An investigation of tertiary students' understanding of evaporation,condensation and vapour pressure

Based on a purposive sample of 15 second‐year chemical engineering students, this study investigates students' conceptions of evaporation, condensation and vapour pressure. During individual interviews the students were questioned on three tasks that had been designed around these topics. Qualitative analysis of student responses showed a range of conceptions in each area, including some misconceptions. A key underlying misconception was the belief that evaporation and condensation require a temperature gradient in order to take place. Many students changed their initial (incorrect) answers when presented with further physical evidence as the interview progressed. The study points to the importance not only of practical work, but of associated conceptual discussions that allow students to reflect on and refine their conceptions.     

Design‐based Research: Case of a teaching sequence on mechanics

Design‐based research, and particularly its theoretical status, is a subject of debate in the science education community. In the first part of this paper, a theoretical framework drawn up to develop design‐based research will be presented. This framework is mainly based on epistemological analysis of physics modelling, learning and teaching hypotheses. It includes grand theories, a specific theory that following Cobb, Confrey, diSessa, Lehrer, and Schauble is a “humble theory” in the sense that it does “real work”, and tools for design. In the second part, we will show how this specific theory and its tools led designers to develop teaching resources in the case of a teaching sequence on mechanics (Grade 10). We will explain how the components of the specific theory and tools guide the design at different levels; the conceptual structure of the teaching sequence, the chronology of the activities, the various choices of the type of activity and their wording. This presentation makes the bases of designing teaching resources explicit and therefore allows for scientific debate.     

Bibliotheca Alexandrina—Reviving a legacy of the past for a brighter common future

After briefly recalling the creation, organization, role and destruction of the Ancient Library of Alexandria, this article describes the scope and objectives of the new Bibliotheca Alexandrina and its functions and organization in six departments. It explains the symbolic and aesthetic values of the winning design for the new library, the budget required for its creation, and the international support so far obtained. It summarizes the steps undertaken by Egypt, UNESCO and UNDP and briefly explains the future strategy for proceeding with the implementation of the project. It concludes by high-lighting the meaning of the new Bibliotheca Alexandrina for Egypt, UNESCO and the International Community.     

Indexing Grey Resources: Considering Usual Behavior of Library Users and the Use of Dublin Core Metadata via a Database of Specialized Vocabulary

Grey resources spread over a large set of matters. In each field of interest, people have their own concepts, each group will use their own vocabulary. Most authors of grey resources were not able to determine the Decimal or Dewey classification themselves, nor are they able to fix themselves the appropriate terms to embed in the DC elements. It is then worth providing the web user with an interface that makes him feel at home, by adapting automatically the terms designing the fields of the search form to those which are in use in his domain of activity. The whole classification proposed cover about 110 different topics, each one having a set of terms chosen to entitle the fields of the interface of thematic search as well the submission forms. Moreover, seven entry points are proposed in the first step of the connection, driving the user towards the appropriate context in accordance with the purpose of the document to find: teaching and research; literature; technological documentation and data sheets; vulgarization and everyday life; citizen and social activities; arts, sports and spare time; bank of images. Indeed, the system must allow the flexibility that allow the replacement of any term by another if necessary. So the entire set of terms is put in a database. This system is also able to adapt the language chosen by the user. The submission forms filled by authors are parsed according to the topic selected and the Dublin Core metadata file––as an XML file––is generated and stored in the indexing server. It is delivered on simple metadata request, and is reachable by a hyperlink included in any page of search results. The experimental system has been built and evaluated over a period of five years, and was implemented in the site of the University of Poitiers since June 2005. The software is to be released under free software license (CECILL).     

SARA: A Text-Based and Reader-Based Theory of Signaling

We propose a two-component theory of text signaling devices. The first component is a text-based analysis that characterizes any signaling device along four dimensions: (a) the type of information it makes available, (b) its scope, (c) how it is realized in the text, and (d) its location with respect to the content it cues. The second component is a reader-based analysis in which signaling effects on text-processing are hypothesized to depend jointly on (a) the relevance of the signaled information to the readers' goals and background knowledge and (b) the accessibility of the signaled information to cognitive processes. The two components of the model are closely related: The text-based component specifies the information made available to the reader, and the accessibility of that information is influenced by the realization properties, scope, and location of the signaling device relative to the cued content.     

Influence of recovery intensity on time spent at maximal oxygen uptake during an intermittent session in young,endurance-trained athletes

Abstract

In this study, we examined the effects of three recovery intensities on time spent at a high percentage of maximal oxygen uptake (t90[Vdot]O_2max) during a short intermittent session. Eight endurance-trained male adolescents (16 ± 1 years) performed four field tests until exhaustion: a graded test to determine maximal oxygen uptake ([Vdot]O_2max; 57.4 ± 6.1 ml · min^?1 · kg^?1) and maximal aerobic velocity (17.9 ± 0.4 km · h^?1), and three intermittent exercises consisting of repeat 30-s runs at 105% of maximal aerobic velocity alternating with 30 s active recovery at 50% (IE₅₀), 67% (IE₆₇), and 84% (IE₈₄) of maximal aerobic velocity. In absolute values, mean t90[Vdot]O_2max was not significantly different between IE₅₀ and IE₆₇, but both values were significantly longer compared with IE₈₄. When expressed in relative values (as a percentage of time to exhaustion), mean t90[Vdot]O_2max was significantly higher during IE₆₇ than during IE₅₀. Our results show that both 50% and 67% of maximal aerobic velocity of active recovery induced extensive solicitation of the cardiorespiratory system. Our results suggest that the choice of recovery intensity depends on the exercise objective.     

An approach to the history of publishing: Twentieth-century Quebec

To understand modern publishing, detailed historical studies must be undertaken of individual publishing houses, their leading figures, and their relationships with authors. Such studies, the authors argue, will permit us to understand how a publishing house establishes its identity. They describe in detail a research program based on these principles that is investigating literary publishing in Quebec. Translated by Larry Shouldice Richard Giguère, a literary scholar and critic, is a professor in the Department of Letters and Communications at the University of Sherbrooke. Jacques Michon, a professor in the Department of Letters and Communications at the University of Sherbrooke, is president of the Quebec Association for Studies in Publishing. M. Michon has written articles on the Quebec novel and publishing in the twentieth century, and is the author of two books,Mallarmé et les mots anglais andEmile Nelligan: les racines du rêve. Since 1982, he and Richard Giguère have directed the Research Group on Quebec Literary Publishing. Address for correspondence