4,459 research outputs found
Scapegoat: John Dewey and the character education crisis
Many conservatives, including some conservative scholars, blame the ideas and influence of John Dewey for what has frequently been called a crisis of character, a catastrophic decline in moral behavior in the schools and society of North America. Deweyâs critics claim that he is responsible for the undermining of the kinds of instruction that could lead to the development of character and the strengthening of the will, and that his educational philosophy and example exert a ubiquitous and disastrous influence on studentsâ conceptions of moral behavior. This article sets forth the views of some of these critics and juxtaposes them with what Dewey actually believed and wrote regarding character education. The juxtaposition demonstrates that Dewey neither called for nor exemplified the kinds of character-eroding pedagogy his critics accuse him of championing; in addition, this paper highlights the ways in which Dewey argued consistently and convincingly that the pedagogical approaches advocated by his critics are the real culprits in the decline of character and moral education
Skills, strategies, sport and social responsibility : reconnecting physical education
Physical education is one of the more difficult subjects in the curriculum for generalist classroom teachers in primary schools to incorporate confidently into their teaching. In many primary schools, the generalist classroom teacher defers to a physical education specialist. This situation has both positive and negative features. In this context, this study brings together several prominent models of physical education teaching in an approach that enables the curriculum to be encountered through the interests of the children. This approach offers a generalist teacher, through appropriate professional development, a means for delivering a high-quality physical education programme, and also complements the repertoire of the specialist physical education teacher at both primary and secondary school levels.<br /
Precision Measurement of the 29Si, 33S, and 36Cl Binding Energies
The binding energies of 29Si, 33S, and 36Cl have been measured with a
relative uncertainty using a flat-crystal spectrometer.
The unique features of these measurements are 1) nearly perfect crystals whose
lattice spacing is known in meters, 2) a highly precise angle scale that is
derived from first principles, and 3) a gamma-ray measurement facility that is
coupled to a high flux reactor with near-core source capability. The binding
energy is obtained by measuring all gamma-rays in a cascade scheme connecting
the capture and ground states. The measurements require the extension of
precision flat-crystal diffraction techniques to the 5 to 6 MeV energy region,
a significant precision measurement challenge. The binding energies determined
from these gamma-ray measurements are consistent with recent highly accurate
atomic mass measurements within a relative uncertainty of .
The gamma-ray measurement uncertainties are the dominant contributors to the
uncertainty of this consistency test. The measured gamma-ray energies are in
agreement with earlier precision gamma-ray measurements.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure
Learning physics in context: a study of student learning about electricity and magnetism
This paper re-centres the discussion of student learning in physics to focus
on context. In order to do so, a theoretically-motivated understanding of
context is developed. Given a well-defined notion of context, data from a novel
university class in electricity and magnetism are analyzed to demonstrate the
central and inextricable role of context in student learning. This work sits
within a broader effort to create and analyze environments which support
student learning in the sciencesComment: 36 pages, 4 Figure
The intersection between cell wall disassembly, ripening, and fruit susceptibility to Botrytis cinerea
Fruit ripening is characterized by processes that modify texture and flavor but also by a dramatic increase in susceptibility to necrotrophic pathogens, such as Botrytis cinerea. Disassembly of the major structural polysaccharides of the cell wall (CW) is a significant process associated with ripening and contributes to fruit softening. In tomato, polygalacturonase (PG) and expansin (Exp) are among the CW proteins that cooperatively participate in ripening-associated CW disassembly. To determine whether endogenous CW disassembly influences the ripening-regulated increase in necrotropic pathogen susceptibility, B. cinerea susceptibility was assessed in transgenic fruit with suppressed polygalacturonase (LePG) and expansin (LeExp1) expression. Suppression of either LePG or LeExp1 alone did not reduce susceptibility but simultaneous suppression of both dramatically reduced the susceptibility of ripening fruit to B. cinerea, as measured by fungal biomass accumulation and by macerating lesion development. These results demonstrate that altering endogenous plant CW disassembly during ripening influences the course of infection by B. cinerea, perhaps by changing the structure or the accessibility of CW substrates to pathogen CW-degrading enzymes. Recognition of the role of ripening-associated CW metabolism in postharvest pathogen susceptibility may be useful in the design and development of strategies to limit pathogen losses during fruit storage, handling, and distribution.Centro de InvestigaciĂłn y Desarrollo en CriotecnologĂa de Alimento
âI donât get itâ, â the challenge of teaching reflective practice to health and care practitioners
Reflective practice is regarded as a fundamental learning tool that encourages the synthesis of theory and skills in healthcare and written reflective accounts feature heavily in the assessment of skills and development in practice. It is, however, a challenging method of teaching and learning for both students and educators and the reflective accounts produced are often superficial descriptions of events rather than evidence of âreflection in actionâ. Revisiting writers such as Dewey, Rogers, and Schön, I present my own reflective account of teaching health-care students to develop reflective thinking and writing and finding ways of using mindfulness and sensory experience to bring reflection-in-action into the classroom. I conclude by suggesting that, as an educator, I have a responsibility to encourage and value subjective experience as evidence of learning
High Resolution X-Ray Spectra of Capella: Initial Results from the Chandra High Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer
High resolution spectra of the active binary Capella (G8 III + G1 III)
covering the energy range 0.4-8.0 keV (1.5-30 Angstroms) show a large number of
emission lines, demonstrating the performance of the HETGS. A preliminary
application of plasma diagnostics provides information on coronal temperatures
and densities. Lines arising from different elements in a range of ionization
states indicate that Capella has plasma with a broad range of temperatures,
from log T = 6.3 to 7.2, generally consistent with recent results from
observations with the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) and the Advanced
Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics (ASCA). The electron density is
determined from He-like O VII lines, giving the value N_e=10^10 cm^-3 at
T_e=2*10^6 K; He-like lines formed at higher temperatures give only upper
limits to the electron density. The density and emission measure from O VII
lines together indicate that the coronal loops are significantly smaller than
the stellar radius.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures (1 color) accepted for ApJ
- âŠ