1,720,960 research outputs found
Using Mindfulness, Core Values, And Interdisciplinary Conversation To Develop Critical And Creative Thinking
No full textLocation: JC Room A
In our current culture of speed and obsession with the new, it is easy to lose sight of what's really important. Martin Luther King, Jr., wrote of this half a century ago:
The stability of the large world house which is ours will involve a revolution of values to accompany the scientific and freedom revolutions engulfing the earth. We must rapidly begin the shift from a "thing"-oriented society to a "person"-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism and militarism are incapable of being conquered. A civilization can flounder as readily in the face of moral and spiritual bankruptcy as it can through financial bankruptcy (in hooks, 1994, p. 27).
Dominant discourse here at Mason is quite interested in how we can profit from and contribute to technological development but too often overlooks how we can contribute to the development of an ethical culture that balances economic development with social justice and environmental sustainability. As educators, introducing the discourse of values encourages students to think critically about their own beliefs, mindsets, and actions and those of the world around them without needing to impose our own values on them. A values-based approach to critical analysis engages students in thinking about how, to use the language of Brené Brown, our "practice values" often differ from our "aspirational values," and how we might bring our individual and collective actions more in line with our sense of ethics. By engaging students in thinking about values, we move the discourse towards "a "person"-oriented society." This experiential workshop presents a values-based interdisciplinary approach to teaching critical thinking. This approach, which was developed in a composition course for international graduate students, uses mindfulness, reflection on core values, and interdisciplinary conversation to help students:
find the mental space that allows for creativity and insight
understand social and disciplinary issues from a broader perspective
take a critical view of scholarly conversations
gain confidence in their ideas
connect their values and experiences with course topics
develop more complex thinking and creative approaches to problems.
Mindfulness provides a foundational practice that encourages students to get to know their own habits of mind, find some distance from emotional reactions to different/new ideas, and connect with their natural creativity and insight. From that starting point, reflection on personal core values provides the basis for analyzing the social core values at stake in different academic and professional fields and conversations on any topic. With these tools, students can not only analyze the motivation for people participating in particular work or conversations, they can determine what it is that they want to contribute. Students can thus see how drawing on their core values can help them navigate conflicts, communicate more clearly, find direction, and contribute according to their unique experiences and gifts. Participants in this mini-workshop will practice meditation, reflect on their own core values, identify the core values of different academic disciplines, and engage with the values at stake in academic discussions. They will see how discussing values helps us respond to texts and problems more holistically and creatively and develop lesson and assignment ideas for their own classes.
Brown, B. (2015). Daring Greatly: How the courage to be vulnerable transforms the way we live, love, parent, and lead. New York: Avery.
Hooks, Bell (1994). Teaching to Transgress: Education as the practice of freedom. New York: Routledge
Loving Criticism: A Spiritual Philosophy of Social Change
No full textThis essay examines antiracist feminist writing and activist oral histories, finding in these scholars' and organizers' attention to the role of spirit in their work an approach it names “loving criticism.” Loving criticism seeks knowledge that does something besides expose the truth of oppression. It seeks to amplify kindness, creativity, love, and joy wherever it can find it, so that the critic, activist, and the world can draw on these resources. Love leads us to bring old knowledges into our work and to find common ground with those whom we protest and criticize. Through loving criticism, we look for and encourage the best in others and ourselves, trusting that nourishing our creative parts is intrinsically good. Love helps us find alternatives to oppositional thinking and violence so that we can create deep, lasting change
Incorporating Meditation into Learning
No full textMeditation has been found to have many beneficial effects on learning: increasing attention, cognition, and empathy; reducing stress and anxiety; strengthening metacognition; and relaxing judgmental thoughts, which can improve resilience and encourages thoughtful exploration of local and global issues and experiences, especially in diverse environments. In this mini-workshop, led by a trained meditation instructor at Mason, participants will experience a short guided meditation, have the opportunity to discuss meditation and mindfulness, and learn different ways that mindfulness can be incorporated into the classroom to support a variety of learning goals. Participants will be able to articulate what mindfulness is and identify some different kinds of mindfulness practices. They will learn some simple activities that can bring mindfulness into the classroom to support learning goals.
___________________________________________________________
FULL ABSTRACT:
Many students find it difficult to focus, take risks, or to open their minds to new people and ideas. Some students may lack the confidence to try when faced with new cognitive tasks, such as challenging writing assignments. And many students may prefer what is familiar to the discomfort of learning and considering that our long-held ideas and beliefs may be incorrect.
Meditation is a practice of making friends with discomfort, of getting to know our habits of mind and gaining some distance from our emotional reactions. These features of meditation make it incredibly useful, if not essential, for critical thinking. By observing and letting go of thoughts, meditators train their minds to focus and also to open. Repeated practice of meditation has even been shown through EEG and fMRI studies to change the structure of the brain, thickening areas associated with attention (Ricard, Lutz, & Davidson, 2014) and strengthening gamma oscillations, which seems to indicate âan ongoing state of open, rich awarenessâ (Goleman & Davidson, 2018).
Social science research on meditation has found many beneficial effects on learning, including increasing attention, cognition, and empathy; reducing stress and anxiety; strengthening metacognition; and relaxing judgmental thoughts, which can improve resilience and have beneficial social effects, especially in diverse environments (Shapiro, Brown, & Astin, 2011). Meditation has the potential to transform studentsâ learning experiences and support their intellectual, creative, and personal development. In a diverse educational environment, it provides a means to increase confidence, persistence, and empathy for self and others, and it encourages thoughtful exploration of local and global issues and experiences.
In this workshop, led by a Mason faculty member who is also a trained meditation instructor, participants will experience a short guided meditation, have the opportunity to discuss meditation and mindfulness, and learn different ways that mindfulness can be incorporated into the classroom to support a variety of learning goals.
Goleman, Daniel, & Davidson, Richard (2018). How meditation changes your brain â and your life. Lionâs Roar, 16 Mar. 2018. Retrieved from https://www.lionsroar.com/how-meditation-changes-your-brain-and-your-life/?utm_source=Lion%27s+Roar+Newsletter&utm_campaign=22580c14d6-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_03_19&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1988ee44b2-22580c14d6-20868553&mc_cid=22580c14d6&mc_eid=dbd312c18
Healing Justice as Intersectional Feminist Praxis: Well-being Practices for Inclusion and Liberation
Get PDFSince at least the 1830s, Black feminists in the US have spoken of how oppression harms the spirit and have also expressed the need for Black people to respect themselves in the face of anti-Black racism (Guy-Sheftall, 1995). The recognition that oppression negatively impacts well-being continues today. Research in community health and psychology has demonstrated how Black Americans, Native Americans, and Latinx people have been victims of mass incarceration, state-funded and state-sanctioned violence, and systemic discrimination in schools, workplaces, healthcare, and housing. Due to these conditions, racial and ethnic minorities in the US suffer disproportionately from mental and physical illnesses linked with stress, pollution, and trauma. Intersectionality has been recognized as a vital analytical tool in research, helping scholars, managers, educators, healthcare providers, policy-makers, and more understand the complexities of health risks and healthcare responses; of diversity and inclusion in schools, workplaces, and communities; and of inequalities in every area of social science. At the same time, intersectional activists have insisted on a holistic view of social change that forms the basis of what Reverend angel Kyodo williams calls “transcendent movements” (williams & Owens, 2016, p. 201). The work of well-being, on individual and community levels, has been part of resistance against oppression, exploitation, and prejudice which harm the mind, body, and spirit of those on all sides of oppressive power dynamics. As Ruth King (2018) notes, “racism is a heart disease, and it’s curable!” (p. 9). This essay explores past and present intersectional feminist activism that addresses well-being and the tools to achieve well-being as political strategy. It connects contemporary movements like Black Lives Matter, transformative justice, and mutual aid with a history of work by womanists, U.S. third world feminists, intersectional feminists, and LGBTQIA people of color who have recognized that self-care and community-care are political work and that the work of diversity, inclusion, and well-being is one and the same. This knowledge emphasizes the importance of self-care and community-care in politics, public health, education, and other social change work
Loving Criticism: A Spiritual Philosophy of Social Change
No full textThis essay examines antiracist feminist writing and activist oral histories, finding in these scholars' and organizers' attention to the role of spirit in their work an approach it names “loving criticism.” Loving criticism seeks knowledge that does something besides expose the truth of oppression. It seeks to amplify kindness, creativity, love, and joy wherever it can find it, so that the critic, activist, and the world can draw on these resources. Love leads us to bring old knowledges into our work and to find common ground with those whom we protest and criticize. Through loving criticism, we look for and encourage the best in others and ourselves, trusting that nourishing our creative parts is intrinsically good. Love helps us find alternatives to oppositional thinking and violence so that we can create deep, lasting change
Structuring Reading/Writing Assignments to Improve Critical Thinking Skills
Get PDFBRIEF SESSION DESCRIPTION:
Conscious attention to reading improves all studentsâ comprehension of complex content and provides a strong basis for effective writing. Strategies developed at INTO Mason can be used to prepare students for more advanced summary and synthesis writing and to teach students to write for different audiences by developing genre awareness and critical thinking skills and by teaching them to use common rhetorical elements in their own writing. These strategies can be used across a range of disciplines. After attending the session, participants will be able to identify common rhetorical elements in written texts and to use rhetorical elements to structure reading and writing assignments in order to help students improve their understanding of course content and expectations and become more effective writers.
**Participants should bring an assignment (on paper) they want to revise/change and a reading (PDF) that can be connected to the assignment (as a source or a sample).
_______________________________________________________________
FULL ABSTRACT:
Research on multilingual learners has found that receptive skills (reading and listening) are the foundation of successful production (writing and speaking) (Haan and Mallett 2016). Conscious attention to reading improves all studentsâ comprehension of complex content and provides a strong basis for effective writing. In this workshop, participants will practice identifying common rhetorical elements in written texts, analyzing those elements, and using those elements to begin shaping a writing project for undergraduate or graduate students in any discipline. Participants should bring an assignment (on paper) they want to revise/change and a reading (PDF) that can be connected to the assignment (as a source or a sample).
After attending the session, participants will have identified at least one research-supported strategy (small change) that they can incorporate in their teaching to address a challenge or need in their course. Participants will also be aware of resources (books, websites, video series) to help them continue the process of identifying and implementing small changes. Finally, they will be connected to colleagues who are also interested in making small changes and can provide support and accountability moving forward. (We'd be thrilled if new teaching development groups emerged from the session.)
**Participants should bring an assignment (on paper) they want to revise/change and a reading (PDF) that can be connected to the assignment (as a source or a sample).Ã
_______________________________________________________________
FULL ABSTRACT:
Research on multilingual learners has found that receptive skills (reading and listening) are the foundation of successful production (writing and speaking) (Haan and Mallett 2016). Conscious attention to reading improves all studentsââ¬â¢ comprehension of complex content and provides a strong basis for effective writing. In this workshop, participants will practice identifying common rhetorical elements in written texts, analyzing those elements, and using those elements to begin shaping a writing project for undergraduate or graduate students in any discipline. Participants should bring an assignment (on paper) they want to revise/change and a reading (PDF) that can be connected to the assignment (as a source or a sample).
After attending the session, participants will have identified at least one research-supported strategy (small change) that they can incorporate in their teaching to address a challenge or need in their course. Participants will also be aware of resources (books, websites, video series) to help them continue the process of identifying and implementing small changes. Finally, they will be connected to colleagues who are also interested in making small changes and can provide support and accountability moving forward. (We'd be thrilled if new teaching development groups emerged from the session.
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
- …
