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The article is a result of a complementary advanced publication workshop accompanying the curriculum course exercises for PhD students, on the role of ICT in the research work of a scientist. To fulfill the extended course requirements the participants decided to write relevant paper, if possible, related to their individual research endeavors and their relations to the digital world. The paper consists of a collection of short chapters written by young researchers. They express their own views, based on early research experience, relevant generally to the inclusion of critical digital age components in their theses. The chapters are only moderately consulted by the tutor in the direction of finding a common denominator related to social sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One approach to enhancing the pedagogy of science education is to employ academics who are not only science-trained but also engaged in education research. As some academics begin their Scholarship of Teaching and Learning research careers with a pure science background, shifting in disciplinary perspectives can be a source of professional tension. The pedagogic frailty model provides a framework that helps us to integrate institutional efforts to enhance teaching improvements by maintaining a simultaneous focus on critical areas that are thought to impede academic development. This paper draws attention to the importance of disciplinary crossover by uncovering and comparing academics' teaching perspectives, views and beliefs from three disciplines: natural science (chemistry), social science (education) and science education. Through a case study design using the pedagogic frailty model and concept map-mediated interviews as a tool, three academics engaged in a non-linear discourse in which their conceptions could be visualised and analysed. Analysis of the case study interviews indicated that the academics' conceptions of teaching were highly individualised. The discourse surrounding the curriculum, and the embeddedness of and connection between pedagogy and discipline, were both subject-sensitive and influenced by professional backgrounds and research areas. On the other hand, because they operated under the same institutional values and regulations, we found a considerable overlap in terms of how the academics perceived the tensions between research and teaching and academic leadership. By comparing three academics who were at a different stage in the journey from disciplinary experts (chemistry) to teaching expert (education), we were able to uncover and understand more about the ways that the teaching environment impacted upon their practices. The science educator shared aspects of the other two perspectives, which suggests that his profile was a transitory state in comparison with the chemist and the educationist. The findings provide a glimpse of the distinctive nature of the values that underpin teaching and offer insights that can be used to promote dialogue about quality enhancement in science education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a graduate level engineering education course, "Leadership, Policy, and Change in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education." Offered for the first time in 2007, the course integrated the perspectives of three instructors representing disciplines of engineering, education, and engineering education. Included within this paper is justification for creating such a course for STEM graduate students, information about current efforts to integrate leadership and policy in engineering programs, descriptions of the course units and course deliverables, and lessons learned by course instructors. Authors acknowledge the difficulties of co-teaching such a course and of introducing students within technical disciplines to social sciences content and educational practices. Positive aspects of course development include opportunities to engage students in conversations about STEM policy and to create new literature integrating STEM concepts and leadership, policy, and change principles. Suggestions for creating a course at other universities are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The international take-up and rapid development of environmental assessment (EA) systems has been driven by the introduction of EA legal requirements and by the advancement of methodological aspects published in the EA literature. However, despite the existence of common legal frameworks and methodological guidelines, the way in which EA is practised and conceived within a multidisciplinary context varies. There are a range of interpretations defining the way in which EA should be used and how EA fits within different disciplines; in Europe, this variation is reflected in the formative and educational programmes offered by universities in EU Member States. This paper identifies existing trends in EA education by providing an overview of the ways in which EA is taught in Europe. A comparative analysis of 64 EA-related Master programmes representing nine EU Member States is conducted. Furthermore, the paper aims to set the basis for a discussion on the different social science and physical science understandings of EA revealed by the research findings. We recommend that interlinkages between these two understandings be improved and suggest that this could occur through the introduction of formal EA education, enhanced collaboration between different types of departments, and holistic approaches to teaching and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper does not intend to empirically establish whether Disability Studies is old or new; instead, it aims to uncover what the gloss "new" means in relation to mainstream sociology's rejection of such a claim and the repetitive articulation of it by Disability Studies. Conceptions of disability found in traditional sociological studies of disability-as-deviance are explored, turning first to the work of Goffman and then to a mainstream deviance text book. The paper then uncovers the values and assumptions that lie behind the social act of conceiving Disability Studies as a "new" field of inquiry. Thus, "new" is symbolic of an affirmation of inquiry into ablebodiedness as itself a culture in need of critical engagement. It is also a way to articulate the standpoint of disability as a means to provoke such inquiry. Further, "new" is a rhetorical device to highlight that many Disability Studies researchers are now challenging the mainstream approaches to the study of disability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current paper rethinks the history of Sociology as a school discipline, by reconstituting its trajectory marked by absences and presences in the school curriculum, and by reflecting on the reasons for its intermittence, with other arguments as yet not developed by researchers in this field. Research has been developed in two parts: a) the first part analyzed the presence of Sociology in the curriculum of the first half of the twentieth century, investigating the process of its introduction and withdrawal; b) the second part focuses on the process of its gradual reintroduction in basic education through an analysis of the meanings attributed to it and to institutional progress and impasses that marked its advance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arts IRIS (Introductory Research and Information Skills) is a compulsory online information literacy unit for commencing students in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at The University of Western Australia (UWA). The aim of Arts IRIS is to provide students with a foundation in research and information literacy skills for studying at university. The evaluation of Arts IRIS involved an analysis of student perceptions of the unit (from surveys) and hard data (from WebCT - the University's Learning Management System). This paper will discuss the findings and consider how the data obtained from the evaluation will inform future changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Incorporating autobiography into the classroom has the potential to facilitate reflective and interpretative practices, through which self-understanding and transformative learning may emerge. Bridging theory, practice, and the personal, this paper explores how autobiographical narratives were incorporated into a 9th grade social studies class to create a curricular space which values and embraces student voice, encourages a ethic of care and understanding between students, and embodies both the lived and living experiences. Through this experience students were able to explore their personal relationship to history, assimilate and accommodate new ideas and experiences, and engage in meaningful dialogue about values, beliefs, and perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines a module on interviewing in social sciences at the Doctoral programme in Social Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina). It argues that teaching this research technique demands the use of a variety of pedagogic devices or interview practice (Kvale 2006). They facilitate the acquisition of the crafty, professional and creative aspects of qualitative research. Firstly, this paper examines the nature of the role of the qualitative researcher that underpinned the selection of contents and the pedagogic organisation of the module. It argues that the job of qualitative researchers should be understood as a profession with crafty and creative dimensions. Secondly, this article depicts the module, its population and two types of interview practice: individual exercises and discussion guides. These pedagogic devices are examined. Evidence of their contribution to the practical acquisition of a research habitus is presented. This habitus instills reflexive, professional, ethical and creative attitudes and dispositions in doctoral students, crucial for their professional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper traces the history of the development of programs in ethnomethodology at Boston University and Manchester University by offering comparisons with the ideal type model of “school,” The Chicago School of Sociology. It focuses primarily on institutional structures and arrangements rather than shared theoretical or methodological perspectives. It shows that a small core faculty, aided by extended collegial and research relationships in the local area and with visiting and part-time faculty, can develop and sustain a program over several decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social Studies, including history and geography, is a core part of most state curriculum standards for K-12 education, and for the most part is in need of improvement. Among the technological solutions that have been developed, interactive maps show promise in making the complexities of the social sciences (especially historical geography) more interesting to students, and easier to visualize and understand, without demanding significant investments by schools. A two-group experiment examined this potential for the 7th Grade Utah Studies curriculum. After completing an exercise to analyze possible historical and geographical causes of settlement patterns in Utah, students using interactive maps showed significantly better improvement between a pretest and post-test than students using paper maps. Although some of the test results were inconclusive and highlighted technological and resource obstacles to the widespread adoption of interactive mapping in the classroom, it has been shown to help students learn social studies in a deeper, more engaging manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the results of fusing different soda! work education trends in planning a relevant curriculum. These trends include a focus on practice-specific competencies, specialization of graduate programs, and the emerging role of students as consumers and evaluators of their educational experiences. Recommendations for designing processes of evaluation are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order for social work education to contribute to improving practice, it needs to reflect the complexity and diversity of the demands for services in practice. An integrative curricular model can contribute to this. This paper examines the social work curriculum, its application to practice in a tripartite model, and issues coinciding with this approach. The framework includes an integration of the technocratic, conflict, and process models into the currisculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]