Conflicts occur when learners interact with pedagogical agents and virtual characters. Such conflicts--arising from technological limitations, psychosocial perceptions, and pedagogical inadequacies--hinder communication and interaction between virtual characters and learners, and impede successful engagement with learning tasks and experiences. To…

The search for a social goodness function in economic systems is reviewed, especially in light of the fact that the economy is a subsystem of a biosphere that has its own rules for determining success, or at least for limiting feasibility. The frequent perversity of reductionist quantitative success indicators in economics (profit, quotas, GDP) is…

The overall goal of the Swiss Virtual Campus project Dealing with Natural Hazards and Risk (NAHRIS) is to create a common educational course program that compiles the most recent knowledge in the field of natural hazards and risk management. Several higher education institutes from all parts of Switzerland were involved in the realization of this…

Diane Glancy's historical fiction, "Pushing the Bear", reconstructs one episode in the Cherokee Trails of Tears (there were actually several relocations to the west, for the Cherokee and the other eastern tribes of the same period). The Removal of eastern peoples from their ancestral lands westward to eventual resettlement in Oklahoma is…

Contrasts holism, elementarism and Piaget's rationalism. Suggests Piaget's views are close to those of transactionalism and that the key difference between Gestalt holistic structure and Piagetian operatory structure is whether the composition laws are additive or not. Piaget's version of structuralism (relationalism) is distinctive in being…

The author describes the decision to discard mechanistic trappings of the remedial approach (including charting behaviors, standard tests, and daily progress checks) and to institute a more holistic approach to teaching that incorporated a context of personal meaning and uses. (CL)

Reviews the trend in health care toward increasing levels of specialization and draws a distinction between specialization and reductionism. A theory of holistic counseling is derived from social learning and transpersonal psychology. (Author)

The ultimate goal of the work of violence prevention is to stop violence before it begins. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) uses a four-level social-ecological model (SEM) to better understand and prevent violence. The four levels are: (1) Individual; (2) Relationship; (3) Community; and (4) Societal. This model considers the complex…

Attempts to clarify the concept of a whole, distinguishes different types of holism (methodological and metaphysical), and explicates what is believed to be the real underlying issues separating holism and atomism. (MP)

Reviews synopses of presentations and panel discussions at the two-day conference "Developmental Psychology for the 1980s: Werner's Influences on Theory and Praxis." (MP)

The authors address adolescent violence by promoting holistic health before symptoms occur and by using strength-based interventions to combat problems that already exist. A wellness model is presented, as is a discussion of research on the components of the model that are related to violence and violence prevention with adolescents. (Contains 49…

This article offers information about erectile functioning, provides a DSM-IV-TR interpretation of erectile dysfunction, and discusses a biophysical approach to erectile dysfunction treatment. (Contains 36 references.) (GCP)

This final article in a three-part series on strategic planning focuses on implementation and continuous improvement at the mega level of planning. Topics include steps for a proactive and holistic strategic planning activity, linking strategic planning to operations, integration versus separation of functions, and organizing for synergy. (LRW)

Progressive educators have given a vision of the whole child and the perspectives of school reforms. The overall mission of the school best serves the young when it reflects a holistic orientation to education.

This article develops themes that were outlined in a keynote presentation at the "Seeking the Light, Sharing Our Gifts, Returning a New Way" symposium for campus ministers at Catholic colleges and universities, held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on January 3-6 2008. It proposes that collaboration among faculty, campus ministers, and student affairs…