Functions of textbooks: a comparative analysis of the context in Quebec and Ontario

El artículo presenta los resultados de un análisis comparativo de la documentación oficial de Quebec y Ontario respecto a las funciones concedidas a los textos escolares. Por un lado, este análisis tiene por objeto identificar las distintas funciones asociadas a los textos escolares en cada una de estas dos provincias canadienses y, por otro, mostrar la influencia potencial de estas funciones en su utilización en el aula. Los resultados evidencian que la implementación de currículums que promueven una perspectiva constructivista, se realiza sin que las funciones de los textos escolares sean problematizadas de manera rigurosa. Los marcos evaluativos nos llevan a concluir que textos escolares representan a la vez resúmenes de los programas de estudio, herramientas de formación e información tanto para los docentes como para alumnos y vectores de valores socioculturales. Por consiguiente, la concepción de textos escolares se muestra poco congruente con las orientaciones educativas de tipo constructivista.O artigo apresenta os resultados de uma análise comparativa da documentação oficial de Quebec e Ontário com respeito às funções atribuídas aos textos escolares. Por um lado, esta análise tem por objeto identificar as diferentes funções associadas aos textos escolares em cada uma destas duas províncias canadenses e, por outro, mostrar a influência potencial destas funções em sua utilização na sala de aula. Os resultados evidenciam que a implementação de currículos que promovem uma perspectiva construtivista, realiza-se sem que as funções dos textos escolares sejam problematizadas de maneira rigorosa. Os marcos avaliativos nos levam a concluir que os textos escolares representam ao mesmo tempo resumos dos programas de estudo, ferramentas de formação e informação tanto para os docentes como para alunos e vetores de valores socioculturais. Portanto, a concepção de textos escolares se mostra pouco congruente com as orientações educativas de tipo construtivista.This paper presents the results of a comparative analysis of official documents from Quebec and Ontario with regards to the functions of textbooks in science education. This analysis aims, in part, to reveal the various functions associated with textbooks in each of these Canadian provinces, as well as to expose their potential influence on how textbooks are used in the classroom. The results illustrate that the implementation of new curricula favouring a constructivist perspective was implemented without the status or role of textbooks being put into any in-depth question. The evaluation criteria lead to the conception of textbooks representing a condensed curriculum, training tools and information for teachers, tools for informing and training students as well as vectors for sociocultural values. As of yet, the conception of textbooks seem to be incongruent with the educational orientations that aspire to constructivism

Points de vue d’enseignants de sciences au premier cycle du secondaire sur les manuels scolaires dans le contexte de l’implantation des nouveaux programmes au Québec

Cet article présente les résultats d’une enquête réalisée auprès d’enseignants de sciences et technologies au secondaire, pour connaître leurs points de vue sur les manuels scolaires produits dans le contexte de la récente réforme éducative au Québec. Les données recueillies montrent que les enseignants préfèrent des manuels qui leur présentent de manière opérationnelle les savoirs disciplinaires et s’attendent à ce que ces manuels les soutiennent dans la préparation et dans la mise en oeuvre de leur enseignement. Ils se montrent par ailleurs très critiques au regard des manuels qui leur présentent des démarches d’enseignement-apprentissage dans lesquelles le cheminement est préétabli et fermé.This article presents the results of a survey conducted with secondary science and technology teachers to obtain their points of view on textbooks developed in the context of the recent education reform in Quebec. The data collected show that the teachers prefer to have textbooks that present an operational approach to the disciplines. The teachers also expect the textbooks to provide a support for the preparation and the implementation of their teaching. The teachers are very critical of textbooks that present teaching-learning approaches with pre-established and closed progressions.El artículo presenta los resultados de una encuesta que se llevó a cabo con docentes de ciencias y tecnologías en la secundaria para conocer sus puntos de vistas sobre los libros de texto producidos en el contexto de la reciente reforma educativa en Quebec. Los datos recolectados muestran que los docentes prefieren libros de texto que presentan los saberes disciplinarios de manera operacional y cuentan con que estos manuales les apoyan en la preparación y la elaboración de su enseñanza. Por otro lado, se muestran muy críticos con los libros de texto que presentan los pasos a seguir en el procesos de enseñanza-aprendizaje y en los cuales el camino está preestablecido y cerrado

Mutations in TBCK, Encoding TBC1-Domain-Containing Kinase, Lead to a Recognizable Syndrome of Intellectual Disability and Hypotonia

Through an international multi-center collaboration, 13 individuals from nine unrelated families and affected by likely pathogenic biallelic variants in TBC1-domain-containing kinase (TBCK) were identified through whole-exome sequencing. All affected individuals were found to share a core phenotype of intellectual disability and hypotonia, and many had seizures and showed brain atrophy and white-matter changes on neuroimaging. Minor non-specific facial dysmorphism was also noted in some individuals, including multiple older children who developed coarse features similar to those of storage disorders. TBCK has been shown to regulate the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway, which is also stimulated by exogenous leucine supplementation. TBCK was absent in cells from affected individuals, and decreased phosphorylation of phospho-ribosomal protein S6 was also observed, a finding suggestive of downregulation of mTOR signaling. Lastly, we demonstrated that activation of the mTOR pathway in response to L-leucine supplementation was retained, suggesting a possible avenue for directed therapies for this condition

Funciones de los textos escolares: un análisis comparativo del contexto de Quebec y Ontario

This paper presents the results of a comparative analysis of official documents from Quebec and Ontario with regards to the functions of textbooks in science education. This analysis aims, in part, to reveal the various functions associated with textbooks in each of these Canadian provinces, as well as to expose their potential influence on how textbooks are used in the classroom. The results illustrate that the implementation of new curricula favouring a constructivist perspective was implemented without the status or role of textbooks being put into any in-depth question. The evaluation criteria lead to the conception of textbooks representing a condensed curriculum, training tools and information for teachers, tools for informing and training students as well as vectors for sociocultural values. As of yet, the conception of textbooks seem to be incongruent with the educational orientations that aspire to constructivism.O artigo apresenta os resultados de uma análise comparativa da documentação oficial de Quebec e Ontário com respeito às funções atribuídas aos textos escolares. Por um lado, esta análise tem por objeto identificar as diferentes funções associadas aos textos escolares em cada uma destas duas províncias canadenses e, por outro, mostrar a influência potencial destas funções em sua utilização na sala de aula. Os resultados evidenciam que a implementação de currículos que promovem uma perspectiva construtivista, realiza-se sem que as funções dos textos escolares sejam problematizadas de maneira rigorosa. Os marcos avaliativos nos levam a concluir que os textos escolares representam ao mesmo tempo resumos dos programas de estudo, ferramentas de formação e informação tanto para os docentes como para alunos e vetores de valores socioculturais. Portanto, a concepção de textos escolares se mostra pouco congruente com as orientações educativas de tipo construtivista.El artículo presenta los resultados de un análisis comparativo de la documentación oficial de Quebec y Ontario respecto a las funciones concedidas a los textos escolares. Por un lado, este análisis tiene por objeto identificar las distintas funciones asociadas a los textos escolares en cada una de estas dos provincias canadienses y, por otro, mostrar la influencia potencial de estas funciones en su utilización en el aula. Los resultados evidencian que la implementación de currículums que promueven una perspectiva constructivista, se realiza sin que las funciones de los textos escolares sean problematizadas de manera rigurosa. Los marcos evaluativos nos llevan a concluir que textos escolares representan a la vez resúmenes de los programas de estudio, herramientas de formación e información tanto para los docentes como para alumnos y vectores de valores socioculturales. Por consiguiente, la concepción de textos escolares se muestra poco congruente con las orientaciones educativas de tipo constructivista

Application des techniques de l'intelligence artificielle à la géoprospective: le projet Expect - Application of Artificial Intelligence techniques to géoprospective: the Expect project

International audienceDifficulties in the géoprospective approach arise from the diversity and nature of accumulated phenomenological data, the necessity of guaranteeing compatibility between hypotheses introduced into scenarios of future evolution, and finally from the necessity of substituting, for the system considered, a train of discontinuous states by a description of its progressive evolution . These specific constraints have led BRGM to consider using techniques of Artificial Intelligence and qualitative reasoning in the field of géoprospective; this is the aim of the Expect project (EXpert system applied to the prediction of the site Evolution Context) being carried out in collaboration with the Laboratoire de Recherche en Informatique (Informatics Research Laboratory) of the University of Orsay. Several specificities in the field of géoprospective have guided the selection of these techniques: - A scenario can be considered as a chain of causality beginning with likely hypotheses concerning the occurrence of phenomena, founded on knowledge of past climatic and geological history. It is a multi-expert problem. - Géoprospective is based, above all, on a qualitative vision of phenomena; this is related to the type of data manipulated (often empirical and interpretative) and the complexity of the field. Although it is possible to establish that one phenomenon has an influence on another, and in what way, this knowledge cannot generally be translated into an exactly corresponding numerical model. - The quantitative data used are often marred by uncertainties that increase with time. - Numerous parameters have notable values (which may be expressed as intervals) that, associated with the direction of parameter variation, provide pertinent information on the evolution of the system. This poster presents the main concepts associated with this technique, a taxonomy of the knowledge that is manipulated in géoprospective, the formalism developed and the modalities for using such a system. A few examples are given to illustrate these points

Inorganic-organic-fabrics based polyester/cotton for catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol

International audiencePolyester/cotton (PC) fabric was functionalized with CuO dispersion followed by diethanolamine (DEA) grafting. The resulting PCCuO-DEA material was characterized, and the infrared spectrum confirmed the presence of functional groups on the surface. Scanning electron microscopy indicated that CuO insertion resulted in agglomerated particles with uniform size distribution around 50 μm. Thermogravimetric analysis evidenced a good thermal stability of PCCuO-DEA. The latter acquired new active sites at the PC surface, producing improved catalytic reduction of 4-NP into 4-aminophenol (4-AP). The kinetic studies of 4-NP reduction by sodium borohydride revealed a pseudo-first-order reaction. In presence of CuO-DEA, 4-NP was fully converted into 4-AP in less than 8 min. It was also found that PCCuO-DEA exhibits high catalytic activity even after six successive cycles, with nearly 89% conversion. The above results open an intersting avenue for developing functional textile-based catalysts, which are expected to be very useful in many technological applications

Use of the ESI-2007 scale to evaluate the 2003 Boumerdès earthquake (North Algeria)

In this study, we applied the environmental seismic intensity (ESI-2007) scale to a major recent Algerian earthquake. The ESI-2007 scale is an effective tool to assess the seismic hazard and has been applied to onshore earthquakes. Here we applied the scale to a recent earthquake (Mw 6.8, 2003) that took place offshore in the province of Boumerdès in the north of Algeria along the boundary between African and Eurasian plates. The main shock was associated to an unknown submarine structure. No surface ruptures were observed on the onshore domain, but many earthquake environmental effects (EEEs) were reported during several field investigations. In addition to onshore ground effects, this event triggered turbidity currents responsible for 29 submarine cable breaks. Mapping and describing coseismic ground effects allowed us to distinguish primary and secondary effects like coastal uplifts, liquefaction phenomena, tsunami waves, turbidity currents, cracks, rock falls, slope movements and hydrological anomalies. Considering the total area affected and the distribution of ground effects, we suggest intensity X that appears in agreement with intensity calculated in previous study with the EMS-98 scale. Thus, this method is validated even in the case of a coastal earthquake, and could be applied in the future to Algerian historical earthquakes that have affected scarcely inhabited zones but where EEEs were listed and located

Aldehyde-conjugated chitosan-graphene oxide glucodynamers: ternary cooperative assembly and controlled chemical release

Simultaneous condensation of aromatic aldehydes (ArxCHO; x =1–4) on chitosan biopolymer (CS)affords, after water-evaporation, structurally-conjugated aryl-functionalized CS-Arx-ffilms. Similarly, cooperative assembly of two-dimensional nanometric graphene oxide (GO), aromatic aldehyde and chitosan provides transparent, flexible and crack-free aldehyde-functionalized, ternary-reinforced CS-Arx-GO-f nanocomposite films. Homogenous films were obtained using ortho-hydroxybenzaldehyde Ar1 while the para-hydroxybenzaldehyde Ar4 was prone to packing inside. Textural and mechanical properties were investigated and expectedly, sig- nificant improvement was found for CS-Ar1-GO-f because of the great dispersion of the aromatic and the pre- sence of the filler. The sensitivity of unsaturated C]N imine bond to hydrolysis was explored for triggering controlled release of aromatics from the as-prepared films. All of them were found to induce a time-dependent aromatic release. It has been moreover observed that the release was significantly delayed in CS-Arx-GO-f compared to CS-Arx-f, a fact attributed to the interplay of the ring with the basal and edges of graphene oxide, through π-π stacking and additional hydrogen bonding interactions. This finding shows that beyond the con- ventional wisdom using fillers for improving thermal and mechanical properties, the tiny carbon sheets can act as a regulator for aldehyde release, thereby providing a way for more controlled chemical delivery from confined nanocomposites

Nitroaldol condensation catalyzed by topologically modulable cooperative acid–base chitosan–TiO2 hybrid materials

Chitosan–TiO2 shaped as macroporous aerogels, lamellar cryogels or electrospun films act synergistically as acid–base bifunctional catalysts. Depending on the topology of the material, a marked difference in the selectivity for nitroaldol condensation is observed

Development of new multifunctional filter based nonwovens for organics pollutants reduction and detoxification: High catalytic and antibacterial activities

International audienc