Elites and institutions : literature review

Exploring elites and their relations to institutions can assist understanding the day-to-day realities of politics in Africa (Chabal and Daloz 1999, Amundsen 2001, Lindberg 2003). This review is a scoping exercise in what has been written on the subject in recent years. The main task of the review is to summarise current understandings of how elites work with and through political institutions in Africa. There is a huge literature in this subject area. We have tried to pick out a) that which is most pertinent and non-repetitive, and b) that which raises as many questions as it provides answers. On the whole we have focused on literature published in the last five to ten years and we have inclined towards the literature on Anglophone Africa. The review is presented as follows: Section 1 is an introduction to Africa’s recent political landscape and it introduces some of the major issues that appear in the literature. Section 2 provides some working definitions of elites, institutions and democratisation as three of the recurring themes in the review. Section 3 reviews literature broadly on democratisation in Africa and specifically on elections and elites. Section 4 examines how political parties have evolved over the last 15 years. Section 5 reviews the three branches of government and Section 6 briefly examines decentralisation and its relation to elites and politics. The remaining sections of the review move outside the more formal political structures to examine the media (Section 7), civil society (Section 8), women’s movements (Section 9), Trades unions (Section 10) and business associations (Section 11). The final Section 12 pulls out a number of gaps in the research that we have identified in the course of the review. Section 13 contains a complete bibliography of citations used in the review. It is crucial to remember that Africa’s experiences of democratisation are no more than 15 years old, and many scholars have cautioned that it is still very early to draw any definite conclusions (Amundsen 2001; Randall and Svasand 2002). Inhaltsverzeichnis: 1. Africa’s political landscape 3 * Diversity of ‘Africa’ 4 * Elections do not mean democracy 4 * Presidentialism 4 * Ethnicity 5 * Personal rule and patronage 5 2. Definitions 6 * Elites 6 * Political institutions 7 * Democratisation 8 3. Democratisation and elites 8 * Elections 9 * Elites and elections 13 4. Political parties 16 5. Branches of government 17 * The executive 17 * The legislature 18 * The Judiciary 20 6. Decentralisation 20 7. Media 21 * Radio 25 * Television 25 * Newspapers 25 * Internet 26 8. Civil society 26 9. Women’s movements 29 10. Trade unions 32 11. Business associations 34 12. Gaps in the research 36 13. Bibliography 3

Standardised library instruction assessment: an institution-specific approach

Introduction We explore the use of a psychometric model for locally-relevant, information literacy assessment, using an online tool for standardised assessment of student learning during discipline-based library instruction sessions. Method A quantitative approach to data collection and analysis was used, employing standardised multiple-choice survey questions followed by individual, cognitive interviews with undergraduate students. The assessment tool was administered to five general education psychology classes during library instruction sessions. AnalysisDescriptive statistics were generated by the assessment tool. Results. The assessment tool proved a feasible means of measuring student learning. While student scores improved on every survey question, there was uneven improvement from pre-test to post-test for different questions. Conclusion Student scores showed more improvement for some learning outcomes over others, thus, spending time on fewer concepts during instruction sessions would enable more reliable evaluation of student learning. We recommend using digital learning objects that address basic research skills to enhance library instruction programmes. Future studies will explore different applications of the assessment tool, provide more detailed statistical analysis of the data and shed additional light on the significance of overall scores

“My math lessons are all about learning from your mistakes”: how mixed-attainment mathematics grouping affects the way students experience mathematics

Mixed-attainment mathematics teaching is not a common practice in England despite evidence that ability grouping is not an effective strategy for improving educational outcomes. This study compares mathematics in School M (mixed-ability groupings) and School S (sets) in relation to student beliefs, and teacher beliefs and practices. Questionnaire data from 286 students and twelve teachers were triangulated with lesson observations and interviews. This article suggests grouping practices could indeed influence students’ mindsets, teachers’ mindsets and teachers’ beliefs and practices. An above average proportion of students in both schools reported growth orientations although these beliefs were held more strongly by students in the mixed-attainment grouping. School M teachers also held stronger growth-mindsets than School S teachers. Mathematics teachers in both schools reported connectionist beliefs but the students’ experiences differed. Most students in School M perceive typical mathematics lessons as involving a substantial problem or challenge worked on collaboratively in pairs or small groups, and having several entry points. Students in both schools valued learning from mistakes but School M students were more likely to both believe this would help them, and have access to this type of learning opportunity. Despite teachers’ connectionist beliefs the teachers of sets were less able to align their teaching with their views and students experienced mathematics as procedures delivered by teachers and reproduced by students. This has implications for further research as mixed-attainment groupings may be a factor in determining the way in which students experience learning mathematics

2008 Survey of Technology Enhanced Learning for higher education in the UK

UCISA, JIS

Soil natural capital quantification by the stock adequacy method

AbstractA method is presented for assessing soil natural capital based on the principles of land evaluation. Policymakers are adopting concepts of flows of ecosystem services, and the natural capital stocks that support them, to provide more integrated analyses of the trade-offs between environmental, economic, social and cultural outcomes from land use. Soil is frequently overlooked in these analyses. Techniques are needed to quantify and map soil natural capital and their potential to provide ecosystem services to enable the soil science community to more effectively engage with decision-makers. To support this engagement, these techniques need to use available soil survey maps and databases to provide extensive geographic coverage of soil natural capital estimates. The method presented estimates the adequacy of soil natural capital stocks to support the soil processes behind the provision of ecosystem services under a specific land use. A stock adequacy index estimates the degree to which the provision of services is limited by soil natural capital stocks or advantaged by a stock surplus under a given land use. Reference values are derived from a curve of the response of the provision of the service to key soil stocks for a specified land use. These curves are determined from land evaluation and soil quality literature, or by modelling. The method is essentially an extension of land evaluation in which the evaluations are calibrated using an ecosystem approach. The output indices provide information about potential ecosystem services provision, land-use suitability, soil resource use efficiency, and environmental performance. Outputs from the method are demonstrated for a range of soils under pastoral dairy land use in Wairarapa, New Zealand

One-dimensional compression of a saturated elastoviscoplastic medium

A theoretical and experimental study is presented of the one-dimensional compression of a networked suspension. Particular attention is given to relatively rapid compression where we extend previous works by including an elastoviscoplastic constitutive relation. Solutions of a one-dimensional model are presented, and asymptotic limits explored, for compressions controlling either displacement or load. The results are compared to complementary laboratory experiments using cellulose fiber suspensions, with the material functions appearing in the model calibrated by independent experiments. Measurements of load and local solid velocity as a function of displacement during compression and unloading gauge the importance of elastic effects. The comparison between experiment and theory is satisfying, demonstrating a dramatic improvement over existing inelastic constitutive models in reproducing the observed differential spatial compaction