Possibilities of an international assessment in geography

A recent editorial in International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education (IRGEE) (Stoltman, Lidstone & Kidman, 2014) highlighted an opportunity for the inclusion of geography as a subject in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) tests. At present TIMSS tests only encompass mathematics and physical sciences. The IRGEE editors encouraged geography educators to take the initiative and be proactive for a TIMSS international assessment in geography to become a reality. This paper reports on a research project to identify the perceptions of the global geography education community on the advantages and challenges of initiating and implementing such tests. The authors highlight a number of consistencies and tensions revealed by the respondents as well as potential issues of validity, reliability and fairness of a geography assessment instrument. The implications of these findings for ongoing research are discussed.

Res Communis? A critical legal geography of outer space, Antarctica, and the deep seabed

This chapter provides a critical legal geography of outer Space, charting the topography of the debates and struggles around its definition, management, and possession. As the emerging field of critical legal geography demonstrates, law is not a neutral organiser of space, but is instead a powerful cultural technology of spatial production. Drawing on legal documents such as the Outer Space Treaty and the Moon Treaty, as well as on the analogous and precedent-setting legal geographies of Antarctica and the deep seabed, the chapter addresses key questions about the legal geography of outer Space, questions which are of growing importance as Space’s available satellite spaces in the geostationary orbit diminish, Space weapons and mining become increasingly viable, Space colonisation and tourism emerge, and questions about Space’s legal status grow in intensity. Who owns outer Space? Who, and whose rules, govern what may or may not (literally) take place there? Is the geostationary orbit the sovereign property of the equatorial states it supertends, as these states argued in the 1970s? Or is it a part of the res communis, or common property of humanity, which currently legally characterises outer Space? Does Space belong to no one, or to everyone? As challenges to the existing legal spatiality of outer Space emerge from spacefaring states, companies, and non-spacefaring states, it is particularly critical that the current spatiality of Space is understood and considered.

The inclusion of geography in TIMSS: Can consensus be reached?

An initial call by the editors of International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education (IRGEE) prompted a study about the inclusion of geography in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) tests. This study found that the geography education community were overwhelmingly in favour of such a move, believing that the information collected would be valuable in enhancing learning outcomes through its impact on research, policy and teaching practice (Lane & Bourke, 2016). However, a number of questions about the development and implementation of this assessment were posed. This paper addresses two of these questions: (1) What is the global geographical education community’s views about Grades 4 and 8 as target year levels for the assessment?; and, (2) What types of knowledge and cognitive dimensions would they like to see assessed? Based on these findings, the overarching key question that requires further discussion is: Can there be some degree of consensus in terms of what should be assessed and how the test should be implemented?

The Feminist Transformation of Bioethics : An Analysis of Theoretical Perspectives and Practical Applications in Feminist Bioethics

The purpose of this study is to examine how transformation is defining feminist bioethics and to determine the nature of this transformation. Behind the quest for transformation is core feminism and its political implications, namely, that women and other marginalized groups have been given unequal consideration in society and the sciences and that this situation is unacceptable and should be remedied. The goal of the dissertation is to determine how feminist bioethicists integrate the transformation into their respective fields and how they apply the potential of feminism to bioethical theories and practice. On a theoretical level, feminist bioethicists wish to reveal how current ways of knowing are based on inequality. Feminists pay special attention especially to communal and political contexts and to the power relations endorsed by each community. In addition, feminist bioethicists endorse relational ethics, a relational account of the self in which the interconnectedness of persons is important. On the conceptual level, feminist bioethicists work with beliefs, concepts, and practices that give us our world. As an example, I examine how feminist bioethicists have criticized and redefined the concept of autonomy. Feminist bioethicists emphasize relational autonomy, which is based on the conviction that social relationships shape moral identities and values. On the practical level, I discuss stem cell research as a test case for feminist bioethics and its ability to employ its methodologies. Analyzing these perspectives allowed me first, to compare non-feminist and feminist accounts of stem cell ethics and, second, to analyze feminist perspectives on the novel biotechnology. Along with offering a critical evaluation of the stem cell debate, the study shows that sustainable stem cell policies should be grounded on empirical knowledge about how donors perceive stem cell research and the donation process. The study indicates that feminist bioethics should develop the use of empirical bioethics, which takes the nature of ethics seriously: ethical decisions are provisional and open for further consideration. In addition, the study shows that there is another area of development in feminist bioethics: the understanding of (moral) agency. I argue that agency should be understood to mean that actions create desires.

A History of the brazil : comprising its geography, commerce, colonizaton, aboriginal inhabitants

É uma tradução da Corographia brasilica... de Ayres de Cazal, acrescida de observações pessoais que o autor colheu durante sua viagem, conforme afirma no prefácio da própria obra. É um livro muito útil para estudo da sociedade pernambucana antes de 1817. A Corographia brasílica..., de Cazal, reveste-se de importância histórica por ter publicado, pela primeira vez, a carta de Pero Vaz de Caminha, segundo informa Borba de Moraes.

Feminist agenda. Euskal narratiba garaikidean

I. Sarrera: 1. Ikerketaren helburua. 2. Aurrekariak. 3. Corpusaren justifikazioa. 4. Ikerlanaren marko teoriko-metodologikoa eta eleberriek lantzen dituzten ardatz tematikoak. 5. Ikerlanaren atalak. II. Memoria eta modus autobiografikoa: 1. Sarrera. 2. Memoria ardatz tematiko, eta modus autobiografikoa kontamolde. 3. Landuko den corpusa eta haren justifikazioa. 4. Espazio femeninoaren sorkuntza idazketan izaten den joera autobiografikoa. 5. Kapitulu honetan aztertu diren nobelen ezaugarriak. 6. Pertsonaien aurkezpena (krisialditik jaiotako pertsonaiak). 7. Ondorioak. III. Genero indarkeria: 1. Sarrera. 2. Kapitulu honetan landuko diren nobelak. 3. Indarkeria ikuspegi soziologikotik. 4. Narratologiatik pertsonaiak aztertzen. 5. Indarkeria sinbolikoaren neurketa semantikoa. 6. Ondorioak. IV. Amatasunaren inguruko diskurtsoak: 1. Sarrera. 2. Amatasunaren inguruko datu soziologikoak. 3. Landuko diren nobelak. 4. Corpuseko eleberriak: amatasunaren kontrako jarrerak. 5. Amatasunaren aldeko aldarria egiten duten corpuseko eleberriak. 6. Emakumeen arteko genealogiak eta ama-alaben arteko harremanak. 7. Ondorioak. V. Ondorio orokorrak: 1. Pertsonaia protagonista femeninoen bilakaera. 2. Emakume berria. 3. Pertsonaia berri horren eraikuntza. VI. Bibliografia.

Negative Effects of Relative Proximity and Absolute Geography on Open Innovation Practices in High-tech SMEs in the UK

© 2014 IEEE. This exploratory study addresses a gap in management literature by addressing the role of location in the continuously expanding field of open innovation research. In this context, we analyze potential negative effects of absolute geography and relative proximity on open innovation practices in high-tech small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the United Kingdom. Drawing upon cluster theory and business ecosystem literature, the analysis from three SME case studies in the East of England suggests that presumed 'favorable' location variables, such as close relative proximity between partners and the presence of economic clusters, can have certain negative effects on open innovation practices.

A feminist trade union agenda? The continued significance of class, gender and race.

During the 1990s attempts to identify a feminist trade union agenda have focused on both the content and process of such a potential agenda. In a period in which trade unions have changed significantly, the general national agenda appears to be changing, acknowledging issues of importance to women. UNISON, Britain's largest trade union, has enshrined proportionality and fair representation in its constitution, developing national initiatives aimed at improving opportunities in work and in the union for women, black workers, manual workers, disabled workers, etc. who traditionally have been less well represented. Many issues affecting women generally have moved to centre stage, yet issues affecting women ancillary workers seem as excluded as ever. Through a study of cleaners in the National Health Service this article argues that workplace interests reflect wider social divisions, but in a variety of patterns depending on the social organization of work. Despite thewidening trade union agenda, particular interests — more specifically the workplace interests of working-class women and black women — continue to be neglected.