Disciplinary Knowledge Research Articles

Digital dissemination practices: An analysis of explanatory strategies in the process of recontextualising specialised knowledge

Researchers and scientists are increasingly encouraged by their institutions, by external organizations and by societal demands to foster the global dissemination of their knowledge production. Such dissemination is nowadays very frequently carried out online through different digital practices and texts. The current Web 2.0 and Science 2.0 context requires complex discursive practices to recontextualise and communicate specialised knowledge in a way that is accessed, understood and accepted by multiple audiences. The use of explanatory strategies has been highlighted by previous research as playing a key role in the recontextualisation of scientific findings. Such strategies can be realised verbally and non-verbally through diverse semiotic modes and affordances of the digital medium. A taxonomy of verbal explanatory strategies (elaboration, explicitation, exemplification, enumeration and comparison) and non-verbal (visual representations and spatial organisation) is presented stemming from the data-driven analysis of a sub-corpus of web-hosted practices, which is part of the SciDis Database compiled by the InterGEDI research group at Universidad de Zaragoza. In particular, the sub-corpus consists of 30 texts: 10 author-generated digital texts – from the knowledge dissemination community The Conversation –, and writer-mediated digital texts – 10 feature articles and 10 research digests – on circular economy and sustainability. Results show that verbal explanatory strategies are more frequent than non-verbal ones and that within the latter exemplification and explicitation are most common across all three types of digital dissemination practices. Author-generated scientific digital texts present more non-verbal explanatory strategies than writer-mediated ones – feature articles, and especially than research digests. The findings on the strategies resorted to and their realisation can be used to design tools for researchers, scientists and scriptwriters, mediators of disciplinary knowledge, who need to communicate such knowledge through digital platforms to diversified audiences.

The Application of the Original Teaching Method of Bilingual Course Cases in the Perspective of Cultivating Foreigner Legal Talents

Since the Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee with Xi Jinping as the core has repeatedly emphasized the need to strengthen the training of foreign-related legal talents. In this context, the importance of bilingual legal courses has become more prominent. To effectively improve teaching effectiveness, the case based original text teaching method should be introduced. The original case texts include international law case texts and country law case texts from important countries or regions such as the United States and the European Union; When teaching, the method of intensive reading should be adopted, under the careful organization of the teacher ,which is to achieve a one-stop acquisition of legal professional knowledge and language skills through three processes: preview in advance, intensive classroom teaching, and reinforcement after class. This teaching method integrates the acquisition of substantive law knowledge, procedural law knowledge, and other disciplinary background knowledge.

Digesting Psychology: Metadiscourse as a Recontextualising Tool in the Digital Communication of Disciplinary Research

Abstract Metadiscourse was initially conceived as a tool to explore mainly academic, monologic, written texts. When applied to the study of digital discourse, metadiscourse may reveal itself as a rather frustrating exploratory framework, firstly because of the problematised interaction between writer and reader in an online context where audiences are not easily identifiable and, secondly, because of the multimodal character of digital texts. In the present study, the role played by interactive metadiscoursal resources in online communication has been explored. For such purposes, the focus has been placed on a corpus of digital research digests published on the website of the British Psychological Society, the most important representative body of the profession in the United Kingdom. The study revolves around the function of interactive metadiscourse as a recontextualising tool to facilitate the understanding of complex disciplinary knowledge for potentially less expert readers. Several interactive resources (code glosses, evidentials, transition markers, and frame markers) are identified, which strategically contribute to the mediation of specialised information and which also take advantage of the affordances offered by digital platforms.

One Journal, Different Practices: A Corpus-Based Study of Interactive Metadiscourse in Applied Linguistics

Abstract Research articles are a primary medium for scholars to communicate with disciplinary community, but there is little evidence suggesting how much writing practices on different research subjects within a discipline diverge in a single journal. This study remedies the oversight by comparing the use of interactive metadiscourse in the papers of Applied Linguistics on language acquisition and discourse analysis. Based on a corpus of 30 research articles on each research subject, results show that writers in language acquisition make a significantly more frequent use of additive and consequential transitional markers, reformulators, and non-integral citations. However, discourse analysts prefer to invest in exemplifiers, linear and non-linear references and topic shifts. All the differences can be attributable to the characteristics of disciplinary research paradigms, which lead to different knowledge-making and interactive patterns in academic writing. The findings offer empirical evidence to the rhetorical function of metadiscourse in constructing disciplinary knowledge, and raise pedagogical implications for EAP instructors to help scholars in applied linguistics increase international publications.

How does taking a praxis-based decolonising approach to primary history education impact pupils’ perceptions of Romans and Roman Britain?

ABSTRACT This study presents findings from an action research project that I completed in my own year 3 classroom. Using the frameworks of praxis (Freire, P. 1970. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. London: Penguin Books.) and sociocultural theory (Vygotsky, L. S. 1978. Mind in Society The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Edited by M. Cole et al. Translated by M. Cole. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.), I studied the relationship between praxis-based, decolonised history teaching and year 3 students’ perceptions of Romans and Roman Britain. Student-participants’ work and classroom observations were used as data collection methods. An inductive approach to thematic analysis produced 5 themes, namely: Knowledge of locations across the Roman Empire, People’s physical actions, Characteristics of people that lived in Roman Britain, Migration in the Roman Empire and Students’ disciplinary knowledge.

A life in light - in honor of David Mauzerall on his 95th birthday.

David Mauzerall was born on July 22, 1929 to a working-class family in the small, inland textile town of Sanford, Maine. Those humble origins instilled a lifelong frugality and an innovative spirit. After earning his PhD degree in 1954 in physical organic chemistry with Frank Westheimer at the University of Chicago, he joined The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research (now University) as a postdoctoral fellow that summer, rose to the rank of professor, and remained there for the rest of his career. His work over more than 60 years encompassed porphyrin biosynthesis, photoinduced electron-transfer reactions in diverse architectures (solutions, bilayer lipid membranes, reaction centers, chromatophores, and intact leaves), the light-saturation curve of photosynthesis, statistical treatments of photoreactions, and "all-things porphyrins." His research culminated in studies he poetically referred to as "listening to leaves" through the use of pulsed photoacoustic spectroscopy to probe the course and thermodynamics of photosynthesis in its native state. His research group was always small; indeed, of 185 total publications, 39 were singly authored. In brief, David Mauzerall has blended a deep knowledge of distinct disciplines of physical organic chemistry, photochemistry, spectroscopy and biophysics with ingenious experimental methods, incisive mathematical analysis, pristine personal integrity, and unyielding love of science to deepen our understanding of photosynthesis in its broadest context. He thought creatively - and always independently. His work helped systematize the fields of photosynthesis and the origin of life and made them more quantitative. The present article highlights a number of salient scientific discoveries and includes comments from members of his family, friends, and collaborators (Gary Brudvig, Greg Edens, Paul Falkowski, Alzatta Fogg, G. Govindjee, Nancy Greenbaum, Marilyn Gunner, Harvey Hou, Denise and Michele Mauzerall, Thomas Moore, and William Parson) as part of a celebration of his 95th birthday.

A conceptual model for program-level assessment

ABSTRACT Program-level assessment is a holistic approach for arranging assessments throughout a degree program that supports sequential development of discipline knowledge, transferable skills and career readiness. Currently, the modular arrangement of courses means that student learning is partial, limited to passing the assessment and compartmentalized into independent course learning outcomes. In effect, the current practices prevent students developing broader educational attributes that are essential for future employment opportunities. Interviews were conducted with 18 academics, Associate Deans and Program Directors, from seven Australian universities in the fields of dietetics, physiotherapy and science disciplines in order to develop a conceptual model to guide program-level assessment. The proposed conceptual model is designed to support academics’ assessment practices, enhance the quality of universities’ programs and provides students with a more coherent assessment experience.

Designing a Model of Islamic Integrated University Curriculum (IIUC)

The balanced growth of the total personality of an individual through the training of man’s spirit, intellect, self-feelings, rational and bodily senses constitutes the main aims of university education. The history evident the modern education followed by Greek mainly was based on philosophy aimed to serve the society through the church. However, more or less, the shift of the university education outlook took place in the last several centuries. Therefore, the philosophy, mainly theology-based education, has turned its focus into rationalism, then the market economy, and last into cognitive aspects of life. Consequently, the key purpose of university education, having well-rounded graduates, is missing as it lacks incorporation of generic aptitudes, disciplinary knowledge, social values, and ethics in curriculum resulting in outnumber forgery, deception, crimes, violence, intolerance, and corruption in society. Following that, the study was an attempt to look for the alternative curriculum that would be based on the integration of revealed, disciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge and generic skills in ontology, epistemology, axiology, and methodology. Subsequently, the study examined the various ideas and models of the Islamic integrated curriculum, including the model of the American Liberal Arts University curriculum, the First World Conference on Muslim Education Model, and so on. It was able to provide an outline of an alternative model of Islamic Integrated University Curriculum (IIUC) with four outcomes as characteristics of its graduate, which are the good man, employable skilled, specialist of a discipline, and as a social being.

Rethinking of the knowledge base for teaching through duoethnography reflective inquiry

This article explores our formation, transformation, and scrutiny into our teaching practice using a duoethnography reflective inquiry. The purpose of the duoethnographic inquiry was to reexamine our understanding of the knowledge base for language teaching. The context of our reflective autoethnography inquiry was the school teaching practicum that we experienced at the beginning of the seventh semester of our teacher education program. Throughout the teaching practicum program, we engaged in four duoethnographic reflective dialogues facilitated by our faculty advisors to share stories from our teaching practices. The objective of the dialogues was to reflect on our teaching experience and reexamine our understanding of “what counts as knowledge for language teaching.” The analysis of our duoethnographic reflective dialogues revealed that we relied more on a) the knowledge-in-person and in-place, and b) knowledge for teaching as the primary base for our teaching than those of c) disciplinary knowledge and d) knowledge of pedagogy. Below, we outline the segments of conversation that reflected how we relied on our practices on a) the knowledge-in-person and in-place and b) knowledge for teaching.

Unsettling Sociology Curriculum: Indigenous Content in Introductory Sociology Textbooks

Teaching introductory sociology is one of the primary means by which sociologists mobilize knowledge. Ongoing critical reflection on the content of sociology textbooks is therefore an important disciplinary enterprise. The current critical moment in which many nations, institutions, and publics face a reckoning with their historic and current relationships with Indigenous peoples presents sociologists with the opportunity to examine how Indigenous peoples, histories, and perspectives are to be found in these pedagogical materials. Drawing on Critical Indigenous scholarship that “disrupts the certainty of disciplinary knowledges[’]” concept of “connected sociologies,” we examine the state of inclusion of Indigenous content in introductory sociology curriculum. To achieve this, we conducted a content analysis of 10 of the top-selling English-language Canadian introductory sociology textbooks, and we drew directly from interviews with Indigenous scholars. By introducing the literature on solidarity and allyship in the final section, we conclude with teaching and learning actions to incorporate in sociology courses.

Unveiling the professional identity construction of in-service university English language teachers: Evidence from Bangladesh

This study aims to investigate the construction of professional identity among Bangladeshi university English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers and its influence on classroom performance. Employing a qualitative case study approach, data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and classroom observations. Interviews were conducted with two Bangladeshi university teachers who have significant experience in EFL teaching. The interview questions were designed based on the language teachers’ identity formation model, focusing on factors relevant to foundational competences. Content analysis was employed to analyze the collected data and identify emergent themes. The findings indicate that proficiency in language skills, contextual knowledge, self-awareness, disciplinary knowledge, and classroom management skills play pivotal roles in reshaping the professional identities of Bangladeshi university EFL teachers. Classroom observations revealed the strategies employed by these teachers in language use, pedagogical approaches, and classroom management to construct their professional identities. Despite aspirations to conduct classes solely in English, teachers often resorted to using the students' mother tongue for better comprehension. Based on these findings, the study suggests a focus on diverse teacher education programs in Bangladesh to produce more proficient teachers.

An Applied Model of Interprofessional Collaboration-Assessment (AMIC-A): A Process-Based Approach to Augmentative and Alternative Communication.

Speech-language pathologists and board-certified behavior analysts both provide important support services to children who are candidates for augmentative and alternative communication. Current assessment practices neglect critical socioecological factors that are necessary to inform communication-based interventions. By leveraging the unique knowledge, research, and expertise of both disciplines, an interprofessional approach to assessment may help realize individualized or precision interventions and personalized supports that address the unique communication needs of each person. The purpose of this article is to introduce a process-based approach to assessment called the "Applied Model of Interprofessional Collaboration-Assessment (AMIC-A)." The AMIC-A will be defined and detailed including the rationale for development, a description of the approach, and recommendations for implementation. A case study example is provided to illustrate implementation of the AMIC-A.

Research by scientists of the Institute of Biology of the Komi Science Centre of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the Chernobyl accident zone

The subject of the study is the activity of scientists from the Institute of Biology of the Komi Science Centre of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the area of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident. In 1986-1992, researchers from the Institute of Biology worked in the Chernobyl accident zone. The foundation for scientists to conduct scientific research in the area of the accident was laid by the long-term scientific activity of radioecologists of the Institute of Biology in the Komi ASSR. The methodological basis of the work was based on the principles of historicism, scientific objectivity, and an interdisciplinary approach that made it possible to explain phenomena and events using the knowledge of several scientific disciplines. The novelty of the work lies in the fact that it shows for the first time the connection between radioecological research and environmental history. Based on archival documents and published sources, the importance of radioecological research in the context of ecohistory was revealed for the first time. It is shown that the research of scientists from the Institute of Biology of the Komi Science Centre of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences was carried out within the framework of scientific research aimed at a comprehensive study of the consequences of a radiation accident. The scientific staff of the Institute of Biology prepared recommendations for the elimination of its consequences and obtained results that contributed to the development of radioecology. It was found that the radioecological studies conducted in the accident zone were closely related to the environmental history, and their results make it possible to protect ecosystems from the effects of radiation.

Assistive tools for classifying neurological disorders using fMRI and deep learning: A guide and example.

Deep-learning (DL) methods are rapidly changing the way researchers classify neurological disorders. For example, combining functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and DL has helped researchers identify functional biomarkers of neurological disorders (e.g., brain activation and connectivity) and pilot innovative diagnostic models. However, the knowledge required to perform DL analyses is often domain-specific and is not widely taught in the brain sciences (e.g., psychology, neuroscience, and cognitive science). Conversely, neurological diagnoses and neuroimaging training (e.g., fMRI) are largely restricted to the brain and medical sciences. In turn, these disciplinary knowledge barriers and distinct specializations can act as hurdles that prevent the combination of fMRI and DL pipelines. The complexity of fMRI and DL methods also hinders their clinical adoption and generalization to real-world diagnoses. For example, most current models are not designed for clinical settings or use by nonspecialized populations such as students, clinicians, and healthcare workers. Accordingly, there is a growing area of assistive tools (e.g., software and programming packages) that aim to streamline and increase the accessibility of fMRI and DL pipelines for the diagnoses of neurological disorders. In this study, we present an introductory guide to some popular DL and fMRI assistive tools. We also create an example autism spectrum disorder (ASD) classification model using assistive tools (e.g., Optuna, GIFT, and the ABIDE preprocessed repository), fMRI, and a convolutional neural network. In turn, we provide researchers with a guide to assistive tools and give an example of a streamlined fMRI and DL pipeline. We are confident that this study can help more researchers enter the field and create accessible fMRI and deep-learning diagnostic models for neurological disorders.

Integration of socioemotional competencies in medical training: a case study on the assessment of an educational intervention in a disciplinary course

Background Medical education faces the challenge of integrating socioemotional competencies into its curriculum to train more complete and humane health professionals. This study evaluates the impact of an educational intervention aimed at medical students at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, focusing on the development of these competencies through the hidden curriculum of a physiology course. Methods The intervention adopted an integrated curricular design that included collaborative projects, guided debates, reflective journals, and role exchanges. A total of 31 undergraduate students participated, assessed before and after the intervention with the Adult Emotional Competence Inventory (AECI) and standardized disciplinary knowledge tests. The analysis focused on five areas: emotional awareness, emotional regulation, emotional autonomy, social competence, and life and well-being competencies. Results Significant improvements were observed in emotional awareness, emotional regulation, and emotional autonomy after the intervention, with no notable changes in social competence and life and well-being skills. Standardized test scores showed an increase, but there was no significant correlation with the development of emotional competencies. Conclusions The intervention was effective in enhancing certain socioemotional competencies in medical students, although it was not directly reflected in academic performance. It highlights the need for specific strategies to address all emotional competencies and suggests the importance of future research to better understand these dynamics within the educational field. Emotional education emerges as an essential component in medical training, fostering more resilient and empathetic professionals.

Integrating Artificial Intelligence and Computational Thinking in Educational Contexts: A Systematic Review of Instructional Design and Student Learning Outcomes

A growing body of research is focusing on integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and computational thinking (CT) to enhance student learning outcomes. Many researchers have designed instructional activities to achieve various learning goals within this field. Despite the prevalence of studies focusing on instructional design and student learning outcomes, how instructional efforts result in the integration of AI and CT in students’ learning processes remains unclear. To address this research gap, we conducted a systematic literature review of empirical studies that have integrated AI and CT for student development. We collected 18 papers from four prominent research databases in the fields of education and AI technology: Web of Science, Scopus, IEEE, and ACM. We coded the collected studies, highlighting the students’ learning processes in terms of research methodology and context, learning tools and instructional design, student learning outcomes, and the interaction between AI and CT. The integration of AI and CT occurs in two ways: the integration of disciplinary knowledge and leveraging AI tools to learn CT. Specifically, we discovered that AI- and CT-related tools, projects, and problems facilitated student-centered instructional designs, resulting in productive AI and CT learning outcomes.

The place for disciplinary knowledge: Teacher insights into interdisciplinary learning from international schools

The place for disciplinary knowledge: Teacher insights into interdisciplinary learning from international schools

Interdisciplinary knowledge integration in public affairs scholarship: An empirical analysis of the contributions of public administration, policy sciences, and nonprofit studies

ABSTRACT The multidisciplinary fields of public administration (PA), public policy sciences (PP), and nonprofit studies (Nonprofit) contribute in different ways to interdisciplinary knowledge integration in public affairs. At the field and topic level, we examine the variety and coherence of the disciplinary knowledge that each field draws upon when conducting research. Our analyses focus on citations from articles published between 2009–2020 in PA, PP, and Nonprofit journals indexed in Web of Science (n = 991,627). The contributions of each field are shaped by their distinct disciplinary origins. PA is more insular than PP and Nonprofit, in part due to its need to adopt new paradigms because of rapid, substantial shifts in public administration practice. Although Nonprofit achieves relatively more interdisciplinary knowledge integration, public affairs is heavily influenced by knowledge integration in PP. We identify variation in interdisciplinary knowledge integration across research topics and discuss possible explanations for the observed patterns.

Embedded approaches to academic literacy development: a systematic review of empirical research about impact

ABSTRACT This systematic literature review identifies evidence used to justify embedded approaches to academic literacy development. This inquiry is of direct relevance to widening participation in higher education and persistent inequity with completion rates for linguistically and culturally diverse student groups. Using the PRISMA-P checklist, 20 studies were included. Analysis focused on their research designs, types of evidence presented, pedagogic practices implemented, and journal choice. Findings show that research designs often involved questionnaire, interview, and focus group data to generate insights about student and staff perceptions. Descriptions of pedagogic practices were brief and not always related to claims about impact, and publishing targeted a variety of disciplines. These findings highlight the need for research teams with discipline knowledge and literacy knowledge so that evidence about the impacts of embedded approaches on academic performance are included, as well as complementary publications that detail the pedagogic practices contributing to change in academic performance.

Student reactions to the development of professional engineering competencies

Student reactions to the development of professional engineering competencies