Knowledge In Different Contexts Research Articles

The Effect of PDEODE and SWOM Strategies in Developing 10th Grade Literary Students’ Historical Thinking Skills

The current study which is an extract from a PhD dissertation adopted a mixed- method, experimental-design to find out the effect of PDEODE and SWOM strategies in developing tenth- grade literary students’ historical thinking skills. The sample of the study consists of sixty tenth grade students from the literary branch at Tafan Preparatory School for Girls. After equalizing them, they are divided in this way: Group A regarded as the first experimental group taught by PDEODE strategy, Group B as the control group taught conventionally and group C taught by SWOM strategy as the second experimental group. For each of these groups, a twenty- four daily teaching plan was used and a 30- item test was prepared by the researcher to know the effect of these strategies in developing historical thinking skills. After analyzing the data through the statistical method ONE- WAY ANNOVA, it was displayed that there are statistically significant differences among the groups in a way the first experimental group is better than the second experimental and control groups. It was also concluded that PDEODE and SWOM as two new teaching strategies can provide appropriate platform for improving teaching and learning processes as they focus on students’ intellectual, psychological and personal dimensions, making them the center of the process which enables them to apply their knowledge in different contexts.

Assessment of the Perceived Mastery of Interdisciplinary Competences of Students in Education Degree Programmes

The importance of fostering interdisciplinary competences in students acquires a relevant value in the skills that must be developed throughout university studies. These enable them to tackle complex problems and apply knowledge in different contexts, promoting the construction of knowledge through the integration of different disciplines and collaboration between areas of knowledge. The study aims to analyse how university education students perceive their interdisciplinary competences, identifying areas where they feel more confident and those in which they need to improve, with consideration of gender differences and a possible measurement model. The study involves 1066 students from university education courses in Ecuador. The main results highlight the importance of strengthening training in interdisciplinary skills for future teachers, especially in reflective behaviour and the integration of knowledge from different disciplines to address complex problems. It also points to the need to promote interdisciplinary work in higher education and recognises that gender may influence students’ interdisciplinary perceptions and skills. Confirmatory factor analysis supports the validity of the model for measuring these competences.

Conceptualisation of learning to learn competence and the challenges of implementation: The Estonian experience

AbstractThe importance of students' learning to learn competence for academic achievement, as well as their well‐being at school and in life, is increasingly emphasised by educators and policy makers in national curricula and educational strategies. In an uncertain and complex world, learners need to become autonomous, be able to analyse challenges and apply knowledge in different contexts, address complex tasks, and create new knowledge. This article explores concepts and approaches to the development of students' learning to learn competence in the context of education in Estonia. First, the conceptualisation, model and dimensions of learning to learn competence are described and related challenges for teachers are analysed. Second, an overview of Estonian teachers' current practices, beliefs, knowledge, skills and occupational standards relevant to students' learning to learn competence is provided. We discuss how Estonian teacher education policy may enhance or inhibit the work of teachers when supporting students to develop learning to learn competence. Future directions for teacher educators and how to prepare teachers to support the development of students' learning to learn competence are suggested.

The Gordon Memorial Lecture: Laying hen welfare

ABSTRACT Preference tests remain a useful tool in the assessment of laying hen welfare and have been used to establish what types of resources and enrichments are most likely to meet the birds’ needs. Evidence on the underlying structure of bird preference suggests that hens make stable and reliable choices across time and context. This means that their preferences can also be used as a benchmark in the validation of other welfare indicators. Hens have sophisticated cognitive abilities. They are quick to form associations between events and they are flexible in how they apply their knowledge in different contexts. However, they may not form expectations about the world in the same way as some mammalian species. Limited research in this area to date seems to show that hens judge situations in absolute terms rather than evaluating how a situation may be improving or deteriorating. The proportion of hens housed in cage-free systems is increasing globally, providing birds with greater behavioural freedom. Many of the problems associated with cage-free systems, such as keel bone fractures, mortality and injurious pecking, are slowly reducing due to improved experience and appropriate changes in rearing practices, diet, housing design and alignment of breeding goals. However, much remains to be done. The design and performance of veranda-based systems which provide hens with fresh air and natural light is a promising avenue for future research aimed at optimising hen welfare and improving sustainability.

Contextualised Approach to Mathematics in Engineering from the Perspective of Cognitive Dysfunctions

Background: The relevance of enabling beginning students of engineering courses to solve problems directly related to their future professional activities, already in the initial subjects of mathematics, implies the need to elaborate such problems, implement them and analyse their potential in terms of construction and application of mathematical knowledge in different contexts. Objectives: In this article, we analyse the cognitive dysfunctions evidenced by the students during the process of solving a problem articulating the real functions of a real variable to the study of the characteristic curve of a semiconductor diode, content linked to the analogical electronics. Design: This qualitative-nature investigation is characterised, as field research, of exploratory-descriptive combined type. Environment and participants: the research subjects, seven students in the first semester of an engineering course offered by a private institution in the state of São Paulo, with an interest in following the control and automation qualification, participated voluntarily in the study. Data collection and analysis: three synchronous meetings were held in remote modality. For data collection, we used audio and video recordings of the discussions and the written productions of the students in such moments. In this article, we present the analysis of the first meeting. Results: We evidenced, among other aspects, cognitive dysfunctions that can lead to obstacles in the transposition of mathematical knowledge to extra-mathematical contexts. Conclusions: The results obtained allow, in the future, the planning of adequate mediations so that the teacher can help the students to convert the identified dysfunctions into sufficiently developed cognitive functions.

Teaching and Exploring Urban Politics With Postcards

In this paper, we propose the use of postcards as a learning activity in courses dealing with urban politics. The intended learning outcomes of the postcard assignment were: (1) to exhibit memory of previously learned material (“introduction to urban policy” readings) and apply acquired knowledge (selecting the postcards); (2) to make judgments about the urban policy ideologies, priorities, and images of each selected city; (3) to combine different judgments to identify new ways and possibilities of using this knowledge in different contexts. Based on our experience we argue that postcards can be useful in providing introductory illustrations to theoretical concepts within the field of urban politics and can stimulate critical discussions on urban policy frames and priorities. We argue that postcard assignments have the potential to motivate, fascinate, and engage students through their involvement in action research, discursive interaction (social learning), and providing feedback on critical thinking.

Formativno vrednovanje postignuća u matematici i odabir zadataka

The evaluation of mathematical knowledge is based on multiple sources of information. In modern teaching practice, a special place has a formative evaluation of mathematical achievements of students as an integral part of teaching that supports learning and provides useful information to teachers and students. The paper is dedicated to the analysis of innovative evaluation techniques in mathematics teaching that reflect the changed paradigm of mathematics education. The aim of this paper is to explore the features and implications of authentic evaluation techniques and, accordingly, to make the choice of tasks as evaluation instruments. Using the method of theoretical analysis of research results of authentic methods for assessing mathematical knowledge, skills and attitudes, we determine the criteria for selecting tasks for evaluating students' mathematical achievements (focus on in-depth and extended application of existing knowledge in different contexts, multiple solutions, research possibilities). The discourse is then directed towards considering the originality of the task evaluation criteria. In the final considerations, we point out that the selection of mathematical tasks creates an opportunity to apply a wide range of authentic techniques in evaluating students 'mathematical achievements, and broader and deeper plans the further course of teaching in students' cognitive and motivational development. We point out that by choosing mathematical tasks, it creates an opportunity to apply a wide range of authentic techniques in evaluating students' mathematical achievements, and broader and deeper plans the further course of teaching in the cognitive and motivational development of students.

Software development using design patterns

Information systems have become an integral part of our lives. The demands for software that helps us accomplish our daily tasks are ever-increasing, considering the great technological momentum around the globe. Software engineering is the process of analyzing user requirements and designing and developing software applications. Each user request is a problem that an individual or a business has encountered in the daily work processes. The goal of software engineering is to provide an optimal and efficient solution to these problems to increase the overall productivity of employees in the respective industries and at the end of the day, to increase profits. Providing these solutions is no easy feat, as the problems are often complex and in addition to requiring careful analysis, they also need smart solutions. Fortunately, we have the ability to learn from experience and apply our knowledge in different contexts to achieve our goals. As in any field of life, problems have a recursive nature and it often happens that the same problem is encountered in different contexts. Naturally, we can think that similar problems have similar solutions. The set of solutions to general software design problems in a specific context constitutes what are called design patterns. Design patterns are structures of how some objects dialogue with each other to provide a specific solution to a problem. They are ready-made solutions to known problems, and the real challenge with them is not in their construction, but in the intuitive ability to associate a design problem with the corresponding pattern that offers the most optimal solution. This paper will deal with the development of an information system for an ATM Exchange system, which carries the functionalities of an ATM cash machine and exchange rate chart. The development of this software will be totally based on design patterns, more specifically the “Observer” pattern and “Chain of Responsibility” pattern. This paper aims to emphasize the advantages of using design patterns and highlight their potential to solve general problems in a specific context. It also focuses on software engineers, information systems developers, and software engineering students. This paper will serve as a manual of best software development practices, and emphasize the principles of flexibility and reusability of information systems development components.

Experiment and Quantification of Weight: Late-Renaissance and Early Modern Medical, Mineralogical and Chemical Discussions on the Weights of Metals

Abstract This paper explores how a set of observations on the weight of lead were interpreted and assessed between the 1540s and the 1630s across three different interconnecting disciplines: medicine, mineralogy and chemistry. The epistemic import of these discussions will be demonstrated by showing: 1) the changing role and articulation of experience and quantification in the investigation of metals; and 2) the notions associated with weight in different disciplinary frameworks. In medicine and mineralogy, weight was not considered as a specific subject of inquiry in itself, but as a “sign” indicating other relevant properties of metals. In contrast, the chemistry tradition was increasingly concerned with the specific investigation of weight as a property of matter, as seen in the debates that took place in the “chemical revolution.” In addition, this study will reveal the versatility, polysemy, and parallel purposes of the recourse to experiential knowledge in different contexts, where the same “facts” operate within different disciplines.

Engaging national policy makers in ecosystem based disaster risk reduction through social learning: Lessons from workshops in Africa, oceania, Latin America and the Caribbean

This paper presents the results of a critical examination of four regional workshops convened in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean and Oceania for promoting ecosystem based disaster risk reduction through a social learning approach amongst policy makers from forty two countries. The workshops were conducted by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to support capacity development of policy makers on EcoDRR, funded through the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity by the Japan Biodiversity Fund. Using qualitative methods, the paper analyses social learning processes and outcomes in abetting knowledge co-production, application-based learning, development of partnerships for cooperation, as well as workshop follow-up actions for implementation. Based on facilitators' observations, participants’ reflections during the workshops and a post-workshop participant survey, the research demonstrates that social learning supported pooling of knowledge from disaster risk management and environment management fields. Furthermore, results also show that strengthening of skills in application of the knowledge in different contexts as well as development of partnerships for collaboration had occurred. Similarly, participants confirmed that the learning process mobilised implementation of ecosystem based approaches to reducing disaster risks, through attributing their follow up actions to the workshops. However, results of this paper are a snapshot of immediate and short-term impacts and longer-term analysis would be important in assessing the full potential of social learning. Furthermore, while designing such workshops can enable high levels of participation and create ownership of the knowledge and outcomes, the longer timeframes needed to realise the full potential of social learning may make it challenging to employ it for short, intense and often, one off, learning workshops convened in international development projects.

Aprendizaje autorregulado de estudiantes universitarios: Los usos de las tecnologías digitales

Durante los últimos años, el uso de la tecnología se ha vuelto más frecuente entre las personas por las ventajas y facilidades que ofrece. A través de ella se van adquiriendo conocimientos y desarrollando destrezas digitales que utilizamos para nuestro beneficio. Los estudiantes cada día son más conscientes de los procesos que llevan a cabo para organizar y dominar su propio aprendizaje con el uso de las tecnologías. El objetivo de nuestra investigación es conocer en qué medida los estudiantes universitarios utilizan la tecnología para autorregular su aprendizaje. Nos referimos por Aprendizaje Autorregulado a la manera en que los estudiantes son capaces de planificar, dirigir, aprovechar y establecer sus propios objetivos para dominar su propio aprendizaje y aplicar los conocimientos en diferentes contextos. El método utilizado fue: encuestas de tipo cuestionario a 138 estudiantes de la Universidad de Sevilla, en España, y a 166 de diferentes universidades en República Dominicana de diversas carreras, donde un 59% eran mujeres, y un 41 % hombres. Los resultados mostraron que, si bien el uso de recursos tecnológicos como cursos online, búsqueda de información en la web, compartir información con los profesores y compañeros, beneficia a los estudiantes, no es un factor determinante para autorregular su aprendizaje, más bien, se necesita de procesos relacionados a la metacognición, con el entorno donde los estudiantes desarrollan los procesos de aprendizaje y las actividades que realizan dentro y fuera del aula.

Perspectives on Point-of-Care Ultrasound Use in Pediatric Tropical Infectious Disease

Pediatric patients in resource-limited settings are often at high risk of severe manifestations or complications of tropical infectious diseases. Health care providers in these settings often lack access to basic diagnostic imaging. Point-of-care ultrasound is one modality that may improve the care of these children by bringing portable imaging technology to the bedside. To use ultrasound effectively, the clinician must have both the ability to obtain and interpret images and an understanding of the context and presentation of the disease in question. We discuss the utility of point-of-care ultrasound in a variety of pediatric tropical infectious diseases with dual purposes: first, to introduce practitioners with prior ultrasound experience to ways to apply preexisting knowledge in different contexts and, second, to introduce providers in low-resource settings to a diagnostic modality that can be easily learned with discrete protocols and may improve their care of vulnerable patients.

A critical discourse on tacit knowledge management and the performative agenda

PurposeThis paper examines the relationship between the tacit knowledge held by learning and development professionals and performance measurement regimes of post-modern organisations.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on Polanyi’s (1958; 1968) influential ideas about tacit knowledge and Lyotard’s (1984) theory of performativity with regard to criteria such as profit-performance, it assesses the applicability and relevance of tacit, working knowledge in the internet age to the daily working lives of industry training and development personnel. A central question for the study is whether such professionals can still tap into and use their tacit know-how without having it reduced by contemporary performance-oriented regimes of “knowledge”.FindingsIt is argued that there is a powerful interaction between tacit knowledge and narratively produced performance regimes – which are now supported by digital-age technologies including developments in artificial intelligence (AI). It has also been argued that fostering organisational environments that encourage open communication and allow a role for critique remains vital.Research limitations/implicationsWith systems of knowledge production including AI at the point of potentially overriding human decision-making processes, more research is required into possible implications of uploading workers’ tacit, working knowledge in different contexts and ways to foster open communication and critique in organisations.Originality/valueThe overt linking of classic theories – Polanyi and Lyotard – and applying these to contemporary (digital-age) training and development contexts is original.

Polysemic provocations of border negotiation

Considerando a Etnomatemática "como um caminho para uma educação renovada" e em conjunto com outras ideias curriculares, discutimos e exploramos o conhecimento matemático em diferentes contextos e a comunicação/tradução entre eles. Fronteiras permeáveis da educação matemática forçam a tradução que raramente é visível para os envolvidos: jovens alunos que passam da escola para casa e para várias comunidades; professores que tentam traduzir o discurso matemático em culturas escolares para que possam acomodar as múltiplas linguagens de vida e de aprendizagem. Por um lado, podemos dizer que o currículo é a tradução cultural (MOON, 2012). Por outro lado, podemos provocar a tradução como uma oportunidade por meio da concepção de Hannah Arendt de que a tradução é uma ruptura que cria um momento de aprendizagem potencial (APPELBAUM, 2013). Para apoiar a nossa perspectiva, utilizamos exemplos provenientes da pesquisa etnomatemática: estudos etnográficos da prática tradicional de Xysta (Ilha de Quíos, Grécia) e de jovens Roma, aprendizes de matemática, na Grécia (STATHOPOOULOU, 2005). Através destes exemplos, exploramos as possibilidades de tornar explícitas as relações de poder, de autoridade e de conflitos culturais da vida e da matemática escolar para as crianças que são convidadas a realizar as traduções. Fazemos isso como uma provocação para a ação: Em vez de um currículo de matemática escolar que tenta facilitar os processos de tradução para os alunos, buscamos um currículo que reconheça os fundos de conhecimento que as crianças trazem para a compreensão da tradução cultural. A tradução é tanto a ruptura que torna o aprendizado possível como uma pedagogia da fronteira e como o lugar do carnaval em um vale estranho que ressoa com possibilidade.

Mental representation of brands: a schema-based approach to consumers’ organization of market knowledge

Purpose – This paper aims to review the notion of schemata in consumer behavior, placing particular emphasis on the conceptualization of brand knowledge, and illustrate how schema theory may act as a unifying conceptual framework to study what consumers know about products and brands. Extant research on how consumers conceptualize brands lacks a single, coherent theoretical framework. The literature is fragmented into different approaches that may prevent comparisons across studies and make it difficult to draw conclusive results. Design/methodology/approach – The paper discusses the central tenets of schema theory and then presents the structure of schematic knowledge and the main typology of consumer schemata. It focuses on the brand schema, delineating its internal properties and drawing analogies with other approaches used to describe consumers’ mental representation of brands. Findings – Schema theory can provide a comprehensive framework to analyze how consumers perceive brand information. A cognitive schema specifies the parameters of knowledge content, discriminates between different types of information and indicates how various pieces of information relate to one another. Importantly, the internal structure of schemata remains stable across conceptual domains, allowing to investigate brand-specific knowledge in different contexts and in conjunction with superordinate and subordinate knowledge structures. Originality/value – This is the first systematic review of the notion of schemata in consumer behavior. It thoroughly describes how schema theory from psychology has been applied in marketing research to describe the organization of market knowledge and illustrates how it may function as an analytical tool.

Foreign Culture Awareness Needs of Saudi English Language Majors at Buraydah Community College

Although many EFL learners have a command of internalized foreign language knowledge, they may have difficulty using this knowledge in different contexts. This is due to many interacting factors affecting their performance, mainly lack of target culture awareness. This study intended to identify the cultural aspects suitable to be integrated into the Saudi EFL classrooms, search for the sources upon which students get their knowledge of the target culture and examine their attitudes towards it. The study was administered to three main categories of subjects: students, teachers, and experts in the field of teaching EFL. The required data were collected using a Culture-awareness Diagnostic Test and a Culture-Awareness Needs Assessment Questionnaire. The results revealed the students’ need to learn about different aspects of foreign culture to develop their culture-awareness and that they depend mostly on audio-/visual media to learn about the target culture. The findings also showed that students possess positive attitudes toward the target culture and its people. Introducing authentic materials such as DVDs, video tapes, newspapers in the foreign language classroom was highly recommended for enhancing culture awareness and improving language proficiency. Therefore, the current research suggested modifying the entire EFL education programs to introduce culture in the foreign language classroom.

Williams’ inferential contextualism

This paper is concerned with version of epistemic contextualism known as inferential contextualism which cheif proponent is Michael Williams. The general contextualist strategy attempts to interpret the cognitive claims as expressing statements which meaning is sensitive to the context in which they are uttered, which implies that the truth-value of these claims may differ from context to context. Versions of epistemic contextualism that explain context sensitivity of cognitive claims by referring to conversational factors of the participants in the given conversational context are usually called simple conversational contextualism. Williams accepts the basic contextualists assumptions, but, in contrast to simple conversational contextualists, insists that explanation of contextual sensitivity of cognitive statements is to be found in differences (which are mainly the differences in the methodological assumptions and inferential patterns) between the thematic areas which are the subject of knowledge in different contexts. We will try to show that Williams? contextualism, despite some difficulties, does have certain advantages over the simple conversational contextualism.

Introduction: Contexts, Boundaries, and Knowledge Construction

The monographic volume develops a reflection on the relationship between “contexts” and “different forms of knowledge production.” It involves researchers working on the production of knowledge in different contexts, such as scientific laboratories, as well as academic, business, organizational and health care contexts, learning environments (formative agencies), theaters, and so on. This special issue investigates how each context can lead to the production of new and unique forms of knowledge. New reflections and new points of interests are put in evidence in the following articles: from the boundaries between different kinds of knowledge, including the scientific one, to the relevance of “context,” which not only proves to be essential for any form of knowledge construction but also takes many and multifaceted meanings. A particular focus is devoted to the idea of creativity as an essential way to construct and improve various forms of knowledge in different kinds of contexts. All these aspects help us to reflect upon our contemporary age in a different way, emphasizing controversies and contradictions that characterize it and promoting a growing awareness of our knowing processes in its subtlety and complexity. In that way we could understand more and more the main problems of our contemporary age and the constrains we live with in new possibilities for a creative evolution of ideas and knowledge.

Being differently the same: The mediation of identity tensions in the sharing of illness experiences

The sharing of experiences between patients has become increasingly privileged as a source of knowledge and support in contemporary healthcare. Despite this, relatively little is known about the processes whereby people's experiences become, or fail to become, valued as sources of health-related knowledge in different contexts. Through a secondary analysis of 87 interviews conducted between 2006 and 2008 in the UK with people affected by motor neurone disease (46 interviews) and Parkinson's disease (41 interviews), we explore the identity work involved in turning other people's experiences into ‘experiential knowledge’ that can be shared between patients. Of particular interest is how the turning of others' experiences into knowledge is presupposed by negotiating a particular type of identity tension – what, drawing on the work of Paul Ricoeur (2003) on metaphor, we refer to as ‘being differently the same’. We examine the way in which people living with motor neurone disease and Parkinson's disease spoke of managing this tension as part of the process of accessing and valuing other patients' experiences, both epistemologically and emotionally. Instead of treating others' experiences as a pre-given source of knowledge, we emphasise how experience comes to be embodied and articulated through different media – bodies, speech, text, and images. Moreover, we suggest that paying closer attention to these media provides opportunities for enhancing our understanding of how people with different chronic and/or terminal illnesses use or do not use different forms of peer support – and in particular online ones – as a source of health-related experiential knowledge. Some of the implications of this are discussed in the specific context of people diagnosed with incurable neurodegenerative conditions characterised by visible physical deterioration and associated emotional distress.

Development in the practical knowledge of language teachers: a comparative study of three teachers designing and using communicative tasks on an in-service BA TESOL programme in the Middle East

Current thinking in language teacher education emphasises the importance of the development of teachers’ practical knowledge. However, while several studies have focused on describing practical knowledge in different contexts, there has been less research conducted into the manner in which practical knowledge develops in the context of in-service teacher education and into the factors that influence such development. These issues are addressed in this paper, which explores how three teachers of English on an in-service BA Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages programme in the Middle East grew in practical knowledge, specifically with regard to the design and use of communicative tasks. Using qualitative data, the article charts their development over 3 years, examining changes in their ideas and practices. Implications for in-service language teacher education are discussed.