1,172 research outputs found
Cuore. De Amicis tra critica e utopia: alcune considerazioni generali
No full textFor many years De Amicis’ bibliography was looked at with a prejudicial eye because of the negative opinions about Hearth. But De Amicis’ work is worth much attention, because the author was able to represent the social changes in the newborn Italian State: the role of the army, the importance of travelling, school’s functions, socialism. Hearth too deserves a reappraisal and Pino Boero, founding his analysis on a literary critic perspective, underlines the narrative abilities of the author’s and his skill in getting in touch with a wider public
Approaching and developing the culture of geometry theorems in school: a theoretical framework
No full textAbstract. This paper is based on research work regarding the approach to geometry theorems and theories in schools carried out over the last eight years by teams in Genoa, Modena and Pisa. These studies have involved students of different age groups (from grade 5 to grade 12) and different thematic contexts. Although the specific goals of these projects differed to some extent, they did share some common features such as general goals, research methodology, epistemological analysis and cultural, cognitive and educational hypotheses. A common framework has emerged as a result of a longstanding dialectic discussion dating back to the design of our teaching experiments: this framework has brought to light some of the deep yet implicit common motives and theoretical perspectives of our independent research designs. This paper provides a unified framework of the research studies which have been reported in other papers (Bartolini Bussi, 1996; Bartolini Bussi & al, 1999; Boero et al., 1996; 1999; Garuti et al., 1996, 1998; Mariotti, 1995; 1996; Mariotti et al, 1997)
Does Empirical Embeddedness Matter? Methodological Issues on Agent-Based Models for Analytical Social Science
No full textThe paper deals with the use of empirical data in social science agent-based models. Agent-based models are too often viewed just as highly abstract thought experiments conducted in artificial worlds, in which the purpose is to generate and not to test theoretical hypotheses in an empirical way. On the contrary, they should be viewed as models that need to be embedded into empirical data both to allow the calibration and the validation of their findings. As a consequence, the search for strategies to find and extract data from reality, and integrate agent-based models with other traditional empirical social science methods, such as qualitative, quantitative, experimental and participatory methods, becomes a fundamental step of the modelling process. The paper argues that the characteristics of the empirical target matter. According to characteristics of the target, ABMs can be differentiated into case-based models, typifications and theoretical abstractions. These differences pose different challenges for empirical data gathering, and imply the use of different validation strategies.Agent-Based Models, Empirical Calibration and Validation, Taxanomy of Models
PROVING AS A RATIONAL BEHAVIOUR: HABERMAS' CONSTRUCT OF RATIONALITY AS A COMPREHENSIVE FRAME FOR RESEARCH ON THE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF PROOF
No full textIn this paper we draw from Habermas' construct of rational behaviour a construct for rationality in proving that we propose as suitable to investigate the teaching and learning of proof and generate new research developments. At first, we discuss our conception of the proving process, where cognitive and cultural aspects are shown to play a crucial role, and we present our adaptation of Habermas' construct as a way of taking into account both cognitive and cultural aspects. The adapted construct is shown to be useful in the discussion of some examples at tertiary level; finally, drawing from the analysis of the examples, we indicate some research questions ( formulated in terms of the theoretical construct) that we feel worth to be explored
THE USE OF ALGEBRAIC LANGUAGE IN MATHEMATICAL MODELLING AND PROVING IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF HABERMAS' THEORY OF RATIONALITY
No full textIn this paper we consider the use of algebraic language in modelling and proving. We will show how a specific model of rational behaviour derived from Habermas' elaboration allows to describe and interpret several kinds of students' difficulties and mistakes in a comprehensive way, provides the teacher with useful indications for the teaching of algebraic language and suggests further research developments
TOWARDS A COMPREHENSIVE FRAME FOR THE USE OF ALGEBRAIC LANGUAGE IN MATHEMATICAL MODELLING AND PROVING
No full textIn this paper we consider the use of algebraic language in modelling and proving. We will show how a specific adaptation of Habermas' construct of rational behaviour allows to describe and interpret several kinds of students' difficulties and mistakes in a comprehensive way, provides the teacher with useful indications for the teaching of algebraic language and suggests further research developments
From Marine Protected Areas to MPA Networks
No full textThe positive impressions described in the European Landscape Convention (ELC) simply identify beauty defined as follows in a popular dictionary: ‘a combination of qualities, such as shape, colour, or form that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight’. The ELC is centred on the way the culture of a population perceives and modifies nature, somehow ‘improving’ it with wise management. Protecting beautiful places, and managing the habitats of European Community importance, is a first step towards recognizing the significance of the marine environment, inviting science to design an approach to its management and protection that goes beyond the biases of the current ‘culture’. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have been instituted to protect biodiversity and to enhance ecosystem functioning, and so adhere, at least in theory, to all the specifications of Good Environmental Status (GES). The assessment of the efficacy of MPA management should consider the attainment of GE
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