An Examination of the Interaction Between Modelling and Its Relationship with Construction Kits: Lessons from the Past and for the Future

Construction kits have played a significant part in nurturing the growth and development of the minds and manipulation-based skills of children (and adults) in formal and non-formal education settings. These kits have origins rooted in the representation of the built world and now have a diversity of form and function, including technical versions with moving parts. This article examines some of the historically based ideas that lie behind the role that kits may have in terms of physical modelling. The article traces the transformation of kits from simple bricks and blocks into more complicated pieces for space-filling and achieving the transfer of forces and motion. This transformation occurred during the Victorian era when the influence of the ideas of educationalists and, perhaps rather strangely, exponents of early aviation, played major roles in determining the diversity of forms of construction kit and modelled possibilities that are now to be seen in classrooms and homes. The article ends with a review of some of the lessons from the past and present that will need to be considered in relation to concrete modelling in schools for the future. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The Impact of the Implementation of Technology Education on In-Service Teacher Education in South Africa (Impact of Technology Education in the RSA)

In this article the impact of technology education, as a new learning area (subject) in the curriculum, on in-service teacher education in South Africa is described in order to ascertain the extent of the impact. The research on which this article is based draws on a variety of experiences and observations in the field at grassroots level (in particular an outreach project in rural communities). The envisaged impact of technology education on South African schools, communities, teacher educators and teachers, the range of in-service teacher education that is required, and the impacts in urban and rural areas are discussed. Finally a number of concluding remarks are made about the extent of the impact of the inclusion of technology education in the new National Curriculum Statement and whether the situation has changed since the implementation of a pilot technology education project in 1998. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

跨入新世纪的石油、能源和经济发展记"2001·北京--世纪石油论坛"

“2001·北京——世纪石油论坛”于10月23～24日在北京举行。论坛由国家经贸委主办,中国石油天然气集团公司、中国石油化工集团公司、中国海洋石油总公司和中国化工进出口总公司协办,国家经贸委经济研究中心和3E信息咨询公司承办。这是在“9·11”恐     

征占用林地生态公益林价值评估的探讨

国家重点工程建设常常需要征占用生态公益林的林地.在进行补偿时,如何评估此生态公益林林木的价值呢?不同评估方法,其评估价值有很大的差异.本文将征占用林地的天然生态公益林的评估价值定为以培育中径材为目标的同类林分用材林评估价值的三倍至五倍.作者认为这样的评估价值最接近现行市场交易价,能够为征占用单位和林木所有者所接受.     

加大关键性领域改革力度奠定经济发展体制基础

2005年,是我国改革与发展继往开来的重要年份。我国将要完成“十五”规划提出的各项主要任务,并向全面建设小康社会的第二个五年迈进;同时,加入世贸组织的三年过渡期基本结束,开始跨进范围更广、层次更深的开放型经济。2005年能否保持经济平稳较快增长,不仅关乎年度宏观经济稳定,而且涉及能否为“十一五”期间奠定坚实的、可持续的基础,甚至将影响到整个“十一五”时期的经济走势。因此,今年经济工作不仅应实现年度宏观调控的四大目标(经济增长、物价稳定、就业增加和国际收支基本平衡),而且还要为延长经济上升期创造有利条件。一、目前我国…     

Lies,damned lies and statistics: the accuracy of survey responses

That survey research is error prone is not a new idea and different varieties of non-sampling error have been investigated in the literature as well as consideration being given in many statistics textbooks to the issue of sampling error. The paper here considers research upon corporate environmental reporting. It compares information provided by corporate environmental reports with information that survey respondents claim their organization’s environmental report contains. This enables the accuracy of the claims to be assessed. Consideration is given to two different industries the Water industry and the Energy industry. Errors due to inaccurate reporting by survey respondents are shown to be relatively infrequent and respondents appear just about as likely to claim they report information that they do not, in fact, report as to fail to indicate that they report information that is, in fact, actually reported.