Conversion or Christianisation and Mission from the Margins

General Chemistry serves virtually all STEM students. It has been accused of covering content in a “mile wide and inch deep” fashion. This has made it very difficult to assess, where chemistry educators have relied on assessments of specific topics. Assessing across all these different topics requires introducing many different chemical systems and contexts, which may pose a threat to validity in the measurement of students’ knowledge of general chemistry concepts. With many different systems and contexts, it is possible that students will have varying familiarity, may resort to memorization, or rely on fragments of knowledge to answer. To account for challenges which may arise with different systems and contexts, we have developed an assessment instrument for measuring students’ understanding of key concepts from a year-long sequence of general chemistry that relies on a single context: water. The Water Instrument was developed using exploratory sequential design to target eight of the ten anchoring concepts for general chemistry. Psychometric results will be presented from the final pilot administration, where an item response model was used to evaluate the assessment. Further evidence gathered through Response Process Validity interviews will be presented. The evidence gathered indicates this assessment offers a valid and reliable estimate of students’ understanding of general chemistry concepts in the context of water, which makes this instrument promising for general chemistry assessment. The comprehensive nature of the assessment can provide rich information to instructors regarding their students’ conceptual knowledge of the wide range of topics covered in a year-long sequence of general chemistry.

Hired working is a topic rarely dealt with by medievalists. It is nevertheless a central matter: beside the corvée and the range of constraints that goes with the seigniorial system, wages play an important part in the organization of rural or urban working. In the first place, every kind of work, even constrained work, has a cost. This ranges from the material organization of the tasks to the offering of a meal or to the payment of a monetary counterpart in exchange for the work. These features are compensations for the time passed in the fields or in the workshop and for the strength and skill used to satisfy the demands of the master. The fact that this cost is not necessarily, and never entirely, monetized is a barrier to thinking that between tenth and fifteenth centuries work could be considered a mere commodity whose wage is a price. The existence of counterparts in working means that there are reciprocal obligations: this fits well with an economic system in which acts and things can be valued according to social or political circumstances. Hired working appears to have been part of the seigniorial system from its very beginnings, as a marginal but useful way to obtain work from free workers. The way in which the different tasks are remunerated, and not only the amounts concerned, reveal the hierarchies in working: there is a gap between the gold given once a year to an architect (or to a professor at a university) and the bullion used to pay workers once a week on construction sites. The ways of remunerating work can be very complicated, mixing payments in cash and in kind. These payments show a considerable confusion in the conception of what the remuneration consists of: different words are used, even in the same contexts, to indicate the same economic reality, especially in rural contexts where the remuneration can involve clothes, cash, food, and accommodation. In the end, salary and poverty appear to be closely linked in the mentalities as well as in the social and economic reality. Hired working, salary, and misery are clearly three interrelated features of the medieval economic and social reality.

In this modern and distinctive textbook, Helliwell and Sahakian present classical mechanics as a thriving and contemporary field with strong connections to cutting-edge research topics in physics. Each part of the book concludes with a capstone chapter describing various key topics in quantum mechanics, general relativity, and other areas of modern physics, clearly demonstrating how they relate to advanced classical mechanics, and enabling students to appreciate the central importance of classical mechanics within contemporary fields of research. Numerous and detailed examples are interleaved with theoretical content, illustrating abstract concepts more concretely. Extensive problem sets at the end of each chapter further reinforce students' understanding of key concepts, and provide opportunities for assessment or self-testing. A detailed online solutions manual and lecture slides accompany the text for instructors. Often a flexible approach is required when teaching advanced classical mechanics, and, to facilitate this, the authors have outlined several paths instructors and students can follow through the book, depending on background knowledge and the length of their course.

In the Geography and Literacy connection, National Geographic Education online edition, Christina Riska (2013) asks the question ‘What do you think of when you hear the word literacy? Depending on what you teach, chances are geography is not the first thought that comes to mind. But believe it or not, geography and literacy naturally share many similarities. In addition, you can deepen student’s learning in both Geography and literacy when they are integrated in the curriculum.’ This paper considers through action research how developing subject literacy in secondary school geography lessons can enhance pupil’s subject knowledge and the understanding of key concepts in Geography.

In this modern and distinctive textbook, Helliwell and Sahakian present classical mechanics as a thriving and contemporary field with strong connections to cutting-edge research topics in physics. Each part of the book concludes with a capstone chapter describing various key topics in quantum mechanics, general relativity, and other areas of modern physics, clearly demonstrating how they relate to advanced classical mechanics, and enabling students to appreciate the central importance of classical mechanics within contemporary fields of research. Numerous and detailed examples are interleaved with theoretical content, illustrating abstract concepts more concretely. Extensive problem sets at the end of each chapter further reinforce students' understanding of key concepts, and provide opportunities for assessment or self-testing. A detailed online solutions manual and lecture slides accompany the text for instructors. Often a flexible approach is required when teaching advanced classical mechanics, and, to facilitate this, the authors have outlined several paths instructors and students can follow through the book, depending on background knowledge and the length of their course.

When used effectively, reflective writing tasks can deepen learners' understanding of key concepts, help them critically appraise their developing professional identity, and build qualities for lifelong learning. As such, reflecting writing is attracting substantial interest from universities concerned with experiential learning, reflective practice, and developing a holistic conception of the learner. However, reflective writing is for many students a novel genre to compose in, and tutors may be inexperienced in its assessment. While these conditions set a challenging context for automated solutions, natural language processing may also help address the challenge of providing real time, formative feedback on draft writing. This paper reports progress in designing a writing analytics application, detailing the methodology by which informally expressed rubrics are modelled as formal rhetorical patterns, a capability delivered by a novel web application. This has been through iterative evaluation on an independently human-annotated corpus, showing improvements from the first to second version. We conclude by discussing the reasons why classifying reflective writing has proven complex, and reflect on the design processes enabling work across disciplinary boundaries to develop the prototype to its current state.

Conservation organizations promoting sustainable seafood have had greater success when chefs are empowered as agents of change in favour of sustainable seafood. Peru is experiencing a gastronomic revolution with seafood at its core, and Peruvian top chefs are being approached by conservation organizations to become environmental advocates. Within this context we characterize the factors that influence chefs’ behaviours regarding sustainable seafood. A total of 52 Peruvian top chefs were surveyed using the Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Framework, complemented by a focus group with a subset of the surveyed population. Our results suggest that, regardless of their age or academic background, chefs are aware of the negative consequences that human activities have on the ocean and believe that restaurants have an obligation to become part of the solution by promoting the use of sustainable seafood. Nonetheless, three factors limit chefs’ understanding of key concepts and prevent them from fully internalizing the environmental consequences of their actions in restaurants: (1) sustainability is a new topic for them, particularly for older chefs; (2) the fish species commonly used at restaurants are poorly regulated, and (3) chefs are risk averse to actions that could result in profit loss. Additionally, the structure of the seafood supply chain further limits chefs’ capacity to act sustainably, even if they are aware of the need to change their behaviour. Recommendations are provided for future conservation campaigns advocating use of sustainable seafood, some of which have now been implemented.

In this modern and distinctive textbook, Helliwell and Sahakian present classical mechanics as a thriving and contemporary field with strong connections to cutting-edge research topics in physics. Each part of the book concludes with a capstone chapter describing various key topics in quantum mechanics, general relativity, and other areas of modern physics, clearly demonstrating how they relate to advanced classical mechanics, and enabling students to appreciate the central importance of classical mechanics within contemporary fields of research. Numerous and detailed examples are interleaved with theoretical content, illustrating abstract concepts more concretely. Extensive problem sets at the end of each chapter further reinforce students' understanding of key concepts, and provide opportunities for assessment or self-testing. A detailed online solutions manual and lecture slides accompany the text for instructors. Often a flexible approach is required when teaching advanced classical mechanics, and, to facilitate this, the authors have outlined several paths instructors and students can follow through the book, depending on background knowledge and the length of their course.

In this modern and distinctive textbook, Helliwell and Sahakian present classical mechanics as a thriving and contemporary field with strong connections to cutting-edge research topics in physics. Each part of the book concludes with a capstone chapter describing various key topics in quantum mechanics, general relativity, and other areas of modern physics, clearly demonstrating how they relate to advanced classical mechanics, and enabling students to appreciate the central importance of classical mechanics within contemporary fields of research. Numerous and detailed examples are interleaved with theoretical content, illustrating abstract concepts more concretely. Extensive problem sets at the end of each chapter further reinforce students' understanding of key concepts, and provide opportunities for assessment or self-testing. A detailed online solutions manual and lecture slides accompany the text for instructors. Often a flexible approach is required when teaching advanced classical mechanics, and, to facilitate this, the authors have outlined several paths instructors and students can follow through the book, depending on background knowledge and the length of their course.

In this modern and distinctive textbook, Helliwell and Sahakian present classical mechanics as a thriving and contemporary field with strong connections to cutting-edge research topics in physics. Each part of the book concludes with a capstone chapter describing various key topics in quantum mechanics, general relativity, and other areas of modern physics, clearly demonstrating how they relate to advanced classical mechanics, and enabling students to appreciate the central importance of classical mechanics within contemporary fields of research. Numerous and detailed examples are interleaved with theoretical content, illustrating abstract concepts more concretely. Extensive problem sets at the end of each chapter further reinforce students' understanding of key concepts, and provide opportunities for assessment or self-testing. A detailed online solutions manual and lecture slides accompany the text for instructors. Often a flexible approach is required when teaching advanced classical mechanics, and, to facilitate this, the authors have outlined several paths instructors and students can follow through the book, depending on background knowledge and the length of their course.

In this modern and distinctive textbook, Helliwell and Sahakian present classical mechanics as a thriving and contemporary field with strong connections to cutting-edge research topics in physics. Each part of the book concludes with a capstone chapter describing various key topics in quantum mechanics, general relativity, and other areas of modern physics, clearly demonstrating how they relate to advanced classical mechanics, and enabling students to appreciate the central importance of classical mechanics within contemporary fields of research. Numerous and detailed examples are interleaved with theoretical content, illustrating abstract concepts more concretely. Extensive problem sets at the end of each chapter further reinforce students' understanding of key concepts, and provide opportunities for assessment or self-testing. A detailed online solutions manual and lecture slides accompany the text for instructors. Often a flexible approach is required when teaching advanced classical mechanics, and, to facilitate this, the authors have outlined several paths instructors and students can follow through the book, depending on background knowledge and the length of their course.

The research paper explores the application of machine learning algorithms using the WEKA platform to predict the compressive strength of concrete, a critical aspect of civil engineering. This study focuses on educating undergraduate students with no prior programming experience, offering a practical introduction to AI tools. Utilizing established datasets and advanced machine learning techniques, the research evaluates the performance of various ensemble-based models, including Random Committee, Bagging, and Rotation Forest, alongside instance-based models like KStar and IBk. The findings reveal that ensemble methods outperform instance-based techniques, providing higher prediction accuracy, lower error rates, and improved reliability. By integrating machine learning into civil engineering education, the study aims to enhance students' understanding of key concepts like compressive strength while preparing them for real-world engineering challenges. This interdisciplinary approach also underscores the potential of AI in optimizing construction materials and advancing sustainable infrastructure.

Unlike other texts for undergraduate sociological social psychology courses, this text presents the three distinct traditions in sociological social psychology—symbolic interactionism, social structure and personality, and group processes and structures—and emphasizes the different theoretical frameworks within which social psychological analyses are conducted within each research tradition. With this approach, the authors make clear the link between sociological social psychology, theory, and methodology. Students will gain a better understanding of how and why social psychologists trained in sociology ask particular kinds of questions; the types of research they are involved in; and how their findings have been, or can be, applied to contemporary societal patterns and problems. This new, second edition includes the latest research on topics related to current events and changing societal patterns; more detailed discussions on intersectionality, social media, and contemporary social movements; as well as a new concluding chapter that asks students to reflect on what they have learned about sociological social psychology and its applicability to contemporary social issues. Engaging exercises and group activities are also embedded within in each chapter to enhance students’ understanding of key concepts, theories, methods and research findings within the field and how they relate to everyday life.

In this modern and distinctive textbook, Helliwell and Sahakian present classical mechanics as a thriving and contemporary field with strong connections to cutting-edge research topics in physics. Each part of the book concludes with a capstone chapter describing various key topics in quantum mechanics, general relativity, and other areas of modern physics, clearly demonstrating how they relate to advanced classical mechanics, and enabling students to appreciate the central importance of classical mechanics within contemporary fields of research. Numerous and detailed examples are interleaved with theoretical content, illustrating abstract concepts more concretely. Extensive problem sets at the end of each chapter further reinforce students' understanding of key concepts, and provide opportunities for assessment or self-testing. A detailed online solutions manual and lecture slides accompany the text for instructors. Often a flexible approach is required when teaching advanced classical mechanics, and, to facilitate this, the authors have outlined several paths instructors and students can follow through the book, depending on background knowledge and the length of their course.

This article explores the nexus between global governance and state capacity in view of the implications for development crisis in Africa. Adopting a global governance analytical framework, the article contends with the norms and rules guiding contemporary world order. Primarily designed by Western powers and their allied multilateral institutions, African states often play peripheral roles in the process of global governance. It is argued that various international developmental models and strategies including Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs), Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) introduced by Western powers and their multilateral agencies cannot yield the desired goals at the expense of good governance and productive political order in various African countries. The post-colonial experiences of many African states have demonstrated that successive leaderships in most parts of the continent have always undermined the tenets of good governance within the spectrum of liberal democracy. Thus, various elements of bad governance including corruption, abuse of the rule of law and contempt of democratic values on the one hand, and external manipulation by the hegemonic tendencies of the Western hemisphere on the other have drastically reduced Africans to captives of powerful states. The consistent pressure from global forces has undermined the capacity of the African state to implement an autonomous policy that is consistent with its historical, socio-cultural, economic and political realities. The article concludes that through effective internal governance framework and productive economic order, Africa can benefit maximally from the Western model for “best practices” on democracy. Thus, while a “global vision” may be desirable, given the interdependent nature of contemporary global order, however, the path to sustainable development depends on the development of indigenous African visions in consonance with the people’s socio-cultural, political and economic realities.