“Real Change Comes from Within!”: Towards a Symbiosis of Human and Digital Guides in the Museum

Extensive research on mobile guides for museums has explored the potential of technology to offer some of the services that have been traditionally provided by human guides, including guiding visitors in the museum space, providing information about the exhibits, and using more advanced interpretative approaches such as digital storytelling and gamified techniques. However, the majority of these approaches either ignores or tries to substitute entirely the role of the human guide. In this work, we present a user study with 10 experienced tour guides, currently working in the museum of modern art of the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation. Based on a three-phase procedure, the study is designed to empower professionals into envisaging their work in symbiosis with current technological developments. First, we attempt to identify existing challenges guides face and to capture their tacit knowledge in addressing emerging problems in guided tours. In the second and third stage, through a reflective and productive discussion, we employ a set of contemporary innovative digital applications as a starting point to elicit their views on their role in an envisaged symbiotic future of human-led hybrid digital experiences.

The use of carefully planned board work to support the productive discussion of multiple student responses in a Japanese problem-solving lesson

In this paper, we analyse a grade 8 (age 13–14) Japanese problem-solving lesson involving angles associated with parallel lines, taught by a highly regarded, expert Japanese mathematics teacher. The focus of our observation was on how the teacher used carefully planned board work to support a rich and extensive plenary discussion (neriage) in which he shifted the focus from individual mathematical solutions to generalised properties. By comparing the teacher’s detailed prior planning of the board work (bansho) with that which he produced during the lesson, we distinguish between aspects of the lesson that he considered essential and those he treated as contingent. Our analysis reveals how the careful planning of the board work enabled the teacher to be free to explore with the students the multiple alternative solution methods that they had produced, while at the same time having a clear overall purpose relating to how angle properties can be used to find additional solution methods. We outline how these findings from within the strong tradition of the Japanese problem-solving lesson might inform research and teaching practice outside of Japan, where a deep heritage of bansho and neriage is not present. In particular, we highlight three prominent features of this teacher’s practice: the detailed lesson planning in which particular solutions were prioritised for discussion; the considerable amount of time given over to student generation and comparison of alternative solutions; and the ways in which the teacher’s use of the board was seen to support the richness of the mathematical discussions.

LIS neutrality: a Wittgensteinian interpretation

PurposeThis study builds on a first study by Macdonald and Birdi (2019) that argues the concept of neutrality within library and information science (LIS) demands a sensitivity to context often omitted in existing literature. This study aims to develop the conceptual architecture of LIS neutrality in a way that is more conducive to reconciling the contextual nuance found in within the first study.Design/methodology/approachThe approach taken develops LIS neutrality through a Wittgensteinian lens. Two distinct ideas are explored. First, Wittgenstein's notion of a “grammatical investigation” is used to map the varied contexts in which neutrality is used within professional practice. Liberal neutrality is explored as an analogy to lend plausibility to the concept's heterogeneity. Second, Wittgenstein's “family resemblance” develops the concept in a way that facilitates greater contextual understanding.FindingsThree features of liberal neutrality literature: conceptual heterogeneity, distinct justifications for specific conceptions and the possibility that neutrality may operate with limited scope are applied to LIS neutrality. All three features successfully translate, leaving “latent conceptual space” to understand LIS neutrality as nuanced and multifaceted. Second, “family resemblance” also translates successfully, bringing its own pedagogical benefits.Originality/valueThis study's originality lies in its development of LIS neutrality using a descriptive Wittgensteinian lens. Understanding the concept via this paradigm may facilitate a more productive discussion of LIS neutrality and pave the way for a new, less polarised, normative response to it.

Human Embryo Genome Editing: An Interdisciplinary Approach

The prospects for the human embryos genome editing cause intense debates both in the scientific community and in general public. While the main attention of scientists is focused on the safety, effectiveness and clinical feasibility of the inherited genome editing, the public pays attention to the bioethical aspects of the issue - the prospects of a baby design, the development of new forms of social inequality and intervention in human evolution. The authors conducted an interdisciplinary analysis of medical genetics and bioethical issues of human embryo genome editing, revealed the possibilities and limitations of genome editing technology, and considered the specifics of ethical discussions. The conceptualization of the main approaches of natural and social sciences in a general theoretical framework made it possible not only to take into account the complex nature of the issues, but also to create the prerequisites for its further productive discussion.

What he could have said (but did not say) about Gödel’s second theorem: A note on Floyd-Putnam’s Wittgenstein

In several publications, Juliet Floyd and Hilary Putnam have argued that the so-called ‘notorious paragraph’ of the Remarks on the Foundations of Mathematics contains a valuable philosophical insight about Gödel’s informal proof of the first incompleteness theorem – in a nutshell, the idea they attribute to Wittgenstein is that if the Gödel sentence of a system is refutable, then, because of the resulting ω-inconsistency of the system, we should give up the translation of Gödel’s sentence by the English sentence “I am unprovable”. I will argue against Floyd and Putnam’s use of the idea, and I will indirectly question its attribution to Wittgenstein. First, I will point out that the idea is inefficient in the context of the first incompleteness theorem because there is an explicit assumption of soundness in Gödel’s informal discussion of that theorem. Secondly, I will argue that of he who makes the observation that Floyd and Putnam think Wittgenstein has made about the first theorem, one will expect to see an analogous observation (concerning the ‘consistency’ statement of systems) about Gödel’s second incompleteness theorem – yet we see nothing to that effect in Wittgenstein’s remarks. Incidentally, that never-made remark on the import of the second theorem is of genuine logical significance. ‏ ‎This short paper is a by-product of the lecture I gave, as an invited speaker, at the Fourth Annual Conference of the Iranian Association for Logic, 2016. I am grateful to Saeed Salehi for an ongoing and productive discussion on different aspects of Gödel’s 1931 paper, and to Ali Masoudi and Mousa Mohammadian for all the friendly and brotherly support. I’d like to dedicate this paper to the memory of my teacher, John V. Canfield (1934 – 2017).

Erotic Comics in Japan

Comics and cartoons from Japan, or manga and anime, are an increasingly common feature of visual and popular culture around the world. While it is often observed that these media forms appeal to broad and diverse demographics, including many adults, eroticism continues to unsettle critics and has even triggered legal action in some jurisdictions. It is more urgent than ever to engage in productive discussion, which begins with being informed about content that is still scarcely understood outside small industry and fan circles. Erotic Comics in Japan: An Introduction to Eromanga is the most comprehensive introduction in English to erotic comics in Japan, or eromanga. Divided into three parts, it provides a history of eroticism in Japanese comics and cartoons generally leading to the emergence of eromanga specifically, an overview of seven themes running across works with close analysis of outstanding examples and a window onto ongoing debates surrounding regulation and freedom of expression in Japan.

Voluntary and Involuntary Imagination: Neurological Mechanisms, Developmental Path, Clinical Implications, and Evolutionary Trajectory

A vivid and bizarre dream conjures up a myriad of novel mental images. The same exact images can be created volitionally when awake. The neurological mechanisms of these two processes are different. The voluntary combination of mental objects is mediated by the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) and patients with damage to the LPFC often lose this ability. Conversely, the combination of mental objects into novel images during dreaming does not depend on the LPFC; LPFC is inactive during sleep and patients whose LPFC is damaged do not notice a change in their dreams. Neither colloquial English nor scientific jargon has an established way to report on the origin of a conjured up mental image; the term “imagination” is regularly used to describe any experience generated internally whether voluntarily (in waking) or involuntarily (in dreaming). Failing to distinguish between voluntary and involuntary imagination leads to confusion in developmental psychology, neurolinguistics, and paleoanthropology. A comprehensive understanding of the distinction between voluntary and involuntary imagination will help develop better therapy for children with language delay, contribute to a clearer understanding of the uniqueness of human language, and enable a more productive discussion of the evolutionary origin of human language.

Change is Hard but Not Impossible

Chapter 7 summarizes the main points of the book and reiterates concrete, actionable steps to encourage rational and clear thinking when it comes to political discussion. It also reflects on the successes of the LGBT community and allies in terms of opinion change, focusing on three important components: visibility and closeness, message and tone, and diversity. While it may seem that we are in constant and vigorous disagreement, there are many things we share in common, including a desire to stop the contentiousness and vitriol in American politics. The concluding chapter includes a summary of the entire book, highlighting how to use tools like data and information, emotion, interpersonal trust, and shared identities to promote meaningful and productive discussion about sometimes difficult political issues.

Magnitudes Count in Math Education – an Interdisciplinary View

How children learn basic skills such as discriminating between different quantities and counting? According to the dominant Approximate Number System (ANS) theory,humans are born with the ability to discriminate between discrete quantities (i.e.,numbers). Accordingly, early math curriculum should focus on discrete quantities. This theory guides many early-math curricula worldwide. We provide a review of empirical evidence challenging the ANS theory and introduced a more recent theoretical framework, the Approximate Magnitude System (AMS). This theory suggests that continuous magnitudes (such as area, density, volume, etc.) are more intuitive and acquired earlier then the ability to understand numbers. Using examples from early math education practices, we emphasize and demonstrate the potential benefits of taking the AMS approach and using magnitudes as a scaffolding for understanding numbers and more complex math concepts. Insights gained from studies that combines both cognitive psychology and educational research, with the active participation and contribution of early-math teachers, may be of assistance to both cognitive psychologists, interested in how math abilities develop, and to educators, looking to improve math curriculum. We hope that this article will inspire others to consider research in this direction and start a productive discussion on the role of continuous magnitudes in teaching math.