This study was carried out within the European research project "Biology, Health and Environmental Education for Better Citizenship". It is a comparative analysis of textbooks from eight Mediterranean countries whic...This study was carried out within the European research project "Biology, Health and Environmental Education for Better Citizenship". It is a comparative analysis of textbooks from eight Mediterranean countries which differ by their cultures, their socio-economical levels, and their religions. This work is focused on the sensitive educational topic "Human Reproduction and Sex Education". And 43 biology textbooks are analyzed among eight countries: four are in Europe and four in Africa and Middle East. Grids were built to identify implicit values in the texts and images. It is a more precisely explicit or implicit presence of cultural, socio-economical, and ethical dimensions. The investigation concerns whether the authors of textbooks present differently this theme depending on the socio-cultural, ethical, and religious contexts. The content of the textbooks was analyzed as reflecting the conceptions of their authors and publishers. The outcomes of the analyses show that several textbooks present images of human beings restricted to only one ethnic type, usually white-skinned and with fair hair. The social, cultural, economical, and ethical dimensions were generally absent, except for some interest for them in few European textbooks.展开更多
Consciousness is the main quality one can ask architecture students. Consciousness means the ability to recognize that the design process is a "problem solving" activity and not an exercise of uncontrolled imaginati...Consciousness is the main quality one can ask architecture students. Consciousness means the ability to recognize that the design process is a "problem solving" activity and not an exercise of uncontrolled imagination. In architectural education, small structures are a common subject in American and European universities where the inductive teaching is practiced routinely. This teaching experiment is developed within a design studio course in the second year of an architecture degree course and regards design and construction of a small bridge l:l scale. The exercises focus on the role of structural behaviour within architectural design. The teaching method contributes to the perception of the great complexity of the design process, to the acquisition of an attitude of prudence in design choices and to attention to detail in the development of creativity.展开更多
文摘This study was carried out within the European research project "Biology, Health and Environmental Education for Better Citizenship". It is a comparative analysis of textbooks from eight Mediterranean countries which differ by their cultures, their socio-economical levels, and their religions. This work is focused on the sensitive educational topic "Human Reproduction and Sex Education". And 43 biology textbooks are analyzed among eight countries: four are in Europe and four in Africa and Middle East. Grids were built to identify implicit values in the texts and images. It is a more precisely explicit or implicit presence of cultural, socio-economical, and ethical dimensions. The investigation concerns whether the authors of textbooks present differently this theme depending on the socio-cultural, ethical, and religious contexts. The content of the textbooks was analyzed as reflecting the conceptions of their authors and publishers. The outcomes of the analyses show that several textbooks present images of human beings restricted to only one ethnic type, usually white-skinned and with fair hair. The social, cultural, economical, and ethical dimensions were generally absent, except for some interest for them in few European textbooks.
文摘Consciousness is the main quality one can ask architecture students. Consciousness means the ability to recognize that the design process is a "problem solving" activity and not an exercise of uncontrolled imagination. In architectural education, small structures are a common subject in American and European universities where the inductive teaching is practiced routinely. This teaching experiment is developed within a design studio course in the second year of an architecture degree course and regards design and construction of a small bridge l:l scale. The exercises focus on the role of structural behaviour within architectural design. The teaching method contributes to the perception of the great complexity of the design process, to the acquisition of an attitude of prudence in design choices and to attention to detail in the development of creativity.