The effects of microcomputer use on the critical thinking skills of middle school students

The purpose of this study was to determine whether teaching critical thinking skills with the microcomputer produces a greater increase in the thinking skills of middle school students than teaching critical thinking skills with conventional methods.;The sample consisted of ten intact classes (N = 204) of seventh grade students who had registered for a class called, Problem Solving with the Microcomputer. Five of the classes were assigned at random to two treatment groups and five classes served as the control group. Trained teachers instructed the treatment groups in a nine week course in critical thinking and problem solving consisting of four learning modules: analogous reasoning, logical reasoning, inductive/deductive reasoning, and problem analysis. Both treatment groups were alternately taught two of the learning modules with the aid of the microcomputer and two of the modules taught with conventional methods. The control group received no special instruction in critical thinking skills. The conventional instruction consisted of lecture, discussion, and paper-and-pencil worksheets covering the same instructional objectives presented by the microcomputer software. All classes met daily for 50 minute periods. Selected subtests from the Ross Test of Higher Cognitive Processes and from the Test of Cognitive Skills were administered to all students as pretest-posttest measures of critical thinking skills. The Otis-Lennon Mental Ability Test was administered as a pretest-posttest measure of scholastic aptitude.;The major findings of the study were: (1) Students in both treatment groups, microcomputer and control, who received instruction in verbal analogies achieved significantly higher gains (p \u3c .01) than the control group who received no instruction. A close match between the instruction and the assessment instrument seemed to be a contributing factor to this result. (2) No significant differences (p \u3c .05) were found between the control, microcomputer, and conventional groups on logical reasoning, inductive/deductive reasoning, or problem analysis skills. (3) No significant differences (p \u3c .05) in scholastic aptitude were found between the three groups as a result of instruction in critical thinking skills

The 1990 recreation personnel study: Recreation personnel employed in the central and local government, voluntary and tertiary education sectors in New Zealand: A report prepared for the Recreation Association of New Zealand (RANZ)

To gather information on, and describe, the present status of recreation personnel employed in the central and local government, voluntary and tertiary education sectors in New Zealand, and their: a. conditions of appointment; b. professional and educational backgrounds; c. job activities; d. education and training needs, and e. the extent to which those recreation personnel recognise RANZ as being an organisation which can meet their professional needs

Hardware-in-the-Loop Reaction Wheel Testbed with Camera Vision

Reaction wheels are widely used in aerospace systems as a method of attitude control. This research was focused on the design, development, and testing of a hardware-in-the-loop reaction wheel testbed that can be used for research and teaching applications related to satellite navigation and control. This project successfully utilized commercial off-the-shelf components to develop a reaction wheel capable of controlling the orientation of a freely rotating platform, as well as tracking objects using computer vision

The stuff of which dreams are made: representations of the South Sea in German-language tourist brochures

The ways in which the South Pacific islands are represented in German-language tourist brochures is investigated. Our discussion of these brochure representations will examine the contrasts between tourism advertising imagery and the day-to-day interactions of tourists and locals in the islands represented. Informed by literature on motives for travel, tourist brochures, place promotion and commodification, we will discuss how German, Swiss and Austrian tourism operators depend on a deep-seated desire on the part of tourists to engage with a mythical paradisal Utopia. Common to many cultures, Utopia represents dreams of a better reality. We emphasise therefore that in addition to the now well-documented paradisal element of island tourism promotion, German-speaking tourists are enticed to the South Pacific by advertising references to it as a place where dreams may be fulfilled

Pseudotumors due to pulmonary infarction

The preferred treatment of pulmonary infarction is nonoperative when the diagnosis can be established. In the present study, five cases are described in which failure of resolution or growth of a radiographic density resulted in eventual thoracotomy and pulmonary resection. Carcinoma was suspected in each case, and in one patient, unremitting hemoptysis was an additional indication for operation. It is thought that the infarction was due to an embolus in four patients and to pulmonary arterial thrombosis in the other. Only one of the patients had evidence of peripheral thrombophlebitis, and none had underlying cardiac disease. The infarcts involved the upper lobes in two patients, the lower lobes in two, and both the upper and lower lobes in one. The benign nature of the process was recognized at operation and conservative resections performed. The typical finding was atelectasis of the involved parenchyma with a central necrotic area. In two patients organizing pulmonary emboli were encountered when transecting the pulmonary arterial supply, and in one of these, pulmonary endarterectomy of the remaining vessel was successfully performed. The apparent ages of the infarcts ranged from two weeks to several months. After the diagnosis had been established at operation, prophylactic anticoagulant therapy was not given in four patients, and no recurrences were observed. In the fifth, bilateral superficial femoral vein ligation was performed, also with a good result. © 1963

Cinderella Strings

We investigate recent claims concerning a new class of cosmic string solutions in the Weinberg-Salam model. They have the general form of previously discussed semi-local and electroweak strings, but are modified by the presence of a non-zero W-condensate in the core of the string. We explicitly construct such solutions for arbitrary values of the winding number $N$. We then prove that they are gauge equivalent to bare electroweak strings with winding number $N-1$. We also develop new asymptotic expressions for large-$N$ strings.Comment: 11 pages, harvmac (b) and epsf (2 figures uuencoded

Neoclassical tearing modes in DIII-D and calculations of the stabilizing effects of localized electron cyclotron current drive

Neoclassical tearing modes are found to limit the achievable beta in many high performance discharges in DIII-D. Electron cyclotron current drive within the magnetic islands formed as the tearing mode grows has been proposed as a means of stabilizing these modes or reducing their amplitude, thereby increasing the beta limit by a factor around 1.5. Some experimental success has been obtained previously on Asdex-U. Here the authors examine the parameter range in DIII-C in which this effect can best be studied

Nicotine Pretreatment Increases Dysphoric Effects of Alcohol in Luteal-Phase Female Volunteers

The present report shows that nicotine enhances some of alcohol’s positive and negative effects in women and that these effects are most pronounced during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. Ten low progesterone and 10 high progesterone/luteal-phase women received nicotine patch pretreatments (placebo or 21 mg) 3 hours before an alcohol challenge (0.4 g/kg). Subjective effects were recorded on mood adjective scales and the Addiction Research Center Inventory (ARCI). Heart rate and skin temperature were recorded. Luteal-phase women reported peak positive (e.g. “stimulated”) and peak negative effects (e.g. “clumsy”, “dizzy”) almost twice as great as low progesterone women

Divide and rule: Frontinus and Roman land-surveying

This paper aims to cast new light on one of our main sources for ancient science, Sextus Julius Frontinus; to cast new light on the science of the Graeco-Roman period; and to contribute ancient materials to present discussions on the relations between power and knowledge, and/or science and empire