THE JOHN TEMPLETON FOUNDATION MODEL COURSES IN SCIENCE AND RELIGION

Abstract. In 1994 the John Templeton Foundation Humility Theology Information Center launched a major initiative, the Science-Religion Course Program, to encourage the teaching of high-quality academic courses focusing on the relationship between science and religion. In the first phase of the program, six courses were selected—four from the United States, one from Canada, and one from New Zealand—to serve as models for other academics wishing to initiate their own classes on the science-religion interface. In particular these six model courses will serve as examples for the second phase of the Templeton Foundation program, which will provide financial support for up to 100 courses at universities, colleges, and seminaries around the world. This paper is a report on the pedagogical strategies and methodologies employed in each of the six selected model courses.     

Woman and the gift of reason

An incidental extension of the central domain of argumentation theory with non-classical ways of constructing arguments seems to automatically raise a question that is otherwise rarely posed, namely whether or not it is useful to consider the sex of the arguer. This question is usually posed with regard to argumentation by women in particular. Do women rely more, or differently than men do on non-canonical modes of reasoning stemming from the realm of the emotional, physical and intuitive, instead of the logical? One may simply refer this question to folk-linguistics. One may also take the question seriously, given the findings on women's linguistic behaviour, and for various other reasons that will be explained below.Section 1 sums up the most frequently quoted differences in language use between women and men. This is followed by a non-exhaustive, interdisciplinary review of studies on male/female differences in verbal and written argumentation.Section 2 discusses the role of language and texts in generating and maintaining ideas on gender. These gender messages not only influence the actual argumentation behaviour of women and men, but also the way such behaviour is valued.Section 3 subsequently shows that our ideas on rationality are gendered, and therefore also our ideas on the proper central domain of argumentation theory.Section 4 briefly reflects on why this kind of wrong question about the reasoning of women should sometimes be addressed seriously anyway.     

Toward culturally sensitive intervention with arab families in Israel

Over the past three decades, Arab society in Israel has been undergoing processes of transition. These processes are manifested by changes in the economy, education, the status of women, family structure, and by socio-cultural changes and transformations in patterns of coping with social problems. There is a serious lack of empirical research on the implications of this process for the value systems of Arab society and families in Israel and a dearth of relevant intervention-oriented literature. This article outlines the basic cultural values in the Arab society in Israel in an attempt to illuminate the relevance of these values for family structure and for direct interventions with Arab families in Israel.     

教师评分用语词义赋值特征的分析

本研究运用模糊统计试验方法对教师的六组定性的评分用语词 (符号 )进行了经验赋值。参加赋值的是 2 66名小学教师。结果表明 ,六组评分用语词 (符号 )都是模糊概念 ,其中每种评分方式中处于最高等级的词 (符号 )的模糊度最小 ,处于中间等级的词 (符号 )的模糊度居中 ,处于最低等级的词 (符号 )的模糊度最大。词 (符号 )义的模糊度与评价的把握度呈现负相关 ,即词 (符号 )义越具体 ,模糊度越小 ,赋值的把握度就越大 ;反之 ,词义越含混 ,模糊度越大 ,赋值的把握度就越小。教师对各种评分用语词 (符号 )的赋值受百分制的“及格—不及格”的划分的影响 ,受评分方式中等级数目的影响 ,即增加评分等级会减少评分用语词 (符号 )的模糊度 ,增加赋值的把握度 ,还受评分用语词 (符号 )本身数量特征的影响。在各种评分方式中 ,评语词 (符号 )在心理量表上的距离是不等的。本研究的结果对教育评价的实践具有一定的参考价值。     

年龄、作业难度和训练对成人记忆的影响

采用“联想学习”、“图象自由回忆”和“附加联想”三项目,对９０例成人（分为青年、老年和老老年组各３０例）进行记忆测查和训练,目的为探讨年龄,作业难度和训练对记忆的影响。结果表明：青年组记忆成绩明显高于老年和老老年组,后两组无显著差异;无关联想的年龄差异大于有关联想,作业难度扩大了年龄差异;各年龄组训练后记忆得到明显改善,并且训练扩大了年龄和作业易难的差异。由此可见,记忆受年龄、作业难度和训练三因素的相互作用,也再次证实了老年认知功能具有一定的可塑性。     

大学生场依存性─－独立性认知方式分析

对二十一个学科专业１５２６名大学生的场依存性─－独立性认知方式进行调查所获得的新近常模资料表明：大学生场依存性─－独立性个体差异的群体分布是正态性的,其总体平均水平以《认知方式图形测验》成绩作指标为１３．７（ｓ为４．６）。在此基础上,对文献所报道的影响场依存性─－独立性发展水平的两个因素作了进一步的研究分析,发现,大学生场依存性─－独立性的性别差异非常接近显著水平;专业分化是不依赖于性别因素而导致大学生场依存性─－独立性水平显著不同的主要因素．     

缺陷儿童人格诊断量表的修订

缺陷儿童人格诊断量表是日本特殊教育领域的一种专门用于测量缺陷儿童人格的著名量表。作者用三年时间对其进行了修订,建立了包括弱智、聋哑、盲等缺陷儿童的中国常模。该量表具有较高的信度与效度,是一个较好的心理测量工具。     

Families and family therapy in Germany

The author describes some of the effects of decades of life under a dictatorship for East Germans and the effects on family life and family therapy of changes following the recent reunification of Germany. A case example illustrates some intergenerational family problems associated with the changes. Contrasts are drawn between East and West Germany and family therapy's present stage of development is depicted in both parts of the reunified country. Germany has approximately 10,000 trained family therapists, a minority of whom work in private practice. The largest amount of family and couples therapy is performed in agencies.Portions of this material were first presented in a poster session at the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy annual conference in Miami Beach, 1992.     

Long term marriages in Sweden: And some comparisons with similar couples in the United States

This international, five-country long term marriages study of couples who have been married, or unmarried and cohabiting, for 20 years or longer is designed to study, among other things, marital satisfaction. This first report of the Swedish part of the study reports on a Swedish version of the self-rating Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) used to investigate self-rated marital satisfaction. The couples describe high marital satisfaction and a high sense of coherence (SOC) compared to other groups. Contrary to other studies, no differences were found between men and women regarding SOC. The differences between them, that describe high relative to low marital satisfaction, pertain to matters of recreation, sex, life philosophy, time spent together, and frequency of quarrels. The men reported greater marital satisfaction than the women.