Facts are not facts

My point of departure in this article is a conception of science which on various points differs essentially from positivism. Firstly, I believe that every conception of science inherently implies a conception of man. Secondly, I do not -regard the acquisition of knowledge as the mere receipt, registration and classification of data and the consequent determination of conformities, regularities, etc., in the empirical data thus processed. Thirdly, I do not accept the notion that a sharp dividing line exists between fact and norm. Having said this, I hasten to add that neither do I accept a natural law doctrine, rationalistic or otherwise. In my view, an essential characteristic of scientific practice is to test theses not only on their mutual compatibility or consistency but also on their empirical tenability.The question is, however, what is understood by experience and by testing

Doping Dependence of the Chemical Potential in Cuprate High-TcT_{\rm c} Superconductors I: La2−x_{2-x}Srx_xCuO4_4

The names of the authors, which were inadvertedly lacking in the tex-file submitted two days ago, have been added.Comment: 10 pages, figures on request. Revtex, version 2, Materials Science Center Internal Report Number VSGD.94.6.

Action research and democracy

This contribution explores the relationship between research and learning democracy. Action research is seen as being compatible with the orientation of educational and social work research towards social justice and democracy. Nevertheless, the history of action research is characterized by a tension between democracy and social engineering. In the social-engineering approach, action research is conceptualized as a process of innovation aimed at a specific Bildungsideal. In a democratic approach action research is seen as research based on cooperation between research and practice. However, the notion of democratic action research as opposed to social engineering action research needs to be theorized. So called democratic action research involving the implementation by the researcher of democracy as a model and as a preset goal, reduces cooperation and participation into instruments to reach this goal, and becomes a type of social engineering in itself. We argue that the relationship between action research and democracy is in the acknowledgment of the political dimension of participation: ‘a democratic relationship in which both sides exercise power and shared control over decision-making as well as interpretation’. This implies an open research design and methodology able to understand democracy as a learning process and an ongoing experiment

Edgar Ross Interview

[Edgar Ross] discusses growing up in Mt. Vernonhttps://digital.kenyon.edu/jews_interviews/1000/thumbnail.jp

Interview with Franklin Miller

Franklin Miller discusses his life and growing up in Gambier.https://digital.kenyon.edu/jews_interviews/1004/thumbnail.jp

Testing a Unified Model of Task-specific Motivation: how teachers appraise three professional development activities

This article tests the tenability of a Unified Model of Task-specific Motivation (UMTM). The UMTM integrates task-specific components from several theories of motivation. Core of the model are four interacting but relatively independent types of valences. Affective and cognitive valences represent feelings while doing an activity and thoughts about the value of its consequences respectively; both affective and cognitive valences can be positive and negative, hence calling for approach and avoidance motivation respectively. The interaction between these four types of valences results in a valence appraisal that influences readiness for action. Task-specific antecedents, autonomy, feasibility, social relatedness and subjective norm, influence valences. 441 Primary school teachers provided judgments of all components of the model except social relatedness for three imaginary professional learning activities. The three activities were framed as a school board decided, a team decided and a personally decided learning activity. Structural equation modelling showed that for each activity a separate model was needed. How valences influenced readiness for action was specific to each activity. In the board and team decided activities, for instance, readiness for action appeared to be based predominantly on cognitive valences, while in the personally decided activity affective and cognitive valences showed a more balanced contribution. Regarding task-specific antecedents, however, the picture was less clear. Nevertheless, the UMTM proved to offer rich possibilities for the explanation of complex motivational phenomena and promises a significant reduction of the superabundance of theories that encumbers motivation research

Demokratie in Nederland

The author criticises the view which considers electoral systems only in terms of the possibilities they offer to the voters to express opinions and have these represented in Parliament. Elections should be considered as part of a political decision-making process. This involves exerting influence on as well as commitment to decisions. Insofar as elections do not produce decisions, the voters not only have to leave these to others but also remain uncommitted. Various functions of elections are discussed and an analysis is made of the social and political conditions which determined the comparatively satisfactory way in which PR functioned in The Netherlands between the two World Wars, as well as of the changes in these conditions which are now increasingly giving rise to problems and to dissatisfaction with the political system. Given the fact that the following of political parties in Holland is traditionally determined by adherence to a religious denomination and/or a political ideology rather than by differences regarding practical issues, the patty-leaders cannot, but at the risk of losing electoral support, commit themselves either on such issues or to a government coalition before elections. Owing to the tact that denominational and ideological differences have become less and less politically relevant and group-cohesion based on those differences has rapidly diminished since the last War, the party-leadership is now forced to act even more reticently. The predicament is met by (1) the formation of middle-of-the-road governments; (2) the fragmentation of long term political issues into short term problems or a predominantly technical nature; (3) transferring the decision on policies to advisory committees to the government, bodies of experts, organized interest groups, etc.; (4) frequently overthrowing governments. As a result, political responsibility is getting more and more diffusely scattered, and political issues are increasingly vaguely defined and covered up by ideological formulas which are decreasingly meaningful to the electorate. The voters thus have fewer and fewer possibilities to vote and exert influence on as well as to commit themselves to decisions which affect their conditions of life. The latter, in turn, enhances the difficulties of the parties indicated above. A plea is made for a reform of the political system maintaining PR within limits set by the need for electoral majority decisions, and putting a heavy premium on the formation of government coalitions before elections. It is proposed to create the possibility that parties or combinations of parties present governmental candidates at elections. The candidates of the party, or the combination of parties, acquiring an absolute majority of the votes cast will be elected or Government. In case no absolute majority is obtained in the first round, a second round must be held in which only the two parties or combinations of parties with the largest relative majorities compete. The victor of this second round has its governmental candidates elected and acquires a number of seats in Parliament proportional to the number of votes that have been cast on it in that round. The remaining seats are divided between the other parties according to the results of the first round

Learning strategies of highly educated refugees in the Netherlands: Habitus of calculation?

Opvoeding, diagnostiek en behandeling van kinderen en jeugdigen met (ernstige) ontwikkelings-, opvoedings-, en onderwijsprobleme

The unified model of task-specific motivation and teachers' motivation to learn about teaching and learning supportive modes of ICT use

This study explored the readiness of teachers to learn about learning and teaching supportive modes of ICT use with the lens of the Unified Model of Task-specific Motivation (UMTM). According to the UMTM readiness for action is driven by feelings of activities and thoughts about the value of consequences of activities, which both can be positive and negative, and which in turn are influenced by aspects of autonomy and competence, by social relatedness, and by subjective norm. The twofold goal of this study was to test the merits of the model in general and for ICT integration in education in particular. A sample of 282 teachers provided answers about different aspects of their motivation to learn about the two types of ICT use. There were some differences between these two types of learning activities, but for both, thoughts about the value of the consequences of the activities were more important than feelings about them. Furthermore, although sense of competence was relatively more important for leaning about learning supportive ICT use than for learning about teaching supportive ICT use, teachers’ sense of autonomy, a variable that is completely ignored in research on ICT integration, was in general far more important for learning about ICT use than sense of competence.Education and Child Studie