Improving Elementary School Singing

The problem of helping children to make continual progress in their singing ability has been of particular interest to me because of the experiences I have had in teaching music to third, fifth, and sixth graders. In most cases the children had had few teachers who were trained or experienced in teaching music. In one district there wasn\u27t even a music supervisor to whom teachers could go for help if they felt they needed it. The problems on which I have done research to write this paper are the ones which have been the most common in my experience. I have attempted to find the most recent information available, or to pick out of slightly older material, the ideas which would prove helpful to me in organizing a situation which would be of value in developing the musical ability of the children I teach

Preliminary results for archaeobotanical samples from Khirbat Ash-Sheikh 'Isa

This chapter discusses the preliminary results of the study of 18 archaeobotanical samples from Byzantine and Early to Middle Islamic occupation levels from the site of Khirbat ash-Sheikh 'Isa, located in Ghor as-Safi. Well-preserved pressed plant materials were also encountered and may aid in further reconstructing plant processing at the site. Sampling for archaeobotanical remains has been a part of the excavation protocol of the Ghor as-Safi Project since the beginning. Soil samples with macro-botanical remains were floated and later sieved both on site and at the Museum at the Lowest Place on Earth at Safi, Jordan. It is common in archaeobotanical literature to refer to grass ‘seeds’; however, this is only a partially correct term as the seeds in grasses are fused to their fruits, and these parts are indistinguishable in charred archaeobotanical material

Negotiating professional knowledge and responsibility in cross-sectoral Telemedicine

In ongoing efforts of rationalization and retrenchment in the Danish health care sector, tasks are increasingly moved from costly specialized hospital departments to the primary health care sec- tor, where less specialized personnel take on these tasks. Telemedicine plays an important role in facilitating local access to specialized competences at central hospitals through ICT systems and establishes new virtual spaces for cross-sectoral cooperation between hospital and municipal health care workers. In an explorative ethnographic study, comprising interviews and participant observation, of telemedicine-based interaction between community nurses and specialized hospi- tal nurses, we show how the ‘tele-ulcer’ system becomes a site for professional development for community nurses, although a hierarchization of professional knowledge also takes place. Further- more, extensive articulation work is necessary to make the tele-ulcer system work.We illuminate how contradictory divisions of responsibility may result from the design of the sociotechnical sys- tem, leaving professionals to deal with risks and insecurity

Long-time tails and cage effect in driven granular fluids

We study the velocity autocorrelation function (VACF) of a driven granular fluid in the stationary state in 3 dimensions. As the critical volume fraction of the glass transition in the corresponding elastic system is approached, we observe pronounced cage effects in the VACF as well as a strong decrease of the diffusion constant. At moderate densities the VACF is shown to decay algebraically in time (t^{-3/2}) like in a molecular fluid, as long as the driving conserves momentum locally.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

CUDe — Carbon utilization degree as an indicator for sustainable biomass use

Carbon (C) is a central element in organic compounds and is an indispensable resource for life. It is also an essential production factor in bio-based economies, where biomass serves many purposes, including energy generation and material production. Biomass conversion is a common case of transformation between different carbon-containing compounds. At each transformation step, C might be lost. To optimize the C use, the C flows from raw materials to end products must be understood. The estimation of how much of the initial C in the feedstock remains in consumable products and delivers services provides an indication of the C use efficiency. We define this concept as Carbon Utilization Degree (CUDe) and apply it to two biomass uses: biogas production and hemp insulation. CUDe increases when conversion processes are optimized, i.e., residues are harnessed and/or losses are minimized. We propose CUDe as a complementary approach for policy design to assess C as an asset for bio-based production. This may lead to a paradigm shift to see C as a resource that requires sustainable exploitation. It could complement the existing methods that focus solely on the climate impact of carbon

Enhanced teaching and learning outcomes from restructuring a basic organic chemistry course

Source at https://www.ntnu.no/ojs/index.php/njse/index.The first course in organic chemistry is tough for many students, and motivation may be an additional serious problem if you are taking the course as a part of your study program but do not intend to become a chemist. The combination of long, speedy traditional lectures, complicated material and the use of an important new language (electron flow arrows) does not contribute to easing the cognitive load and may often lead to students giving up very early on. How can we enhance learning outcomes for all students and improve on our teaching practices without compromising the course quality? The basic organic chemistry curriculum and teaching activities at our university have been restructured to allow the students to practice and learn the mechanistic language before chemical reactions. Traditional lectures have been replaced with a cooperative learning-intensive flipped-classroom model. The initial experiences are beyond expectations, and we report a considerable drop in exam failure rate and overall improved satisfaction with the course, both by students and teachers alike