The Evolutionary Naturalist Challenge to Non-Naturalist Normative Epistemic Realism

In Chapter 12, the author presents and responds to Street’s evolutionary naturalist challenge to non-naturalist normative realism, especially as applied to non-naturalist normative epistemic realism. He begins by defining scientistic naturalism. Then he introduces a new conception of non-Platonist sensitivity to fundamental normative principles, especially fundamental epistemic principles. The author refers to this as probabilistic sensitivity. It is not any form of direct insight into the content of the fundamental epistemic principles; it is a sensitivity of our particular epistemic judgments, both explicit and implicit, to the requirements of those principles in particular cases. The author responds to Street’s challenge by arguing that her position, a form of scientistic naturalism, is subject to reliability defeat. He avoids reliability defeat for his own position by arguing that evolution selected for better learners over worse learners, and this selection produced beings with probabilistic sensitivity to the metaphysically necessary, fundamental principles of epistemic rationality, which are the principles for being a good learner.

Improving the Quality of Gaming Apps After Testing using Genetic Algorithm

Software testing is a field to insure that delivery of any software or application in android is error free. Education program in Software Engineering aims at imparting skills among the students that focus upon meeting the expectations of the fluctuating needs of the industry. It has always been a worry about the skills and knowledge becoming outdated in a flash. The current article focuses the results and draws on experiences from improving the quality of a computer game after testing process using Genetic Algorithm. The quality of Gamming Apps can improve some areas of an individual like learning ability, problem solving, and sovereign learning and learn by doing. In order to better understand this research authors applied this change to 100 students which shows that they are good learner compare to others. The improved quality of the gamming also give the confidence to the parents that their child will learn in efficient manner.

Evaluation in tertiary education

In Aotearoa New Zealand, the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) has an evaluative quality-assurance framework for all non-university tertiary education organisations. NZQA expects organisations to engage in their own self-assessment to maintain and improve quality and achieve outcomes. However, NZQA allows each organisation to decide its own methods, so long as self-assessment is systematic and planned, and improvement activities and decisions are evidence based. In 2015, our organisation decided to undertake a programme of evaluation as part of organisational self-assessment. The programme focused mostly on carrying out small-scale formal evaluations of new initiatives, activities, and programmes that were achieving good learner outcomes. This article describes three case-study examples to illustrate the range of evaluation activities completed to date. In our experience, evaluation provides a strong mechanism for education providers to define what quality is, taking into account the outcomes students, communities, and employers are seeking, as well as the external benchmarks and output measures government agencies use. Our experiences of evaluation have implications for evaluators. We have demonstrated that evaluation capability can be enhanced by teaming novice evaluators with those who are more experienced. We have also noted that organisational culture and leadership are crucial in ensuring evaluation findings are implemented. Multiple lenses on quality allow institutions to develop and demonstrate their ability to respond to the changing needs of students and stakeholders and enable students’ skill development to be recognised. We have found that evaluation builds confidence: in teachers to innovate and do things differently; in communities to work closely with providers to ensure their needs are met; in quality-assurance agencies that education standards meet required national and international benchmarks; and in funders who want to know public funding is being used wisely.

TOWARDS AUTONOMY IN LANGUAGE LEARNING: THEORETICAL IMPLICATIONS AND PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

It is the purpose of this paper to examine some aspects of autonomy in language learning with a specific focus on the transition from high school to the first year at university. This transition can be problematic, in that study at a university level requires a degree of independence and initiative which is not generally required in the supportive learning environment of the school system. Our starting point is identifying those characteristics which make a good language learner (Naiman et al. 1978; Johnson 2001; Maftoon and Seyyedrezaei 2012) and to demonstrate that these characteristics are largely an innate capacity of some and not all learners. Among these characteristics there is the ability to establish a systematic and autonomous approach to the learning process on the basis of personal inclinations and individual life-skills (Dublin Descriptors 2005). In this sense the good learner is not a passive participant in the process, but, as Schön (1987) claims, acts as a ‘problem-solver’, able to make decisions and put those decisions into practice. That is to say, learning is ‘the creation of knowledge’ (Kolb 1984). Finally, an approach to developing learner autonomy is illustrated, based on the personal experience of the author within the context of a first year ESP course in Communication Studies at the University of Cagliari (Italy). The course makes extensive use of the new technologies through a Moodle platform. It will be demonstrated that a blend of traditional teaching and e-learning can provide a ‘bridge’ between school and university, allowing the learner to move within a flexible environment and acquire the skills necessary for successful learning.

Predictive Validity of Knowledge Tests for Pilot Training Outcome

Tests of subject-specific knowledge (mathematics, physics, and English as a foreign language for non-English-speaking countries) are commonly used in test batteries for the selection of ab initio pilots – for example, the Air Force Officer Qualifying Test (AFOQT) or the German Aerospace Center (DLR) assessment. However, in validity research, knowledge tests are often underrepresented. This study evaluated the predictive validity of knowledge tests compared with cognitive ability tests and school grades. The validity criterion was the outcome of pilot training (pass/fail) of a preselected group of applicants (N = 402) who completed a 2-year flight training program. The predictive validity of the entire test battery was r = .55. Cognitive ability tests, knowledge tests, and school grades emerged as comparably valid predictors. These findings are discussed in the framework of Cattell’s theory of fluid and crystallized intelligence, suggesting that knowledge tests are predictively valid because they are indicators of motivation and of being a good learner.