iPod therefore I am: Using PC Videos to Aid the Teaching of the History of Political Philosophy

This article outlines our experiences at the University of Huddersfield of (a) producing and using mini-lectures on the history of political philosophy that were available to students as MP4 and progressive download PC video files (and MP3 audio files), and (b) the student feedback on these files which will help future development. This article largely avoids pedagogical issues regarding the use of technology in teaching and focuses more on student feedback and use of these technologies, along with practical issues regarding the production and hosting of these teaching tools

Book Review: West, D. M. (2014). Going Mobile: How Wireless Technology is Reshaping Our Lives. United States: Brookings Institution

We are used to the claim that we now live in a digital age; however in this entertaining book West enthuses that the growth of the use and availability of mobile technologies (smartphones and tablets) represents a significant change in the nature of the impact of the digital world upon society

Towards dialogue: audio feedback on politics essays

This paper evaluates the use of audio feedback on assignments through the case study of a politics course, highlighting a number of pedagogical benefits. In particular, and using student testimonies, it argues that audio feedback provides a more personal feel to feedback; criticism, it appears, is easier to accept in the spoken word – as one student suggests, you know the marker is ‘not being harsh’ and is ‘just trying to help you really’. In addition, the paper notes the chief practical benefit of audio feedback: it reduces the overall time spent by lecturers in providing comments. While this paper is positive in favour of audio feedback throughout, it also discusses some potential challenges including anonymous marking – which affects the relationship between marker and student – and the fact that one size does not fit all, with different students preferring different types of feedback. The paper also attempts to provide practical tips to professionals wishing to use this method of feedback

Near Earth Object (NEO) Mitigation Options Using Exploration Technologies

This work documents the advancements in MSFC threat modeling and mitigation technology research completed since our last major publication in this field. Most of the work enclosed here are refinements of our work documented in NASA TP-2004-213089. Very long development times from start of funding (10-20 years) can be expected for any mitigation system which suggests that delaying consideration of mitigation technologies could leave the Earth in an unprotected state for a significant period of time. Fortunately there is the potential for strong synergy between architecture requirements for some threat mitigators and crewed deep space exploration. Thus planetary defense has the potential to be integrated into the current U.S. space exploration effort. The number of possible options available for protection against the NEO threat was too numerous for them to all be addressed within the study; instead, a representative selection were modeled and evaluated. A summary of the major lessons learned during this study is presented, as are recommendations for future work

Bravery, technological literacy and political philosophy: replacing oral presentations with student­-created video presentations

This paper overviews and analyses a project to replace the oral presentation element of a political theory module with a video presentation created by students. Its aim is not to provide a practical guide for the educator but to discuss how video presentations address a number of concerns that students raise about oral presentations. In particular, this paper will focus on the role that bravery has on a student’s journey in education and how video presentations can help by moving the assessment of oral communication from a public to a private act. It will also look at how creating video presentations might stimulate digital literacy and suggest that it is the educator’s rather than the student’s literacy that is challenged by this process

Designing video and audio resources on the history of political thought

This paper gives an overview of The Hobbes Project, a project based at the University of Huddersfield that produced a number of video and audio resources (VARs) and accompanying worksheets to support the teaching of the module entitled ‘Introduction to political philosophy’. In so doing, it will discuss the benefits of creating such VARs, comment on the format that these should take, include a discussion of academic decisions made about content, and offer tips on how to go about presenting VAR

The Depiction of Politicians in The Simpsons

Due to its longevity (almost 400 episodes and 18 years), and the sheer number of supporting characters that appear on it, the writers and producers of The Simpsons has created a model of society which can be exploited by the political theorist. This paper aims to explore the social and political ramifications of this model of, especially the accusation that the programme in inherently conservative in its portrayal of gender and the nuclear family. This paper will also look at the depiction of politicians in the programme (for example fictional politicians such as Mayor ‘Diamond’ Joe Quimby and Sideshow Bob as well as real politicians Bill Clinton and George Bush snr), and suggest that whereas The Simpsons may appear to mock all politicians, this is not in fact the case, and that The Simpsons does provide us with examples of the types of qualities that are admirable in a politician. It will be argued that the writers of The Simpsons only mock two types of politicians; actual living politicians (it is from this fact that it gets its reputation for being impartial), and dishonest metropolitan-type politicians. Local, hard working politicians (most notably Governor Mary Bailey and former Sanitation Commissioner Ray Patterson) are exempt from their criticism, suggesting that they prefer local substance over glitz and style

Informal Education and Human Rights

The use of informal educative methods (i.e. the use of learners’ social experience and media such as television and films) is thought to help students to explore and understand key concepts of human rights by rooting them in their everyday lives an thus helping them achieve a deep holistic understanding of the topic. This booklet aims to highlight good practice in using informal educative methods in teaching human rights and to make recommendations based upon these methods and ultimately, it is hoped, promote the use of such methods when teaching and discussing human rights. In the first chapter we will define informal education and relate it to the concept of human rights. In the second chapter we describe eleven examples of informal education methods, in order to illustrate some good practices. Finally we offer conclusions and recommendations to give guidance to regular self-evaluation of the quality and intensity in education on human and children’s rights

“I would have switched off if it was just government legislation.” The Simpsons and the Teaching of Public Health Policy

In order to practise effectively in the health-care sector, undergraduate students on health professions courses need a critical appreciation of differing theories and values of health held between individuals, communities and cultures. In addition, students need to be introduced to public health policy and methods of promoting public health (especially important post-Darzi). For students, this subject is often deemed uninspiring since, being largely practical and science-based programmes, government public health policy is considered outside their realms of interest, which presents a challenge for educators. This paper presents an example of how to successfully engage health professions students in the teaching of public health policy and political thought by examining an episode of The Simpsons in which Marge Simpson, worried about rising obesity levels in Springfield, petitions for a ban on sugar food products to promote health in the city. This example is then linked to J.S. Mill’s ‘Harm Principle’ to enable students to discuss other potential applications to public health policy and state intervention such as the smoking ban, alcohol laws and schools’ restriction of children’s meals to healthy options. This paper will outline the method used to enlighten students about topical health issues and evaluate the students’ feedback