Suchergebnisse

A central feature of Scottish Enlightenment thought was the emergence of stadial or "conjectural" theories of history, in which the development of all human societies, from those in Europe, to the Seminole Indians in Florida and the Tongans of the South Pacific, could be understood and compared according to the same universal historical criteria. This paper argues that central to this tradition was an account of the relationship between "useful knowledge" and social development. This article argues that we can map the circulation of a discourse about useful knowledge, nature, and civilisation through a network of Scottish-trained physicians and naturalists that spread to the Atlantic and to the Pacific. In the Atlantic world, physicians and naturalists used the vocabulary and categories of stadial theory to classify indigenous societies: they made comparisons between the illnesses that they thought "naturally" afflicted savage cultures, as opposed to those of civilized Europeans. In the Pacific, the Edinburgh-trained surgeons and naturalists compared Tahitians, Maoris, and Australian Aborigines to black Africans and Europeans, and they commented on the presence or absence of useful knowledge as a marker of the degree of development of each civilisation.

This book considers the place and value of knowledge in contemporary society. "Knowledge" is not a self-evident concept: both its denotations and connotations are historically situated. Since the Enlightenment, knowledge has been a matter of discovery through effort, and "knowledge for its own sake" a taken-for-granted ideal underwriting progressive education as a process which not only taught "for" and "about" something, but also ennobled the soul. While this ideal has not been explicitly rejected, in recent decades there has been a tacit move away from a strong emphasis on its centrality, ev

MANY POLITICAL SCIENCE DEPARTMENTS RELY HEAVILY UPON GRADUATE TEACHING ASSISTANTS (T.A.S) TO STAFF THEIR LARGE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT CLASSES. AMONG THEIR MANY DUTIES, T.A.S ARE USUALLY REQUIRED TO LEAD DISCUSSION GROUPS AND PREPARE THEIR STUDENTS FOR MAJOR EXAMINATIONS. GIVEN THE WIDE VARIATION IN TEACHING SKILLS AND CLASSROOM DEMEANOR AMONG T.A.S, THIS STUDY EXAMINES THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN 1,500 STUDENT TEST SCORES AND T.A. EVALUATIONS IN THREE LARGE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT CLASSES AT A MIDWESTERN UNIVERSITY. THREE CENTRAL QUESTIONS ARE ADDRESSED: WHAT FACTORS INFLUENCE WHETHER OR NOT A T.A. IS CONSIDERED COMPETENT? WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES A T.A. MAKE IN EXPANDING STUDENT KNOWLEDGE OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT? TO WHAT EXTENT ARE STUDENTS' SCORES ON MASS LECTURE EXAMINATIONS A REFLECTION OF THEIR-T.A.S' ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE, CLARIFY CONCEPTS OR STIMULATE INTEREST IN THE SUBJECT MATTER? RESULTS INDICATE THAT STUDENTS RATE CLASSROOM DEPORTMENT, RATHER THAN TEST SCORES, AS THE MOST IMPORTANT CRITERION OF T.A. COMPETENCY. T.A.S WHO RANKED HIGHEST ON OVERALL COMPETENCY WERE THOSE WHO WERE MOST KNOWLEDGEABLE AND INTERESTING, AND NOT THOSE WHOSE STUDENTS RECEIVED THE HIGHEST GRADES. HENCE, T.A.S MERIT NEITHER PRAISE NOR CRITICISM FOR THE OVERALL PERFORMANCE OF THEIR STUDENTS ON MAJOR EXAMINATIONS.

Examines the relation between political knowledge & interest in public affairs, after George Bishop's (1987) observation that an inability to answer a political knowledge question decreased self-reported interest in public affairs. This effect was unaffected by the introduction of up to 101 unrelated buffer items. Explanations for the effect are tested here by providing 454 respondents (Rs) to a national telephone survey with an alternative explanation to lack of knowledge. Results reveal that a single buffer item giving Rs an external explanation for their lack of knowledge greatly reduced the context effect. Implications for the operation of buffer items are discussed. 1 Appendix, 11 References. Adapted from the source document.

THIS PAPER WAS STIMULATED BY AN ASSERTION MADE BY CORNELL, NOLL, AND WEINGAST IN THEIR EXCELLENT DISCUSSION OF SAFETY REGULATION (1976). HAVING OBSERVED THAT COMPLETE INFORMATION ABOUT THE HAZARDS ASSOCIATED WITH ALL PRODUCTS AND OCCUPATIONS IS NOT AND, PERHAPS, CANNOT BE MADE AVAILABLE, THEY NOTE THAT THE LITERATURE ON STATISTICAL DECISION THEORY SHOWS THAT INVESTMENT IN RESEARCH DESIGNED TO REDUCE OUR IGNORANCE ABOUT PRODUCT AND WORKPLACE HAZARDS SHOULD LEAD TO BETTER DECISIONS (ASSUMING, OF COURSE, 'FLEXIBLE DECISIONMAKING PROCEDURES, OVERSEEN BY INSTITUTIONS CAPABLE OF RESPONDING EXPEDITIOUSLY TO PAST MISTAKES') AND CONCLUDE WITH A PLEA FOR CAUTION IN DEALING WITH 'UNKNOWN HAZARDS.' (CORNELL, NOLL, AND WEINGAST, 1976: 469).