Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Using Ai To Analyze Patent Claim Indefiniteness, Dean Alderucci, Kevin D. Ashley

Articles

In this Article, we describe how to use artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to partially automate a type of legal analysis, determining whether a patent claim satisfies the definiteness requirement. Although fully automating such a high-level cognitive task is well beyond state-of-the-art AI, we show that AI can nevertheless assist the decision maker in making this determination. Specifically, the use of custom AI technology can aid the decision maker by (1) mining patent text to rapidly bring relevant information to the decision maker attention, and (2) suggesting simple inferences that can be drawn from that information.

We begin by summarizing the …

Re-Playing Maimonides’ Codes: Designing Games To Teach Religious Legal Systems, Owen Gottlieb

Articles

Lost & Found is a game series, created at the Initiative for

Religion, Culture, and Policy at the Rochester Institute of

Technology MAGIC Center.1 The series teaches medieval

religious legal systems. This article uses the first two games

of the series as a case study to explore a particular set of

processes to conceive, design, and develop games for learning.

It includes the background leading to the author's work

in games and teaching religion, and the specific context for

the Lost & Found series. It discusses the rationale behind

working to teach religious legal systems more broadly, then

discuss the …

College Students' Social Perceptions Toward Individuals With Intellectual Disability, B. Allyson Phillips, Stoni Fortney, Lindsey Swafford

Articles

The purpose of the current study was to describe the social perceptions of American college students towards individuals with intellectual disability (ID), identify factors that influence social perception, and determine if level of functioning alters one’s perception. The sample was comprised of 186 American college students. The participants completed the Attitudes Toward Intellectual Disability Questionnaire (ATTID). The ATTID measures five factors—discomfort towards ID, knowledge of capacity and rights, interaction with individuals with ID, sensibility/tenderness, and knowledge of causes. The students’ overall social perception towards ID was primarily positive for all factors except for sensibility/tenderness. More positive social perception was found …

Civil War: A Board Game As Pedagogy And Critique, Hugh Mccabe

Articles

This paper describes the use of a board game, Civil War, as a learning experience in the context of a course on critical theory. Civil War was created by the Educational Games Company of Lebanon and is set during the 1975-1990 Lebanese civil war. The game functions both as a pedagogical instrument, in that players learn about the situation in Lebanon while playing the game, but also as a form of critique, in that its makers are clearly using it as a means of articulating their lived experiences and challenging the dominant narratives around the conflict. We suggest that the …

Interculturalism In Higher Education In Ireland: An Analysis From A Strategy, Policy And Practice Perspective, Brid Ni Chonaill

Articles

Education is instrumental in preparing students to participate in increasingly diverse Irish, European and global societies, with higher education having a part to play in the process. Issues around migration and cultural diversity have gained less attention in the higher education sector in Ireland than at primary and post primary level with a few notable exceptions. Higher education is regarded as having a “critical role” to play in terms of “enriching Ireland’s cultural life, nurturing our understanding of our own national identity and that of other cultures and belief systems” [1]. Influenced by developments at European Union level, the approach …

Gender Representation In Children’S Books: Case Of An Early Childhood Setting, Katarina Filipovic

Articles

The purpose of this small-scale case study was to identify and analyze key patterns in terms of gender representation in children’s books in one early childhood setting. Furthermore, this case study sought to understand the perspectives of early childhood educators on gender representation in children’s books. The researcher employed multiple methods of data collection, including content analysis of 15 children’s books, as well as reflective journal writing and professional conversation between eight educators from one early childhood center in Dublin, Ireland. Content analysis of children’s books revealed distinct gender patterns that include underrepresentation of female characters and instances of gender …

A Survey Of School Counselor Multicultural Education Behaviors And The Obstacles That Impede Them, Clare Merlin-Knoblich, Jason A. Chen

Articles

In this study, researchers examined the frequency with which school counselors enact multicultural education behaviors and the obstacles preventing those behaviors. Using theoretical dimensions and approaches to multicultural education, they developed an instrument measuring school counseling multicultural education behavior. After pilot testing the instrument (n = 114), they distributed a refined instrument to a state school counselor database, and 594 school counselors participated in the primary data collection. Researchers used exploratory factor analysis to determine five factors comprising 72% combined variance of school counselor multicultural education behaviors. Participants enacted behaviors in two factors (Classroom Guidance with Multicultural Education Emphases …

Prosocial Religion And Games: Lost & Found, Owen Gottlieb, Ian Schreiber

Articles

In a time when religious legal systems are discussed without an understanding of history or context, it is more important than ever to help widen the understanding and discourse about the prosocial aspects of religious legal systems throughout history. The Lost & Found (www.lostandfoundthegame.com) game series, targeted for an audience of teens through twentysomethings in formal, learning environments, is designed to teach the prosocial aspects of medieval religious systems—specifically collaboration, cooperation, and the balancing of communal and individual/family needs. Set in Fustat (Old Cairo) in the 12th century, the first two games in the series address laws in Moses Maimonides’ …

An Invitation Regarding Law And Legal Education, And Imagining The Future, Michael J. Madison

Articles

This Essay consists of an invitation to participate in conversations about the future of legal education in ways that integrate rather than distinguish several threads of concern and revision that have emerged over the last decade. Conversations about the future of legal education necessarily include conversations about the future of law practice, legal services, and law itself. Some of those start with the somewhat stale questions: What are US law professors doing, what should they be doing, and why? Those questions are still relevant and important, but they are no longer the only relevant questions, and they are not the …

Finding Lost & Found: Designer’S Notes From The Process Of Creating A Jewish Game For Learning, Owen Gottlieb

Articles

This article provides context for and examines aspects of the design process of a game for learning. Lost & Found (2017a, 2017b) is a tabletop-to-mobile game series designed to teach medieval religious legal systems, beginning with Moses Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah (1180), a cornerstone work of Jewish legal rabbinic literature. Through design narratives, the article demonstrates the complex design decisions faced by the team as they balance the needs of player engagement with learning goals. In the process the designers confront challenges in developing winstates and in working with complex resource management. The article provides insight into the pathways the team …

Introduction: Jewish Gamevironments – Exploring Understanding With Playful Systems, Owen Gottlieb

Articles

The study of Judaism, Jewish civilizationi, and games is currently comprised of projects of a rather small set of game scholars. A sample of our work is included in this issue.

Time Travel, Labour History, And The Null Curriculum: New Design Knowledge For Mobile Augmented Reality History Games, Owen Gottlieb

Articles

This paper presents a case study drawn from design-based research (DBR) on a mobile, place-based augmented reality history game. Using DBR methods, the game was developed by the author as a history learning intervention for fifth to seventh graders. The game is built upon historical narratives of disenfranchised populations that are seldom taught, those typically relegated to the 'null curriculum'. These narratives include the stories of women immigrant labour leaders in the early twentieth century, more than a decade before suffrage. The project understands the purpose of history education as the preparation of informed citizens. In paying particular attention to …

Taking Time To Pause: Engaging With A Gift Of Reflective Practice, Patricia Ganly

Articles

This paper is a call to action to engage readers in cultivating reflective practice. The demands of a rapidly changing global society, the influences on emerging learning and teaching landscapes, and the ubiquity of information in twenty-first century society are catalysts for this focus on reflection. The author conducted a literature review, integrated with personal experience, resulting in a proposed PARA model (pausing, attending, revising, adopting, adapting) as an extension to existing reflective practice models. In the context of this paper, reflective practice is addressed in terms of professional development within higher education (HE) and the personal experience of its …

An Investigation Into The Development And Progressive Adaptation Of Graduate Attributes In Tourism Programmes, Louise Bellew, Odette Gabaudan

Articles

As higher education institutes are embracing the notion of graduate attributes, it has become highly desirable to embed these attributes within programmes. This study proposes to investigate students’ views of recently identified graduate attributes in the Dublin Institute of Technology (Ireland), and how they perceive their development and application in their tourism programme. The study supports the idea of the importance of placement in the progressive adaptation of learning and in translating the conception of attributes. While students strongly believe that graduate attributes are developed through the placement experience, it is equally important to embed and strengthen the visibility of …

Positive Education Federalism: The Promise Of Equality After The Every Student Succeeds Act, Christian Sundquist

Articles

This Article examines the nature of the federal role in public education following the recent passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act in December 2015 (“ESSA”). Public education was largely unregulated for much of our Nation’s history, with the federal government deferring to states’ traditional “police powers” despite the de jure entrenchment of racial and class-based inequalities. A nascent policy of education federalism finally took root following the Brown v. Board decision and the enactment of the Elementary and Secondary School Act (“ESEA”) with the explicit purpose of eradicating such educational inequality.

This timely Article argues that current federal education …

Design-Based Research Mobile Gaming For Learning Jewish History, Tikkun Olam, And Civics, Owen Gottlieb

Articles

How can Design-Based Research (DBR) be used in the study of video games, religious literacy, and learning? DBR uses a variety of pragmatically selected mixed methods approaches to design learning interventions. Researchers, working with educators and learners, design and co-design learning artifacts and environments. They analyze those artifacts and environments as they are used by educators and learners, and then iterate based on mixed methods data analysis. DBR is suited for any "rich contextualized setting in which people have agency." (Hoadley 2013) such as formal or informal learning environments.

The case covered in this chapter is a mobile Augmented Reality …

Arts And Humanities Research, Redefining Public Benefit, And Research Prioritization In Ireland, Andrew Gibson, Ellen Hazelkorn

Articles

This article looks at the effects of a national policy of research prioritization in the years following Ireland’s economic crisis. A national research prioritization exercise initiated by policymakers redefined the purpose of higher education research, and designed policies in line with this approach. Placing research for enterprise to the fore, it emphasized the economic value that subjects could return on state investments. This article examines the post-crisis policy of prioritization, its relationship with and effects on arts and humanities research, and how the notion of the benefit of research can be broadened while still addressing economic needs. It draws on …

Emotional Intelligence And Graduates - Employers' Perspectives, Ailish Jameson, Aiden Carthy, Colm Mcguinness, Fiona Mcsweeney

Articles

Research has demonstrated that employers favour graduates who possess higher levels of emotional intelligence. Many

initiatives to increase students’ levels of EI have involved ‘whole school’ approaches, whereby generic EI skills programmes are

delivered to all students in a third level institute. This paper details an initial survey of employers’ (n = 500) opinions on the

importance and current level of graduates’ social and emotional competencies. The survey was completed across five sectors:

engineering, IT/computing, professional services (including accounting, business, finance, HR, law, retail), science (including

pharmaceutical and life), and social science which are identified growth industries in Ireland. It …

Heritage Sites And Schoolchildren: Insights From The Battle Of The Boyne, Dervilia Roche, Bernadette Quinn

Articles

Children are very much under-represented in heritage tourism studies, particularly in terms of their own perspectives. This exploratory study begins to redress this imbalance by investigating how 34 primary school-going children experience and make sense of the Battle of the Boyne Visitor Centre, an Irish heritage site. Among the research questions posed are: How does the group make sense of heritage? Where do they get their ideas about heritage attractions? What appeals to them about heritage attractions? The research adopted an interpretivist approach and employed a variety of innovative data collection tools, gathering ideas from the children through discussions, writing, …

Supporting Sustainability Through Developing A Learning Network Among Traditional Food Producers: Applications Of Action Learning, Paul Coughlan, David Coghlan, Denise O'Leary, Clare Rigg, Doireann Barrett

Articles

Purpose: The chapter describes and reflects upon an EU-funded research initiative, TRADEIT, which has attempted to develop a learning network among European traditional food producers as one way of contributing to the economic sustainability of the ventures, the social sustainability of the food’s regional character, and the environmental sustainability of food production through the use of traditional methods.

Design/methodology/approach: The chapter describes TRADEIT before moving on to an exploration of learning in organizations and networks. It outlines the action learning research methodology developed and implemented to explore the development of a learning network in TRADEIT. A single case history …

Turning To Case Studies As A Mechanism For Learning In Action Learning, Denise O'Leary, Paul Coughlan, Clare Rigg, David Coghlan

Articles

Case studies are a useful means of capturing and sharing experiential knowledge by allowing researchers to explore the social, organisational and political contexts of a specific case. Although accounts of action learning are often reported using a case study approach, it is not common to see individual case studies being used as a learning practice within action learning sets. Drawing on a network action learning (NAL) project, this paper explores how the process of coaching, articulating, authoring, sharing and editing case studies provided a vehicle for learning and research within a NAL set. The intended contribution of this paper to …

Young People's Response To The Response: The Impact Of Political Diversity And Media Framing On Discussions Of Combatant Tribunals, Jeremy Stoddard, Jason Chen

Articles

This article presents results of a study of the impact of political dynamics on group deliberations of issues presented in the short film The Response. We selected four groups of 18-22 year-old participants based on political views, engagement, and efficacy (liberal, conservative, and two mixed groups), and asked them to view and discuss issues presented in The Response related to the combatant status review tribunals held at Guantanamo Bay. We found the groups with mixed political views had higher quality discussions of the issues and a better understanding of the issues post-discussion – in particular the tension between national …

Digital Literacy: Why It Matters, Allison Kavanagh, K.C. O'Rourke

Articles

In the past two decades the internet, email, apps, mobile devices and all associated hardware and software have become firmly embedded in everyday life, to the extent that it often feels that we have had no control over this phenomenon. What are the implications for education?

Primary and secondary students today have grown up with the always-connected life which the internet has enabled. However, the credence given to the idea that this makes them fully comfortable and aware as "digital natives" is misguided. The social implications of the internet society – surveillance and the decline of privacy, cyberbullying and so …

The Trouble With 'Bureaucracy', Deborah L. Brake

Articles

Despite heightened public concern about the prevalence of sexual assault in higher education and the stepped-up efforts of the federal government to address it, new stories from survivors of sexual coercion and rape, followed by institutional betrayal, continue to emerge with alarming frequency. More recently, stories of men found responsible and harshly punished for such conduct in sketchy campus procedures have trickled into the public dialogue, forming a counter-narrative in the increasingly polarized debate over what to do about sexual assault on college campuses. Into this frayed dialogue, Jeannie Suk and Jacob Gersen have contributed a provocative new article criticizing …

Lessons From The Gender Equality Movement: Using Title Ix To Foster Inclusive Masculinities In Men's Sport, Deborah L. Brake

Articles

This article was written for a symposium issue in Law & Inequality: A Journal of Theory and Practice on the topic of LGBT inclusion in sports. The symposium, which was held at the University of Minnesota Law School in November of 2015, was precipitated by the controversy that erupted when NFL player Chris Kluwe sued and settled with the Minnesota Vikings for allegedly firing him over his outspoken support for marriage equality. The article situates the Chris Kluwe controversy in the broader context of masculinity in men’s sports. At a time when support for LGBT rights has resulted in striking …

Rick's Taxonomy, Mary Crossley

Articles

This Essay uses the influential educational work Bloom’s Taxonomy as a jumping-off point for exploring how Rick Matasar’s scholarship relating to leadership in and the goals of legal education provides a guide for identifying, prioritizing and pursuing the core values and objectives of the legal education enterprise in a time of profound change. This Essay briefly describes Bloom’s Taxonomy and its status in the educational literature. Then it highlights two ways that Matasar’s leadership scholarship displays kinship to Bloom’s Taxonomy. His approach to describing a problem, analyzing its nature, and synthesizing and evaluating possible responses to the problem is …

Syllable Circles For Pronunciation Learning And Teaching, Charlie Cullen, Keith Gardiner, John B. Whipple

Articles

Syllable Circles is an interactive visualization representing prominence as a feature in short phrases or multi-syllable words. They were designed for Computer Aided Pronunciation Teaching as a part of English Language Teaching. This study explores the question of if and how interactive visualizations can affect English Language Learners’ awareness of prominence, or stress, in English pronunciation. The study followed seven learners and three teachers. Think-aloud protocols, notes from direct observation and interviews of two groups allowed for six streams of data. It was found that interactive visualizations of syllable circles facilitate noticing prominence. Learners and teachers believed interactive visualizations were …

What Stick Figures Tell Us About Irish Politics: Creating A Critical And Collaborative Learning Space, Sharon Feeney, John Hogan, Paul Donnelly

Articles

This paper focuses upon the interpretation of freehand drawings produced by a small sample of 220 first-year students taking an Irish politics introductory module in response to the question, ‘What is Irish Politics?’ By sidestepping cognitive verbal processing routes, through employing freehand drawing, we aim to create a critical and collaborative learning environment, where students develop their capacity for interpretation and critical self-reflection. This is because the freehand drawing technique, as part of a critical pedagogy, can generate a more critical and inclusive perspective, as visual representations permit us to comprehend the world differently, and understand how others also see …

Disability Cultural Competence In The Medical Profession, Mary Crossley

Articles

People with disabilities make up 19% of the U.S. population, and many of them are heavier consumers of health care than people without disabilities. Yet relatively few physicians – the persons responsible for providing medical care to this significant fraction of the patient population – have disabilities themselves, and the percentage of medical students with disabilities is even smaller. This Essay highlights how the relative rareness of doctors with disabilities may contribute to a generally low level of understanding within the medical profession of the social context of disability and how non-medical factors affect the health of people with disabilities. …

Preparing For Service: A Template For 21st Century Legal Education, Michael J. Madison

Articles

Legal educators today grapple with the changing dynamics of legal employment markets; the evolution of technologies and business models driving changes to the legal profession; and the economics of operating – and attending – a law school. Accrediting organizations and practitioners pressure law schools to prepare new lawyers both to be ready to practice and to be ready for an ever-fluid career path. From the standpoint of law schools in general and any one law school in particular, constraints and limitations surround us. Adaptation through innovation is the order of the day.

How, when, and in what direction should innovation …