Methods of Teaching Philosophy in Technical Higher Educational Institutions

AbstractRelevance of the study is due to the new requirements that apply to Kazakhstan engineer in the contemporary socio-economic conditions in the world. This paper explores the system of value formation among students of technical higher educational institutions in the teaching of philosophy. The research objective is theoretically to prove and approve system of formation of valuable orientations of students of technical higher educational institutions in the course of philosophy teaching. Theoretically justify and approve the formation of a system of value orientations of students of technical higher educational institutions in the teaching of philosophy. The methods of research are methods such as analysis of the subject of research, study and analysis of the scientific and methodological literature on the topic of research, the study of the regulatory program and educational planning documentation, simulation, design, system analysis, synthesis, interview, summarize the results of the study. As a result, the study identified the social and philosophical, psychological, and educational background of system design of value formation among the students of technical higher educational institutions in the course of teaching philosophy, and also proves the concept and designed the model of the formation of the value orientations of students of technical institutions in the teaching of philosophy. In accordance with the object and purpose of the work was to determine the theoretical and practical implications of the design of the system of value formation among students of technical higher educational institutions in the teaching of philosophy. In particular, the refined concept of “value orientation”, examined the psychological mechanisms of the system of value orientations of the individual

Improving Design of Micro-business Systems via VSM and Constituent Orientation Analysis

This paper describes recent design research into prototypical ‘classes’ of designs for operational business systems for micro-businesses of 1-10 employees typical of traditional craft and contemporary information economies. Business process design is an increasingly important and relatively new sub-field of design and design research. Its increasing importance is driven by three factors made more potent by information technology: increasing ability for very small business units to contribute to local and national economies; potential for increased efficiency of micro-businesses via reduction in Coasian transaction costs; increasingly competitive business environments leading to pressure on micro-businesses to deeply cut costs; and increased potential for improved design of micro-business processes to create significant benefits for the micro-businesses themselves and to local and national economies. The analyses used in this paper combine Tellefsen's perspective on constituent orientation with Beerian Viable System analysis and Cashflow Quadrant analysis (Beer, 1972, 1988, 1989, 1995; Kiyosaki & Lechter, 2007; Tellefsen, 1995, 1999, 2001; Tellefsen & Love, 2003). These analyses are used to identify promising foci of design effort particularly with the intention of automating and systematizing business activities. The paper first describes the importance of developing improved guidelines for design of organisational structures and business processes in the micro-business arena. It then outlines the structural, humanistic, financial, business management and computerized automation considerations that need to be addressed. Design issues are illustrated via mini case studies of three characteristic micro-businesses in the areas of publishing, plumbing, and rental investment. The paper shows how improvements to the design of business processes can be viewed through how four constituent orientations: • Self employed • Business managers • Business owners • Investors The paper concludes by integrating the outcomes of the above analyses into a preliminary checklist for the design of effective and efficient automated and systematized business processes for micro-businesses and small business enterprises. Keywords: Business Process Design, Micro-Business, Viable Systems, Constituent Orientation, Cashflow Quadrant Analysis.</p

‘Living’ theory: a pedagogical framework for process support in networked learning

This paper focuses on the broad outcome of an action research project in which practical theory was developed in the field of networked learning through case‐study analysis of learners’ experiences and critical evaluation of educational practice. It begins by briefly discussing the pedagogical approach adopted for the case‐study course and the action research methodology. It then identifies key dimensions of four interconnected developmental processes—orientation, communication, socialisation and organisation—that were associated with ‘learning to learn’ in the course’s networked environment, and offers a flavour of participants’ experiences in relation to these processes. A number of key evaluation issues that arose are highlighted. Finally, the paper presents the broad conceptual framework for the design and facilitation of process support in networked learning that was derived from this research. The framework proposes a strong, explicit focus on support for process as well as domain learning, and progression from tighter to looser design and facilitation structures for process‐focused (as well as domain‐focused) learning tasks

Political, religious and occupational identities in context: Placing identity status paradigm in context

This study critically contrasts global identity with domain-specific identities (political, religious and occupational) and considers context and gender as integral parts of identity. In a cross-sectional survey, 1038 Greek Cypriot adolescents (449 boys and 589 girls, mean age 16.8) from the three different types of secondary schools (state, state technical and private) and from different SES completed part of the Extended Objective Measure of Ego-Identity Status-2 (EOMEIS-2). The macrocontext of Greek Cypriot society is used to understand the role of context in adolescents’ identities. Results showed that Greek Cypriot young people were not in the same statuses across their global, political, religious and occupational identities. This heterogeneity in the status of global identity and of each identity domain is partially explained by differences in gender, type of school and SES (Socio-Economic Status). The fact that identity status is found to be reactive to context suggests that developmental stage models of identity status should place greater emphasis on context

Towards resilience through systems-based plant breeding. A review

How the growing world population can feed itself is a crucial, multi-dimensional problem that goes beyond sustainable development. Crop production will be affected by many changes in its climatic, agronomic, economic, and societal contexts. Therefore, breeders are challenged to produce cultivars that strengthen both ecological and societal resilience by striving for six international sustainability targets: food security, safety and quality; food and seed sovereignty; social justice; agrobiodiversity; ecosystem services; and climate robustness. Against this background, we review the state of the art in plant breeding by distinguishing four paradigmatic orientations that currently co-exist: community-based breeding, ecosystem-based breeding, trait-based breeding, and corporate-based breeding, analyzing differences among these orientations. Our main findings are: (1) all four orientations have significant value but none alone will achieve all six sustainability targets; (2) therefore, an overarching approach is needed: “systems-based breeding,” an orientation with the potential to synergize the strengths of the ways of thinking in the current paradigmatic orientations; (3) achieving that requires specific knowledge development and integration, a multitude of suitable breeding strategies and tools, and entrepreneurship, but also a change in attitude based on corporate responsibility, circular economy and true-cost accounting, and fair and green policies. We conclude that systems-based breeding can create strong interactions between all system components. While seeds are part of the common good and the basis of agrobiodiversity, a diversity in breeding approaches, based on different entrepreneurial approaches, can also be considered part of the required agrobiodiversity. To enable systems-based breeding to play a major role in creating sustainable agriculture, a shared sense of urgency is needed to realize the required changes in breeding approaches, institutions, regulations and protocols. Based on this concept of systems-based breeding, there are opportunities for breeders to play an active role in the development of an ecologically and societally resilient, sustainable agriculture

‘Socio-economic and livelihood impacts of environmentally supportive bio-enterprise development for the agro-/pastoral communities in Samburu Heartland, Kenya’.

The question of agro/pastoral livelihoods adaptation is gaining attention in the rural development arena but little empirical evidence exists that has examined the performance and impact of diversified enterprises on agro/pastoral livelihoods and the environment in the ASAL, and on how to effectively support such initiatives. Additionally, there has been little evaluation of the type of behavioural patterns that agro/pastoral communities need to evolve in order to engage in such initiatives. This research study endeavours to bridge this knowledge-gap and assist the ASAL communities, NGOs, CBOs and government departments to understand the skills and resources required to develop climate-resilient, environmentally and economically sustainable bio-enterprises. This study examines the roles of bio-enterprise initiatives in enabling agro/pastoralists to develop more resilient livelihoods and incentivising positive community-led natural resource management and draws on different bio-enterprise initiatives located across the drylands of Kenya. In this study data was collected through interviews, focus group discussions and from secondary data. The analysis of four agro/pastoral bio-enterprise initiatives compares the level of success of specifically orientated development-funded support schemes. A more in-depth study was made of one of the initiatives, the BDP. Two surveys were made one year apart and secondary data was collected of the BDP impact. This highlighted the probable factors that influence the communities’ up-take of these bio-enterprises. Results show that this diversification requires stakeholders and support-actors to gain a greater understanding of business development approaches. Other factors such as capacity development to ensure production meets market standards, strong linkages with ethical commercial operators, access to trade-finance and ongoing mentoring proved to be the main drivers of success in these initiatives. The results show that the outputs of the BDP service-providing activities and the ethical trade facilities have been a major factor in the level of success achieved by the BDP. The main policy implications that this study has shown are: Agro/pastoralists realise that they can improve their resilience, food security and incomes by developing bio-enterprises. If conducted using conservation practices, this is an effective conservation and drought management tool. Communities do not possess the necessary skills and business acumen to diversify from traditional activities. Due to the lack of market knowledge, business acumen and technical skills many development and government instigated rural enterprise initiatives have failed. The commercial sector has strong transferable skills and will assist in developing bio-enterprises where commercial gains can be attained. This study has shown that where government, development and the private sector work in synergy projects are more socially, environmentally and economically successful. International standards and certification for sustainable harvesting of indigenous plant materials will effectively assist communities to manage their natural resource utilization and market their products more competitively. Women have shown that they have control over small-scale diversified activities and are able to choose how to use the revenue they have raised. Due to the orientation of agro/pastoralists to collective-action a wide ripple-effect can be seen from well-targeted business development assistance such as: mentoring, skills development, access to affordable trade finance/capital, improved market opportunities and value-addition.Non

Passive Design of Buildings for Extreme Weather Environment

Buildings account for nearly 40% of the end-use energy consumption and carbon emissions globally. Buildings, once built, are used at least for several decades. The building sector therefore holds a significant responsibility for implementing strategies to increase energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions and thus contribute to global efforts directed toward mitigating the adverse effects of climate change. The work presented in this paper is a part of continuing efforts to identify, analyze and promote the design of low energy, sustainable buildings with special reference to the Kazakhstan locality. Demonstration of improved environmental conditions and impact on energy savings will be outlined through a case study incorporating a passive design approach and detailed computational fluid dynamics analysis for an existing building complex. The influence of orientation and configuration is discussed with reference to energy efficiency and associated wind comfort and safety. The effect of these aspects on energy consumption and comfortable wind environment has been assessed using CFD analysis and proved to be affective. Single building and multiple building configurations have been analyzed and compared. According to the findings, multiple building configurations have better wind conditions when compared with a single standing building. With respect to orientation the former one should be modeled with the fully surrounded side of a “box” opposite to the predominant wind direction whereas the latter one should be located with the rear side opposite to the wind direction. Thus, results indicated that there is a considerable influence of passive design and orientation on energy efficiency, wind comfort and safety. Careful consideration and application of the findings can potentially lead to considerable decrease of energy consumption and, therefore, allow saving money and the environment at the same time

Review of equality statistics

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) commissioned this review as part of its remit to map the equalities landscape across England, Scotland and Wales. The report examines the extent to which data are available for the following equality strands: sex; ethnicity / race; disability; religion or belief; age; sexual orientation; and also for socio-economic status (social class). The extent to which statistics are available at different levels of geographic classification (UK, GB, England, Scotland and Wales and regional and local areas within this) is investigated. The report addresses the ten domains of equality identified in the equality measurement framework in the Equalities Review.1 These are: Longevity Physical security Health Education Standard of living Productive and valued activities Individual, family and social life Participation, influence and voice Identity, expression and self-respect Legal securit