Group time treasures: Implications for learning

Meaningful group times have been a hallmark of quality early childhood programs for many years. Stimulating group experiences present a wealth of opportunities for everyone involved. Adults are better able to monitor children's skills and enjoy their ongoing growth. Group activities also may set the stage for an abundance of adventures as young children grow and learn in all areas of their development (Bredekamp, 1986).Pauline Davey Zeece and Marcia Corr are at the Department of Human Development and the Family, University of Nebraska-Lincoln in Lincoln, Nebraska.     

From the Washington to the Post-Washington Consensus: The influence of international agendas on education policy and practice in Malawi

Education is receiving ever-increasing priority in the post-Washington consensus era, which views education as both a means to and end of development. However, justification for the attention given to education continues to be centrally focused on the notion of human capital. By consequence, marketisation and privatisation of education are becoming increasingly significant. With the World Bank and WTO joining forces to create a vision for a 'global education industry', emphasis is placed on free trade in educational goods and services. The paper examines critically the implications of this international education agenda for developing countries, focusing on the experience of Malawi.     

Private and Public Schooling in Ghana: A Census and Comparative Survey

A census and survey of schools in the district of Ga, Ghana, explored the nature and extent of private education, and compared inputs to public and private schooling. Three quarters of all schools found were private, with almost as many unregistered private as government schools. Several important differences between registered and unregistered private schools were noted, including age, fee levels charged, teacher salaries and class size. A range of inputs, such as teacher activity, availability of desks, chairs, libraries, toilets and drinking water, were used to compare inputs to government, unregistered and registered private schools. Some conclusions are explored about the potential role for the private sector in helping meet “education for all” targets.     

Curriculum Design of a Flipped Classroom to Enhance Haematology Learning

A common trend in higher education is the “flipped” classroom, which facilitates active learning during class. The flipped approach to teaching was instituted in a haematology ‘major’ class and the students’ attitudes and preferences for the teaching materials were surveyed. The curriculum design was explicit and involved four major components (1) the preparation of the students; (2) the weekly pre-class work; (3) the in-class active learning strategies and (4) closing the learning loop using formative quizzes. Each of these components is discussed in detail and was informed by sound pedagogical strategies. Several different sources of information and several freely available software tools to engage the students are discussed. Two iterations are reported here, with improved pass rate for the final examination from 47 to 48 % in the traditional class to 56–65 % in the flipped classroom approach. The majority of students (93 and 89 %) came to the class prepared, after viewing the screencasts and engaged fully with the activities within the face-to-face time. The students perceived that solving case studies (93 %) was the most beneficial activity for their learning and this was closely followed by the production of essay plans (71 %). The majority of students recommended that this approach be repeated the following year (69 and 75 %).     

The role of an NHS library service in the UK: the perceptions of clinical managers in Portsmouth, UK

BACKGROUND: Portsmouth NHS Library Service is exploring methods of raising its profile within its host organization and wishes to demonstrate its contribution to achieving organizational goals, perhaps by means of an impact study. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this small scale study, regarded as a possible precursor to an impact study, was to identify areas where there is potential to increase awareness among clinical managers of the Library's contribution. METHODS: An e-mail survey was sent to clinical managers to elicit their opinions regarding the contribution of the Library Service to organizational goals. RESULTS: Perhaps unsurprisingly, the role of the Library Service in education, research and effectiveness was most widely recognized. Of responses, 30/42 (71%) rated it as 'very important' and a further 11 (26%) rated it as 'important'. The low appreciation of the Library Service to Clinical Services is a disappointment in view of the body of research evidence. Only 12 respondents (29%) thought that the Library Service contributed 'significantly' by 'supporting informed and timely clinical decision making'. CONCLUSION: The study suggested areas where there might be scope to raise awareness of the Library contribution. In considering how best to achieve this, the benefits need to be weighed against the resource implications. Portsmouth NHS Library Service decided to increase its marketing efforts but not to carry out an impact study in the short term.     

An atmospheric dust recorder

An apparatus is described for recording general atmospheric dust. The full-scale range of the present model of approximately 120 × 10⁶ particles per cubic foot of air may be increased or decreased as desired. The dust concentrations measured are far below smoke concentrations. The method is to impinge dust on a slowly moving strip of transparent film, and to measure the deposit by a comparison of two beams of light, one passing through the dusty film, the other through clean film. The decrease in transmitted light due to the dust is balanced automatically by a motor-driven optical wedge in the unobstructed beam. The position of this wedge is recorded on a chart. Dusty air is sampled continuously for long periods. Rapid fluctuations of a few minutes in length are registered. In this, and in the fact that it is direct-reading, without tedious laboratory quantitation, the recorder offers distinct advantages over the present dust determinators, almost all of which take momentary samples. A different calibration is needed for different dusts. The machine may be adapted to laboratory or field use. In factories, auxiliary blowers may be operated through relays, when the dustiness exceeds a specified level.     

TRAVEL THROUGH THE STEREOSCOPE

At first glance, photographic stereoviews of geographic and architectural sites produced around the turn of the twentieth century may appear static. After all, they are composed of still photographic indexical references to specific sites. Yet the three-dimensionality of the image creates an enhanced illusion of real space, pointing to aspirations of simulated travel, and in fact, stereoviews do feature movement within the frame of the image. Stereoviews compel the spectator to continuously change their point of view within the frame. Between the frames, movement from one stereoview to the next becomes another way of experiencing travel and creating a narrative. Certain producers of stereoviews packaged their photographs to represent specific tours of geographic regions, tours that embodied Grand Tour ideals of the physical world as a site of knowledge and amusement. Moreover, through both the composition of the photographs and the accompanying tour book, these collections create a normative view of history, progress and a stratified society.     

The law of one price,noise and “irrational exuberance”: the auction market for Picasso prints

We use prices realized for Picasso prints at auctions worldwide, as well as the 100 prints that comprise his Vollard Suite, to test the law of one price: the proposition that identical art objects sold contemporaneously should command the same price regardless of the auction house or geographic region where the sale takes place. Picasso is the most prolific printmaker of the twentieth century and, from 1977 to 2004, his prints appreciated in price significantly faster than the prints of modern masters as a whole. We find that Picasso prints sold in the United States command higher prices than in Europe. However, prices realized at Sotheby’s in New York are no longer higher than at Christie’s in New York, nor at Kornfeld than at other auction houses. We find evidence of “irrational exuberance” in the transitory nature of the extraordinary prices realized for the Picasso prints included in the 1997 sale of the collection of Victor and Sally Ganz at Christie’s in New York. More generally, we find substantial noise in auction outcomes, a result well known to savvy auction goers.