(2004). Simultaneous and Sequential Feature Negative Discriminations: Elemental Learning and Occasion Setting in Human Pavlovian Conditioning. Learning and Motivation, v35 n2 p136-166 May. Using a conditioned suppression task, we investigated simultaneous (XA-/A+) vs. sequential (X [right arrow] A-/A+) Feature Negative (FN) discrimination learning in humans. We expected the simultaneous discrimination to result in X (or alternatively the XA configuration) becoming an inhibitor acting directly on the US, and the sequential discrimination in X becoming a negative occasion setter acting indirectly on the A-US link. After \simultaneous\ FN training, X+ training completely abolished discriminative XA/A responding (Experiment 1), and X transferred inhibition to new targets B regardless of their training history (B+ or YB-/B+) (Experiment 2), suggesting X became a simple inhibitor. After \sequential\ FN training, X showed the predicted selective transfer to a target B that also had been modulated (Y [right arrow] B-/B+), not to a simple excitor (B+) (Experiment 4), but turning X into an excitor (X+) likewise disrupted discriminative X [right arrow] A/A responding (Experiment… [Direct]
(1974). Human Relations Guide I: Inter and Intracultural Education. K-12. Curriculum Guide No. 39. This guide is intended to assist the educational system with curriculum in the area of racial minorities. It was developed by the Minnesota State Department of Education and provides guidelines for developing a K-12 curriculum in intercultural and intracultural education with attention to four designated minority groups in the state: American Indians; Black Americans; Mexican Americans; and Asian Americans. Thirteen goals for human relations are outlined along with a brief explanation of them. Student objectives and instructional activities are outlined for each goal. Under each goal are objectives and activities for primary, intermediate, junior high, and senior high school age groups. This is followed by a brief history of the four ethnic target groups in the state. Lengthy appendices discuss the legislative record on Civil Rights in Minnesota, demographic data on minority groups in the state, other Minnesota human relations curriculum guides, periodicals, books, and articles… [PDF]
(1987). AIDS Prevention Education Project, Grades 4-8. A curriculum guide for an Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) prevention education program for grades 4-8 is presented in this document. The purpose of these materials is to serve as a resource to encourage and facilitate AIDS education in order to prevent the disease. It is recommended that this AIDS program be taught as part of the human growth and development curriculum and that AIDS be addressed as a health issue. Guidelines for direct and sensitive teaching in human sexuality which is necessary for AIDS education are provided. Civil rights issues surrounding AIDS and the economic impact of AIDS are described. These four objectives of the AIDS education program are presented with relevant teacher materials, work sheets, fact sheets, and activity descriptions: (1) individual responsibility for prevention; (2) basic information about communicable disease; (3) basic information about AIDS; and (4) reducing or eliminating risk of AIDS. Appendices include the education code…
(1989). Student Athletes. Most Schools Meet Proposed Academic Performance Reporting Requirements. United States General Accounting Office Briefing Report to the Chairman, Committee on Labor and Human Resources, U.S. Senate. The report presents information on academic performance and other issues related to student athletes. It was written to aid the chairman of the Committee on Labor and Human Relations in preparation for a hearing on Senate Bill 580, the Student Athlete Right-to-Know Act. Specifically, the document examines: (1) the reporting burden the proposed legislation would impose on schools; and (2) the graduation rates of student athletes in men's basketball and football as compared to all students at the National Collegiate Athletic Association's member schools. The five appendices, which make up the bulk of the document, provide information on: objective, scope, and methodology involved in gathering the report data; technical description of the General Accounting Office's (GAO's) survey and sampling methodology; data on student athletes (most schools meet information requirements of the proposed Student Athletes Right-to-Know Act); major contributors to the report; and related GAO products…. [PDF]
(2002). When Are Analogies the Right Tool? A Look at the Strategic Use of Analogies in Teaching Cellular Respiration to Middle-School Students. In this paper, the ways in which analogies are used in the Energy and the Human Body curriculum will be examined and some preliminary assessments of successes and difficulties will be discussed. Also investigated will be what the first year's study trials suggest about the effective use of analogies in the middle-school classroom. Characteristics of good analogies for middle school students are suggested along with the question: When are analogies the right tool to use in helping students understand science concepts? (Contains 12 references.) (MVL)… [PDF]
(2005). Impacts of Globalisation on Higher Education Reform in China: A Trend of Decentralisation and Autonomy. Educational Research for Policy and Practice, v4 n2-3 p83-95 Aug. By tracing back the historical context of educational changes, this article explores in detail the impacts of globalisation on China's higher education reform. A trend of decentralisation in both rights and responsibilities is revealed in terms of structural adjustment, human resource exploitation and retention, curriculum development, and education provision. Also some remaining problems and new challenges from the progress of globalisation are discussed to draw a conclusion that there is a need of combining both centralisation decentralisation approaches in China's both present and future reforms…. [Direct]
(1977). Dilemmas in Medicine, 2nd Edition 1977. CEM Probe. Published for secondary school youth in England, the PROBE series presents provocative information and discussion questions on topical themes. The focus of this issue is on aspects of medicine which raise moral dilemmas for doctors, patients, and society in general. This issue contains case studies which illustrate ethical questions raised by the changing role of medicine in society. For each case study, a review of medical practice and issues is followed by discussion questions for students. Legalization of abortions under special circumstances has prompted debate over the status of the fetus and a mother's rights to terminate a pregnancy. Practices of artificial insemination by donor raise questions concerning the donor's right to maintain interest in his child, the mother's motivation, and the "social father's" ability to accept as his own a child whom he did not father. Research on embryo transfers prompts concerns about political manipulation of the process if it is…
(1980). Federal Regulations and Higher Education: An Overview for College and University Administrators: Part II. Administrator's Update, Volume 2, Number 2, Fall, 1980. As an aid to college administrators, information is presented on the following regulations: (1) Protection of Human Subjects; (2) Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972; (3) the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970; and (4) Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The purpose of the guide is to sensitize administrators to the central issues involved in each regulation and to provide a desk-top reference that will permit judgments as to whether the matter should be pursued. In regard to the regulations on the protection of human subjects, institutions are directed to establish an Institutional Review Committee to determine subject risks, and noncompliance may result in termination of the federal grant or contract. The regulations pertaining to the Educational Amendments of 1972 (prohibiting discrimination in federally-aided educational programs) include the areas of coverage, admission of students, treatment of students, employment, and procedures. In regard to the… [PDF]
(1983). Constitutional Democracy vs. Utopian Democracy. Ethics and Public Policy Essay 42. Democracy has always been prone to self-destruction, and it was only after the American Civil War that democracy–or at least constitutional representative government–acquired a respectable reputation. There are two very different types of democracies each with its underlying philosophy, value system, and view of human nature. These are constitutional democracy and utopian democracy. The contrast between the American Revolution and the French is in essence the difference between the two types of democracy. The American Revolution strove to preserve English rights and legal institutions, and the old English tradition of the rule of law was made more rigid in the American governmental system. The old Judeo-Christian view of imperfect human beings was implicit in the Constitution. The French Revolution began with a vision of the liberation of mankind and ended in a military dictatorship. The utopian view of human nature is an embodiment of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's philosophy that…
(1980). Meeting the Needs of Low Income Families with Handicapped Children. The paper examines special needs of low income families with handicapped children. The author asserts that parents must become acquainted with their rights under P.L. 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act. The need of these families for advocates is underlined. Generalizations held by many people about low income families are examined: that poor people don't want anything and can accept any evaluation of children as accurate and final; that assessments can be made without the parents' input; that low income children cannot and do not want to learn; that low income parents don't want to become involved with the school and other agencies; and that nothing wll help poor people. Ways in which educators and human service workers can help are summarized, including ensuring that educational programs are accountable and making the rights of handicapped children a community concern. (CL)…
(1976). Writing as Problem-Solving in Interdisciplinary Programs: Literature and the Age of Technology. A proposed interdisciplinary course linking the areas of English and data processing is described in this paper. Expertise in both fields is perceived as a function of the processes of defining, recreating metaphors and models, locating assumptions within messages, and becoming aware of meaning. Potential enrollees include both students in the humanities and those in the sciences. Issues dealing with the relationship between human and machine are defined in order to stimulate ethical and philosophical problem solving. Suggested activities include exercises using computer languages, translations from programming systems to edited English, expository prose investigating the human/machine relationship, and games simulating social and cultural conditions. Appendixes include a course outline and a reading list (largely science fiction) as well as a reprint of a \New York Times\ editorial dealing with the rights of the dying in a technological society. (KS)… [PDF]
(2005). Ethical Considerations in Prenatal Sex Selection. Health and Social Work, v30 n2 p126 May. Developments in assisted reproductive technologies have made it possible for couples to select the sex of a child prenatally. This article used the NASW Code of Ethics and information from the Ethics Committee of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine to consider ethical dilemmas related to social justice (for example, reinforcement of gender bias, the potential for gender discrimination and oppression, a move toward eugenics, restricted access based on social or economic status, and the discarding of human embryos), the importance of human relationships (for example, threats to the well-being of sex-selected children, parent-child relationships, and couple relationships), and self-determination and the dignity and worth of the individual (for example, the right of individuals or couples to choice and personal desires). Implications are discussed for social work practice, policy articulation and advocacy, research, and education….
(2007). Bringing Politics into the Nursery: Early Childhood Education as a Democratic Practice. Working Papers in Early Childhood Development, No. 43. Bernard van Leer Foundation (NJ1) Care and education for young children is often understood primarily as a commodity to be provided in the marketplace, or as a kind of factory to produce human capital. But institutions for children and young people can also serve a very different role. They can be understood as forums for democratic political practice. This is a choice that we, as citizens, can make. This paper applies the idea of democracy to a wide range of institutions providing education and care for young children. Observing that democracy is in a sickly state in neo-liberal societies, the author discusses the importance of democratic participation as a right of citizenship, a bulwark against oppression and injustice, and a means for fostering diversity in society. He then looks at what it means to have democracy in early childhood settings, distinguishing between a democratic ethos that values the sharing of opinions and perspectives, and democracy in the form of management structures that involve elected… [PDF]
(2007). Syntax and Meaning as Sensuous, Visual, Historical Forms of Algebraic Thinking. Educational Studies in Mathematics, v66 n2 p145-164 Oct. Before the advent of symbolism, i.e. before the end of the 16th Century, algebraic calculations were made using natural language. Through a kind of metaphorical process, a few terms from everyday life (e.g. thing, root) acquired a technical mathematical status and constituted the specialized language of algebra. The introduction of letters and other symbols (e.g. \+\, \=\) made it possible to achieve what is considered one of the greatest cultural accomplishments in human history, namely, the constitution of a symbolic algebraic language and the concomitant rise of symbolic thinking. Because of their profound historical ties with natural language, the emerging syntax and meanings of symbolic algebraic language were marked in a definite way by the syntax and meanings of the former. However, at a certain point, these ties were loosened and algebraic symbolism became a language in its own right. Without alluding to the theory of recapitulation, in this paper, we travel back and forth… [Direct]
(1974). Is the Left Hemisphere Specialized for Speech, Language and/or Something Else?. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, v55 n2 Feb. Morse code signals were presented dichotically to Morse code operators and to naive subjects with no knowledge of Morse code. The operators showed right ear superiority, indicating left hemisphere dominance for the perception of dichotically presented Morse code letters. Naive subjects showed the same right ear superiority when presented with a set of dot-dash patterns restricted to pairs of seven or fewer elements, counting dots and dashes each as elements. When presented with longer stimuli, naive subjects showed left ear superiority, indicating right hemisphere dominance, the opposite of their result with the shorter stimuli. This seems to indicate that pairs consisting of seven or fewer elements are perceived with reference to the subparts of which they are composed, but that longer stimuli force naive subjects to adopt strategies involving the holistic qualities of the stimuli. It would seem, therefore, that the left hemisphere is specialized for processing the sequential parts…