Improving quality of the child care environment through a consultancy programme for centre directors

This study examined the effects of a newly developed on-site consultancy programme to improve global quality of the child care environment in non-parental child care centres for 0- to 4-year-old children as measured with the ITERS-R/ECERS-R. Using a randomised controlled trial with a pretest, posttest, and follow-up test, we compared 35 experimental group with 33 control group. The consultancy programme comprised three consultations in total. Analysis on the items that were specifically targeted during the consultancy showed a significant improvement on these targeted items between pretest and posttest and between posttest and follow-up. The effect of the consultancy programme on the total scores (including the non-targeted items) was not significant.     

University Financing Alternatives: The German Example

Germany consists of sixteen federal states (Länder). According to the Basic Law, the Länder are responsible for education, science, and culture. The Länder support the institutions of higher education financially, making the largest contributions to university funding (90 percent). Following the formulation of the "Incentives and Accountability" leitmotiv, substantial changes have taken place over recent years in relation to the financing of higher education. A change of paradigm occurred that involved movement from detailed input-oriented state control to an output-oriented form of global control. Currently, almost all the Länder are working with highly flexible institutional budgets and with indicator-based allocations of funds. A new salary scheme for professors, based on performance criteria, has been introduced. In some Länder, contracts between state and universities--which describe the performances expected of the institutions-- have been concluded.     

Residual stress analysis and bow simulation of crystalline silicon solar cells

The pressure to reduce solar energy costs encourages efforts to reduce the thickness of silicon wafers. Thus, the cell bowing problem associated with the use of thin wafers has become increasingly important, as it can lead to the cracking of cells and thus to high yield losses. In this paper, a systematic approach for simulating the cell bowing induced by the firing process is presented. This approach consists of three processes: (1) the material properties are determined using a nanoidentation test; (2) the thicknesses of aluminum (Al) paste and silver (Ag) busbars and fingers are measured using scanning electron microscopy; (3) non-linear finite element analysis (FEA) is used for simulating the cell bowing induced by the firing process. As a result, the bowing obtained using FEA simulation agrees better with the experimental data than that using the bowing calculations suggested in literature. In addition, the total in-plane residual stress state in the wafer/cell due to the firing process can be determined using the FEA simulation. A detailed analysis of the firing-induced stress state in single crystalline silicon (sc-Si), cast, and edge-defined film-fed growth (EFG) multi-crystalline silicon wafers of different thicknesses is presented. Based on this analysis, a simple residual stress calculation is developed to estimate the maximum in-plane principal stress in the wafers. It is also proposed that the metallization pattern, Ag busbars and fingers screen printed on the front of a solar cell, can be designed using this approach. A practical case of a 3-busbar Si solar cell is presented.     

School experience,relational justice and legitimation of institutional

This study analysis the relationship between perceptions of the justice of teacher’ behaviour and (a) the legitimation of school authority and (b) the legitimation of institutional authorities outside school. 448 adolescent students participated in the study. In questionnaire participants were asked about (a) perceptions of the justice of teachers’ behaviour; (b) evaluation of the school experience; and (c) evaluation of institutional authorities. Results show that the evaluation of the justice of teacher behaviour, in particular relational and procedural justice, have an impact on the legitimation of the authority of teachers and on the evaluation of institutional authorities outside school. Results also show that the legitimacy granted to teachers is a mediator variable between perceptions of justice in school and evaluation of authorities outside school. These results are discussed in the context of the studies on the relationship between school experience and adolescents attitudes towards authorities, and in the framework of the “Relational Model of Authority” and of the “Group Value Model”.     

Innovation and Enterprise in Singapore Schools

Schools in Singapore are now tasked to develop the spirit of innovation and enterprise in their students. This is in line with the national vision of ‘Thinking Schools, Learning Nation’. This policy initiative, which began in 2004, is set to change the fundamental nature of education in Singapore. This article discusses the innovation and enterprise (I&E) initiative, its major implications for schools in Singapore and the areas still to be addressed in the implementation of the policy. In particular, the article discusses the issues of teachers and school leaders as role models of I&E, I&E as an organic part of school business, the influence of the wider societal culture and values system, and the measurement of success of I&E. The challenge for schools is to go beyond the form of the initiative to bring real substantial and sustainable change through this movement.     

Learning science through writing: associations with prior conceptions of writing and perceptions of a writing program

Students in a large undergraduate biology course were expected to write a scientific report as a key part of their course design. This study investigates the quality of learning arising from the writing experience and how it relates to the quality of students’ preconceptions of learning through writing and their perceptions of their writing program that led to their report. Closed‐ended questionnaires investigating student conceptions and perceptions of writing, and approaches to writing, were completed by 121 students. Significant associations were found amongst qualitatively different prior and post conceptions of writing, approaches to writing and achievement. The results of the analyses suggest that the effective support of student experiences of writing reports requires teachers to be aware of the type of conceptions that students bring to their course and the perceptions they hold about the purpose of the writing program in which they are engaged.     

Melting ‘Snow’ and Shifting ‘Cultures’: The Strategic Repositioning of Australian Universities' Research and Development

The original C P Snow analysis of intellectual traditions ("the two cultures") highlighted very different world views and ways of proceeding for scientists and non‐scientists and critiqued both cultures for their failure to respond to the challenges of industrialisation and to intersect intellectually. Strong parallels can be drawn with academe today: while new linkages between science and technology have occurred, there has been little intersection with and recognition of the Humanities and Social Sciences and the roles they can play in producing “creative chances” for Australia's strategic development, or of the value of the two cultures “intersecting” in new ways. The future for technological innovation and international competitiveness for Australia lies in melting “Snow” and dissolving the stand‐off between the two “cultures”.