Not science as I know it

By accident I came across the curriculum document for Accelerated Christian Education (ACE), which provides teaching and learning materials to parents who are homeschooling their children. New Zealand students who complete the programme right through to Year 13 gain university entrance. Home Schooling NZ gives parents advice about the ACE programme, but makes it clear that HSNZ does not work for Accelerated Christian Education or sell their teaching and assessment materials. However, I was startled to see the following listed by HSNZ as one of the “distinctives” [sic] of the ACE programme: Each student is taught from a biblical perspective developing critical thinking skills that will enable them to discern what is truly “…the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:2

The initial mass function in HII galaxies

Observation of a large sample of HII galaxies shows that the emission line ratios of the youngest objects change systematically with gaseous oxygen abundance, which was interpreted as resulting from changes in the initial mass function (IMF) of the ionizing cluster. Comparison with cluster/nebula models shows that both the slope and the upper mass limit of the cluster IMF vary with abundance. In HII galaxies with oxygen abundance about 1/10 that of Orion, the IMF for massive stars must have a slope which is about a factor of 2 smaller than in the Solar Neighborhood

What determines perseverance in studying science?

This article explores the issue of university student recruitment and retention beyond the first and second year of studying science. The research investigated the 'image' students have of science, the demands they face in studying science and student self-efficacy, and the relative importance of these factors as perceived by 140 returning New Zealand year two science and engineering students, using questionnaires and focus group interviews. Results indicate that returning students are generally confident in their ability to cope with their science studies. However, a significant minority of students was unsure or not coping with issues such as course workloads, and findings suggest that during their first year science students need to be reassured that they are valued, and that their education is taken very seriously by the institution and their lecturers. Student commentary suggests this can be achieved by personalising lectures, ensuring personal contact with lecturers and monitoring how students are coping with the challenges and stresses that affect workload issues and subsequently their academic progress

Co-Constructing Writing Knowledge: Students’ Collaborative Talk Across Contexts

Although compositionists recognize that student talk plays an important role in learning to write, there is limited understanding of how students use conversational moves to collaboratively build knowledge about writing across contexts. This article reports on a study of focus group conversations involving first-year students in a cohort program. Our analysis identified two patterns of group conversation among students: “co-telling” and “co-constructing,” with the latter leading to more complex writing knowledge. We also used Beaufort’s domains of writing knowledge to examine how co-constructing conversations supported students in abstracting knowledge beyond a single classroom context and in negotiating local constraints. Our findings suggest that co-constructing is a valuable process that invites students to do the necessary work of remaking their knowledge for local use. Ultimately, our analysis of the role of student conversation in the construction of writing knowledge contributes to our understanding of the myriad activities that surround transfer of learning

Words and music in the Cantigas de Santa Maria: the Cantigas as song

The Cantigas de Santa Maria represent one of the largest and best-documented song collections to come out of medieval Europe, with pieces preserved in up to three manuscripts. The close degree of agreement between the sources gives this collection a more stable and unified nature than other contemporary repertories and its size – at over 400 pieces – makes it a potentially rich resource for studying medieval song. However, a history of split editions – i.e. predominantly text-focused or music-focused – has meant that the texts and melodies have rarely been given the same degree of scrutiny, and the relationship between them is still unclear. Existing literature on the Cantigas has seldom been able to address both aspects at once, and if the collection’s status as song is referred to, it is usually at the level of vague contextual statements such as “they must have been performed at Alfonso X’s court”. In short, the Cantigas have rarely been studied in detail as song. This thesis will argue that song represents an important axis for understanding this repertory. Chapter 1 will start by surveying the basic characteristics of textual and musical structure, taking in both large-scale forms such as virelai and zajal and smaller-scale structures, as well as techniques used in composition. This will also help to situate the Cantigas in the context of other related repertories, such as those of the Occitan and Galician-Portuguese troubadours. Chapter 2 asks “What can song do for the Cantigas?”: it will first look at the text–music relationship, before going on to consider the impact of performance, and the difference that granting the pieces their status as song can make to established views both of the manuscript sources and the motivations behind the collection. This second chapter will treat song as a tool for “unlocking” aspects of the collection that have not yet been covered fully in the literature. Chapter 3, by contrast, will use the Cantigas as a starting point for a broader examination of song itself. It will ask what the experience of studying medieval repertories such as the Cantigas, and the specific types of song they represent, can do for our understanding of song as a general phenomenon. After considering the fundamental question “What makes a song?” it will seek to lay down a theoretical background for this discussion, consider existing models (especially those presented by Agawu in his 1992 article “Theory and practice in the analysis of the nineteenth-century Lied”) and conclude by offering its own set of exploratory definitions

Rehabilitation of captive Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes Verus)

The behaviour of 48 chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) was studied over 27 months in Liberia, West Africa. The chimpanzees were first studied while they were housed in groups in enclosures in a medical research institute, and then after their release onto a 9.7 ha offshore island. When the chimpanzees were observed in captivity, data on social behaviour were collected with the use of check sheets and ad libitum notes. Data were collected on aggression, social grooming, social play, sexual behaviour, and individual spacing. After release onto the island, data on both social and subsistence behaviour were collected with the use of ad libitum notes. Both changes in social behaviour and in the development of subsistence behaviour were observed following release of the chimpanzees onto the island. Rates of aggression decreased following release, whereas rates of social grooming increased. Rates of social play decreased overall, but this was due to a decrease in social play by adults. Stereotyped or abnormal behaviour shown by some subjects declined. Subsistence behaviours which were observed following release were foraging for naturally occurring foods (leaves, fruits, seeds, and nuts), ant-eating, and tool-use for nut-cracking. Some subjects were also seen building sleeping-nests in trees. The chimpanzees also split into subgroups (including consortships) which showed similar trends in size and composition to those observed in wild populations of chimpanzees. Some techniques found to be useful during the release process are discussed, and the study is compared to previous primate release projects

Bolshevism, Islamism, Nationalism: Britain’s Problems in South Asia, 1918–1923

As many scholars have noted, in the immediate years after the First World War, the British Empire faced important challenges to its future survival, not least of which was the growth of three key movements: Bolshevism, Islamism and nationalism. This thesis examines how Britain coped with these problems, by exploring the internal government debates regarding foreign policy formulation towards South Asia, specifically in the countries of Persia and Afghanistan. It is the contention of this work that the current literature on this subject suffers from certain flaws, the first being that not enough writers have discussed the interrelation of these three movements. Secondly, there has been a lack of focus on how officials in London and in Delhi thought quite differently on the issue of Britain’s foreign policy in South Asia after 1918. This thesis will address these, and other, gaps in the literature. It will contend that there were those within the Home government who displayed a particular mode of thought – a ‘Great Game mentality’ – towards this region. This mentality was influenced by the legacy of the earlier, 19th-century rivalry between Britain and Russia, and resulted in a tendency to over-emphasise the threat of Russian Bolshevism to Britain’s imperial interests in South Asia, whilst at the same time under-emphasising the threat of nationalism and pan-Islamism across Persia, Afghanistan and India. When the Indian government questioned this Great Game mentality, it was largely ignored and frequently maligned. The work will demonstrate how those of the Great Game mind-set dominated the creation of Britain’s policy towards Persia, Afghanistan and adjoining regions in 1918 and 1919, how events of 1920 and 1921 forced London to reassess this Great Game thinking, and how (by 1922 and 1923) this re-evaluation had developed into re-formulation of British foreign policy in South Asia