Explicit Views Research Articles

Understanding epistemological notions underlying scientific language use: a multifaceted analysis framework

Helping university students develop productive views of what characterizes good scientific research and scientific knowledge is an important objective of science education. However, many studies show that students’ views of the nature of science (NOS) do not become more informed or even become less informed after learning activities that engage students in scientific practice. This could mean that the way we teach students to conduct scientific research might unintentionally strengthen or bring about uninformed views of NOS. In this article, we argue that scientific discourse (how language is used in science) might play a role in this relation between learning scientific inquiry and uninformed views of NOS. We argue that there could be implicit notions relating to NOS underlying scientific discourse that uninformed readers might translate to uninformed views of NOS. We call these implicit notions underlying scientific language use “epistemological notions.” In this article, we further define this construct of epistemological notions, contrast it with explicit views of NOS and other related constructs, explain how we think epistemological notions might affect explicit views of NOS, and present a framework we developed to characterize them in scientific language use. It is a descriptive and interpretative analysis framework which combines, optimizes, and extends several text analysis methods, discourse analysis, and reflexive thematic analysis. We provide a guide to use the framework and point out quality criteria. We finish by advocating the framework for educational researchers interested in developing instructional interventions during which learning about science is combined with explicit reflection on NOS. Identifying epistemological notions in scientific language use could provide starting points for these activities by making explicit the translation from NOS understanding to scientific practice and vice versa.

Meeting expectations? Response of policy innovation labs to sustainable development goals

Abstract Introduced by the United Nations, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim at facilitating inclusive sustainable development. Responsiveness to SDGs is considered a key to addressing pressing development problems. The current literature focuses on the responsiveness of varied public organizations to SDGs, whereas SDGs’ responsiveness of policy innovation labs (PILs) is understudied. Aiming to address both persistent and emerging social and environmental problems, PILs are aligned with SDGs. On the other hand, PILs seek innovative ways to generate policy solutions in collaboration with citizens through experimental methods and thus are more committed to the local public rather than international organizations. This paper investigates to what extent and in what way PILs respond to SDGs during policy formulation processes, both implicitly and explicitly. Data draws on a database the authors developed, identifying 211 European PILs. Thematic coding of PILs’ websites reveals that 62.1% of the PILs implicitly promote at least one SDG. Additionally, sustainable cities and communities (SDG11) and good health and well-being (SDG3) are the two SDGs with the highest implicit-response rates, respectively. We apply grounded theory analysis from semi-structured interviews with senior PIL employees of 31 PILs to gauge their explicit views of SDGs. This inductive approach reveals three dimensions to SDGs: levels of responsiveness, different practices, and considerations that guide PILs on whether to comply with SDGs. A better understanding of PILs’ response to SDGs provides a more nuanced portrayal of PILs as organizations aiming to craft innovative policy solutions that align with international frameworks.

Transitioning towards more plant-based diets: sharing expert knowledge through a system lens

Transitioning towards more plant-based protein diets is essential for public and planetary health. Current research about consumption practices of protein sources provides limited insight in the multidisciplinary nature and interconnectivity of the food environment. This study aimed to collect mental models of review authors by synthesizing both their implicit and explicit system views into an overarching system view. Published reviews were used to select participants and identify variables that explain the protein transition in relation to the food environment. To overcome differences in disciplines and scale levels (e.g. individual, interpersonal, environmental), variables were organized according to the Determinants of Nutrition and Eating Framework. Eight review authors shared their mental models in an interview. Participants were asked to construct a causal loop diagram (CLD), a tool proven valuable in making one's ontology explicit to others. Implicit system views in narrative were converted into CLDs using a coding framework. The overarching system view suggests that a multitude of feedback loops sustain current consumption patterns of protein sources, for example by reinforcement through habit, availability and peer support. Several aspects require further research, such as variable relationships that were subject to disagreement and the lack of reciprocity between the physical and social elements of the food environment. In addition, knowledge gaps were exposed, including long-term behaviour and interaction of multiple variables. As a boundary object, the overarching system view can facilitate the direction of future research. The findings underscore the interconnected nature of many disparate elements within the food environment, stressing the need for holistic methods like systems thinking. These are essential in developing a systemic understanding and facilitating the transition towards more plant-based diets.

Preservice Teacher Study Abroad Language Immersion and Implicit and Explicit Beliefs About Dual Language Learners

This study uses an Implicit Association Test and a self-report instrument of explicit beliefs to explore implicit and explicit beliefs and attitudes of pre-service teachers about DLLs. Study participants from one United States University in the Southeast were comprised of participants and non-participants of a study abroad language immersion experience. Overall, pre-service teachers in this study (n = 53) held balanced implicit attitudes about DLLs and positive explicit attitudes. Non-study abroad participants held negative explicit views of second language acquisition and lacked understanding of appropriate pedagogical choices for DLLs as compared to their study abroad participant counterparts.

The effects of perspective taking primes on the social tuning of explicit and implicit views toward gender and race.

The current research aims to investigate whether perspective taking influences social tuning, or the alignment of one's self-views, explicit attitudes, and/or implicit attitudes with those of an interaction partner. In six different experiments, participants believed they would interact with a partner to complete a task. Prior to this ostensible interaction, participants were given a perspective taking mindset prime, or not, and information about their ostensible interaction partners views. Participants then completed attitude measures related to the partner's perceived views. Experiments 1a, 1b, and 2 examined whether perspective taking with an ostensible interaction partner who endorses gender traditional (or non-traditional) views align their self-views with this partner, including implicit self-views (Experiment 2). Experiments 3-5 investigated whether perspective taking leads to social tuning for egalitarian racial attitudes, including when the partner's expectations of how others will be and when the participant learns their ostensible IAT score at the beginning of the session. We predicted perspective takers would be more likely to social tune their explicit and implicit attitudes to the attitudes of their interaction partner than non-perspective takers. Across all experiments, perspective takers were more likely to social tune their self-views and explicit attitudes than non-perspective takers. However, social tuning never occurred for implicit attitudes. Thus, future research is needed to understand why perspective taking does not influence the tuning of implicit attitudes, but other motivations, like affiliative and epistemic, do.

The Spatiality of Women’s Struggle within Porto’s Residents’ Movement during Portuguese Revolutionary Process (1974-75)

This paper explores the role of women’s struggle within residents’ movements in the production and transformation of space in Porto during the PREC (the Portuguese Revolutionary Process of 1974-1976), analysing the spaces where these movements started, the issues they focused on, and how it related and acted within explicit and implicit views of family and gender relations in institutional approaches to housing development. It also considers how these were mirrored in housing policy options and design paradigms. In this way, by shifting the focus to women’s struggle at the grassroots, looking at those who were both the recipients of houses and actors of an ongoing struggle, this research explores the intersection between class and gender in the processes of housing and urban development.

Global diversity dynamics in the fossil record are regionally heterogeneous

Global diversity patterns in the fossil record comprise a mosaic of regional trends, underpinned by spatially non-random drivers and distorted by variation in sampling intensity through time and across space. Sampling-corrected diversity estimates from spatially-standardised fossil datasets retain their regional biogeographic nuances and avoid these biases, yet diversity-through-time arises from the interplay of origination and extinction, the processes that shape macroevolutionary history. Here we present a subsampling algorithm to eliminate spatial sampling bias, coupled with advanced probabilistic methods for estimating origination and extinction rates and a Bayesian method for estimating sampling-corrected diversity. We then re-examine the Late Permian to Early Jurassic marine fossil record, an interval spanning several global biotic upheavals that shaped the origins of the modern marine biosphere. We find that origination and extinction rates are regionally heterogenous even during events that manifested globally, highlighting the need for spatially explicit views of macroevolutionary processes through geological time.

White civilians\u2019 implicit danger evaluation of police officers underlies explicit perception of police

The role of implicit processes during police-civilian encounters is well studied from the perspective of the police. Decades of research on the “shooter bias” suggests that implicit Black-danger associations potentiate the perception of threat of Black individuals, leading to a racial bias in the decision to use lethal force. Left understudied are civilians’ possible associations of police with danger and how such associations pervade behavior and explicit views of the police. The current work begins to address this gap. In two within-subjects studies, we separately assess police-threat (i.e., safety/danger) and police-valence (i.e., good/bad) associations as well as their relative influences on explicit perceptions of police. Study 1 revealed that implicit threat evaluations (police-danger associations) more strongly predicted negative explicit views of the police compared to implicit valence evaluations (police-negative associations). Study 2 replicated these findings and suggests that individuals evaluate the police as more dangerous versus negative when each response is pitted against each other within single misattribution procedure trials. The possible implications for explicit attitudes toward police reform and behavior during police-civilian encounters are discussed.

“We Know our Students”: Teacher Views of Inquiry-Based Learning Implementation in Light of Their Working Context

Inquiry-based learning is a well-known strategy in STEM education. It aims to enhance conceptual learning, acquisition of scientific practices, and reflecting on the Nature of Science. However, evidence indicates that in practice, inquiry is often taught in a narrow, mainly experimental approach. This interpretive study analyzes teachers explicit and implicit views regarding implementing inquiry-based learning. The participants enrolled in three professional development programs. They were engaged in multiple genres of inquiry and were encouraged to design an inquiry activity. Data sources included observations, interviews, questionnaires, assignments, and reflections. Findings indicate that with regard to inquiry implementation, teachers were highly concerned about their students’ competency and their own’s working context. Teachers who discussed mostly challenges often designed a narrow-controlled inquiry, while teachers who reflected, negotiated, and challenged their initial views addressed more epistemic aspects of inquiry. Implications for supporting teachers’ development of a broader approach to inquiry learning are discussed.

After the ballot box: How explicit racist appeals damage constituents views of their representation in government

Recent scholarship finds that the use of explicit racial appeals can be an effective mobilization strategy in some situations. Consequently, U.S. politics has witnessed the resurgence of such appeals. Yet, the effects of racial appeals are not ensconced in electoral contexts, but may have potential downstream effects on interest representation and the ability for politicians to build broader coalitions This study uses a survey experiment to test the effect of exposure to racist comments used by a 2018 U.S. Senate candidate on perceived interest representation among Black and White respondents. The results show that Black and liberal White respondents who are exposed to these comments feel that the candidate is less able to represent their interests. Thus, we find that the use of explicit racial appeals potentially alienates a substantial proportion of people which could potentially lead to greater dissatisfaction with government.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project legitimisation: The rhetor’s innovation and the US response

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has attracted support and critique for its legitimacy and potential success. Its opponents see challenges more than prospects because of American inattention and resistance, and its proponents see prospects more than challenges because of the attention from the rest of the world. While both sides use valid reasons for their explicit or implicit views, they focus on the legitimacy by its taken-for-granted status. The BRI project as innovation is at the legitimisation process stage. To address the legitimisation of the BRI project innovation, we use rhetorical theory to analyse the Chinese official report in 2019, the American versus European media response to the BRI project and the US direct response to the BRI in the Indo-Pacific Strategy in 2019. Our exploratory findings show insights into the subjects, industries and regions. Firstly, the American media attention far exceeds the European media attention. Secondly, the American media attention and direct response to the BRI highlight the political issues, and the European media attention highlights economic issues. The Chinese official report mentions European countries, and excludes the USA. Thirdly, it uses Pakistan more frequently than other countries or regions in its achievement report, but the US has not mentioned Pakistan at all in its Indo-Pacific Strategy. Fourthly, the US political logic diverges from the logic of the BRI project, while the European economic logic converges to the logic of the BRI project. Based on these findings, we contribute to the legitimisation process of innovation, rhetorical theory and policy implications in the world.

Building future primary teachers' capacity in STEM: based on a platform of beliefs, understandings and intentions

BackgroundSTEM education needs to begin in primary schools and should aim to prepare young people for active participation in their future. To produce a generation interested and skilled in STEM, the key foci within schools may best occur through teams of teachers working together in an integrated approach, based on cross-curricular teaching and learning. Teachers play a key role in STEM education, and it is important to attract high achievers with relevant backgrounds into teaching. This research study focused on the beliefs, understandings, and intentions of pre-service primary teachers to teach STEM. These beliefs, understandings, and intentions form the platform on which the pre-service teachers build their capacity to teach STEM subjects in primary schools.ResultsThe data (n = 119) collected from a designed questionnaire were analysed qualitatively and quantitatively. An interpretive practice has been used in formulating categories based on responses regarding beliefs, understandings, intentions, and ideal scenarios for future practices and a grounded theory approach for formulating scenarios based on data analysis. The qualitative data were coded into categories based on responses. Structural equation modelling (SEM) and logical regression were conducted to find relationships of the pre-service teacher’s platform for capacity building and connecting to what is required in their classrooms now and in the future. Logistic regressions were used to explore the association of all the questionnaire items and open responses related to the platform and future capacity building. Based on the results, it is evident that the platform developed for teaching STEM based on experience in their teaching degree is limited; however, they have positive intentions to take up STEM. They are not seeing any positive initiative at schools, and they have limited confidence to teach STEM. However, they were suggesting that they should be provided with more opportunities to teach STEM.ConclusionsOverall, our findings indicate that pre-service teachers do not have strong understanding; however, they have strong beliefs and intentions to teach STEM in their future career. The results of this study indicate that the capacity they have built provides them with explicit views on how to teach STEM in primary schools now and informs what they need for the future teaching of STEM. It is essential to formulate a course work and professional development in STEM, capable of integrating disciplines, providing an understanding of pedagogical approaches, and connecting to real-life relevance with the twenty-first century competencies.

The Art of Citizenship: Roman Cultural Identity in Cicero’s Pro Archia Poeta

This paper examines Cicero’s Pro Archia Poeta Oratio and the author’s implicit and explicit views on how Roman cultural identity is constructed. While the speech itself is the legal defense of the poet Archias’ claim to Roman citizenship, it also situates the debate of legal citizenship within a broader context of Roman cultural identity. More specifically, it is argued that the oration allows Cicero to emphasize the combination of artes, in this context replacing the literal definition of “skill” or “art" with a foundational and necessary Roman virtue, and humanitas as a means of describing the role education plays in creating Roman identity. For Cicero, the combination of artes and humanitas results in a type of education oriented toward characteristic Roman virtues like honor, glory and public service, which serves as the basis for his definition of Roman cultural identity. This argument comes primarily from the deconstruction of the oration and the examination of specific passages to identify key themes and expressions, and combining this analysis with recent academic scholarship on Cicero’s orations.

LITERATURE REVIEW IN CONTEXT: SUBSTANCES AND PROCEDURES

The study examines the concept of literature review in research framework. The main objective is to gather various and explicit scholars' views on how to review, manage and structure literature review as a vital component of research proposal. Therefore, content analysis as qualitative technique is employed to achieve the objective of the paper. The paper discusses the concept of research, social scientific research, and identifies number of social scientific research norms (universalism, organized skepticism, disinterestedness, communalism and honest). Again, the paper identifies goals and various sources of literature review including primary and secondary sources, its types, and common challenges and finally, basic substances/sub-heading, which every literature review should include. Consequently, the findings reveals that five basic sub-headings including introduction, conceptual framework, theoretical framework (if needed), review of empirical studies and summary and uniqueness of the study should be included in the chapter (Review of Related Literature). Article visualizations:

The Relationship Between Online Pornography and the Sexual Objectification of Women: The Attenuating Role of Porn Literacy Education

Media literacy interventions partly aim at preventing undesirable media effects at a later point of time. However, longitudinal research on the interaction between media literacy education and media effects is lacking. In this longitudinal study among 1,947 13–25-year-olds, we started to address this lacuna by examining the potential of porn literacy education at schools to attenuate the longitudinal relationship between exposure to sexually explicit Internet material (SEIM) and views of women as sex objects. A two-way interaction effect emerged: The relationship between SEIM and sexist views became weaker, the more users had learned from porn literacy education. No gender or age differences occurred. This study thus provides some first evidence for the role of media education in reducing undesirable media effects.

Image of Synthetic Biology and Nanotechnology: A Survey among University Students.

This study explores the image of synthetic biology and nanotechnology in comparison to agricultural biotechnology and communication technology by examining spontaneous associations with, and deliberate evaluations of, these technologies by university students. Data were collected through a self-completion online questionnaire by students from two universities in Switzerland. The survey aimed to capture implicit associations, explicit harm-benefit evaluations and views on regulation. The data suggest overall positive associations with emerging technologies. While positive associations were most pronounced for nanotechnology, agricultural biotechnology was attributed with the least favorable associations. In contrast to its positive result in the association task, respondents attributed a high harm potential for nanotechnology. Associations attributed to synthetic biology were demonstrated to be more positive than for agricultural biotechnology, however, not as favorable as for nanotechnology. Contrary to the evaluations of nanotechnology, the benefit-examples of synthetic biology were evaluated particularly positively. Accordingly, the investigated technologies enjoy different esteem, with synthetic biology and nanotechnology both showing a more “exciting” image. Even though, the image of nanotechnology was demonstrated to be more pronounced it was also more heterogeneous across tasks while agricultural biotechnology remains contested. For all technologies, the predominant spontaneous concerns pertain to risks rather than an immoral nature inherent to these technologies. Our data suggest that harm-benefit analyses reveal only one aspect of the attitude toward emerging technologies. Survey questions addressing spontaneous associations with these technologies are a valuable addition for our picture of the image of emerging technologies.

FEATURE DETECTION FOR REALISTIC IMAGES BASED ON B-SPLINES OF 3rd ORDER RELATED TO INTERPOLAR ON AVERAGE

Purpose: One approach where recognition of objects in a digital image is based on a search for special points of the function of two variables model intensity lighting. As a model proposed to use a two-dimensional polynomial spline-based B-splines of order. For linear operators that determine the characteristics of a digital image is necessary to conduct appropriate studies partial derivatives of first and second order spline said. Methods: Active obtaining explicit views of partial derivatives and study of their standards and quality of approximation, further defining particular cases suitable for implementation in the software. Results: The paper proposes a calculation of differentials and their partial cases for two-dimensional polynomial spline based on B-splines of third order. Based on these, analogs of known operators that determine the local characteristics of digital images were proposed. Discussion: Further research may be to obtain similar operators based on combinations of two-dimensional B-spline above the second order analysis capabilities and their application to problems of digital imaging and video

Categorizing ideas about systematics: alternative trees of trees, and related representations

This study is an attempt to expand a previous survey by Fisler and Lecointre (FL) for systematizing ideas on the use of the tree metaphor in classification, as expressed by various historically important figures in their writings. FL used a cladistic approach to analyze their data, as employed in biological classification. We supplement this analysis here using several methods of multivariate data exploration, producing a UPGMA dendrogram, a minimum spanning tree, a neighbor joining additive tree, a plexus graph, a phylogenetic network, and two multidimensional scaling ordinations of the same data used by FL. We confirm the validity of many of FL’s smaller clusters of writings, and revealed a new 3-group categorization undetected by the previous study. These three groups largely correspond to Classifiers, who did not consider evolution for historical reasons or on purpose, Non-analytical evolutionists, who recognized evolution but with a more or less naive attitude towards the temporal change of life, and Modelers, with more explicit views on evolutionary processes, often applying objective mathematical tools for exploring the past and present of organismal diversity. Some scientists were difficult to assign to any group unambiguously, including J. W. von Goethe, who takes a unique position in the history of biology, and, to a lesser extent, E. Mayr and G. G. Simpson, the leaders of the gradist school of systematics. We argue that cladistic methods are insufficient by themselves, notably in situations where there are no obvious ancestor–descendant relationships underlying the development of the objects being analyzed.

Towards greater understanding of addiction stigma: Intersectionality with race/ethnicity and gender

BackgroundIn spite of the significant burden associated with substance use disorders, especially among persons who inject drugs (PWIDs), most affected individuals do not engage with any type of formal or informal treatment. Addiction stigma, which is represented by negative social attitudes toward individuals who use alcohol and/or other drugs, is one of the barriers to care that is poorly understood. The current study: a) assessed implicit (indirect and difficult to consciously control) and explicit (consciously controlled) beliefs about PWIDs among visitors to a public web site; and b) experimentally investigated the effects of ethnicity/race and gender on those implicit and explicit beliefs. MethodsN=899 predominantly White (70%) and women (62%) were randomly assigned to one of six target PWIDs conditions: gender (man/woman) x race/ethnicity (White, Black, Latino/a). Participants completed an Implicit Association Test and explicit assessment of addiction stigma. ResultsParticipants implicitly associated PWIDs (especially Latino/a vs. White PWIDs) with deserving punishment as opposed to help (p=0.003, d=0.31), indicating presence of addiction stigma-related implicit beliefs. However, this bias was not evident on the explicit measure (p=0.89). Gender did not predict differential implicit or explicit addiction stigma (p=0.18). ConclusionsContrary to explicit egalitarian views towards PWIDs, participants’ implicit beliefs were more in line with addiction stigma. If replicated and clearer ties to behavior are established, results suggest the potential importance of identifying conditions under which implicit bias might influence behavior (even despite explicit egalitarian views) and increase the likelihood of discrimination towards PWIDs.

China in Africa: a critical literature review

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to critically assesses the major contributions to the academic literature on China’s increased focus on Africa, from 2001 to 2011. It discusses the key trends concerning China’s presence in Africa and draws conclusions on the significance of the studies by emphasizing and contrasting the prevailing positions. Design/methodology/approach – Based on a qualitative approach using an integrative and comprehensive literature review, the authors performed a content analysis of high-impact, peer-reviewed papers. Findings – The paper questions and repositions some of the existing controversies. The results from existing studies remain questionable, requiring further clarification and more theoretical backing. It, moreover, highlights the notion that behind the explicit neutrality views of China’s presence in Africa, implicit assumptions may exist. These are often the differences in narratives conveyed by Western and Southern stakeholders. Research limitations/implications – Most of the conclusions drawn from this paper need to be re-explored and supported by additional research. This could be done by widening the scope of the analysis. Studies need to provide more empirical support for their assertions through quantitative data and evidence-based qualitative analyses – all within a framework that considers more cultural, social and historical dimensions. The paper also suggests that an institutionally based view appears most relevant in better explaining China in Africa. Originality/value – This paper reviews a decade of research on China in Africa and presents a snapshot of the current state of knowledge. It also raises concerns to be analyzed by future research and proposes new avenues for better understanding China’s presence in Africa.