On the road to peace? : co-operation and conflict in Southern Africa's peace parks

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Active / interactive learning facilitation in large classes

Published ArticleAnyone who has taught a large class is aware of the physical and emotional constraints upon both lecturer and students. For students the dominant problems are anonymity, passivity and a frustration of not being able to say what is happening to them. For lecturers the dominant problems are not being able to relate to students as individuals, a feeling of being driven back to traditional teaching, being overwhelmed by assessment demands, and a sense of not being in control of the class. An increase in class size requires lecturers radically to reconsider how they deliver their courses. One such strategy proposed in this paper is that of active learning facilitation - getting students to work and think in the classroom about what and why they are doing what they are doing

How lecturers' beliefs shape their world of teaching

Published ArticleUntil we utilize our ability to choose our worldview, to choose our beliefs, to choose the reality in which we wish to live, behavior remains habitual and unexamined" (Yero 2002:234). This article explains and discusses the influence of lecturers' beliefs on teaching. It is important for lecturers to engage in mindful teaching by becoming aware of their momentary doings. If lecturers could discover how their own mental models of reality (i.e. beliefs) shape the world within the classroom, they have the opportunity to make mindful decisions. It is recommended that lecturers do a self-inventory to help identify their patterns of thought and bring into consciousness the beliefs and values that underlies their teaching. Because each lecturer's thinking processes and interpretations are unique, only they can determine what changes need to be made in the classroom environment

Peace parks in Southern Africa: bringers of an African renaissance

The pursuit of an African Renaissance has become an important aspect of regional cooperation between South Africa and its neighbours. Transfrontier conservation areas, or ‘Peace Parks’ as they are popularly called, have been identified as key instruments to promote the African Renaissance dream, and are increasingly advocated and justified on this basis. By fostering joint conservation (and tourism) development in Southern Africa’s marginalised border regions, Peace Parks are claimed to further international peace, regional cooperation and poverty reduction, and thus serve basic ideals of the African Renaissance. This article critically explores this assumption. Using the joint South African-Mozambican-Zimbabwean Great Limpopo Park as a case study, it argues that in reality the creation of Peace Parks hardly stimulates and possibly even undermines the realisation of the African Renaissance ideals of regional cooperation, emancipation, cultural reaffirmation, sustainable economic development and democratisation. So far, their achievement has been severely hindered by domination of national interests, insufficient community consultation, and sensitive border issues such as the illegal flows of goods and migrants between South Africa and neighbouring countries. Furthermore, exacerbation of inter-state differences induced by power imbalances in the region, and harmonisation of land use and legal systems across boundaries, are increasingly becoming sources of conflict and controversy. Some of these problems are so severe, we conclude, that they might eventually even undermine support for African Renaissance as a whole. Utmost care is thus required to optimally use the chances that Peace Parks do offer in furthering an African Renaissance

Reinvention of early algebra : developmental research on the transition from arithmetic to algebra

In chapter 1 we give our reasons for carrying out this developmental research project on the transition from arithmetic to algebra, which includes the design of an experimental learning strand on solving equations. Chapter 2 describes the theoretical background of the book: current views on the teaching and learning of early school algebra. In particular we discuss the learning difficulties related to obtaining an algebraic mode of thinking - opposed to an arithmetical one - and constructing and solving systems of equations. A brief discourse on the historical development of early algebra and its role in the design of the pre-algebra learning strand constitute chapter 3. In chapter 4 we present the research questions, research method and research plan employed in the study. Chapter 5 contains an account of the design process and learning-teaching experiences with the instructional materials in the first, exploratory phase of the study. The final phase of the study, which includes an overview of the revised learning strand and the overall results, is elaborated in chapter 6. For instance, we argue that symbolizing and reasoning competencies seem to develop independently and that certain errors can be ascribed to arithmetical conventions. Finally, in chapter 7 we conclude with a discussion and a number of recommendations for educational de-signers and teachers. Two sections from one of the the instructional units have been added as an appendix

A Concrete Situation For Learning Decimals

Learning about decimals is an important part in mathematics. However at the same time, decimals are known as the  abstract numbers for students. Mostly in Indonesia, decimal is taught only as another notation for fractions or percentages. There are no meaningful references  for  them  such as  the  use of  concrete  situations. This study aimed at investigating one situation that enables students to learn about decimals in a meaningful way,  i.e.  measurement  activities.  Design research was chosen to reach the research goal. Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) underlies  the design  of  context and activities. Our findings are that the students could discover decimals and  get meaningful situation from it. Measurement activities can promote the students’ notion of decimals which, then, provoke the students’ thinking into the idea of using number line as a model for placing the magnitude of decimals. Based on these findings, it is recommended that RME be implemented as an approach of teaching and learning decimals.Keywords: decimals, Realistic Mathematics Education (RME), number line, design research. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22342/jme.2.2.750.215-23

Eine interessante fossile Flora im tiefen Westfal D des Piesberges

In dieser Arbeit wird die Begleitflora zu den nicht-marinen Muschelfunden des Piesberges bei Osnabrück, worüber in Band 24 dieser Mitteilungen berichtet wurde, näher untersucht und dargestellt. Die nicht-marinen Muscheln wurden z.T. direkt aus dem Hangenden des Flözes Dreibänke, zum anderen und grössten Teil aus einer nahegelegenen Halde geborgen. Aufgrund des Vorkommens von Neuropteris dussartii Laveine, Sphenopteris coemansii Andrae und Alethopteris davreuxii (Brongniart) Goeppert kann festgestellt werden, dass das Haldenmaterial aus dem untersten Teil des Westfal D stammt.The fossil plant remains of the Piesberg near Osnabrück, which were found together with the non-marine shells (published in volume 24 of this journal), were studied and documented. Few of the non-marine shells were collected directly from above coal seam Dreibänke. However, most of the shells were collected from a waste dump. Based on the occurrence of Neuropteris dussartii Laveine, Sphenopteris coemansii Andrae and Alethopteris davreuxii (Brongniart) Goeppert it is concluded that the material from the dump belongs to the lowermost Westphalian D

A study of light-induced proton transfer from gas phase (radical) cations to reference bases. bracketing of proton transfer from excited ions and associated reaction kinetics

AbstractBy use of Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance, it is shown that protonated naphthalene when excited with laser light of 488 nm is more reactive in proton transfer to reference bases than in its ground state. The excitation leads to reaction with bases for which proton transfer in the ground state is endothermic up to a detected maximum of 60 kJ/mol. For indene radical cations excited at 514.5 nm, it is shown that the rate constant for proton transfer to 3-pentanone is either about 10 or about 100 times lower than the rate constant for relaxation by collisions with 3-pentanone. From the energy deposited in the ions, 0.5–0.6 eV is available for proton transfer to a base which seems reasonable when taking into account a complete randomization of the initially deposited energy

The Portrayal of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Mass Print Magazines Since 1980

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to examine and describe the portrayal of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in mass print media magazines. Design: The sample included all 37 articles found in magazines with circulation rates of greater than 1 million published in the United States and Canada from 1980 to 2005. The analysis was quantitative and qualitative and included investigation of both manifest and latent magazine story messages. Results: Manifest analysis noted that CAM was largely represented as a treatment for a patient with a medically diagnosed illness or specific symptoms. Discussions used biomedical terms such as patient rather than consumer and disease rather than wellness. Latent analysis revealed three themes: (1) CAMs were described as good but not good enough; (2) individualism and consumerism were venerated; and (3) questions of costs were raised in the context of confusion and ambivalence