Science, TV and education: active, not passive learning at a distance?

Talk to scientists, broadcasters, educationalists or those working for the public understanding of science and you will get, almost certainly, a view that science has a declining presence in the output of major broadcasters. This chapter considers the potential – and limitation – of TV for science education and presents some data on successful science broadcast projects

Nuclear Effects in Deep Inelastic Scattering of Charged-Current Neutrino off Nuclear

Nuclear effect in the neutrino-nucleus charged-Current inelastic scattering process is studied by analyzing the CCFR and NuTeV data. Structure functions $F_2(x,Q^2)$ and $xF_3(x,Q^2)$ as well as differential cross sections are calculated by using CTEQ parton distribution functions and EKRS and HKN nuclear parton distribution functions, and compared with the CCFR and NuTeV data. It is found that the corrections of nuclear effect to the differential cross section for the charged-current anti-neutrino scattering on nucleus are negligible, the EMC effect exists in the neutrino structure function $F_2(x,Q^2)$ in the large $x$ region, the shadowing and anti-shadowing effect occurs in the distribution functions of valence quarks in the small and medium $x$ region,respectively. It is also found that shadowing effects on $F_2(x,Q^2)$ in the small $x$ region in the neutrino-nucleus and the charged-lepton-nucleus deep inelastic scattering processes are different. It is clear that the neutrino-nucleus deep inelastic scattering data should further be employed in restricting nuclear parton distributions.Comment: 24 pages, 5 figure

The role of problem-based learning in developing communication conflict resolving skills among selected non-government organisations in Pakistan

Communication conflicts among employees of the developing organisations in Pakistan have been one of the major issues over the years. The causes are numerous but the efforts to reduce and resolve these conflicts effectively are found to be rare. The objectives of this case study were to examine the nature of communication conflicts predominant among employees at the workplace, explore the role of culture in communication conflicts, identify the perceptions of employees of in-house training using Problem Based Learning (PBL) approach and finally propose a PBL-based training module for developing conflict resolving skills among employees at the work place in Pakistan. This study adopted a Case Study approach. Using purposeful sampling, it involved forty Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) employees from different parts of Pakistan. The data emerged from three instruments involving semi-structured interviews, surveys and observations to examine the nature of communication conflicts among employees and see the impact of PBL training on the soft skills of respondents. Interview and observation data were transcribed and analysed through thematic analysis while the data from the survey was computed through descriptive statistics using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The findings from this study show the existence of different type of communication conflicts among employees in the developing organisations. The result shows the substantial role of PBL in developing conflict resolving skills and other essential soft skills among employees as a whole. The finding concludes that PBL plays an instrumental and effective role towards improving the various soft skills and traits including among employees of an NGO sector

Economic liberalization and the antecedents of top management teams: evidence from Turkish 'big' business

There has been an increased interest in the last two decades in top management teams (TMTs) of business firms. Much of the research, however, has been US-based and concerned primarily with TMT effects on organizational outcomes. The present study aims to expand this literature by examining the antecedents of top team composition in the context of macro-level economic change in a late-industrializing country. The post-1980 trade and market reforms in Turkey provided the empirical setting. Drawing upon the literatures on TMT and chief executive characteristics together with punctuated equilibrium models of change and institutional theory, the article develops the argument that which firm-level factors affect which attributes of TMT formations varies across the early and late stages of economic liberalization. Results of the empirical investigation of 71 of the largest industrial firms in Turkey broadly supported the hypotheses derived from this premise. In the early stages of economic liberalization the average age and average organizational tenure of TMTs were related to the export orientation of firms, whereas in later stages, firm performance became a major predictor of these team attributes. Educational background characteristics of teams appeared to be under stronger institutional pressures, altering in different ways in the face of macro-level change

The Evolution of International Business Enterprise

This paper outlines the development of international firms over the period from 1870 to 1945. It shows how British and other European trading firms developed international investment operations using the medium of free-standing companies. This was the origin of Royal Dutch Shell amongst other firms. It then considers the emergence of international Foreign Direct Investment that was stimulated by the developments of the Second Industrial Revolution in the latter years of the nineteenth century. The production of standardised products using system of mass production, and the scientific breakthroughs in chemistry and electrical engineering, amongst others, brought to the fore international firms such as Siemens and General Electric, Singer, British American Tobacco and Ford. The growth of these enterprises suffered a setback during the First World War from which German firms were slow to recover. The Great Depression that followed the US stock market crash in 1929 brought the first era of globalisation to an end. The work of Alfred D. Chandler and Geoffrey Jones in explaining the development of international companies is given particular attention

New light on the ‘Drummer of Tedworth’: conflicting narratives of witchcraft in Restoration England

This paper presents a definitive text of hitherto little-known early documents concerning ‘The Drummer of Tedworth’, a poltergeist case that occurred in 1662-3 and became famous not least due to its promotion by Joseph Glanvill in his demonological work, Saducismus Triumphatus. On the basis of these and other sources, it is shown how responses to the events at Tedworth evolved from anxious piety on the part of their victim, John Mompesson, to confident apologetic by Glanvill, before they were further affected by the emergence of articulate scepticism about the case

Summary of Coral Cay Conservation's habitat mapping data from Utila, Honduras

IIThe coral reefs of Honduras are of vital national and international importance,both ecologically and economically, but are threatened because of rapid economicand population growth.? During work on Utila between 1999 and 2000 (the ?Bay Islands 2000? project),Coral Cay Conservation developed a programme of surveys, training andconservation education aimed at assessing the status of local reefs and improvingenvironmental awareness amongst neighbouring communities.? This summary report provides an overview of the habitat mapping data collectedby the Bay Islands 2000 project.? CASA provided software, hardware and skills, on a charitable basis to ensure thatthe data collected by CCC could be developed into a GIS, not only for mappingthe status of the coral reefs of Honduras, but also to provide analysis of the aerialextent of these reefs.? Data were collected within individual ?study areas?, to facilitate analysis at a rangeof spatial scales, and utilised the CCC standard baseline survey technique for therapid assessment of the characteristics of reef communities. The surveys,therefore, utilised a series of transects, perpendicular to the reef.? Baseline transects discriminated nine benthic and six geomorpholgical classeswhich indicates Utila has a high habitat diversity. Habitat diversity is importantsince the number of habitat types has been shown to be a good representation ofspecies biodiversity.? The nine benthic classes that were distinguished were all relatively coral poorbecause of a suite of relatively long-term local and regional factors, exacerbatedby the combination of Hurricane Mitch and coral bleaching in 1995 and 1998.? Damselfish were the most abundant reef associated fish recorded during baselinetransect surveys. Commercially important fish were less abundant that wouldnormally be expected in unfished systems.? A recurring pattern in the baseline transect data was the greater abundance anddiversity of fish in coral rich classes. However, although the link between fishabundance and coral cover was clear, not all species were necessarily mostabundant in the most coral rich areas.? Invertebrates were generally uncommon, partly because of fishing pressure, andthe abundances of many invertebrate taxa were correlated with coral cover.? A habitat map is presented within this report as an indication of the distribution ofhabitat types around Utila.? Using the map, estimates of areal extents of each benthic class and habitat type areinstructive. For example, there is only approximately 27 km2 of reefal habitatsaround Utila. Furthermore, the area supporting the most coral rich benthic classesis only approximately 4 km2 (15%). These statistics both highlight the damagecaused by the bleaching event and Hurricane Mitch and other anthropogenicimpacts and the need to conserve remaining coral rich areas.? If further reserves were to be created, it would be important to try to protect arange of reef and habitat types. For this reason, it appears that the Turtle HarbourWildlife Refuge is well placed since this areas includes a wide range of habitattypes. However, placement of reserves in Utila should favour relatively coral richhabitats over sand dominated areas.? This study led to six recommendations:Summary Utila habitat mapping reportIII? One or more agencies should collect additional ground-truthing data fromaround Utila to facilitate both classification of currently ?Unknown? polygonsand an accuracy assessment of the map.? Establish an integrated GIS and associated meta-database for Utila, includingdata from the Bay Islands 2000 project.? Examine the potential of using data collected by the Bay Islands 2000 projectas the basis of national habitat classification scheme and subsequent nationalhabitat map.? Continue to aim to establish one or more additional multiple use marineprotected areas around Utila, with an integrated monitoring programme tomeasure their efficacy, and strengthen the enforcement of regulations in theTurtle Harbour Wildlife Sanctuary. Establish regulations, and enforce existinglegislation, to minimise the detrimental effects of coastal development on reefhealth.? Additional marine reserves in Utila should integrate factors such as thepreference of many fish species for coral rich habitats and the protection ofareas incorporating a range of habitat types, including mangroves and seagrassbeds, in order to allow for nursery areas, ontogenetic shifts and species thatrely on non-coral rich habitats. The corollary of the preference of fish speciesfor coral rich habitats is to protect coral cover within the reserves.? The reef on the south coast of Utila appears to be a good candidate forprotection because it is relatively sheltered from storm and hurricane damage