Visual communication in research: a third space between science and art

Ample scientific literature recognises the role of visual thinking in the constructive process of ideas and mental images and the function of visual intelligence in the communicative processes. Starting from the sectoral studies, we have turned our attention to the visual communication of the results of scientific research, relating it to some characteristics of artistic communication to find a shared ground, that is, a third space inhabited by common languages and competencies. In so doing, we have overcome the traditional antinomy between humanists and scientists, starting instead from the results of a recent study that has shown how such an opposition does not find real confirmation in the sector of science communication. We have thus analysed three case studies (graphical abstract, augmented reality, audiovisual documentation) on the grounds of a 10-year long experience of research in the field of visual communication (iconography and iconology, art teaching, video research) to acknowledge visual thinking and graphical/artistic competencies, situated in the third space between didactics and art, a fundamental role in the formation of a scientist and a researcher.

On the nature of the sustainability of the process in time

Introduction. Why do the ideas about time in ‘The Iliad’ and in the conditions of modern transmission speeds of large flows of information unexpectedly converge, and the key point is the study of the forms of stability of the process in time? What do we really mean by ingrained thinking and sustainable development, and how do they relate to the evolutionary nature of sustainable processes? The purpose of this paper is to present the form of a sustainable process, its constructive deployment in time by means of a natural science analysis. Materials and Methods. Based on the materials and methods of measuring time-varying quantities, as well as set-theoretic prerequisites for branching the process, it is proposed to look for natural scientific grounds for analyzing the sustainable development of trends in culture in general, in information processes and the education system, in particular. Here we will also try to take a well-known point of view (K. Lorentz, I. Prigozhin), when time, irreversibility, randomness in some constructive process relate to inanimate matter, to life, and to human. Results. Based on the analysis carried out by the author, the answer to the question of whether there are natural conditions for the sustainability of the object-process, in what aspect we can discuss the constructiveness of time, the evolutionary rooting of sustainable processes, branching points and the ‘stretching’ of a sustainable educational process into the future is presented. Conclusions. Our ideas about the processes in time and the conditions of their sustainability in the broadest cultural aspect, including the education system, need to be clarified. The constructive deployment of the process in time has its own structure that ensures the evolutionary rooting of the process and, in particular, the educational process.

Drawing out classroom social climate: The use of participant-produced drawings in research on psychosocial classroom learning environment in the context of school mathematics

Over the last twenty years, visual methods in childhood research have become more mainstream across social science research. Through this paradigm shift, children became active agents in the research process. Participant-produced drawings in particular allow a constructive process of thinking in action, rather than seeing drawings as simple representations of the participants’ worldviews. In this paper, we use participant-produced drawings as a window into students’ perceptions of the mathematics classroom learning milieu from a social perspective. The goals of this report are threefold: (1) to conceptualize the complex and multifaceted construct of classroom social climate from the standpoint of primary grade students by using a qualitative research approach (i.e., participant-produced drawings), (2) to evaluate the extent to which participant-produced drawings can be used when researching the construct of classroom social climate, and (3) to provide two analytical tools that can be used in qualitative inquiry on classroom social climate in different mathematics lessons. To conclude, versatile recommendations for theory and practice are discussed regarding the employed methodology (i.e., participant-produced drawings as a visual research method) as well as some possible future directions.

Failures to disagree' is essential for environmental science to effectively influence policy development.

While environmental science, and ecology in particular, is working to provide better understanding to base sustainable decisions on, the way scientific understanding is developed can at times be detrimental to this cause. Locked-in debates are often unnecessarily polarized and can compromise any common goals of the opposing camps. The present paper is inspired by a resolved debate from an unrelated field of psychology where Nobel laureate David Kahneman and Garry Klein turned what seemed to be a locked-in debate into a constructive process for their fields. The present paper is also motivated by previous discourses regarding the role of thresholds in natural systems for management and governance, but its scope of analysis targets the scientific process within complex social-ecological systems in general. We identified five features of environmental science that appear to predispose for locked-in debates: 1) The strongly context dependent behaviour of ecological systems. 2) The dominant role of single hypothesis testing. 3) The high prominence given to theory demonstration compared investigation. 4) The effect of urgent demands to inform and steer policy. This fertile ground is further cultivated by human psychological aspects as well as the structure of funding and publication systems.

Nationalism as an argument in contemporary Russia. Four perspectives on language in action

This dissertation analyses the uses of the concept of nationalism in Russia from a historical perspective. It is based on four empirical studies examining textual material produced between the years 2000 and 2020. During this time, and after the so-called “conservative turn” in particular, the state leadership in Russia adopted increasingly authoritarian policies vis-à-vis society, and started to portray Russia as being under an external threat. The annexation of Crimea and the onset of the war in Ukraine in 2014 solidified the way in which recent political changes in Russia were characterised as “growing nationalism”. In this temporal context, the study suggests that nationalist discourses are currently shifting, and traces these shifts in scholarly and everyday language. The negative connotations of nationalism in everyday language affect its scholarly use, which is why the aspects of nationalism as an analytical concept, as well as the complex relationship between the concept and the term itself, are expounded in the study. Following the tradition of critical nationalism studies, the dissertation approaches the ‘nation’ as a political claim that results from a constructive process in language. The dissertation draws on the rhetorical tradition of conceptual history in analysing specific concepts, metaphors and narratives within nationalist discourses as a means of framing politics. The way language is used simultaneously defines the boundaries of actual policies. More specifically, the rhetorical choices of politicians map the conditions of belonging to a nation, duly having real implications for people’s lives.

Project - Based Teaching in Model for Meaningful and Technological Integration of the Ecological Education

Project-based learning (PBL) is a comprehensive strategy for activating students' cognitive potential. This opens up great opportunities for a personally motivated and constructive process of learning. Project work is an interactive strategy for implementing the connection between students' theoretical knowledge and practical activity, for linking education to their real life and cognitive experience, for realizing meaningful socialization and for orienting them in the existing informative environment as necessary competences of the modern personality. The article presents the results of the application of project-based training as a model for substantive and technological integration in environmental education, which is in the intersected field of formal and non-formal education. The model was fulfilled with the participation of 7th grade students of Tzvetan Spasov Elementary School and Lazar Stanev Primary School - Pleven, who attend extracurricular activities at the Center for Personal Development Support - Center for Student, Technical and Scientific creativity.

Boundary controllability of a system modelling a partially immersed obstacle

In this paper, we address the problem of boundary controllability for the one-dimensional nonlinear shallow water system, describing the free surface flow of water as well as the flow under a fixed gate structure. The system of differential equations considered can be interpreted as a simplified model of a particular type of wave energy device converter called oscillating water column. The physical requirements naturally lead to the problem of exact controllability in a prescribed region. In particular, we use the concept of nodal profile controllability in which at a given point (the node) time-dependent profiles for the states are required to be reachable by boundary controls. By rewriting the system into a hyperbolic system with nonlocal boundary conditions, we at first establish the existence and uniqueness of the semi-global classical solution for the system, then get the local controllability and that of nodal profile using a constructive method. In addition, based on this constructive process, we provide an algorithmic concept to calculate the required boundary control function for generating a solution for solving this control problem.

Generative replay for compositional visual understanding in the prefrontal-hippocampal circuit

Understanding the visual world is a constructive process. Whilst a frontal-hippocampal circuit is known to be essential for this task, little is known about the associated neuronal computations. Visual understanding appears superficially distinct from other known functions of this circuit, such as spatial reasoning and model-based planning, but recent models suggest deeper computational similarities. Here, using fMRI, we show that representations of a simple visual scene in these brain regions are relational and compositional - key computational properties theorised to support rapid construction of hippocampal maps. Using MEG, we show that rapid sequences of representations, akin to replay in spatial navigation and planning problems, are also engaged in visual construction. Whilst these sequences have previously been proposed as mechanisms to plan possible futures or learn from the past, here they are used to understand the present. Replay sequences form constructive hypotheses about possible scene configurations. These hypotheses play out in an optimal order for relational inference, progressing from predictable to uncertain scene elements, gradually constraining possible configurations, and converging on the correct scene configuration. Together, these results suggest a computational bridge between apparently distinct functions of hippocampal-prefrontal circuitry, and a role for generative replay in constructive inference and hypothesis testing.

Research on Information Sciences in Cuba: Flows of knowledge during the period 2005-20019

Objective. To characterize the Cuban research on Information Sciences, and to analyze the flows of knowledge between its intellectual base and the research fronts influenced by Cuban researchers. Design/Methodology/Approach. The subject category “Information Science and Library Science” from Web of Science, during the period 2005-2019, was studied. The intellectual base was determined by author co-citation analysis. Citing articles of Cuban authors were analyzed by bibliographic coupling and term co-occurrence techniques. A documental analysis of bibliometric studies on the discipline in Cuba was developed. Results/Discussion. The diversification of the topics discussed overtime was verified, which have been in correspondence with social needs. A sustained increase in scientific production was observed, based on collaboration and intense postgraduate training. A greater number of journals were used to disseminate the results, which were cited from multiple knowledge areas. Conclusions. The communicating vessels between the intellectual base and influenced research fronts evidenced the appropriation of foreign and Cuban referents in the disciplinary constructive process, their growing influence on the global scientific community, and the configuration of a cognitive space of disciplinary confluence between Library Science, Information Science, Archival Science, and Social Communication, closely connected with the thematic axes that lead global research. Originality/Value. An exhaustive documentary review, combined with bibliometric techniques, allowed the thematic characterization and analysis of the evolution of Cuban informational thinking during the last 15 years (2005-2019), in relation to its regional and global context.