The Death of "Why?": The Decline of Questioning and the Future of Democracy (BK Currents (Paperback))

The Death of "Why?": The Decline of Questioning and the Future of Democracy (BK Currents (Paperback)) Review

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Questions = Power

Obsessed with answers, we have lost sight of the power and value of questions. Debates over globalization, climate change, health care, and poverty will not be "solved" with simple answers, but that's what Americans are being trained to expect. Schlesinger argues that we're besieged by cultural forces that urge us to avoid critical thinking and independent analysis. The media reduces politics to a spectator sport, standardized tests teach students to fill in the dots instead of opening their minds, and even the Internet promotes habits that discourage looking deeper.

But the situation isn't hopeless. Schlesinger profiles individuals and institutions renewing the practice of inquiry at a time when our society demands such activity from us all. Our resilience will depend on our ability to struggle with what we don't know, to live and think outside comfortable bubbles of sameness, and, ultimately, to ask questions.

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Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing

Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing Review

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Winner of the 2002 Frandson Award for Literature in the Field of Continuing Higher Education

The information technology revolution is transforming almost every aspect of society, but girls and women are largely out of the loop. Although women surf the Web in equal numbers to men and make a majority of online purchases, few are involved in the design and creation of new technology. It is mostly men whose perspectives and priorities inform the development of computing innovations and who reap the lion's share of the financial rewards. As only a small fraction of high school and college computer science students are female, the field is likely to remain a "male clubhouse," absent major changes.

In Unlocking the Clubhouse, social scientist Jane Margolis and computer scientist and educator Allan Fisher examine the many influences contributing to the gender gap in computing. The book is based on interviews with more than 100 computer science students of both sexes from Carnegie Mellon University, a major center of computer science research, over a period of four years, as well as classroom observations and conversations with hundreds of college and high school faculty. The interviews capture the dynamic details of the female computing experience, from the family computer kept in a brother's bedroom to women's feelings of alienation in college computing classes. The authors investigate the familial, educational, and institutional origins of the computing gender gap. They also describe educational reforms that have made a dramatic difference at Carnegie Mellon—where the percentage of women entering the School of Computer Science rose from 7% in 1995 to 42% in 2000—and at high schools around the country.

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Wege in die Entwicklungspsychologie

Wege in die Entwicklungspsychologie Review

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Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Volume 34

Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Volume 34 Review

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Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Volume 34 Feature

Advances in Experimental Social Psychology continues to be one of the most sought after and most often cited series in this field. Containing contributions of major empirical and theoretical interest, this series represents the best and the brightest in new research, theory, and practice in social psychology. Volume 34 includes chapters on cognition in persuasion, judgements of fairness, social knowledge, attributional inference, discrimination, stereotypes, and goal systems.

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Das Konzept der Metakompetenz: Theoretische und empirische Untersuchung am Beispiel der Automobilindustrie (German Edition)

Das Konzept der Metakompetenz: Theoretische und empirische Untersuchung am Beispiel der Automobilindustrie (German Edition) Review

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Das Konzept der Metakompetenz: Theoretische und empirische Untersuchung am Beispiel der Automobilindustrie (German Edition) Feature

Diana Dimitrova untersucht erstmals theoretisch und empirisch das Konzept der Metakompetenz. Sie zeigt, dass die Fähigkeit zur selbstorganisierten Kompetenzentwicklung in signifikanter Beziehung zum Berufserfolg steht und formuliert konkrete Empfehlungen für die Personalentwicklung, um die Metakompetenz von Mitarbeitern in Unternehmen zu fördern.

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It Takes a Parent: How the Culture of Pushover Parenting Is Hurting Our Children-and What to DoAbout it

It Takes a Parent: How the Culture of Pushover Parenting Is Hurting Our Children-and What to DoAbout it Review

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It Takes a Parent: How the Culture of Pushover Parenting Is Hurting Our Children-and What to DoAbout it Feature

Syndicated columnist and mother of four Betsy Hart presents a passionate, provocative argument against today's "parenting culture"-parents who put their kids on a pedestal, shy away from discipline, and cede the power to take decisions, large and small, to their children. Covering hot topics, from spanking and discipline to giving kids way too many choices, this commonsense book shifts the focus back to the role and responsibilities of parents for guiding the character and hearts of their children, so they'll grow up to be responsible adults themselves.

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Teaching and Assessing 21st Century Skills: The Classroom Strategies Series

Teaching and Assessing 21st Century Skills: The Classroom Strategies Series Review

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Teaching and Assessing 21st Century Skills: The Classroom Strategies Series Feature

As the 21st century unfolds, the pace of change in the world is accelerating while education in the United States remains stagnant or, at best, progresses in isolated pockets. Concern over the effects of an inadequate education system on the nation s economy and innovative potential is growing, and it seems a crisis point is near when the negative aspects of the education system will outweigh the benefits. The consequences of a poorly educated population would be dire, and in order to correct this trajectory, every level of the education system will have to undergo massive changes. Teachers and administrators must lead this cultural shift, which is perhaps as important and massive as the industrial revolution.

In Teaching and Assessing 21st Century Skills the authors present a model of instruction and assessment based on a combination of cognitive skills (skills students will need to succeed academically) and conative skills (skills students will need to succeed interpersonally) necessary for the 21st century. Specifically, this book addresses three cognitive skills (analyzing and utilizing information, addressing complex problems and issues, and creating patterns and mental models) and two conative skills (understanding and controlling oneself and understanding and interacting with others). The authors believe both cognitive and conative skills will be vital to the success of all citizens living and working in the highly varied and quickly changing knowledge economy of the 21st century.

Part of The Classroom Strategies Series, this clear, highly practical guide follows the series format, first summarizing key research and then translating it into recommendations for classroom practice. In addition to the explanations and examples of strategies, each chapter includes helpful comprehension questions to reinforce the reader s understanding of the content to create both short- and long-term strategies for teaching and assessing 21st century skills.

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Gifted and Talented Pocketbook

Gifted and Talented Pocketbook Review

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Gifted and talented education is at a crossroads. Turn right and speed off down the motorway, only to be frustrated by the rush-hour traffic of identification, strategies, tests, labels, targets and anxious children. Turn left on to the road less travelled, and there's no crazed rush to a destination; rather a journey during which you can stop off frequently, take in the views, and enjoy the sensations and experiences that come with a focus on the processes, not just the products of learning. "The Gifted & Talented Pocketbook" turns left at the crossroads. Using cartoons, diagrams, and visual prompts to support the text, it offers teachers a coherent framework for G&T education, including five learning tools for running classrooms where all pupils are stretched, challenged and motivated and where gifts are created and grown, not identified and measured. The book considers definitions of giftedness, whether gifts are 'caught' or taught and whether giftedness is fixed or malleable. It highlights the role of intrinsic learning motivation when it comes to achieving high levels of success. The Grace framework - Grow! Relate! Act! Challenge! Exert! - offers ideas for lessons, implications for policy and explains how to use five learning tools to stimulate considered, reflective learning: Logo Visual Thinking, Philosophy for Children, Thinking Actively in a Social Context, Dilemma-Based Learning, and Living Theory Action Research. Author Barry Hymer, a former teacher and ed. psych., is now a consultant and trainer in the field of gifted and talented education. He is consultant editor of Gifted Education International and a visiting fellow at Newcastle University's Centre for Learning and Teaching.

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It Takes a Parent: How the Culture of Pushover Parenting Is Hurting Our Kids--and What to Do About It

It Takes a Parent: How the Culture of Pushover Parenting Is Hurting Our Kids--and What to Do About It Review

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A nationally syndicated columnist and conservative commentator examines the harmful effects of today's "parenting culture."

Tyrannized by "experts." Obsessed with perfection. Harried and anxious to the point of misery. Columnist and commentator Betsy Hart sees these traits in what she calls today's "parenting culture"-that is, a nation of parents who refrain from making moral judgments, who put their kids on a pedestal whether they deserve it or not, who shy away from disciplining or even criticizing when kids misbehave, and who generally cede the responsibility for making decisions, large and small, to their children. Hart argues that the consequences of this hands-off approach can be seen on the faces of dependent, wayward, and even violent children and teens-not to mention miserable moms and dads.

A mother of four, Hart presents a smart, passionate, and provocative argument for the crucial-and currently unfashionable-role of parents who lead rather than follow. From parents who insist on giving their kids a choice about everything and make excuses for their bad behavior, to those who drive their kids to excel at any endeavor and who turn to trained professionals for every problem, It Takes a Parent questions some tightly held cultural assumptions, and sheds light on the everyday concerns of parents across the nation.

This insightful, commonsense book will help shift the focus back to the role and responsibilities of parents-for guiding the character and hearts of their children, so they will grow up to be responsible adults themselves.

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Teaching Learning and Assessment

Teaching Learning and Assessment Review

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"This down-to-earth and timely book demonstrates that assessment is at the very heart of the teaching and learning process. It gives highly practical ideas and strategies to help make learning powerful and effective. It reminds us not only about what works in classrooms but also about what works in adult learning and informal learning too."
Steve Munby, Chief Executive, National College for School Leadership, UK

This book deals with formative assessment, that is, assessment designed to inform and enhance learning, rather than simply produce test results and qualifications. Formative assessment considers how pupils learn, what they learn and why, and encourages pupils to direct their own learning.

Based on real life experiences of students and teachers, this book develops a practical framework for thinking about formative assessment, based on a five-year research project undertaken by Portsmouth Local Authority schools and the University of Sussex. Rich in case studies, quotations, examples and recommendations collected from the project, the book offers practical advice for making formative assessment work.

Its key features include:

A framework for formative assessment

Focus on professional and whole-school development

Prompts for reflection

Real-life examples and case studies from work carried out by pupils, teachers, assistants and leaders The central message is that assessment should be fundamental to the whole learning process, and is as relevant to early years as to primary, secondary and post-compulsory settings across the curriculum.

Teaching, Learning and Assessment is important reading for all teachers whether undertaking initial teacher training or continuing professional development.

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