Hollywood and student learning

During second semester 1997 we undertook a project to ascertain how the use of Hollywood feature films with historical content affected students' learning of twentieth century American History. Questionnaires, reflective journals and interviews were used to gauge the impact of films on student learning. In this Research Vignette we will report on our findings

Ego-Splitting and the Transcendental Subject. Kant’s Original Insight and Husserl’s Reappraisal

In this paper, I contend that there are at least two essential traits that commonly define being an I: self-identity and self-consciousness. I argue that they bear quite an odd relation to each other in the sense that self-consciousness seems to jeopardize self-identity. My main concern is to elucidate this issue within the range of the transcendental philosophies of Immanuel Kant and Edmund Husserl. In the first section, I shall briefly consider Kant’s own rendition of the problem of the Egosplitting. My reading of the Kantian texts reveals that Kant himself was aware of this phenomenon but eventually deems it an unexplainable fact. The second part of the paper tackles the same problematic from the standpoint of Husserlian phenomenology. What Husserl’s extensive analyses on this topic bring to light is that the phenomenon of the Ego-splitting constitutes the bedrock not only of his thought but also of every philosophy that works within the framework of transcendental thinking

The long-term effects of an implantable drop foot stimulator on gait in hemiparetic patients

Drop foot is a frequent abnormality in gait after central nervous system lesions. Different treatment strategies are available to functionally restore dorsal extension during swing phase in gait. Orthoses as well as surface and implantable devices for electrical stimulation of the peroneal nerve may be used in patients who do not regain good dorsal extension. While several studies investigated the effects of implanted systems on walking speed and gait endurance, only a few studies have focussed on the system’s impact on kinematics and long-term outcomes. Therefore, our aim was to further investigate the effects of the implanted system ActiGait on gait kinematics and spatiotemporal parameters for the first time with a 1-year follow-up period. 10 patients were implanted with an ActiGait stimulator, with 8 patients completing baseline and follow-up assessments. Assessments included a 10-m walking test, video-based gait analysis and a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for health status. At baseline, gait analysis was performed without any assistive device as well as with surface electrical stimulation. At follow-up patients walked with the ActiGait system switched off and on. The maximum dorsal extension of the ankle at initial contact increased significantly between baseline without stimulation and follow-up with ActiGait (p = 0.018). While the spatio-temporal parameters did not seem to change much with the use of ActiGait in convenient walking speed, patients did walk faster when using surface stimulation or ActiGait compared to no stimulation at the 10-m walking test at their fastest possible walking speed. Patients rated their health better at the 1-year follow-up. In summary, a global improvement in gait kinematics compared to no stimulation was observed and the long-term safety of the device could be confirmed

Service robotics: do you know your new companion? Framing an interdisciplinary technology assessment

Service-Robotic—mainly defined as “non-industrial robotics”—is identified as the next economical success story to be expected after robots have been ubiquitously implemented into industrial production lines. Under the heading of service-robotic, we found a widespread area of applications reaching from robotics in agriculture and in the public transportation system to service robots applied in private homes. We propose for our interdisciplinary perspective of technology assessment to take the human user/worker as common focus. In some cases, the user/worker is the effective subject acting by means of and in cooperation with a service robot; in other cases, the user/worker might become a pure object of the respective robotic system, for example, as a patient in a hospital. In this paper, we present a comprehensive interdisciplinary framework, which allows us to scrutinize some of the most relevant applications of service robotics; we propose to combine technical, economical, legal, philosophical/ethical, and psychological perspectives in order to design a thorough and comprehensive expert-based technology assessment. This allows us to understand the potentials as well as the limits and even the threats connected with the ongoing and the planned implementation of service robots into human lifeworld—particularly of those technical systems displaying increasing grades of autonomy

Unified treatment of spin torques using a coupled magnetisation dynamics and three-dimensional spin current solver

A three-dimensional spin current solver based on a generalised spin drift-diffusion description, including the bulk and interfacial spin Hall effects, is integrated with a magnetisation dynamics solver. The resulting model is shown to simultaneously reproduce the spin-orbit torques generated using the spin Hall effect, spin pumping torques generated by magnetisation dynamics in multilayers, as well as the spin transfer torques acting on magnetisation regions with spatial gradients, whilst field-like and spin-like torques are reproduced in a spin valve geometry. Two approaches to modelling interfaces are analysed, one based on the spin mixing conductance and the other based on continuity of spin currents where the spin dephasing length governs the absorption of transverse spin components. In both cases analytical formulas are derived for the spin-orbit torques in a heavy metal / ferromagnet bilayer geometry, showing in general both field-like and damping-like torques are generated. The limitations of the analytical approach are discussed, showing that even in a simple bilayer geometry, due to the non-uniformity of the spin currents, a full three-dimensional treatment is required. The model is further applied to the analysis of the spin Hall angle in Pt by reproducing published experimental ferromagnetic resonance data in the bilayer geometry

From sea monsters to charismatic megafauna: changes in perception and use of large marine animals

Marine megafauna has always elicited contrasting feelings. In the past, large marine animals were often depicted as fantastic mythological creatures and dangerous monsters, while also arousing human curiosity. Marine megafauna has been a valuable resource to exploit, leading to the collapse of populations and local extinctions. In addition, some species have been perceived as competitors of fishers for marine resources and were often actively culled. Since the 1970s, there has been a change in the perception and use of megafauna. The growth of marine tourism, increasingly oriented towards the observation of wildlife, has driven a shift from extractive to non-extractive use, supporting the conservation of at least some species of marine megafauna. In this paper, we review and compare the changes in the perception and use of three megafaunal groups, cetaceans, elasmobranchs and groupers, with a special focus on European cultures. We highlight the main drivers and the timing of these changes, compare different taxonomic groups and species, and highlight the implications for management and conservation. One of the main drivers of the shift in perception, shared by all the three groups of megafauna, has been a general increase in curiosity towards wildlife, stimulated inter alia by documentaries (from the early 1970s onwards), and also promoted by easy access to scuba diving. At the same time, environmental campaigns have been developed to raise public awareness regarding marine wildlife, especially cetaceans, a process greatly facilitated by the rise of Internet and the World Wide Web. Currently, all the three groups (cetaceans, elasmobranchs and groupers) may represent valuable resources for ecotourism. Strikingly, the economic value of live specimens may exceed their value for human consumption. A further change in perception involving all the three groups is related to a growing understanding and appreciation of their key ecological role. The shift from extractive to non-extractive use has the potential for promoting species conservation and local economic growth. However, the change in use may not benefit the original stakeholders (e.g. fishers or whalers) and there may therefore be a case for providing compensation for disadvantaged stakeholders. Moreover, it is increasingly clear that even non-extractive use may have a negative impact on marine megafauna, therefore regulations are needed.SFRH/BPD/102494/2014, UID/MAR/04292/2019, IS1403info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

‘You can never cross the same river twice’: climbers’ embodied quests for ‘original adventure’ in southern Thailand

This article presents ethnographic research into individual narratives of adventure in a small, undeveloped bay called Ton Sai in southern Thailand’s Krabi Province. Ton Sai is extremely popular with Western rock climbers and increasingly with other adventure seekers and backpackers questing for ‘authentic’ Thailand, yet is subject to almost no representation in the commercial sense. It is an example of a destination that is not on the corporate ‘radar’, yet, as will be seen, is famed, desired and produced by ‘niche’ tourists seeking very specifically valued tropical adventures. This research aims to interrogate how such a destination becomes, and remains, valued as adventurous by climbers and therefore shed some light on individual, subjective production of adventure in specific Developing World contexts. Drawing on original interview and other ethnographic data collected during winter 2012/2013, this article argues that even when third-party commercial mediators are absent, the powers of quest for authenticity and adventure are powerful enough to turn the wheels of mediation themselves. In the ‘elite circles’ in which this group manoeuvres, notions of ideal adventure space run deep and are reproduced discursively and through embodied performances in an exoticised environment that is valued for its ‘primitive timelessness’. The implications of this for locals are explored

JFK in the Classroom

Feature films have long been part of the curriculum for history courses at some high schools and universities. Researchers have generally assumed that movies help stimulate and motivate student learning (e.g., Considine 1989, 230 and 233; Rebhorn 1988, 1; Romiszowski 1974, 194), but because of their visual and emotive power, films also have potential to distort learning. In this article, we focus on the way one feature film, Oliver Stone’s JFK (1991), was incorporated into a twentieth-century American history course and examine the film’s effect on students’ learning and critical thinking. Our comments on this film result from a larger research study on student learning that involved forty-six students who were enrolled in a one-semester course at Murdoch University and who agreed to participate in questionnaires and interviews

The interplay of films, readings, lectures and discussion: Multimedia in learning history

The use of different senses to promote learning has long been recognised ineducation. Salomon (1997) argues that not only do the different symbolic forms of representation contribute in different ways to learning, but that each student's existing knowledge also affects the meaning constructed. This paper explores the interrelationships between the different representations of history available to students in a university history course, the students' relevant background knowledge, and the learning outcomes. The representations of history were feature films relevant to specific periods in twentieth century American history, written critiques of the films as history, history texts, lectures and tutorial discussion. Analysis of data produced from students' responses to questionnaires, group interviews and written reflections revealed a number of ways that the films contributed to enhanced learning. It was evident, however, that important learning outcomes such as critical thinking and students' conceptualisation of history were dependent not just on the films or students' knowledge, but on the ways the particular representations interacted with specific films. The films JFK and Fatal Attraction and associated readings are used to illustrate the findings