Decay of softwood in archaeological wooden artifacts

Hardwoods and softwoods were used side by side throughout Egyptian history, and importing softwoods that had an attractive color and texture was common. Over the decades, artifacts based on hardwoods and softwoods underwent deterioration phenomena, sometimes reaching either a level of brittleness or turning into a wood powder that may easily crumble. These levels of decay/degradation are often difficult to handle in terms of conservation treatments. To study or identify the reasons for decay has always been a point of interest for conservation purposes, but to assess decay and choose an appropriate treatment according to the state of preservation for the sake of keeping an artifact intact has become a subject of major importance. It is difficult at times to understand the deterioration process, because hardwoods and softwoods are different in structure, properties, and chemical composition. For this preliminary study, decayed samples from three commonly used softwood types, cypress (Cupressus sp.), cedar (Cedrus sp.), and pine (Pinus sp.), were identified and chosen. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of the samples indicated the degree of decay. Decayed and non-aged samples of the same wood type were analyzed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and all the major carbohydrate and lignin bands were recorded. The strong hydrogen bonded (O–H) stretching absorption associated with water linked by hydrogen bonds to the –OH groups of cellulose and hemicelluloses in all decayed samples increased with decay. The brown powdery, fragile samples that had been evidently affected by microbial decay had a higher amount of lignin. The lignin/carbohydrate ratio was calculated and results compared. The increase of either lignin percentage or extractives in some of the samples had caused a darkening of color in both cypress and cedar samples, but the pine sample did not have the same texture and appearance. In cases where the lignin percentage decreased the samples had changed to a slightly lighter color. FTIR results explained the decay phenomena observed in SEM micrographs and helped assess wood decay and also confirmed results that had been previously obtained while applying traditional chemical analysis on wood.     

6- and 8-year-olds’ performance evaluations: Do they differ between self and unknown others?

The current study investigated kindergarteners and second graders’ ability to monitor and evaluate their own and a virtual peer’s performance in a paired-associate learning task. Participants provided confidence judgments (CJs) for their own responses and performance-based judgments (judgments provided after receiving feedback on their performance) for both their own and a virtual peer’s responses. For the performance-based judgments, children were confronted with their own or the peer’s answer as well as the correct answer. Additionally, participants were asked to credit their own and the peer’s correct and incorrect answers while facing feedback. Results indicate an age-related progression in metacognitive monitoring skills, with second graders differentiating more strongly in their confidence judgments between correct and incorrect responses compared to kindergarteners. Regarding performance-based judgments, children of both age groups provided higher judgments for correctly compared to incorrectly recognized items as well as for their own responses in comparison to the responses of the unknown child. Similarly, when crediting, participants of both age groups gave more credits for correct recognition than for incorrect recognition and for their own responses than for the peer’s responses. The significant interaction between age group and recognition accuracy for the crediting shows that second graders gave more credits for correctly recognized items while kindergarteners gave more credits for incorrect answers than the older children – primarily for their own incorrect answers. In conclusion, the study provides new insights into 6- and 8-year-olds’ evaluations of their own and an unknown child’s performance in a paired-associate learning task by showing that children of both age groups generally judged and credited responses in their own favor. These results add to our understanding of biases in children’s performance evaluations, including metacognitive judgments and judgments provided after receiving feedback.     

A field observation on the philosophy of teaching Islamic and Arabic studies

Implementation of conceptual educational practice. It educational policy in designing curriculum details stands as a basis of is for sure involved time and space factors to become comprehensive and constructive, especially for teaching Islamic and Arabic studies within modern educational challenges where its uniqueness values in nature should be remained untouched, while its methodological approaches should be updated and dynamic in addressing the peculiarity of modem society increasingly. Consequently, it＇s application and implementation in needs of some re-activation and adjustment to become more effective, productive and relevant. Popular and authorizations beliefs regarding educational contain have resulted in de facto Islamic and Arabic studies which largely reflect politically, rather than academically, realistically and effectively. In such a situation, it is vital to analyze the development of these policies and their implementation at a higher education.     

An analysis of teachers’ self-reported competencies for teaching metacognition

For successful reading experiences in native and/or foreign/second language, individuals need to benefit from not only cognitive strategies but also metacognitive strategies. Although research found reading comprehension and performance increase following metacognitive trainings, such findings may not transfer into mainstream classrooms as easily for several reasons. This study, therefore, aimed to disseminate the phenomenon of teaching metacognition with an emphasis on teacher’s instrumental role during classroom learning. More specifically, it investigated language instructors’ metacognition and their self-reported competencies for teaching metacognition. It also examined whether and how self-reported competencies changed following a professional development (PD) module of teaching for metacognition. Utilising Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) and think aloud protocols for instructional planning, this study found most participants were either highly metacognitive or metacognitive individuals. It was also found that most participants were initially not knowledgeable about and/or competent in teaching metacognition. Following PD, highly metacognitive teachers developed authentic lesson plans manifesting metacognition instruction while metacognitive teachers adopted similar instructional designs presented during the PD. Besides, half of the participants appreciated teaching metacognitively following the PD. Finally, under the light of these findings, future research and policy adjustments were proposed.     

The Effects of a Teaching Methods Course on Early Childhood Preservice Teachers' Beliefs

This study examines the effectiveness of an educational methods course for changing early childhood preservice teachers' instructional beliefs. The teaching methods course emphasized constructivist teaching principles. Seventy-eight of the early childhood education preservice teachers who were enrolled in this course filled out the Teacher Belief Survey at the beginning and end of the 15-week course. The results of both quantitative and qualitative data analysis indicated that participation in the teaching methods course had significantly changed preservice teachers' beliefs. As a result of the course, preservice teachers' constructivist beliefs increased, and these beliefs became more concrete and coherent. Results are discussed in relation to the literature, and the implications of examining early childhood education programs are explored.     

Comparing the effects of different book reading techniques on young children’s language development

The purpose of this research study is to compare the effects of digital, dialogic and traditional reading on children’s language development aged 48–66 months. Fifty-six randomly selected children enrolled in three different classrooms in a public preschool in Turkey participated in the study. The three classrooms were again randomly assigned as digital, dialogic and traditional reading groups. During the reading activities, a total of 24 storybooks were read by each group every three times in 8 weeks. While the children’s language scores (the receptive and expressive language scores) resulted in a significant increase in dialogic reading, the children’s language scores in a digital and traditional reading group slightly changed during the intervention. Alternatively, qualitative data suggested that the interaction between teacher and children and between children and children were very limited in a digital and traditional reading group and that limited interaction during reading was the underlying cause of the insignificant increase in children’s language scores.

     

Trends in spending on training: An analysis of the 1982 through 2008 Training Annual Industry Reports

This article explores long‐term trends in spending using data compiled from the Training magazine Annual Industry Survey from 1982 through 2008. It builds on literature that proposes spending on training is an investment that yields benefits—and that offers methods for demonstrating it. After adjusting for inflation, aggregate spending on training rose 1.5% between 1986 and 2008. Inflation‐adjusted spending on training staff fell 14%, although inflation‐adjusted spending on outside products and services increased 237%. Spending on training fell in all but two job categories. Findings support the belief that spending on training is falling but suggest that this is a sustained and systemic drop rather than a temporary response to an economic crisis. Also, expenditures on internal training resources have fallen, while spending on external resources has risen. A key limitation of this study is that it relies solely on data from the Training Annual Industry Survey.     

A Turkish View on Fathers’ Involvement in Children’s Play

The purpose of this study is to examine fathers’ participation in and views about play. This study was conducted in the southwestern part of Turkey and its sample consisted of 97 fathers who had a child attending randomly chosen public early childhood institutions. The Parents’ Participation and Views on Play instrument was developed and used to collect data. Independent sample t tests and a series of repeated measures analysis of variance procedures were conducted to assess the influence of independent variables on the fathers’ participation in and views on play. The results of the study indicated that fathers frequently participated in their children’s play, and they hold positive views about play. Fathers’ socio-demographic characteristics such as income, working status, family type and children’s gender influenced their participation and views about play. Results are discussed in relation to the literature on parent–child play and suggestions for further research are presented.     

Extending students’ mathematical thinking during whole-group discussions

Studies show that extending students’ mathematical thinking during whole-group discussions is a challenging undertaking. To better understand what extending student thinking looks like and how teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) supports teachers in their efforts to extend student thinking, the teaching of six experienced elementary school teachers was explored. During group discussions, all six teachers created opportunities for extending student thinking about important mathematical ideas and solution methods. Findings on the nature of these episodes include identification of individual instructional actions and the ways in which teachers’ MKT was connected to these actions.