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.     

没有舞台的歌舞剧--土族婚俗

土族婚礼是世间最奇特、最热闹、最壮观的婚礼,整个婚礼犹如一出精彩美妙的歌舞剧,演义着土族独特的婚礼风俗。 土族婚礼作为一出大型歌舞剧,大致可分为四场,前两场在女方家举行。迎娶新娘的前一日,女方家设嫁女宴,将新娘的嫁妆及新娘准备抬进男方亲朋的“针线”一一摆开,供人观赏,新娘在至亲女宾的陪伴下,唱起《哭嫁歌》……     

深圳市线路板蚀刻废液中铜、砷、铅、汞、镉含量调查

对深圳市60家线路板企业含铜蚀刻废液中铜、砷、铅、汞、镉含量的检测结果显示:酸、碱性蚀刻废液铜含量范围分别为38.6～167.9g/L、53.7～171.8g/L,,通过测量比重推算铜含量适用于碱性废液但不适合酸性废液.56个样品可检出砷(大于3mg/L).56个样品未检出铅(小于5mg/L),其余4个铅含量偏高.所有样品汞、镉均未检出,含量分别小于4mg/L、0.3 mg/L.将各样品砷、铅、汞、镉含量实测值换算为铜含量100ga.时的相对值后发现,上述四元素在蚀刻废液中的正常值分别为＜12mgAs/L、＜5 mg Pb/L、＜4 mg Hg/L、＜0.3 mg Cd/L.     

“济南就是我的家”——济南外商服务月侧记

5月下甸,又是一个烈日炎炎的夏日,杰克·史密斯先生按照惯例早早就起了床。但与平日不同的是,作为公司行政总监的他并没有直接去自己的办公室开始一天的工作,而是手拿一份查体表来到了济南市中医院,成为济南市第二届外商服务月活动中的首项内容“为济南市外企员工查体活动”的第一批受益者。在经过非常细致的心、脑、血液等项目的     

浅谈我国银行保险的发展

伴随着加入世贸步伐的加快，中国金融业真正面临着国际化竞争所带来的巨大机遇和挑战。正是在这样的大背景下，最近一段时期，各保险公司纷纷与银行达成合作意向，合作内容包括代理保险、提供全方位的金融服务、资金网络清算、基本客户群的共建、金融创新、信息交流等方面。同时，各家保险公司的各种产品在银行和邮政的柜台上摆开了战场，一种全新的金融服务——银行保险，进入了人们的视野。这正是企业之间强强联合、优势互补、资源共享、以促进市场开拓和业务创新的必由之路，它必将推动我国保险业与国际保险业的接轨和新型业务产品的发展。     

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.