Informal Debates Research Articles

Psychedelic Therapy as Form of Life

In the historical context of a crisis in biological psychiatry, psychedelic drugs paired with psychotherapy are globally re-emerging in research clinics as a potential transdiagnostic therapy for treating mood disorders, addictions, and other forms of psychological distress. The treatments are poised to soon shift from clinical trials to widespread service delivery in places like Australia, North America, and Europe, which has prompted ethical questions by social scientists and bioethicists. Taking a broader view, we argue that the ethics of psychedelic therapy concerns not simply how psychotherapies are different when paired with psychedelic drugs, but how psychedelic therapies shape and are shaped by different values, norms, and metaphysical commitments. Drawing from the published literature and interviews with seven psychedelic therapists working in clinical trials in the United States, Germany, Switzerland, and Australia, this article opens the black box of the treatments to consider the values and informal debates currently animating the therapies. Considering questions of patient autonomy, mechanisms of therapeutic action, and which therapies are best suited to pair with psychedelic substances, we examine the ethics of psychedelic therapy as an emergent form of life. To bring this form of life out in fuller relief, we conclude by comparing and contrasting it with ayahuasca use in Amazonian shamanism.

Research on the Development of an Educational Model Integrating Debate and Argumentative Writing : Focusing on face-to-face debates and online debates

The purpose of this study is to develop an integrated education model of debate-argumentative writing and to specifically suggest the teaching and learning method in the model. For this, I proposed a circulative model of debating and argumentative writing including the processes of the topic formation, outline creation, debating, argumentative writing, feedback, online debating, and term paper evaluation. One of the main characteristics of this study is that the two activities circulate repetitively. In the repetition of the two activities, the target aims such as argumentative thinking skills, creativity, and speech and writing competences, can be achieved in an equally balanced manner. Another characteristic is that diverse patterns of debates such as formal debates, informal debates and online debates, are utilized for the learner’s active participation. Finally, since interactions can be strengthened between learners and a teacher, learners and learners, and learners and materials, feedback and information search can be strongly activated. For further study, intensified research is suggested regarding the analysis, as well as an effective teaching method involving the diversity of the communicative aspects in multi-layered debating message postings.

Techniques Used by College Level English Teachers to Assess Interactive Speaking: A Phenomenological Study

Interactive speaking is a crucial component of speaking skill. It is essential for effective and successful communication. Assessment of students’ interactive speaking helps teachers to enhance students’ overall speaking proficiency in a second or foreign language. Several techniques can be used to evaluate interactive speaking and the application of techniques may vary according to the forms of speaking. The present article focuses on exploring the techniques used by college level English language teachers to assess the interactive speaking of the students who study major English at the bachelor's level. The study was conducted using qualitative approach and descriptive phenomenology design. The sample population included 13 English language teachers who taught English at affiliated colleges in the Banke district. I used convenience sampling to select the colleges and simple random sampling to select the sample population. The only technique used for collecting data was structured interview. Each of the interviews was recorded using an audio recorder and transcribed verbatim. The data was analyzed using thematic approach to qualitative data analysis. The study revealed that oral question and answer, formal and informal debates, interviews, role plays, and discussion are the most commonly used techniques to assess interactive speaking skill at the college level. The study concluded that the techniques used in assessing interactive speaking may slightly vary depending on the level of the students but the teachers can use these techniques to the students of all levels.

Motivational Strategies of Teachers in Relation To Learners’ Academic Performance

Motivating learners is one of the most critical and challenging parts of teaching. As such, they differ in how they motivate students and their motivational strategies. This quantitative inquiry determined the motivational strategies of teachers and students’ academic performance according to age, civil status, teaching experience, highest educational attainment, and average monthly income. To answer the descriptive and inferential questions, a researcher-made questionnaire was utilized. It was revealed that the level of motivational strategies of teachers in the areas of (1) introduction of the lesson, (2) discussion of the lesson, and (3) assessment of lesson we're all on a high level. However, the results indicated that the respondents least prefer helping learners prepare for the discussion using a pre-formed questionnaire, informal classroom debates, and a strategy that allows learners to assess their peers and classmates' writing abilities and comprehension skills. Consequently, the level of learners’ academic performance was very satisfactory. Likewise, no significant differences in the level of teachers’ motivational strategies in the first and second areas when grouped according to age, civil status, teaching experience, and highest educational attainment. Additionally, no significant difference showed when teachers were grouped according to average monthly income in the first and third areas. It can conclude that most teachers are proceeding directly to lesson discussion and skipping the introduction to maximize class hours. Also, teachers have different motivational strategy preferences in engaging their learners. Likewise, they have a different mindset in motivating the lesson. As such, different strategies will positively influence academic performance. It is recommended that teachers be regularly subjected to seminars and training in pedagogical and instructional methods and other classroom management skill training to improve teaching practices and to help improve students’ academic performance.

„Sex Education”, czyli serial jako źródło wiedzy o świecie młodzieży

Can a TV series be treated as a space for pedagogical discourses? The answer seems obvious. For modern culture pedagogy, it is a reservoir of knowledge about society. TV series is a characteristic phenomenon in contemporary audiovisual culture. It describes our world in a very honest way. At the same time, it talks about problems affecting various social groups, which are often considered to be “not serious” in informal debates. The television series, as an element of popular art, is an interesting and valuable “social document”. The goal of modern education is to develop a reflective critical view of audiovisual products that surround us. A critical look at fictitious images of reality helps us better understand our world that is the most real. The article is a voice in the discussion on the Sex Education series, as an example of the image of today’s youth, their dilemmas and anxieties woven into school reality, as well as their relations with peer groups and parents.

English

Weeds are a limitation to cocoa production, and herbicide use in cocoa cultivation is known to lower the cost of weed management and support better plant growth. As a result, glyphosate was recommended for use in cocoa cultivation following a two-year field trial at the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana. Recent informal debates among scientists and farmers, however, point towards a disagreement regarding the effect of glyphosate on young cocoa. Consequently, an experiment was conducted from 2011 to 2013 at the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana to re-evaluate the suitability of glyphosate (Isopropylamine) for weed management and its effects on growth and yield of young cocoa. Five rates of glyphosate viz: (i) 1,920 g active ingredient a.i. ha-1 using polyjet nozzle; (ii) 1,920 g a.i. ha-1 using very low volume (vlv) nozzle; (iii) 960 g a.i. ha-1 vlv; (iv) 720 g a.i. ha-1 vlv; (v) 480 g a.i. ha-1 vlv; and (vi) manual weeding were tested in a randomized complete block design with four replicates in the field. Effects of treatments on weeds, cocoa growth and yield were recorded for three years. In a gauze house study, cowpea and maize were used to determine residual effects of glyphosate. Emergence, survival and dry matter accumulation by these plants were recorded. Results from the gauze house study showed that glyphosate did not exhibit residual soil activity at these rates. Glyphosate at 960 g ha-1 significantly increased yield of three year old cocoa compared to the other rates and manual weeding. The 1,920 g ha-1 rates significantly reduced the initial yield of 3 year old cocoa compared to the other glyphosate rates. Cost analysis showed that glyphosate at 960 g a.i. ha-1 was GhE¼ 136.00 (11%) and GhE¼ 1,784.00 (61%) cheaper than the 1,920 g a.i. ha-1 rates and manual weeding respectively. It was therefore concluded that glyphosate can be applied at 960 g a.i. ha-1 (equivalent to 2.0 l ha-1 in 120 l of water) for effective weed management without significant adverse effects on growth and yield of young cocoa. Key words: Weeds, glyphosate, cocoa, growth, bean yield and cost.

Conversação e deliberação sobre questões sensíveis: um estudo sobre o uso das razões que circulam nos media

Resumo A discussão informal tem despertado crescente interesse em estudos sobre deliberação. Contudo, são raros os estudos que examinam o engajamento das pessoas em contextos conflitantes. Este artigo investiga o modo pelo qual sujeitos de grupos sociais em conflito fazem uso de razões concorrentes que circulam nos media para negociar suas opiniões sobre uma “questão sensível”: a redução da maioridade penal. Para tanto, foram realizados cinco grupos de discussão em Belém (PA) e Belo Horizonte (MG), com policiais militares e moradores e adolescentes de periferia. A partir da adaptação do Discourse Quality Index, este estudo analisa: as justificativas expressas pelos participantes; o respeito entre os grupos; o papel das histórias pessoais na discussão. Investiga-se, ainda, o fluxo de argumentos antes e após a apresentação do material dos media. Os resultados contribuem para compreender a dinâmica através da qual os sujeitos se situam num “espaço de razões” em debates plurais.

Learning from India's Nyāya Rhetoric: Debating Analogically through Vāda's Fruitful Dialogue

Over 2,500 years, philosophers in India refined a truth-centered and rhetorically egalitarian method of analogical debate: Nyāya vāda, and its five-part expression, the “Nyāya method.” According to Indian tradition, its practices emerged in the context of inter-scholar debates. However, most historical examples of Indian debate occur in mythical/religious dialogues between teacher and student, and currently Nyāya's scholars focus on theory, neglecting social practice. While Indologists describe the “what” of Nyāya, their bias toward theory leaves its conversational uses unexplored. Comparative rhetoricians describe Indian rhetoric with Greek terminologies as points of reference, and miss Nyāya's theoretical and practical debate tradition. This essay addresses this lack of social context and paucity of representation of Nyāya. It shows how informal debates in ancient literary/historical dialogues presage Nyāya's formulation and traces Nyāya's use in contemporary public examples, illustrating its rhetorical journey from discussions of scholars and kings, to academic formulization, to popular dialogic expression. Nyāya offers a clear alternative to Western confrontational rhetoric, and the presence of Indian “rhetorical” practice and theory undermines assumptions about “rhetoric” being uniquely Greek in origin, underscoring the need for comparative rhetorics.

Guided Design Simulations in Introductory Level American Politics and State and Local Politics Courses

A series of simulations that I have developed, based on the guided design format, can be used in introductory level American politics and state and local politics courses. I use the simulation as the final course project to synthesize theories and concepts addressed in the course by directly involving students in a sevenstep, problem-solving exercise. Structured as a group project, students work together as a team for a team grade and are in competition with other groups to have their solution adopted as the best solution. Each group presents its solution to the class for the final examination. During the presentations, the class plays the role of contracting agent or commissioning authority depending on the problem scenario. Following the conclusion of all presentations, I repeat the project evaluation criterion and instruct the class to vote by secret ballot for the best solution. Following the vote, I critique each group's performance and note the grade they have earned. Lastly I count the ballots and announce the vote result. I usually present the winning group with a token prize (toy kazoos so the winners can blow their own horn, etc.) to acknowledge their success and close the term on a festive note. While sharing many features of other simulations, the guided design format is especially attractive because it provides feedback following each step. It incorporates a sequenced validation process (i.e., the guides), which enables students to repeatedly evaluate their progress and make adjustments they decide upon with minimal faculty intrusion. In both my American politics and state and local politics courses, a current events emphasis is directly incorporated into course content. In addition to the required text(s), students subscribe to a weekly newspaper, The Washington Post Weekly Edition. Classroom instruction is conducted predominantly through a discussion format, with regular use of informal writing exercises and informal debates. Students are expected to apply theory and concepts to current events in classroom discussion, exercises, and essay examinations. The current events emphasis provides the foundation for the guided design project. Course requirements include four examinations and the final guided design project. The examinations and project are graded at equal value. As the capstone of the course, the guided design project concludes the term and is scheduled for the last week(s) of class. By controlling time allocated to each step, or the number of steps included, the project can be run in as few as three class hours. My experience has been, however, that this abbreviated version combines steps better left distinct and does not permit in-depth deliberations, outside data collection, or the exploration of multiple alternatives. For best possible results, I currently devote the last six class hours of the term and the final examination period to the guided design project.

A Second Look

Three years ago in this journal, J. Morgan Kousser( 1977) offered a stunning challenge to historians—a program for significantly improving the quantitative competence of historians and for expanding the number and range of quantitative studies. Faithful readers of Social Science History, however, will have noted that no response has been made to Professor Kousser's “Agenda for ‘Social Science History'“; indeed, not so much as passing notice of Kousser's argument has appeared in this medium. Were it not for the often spectacular, informal debates that have surrounded Kousser's agenda and similar proposals, the absence of response in these pages might well be taken for consensus on what once was the tenderest of issues among historians, quantitative analysis. Nevertheless, the debate is very much alive, and the issue, though less tender now than even a few years ago, continues to possess great importance to historians actively engaged in many areas of historical research.