Intermingling of identities: a Black student in a middle-school science class

Cultural Studies of Science Education - We explored ways in which racial, academic, and science identities intermingle in contested classroom and school spaces where students’ personal...     

Frequency dependent dynamic properties from resonant column and cyclic triaxial tests

The resonant column (RC) and cyclic triaxial (CT) devices are commonly used for the measurement of soils’ dynamic properties. The results of these tests do not agree when extrapolated to similar strain levels. The main objectives of this paper are to evaluate the effect of excitation frequency on the dynamic properties of soils, and to provide a methodology to reconcile shear modulus values obtained from RC and CT tests. The effect of frequency on the dynamic properties is evaluated using the new non-resonance (NR) method in the RC device and CT tests. Sand specimens with varying percentages of bentonite-water mixture and a clay specimen are tested. The results obtained from RC tests utilizing the NR method indicate significant change in shear modulus with frequency. The extrapolation of shear modulus from the conventional RC results to shear strains used in CT is significantly overestimated. The extrapolations improved when the results were corrected for frequency effect inferred from the NR method.     

Student Expectations of Tertiary Institutions: A case study of the Fiji National University (FNU)

Education is a human right and Fiji’s tertiary education board recently declared that all tertiary institutions in Fiji must abide by the framework in order to meet student–customers’ needs. The Fiji National University’s (FNU’s) destiny to be Fiji’s leading higher education provider could be a reality if students and staff’s expectations are considered in all decision-making processes and at all levels of management. Preliminary research was conducted on a newly proclaimed government university: the FNU. The results revealed negative quality gaps whereupon there is a high intensity of student dissatisfaction with the services provided by the FNU. FNU as a community of social and education providers needs an atmosphere to provide social and educational development at all levels to meet the social and education needs of every staff and student in order to protect the basic human rights of its staff and students, and to qualify as an education provider that is internationally acceptable.     

The world of synchrotrons

A summary of results on synchrotron radiation is presented along with notes on its properties and applications. Quantum aspects are briefly mentioned. Synchrotron radiation facilities are described briefly with a detailed coverage of the accelerator programmes in India. Sameen Ahmed Khan did his doctoral work on the quantum theory of charged-particle beam optics at Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai. He was an INFN Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Padova. He will be soon joining the Centro de Ciencias Fisicas, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico.     

The Impact of Educational Technology on Training and Development in the Banking Sector

Recent sustainability and training and development reports have shown that banks are increasingly investing in training and development. While most banks are already utilising different forms of e-learning for certain types of training interventions and employee assessments, the focus going forward is to reinvent training within the organisation by making it more efficient, convenient, accessible and fun with educational technology. The aim of the study reported on in this article was to investigate the impact that educational technology has on training and development downtime, accessibility with regard to different learning platforms, return on investment (ROI), organisational culture and learning within the banking environment. A targeted sample of 110 respondents from 30 branches of one of the leading banks in South Africa were surveyed using a stratified random sampling approach. The study revealed that the bank has a strong organisational culture; and educational technology at the bank showed positive results with regard to decreasing downtime and seeing increased ROI.     

Visualization of stereoscopic anatomic models of the paranasal sinuses and cervical vertebrae from the surgical and procedural perspective

Recent improvements in three‐dimensional (3D) virtual modeling software allows anatomists to generate high‐resolution, visually appealing, colored, anatomical 3D models from computed tomography (CT) images. In this study, high‐resolution CT images of a cadaver were used to develop clinically relevant anatomic models including facial skull, nasal cavity, septum, turbinates, paranasal sinuses, optic nerve, pituitary gland, carotid artery, cervical vertebrae, atlanto‐axial joint, cervical spinal cord, cervical nerve root, and vertebral artery that can be used to teach clinical trainees (students, residents, and fellows) approaches for trans‐sphenoidal pituitary surgery and cervical spine injection procedure. Volume, surface rendering and a new rendering technique, semi‐auto‐combined, were applied in the study. These models enable visualization, manipulation, and interaction on a computer and can be presented in a stereoscopic 3D virtual environment, which makes users feel as if they are inside the model. Anat Sci Educ 10: 598–606. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.     

执著以求,荒漠变绿洲

1当保罗生活在犹他州的时候,他还是一个未成年的孩子。恰巧他家附近有一家老的炼铜厂。这家炼铜厂排出的二氧化硫气体把这里原本美丽的森林变成了荒漠之地。一天,有一位旅行者看到这片荒漠,发现那里毫无生机——没有动物出没、没有绿树生长、没有碧草繁茂、看不见灌木丛生、听不到鸟鸣其间……这1.4万英亩贫瘠之地,颜色发黑,甚至还散发着刺鼻的气味。除了这些,别无他物。这位旅行者看着这片土地说“:这地方真糟糕。”小保罗听到这话,觉得受到侮辱。他把这位旅行者打翻在地。可是,当他环顾四周时,心中波涛骤起。他下定决心:保罗·罗切兹发誓…     

Environmental knowledge and behavioural outcomes of tourism students in Australia: towards testing a range of mediation and moderated mediation effects

Our study examines the environmental knowledge (EK) and behavioural outcomes of students studying ecotourism in Sydney, Australia. Three competing models were tested to examine the relationships between EK, participation intention (PI) in ecotourism programs, landscape likeability (LL) and social interactions (SI); and the study also tested the moderated mediation influence of gender differences and relationship length on mediators. Partial least squares-based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyse the data collected from 173 residential tourism students. Key findings suggest whilst LL and PI are significant outcomes of EK, LL has a stronger mediating effect on PI compared to SI; and all mediation effects are further moderated by gender differences. However, only Model 3 confirms the moderating effect of the length of relationship. Noting the key role that EK plays in influencing their PI and LL, our study also suggests ways of developing the tourism students’ EK, through various experiential and pedagogical interventions.     

Glial cells: The other cells of the nervous system

Carl Ludwig Schleich (1859–1922) was an anaesthetist and a surgeon who for the first time emphasized the role of neuroglia in brain function. In an era that was dominated by the idea that neurons alone were functional units of the nervous system and that glial cells were a mere glue holding neurons in place, Schleich insisted that glia had a prominent functional role to play. He suggested that interactions between neurons and glia were so strong that it is necessary to consider brain as a neuron-glia system whose performance is dependent on both the cell types. Today Carl Ludwig Schleich is considered the forgotten ancestor to a new breed of neurobiologists, the gliologists, who specialize in working on these neglected cells of the nervous system. Though outnumbering the neurons and occupying almost half the volume of the brain, glial cells have been given little importance in textbooks of neurobiology and are very often cursorily mentioned in discussions related to brain function. Glial cells deserve a better deal, for over the years a lot of evidence has accumulated to prove that they perform a wide spectrum of functions. This is the first of a series of articles that aims to update students on what is known about glia today. It provides an overview of the various types of glia and their origins. The following articles will deal with each of the glial sub-types and their functions.