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.     

生命周期评价方法及其应用

介绍了生命周期评价的目的、意义和基本方法，并运用该方法对燃煤发电、废纸造纸、废旧塑料气化发电等几种不同工业过程的环境影响进行了分析。     

从消费者行为差异看生活形态营销

随着人们生活水平的提高,消费者具备了满足个性消费的经济基础.人们不是仅仅要满足自己的基本需要,而是要在满足基本需要的同时来展现自己的个性、品味和身份,力求产品风格与自己的生活风格相一致,或者体现自己的生活风格.企业为了在激烈的市场竞争中准确找到自己的目标消费者,准确把握市场动向,制定正确的营销策略就必须对目标消费者的生活风格和价值观念等深层心理变量有一个透彻的了解.了解消费者的生活形态,认真研究其消费行为选择是企业在竞争中夺取市场先机的法宝.     

保税区与保税区外减免税及加工贸易政策对比

对照我国现行进出口管理、产业政策和加工贸易的相关规定,保税区内企业在进口设备减免税和加工贸易管理等方面与保税区外企业存在着一定的差异.对于保税区内企业来说,了解和认真研究这些差异,并在政策规定范围内充分用足、用好政策,以便为企业带来更大的经济效益.     

浅谈污泥减量技术

本文综述了目前国内外对污泥减量化研究的主要理论和方法,介绍了隐形生长、生物捕食、微生物强化、代谢解偶联和投加酶等污泥减量技术,比较了各种技术的优缺点,可供相关工程技术人员参考.     

Rural taxation and government regulation in China

This paper places the problem of Chinese rural taxation in the context of government regulation and seeks to present an integrated theoretical framework of Chinese rural development in the past two decades. Our theoretical framework reconciles the seemingly contradictory facts that the average level of rural taxation relative to rural net income did not increase quickly from 1990, but rural taxation became a very serious problem in this period. Our findings suggest that this is in large part due to increases in rural income disparity from 1990 and uneven tax distribution among different income groups. We argue that differentiated enforcement of government regulations such as grain procurement and birth control play an important role in the rural taxation problem, and more generally, the problem of local government expansion and rising rural income disparity. The empirical findings support our hypotheses.