Using Interactive Radio to Enhance Classroom Learning and Reach Schools,Classrooms, Teachers,and Learners

This article provides a case study of the development of the Open Learning Systems Education Trust's “English in Action” programme in South Africa from 1993 to the end of 2004. It describes the programme's development from a model focused on enhancing learner involvement and learner gains to a model of distance education and open learning focused on promoting teacher and learner gains through school, classroom, and teacher support, and through in‐service teacher training. It documents the expansion of schools, teachers, and learners involved in the programme over a 12‐year period. It also points out the implications and limitations of the use of radio to enhance teacher and learner involvement in open learning, in terms of the renewed interest in radio learning which has taken place over recent years in developing countries, as well as more broadly internationally.     

The Appeal of Media Populism: The Media Preferences of Citizens with Populist Attitudes

Although a growing body of literature points to the particular media diet of populist voters, we know too little about what specific media preferences characterize citizens with populist attitudes. This article investigates to what extent citizens with antiestablishment and exclusionist populist attitudes are attracted to attitudinal-congruent media content. We collected survey data using a nationally representative sample (N = 809) and found that citizens’ preferences for media content are in sync with their populist attitudes. Beyond having a tabloidized and entertainment-based media diet, populist voters self-select media content that actively articulates the divide between the “innocent” people and “culprit” others. These findings provide new insights into the appeal of different types of media populism among citizens with populist attitudes on different dimensions.     

Verifying the operation of an elastic crossbar system applied to a panel painting: the Deposition from the Cross by an anonymous artist from Abruzzo,sixteenth century

This study deals with the post-treatment evaluation of the elastic crossbar system already designed and installed on the recently restored panel painting Deposition from the Cross by an anonymous artist from Abruzzo (sixteenth century). After the restoration, the panel and the crossbars were subjected to mechanical tests to identify their elastic characteristics. Then the panel, equipped with the elastic crossbar system, was subjected for about two months to controlled environmental cycles made up of approximately constant humidity periods. During the two months, the forces exerted by the springs and the deformations of both panel and crossbars were continuously monitored. A mathematical model, calibrated on the specific parameters derived from the analysis of the panel, provided the deformation that the panel would have shown without the crossbars; comparing the model output with the measured data provided a restraining effect (RE) of approximately 7% (RE could range between zero – no restraint – and 100% – total restraint). Future developments of this project will define appropriate procedures to design an elastic crossbar system for a given panel, once the expert judgement of restorers has identified the most desirable RE to be achieved.     

帅哥大比拼

偶班帅哥风云四起,谁与争锋。帅哥当然是吃饭帅,走路帅,站着帅,坐着也帅,连名字也帅得让人惊恐!NO.1班草的“芳名”叫梁骏,谐音是“靓”“俊”,靠!都是帅的意思。真不知道班草的老爸老妈在想什么,不指望他学习好,就指望他得个世界选美冠军什么的,所以才取了个这样的“好”名字。不管怎么说,班草是不会让二老失望的啦!他可是偶班各位超级花痴MM流着口水选出的帅哥兼班草呀!MM们亲昵地叫他“骏骏”。话说这个班草呀,学习可不怎么好,可是偏偏当了个也不怎么大的“官”。骏骏惟一的“缺点”就是娃娃脸一个(个人认为)HOHO原来偶班的MM都喜欢…     

全民的科学中心 ——新兴大趋势对科学中心行业未来发展的影响

科学中心是相同的也是不同的。相同之处在于科学中心的核心目标是启发不同年龄和背景的人们参与科学,不同之处在于科学中心规模的差异以及所获得的资金来源方式不同,每个场馆在其所在社区也面临着不同的挑战与机遇。本文分析了新兴大趋势对科学中心行业未来发展的影响,提出了科学中心需要面对的共同主题。     

Combating low completion rates in Nordic welfare states: policy design in Norway and Sweden

ABSTRACT

Low completion rate in upper secondary education is seen as a big problem in the Nordic countries. School failure has shown to dramatically increase the risks for unemployment and labour market exclusion with severe consequences for both society and the young person. This paper analyses national policy measures to combat low upper secondary education completion rates in Norway and Sweden, often regarded as representing a social democratic welfare model and a universalistic transition regime. The analysis demonstrates that although this issue has received extensive political attention, the two countries display somewhat different policy designs. The Norwegian approach is proactive and targeted while the Swedish policy is more general and directed towards reforming organisational structures in upper-secondary education. In sum, our analysis demonstrates that national governance structures shape and influence policy design in the context of an increasingly diversified Nordic social democratic welfare state regime.