The Value of Refining a Threshold Concept

In the summer of 2012, I had the privilege of attending the Backwards By Design workshop, where I was introduced to the “threshold concept” (Cousin, 2006). I learned how the use of this approach could shift the ontological and conceptual dimensions of students’ perspectives. That fall, I implemented the threshold concept into my undergraduate CSD 401 Writing Lab. My intention was for students to gain perspective into the lives of survivors of acquired brain injuries. I hoped the assignment would help them develop empathy for the types of clients they would work with one day as burgeoning speech-language pathologists

COMPETENCES ACQUIRED BY GRADUATES THROUGH MARKETING HIGHER EDUCATION - FINDINGS FROM THE EMPLOYERS' PERSPECTIVE

The primary purpose of the economic higher education in providing the graduates with marketing competences is to train them for employment. In light of the said objective, two important aspects must be taken into account by educators. First, the gap between theory and practice must be eliminated. Secondly, educators must select and provide the competences required by employers so that new graduates may obtain employment matching up to their training. The purpose of the present study is to highlight the main dimensions which define employers' perception of the marketing competences developed by the graduates whom they have employed. The starting point of the present scientific endeavour is the evaluation of the variables which define the transversal competences and the marketing-specific competences.competences, curriculum, employers, evaluation, quality assurance

A framework for Thinking about Distributed Cognition

As is often the case when scientific or engineering fields emerge, new concepts are forged or old ones are adapted. When this happens, various arguments rage over what ultimately turns out to be conceptual misunderstandings. At that critical time, there is a need for an explicit reflection on the meaning of the concepts that define the field. In this position paper, we aim to provide a reasoned framework in which to think about various issues in the field of distributed cognition. We argue that both relevant concepts, distribution and cognition, must be understood as continuous. As it is used in the context of distributed cognition, the concept of distribution is essentially fuzzy, and we will link it to the notion of emergence of system-level properties. The concept of cognition must also be seen as fuzzy, but for different a reason: due its origin as an anthropocentric concept, no one has a clear handle on its meaning in a distributed setting. As the proposed framework forms a space, we then explore its geography and (re)visit famous landmarks

Is Discussion an Exchange of Ideas? On Education, Money, and Speech

How do we learn the link between speech and money? What is the process of formation that legitimates the logic whereby speech is equivalent to money? What are the experiences, events, and subjectivities that render the connection between currency and speaking/listening intuitive? As educators and researchers, what do we do and say to shore up this connection, and—as we may be inclined—are there things we can do or say to loosen it? Educational discourse theory, specifically examining classroom discussion, is one of the most prominent arenas of educational research where the equivalence between money and speech is active. While it may seem tautological to say that “discussion is an exchange of ideas,” it is not trivial to do so. Definitions of discussion in both reference and academic texts use the word “exchange” for discussion like Kant would use the word “unmarried” to define a bachelor. Yet the exchange case carries connotations and denotations that the bachelor case does not. There is more to say about it. Take this one small case—whether discussion is an exchange of ideas—as a part of the more general inquiry about education and money/speech. Discussions happen throughout classrooms and other educational contexts in society, and the phrase most likely passes person-to-person in such a way as to make it obvious that what is happening in the discussion is an exchange, perhaps making it equally obvious that money and speech are equivalent. In other words, the claim in this article is that continually referring to discussion as an exchange of ideas teaches that speech and money are equivalent, a proposition that has serious political consequences. It is not obviously the case that discussion is an exchange of ideas, as I will show, and demonstrating this with a careful philosophical comb can go some distance towards showing (and therefore teaching) that money is not equivalent to speech

The learning of sciences: a gradual change in the way of learning. The case of vision

Learning the scientific way of knowledge implies a change in the most implicit principles that guide comprehension, interpretation and explanation of scientific phenomena as well as a change in the type of associated reasoning. With the aim of favouring this type of learning, a teaching programme was developed in relation to vision and implemented with a group of secondary school students. The way of learning of these students was observed at different teaching stages. Findings suggest that during the learning process the way students learn seems to change gradually and that students construct “intermediate” models (right but incomplete) that become the basis for the construction of a systemic model proposed by school science

El aprendizaje de las ciencias: un paulatino cambio de modo de conocer. El caso de la visión

Learning the scientific way of knowledge implies a change in the most implicit principles that guide comprehension, interpretation and explanation of scientific phenomena as well as a change in the type of associated reasoning. With the aim of favouring this type of learning, a teaching programme was developed in relation to vision and implemented with a group of secondary school students. The way of learning of these students was observed at different teaching stages. Findings suggest that during the learning process the way students learn seems to change gradually and that students construct “intermediate” models (right but incomplete) that become the basis for the construction of a systemic model proposed by school scienceAprender el modo de conocer que la ciencia propone implica un cambio en los principios más implícitos que guían la comprensión, interpretación y explicación de los fenómenos y un cambio en el tipo de razonamiento asociado. Con el fin de propiciar dicho aprendizaje se diseñó una propuesta de enseñanza en relación a la visión que se implementó con un grupo de alumnos de educación secundaria. Se estudió el modo de conocer de estos estudiantes en distintas instancias de la instrucción. Los resultados obtenidos permiten concluir que durante el aprendizaje cambia paulatinamente el modo de conocer, construyéndose modelos “intermedios” (correctos pero incompletos) que sirven como plataforma para la construcción del sistémico modelo propuesto por la ciencia escola

Managing Cultural Diversity in the Multinational Corporate Workplace: Solution or Symptom?

The aim of this paper is to show the critical relevance of post-structuralist political theory to cross-cultural management studies. By emphasizing the key role that questions of identity, difference, and struggle play in the multinational corporate context, we argue for a shift in our understandings away from essentialist conceptions of culture to an explicitly critical and political understanding of the way culture and cultural difference is invoked. Of crucial importance in understanding the nature of the shift of perspective we advocate is the affirmation of a negative ontology for which the radical contingency of social relations is axiomatic

The Identity Theory of Powers Revised

Dispositionality and qualitativity are key notions to describe the world that we inhabit. Dispositionality is a matter of what a thing is disposed to do in certain circumstances. Qualitativity is a matter of how a thing is like. According to the Identity Theory of powers, every fundamental property is at once dispositional and qualitative, or a powerful quality. Canonically, the Identity Theory holds a contentious identity claim between a property’s dispositionality and its qualitativity. In the literature, this view faces a contradiction objection that undermines its merits. We should therefore consider an alternative version that does not embrace the identity claim. My aim is to show that we can enjoy the benefits of the Identity Theory without embracing the identity between the dispositional and the qualitative. I shall argue that a distinction between two senses of dispositionality and qualitativity serves the purpose. I will then discuss three readings of the identity claim that can be formulated in light of such a distinction. I will conclude that even if the identity were to fail in any of the suggested readings, it would be possible to hold an account of fundamental powerful qualities