Learning communities and fair trade in doctorates and development: report of a collaborative project

This article reports the second stage of a study examining an academic partnership in which Bangladeshi doctoral students in a western university focus their research in the grounded context of Bangladesh and investigate the processes for change. After briefly outlining the previous published stage which examined the academic trade in higher education with developing countries, the article builds on the concept of fair academic trade to critically reflect on the development of a doctoral learning community, a publication project and three specific doctoral studies. The methodological approach is one of participatory action research, with focus on critical reflection on practice.     

The textbook as classroom context variable

To explore the role of the textbook as a context variable in process—product relationships, data on teaching practices and learning outcomes from the IEA Classroom Environment Study in The Netherlands were used. The sample consisted of 50 secondary school mathematics classes and their teachers. Three textbooks were represented in the sample. Data collection included systematic observation of lessons and administration of tests and questionnaires to students and teachers. Nine teaching practices analogous to the distinguishing features of the textbooks were identified, and data relating to these practices were analysed. Four of the teaching practices occurred to different degrees in the three groups of textbook users. The correlations with two learning outcomes in different groups of textbook users were significantly different for 5 of the 18 cases. These results suggest that the textbook is an important context variable.     

What do individuals in different science groups within a life sciences organization think about genetic modification?

An assessment was undertaken of the attitudes of individuals within the science community towards a program to produce genetically modified cattle for altered milk composition, expectantly allowing for research into the treatment of multiple sclerosis in humans. The majority of respondents to an electronic survey expressed favorable attitudes to the program, thought it beneficial, respected individual freedom and was fair and just and disagreed that it was harmful. A passion for science and having a suitable lifestyle were the most important motivating factors for individuals. Finally, there were a wide range of responses to a number of cultural beliefs or myths. Science grouping significantly affected the responses. Compared with Systems and Land groups, Plant and Reproduction groups more strongly agreed with the project, thought it less harmful to interest groups, felt that genetic modification of animals was more morally acceptable, and more strongly agreed with the myth statements. These results indicate a diversity of beliefs and attitudes towards genetic modification amongst those within the science community, and highlight the importance of understanding ethics and myths in dealing with them. It is suggested that the diversity of beliefs could be better used to help shape public policy and understanding of biotechnology.     

Morphological structures in visual word recognition: the case of Arabic

This research examined the function within lexical access of the main morphemic units from which most Arabic words are assembled, namely roots and word patterns. The present study focused on the derivation of nouns, in particular, whether the lexical representation of Arabic words reflects their morphological structure and whether recognition of a word involves recognition of its morphological constituents. The morphology of Arabic language constitutes two main systems: inflectional morphology and derivational morphology. Inflectional morphology is used to express grammatical relations and derivational morphology deals with the formation of new words in language; it contains two types of word patterns: verbal and nominal. In this study, it was assumed that roots are lexical entities that can facilitate lexical access to a large cluster of words that derive from them, whereas word patterns are not lexical entities and have no role in access to words assembled by them. The lexical representations of the main morphemic units were examined in four experiments using skilled readers applying masked priming technique tasks: lexical decision and naming. The results indicated that previous exposure to a word sharing the same word pattern had no marked facilitating effect on lexical decision or on naming. The main conclusion of this study on the morphology of Arabic is that roots and word patterns have no essential role in word organisation in the mental lexicon. In addition, words in nominal pattern in derivational morphology are represented in their whole shape in the mental lexicon and each word has an independent representation.     

E-learning services acceptance in higher educational institutes: A case study in Brunei

This research studies on the e-learning services acceptance in higher education institutions in Brunei Darussalam. This research has seven hypotheses, relating to independent, intermediary, and dependent variables. The independent variables include lecturer’s characteristics, design of learning contents, teaching materials, and playfulness; while the intermediary variables are perceived benefits and perceived ease of use. On the other hand, the dependent variable in this research is the intention to use e-learning. Multiple regression analysis were conducted to test the hypotheses proposed. Data analysis from this research has confirmed that the lecturer’s characteristics, teaching materials, perceived ease of use and the intention to use e-learning corresponds to the perceived benefits. Meanwhile, the design of learning content and the intention to use e-learning are positively related to the perceived ease of use and lastly, the variable playfulness is positively related to the intention to use e-learning.     

Cancer on the cross-wires

Normal cells in our body that constitute a cellular society are not selfish and this is evident by the fact that they have evolved a phenomenal pathway whereby they cause their own death under conditions of stress that lie beyond the absorbing capacity of the cell. This phenomenon is known as ‘Apoptosis’ or ‘Programmed Cell Death’. However, cancerous cells, which are indeed selfish and proliferate at the cost of their normal counterparts, evade the apoptotic pathway by hindering the mitochondrial release of the proapoptotic protein cytochrome c (Cyt c). Here, we have proposed a scheme whereby the power of proteasome (an intracellular protein chopper) could be harnessed to remove the obstruction placed by cancer cell to the apoptotic process and thereby pushing the cancerous cells to self-destruction, leading to a possible cure for cancer.     

Students' expectations about the processing demandsof teacher-made tests

History teachers (N=22) and their 11th-grade students (N=451) rated the importanceof four types of questions (verbatim, paraphrase, inference and skill items) by indicating the degree to which these questions were to be expected in an upcoming teacher-made test about a particular textbook chapter. In addition, teachers classified their actual tests according to these four question types. Importance ratings of individual students showed a low correspondence with those of their teacher and no correspondence with the actual test questions (as classified by their teacher). However, teachers' importance ratings also showed a considerable number of discrepancies with the actual test questions. These findings suggest that in study-test situations, more clarity is needed about processing demands.     

皮特拉城的探索和保护

皮特拉是约旦的一座著名古城,它是古代阿拉伯国家间的交通要塞,现今则是世界上最著名的考古遗址之一,1985年被联合国教科文组织公布为世界文化遗产地段.文章简要阐述了皮特拉城的历史和文化价值,着重介绍了对文化遗址的保护,尤其是对皮特拉神庙遗址的加固保护研究,对人们了解不同地域古建筑的保护有着借鉴意义.对皮特拉的探索不仅是一种对遗址保护,当地政府还在努力寻找从物质及经济方面的改善,用规划的手段,使这座古城的城市活力再现.