Light quality and temperature effects on antirrhinum growth and development

An experiment was carried out to examine the effects of light quality on the growth and development of antirrhinum under three different temperatures 19℃, 24℃ and 27℃ in glasshouses. Five different colour filters (i.e. 'Red absorbing', 'Blue absorbing', 'Blue and Red absorbing' and two 'partially Blue absorbing' materials) were     

I know about lisp but how do i put it into practice?

This paper outlines some initial findings of the Learning in Science Project (Teacher Development) on the process of teacher development with respect to implementing the findings of the previous Learning in Science Projects. The findings on course components, the ‘pay-offs’ for the teachers, reflection and support for the change process are discussed as are the implications of these for further research. Specialisations: learning theories, curriculum development, equity issues, teacher development. Specialisations: Teachers' knowledge, life histories.     

Concept-Mapping as a Research Tool: A Study of Primary Children's Representations of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

This paper presents an approach to concept-mapping that was used in an EU-funded project to study ten year old pupils' representations of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The research task – to draw a concept map of computers in today's world – was administered to children in six EU countries twice. In England this took place immediately before and after the introduction of networked PCs in their schools. They were asked to use their maps to communicate their ideas through drawing to the researchers and other children who did not all speak the same language as them. The maps were analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively, using phenomenographic methods combined with semiotic interpretation. The maps showed that the children had well-developed mental representations (secondary artifacts) of the role of ICT in today's world, even when they had little or no practical experience of using the Internet. Psychological theories suggest that learning depends to a considerable extent on the development of secondary artifacts of this kind. The extent and variety of knowledge about computers demonstrated by all children in the cohort came as a surprise and suggested that they would be very well prepared to develop sophisticated ICT skills once they had good access to ICT tools. Current approaches to ICT use in primary schools, involving explicit, systematic teaching of ICT skills, may therefore not be making the most cost-effective use of scarce resources. Exploratory use of ICT within open-ended project work, reflecting the kind of use that computer-literate adults make of ICT, might be more likely to provide the context for children's rapid development of a complex range of ICT skills.     

The Relationship between Cognitive Style and Intelligence

The relationship between intelligence, as measured by the short form of the British Abilities Scales, and the Wholist‐Analytic and Verbal‐Imagery style dimensions, as assessed by the Cognitive Styles Analysis, was investigated with 119 12‐13‐year‐old middle school pupils (63 males and 56 females). Near zero correlations between intelligence and the styles were found. A Test of Embedded Shapes was also given and this correlated significantly with intelligence, but not with style. The effect of intelligence and style on performance on a range of school subjects was considered, and this showed significant main effects of intelligence and both of the styles. The results were discussed in terms of the nature of intelligence and cognitive styles.     

Personality and Social Class among Eleven‐year‐old Children

The JEPQ‐S, short form of the JEPQ, was completed by 326 fourth‐year junior pupils from schools in predominantly working class and predominantly middle class areas, together with information about their fathers’ occupations. The lack of any significant correlations between the social class of fathers’ occupations and extroversion, neuroticism, psychoticism and the lie scale is discussed against the discrepant findings regarding the relationship between personality and social class among adults from the MPI to the EPQ‐R, the Eysenckian theory relating crime and personality and the relationship between deviant social behaviour and social class. On the other hand, pupils from the predominantly working class areas recorded significantly higher scores on the pychoticism scale than pupils from the predominantly middle class areas.     

“I’ll see you in Mystic Falls”: intimacy,feelings, and public issues in Ian Somerhalder’s celebrity activism

Critics of celebrity activism often assume that fans blindly follow celebrities who invite them to support celebrity activism and charity. These fans are often imagined as participating in celebrity activism only because their beloved celebrity asked them to — not out of any kind of rational understanding of a political issue, awareness of a public problem, or commitment to a public issue. We contest this view of celebrity activism. Drawing on scholars like Bennett, Ellcessor, and Chouliaraki, we argue that the case of Ian Somerhalder demonstrates that a commitment to a celebrity may actually be connected to a commitment to a public issue. We trace the ways in which Somerhalder plays with the slippage between television celebrity and his character, arguing that such slippage merges the intimacy fans feel for Damon with the intimacy fans feel for Somerhalder and imbues Somerhalder’s environmental appeals with the values his on-screen character comes to represent in The Vampire Diaries. We argue that Somerhalder deploys themes and ideals from The Vampire Diaries in his communication with fans and in his activist appeals. Ultimately, Somerhalder’s celebrity activism demonstrates how intimacy with celebrities might function to connect fans to public issues in powerful ways.     

Caregivers' beliefs about library visits: A theory-based study of formative research

Currently, no research has systematically investigated the beliefs underpinning caregivers' intentions to visit public libraries with their young children. Drawing from the theory of planned behaviour, this study adopted a three-phase program of formative research to examine the decision making processes of parents and carers with young children living in a low socio-economic area. Phase 1 identified seven behavioural, five normative, and ten control beliefs as modal salient beliefs held by parents and carers. Phase 2 identified a variety of key behavioural, normative, and control beliefs as significant predictors of intention to visit the library with their young child. Phase 3 elicited the reasons underpinning these key beliefs guiding parents' and carers' intentions, identifying 34 reasons that could be used in messages to promote library visits. The results provide useful information that intervention designers, councils, and library services can use to encourage library use among parents and carers with young children.     

Engaging undergraduates in copyright and fair use fundamentals

Undergraduate students have a limited knowledge of copyright basics. In order to fill this knowledge gap, I seek to engage undergraduates by providing them with an understanding of the ethics around copyright law, of their rights over their own contributions to their scholarly communities, of the availability of Creative Commons-licensed materials, and of how to exercise their fair use rights. Basic knowledge of these concepts is not only an integral part of understanding and engaging with information, but it also has the potential to motivate informed attitudes and behaviors around copyright. With this in mind, I designed an undergraduate class on copyright and fair use fundamentals that can be incorporated into any introductory college or university library instruction course or can be treated as a stand-alone session.