The Essential Features of Technology and Technology Education: A Conceptual Framework for the Development of OBE (Outcomes Based Education) Related Programmes in Technology Education

It appears that programme development in technology education is emerging from an atheoretical perspective. This could be attributed to the absence/neglect of conceptual frameworks (philosophical underpinning) in the development of programmes in technology education. This article explores the role of the content dimension of the 'essential features' of technology and technology education in OBE (Outcomes Based Education) related programme development. An instructional programme was developed using criteria derived from the essential features of technology and technology education. In order to gauge learners' experience, in relation to these essential features, a qualitative case study involving 20 learners was undertaken at a College of Education. Engagement with theprogramme proved to be an empowering experience for the learners who had hitherto not had the opportunity to experience a formal programme in technology education. Although it could not be proved conclusively that cognitive development had occurred, positive inter-dependence,shared responsibility, social skills and enhanced learning were evident. The study has shown that criteria derived from the 'essential features' of technology and technology education could serve as a reliable yardstick to measure the extent of learning in relation to these essential features     

Predicting the geo-temporal variations of crime and disorder

Traditional police boundaries—precincts, patrol districts, etc.—often fail to reflect the true distribution of criminal activity and thus do little to assist in the optimal allocation of police resources. This paper introduces methods for crime incident forecasting by focusing upon geographical areas of concern that transcend traditional policing boundaries. The computerised procedure utilises a geographical crime incidence-scanning algorithm to identify clusters with relatively high levels of crime (hot spots). These clusters provide sufficient data for training artificial neural networks (ANNs) capable of modelling trends within them. The approach to ANN specification and estimation is enhanced by application of a novel and noteworthy approach, the Gamma test (GT).     

China＇s Social Security： Case Studies of the Interest Groups and Policy Monopoly

This section introduces an asymmetric information model to analyze the interest groups and policy monopoly in social security management, mainly focusing on the relation between the interest groups in the social security products market and the social security government institutions at the central level, namely the major social security policy makers.     

会计在风险管理中的作用

风险无处不在,如何在管理中规避或利用风险是企业成功的关键之一.企业应在分析风险成因的基础上,对风险计量、会计披露制度、会计信息的反馈控制功能在风险管理活动中的作用进行分析,从会计学角度采取风险管理的具体措施.     

新形势下施工企业管理理念探讨

随着中国市场经济体制改革的深化，世贸经济组织的加入，建筑市场环境的变化，企业改制及经营特型的开展，施工企业如何立足于国内市场，打入国际市场，面临着又一次大发展的机遇与挑战。本文通过综合分析，对我国建筑施工企业管理思想提出了一些初步的看法，供有关管理人员参考。     

Foods produced using biotechnology: how does the law protect consumers?

This paper addresses the following subjects: biotechnology and consumers, concern about risks, consumer acceptance, labelling of foods produced using biotechnology, the legal approach to consumer protection, and consumer protection policies relating to biotechnology products in the European Union, the United States, Turkey and global institutions such as the Convention for Biological Diversity (CBD) and the World Trade Organisation (WTO). It is likely that biotechnology will gain ground much more rapidly in the twenty‐first century than in the past. Despite rapid, detailed and precise advances in gene technology, its applications have not been the received with a great deal of consumer enthusiasm. Consumers have approached genetically modified foods with considerable apprehension and opposition. Consumer concerns about bioengineered food products focus on the questions of human health, environmental and social risks and benefits. The most important stages in the process of marketing new foods produced using biotechnology are to demonstrate user need and consumer acceptance. Generally, the technical complexity of biotechnology makes it difficult for consumers to understand details of the product and the specific attributes of biotechnology applications. Scientific uncertainty, the nature of consumer concerns and general reluctance to accept biotechnology products, increase the importance of consumer protection. Legal protection is a very important factor in the solution of new social problems related to technological advances. More specifically, consumer and environmental law support consumer protection related to foods produced with biotechnology. The basic principles of consumer law can be re‐formulated as consumer rights. Environmental law is a new phenomenon, but precautionary principles and public participation in decision‐making for environmental law are relevant to consumer protection relating to bioengineered food products.     

An investigation of transformation-based prediction interval for the Weibull median life

Statistical inference based on the Weibull distribution, a distribution widely used in reliability and survival analysis, is usually difficult as it often involves numerical computation and approximation. However, this distribution can be transformed to near-normality by a simple power transformation. Based on this transformation, a prediction interval (PI) for its median can be easily constructed through an inverse transformation. The procedure for selecting the best power transformation through minimizing Kullback-Leibler information is described. The property of this transformation-based PI is investigated. Simple correction factors are also proposed. It is shown that the transformation-based PI with corrections performs well, irrespective of the sample size and parameter values. Simulation results show that the new PI generally outperforms the existing PI. Numerical examples are given for illustration.     

信息服务模式及网络利用

当今的用户获取信息的渠道越来越广,这使得信息服务面临着多方面的竞争。对于从事信息服务的工作者而言,如何让信息真正有效地服务于各行各业和广大用户,以及依据什么因素来选择恰当的服务模式与推动模式的更新都是非常重要的。文章初步探讨了信息服务模式的变化,以及网络在信息服务中的利用。     

转型与经济信息生产方式的演化创新

一定制度下的经济信息生产方式是决定其资源配置效率的重要基础。从制度或资源配置方式的转型角度,分析了经济信息生产方式与一定制度下资源配置的效率关系;指出与传统自由市场经济相对应的现行的会计、统计理论方法及其制度属于经济信息个体性生产方式,不适应以混合经济为特征的现代市场经济对经济信息的需求;最后以现代市场经济的混合经济特征为基点,从市场经济活动的广泛联系性、经济信息的公共物品性和满足社会需求出发,提出了建立经济信息社会化生产方式与制度模式的构想。     

安徽区域科技基础条件平台建设面临的问题与对策探讨

区域科技基础条件平台建设是一项复杂的系统工程,建设工作分为基础性工作和特色性工作的提法有助于地方政府分析条件平台建设的重点和难点.科技条件平台的核心功能之一是以科技资源共建共享的方式向社会提供共性技术尤其是产业共性技术.地方政府解决科技资源供给和需求之间的矛盾的关键在于对共性技术范围进行界定以及确定如何供给共性技术.