The external debt difficulties of low income Africa

Two debt crises affect developing countries. The more publicized crisis affects the middle income Baker Plan countries, including Nigeria and Cote d'Ivoire. The less well known crisis affects most of Africa's 34 low income countries. Poverty and economic rigidities in the African countries make it harder for them to grow out of their debt problems without special assistance. These countries are more dependent than the highly indebted countries on primary commodity exports, which often require long investment periods to increase production. Debtor countries must take the lead in establishing and maintaining workable medium term adjustment programs. Once adjustment is occuring, it is in the interests of donors and creditors to continue supporting recovery well into the 1990s.Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Strategic Debt Management,Banks&Banking Reform,Public Sector Economics&Finance

Do learning logs have an impact on the conceptual mastery of force and motion?: subtitle

This two-week study was conducted to investigate the impact Learning Logs have on student conceptual mastery of force, motion, and kinematics. To begin the study a sample of 554 ninth grade students were selected from a suburban public school in Louisiana. The students were randomly divided into experimental and control groups within four teachers’ classrooms. This distribution was to examine the impact of Learning Logs regardless of the teaching style or time of day. Upon the study’s conclusion there was no significant differences noted due to teaching style or time of day. The Force Motion Concept Evaluation (FMCE) was used to establish conceptual knowledge gained throughout the unit. Further analysis of the data was done to see if other variables such as gender, ethnicity, economic status, or student learning exceptionalities had a significant impact on conceptual mastery. None of the aforementioned variables showed statistical significance. The students in this study did not make significant gains on the FMCE. The data showed that students stayed with their personal explanations regardless of the Learning Logs. Students appeared to have held onto their own explanation or an Aristotelian view despite the variables discussed. The persistence of student responses is greater than the random guessing threshold. Students were more likely select and maintain their misconception on the FMCE

Evolution of Computational Thinking Contextualized in a Teacher-Student Collaborative Learning Environment.

The discussion of Computational Thinking as a pedagogical concept is now essential as it has found itself integrated into the core science disciplines with its inclusion in all of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS, 2018). The need for a practical and functional definition for teacher practitioners is a driving point for many recent research endeavors. Across the United States school systems are currently seeking new methods for expanding their students’ ability to analytically think and to employee real-world problem-solving strategies (Hopson, Simms, and Knezek, 2001). The need for STEM trained individuals crosses both the vocational certified and college degreed career spectrums. This embedded multiple case study employed mixed methods data to gain insights into the pedagogical practices, curriculum, and teacher-student interactions that occurred in three teacher’s lives. The study’s teachers were all using LSU’s Introduction to Computational Thinking (ICT) curriculum and the accompanying professional development program. The cases studied demonstrated that it was possible to train a teacher with no experience in computing to be a functional novice teacher. The three teachers demonstrated a pathway of professional growth that I classify as apprehension of the novelty, transitional growth with the content, and reinforced confidence from student interactions. The teachers were challenged by embracing new project/problem based pedagogical techniques and working in a virtual environment. Teacher success was reinforced through their ability to embrace reflective thinking practices with their students. The role of contextualization was examined as a critical factor in teacher professional evolution. The results have implications for future computing curriculum development and meaningful/ successful teacher training practices

British pain clinic practitioners' recognition and use of the bio-psychosocial pain management model for patients when physical interventions are ineffective or inappropriate : results of a qualitative study

Background To explore how chronic musculoskeletal pain is managed in multidisciplinary pain clinics for patients for whom physical interventions are inappropriate or ineffective. Methods A qualitative study was undertaken using semi-structured interviews with twenty five members of the pain management team drawn from seven pain clinics and one pain management unit located across the UK. Results All clinics reported using a multidisciplinary bio-psychosocial model. However the chronic pain management strategy actually focussed on psychological approaches in preference to physical approaches. These approaches were utilised by all practitioners irrespective of their discipline. Consideration of social elements such as access to social support networks to support patients in managing their chronic pain was conspicuously absent from the approaches used. Conclusion Pain clinic practitioners readily embraced cognitive/behavioural based management strategies but relatively little consideration to the impact social factors played in managing chronic pain was reported. Consequently multidisciplinary pain clinics espousing a bio-psychosocial model of pain management may not be achieving their maximum potential

The Lawfulness of United States Assistance to the Republic of Viet Nam

In recent months, critics of United States assistance to the Republic of Viet Nam have increasingly used legal arguments in their attacks on that assistance. They have asserted that the United States presence and activities in Viet Nam violate general principles of international law and the United Nations Charter. In support of these assertions, they argue that the Republic of Viet Nam is not a state, that the United States is merely intervening in a civil war, and that this intervention neither qualifies as self-defense under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter nor is otherwise legally justified. Although there is certainly room for choice and disagreement among the available policy alternatives, these legal arguments substantially misstate the case