Are the religious suspicious of science? Drawing on data from 52 nations in the World Values Survey (wave 6) ( N = 58,474), I utilize multilevel models to examine the relationship between religiosity, religious context, and five different orientations towards science: confidence in science, trust in scientific authority under conditions of conflict with religion, faith in science, views on the moral effects of science, and interest in scientific knowledge. Results show that while religiosity is on average negatively associated with the five outcomes, the relationship between religiosity and orientations towards science varies by country such that religiosity is sometimes positively associated with the different outcomes. Religiosity is only consistently negatively associated with trust in scientific authority in all countries and with all orientations towards science in western countries. Finally, differences in orientations towards science also exist across country religious contexts, with countries dominated by the unaffiliated having more positive orientations towards science.
With the rapid development of Internet technologies, higher education institutions have adopted blended learning to engage students in active learning and enhance their learning outcomes. This study investigated 261 preservice student teachers participating in a teacher education programme that was based on a blended learning design. Questionnaires and focus group interviews were administered to obtain data. The purpose of this study was to understand student' perceptions of blended learning and examine how the interaction between traditional and constructivist conceptions influences learning. The result indicated that the participants favoured face-toface lectures over e-learning, and they exhibited strong preferences for traditional modes of learning. The author suggests that there is still some way to go before students fully engage with online learning but, as they are rooted in the Confucian heritage culture, this can also be used to encourage students to engage with this mode of learning as the process of transformation.
Over the past decade, higher education has undergone drastic changes all over the world because of globalisation and the changing economy. The traditional view of university as a place for one-off training is now considered outdated. Instead, the strong focus on lifelong learning urges teachers, educators and academics to reconceptualise and transform education. In this new era, successful schools adopt outreach strategies and seek support from external agencies such as universities for their development. Institutions of higher education provide consultation or work with partner schools for collaborative sharing, reflection, research and growth. Hence, school-university partnerships have become important for professional development and educational reform. With the growth of school-university collaborations, there is mounting interest in empirical research on the variety and value of these initiatives. This article reviews the school-university partnerships in Hong Kong in light of the trends and development in the international context. The studies reviewed showed that school-university partnerships involving teacher training programmes focus on understanding the views of participants in school-university partnership with an aim to build appropriate teacher training and professional development features into the teacher education programmes. These studies have theoretically contributed to the construction of culturally relevant teacher education programmes. After all, new project initiatives have contributed to substantial changes in school leadership, teachers' professional development and school-based curriculum development which would benefit children's learning. The authors argue that the development of an appropriate mode of collaboration remains a challenge for successful school-university partnerships. They have a vision to move beyond the existing research focus to explore ways to build school-university collaborations. Gaps in the research base and relevant questions that have not been addressed are discussed.
As new and more effective human reproductive genetic technologies (RGTs) rapidly develop, religious voices remain an important part of public discussion about the moral standing of such technologies. Here, we compare how individuals from different religious traditions evaluate disease RGTs (detecting genetic diseases in vitro) when compared to enhancement RGTs, allowing parents to select features of a child. Findings are gleaned from analysis of 270 interviews with individuals from 23 Christian, Muslim, and Jewish religious organizations, with supporting data from a national survey of more than 10,000 Americans. We find that respondents engage in clearly defined discursive moral reasoning to evaluate the propriety of disease RGTs while moral intuitions manifest themselves in responses to enhancement RGTs. We argue that schemas provide resources for moral discourses while also shaping moral intuitions expressed through emotions. Our results have implications for how religious people respond to new technologies when their institutional and denominational structures do not have readily discernable moral frameworks to guide responses.
Ethical concerns over treatments for infertility can discourage patients from pursuing fertility healthcare. This study aims to evaluate the sociocultural factors that influence the ethical views of reproductive-aged women regarding various fertility treatments. A publicly available cross-sectional survey of 4792 nationally representative US women aged 25-52 years was analysed to identify the frequency of ethical concerns over such interventions. Concerns were most common for treatments that increase the chance of twins (54%), followed by third-party reproductive strategies (48-51%), IVF (30%) and partner insemination (14%). Regression analysis revealed distinct sociocultural determinants for each of the treatment approaches. While being black was associated with a higher level of concern for several distinct fertility treatments, Hispanic ethnicity was only associated with increased ethical concern about donor eggs. Additionally, religious attendance predicts increased odds of ethical concern for IVF and all third-party approaches, while Catholic or Christian religious affiliations also predict ethical concern over partner insemination. These findings show that ethical concerns over fertility treatments are not generally 'all-or-nothing', but rather are often specific to the treatment approach. This knowledge may help explain differences in help-seeking behaviours and improve the physician-patient relationship.
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