Is increased public spending for the preservation of historic monuments inevitable? The French case

There is a permanent expansion of the number of sites or properties listed as historic monuments in France. This expansion and the lack of productivity gains in the sector of restoration lead, within a stable economy, to an ever greater proportion of the national income being earmarked for upkeep and restoration. Hence the number of monuments to be subsidized grows. The policy does not include any mechanism of regulation. Ironically, laws governing this area have the effect of precipitating cost increases. Three possible alternatives are considered: appeals for sponsorship, merchandising, delisting.     

敦煌中国星空:综合研究迄今发现最古老的星图(下)

本文主要分析斯坦因1907年在敦煌所得的星图手卷,认为此星图是用精确的数学方式绘制的。推断星图绘制于公元649—684年间,而非先前推断的公元940年。并与后世的星图做了比较。     

School Climate Reports from Norweginan Teachers: A Methodological and Substantive Study

Using a set of data derived from 42 schools at two points in time and a widely accepted definition of organizational climate, a number of methodological and substantive issues relating to school climate were explored. Via principal component analysis, four dimensions of school climate were identified. In approaching the key issue, under what conditions it is meaningful to speak of a climate dimension as a characteristic of the school (and not some lower‐level unit), it is tentatively proposed that a climate dimension has a ‘unit reliability’ of .15 or more and an ‘aggregate reliability’ of at least .35 in order to be considered a school characteristic. Furthermore, the “longitudinal relative consistency” or stability of the dimensions was examined. It was found that at least three of the dimensions were relatively enduring over time, as they should be according to the definition of school climate. Multilevel analyses suggested that the teacher reports of school climate were fairly robust and generalizable. The thinking and findings in this article are related to recent work in the school improvement and effectiveness field.     

Proportional reasoning: A review of the literature

This paper presents a review of the research on proportional reasoning. Methodologies used in proportional reasoning studies are presented first. The discussion is then organized around the following topics: strategies use to solve proportion problems, including erroneous strategies; factors that influence performance on proportion problems, both task-related and subject-related; training studies. The discussion is accompanied by suggestions for educational and research applications. This paper was supported by the National Science Foundation Grant No. SED 79-18962. Any opinions, findings and conclusions expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. The authors would like to express their appreciation to Elizabeth K. Stage and Joan Heller for comments on an earlier draft of this paper.     

Proportions in elementary school

Proportion problems were given to pupils in grades 3, 4, and 5. The number structure of the problems was kept at an elementary level and the contexts were varied. The success rates were high, which shows that young children have some understanding of the concept of proportion. Elementary strategies based on addition were often used. Familiarity with the use of ratios in the context, the presence of a mixture, and the use of manipulatives were context variables that influenced performance. The abilities required to solve proportion problems in various contexts were essentially independent from each other. The cognitive characteristics that predict success were found to be different from those that predict use of multiplicative strategies.     

The Concept of Electrical Resistance: How Cassirer's Philosophy,and the Early Developments of Electric Circuit Theory,Allow a Better Understanding of Students' Learning Difficulties

While students' difficulties concerning the concepts of voltage and intensity have been investigated by many science education researchers, difficulties related to the concept of electrical resistance and circuit are less known. Some researchers in science education even state that students have no preconception about this concept before being taught. Our observations are in disagreement with this assumption. In the first section of this paper the main basic features of the difficulties of students confronted with the concept of electrical resistance are investigated. In the second section we discuss the nature of the electrical resistance concept in the light of Cassirer philosophy while in the third section we give an analysis of this concept going back to its origins in the nineteenth century. Finally, an analysis of the way this concept is taught in French high schools is presented and the first results of a experimentation using an alternative teaching strategy are briefly reported.c