change what science teachers do in their classrooms. The principal conclusions drawn by the editors are that: to prepare students to be citizens in a participatory democracy, science education must be embedded in a liberal arts education; science teachers alone cannot be expected to prepare students to be scientifically literate; and, to educate students for scientific literacy will require a new curriculum that is coordinated across the humanities, history/social studies, and science classrooms.Comment: Conference funded by NSF grant REESE-1205273. 31 page

Inquiry-based learning in the arts: a meta-analytical study

This report summarises learning about inquiry-based learning (IBL) in the arts and humanities disciplines at the University of Sheffield during the period in which the Centre for Inquiry-based Learning in the Arts and Social Sciences (CILASS) has been in operation. It draws upon impact evaluation data from curriculum development projects that have been funded by CILASS in departments in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities

Austrian Philosophy and its Institutions: Remarks on the Philosophical Society of the University of Vienna (1888-1938)

This study examines the place of the Philosophical Society of the University of Vienna (1888-1938) in the evolution of the history of philosophy in Austria up to the establishment of the Vienna Circle in 1929. I will examine three aspects of the relationship between the Austrian members of the Vienna Circle and the Philosophical Society which has been emphasized by several historians of the Vienna Circle: the first aspect concerns the theory of a first Vienna Circle formed mainly by H. Hahn, P. Frank and O. Neurath; the second aspect is the contention that the missing link between the Vienna Circle and the Bolzano tradition in Austria is Alois Höfler, a student of Brentano and Meinong; I will finally examine the link they established between the annexation of the Philosophical Society to the Kant-Gesellschaft in 1927 and the founding of the Vienna Circle in 1929. I will argue that this institution played a key role in the history of philosophy in Austria and is partly responsible for the formation of the Vienna Circle

Religious Beliefs and Philosophical Views: A Qualitative Study

Philosophy of religion is often regarded as a philosophical discipline in which irrelevant influences, such as upbringing and education, play a pernicious role. This paper presents results of a qualitative survey among academic philosophers of religion to examine the role of such factors in their work. In light of these findings, I address two questions: an empirical one (whether philosophers of religion are influenced by irrelevant factors in forming their philosophical attitudes) and an epistemological one (whether the influence of irrelevant factors on our philosophical views should worry us). My answer to the first question is a definite yes, my answer to the second, a tentative yes

Minding the Gap: Bias, Soft Structures, and the Double Life of Social Norms

We argue that work on norms provides a way to move beyond debates between proponents of individualist and structuralist approaches to bias, oppression, and injustice. We briefly map out the geography of that debate before presenting Charlotte Witt’s view, showing how her position, and the normative ascriptivism at its heart, seamlessly connects individuals to the social reality they inhabit. We then describe recent empirical work on the psychology of norms and locate the notions of informal institutions and soft structures with respect to it. Finally, we argue that the empirical resources enrich Witt’s ascriptivism, and that the resulting picture shows theorists need not, indeed should not, choose between either the individualist or structuralist camp