SOCIAL NETWORKS AND THE CHOICES PEOPLE MAKE

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

Were burnt moulds derived from prehistoric copper production activities?

Burnt mounds and copper arrived on the scene in the British Isles at about the same time, at the beginning of the Neolithic to Bronze Age transition in the mid-3(^rd) millennium BC. Burnt mounds disappeared from that scene when iron was in process of replacing copper as the pre-eminent metal of the British Isles by about 500BC. Are burnt mounds and copper, then, directly related? Specifically, were burnt mound sites locations where some or all of the stages of the earliest forms of copper production took place? The research described in this paper is an initial attempt to find out. The first three chapters review and examine what is known both of burnt mounds in the British Isles and of the earliest copper production, the latter mainly from other pans of the world, since so few early copper processing sites have yet been discovered in the British Isles. Chapter 3 also compares features found at burnt mound sites with the requirements of early copper production, as far as they are known. In Chapters 4 and 5 attempts are made to test, by geochemical and geographic means, whether there is a direct relationship between burnt mounds and copper production. In Chapter 4, EDXRF is used to determine concentrations of copper and other elements in three burnt mounds, and in Chapter 5 known locations both of burnt mounds and copper sources are mapped and compared to find out whether burnt mounds are grouped close to copper sources. Chapter 6 evaluates the overall results and recommends a variety of additional types of research to more closely approach an answer to the title of this paper

Problem solving in chemistry at secondary school

In this project, the nature of open-ended problem solving is explored and working descriptions presented. In order to study the ways by which secondary pupils (ages 14-17) seek to solve open-ended problems in chemistry, a set of eighteen problems was devised. These were used with several hundred school pupils and data was gathered to examine the nature of difficulties experienced in facing such problems. The set of problems (described as units) was designed to be difficult and pupils worked in groups of three to seek solutions. They were encouraged to discuss the problem as they tried to solve it and to make notes of their attempts at solution. After each problem, they completed an assessment individually where they were asked to reflect on the process through which they had moved as they tried to solve the problem. Tape recordings of the discussions of many groups of pupils were made and other observations were made to build up a more complete picture. The information obtained was analysed and summarised to seek to gain insights into the process of problem solving where the problems were open-ended, unfamiliar and difficult. The main area of interest was to explore the way long term memory affected problem solving in such situations. Pupils enjoyed the units and liked working in groups. They tended to perceive the problems as difficult because they were unfamiliar and they felt they did not have enough knowledge. In fact, all the units were based specifically on the syllabus content and, therefore, pupils should have had enough knowledge. Nonetheless, they felt a knowledge inadequacy. It is possible that this observation might be linked to the lack of long term memory connections between islands of knowledge: while they should have known the key facts, perhaps the way they were required to link them to solve the problem was itself a major source of difficulty

Proceedings of the Seventh Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education

International audienceThis volume contains the Proceedings of the Seventh Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education (ERME), which took place 9-13 February 2011, at Rzeszñw in Poland

Bowdoin Orient v.91, no.1-19 (1961-1962)

https://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/bowdoinorient-1960s/1002/thumbnail.jp

Ninth European Powder Diffraction Conference – Prague, September 2-5, 2004

Zeitschrift für Kristallographie. Supplement Volume 23 presents the complete Proceedings of all contributions to the IX European Powder Diffraction Conference in Prague 2004: Method Development and Application, Instrumental, Software Development, Materials Supplement Series of Zeitschrift für Kristallographie publishes Proceedings and Abstracts of international conferences on the interdisciplinary field of crystallography

Report upon natural history collections made in Alaska between the years 1877 and 1881

Natural History Collections Made in Alaska. 3 Mar. SMD 156,49-1. v8, 337p. [2349] Narrative of expedition deals with contract with Indian