This study examined the process of curricular alignment in primary school mathematics and science. Six performance type categories were used to define the cognitive-demand levels evident in the mandated curriculum and elicited through classroom practice. The purpose of this comparative case study is to understand how the intended goals of the mandated curriculum are interpreted for planning, instruction, and assessment purposes. The data includes video-recorded lessons, interviews, planning documents, and work samples from units of work. The results revealed that interpreting the intended goals of the mandated curriculum at the classroom level is a complex and dynamic process. The process is one of iterative interpretation at various levels of curriculum planning. The alignment of performance type expectations are influenced by the "sources of authority" that are accessed, such as standardized testing programs, textbooks, and curriculum consultants. The types of performances that were privileged in assessment practices were reflected in planning and instruction at the school level, indicating that, among other factors, assessment has a critical role in determining how the curriculum is enacted.
Aristotelova koncepcia definície v Druhých analytikách nepredstavuje len zásadný komponent dokazovacej vedy, ale v rôznych podobách je tiež zosobnená v spisoch jednotlivých vied a významným spôsobom ovplyvňuje podobu jeho filozofických a vedeckých skúmaní. I keď je systematickému výkladu spôsobov definovania venovaná celá druhá kniha tohto spisu, plné vyjasnenie účelu definícií sa ukáže až v širšom kontexte Aristotelovho modelu vedy. Cieľom štúdie je systematická interpretácia konceptu definície a predstavenie dvoch hlavných postupov definovania na podklade metódy vedeckého skúmania v spisoch Organonu. -- Podobu definície do značnej miery utvára povaha objektov, ktoré vstupujú do vedeckého skúmania. V prvom rade je nutné zabezpečiť definície elementárnych objektov a vlastností, ktoré konštituujú predmet vedy. V tomto význame vystupujú definície ako jeden z bezprostredných počiatkov vedeckého sylogizmu. Postavenie takzvaných bezprostredných definícií je o to význačnejšie, že ich úlohou nie je len fixovať významy elementárnych pojmov vedeckého jazyka. Aristotelova metodológia vedy je vystavaná na esencialistických základoch a definície tak majú za úlohu zachycovať všetky nutné vlastnosti popisovaného druhu objektov, pričom zároveň z výmeru vylúčia tie vlastnosti, ktoré sú pre neho náhodné. Z toho nasleduje, že jednému druhu nutne náleží len jedna úplná a adekvátna definícia, čo vedcovi umožňuje vytvoriť spoľahlivý základ pre dokazovaciu fázu skúmania zaistením pravdivých premís, ktoré vyčerpávajúcim spôsobom popisujú svoj objekt. -- Na opačnom konci procesu vedeckého skúmania stoja sylogistické definície. Na rozdiel od prvého typu objektu definície, ich predmety sú komplexné a esencia nie je zjavná. Nakoľko cieľom definície je práve zobrazenie esencie, Aristoteles používa dôkaz ako nástroj jej zobrazenia. V tomto kontexte uvádza príklady prírodných fenoménov zatmenia a hromu, ktorých príčina je od nich odlišná, čo vytvára potrebu tohto špecifického postupu ich uchopenia. Na podklade Aristotelovho výkladu, štúdia analyzuje tieto dva typy definovania ako integrálnu súčasť vedeckej metódy a prirodzený dôsledok potreby adekvátneho postihnutia esencie predmetu skúmania. and Aristotle's concept of definition in Posterior Analytics represents a crucial component of the demonstrative science and in various forms determines the shape of his philosophical and scientific inquires. Although, the whole second book of this treatise is devoted to the systematic explanation of the forms of definition, full clarification of the role of definition reveals itself through the context of Aristotle’s concept of science. The aim of this paper is to introduce two main methods of definition on the basis of this concept. -- The form of definition is mostly shaped by the nature of objects, which enter the scientific inquiry. At first it is necessary to acquire the definitions of elementary objects and properties which constitute the object of science. In this meaning the definitions pose as one of the immediate starting-points of scientific syllogism. The position of so-called immediate definitions is most significant for their purpose is not only to consolidate the meanings of elementary terms of the scientific language. Aristotle's methodology of science is built upon essentialist foundations and thus the definitions aim to grasp all the necessary properties of the examined specie while excluding all those properties which are accidental to it. It follows that there is only one complete and adequate definition applicable to specie which allows the scientist to create a reliable foundation for the demonstrative phase of inquiry by acquisition of true premises which fully describe their object. -- Syllogistic definitions stand at the other end of the process of scientific inquiry. In contrast to the first type of the object of definition their objects are complex and essence is unapparent. For the aim of defining is to grasp the essence Aristotle chooses to use demonstration as a tool if it's uncovering. In this context he presents the examples of natural phenomena of eclipse and thunder which cause is different from them to show the need for a specific approach. On the basis of Aristotle's explanations this paper analyses these two types of defining as an integral part of scientific method and a natural result of the need to fully grasp the essence of the examined object.
In this text, I introduce the special feature of Religio: Revue pro religionistiku 20/1, 2012, "Religious Studies as a Scientific Discipline: A Delusion?". I briefly summarize the main argument of the original article "Religious Studies as a Scientific Discipline: The Persistence of a Delusion" by Luther H. Martin and Donald Wiebe, and those of the five responses by Hans Gerald Hödl, Hubert Seiwert, Radek Kundt, Tomáš Bubík, and Kocku von Stuckrad. At the end, I return to the EASR conference 2011 in Budapest, Hungary, where Martin and Wiebe's paper was originally presented, and comment on this event.
I have argued in the past that there has been a massive failure of nerve in the study of religion in the context of the modern research university; that it failed to live up to the scientific objectives enunciated for the field in late nineteenth-century European academic communities. The "comments" here on the current state of the science (or sciences) of religion constitute, in part, a kind of informal critical history of the field known as "Religious Studies." I suggest here that the overall development of the field might actually indicate a positive trajectory since its inception in late nineteenth-century Europe. This essay, therefore, may mitigate somewhat my recent claim (with L. H. Martin) that it is highly unlikely that the scientific study of religion will actually some day come to dominance in religious studies departments in our modern universities.
Article compares some aspects of current interdisciplinary discourse critical of religion with Lucretius' poem De rerum natura. In the first part, I try to show how a brief review of modern scientific literature can assist to resolve one of the much discussed problems in Lucretian scholarship, namely the attitude of Lucretius towards traditional Graeco-Roman religion and the question of (in)coherence of his thought. In the second part, I change the perspective in order to show that, in some key aspects, Lucretius can be viewed as the precursor of contemporary critique of religion.
Ačkoliv patří život a otázky spojené s jeho definicí k tradičním filozofickým tématům, na počátku jednadvacátého století a po zhruba dvou a půl tisíci letech filozofické tradice není k dispozici uspokojivá definice života. Obtíže spojené s definováním života neprovází pouze filozofii, ale všechny obory, kterých se téma života týká. Příčiny tohoto stavu lze vnímat jako kombinaci několika komplementárně spojených skutečností. V textu jsou uvedeny jako důvody pro nemožnost vytvoření univerzální definice života. Postupně se věnují problematice původu života a postulované hranici mezi živým a neživým, vývoji života a jeho různorodosti, mnohostem přístupů k definování života a neustávajícím objevům nových organismů, filozofické tradici a nejasnosti používaných pojmů, vývoji života jako historickému procesu, kritice definic života z pohledu "jednoho vzorku" a reflexi pojmu život konceptuální analýzou. Zdůrazněny tak jsou filozofická tradice, otázky spojené s životem a jeho vybranými definicemi, aktuální poznatky a výzkumy věnující se životu, stejně tak možný přínos filozofie ke snahám nalézt definici života jako takovou. Východiskem předkládaného textu je naturalismus, fyzikalismus a redukcionismus. and Although life and questions connected with its definition among traditional philosophical topics, at the beginning of the twenty-first century and after roughly two and a half thousand years of philosophical tradition no satisfactory definition of life is at one's disposal. Though difficulties bond up with life definition don't accompany philosophy alone, but also almost all fields touched by this topic. Causes of this state of affairs can be viewed as a combination of several complementary connected facts. Those facts are in the text stated as reasons against the possibility of creating universal definition of life and apply here one by one to the origin of life a postulated boarder line between life and nonlife, evolution of life and its variedness, multiplicity of definitions of life and still going discoveries of new organisms, philosophical tradition and lack of clarity of concepts, evolution of life as a historical process, critique of definitions of life from the point of view of "sample one" and reflection of the concept life by conceptual analysis. Particular sources are about to be analyzed from the point of philosophy of biology with care for philosophical tradition, to questions linked with life and its selected definitions, to actual findings and explorations focused on life and possible contribution of philosophy to the endeavor of finding definition of life as such. Ground of proposed text is naturalism, physicalism and reductionism.