In Volume 3, #1 of the Journal of Technology Education, Pannabecker (1991) identified shortcomings in the language that has shaped perspectives within technology education, and raised an issue for dialogue. This essay is intended to extend Pannabecker's critique to include the metaphors of autonomous and advancing technology, and their supporting ideology of technological progress. Reasons for ...

What kind of knowledge can we obtain from agent-based models? The claim that they help us to study the social world needs unpacking. I will defend agent-based modelling against a recent criticisms that undermine its potential as a method to investigate underlying mechanisms and provide explanations of social phenomena. I show that the criticism is unwarranted and the problem can be resolved wit...

The reader is encouraged to provide the authors with feedback, questions and/or constructive criticism. The Rathenau Instituut promotes the formation of political and public opinion on science and technology. To this end, the Institute studies the organization and development of science systems, publishes about social impact of new technologies, and organizes debates on issues and dilemmas in s...

While theologians such as Derek Beattie have attempted to uncover the meaning of Gen 2-3, a satisfactory and definitive answer has remained elusive.' In addition to traditional historical-critical methodology (source criticism), scholars have employed many other approaches including religiohistorical, social, psychoanalytical, and feminist approaches, as well as several structuralist, semiotic,...

Within the traditions of critical social theory and cultural criticism, there are many models of cultural studies. Both classical and contemporary social theory have engaged the relationships between culture and society, and provided a variety of types of studies of culture. From this perspective, there are neo-Marxian models of cultural studies ranging from the Frankfurt School to Althusserian...

Reader-response criticism maintains that the interpretive activities of readers, rather than the author’s intention or the text’s structure, explain a text’s significance and aesthetic value. Biographical accounts of how a writer responds to his or her critics initiated this kind of criticism. That is, since a writer may respond to commentary provided by friends, reviewers, or critics, biograph...

Poor staff morale is a pressing problem in UK mental health services, especially for acute in-patient wards, community mental health teams and social workers. Instead of interpreting low morale using a demand-control-support model, it is suggested here that simply being honest about what should be expected of staff and stopping constant criticism and reorganisation might be more fruitful.

A familiar criticism of bioethics charges it with being more conceptual than practical--having little application to the "real world." In order to answer its critics and keep its feet on the ground, bioethics must utilize the social sciences more effectively. Empirical research can provide the bridge between conceiving a moral vision of a better world, and actually enacting it.