Official Course Research Articles

Потенциал оппозиционности гражданского участия россиян: результаты кластерного анализа

The basic research question of the undertaken empirical analysis is the question of the relationship between loyalism and oppositionism, activeness and passivity in the process of forming strategies for civic participation of Russians. Within the framework of the theoretical review that precedes the applied analysis, the authors systematize a significant layer of special studies on the concept, essence, factors of formation and typology of strategies for civic participation. On this basis, the author's method of empirical research of Russian civic activism is proposed. The basic method for collecting factual data is the All-Russian Mass Survey of Russians, represented by territory of residence, gender and age of respondents (N = 1600 people). The clustering method (K-means, SPSS Statistics 26.0) of the survey database identified 12 types of civic participation of Russians. Two indicators for the typology were used: the intensity of civic participation and the modality of the attitude towards the current government. Significant results of the study are the identification of the proportion of representatives of each cluster and the establishment of the relationship between belonging to the type of civic participation and the value and socio-demographic characteristics of Russians. It has been established that the oppositional attitude of Russians' civic attitudes is associated with their pragmatic guidelines, striving for liberal values, high readiness to participate in political and civic actions in online and offline formats, perception of civic activity as a platform free from state participation. The study shows the absolute dominance of a detached neutral position with a relatively insignificant spread of active loyalist and critical positions in the society of the Russian Federation. On the one hand, this indicates the absence of a high potential for protest activity in Russian society. On the other hand, a rather small share of active loyalists in Russian society can limit public consolidation around the official course of the current government. As a research perspective, the author substantiates the need for cybermetric measurement (using big data tools) to support the Russian user audience of external and internal protest-oriented disintegrating information flows, and the degree of approval of constructive consolidating flows aimed at the formation of loyalist sentiments in society, as well as dynamic and discursive characteristics. these information flows.

TRIBALISM IN KAZAKHSTAN: TRADITION REBORN OR SOCIAL INSTRUMENT

The authors have chosen tribalism and its role in contemporary Kazakhstan as an object of their studies. Despite the official political course aimed at comprehensive modernization of the state and society, tribalism has not yet been marginalized. The opposite is true: it is on the rise, and thus remains one of the urgent subjects of social discussions. The authors have outlined the forms in which clan relationships manifest themselves in the political and social spheres of Kazakhstan. An analysis of certain approaches to the studies of the country’s ethnic and social structure is conducted and comparative analysis of the evolution of clan-and-tribal relations based on the methods of political science is proposed with the aim to identify its specifics in Kazakhstan’s past and present. The authors have presented the results of in-depth field polls carried out in several auls (villages) in 2020 to substantiate their hypothesis of the forms which clan relationships have assumed in Kazakhstan.

Educational and Personnel Policy of Tsarism in Belarus in the 1860s

The article notes that the duality, inconsistency, and reactionarity of the educational policy of the tsarist government after the uprising of 1863–1864 was largely dictated by the desire to reduce Polish influence and accelerate the russification of the region. The Ministry of Public Education did not care so much about the dissemination of education as about protecting the public with “reasonable restrictions”. In accordance with its political and ideological goals, the network of parish schools expanded, the training of teaching staff was restrained, and strict control was established over the activities of teachers and their political trustworthiness. Tsarism formed a model of an “ideal” teacher: devoted to the church and the throne, tolerant, imperceptible, and obedient, who in his pedagogical activity was to follow the official course. There was a tendency to attract people from the central provinces of Russia who graduated from theological seminaries, as well as Orthodox priests, to fulfill teaching duties.

Disciplined discourses: The logic of appropriateness in discourses on organizational gender equality policies

AbstractOrganizational gender equality policies must address critical issues in organizations, as well as challenge hierarchies and the unequal distribution of power and resources. At the same time, they are reliant on acceptance by organizations when developing an official course of action. On the basis of a neo‐institutional perspective, this study investigates how gender equality discourses are disciplined so that they fit organizational expectations by maintaining the rationality myth of the organization. The empirical analysis of four Swiss organizations demonstrates that, although they intend to reduce gender inequalities, their gender equality policies are shaped by a logic of appropriateness that leads to a continuous reproduction of heteronormativity within gender equality policies. This study thus contributes to the understanding of how the logic of appropriateness protects the heteronormative matrix in organizations by disciplining gender equality discourses.

Identity formation in music teacher education: The role of the curriculum

The purpose of this descriptive quantitative research was to examine undergraduate music teacher education curricula in the context of professional identity formation and in comparison with teacher education curricula in other subjects. Comprehensive course listings for undergraduate degree programs in music teacher education, mathematics teacher education, and English teacher education were gathered from the official course catalogs of 16 higher education institutions. These data were coded and analyzed to determine the amount of coursework in each program devoted to developing pedagogical skills, subject-area content knowledge, and other skills. Results indicated that while the amount of content-focused and pedagogy-focused courses was relatively balanced in English and mathematics teacher education programs, music teacher education programs devoted a significantly larger proportion of the curriculum to content-based courses. While scholars have called on music teacher educators to prioritize the development of a teacher identity in undergraduate music education students, current music teacher education curricula may not be aligned with these recommendations.

Teaching Undergraduate Artificial Intelligence Classes: An Experiment with an Attendance Requirement

We report on an experiment that we performed when we taught the undergraduate artificial intelligence class at the University of Southern California. We taught it – under very similar conditions – once with and once without an attendance requirement. The attendance requirement substantially increased the attendance of the students. It did not substantially affect their performance but decreased their course ratings across all categories in the official course evaluation, whose results happened to be biased toward the opinions of the students attending the lectures. For example, the overall rating of the instructor was 0.89 lower (on a 1-5 scale) with the attendance requirement and the overall rating of the class was 0.85 lower. Thus, the attendance requirement, combined with the policy for administering the course evaluation, had a large impact on the course ratings, which is a problem if the course ratings influence decisions on promotions, tenure, and salary increments for the instructors but also demonstrates the potential for the manipulation of course ratings.

A Multi-Institutional Study Demonstrating Undergraduate Medical Student Engagement with Question-Type Facebook Posts.

Facebook is the social media platform used most by both medical educators and students, but there is scant literature investigating effective ways to use the platform across multiple institutions. This multi-institutional study compared student engagement between an official curricular Facebook page and a supplemental Facebook page. While a greater proportion of students were reached by the official course page, greater post engagement was achieved with the supplemental page. We attribute this to the abundance of question-type posts on the supplemental page and show that question-type posts achieve higher engagement with students than statement-type posts, regardless of page type.

Российская мусульманская община в мировой умме

The article explores the current place and role of the Russian Muslim community in the global Islamic Ummah. The evolution of the community’s relations with Islamic countries in the post-Soviet era, along with the growing interest shown to it by Muslims worldwide, is studied. Perception of current events in the Middle East by Muslims in Russia, as well as their participation in these events, is analyzed. Here it is important to mention their presence and activity in the ranks of the Islamic State. According to some information, the number of mudjahids from Russia reached four thousand. Even after the defeat of the IS, some Russian Muslims stayed in the Middle East. Moscow declares that the existence of Muslim minorities contributes to the country’s good relations with the Islamic World. Russian Muslims support the official course in the foreign policy. However, the article also refers to the attempts of some Muslim politicians and representatives of the clergy, despite their loyalty to the authorities, to speak out in some cases and take an independent position that may differ from the official foreign policy course. Firstly, it concerns Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of the Chechen Republic, who makes attempts to establish direct ties with some Muslim countries, first of all, in the Persian Gulf. Moreover, Kadyrov expressed his disagreement with official position during the crisis in Myanmar, when Russia supported the fight of the country’s government against the Muslim opposition. Also there was a disappointment in the Republic of Tatarstan regarding Russian-Turkish conflict in 2015.

КОМПЛЕКСНИЙ ПЕРЕХІД: РЕГІОНАЛЬНІ ДОСЛІДЖЕННЯ ТА ПРАКТИКИ В КИТАЇ

The article aims to outline the main features of the development of the regional economy as a policy and science in the era of reform and openness. The research was conducted using the tools of the theory of transition, which have been developed in China since the early 1980's,fixing the pace and priorities for modernization of the country. The theoretical foundations of economic reforms, including in their spatial dimension, in China turned out to be somewhat different from the classical ones due to their implementation in the conditions of the official course of building "socialism with Chinese specifics" and transformations of the economic mechanism while solving problems of industrialization and modernization. The formation of the concept of China's transition economy took place in conditions of stability of the political foundations of society within the socialist socio-economic system with active state regulation of socio-economic processes. There were no market transformations analogues in the economic history of China, which necessitated long-term, constant and creative development of economic theory, and in the short term - constant monitoring of the economic situation in the country, as well as in-depth analysis of current problems of their own development. From the very beginning of the process of economic reform, Chinese scholars have conducted comparative studies of the economic development of a number of countries. Therefore, the basis of Chinese reforms is a comparative analysis of the evolution of industries in different countries to determine the priorities of China's development. At the same time, within the theory of international economic relations, aauthors analyzed the development of the regional economy to identify positive factors that could increase economic growth in regions and in the long-term run allow them to reach the level of regions in the developed countries. Authors adhered to some mainstream regional science theories and leading reserchers’ views. This paper explores rapid rise of most regions in China in recent decades and the challenges of widening gaps between them have been issues of major concern for the Central government. Its policy has steered up regional science research and discussions within academic and university community in China and overseas. This paper explores some banchmarks of regional development in China over its reform and openness period (1978-2020). It considers a range of issues including regional structure, models and systems, intraregional integration and governance by China East, Central, West, North Eest major regions. The novelty of the paper lays in the brief introduction of China regional policy, economy and science as an integrative phenomenon, rarely and in unsystematic way known to European readers. Development the regional policy, economic zoning, regional management and practice of regional planning and forecasting under maturinbg market conditions and more sophisticated, undirect government interventions looks controversial brings new options for further discussion . The authors believe, that, inter alia, the paper could draw attention of academics and practitioners of the two countries to some issues of interregional cooperation.

Japan as a “Normal Country”: Metamorphoses of Political Identity (Review and Analysis of Public Opinion Polls)

The research was focused on the political identity dynamics of the Japanese people through their attitude towards specific political issues, concepts, and doctrines, through ideas about the role of their country in the world, their attitude to “constituent Others” and their military history, as well as the analysis of differences between identities at the macro and micro levels during the emergence of the official course towards transforming Japan into a “normal country”. The solution to this problem is relevant in regards to Russia building a constructive policy in relation to Japan. The article analyzes a series of special and longitudinal studies characterizing generational change over the past 20 years in order to determine how much Japanese political preferences have changed in reference points that reflect their political identity, and which of these points allow us to identify significant determinants. As a key determinant of these surveys, the authors selected the degree of stability of pacifist self-consciousness, while analyzing the cumulative effect of several major factors in the formation of pacifism as the core of Japanese political identity: a) the archetypal principle of harmony (wa), expressed in the tendency of the Japanese people to smoothen out potential conflicts and in the outstanding ability to adapt and to adopt, b) the long-term implications of the constructivist paradigm in political rhetoric concerning the problem of national security; c) the impact of pacifist cultural and political discourse; d) the victimization complex that has developed in the wake of the defeat; and e) the absence of a clear perception of military threat in the society. Together, they make us believe that pacifist self-identification has a large margin of stability, and speak to the bifurcation of the current political identity of the Japanese people, which is experiencing a multi-vector pressure of the ‘power’ strategy of political realism and value-oriented approaches of constructivism. The authors identify the main directions of stratification of the political identity of Japanese society, point to some emerging trends in the realm of ideas on security policy, draw conclusions about the real place and influence of reflection on the Russian-Japanese territorial issue in the structure of Japanese political identity.

The Determinants of the Expansion of the Exchange Rate on The Black Market in The Maghreb

The shadow economy has recently grown significantly in the overall national economy. In the Maghreb countries (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Mauritania), the informal economy is the result of the introduction of a managed economy, which gradually forms the prerequisites for the emergence of a monetary deficit in these countries. Since the early 1990s, after the institutional changes in the market economy, a black currency exchange has taken a significant turn, which was accompanied by a large gap between the black market and official currency exchange. The relevance of this study is to determine the leverage of the exchange rate on the black market, which will determine the causes and factors of the expansion of this market. The purpose of the paper is to analyze the key determinants of determining the nature and dynamics of the black market exchange rate, as exemplified by the Maghreb countries in the context of long-term relations. The methodological support of the study includes the grouped mean group method and the Granger causality test. The author substantiates the following determinants of the shadow market exchange rate: the official exchange rate, the official real exchange rate, the differential expected rate of return, money supply, the level of reserves and prices. The study empirically confirms that the official exchange rate is the most significant variable that most influences the exchange rate in the shadow market, the official real exchange rate plays a secondary role in determining the black market exchange rate. These results are confirmed in the Granger causality test, which revealed the existence of unidirectional causality between the dependent black market exchange rate and the independent variables – the official rate, the official real currency rate, and the differential expected rate of return. Based on the conducted research, the author has identified the following recommendations for public authorities: 1) managing the shadow currency exchange market is possible in the context of adopting a complex of measures to diversify the sources of currency and implementing a monetary policy on the interest rate based on external rates; 2) the formation of a price control mechanism that will help reduce dependence on the international market. The paper focuses on the further use of the currency hedging instrument in the financial practice of the Maghreb banking system. The author emphasizes the need for the Central Bank to establish appropriate instructions for commercial banks on the organization and functioning of the interbank foreign exchange market in foreign trade operations. Keywords: currency exchange; the black market; Granger causality; heterogeneity; money supply; official course.

SALONS AND CIRCLES IN RUSSIA IN THE MIDDLE OF THE XIX CENTURY AS A FORM OF INTERACTION BETWEEN POWER AND PUBLIC

The article presents an analysis of the functioning of salons and circles in Russia in the second half of the 1850s as a form of interaction between government and society in this period. On the basis of published sources of personal origin and archival materials, the main stages of activity the St. Petersburg circle of brothers Milyutins and salon of Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna were reviewed. They brought together progressive government and public figures who advocated the implementation of reforms. It is concluded that with the advent of Alexander II to power and the launch of the modernization process in Russia, participants in the St. Petersburg circle are reoriented from scientific and educational issues to politically significant issues. Also during this period, close cooperation was established between the circle of brothers Milyutins and the salon of Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna in the framework of the development of a project on the abolition of serfdom in the Karlovka estate. In the conditions of the sociopolitical rise of the second half of the 1850s salons and circles in Russia became centers of informal influence on the official course of the Russian government and turned into discussion «platforms», in which discussion and development of reform projects.

We're all in this together: The impact of Facebook groups on social connectedness and other outcomes in higher education

There is a growing body of research exploring the potential benefits of implementing Facebook groups in the educational domain. The present study contributes to this literature by investigating the impact of having an official course Facebook group on several important outcomes. In a quasi-experiment, students in a second year university course either had access to an official course Facebook group or not, depending on the campus on which they were enrolled. Results indicated that students on the campus that implemented an official course Facebook group reported a greater sense of social connectedness, better relationships with faculty, and lower course-related stress, compared to students on the campus that did not have a Facebook group. Furthermore, having an official Facebook group indirectly enhanced course engagement and course satisfaction through social connectedness. These findings support the idea that Facebook groups can be a beneficial tool to foster positive outcomes for higher education students.

Building the Machine: The Importance of Governance in Obesity Policy

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is a small Australian jurisdiction with a single tier of government and a population of approximately 400,000 people. Despite enjoying comparatively high levels of income, education, physical amenity, and access to nutritious food, overweight and obesity is the most prevalent risk factor for chronic disease in the ACT. From 2011, the ACT Government Health Directorate (ACT Health) led the development of a whole of Government plan (the Action Plan) to address obesity. A political imperative to take such action and recent administrative reform assisted the development of a plan with specific actions to be undertaken by different government agencies. Obesity is a “wicked problem” with a diversity of opinion about its causes and potential solutions. These opinions remained influential even when an official course of action had been decided upon. Strong decision making and accountability processes were therefore necessary to support the development of the Action Plan. A lack of understanding beyond the health sector in relation to the evidence for effective, population level interventions to address obesity and a tendency to try and address population health risks by scaling up client-centered models of Government services also proved problematic. This experience highlights the critical importance of designing obesity policy within a robust governance framework in order to ensure progress is made in a highly contested environment. Whilst the observations included here are strongly influenced by local contextual factors, there are important lessons which can be applied elsewhere.

Between tradition and innovation: the discursive construction of a “world-leading” university

This paper applies critical discourse analysis to two discursive samples (“texts”) produced by Harvard University: a sample from the official course catalogue and the list of courses provided as “HarvardX” on the MOOC platform EdX. The analysis shows how Harvard legitimates its role across “innovative” and traditional forms of provision, employing an apparently neutral language to shape identities and practices. The analytic section considers the generic structure of both texts and how semiotic relationships are realised through stylistic choices and grammatical structures. The analysis suggests that the differences between traditional and open access provision at Harvard are simultaneously educational and socio-political. The analysis also opens a window onto the instructional practices at Harvard - something that seems to be missing in the educational research literature.

Empowerment and ownership in effective internationalisation of the higher education curriculum

Internationalising the curriculum (IOC) in order to produce graduates with global citizenship skills is a common strategic goal in modern higher education. The extent to which this is achieved and the level of understanding amongst staff and students of what IOC involves and the benefits it imparts are varied. In this study, activities and attitudes across 15 subject disciplines delivered in a modern UK university were surveyed through an analysis of official course documentation, and semi-structured interviews with a range of academic staff. The outcomes are discussed in relation to the level of understanding and ownership that staff have of IOC. Through the modification of a process control model Barnett (European Journal of Education, 29(2), 165–179, 1994), suggestions are made as to how to move this top-down strategic imperative forward through empowerment of the academic staff involved in course delivery.

The Scientific Sphere of Soviet Ukraine in Conditions of Ukrainianization of the 1920s

The article examines the processes of transformation of scientific sphere of Soviet Ukraine in the 1920s, when the official policy of Ukrainianization was provided. Author comments the difference between positions of academic circles and the Bolshevik government regarding the development and character of science. In these circumstances, the scientific sphere has acquired a new quality. By 1929, the Ukrainian Academy of Science’s activity had a quite distinct national form and content. In the Ukrainian SSR, the number of Ukrainian ethnic scientists was growing up. There has been formed a significant body of Ukrainian scientific works from all research sectors. Most areas of scientific research, including natural, accurate, legal science, received professional terminology dictionaries, regulated by the new spelling. It gave rise to a new generation of Ukrainian scientific intelligence. The process of recognition of Ukrainian science in the European and international scientific community was notable. However, the project of building a complete national science remained unfinished. Ukrainian science could not overcome the relatively narrow confines of official course of Ukrainianization. At the beginning of 1930 there was a dramatic change within ethnic policy of the USSR, the return to a policy of Russification, leading to serious deformation in science. Science in Soviet Ukraine became more ideological and more all-union.

АЛЬТЕРНАТИВНЫЕ ВАРИАНТЫ АМЕРИКАНСКОЙ ПОЛИТИКИ В АФГАНИСТАНЕ

The article presents major findings of the author’s research on alternative options for the U.S. policy in Afghanistan. Groups of interests, consisting of politicians and experts who disagree with the official course of the B. Obama administration in Afghanistan, developed alternative options for the United States policy in Afghanistan itself, and more widely, in Central and South Asia. Two of such alternatives are considered in the article: Afghanistan-centric approach with focus on centralized Afghanistan as important U.S. ally in the region; a scenario with focus on partition, up to disintegration of Afghanistan. The article reviews both of these options, their evolution, authors and primary contributors. Special attention is paid to how these approaches have been interacting with the official political course of the United States in the last eight years. Although advocates of these scenarios were generally critical of the Obama foreign policy, each time the Obama administration tried to substantially review its strategy in Afghanistan they attempted to present their proposals and integrate them into the official policy. While the Obama administration finally did not rely on any of these two alternative options, it picked up some elements of both, in particular of the Afghanistan-centric approach. This was resulting in a mixture of practical recommendations based on different, even conflicting conceptual attitudes. It is concluded that both of the alternatives for the U.S. policy in Afghanistan are well developed and have interest groups standing behind them. These groups will be active in pushing their suggestions to become official policy when the United States political course in Afghanistan is reviewed after the change of administration in Washington.&nbsp

Liberalism and shadow interventionism in post-revolutionary Georgia (2003–2012)

ABSTRACTThis article looks at the informal governance practice of Georgia’s post-revolution (2003-2012) reformers. Empirically, we argue that the deployment of informal governance strategies became necessary for the Georgian government precisely because its official liberal reform course was politically constraining and incapacitated it from coping with the social costs of marketization and political-economic crisis. The analysed case, we submit, has major implications for theories of governance and informality. As it stands now, the literature is predominantly preoccupied with improvements in the state’s institutional quality. The Georgian case, in contrast, highlights the importance of institutional design. Utilizing perspectives from Polanyian institutionalist analysis, we problematise the ongoing propagation of market-enhancing institutional design and underline the importance of market-constraining and social regulation. Arguing that reliance on informality cannot be reduced to profit seeking, or even to formal systemic institutional weakness, we attempt to shift the focus of the literature on governance and institutions from quality of institutional performance back to the once dominant question of development studies, namely the content of institutional design.

Vibration exposure on cobbles sectors during ParisRoubaix

Background: Paris-Roubaix is a unique and singular race of UCI World Tour. Compared to other “classic races”, the difficulty of the route is increased by the mechanical vibrations encountered during many cobbles sectors. These ones represent ~20% of the total distance to be covered (~250 km). They are classified by the organizers according to their length and the cobble’s characteristics from “easy” (two stars) to “very hard” (five stars). Previous studies measured vibration exposure at cyclist’s hand on one single cobbles sector [1] and for whole body on short urban road path [2]. Thus, the vibration exposure of cyclists during a whole race that includes many cobbles sectors remain unknown. Purpose: The aim of this study was to measure the mechanical vibrations encountered on cobbles sectors of a “classic race” according to the norms used in the working world (ISO 2631-1, 1997; ISO 5349-1, -2, 2001).  Methods: One male cyclist (1.80 m; 68 kg) participated in the 139-km route of the “ParisRoubaix Challenge 2015” a . This race included 15 of the 27 cobbles sectors of the official professional course. Two tri-axial accelerometers (HiKoB Fox, HiKoB, Villeurbanne, France) were firmly mounted on the stem and the seatpost of the subject’s bike (Roubaix Expert carbon, Specialized, USA; tyre pressure set at 5.0 bar). According to the norms and previous results [2], only vertical accelerations (normal to the stem and longitudinal along the seatpost, sampled at 1350 Hz) were used to assess the effective values of vibrations. Cycling speed and heart rate (HR) were measured continuously with a GPS device (Garmin Egde 800, Garmin, Kansas City, USA). Power output (PO) and pedalling cadence (PC) were measured every 1-s with a PowerTap Hub SL+ (CycleOps, USA) and pedalling data were logged on the GPS device. For each sector, the effective value of the acceleration (RMS, m.s -2 ) and the vibration dose value (VDV, m.s -1.75 ) were computed from the raw acceleration subtracted by its mean value (freeing it from the orientation of the sensor). Pearson’s regressions were performed to analyse the relationship between RMS and cycling speed during cobbles sectors.  Results: The total length covered for the 15 cobbles sectors analysed was 28.1 km at a mean speed of 21.8 km.h -1 . Distance, speed, HR, PC, and PO during cobbles sectors were distributed from 0.51 to 3.69 km, 19.1 to 27.8 km.h -1 , 122 to 155 bpm, 79 to 87 rpm, and 167 to 235 W, respectively. Figure 1 shows that vibration dose value measured at stem (hand) and seatpost (whole body) seems to increase with the cobbles sectors difficulty. The RMS value increased significantly (p < 0,001) with the mean speed (Figure 2). According to the European guidelines (2002), the time periods needed to reach the value of exposure which triggers the action (TEAV, s) and the limit exposure value (TELV, s) were for whole body: 10 ± 3 s and 52 ± 14 s, respectively; and for hands: 153 ± 29 s and 610 ± 116 s.  Discussion and Conclusion: According to RMS and VDV values, vibration exposure is much higher at hands than at the cyclist’s seat, regardless the speed and the cobbles sector difficulty. VDV measured at seatpost are at least two times higher than values reported previously in road biking on urban path combining asphalt and pavement [2]. Limit exposure values are reached within minutes that is much fewer than the total time spent on cobblestones by professional riders during Paris-Roubaix race (~90 min). The question remains about the cyclist’s adaptations to this traumatic vibration exposure by adopting an appropriate posture or by increasing muscle work for damping vibrations.