Critical thinking is a core skill within tertiary education, traditionally relying on such principles as logic and truth. Relativistic pedagogical frameworks, such as critical literacy, however, have become increasingly widespread within all levels of education and call into question such principles. In order to ascertain whether critical thinking skills are enhanced or hindered by relativistic approaches, the assessment results of students studying critical literacy within an enabling program at a regional university in Australia were analysed in a small-scale study. The findings potentially suggest that the framework of critical literacy may have had a negative impact on students' results and, possibly, their critical thinking skills, raising the question as to whether the two frameworks might be mutually exclusive.
Data from an audience survey on the characteristics of the science fiction and fantasy genres was compared to existing approaches to genre classification to build an alternative genre classification for science fiction based on popular understanding of the genre.
Researchers employ science fiction and fantasy in public engagement, advocacy, and education as significant sources of insights to identify public interests, inspire public policy, and influence future science. These uses of science fiction as a source that is expected to reflect public interests are undermined if the examples employed by researchers are interpreted differently by the intended audience or beneficiaries of research. We surveyed the public to identify their definitions and discovered a categorization based on clearly defined features. These align with some academic theories but differ from postmodern approaches as the analysis suggests science fiction can be defined categorically. The empirical survey data are consistent and demonstrate an unmistakable distinction between popular definitions of science fiction and fantasy. Our theoretical analysis implies some definitions may be confused by evaluating secondary “fuzzy” characteristics as if they were fundamental features of the genre. We suggest Wittgenstein’s family resemblances, between subjects associated with the genre at any specific time, should be interpreted as an ephemeral grouping validated by correlation with enduring core features, rather than definitive. On the basis of the common themes identified from the survey responses and a critique of existing genre models, we suggest the classical concept of techne may best describe the empirical essence of science fiction. Researchers intending to employ science fiction for applications that have an influence in the public realm may wish to consider this when designing their research.
Data from an audience survey on the characteristics of the science fiction and fantasy genres was compared to existing approaches to genre classification to build an alternative genre classification for science fiction based on popular understanding of the genre.
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