A Geohistorical Study of ‘The Rise of Modern Science’: Mapping Scientific Practice Through Urban Networks, 1500–1900

Using data on the ‘career’ paths of one thousand ‘leading scientists’ from 1450 to 1900, what is conventionally called the ‘rise of modern science’ is mapped as a changing geography of scientific practice in urban networks. Four distinctive networks of scientific practice are identified. A primate network centred on Padua and central and northern Italy in the sixteenth century expands across the Alps to become a polycentric network in the seventeenth century, which in turn dissipates into a weak polycentric network in the eighteenth century. The nineteenth century marks a huge change of scale as a primate network centred on Berlin and dominated by German-speaking universities. These geographies are interpreted as core-producing processes in Wallerstein’s modern world-system; the rise of modern scientific practice is central to the development of structures of knowledge that relate to, but do not mirror, material changes in the system.

Issues in the development of children’s centres on nursery and primary school sites

This paper explores the development of children’s centres in England between 2004 and 2008, focusing on the newly created centres that have been located on primary and nursery school sites. Using both an analysis of policy documents and interview data from three urban local authorities, we examine the use of premises and the differing priorities of centre staff and school heads, particularly in relation to the balance of services between early years education, childcare and family support. We also explore governance issues, focusing especially on patterns of accountability. In so doing, we also examine the tensions that exist between children’s centres located on primary and on nursery school sites and the schools themselves.     

Visualizing strategic change in an educational development centre with product-based analysis

Product-based analysis (PBA) is a new way of modelling the strategic direction of an educational development centre (EDC). It was developed within an English EDC to complement other strategic techniques, providing a means of visualizing the overall strategy. This critique of PBA is set in the context of global university reforms, restructurings and economic constraints that EDCs mirror in miniature. The case for PBA is demonstrated through two exemplars, one retrospective, the other applied to the same group, now dispersed several years on, as it sets out a collaborative strategy to address the future uncertainties shared by many EDCs.     

Mentoring partnerships in a community technology centre: A constructionist approach for fostering equitable service learning

Mentoring programmes have gained increasing popularity in institutions of higher education to support undergraduates in community service or outreach efforts. Many of these programmes partner mentors with inner‐city youth, providing assistance in underserved communities while mentors gain experiences that connect theory and practice. Here we report on two years of fieldwork in a Community Technology Centre that created mentoring partnerships in which 36 liberal arts undergraduates engaged with local youth to design, create, and build technology projects involving graphics, video, music, and animation. We analysed over 200 field notes, which described their mentoring interactions over eight weeks and conducted exit interviews about their mentoring experiences. Our results indicate that mentors participated not just as more knowledgeable peers but also as facilitators, advisors, observers and, most importantly, as learners in this process. In the interviews, nearly all mentors reviewed assumptions about their own learning and mentoring, in addition to reflections about social issues. We discuss the importance of these findings for conceptualising mentoring as a partnership by creating more equitable interactions in service learning initiatives. We also address the role of constructionist activities in facilitating learning opportunities for both mentors and mentees.     

Factors Influencing Access to Integrated Soil Fertility Management Information and Knowledge and its Uptake among Smallholder Farmers in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Purpose: The study evaluated how farmer acquisition, sharing and use patterns of information and knowledge interact with different socioeconomic factors to influence integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) technology uptake.

Design/methodology/approach: The study was conducted as part of an evaluation of field-based farmer learning approaches introduced by SOFECSA in Zimbabwe. Building on emerging farmer interactive platforms, data were collected using farmer participatory research approaches.

Findings: Over 90% of the farmers identified the national extension agents as the farmers' most preferred and reliable sources of information on ISFM, with farmer-to-farmer interactions ranking second. Non-governmental organisations and the print media emerged as the least trusted sources of agricultural technical information. Field-based learning centres, which enabled interactive evaluation of different ISFM options, constituted ~50%, indicating that they were major platforms for information and knowledge sharing. Uptake of ISFM was influenced by farmer resource group and farmers' visits to learning centres. Farmer experience and access to extension services were, in turn, the major factors influencing farmers' use of ISFM information. Approaches that support farmer-to-farmer interactions are required and learning centres are a suitable platform for such interactions to occur.

Practical implications: The article brings to attention the role of learning centres in fostering adoption of ISFM technologies. Insights on the need to support and strengthen agricultural extension in rural smallholder communities are provided.

Originality/value: This is a unique study exploring the role of farmer-oriented information and knowledge management in promoting complex technologies such as ISFM. A new dimension on the demands of new approaches for information dissemination to enhance knowledge sharing is presented.     

Unveiling the Mary Macha Archives

ABSTRACT

Perth-based art dealer Mary Macha was engaged with Indigenous art for almost fifty years. She played a critical role in the development of Aboriginal art in Western Australia firstly in the government sector and subsequently as a private dealer. Her clients included Alistair McAlpine (Lord McAlpine) and Robert Holmes a Court. She was the key player in the development of what became known as the East Kimberley School of art and formed a close relationship with the key artists, Paddy Jamanji and Rover Thomas. After her death in 2017, her archive was sorted and collated by her executors with assistance from the University of Melbourne and vested with the Battye Library in Perth.     

学生口语交际能力培养的多元智能支持浅探

口语交际能力是高职学生普遍关注的能力之一。如何开展有创意、有成效的语文教学,从多元智能理论的视角,探讨了利用学习中心调控教学过程,全面提高高职学生口语交际能力的培养。     

Writing centre tutoring sessions: addressing students’ concerns

The guiding principle behind university writing centres is to focus on the process of writing rather than the finished product, prioritising higher order concerns related to organisation and argumentation of texts rather than lower order concerns of grammar and punctuation. Using survey-based data, this paper examines students’ concerns regarding written texts in English and analyses whether there is a correlation between students’ and peer-tutors’ perceptions of help received/provided in the writing centre at Nanyang Technological University. The aggregate findings show that there is a significant correlation between their perceptions but a further sub-analysis that pairs individual student and peer-tutor responses reveals that there are discrepancies between their perceptions of the type of help received and provided. These findings not only reveal the type of feedback students prefer, whether global or local, but also whether there is a good fit between student needs and tutoring approach based on students’ nationality and English proficiency.     

高等院校体育教学改革应突出两个中心

高等院校体育教学应改革旧的、传统的教学模式，认真贯彻《体育与健康》教学大纲和新课程标准的思想，突出“终身体育”和“健康第一”两个中心。     

Teaching and learning centres: towards maturation

Approximately 70% of Australian Teaching and Learning Centres have been restructured and/or have undergone leadership changes in the last three years. The volatility of this environment reflects the number of significant challenges faced by Teaching and Learning Centres. In determining what makes Centres successful, the issues that are likely to impact on their ability to succeed were examined. It emerged that a myriad of factors influence whether or not a Centre was recognised as being an integral and valued part of the university's teaching and learning community – a hallmark of having reached maturity. This paper identifies four factors as being critical to the ability of Centres to succeed, noting that a combination of other factors, appropriate to each unique context, must also be in place in order for Centres to maximise their value.