Addressing students' difficulties with Faraday's law: A guided problem solving approach

In traditional teaching, the fundamental concepts of electromagnetic induction are usually quickly analyzed, spending most of the time solving problems in a more or less rote manner. However, physics education research has shown that the fundamental concepts of the electromagnetic induction theory are barely understood by students. This article proposes an interactive teaching sequence introducing the topic of electromagnetic induction. The sequence has been designed based on contributions from physics education research. Particular attention is paid to the relationship between experimental findings (macroscopic level) and theoretical interpretation (microscopic level). An example of the activities that have been designed will also be presented, describing the implementation context and the corresponding findings. Since implementing the sequence, a considerable number of students have a more satisfactory grasp of the electromagnetic induction explicative model. However, difficulties are manifested in aspects that require a multilevel explanation, referring to deep structures where the system description is better defined.

A política de formação dos Agentes Comunitários de Saúde: memória de uma formulação em disputa nos anos 2003-2005

Este estudo trata da formulação da política de formação do agente comunitário de saúde (ACS), buscando compreender as disputas que então se travaram, a partir dos processos políticos relativos à gestão da educação e do trabalho do ACS, implementados no período compreendido entre o início de 2003 e meados de 2005. Para tal fim, foram analisados os documentos debatidos nessa formulação, no intervalo de tempo compreendido entre março de 2003 e julho de 2004, o qual se revelou um período intenso de produção conceitual em torno dessa política. Nos documentos analisados, revelaram-se posições acerca do perfil social do ACS e do trabalho que este deve realizar, articuladas a concepções de ensino e formação em saúde, que disputaram o conteúdo e a forma que a política de formação desses trabalhadores deveria assumir. Tais disputas guardam relação também com o modo como esta função se instituiu no SUS e as contradições geradas desde então; ao mesmo tempo, as posições conflitantes apontam para distintos projetos de saúde, educação e trabalho. Esse processo resultou na publicação do Referencial Curricular para Curso Técnico de Agente Comunitário de Saúde, que consolidou a proposta de formação técnica, mas cuja implementação não tem se dado integralmente, configurando a prevalência de uma qualificação inicial, conforme determina a legislação que orienta o exercício da profissão de ACS. Entretanto, a dissertação indica que o processo não se esgotou, sendo a atual política de formação dos ACS objeto de disputas e demandas, tanto pela sua conservação, quanto pela sua transformação.

The use of role-play games in teaching: The International Climate Negotiation Game

This paper presents a role-play game designed by the authors, which focuses on international climate negotiations. The game has been used at a university with students all drawn from the same course and at summer schools with students from different levels (undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students and post-doctoral researchers) and different knowledge areas (economics, law, engineering, architecture, biology and others). We discuss how the game fits into the process of competence-based learning, and what benefits games, and role-play games in particular, have for teaching. In the game, students take on the role of representatives of national institutions and experience at first hand a detailed process of international negotiation concerned with climate change.

Compulsory heterosexuality and Caribbean queer identities: an investigation of Achy Obejas's Memory mambo and Shani Mootoo's Valmiki's daughter

Esta dissertação pretende investigar de que forma idéias construídas socialmente impõem a heterossexualidade e afetam indivíduos não heterosexuais das ilhas Caribenhas, conforme ilustrado nos romances Memory Mambo, da Cubana-Americana Achy Obejas e Valmikis Daughters, da Trinitária-Canadense Shani Mootoo. Este trabalho se concentra na análise de políticas sexuais ligadas à homossexualidade tanto nas ilhas do Caribe quanto nos Estados Unidos da América. Em Memory Mambo, a protagonista Juani Casas deseja entender como sua condição de exilada cubana molda sua identidade sexual e como seu lesbianismo afeta seus relacionamentos familiares e amorosos. Reconstruindo sua história através de uma memória não confiável, Juani procura descobrir como sua sexualidade e sua nacionalidade estão ligadas, para que ela possa conciliar as duas. Em Valmikis Daughter, Viveka Krishnu e seu pai Valmiki Krishnu tentam esconder seus verdadeiros desejos por causa dos comportamentos supostamente corretos que foram designados tanto para homens quanto para mulheres em Trinidad, e mais especificamente na sociedade indo-caribenha. Pai e filha sofrem com a opressão e tentam não se tornarem vítimas de homofobia constante, ele escondendo sua sexualidade e ela deixando a ilha. Assim, através da representação literária, Obejas e Mootoo participam de uma discussão necessária sobre as consequencias das políticas sexuais na construção identitária de Caribenhos que vivem nas ilhas ou em destinos diaspóricos

Mechanical constraint and loading on ferroelectric memory capacitors

The influence of mechanical constraint imposed by device geometry upon the switching response of a ferroelectric thin film memory capacitor is investigated. The memory capacitor was represented by two-dimensional ferroelectric islands of different aspect ratio, mechanically constrained by surrounding materials. Its ferroelectric non-linear behaviour was modeled by a crystal plasticity constitutive law and calculated using the finite element method. The switching response of the device, in terms of remnant charge storage, was determined as a function of geometry and constraint. The switching response under applied in-plane tensile stress and hydrostatic pressure was also studied experimentally. Our results showed that (1) the capacitor's aspect ratio could significantly affect the clamping behaviour and thus the remnant polarization, (2) it was possible to maximise the switching charge through the optimisation of the device geometry, and (3) it is possible to find a critical switching stress at zero electric field and a critical coercive field at zero residual stress. © 2009 Materials Research Society.

In Comes I: Performance, Memory and Landscape

Pearson, Mike, In Comes I: Performance, Memory and Landscape (Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 2007) RAE2008

Etyczny profil "Familiaris consortio"

Artykuł koncentruje się na etycznym aspekcie „Familiaris Consortio”, zakładając równocześnie bogatą problematykę pastoralną. Pytanie etyczne, które pojawiało się wraz z ukazaniem się tego dokumentu wiązało się z nastrojami wahania i oczekiwania w wyniku ujawnienia się silnej opozycji wobec nauki zawartej w encyklice „Humanae Vitae” Pawła VI. Adhortacja nie podejmuje bezpośredniej polemiki z przeciwnikami nauki Kościoła, lecz przedstawia pozytywny wykład całościowej nauki na temat powołania małżeństwa i rodziny. Powołanie stanowi w tym dokumencie podstawową kategorię teologiczno-moralną, wyjaśniającą i uzasadniającą istotne wymogi moralne małżeństwa i rodziny i przenoszącą życie ludzkie na poziom świętości. Powołanie ma swe źródło w Boskim planie zbawienia i objawia się wraz z dokonaniem dzieła zbawienia w Jezusie Chrystusie. Tajemnica powołania uobecnia się w dziejach ludzkości jako ukryta a zarazem objawiona w misterium Chrystusa i Kościoła. Powołanie rzuca istotne światło na stworzenie mężczyzny i kobiety czyli stworzenie rodziny opartej na fundamencie małżeństwa. Odtąd prawda antropologiczna posiada wymiar sakramentalny. Powołanie przenikając wewnętrznie rzeczywistość stworzoną, umieszcza w samej głębi bytu „nie dające się stłumić wezwanie: rodzino, stań się tym, czym jesteś” (FC 17). Bóg Stwórca i Odkupiciel powierzył człowiekowi – mężczyźnie i kobiecie- zadanie budowania rodziny mocą tej samej Miłości, przez którą istnieje świat i człowiek, oraz tej samej Miłości, którą Objawił Syn Boży na Krzyżu, ustanawiając nowy porządek stworzenia. Odtąd prawda życia ludzkiego i prawda miłości musi być odczytywana wyłącznie w świetle tajemnicy Paschalnej. To wezwanie płynące z głębi sakramentu odzywa się mocą łaski w sercu małżeństwa, w sercu męża i żony, którzy są wezwani do miłowania się tą samą Miłością, która płynie z Misterium Krzyża. Ta koncepcja powołania, wypływająca z sakramentalnego charakteru chrześcijańskiego istnienia stanowi klucz do rozstrzygania szczegółowych pytań mogących się pojawić w kontekście życia małżeńskiego. Wizja przedstawiona przez „Familiaris Consortio” jest jednorodna i charyzmatyczna, jest teologiczna i antropologiczna zarazem, dotyczy bowiem człowieka jako człowieka, a nie tylko „pewnych jednostek” ludzkich uwikłanych w sidła małżeńskie. W „Familiaris Consortio” jest jedna norma małżeńska i jedna norma rodzicielska: to jest zawsze ta sama Miłość, która z Serca Boga poprzez sakrament przenika do serca małżonków. Dlatego miłość małżeńska jest miłością rodzicielską, czyli odpowiedzialną za świętość tajemnicy zrodzenia, to jest równocześnie za świętość Boga – Stwórcy i za godność człowieka powoływanego na świat. Zarówno miłość małżeńska jak miłość rodzicielska, nie mogą istnieć bez czystości małżeńskiej. Tu leży prawdopodobnie główna przyczyna powodująca opór wobec nauki „Humanae Vitae”. „Familiaris Consortio” odrzuca wszelką manipulację antykoncepcyjna, podkreślając sprzeczność postawy antykoncepcyjnej nie tylko z prawem Bożym, ale i z istotą człowieczeństwa. Zawiera się to w twierdzeniu, które głosi, że pomiędzy prawidłowym życiem małżeńskim a antykoncepcją zachodzi nie tylko różnica moralna, lecz także antropologiczna (FC 32). Jest to surowy osąd tej praktyki, ale prawdziwy: ci, którzy stosują antykoncepcję, staczają się na poziom poniżej-ludzki.

Disputes over memory ownership: What memories are disputed?

The ownership of memories is sometimes disputed, particularly by twins. Examination of 77 disputed memories, 71 provided by twins, showed that most of the remembered events are negative and that the disputants appear to be self-serving. They claim for themselves memories for achievements and suffered misfortunes but are more likely to give away memories of personal wrongdoing. The research suggests that some of the memories in which we play a leading role might in fact have been the experiences of others.

A scalable strategy for the parallelization of multiphysics unstructured mesh-iterative codes on distributed-memory systems

Realizing scalable performance on high performance computing systems is not straightforward for single-phenomenon codes (such as computational fluid dynamics [CFD]). This task is magnified considerably when the target software involves the interactions of a range of phenomena that have distinctive solution procedures involving different discretization methods. The problems of addressing the key issues of retaining data integrity and the ordering of the calculation procedures are significant. A strategy for parallelizing this multiphysics family of codes is described for software exploiting finite-volume discretization methods on unstructured meshes using iterative solution procedures. A mesh partitioning-based SPMD approach is used. However, since different variables use distinct discretization schemes, this means that distinct partitions are required; techniques for addressing this issue are described using the mesh-partitioning tool, JOSTLE. In this contribution, the strategy is tested for a variety of test cases under a wide range of conditions (e.g., problem size, number of processors, asynchronous / synchronous communications, etc.) using a variety of strategies for mapping the mesh partition onto the processor topology.

Legal method and legal reflection: experiential learning in the law school

The two main themes of the conference centre around teaching experiences in legal education and theme and international and European perspectives in legal education.

Law in the community: the University of Greenwich/Greenwich Association of Disabled People Centre for Independent Living (GAD) research project

The GAD Advocacy Service is funded by the London Borough of Greenwich Directorate of Neighbourhood Services; its remit to support disabled people experiencing Hate Crime, Domestic Violence and Harassment. Run by disabled personnel and giving advice to all disabled people it is unique in London. Since its inception in 2004, the Advocacy Service has been stretched to its limit - there is a need to extend the remit of the Advocacy Service to give specialist legal advice on other issues. In 2003, the CEDRM-UK project was set up in the University of Greenwich Law Department as part of the Disability Rights Promotion International Legal Education and Research Project; its objectives were firstly, to facilitate the collection of data on the effectiveness of legislation in promoting the rights of disabled persons; and secondly, to pilot new methods in teaching and training in Human Rights Law – students acquire an expertise in Human Rights Law through research into the practical application of legislation relating to civil and human rights in the daily life of the community. In July 2007, GAD and CEDRM-UK embarked on a joint project to report on the work of the Advocacy Service and to create a database to support its caseload. The 2008-9 Project team will report on their work and findings relating to facilitating equality in the workplace; the inclusion of cancer, HIV and multiple sclerosis within the legal definition of disability and the implications of the statutory duty to promote disability equality for the provision of extracurricular activities for schoolchildren. [From the Author]

Discovering keys to explain social policies within the social and democratic rule-of-law sate

There is a collective worldview on social policies that is expressed and understood by university professionals. However, it takes students time to construct this knowledge. Here, we provide fundamental ideas and a dynamic to facilitate learning of social policies. The preparation of a brief dictionary of significant terms is to be constructed as a group, alongside the maieutic work to be carried out by the teacher. The goal is to discover keys to understand the meaning of social policies and the underlying values that sustain a social and democratic rule-of-law state such as the one proposed in the Spanish Constitution of 1978. Attention is focused on the structure of the mixed welfare state. This is an integral proposal and comprises three dimensions. First, it considers the state and its possible welfare agents: business, market, the Church and civil society. The attitudes with which universal and inclusive social action is promoted, breaking radically with the aid-based meaning contained in other systems, are then addressed. Finally, we examine human dignity as a principle and aim of intervention, a basis for understanding other concepts such as human, social, labour and political rights. It is to be hoped that these pages prove useful for both teaching staff and students.