Re-Discovering a Roman Wall Painting at Harvard: New Research on a Fragment from the Villa at Boscotrecase

ABSTRACT

This article presents historical and scientific analysis, as well as the conservation treatment of a newly rediscovered Roman wall painting fragment, now in the collection of the Harvard Art Museums. Although the piece has not previously been published, it was among a group of fragments removed from a Roman villa near Boscotrecase in southern Italy, an area that has been key to the study of Roman wall painting and other decoration. Technical imaging confirms the use of painting techniques consistent with other high-quality paintings in the area. Materials analysis revealed a palette consistent with published findings of Roman wall paintings, including abundant use of Egyptian blue and green earth. Of interest was the use of Egyptian blue as an optical brightener in select white passages. Despite the high quality of the painting, no cinnabar was present, and all red passages were achieved using hematite. Multiple different white minerals were identified including calcite, aragonite, and gypsum. The widespread presence of gypsum is unusual and may point to alteration.     

Pictures are necessary but not sufficient: Using a range of visual methods to engage users about school design

It has been argued by both educationalists and social researchers that visual methods are particularly appropriate for the investigation of people’s experiences of the school environment. The current and expected building work taking place in British schools provides an opportunity for exploration of methods, as well as a need to establish ways to achieve this involvement of a range of school users, including students. This article describes a consultation that was undertaken in a UK secondary school as part of a participatory design process centred on the rebuilding of the school. A range of visual methods, based on photographs and maps, was used to investigate the views of a diverse sample of school users, including students, teachers, technical and support staff and the wider community. Reported here is the experience of using these tools, considering the success of different visually-based methods in engaging a broad cross section of the school community and revealing useful information. Using a range of visual methods allows a complex, but coherent, understanding of the particular school environment to be constructed and developed. It is further argued that such a range of visual and spatial methods is needed to develop appropriate understanding. The study, therefore, contributes to knowledge about specific visual research methods, appreciation of the relationship between tools, and a general methodological understanding of visual methods’ utility for developing understanding of the learning environment.     

PSYCHOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF A 5E LEARNING CYCLE LESSON PLAN ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT

The purpose of this paper is to describe the procedures and the analysis of an instrument designed to measure preservice teachers’ ability to develop appropriate 5E learning cycle lesson plans. The 5E inquiry lesson plan (ILP) rubric is comprised of 12 items with a scoring range of zero to four points per item. Content validity was determined through the expertise of a panel of five science educators. Sixty six preservice teachers enrolled in elementary science methods at three universities prepared lesson plans, which were scored by their instructors using the ILP rubric. Using a Pearson two-tailed correlation, inter-rater reliability was established at a value of 0.83. An exploratory factor analysis provided evidence of construct validity, with three factors. The factors included (1) explore, (2) engage/explain/elaborate, and (3) evaluate. In addition, a secondary analysis revealed the means and standard deviations of the students' performance on each of the phases of the 5E that include: engage, explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate. The engage item held the highest mean rating, and the evaluation items had the lowest mean ratings. Examination of the instrument's structure in light of the 5E phases is discussed and provides directions for future revisions and research.     

图书馆学与资讯科学课程革新之探讨

从图书馆学与资讯科学发展的历程及图书馆社会环境的重大改革探讨图书馆学与资讯科学课程改革的趋势并论述课程改革的四个主要趋势。