Coherence and Historical understanding in children's Biography and Historical Nonfiction Literature: A Content Analysis of Selected Orbis Pictus Books

The purpose of this study was to investigate a selection of children's historical nonfiction literature for evidence of coherence. Although research has been conducted on coherence of textbook material and its influences on comprehension there has been limited study on coherence in children's nonfiction literature. Generally, textual coherence has been seen as critical in the comprehensibility of content area textbooks because it concerns the unity of connections among ideas and information. Disciplinary coherence concerns the extent to which authors of historical text show readers how historians think and write. Since young readers are apprentices in learning historical content and conventions of historical thinking, evidence of disciplinary coherence is significant in nonfiction literature for young readers. The sample of the study contained 32 books published between 1989 and 2000 ranging in length from less than 90 pages to more than 150 pages. Content analysis was the quantitative research technique used to measure 84 variables of textual and disciplinary coherence in three passages of each book, as proportions of the total number of words for each book. Reliability analyses and an examination of 750 correlations showed the extent to which variables were related in the books. Three important findings emerged from the study that should be considered in the selection and use of children's historical nonfiction literature in classrooms. First, characteristics of coherence are significantly related together in high quality nonfiction literature. Second, shorter books have a higher proportion of textual coherence than longer books as measured in three passages. Third, presence of the author is related to characteristics of coherence throughout the books. The findings show that nonfiction literature offers students content that researchers have found textbooks lack. Both younger and older students have the opportunity to learn the conventions of historical thinking as they learn content through nonfiction literature. Further, the children's literature, represented in the Orbis Pictus list, shows students that authors select, interpret, and question information, and give other interpretations. The implications of the study for teaching history, teacher preparation in content and literacy, school practices, children's librarians, and publishers of children's nonfiction are discussed.

Recent research in Bible lands : its progress and results

by J. F. MacCurdy ... [et al.]. Ed. by Herman V. Hilprecht

Goals in Argentinean adolescents : An exploratory research

El presente trabajo examina las metas de vida de adolescentes argentinos, de entre 17 y 19 años, escolarizados de ambos sexos, de distintas provincias del norte, centro y sur del país. Hace referencia a la importancia que adquiere en la actualidad la comprensión de la adolescencia como proceso de autonomización. Luego se trata de investigar las características de las metas expresadas por los/las adolescentes en un total de 3867 protocolos; establecer categorías de análisis, definirlas desde el marco teórico y ejemplificar las tipologías halladas. Asimismo, se plantean las condiciones que las articulan, y se mencionan algunas subcategorías. Desde esta mirada, estamos considerando las metas como el fruto de la actividad del sujeto. De un sujeto perteneciente a una comunidad, un sujeto que "se piensa", que produce sentidos en función de modos específicos de relación y en su contexto. A su vez estos significados se enlazan en una trama histórico-temporal y se organizan formado patrones motivacionales que inciden en sus proyectos de vida.

Goals in Argentinean adolescents : An exploratory research

El presente trabajo examina las metas de vida de adolescentes argentinos, de entre 17 y 19 años, escolarizados de ambos sexos, de distintas provincias del norte, centro y sur del país. Hace referencia a la importancia que adquiere en la actualidad la comprensión de la adolescencia como proceso de autonomización. Luego se trata de investigar las características de las metas expresadas por los/las adolescentes en un total de 3867 protocolos; establecer categorías de análisis, definirlas desde el marco teórico y ejemplificar las tipologías halladas. Asimismo, se plantean las condiciones que las articulan, y se mencionan algunas subcategorías. Desde esta mirada, estamos considerando las metas como el fruto de la actividad del sujeto. De un sujeto perteneciente a una comunidad, un sujeto que "se piensa", que produce sentidos en función de modos específicos de relación y en su contexto. A su vez estos significados se enlazan en una trama histórico-temporal y se organizan formado patrones motivacionales que inciden en sus proyectos de vida.

Goals in Argentinean adolescents : An exploratory research

El presente trabajo examina las metas de vida de adolescentes argentinos, de entre 17 y 19 años, escolarizados de ambos sexos, de distintas provincias del norte, centro y sur del país. Hace referencia a la importancia que adquiere en la actualidad la comprensión de la adolescencia como proceso de autonomización. Luego se trata de investigar las características de las metas expresadas por los/las adolescentes en un total de 3867 protocolos; establecer categorías de análisis, definirlas desde el marco teórico y ejemplificar las tipologías halladas. Asimismo, se plantean las condiciones que las articulan, y se mencionan algunas subcategorías. Desde esta mirada, estamos considerando las metas como el fruto de la actividad del sujeto. De un sujeto perteneciente a una comunidad, un sujeto que "se piensa", que produce sentidos en función de modos específicos de relación y en su contexto. A su vez estos significados se enlazan en una trama histórico-temporal y se organizan formado patrones motivacionales que inciden en sus proyectos de vida.

(Table 1) UK research stations, refuges and major depots between 1944 and 2010

Globally, areas categorically known to be free of human visitation are rare, but still exist in Antarctica. Such areas may be among the most pristine locations remaining on Earth and, therefore, be valuable as baselines for future comparisons with localities impacted by human activities, and as sites preserved for scientific research using increasingly sophisticated future technologies. Nevertheless, unvisited areas are becoming increasingly rare as the human footprint expands in Antarctica. Therefore, an understanding of historical and contemporary levels of visitation at locations across Antarctica is essential to a) estimate likely cumulative environmental impact, b) identify regions that may have been impacted by non-native species introductions, and c) inform the future designation of protected areas under the Antarctic Treaty System. Currently, records of Antarctic tourist visits exist, but little detailed information is readily available on the spatial and temporal distribution of national governmental programme activities in Antarctica. Here we describe methods to fulfil this need. Using information within field reports and archive and science databases pertaining to the activities of the United Kingdom as an illustration, we describe the history and trends in its operational footprint in the Antarctic Peninsula since c. 1944. Based on this illustration, we suggest that these methodologies could be applied productively more generally.

Democratizing Indonesia: Reformasi Period in Historical Perspective

Introduction : Triggered by the Asian currency crisis, Indonesia plunged into the times of violent change. With the downfall of the long-standing Soeharto rule in May 1998, changes of　the state order started with great magnitude and rapidity under a new banner of　“reformasi” (reform). What changes have occurred in this reformasi period? What do　these changes signify? To answer these questions, it would be better to have a certain　yardstick to allow us comparison. One possibility is to use a yardstick of history. What　picture will emerge if we see the current array of changes in long-term historical　perspectives is a main question of this paper. This paper intends to provide a bird’s-eye picture illustrating where in the Indonesian history the current restructuring of the state order is located. Rather than focusing on a specific area, I here attempt to broaden our outlook on Indonesia’s political, economic and social arenas in order to identify what are happening in these arenas, how they are mutually related, and what those events signify in the Indonesia’s historical context.

Post-Crisis Economic Reform in Indonesia:Policy for Intervening in Ownership in Historical Perspective

Introduction : Economic reform in Indonesia after the Asian currency crisis is often discussed in parallel with Thailand and South Korea, which were alike hit by the crisis. It should however be noted that what happened in Indonesia was a change of political regime from authoritarianism to democracy, not just a change of government as seen in Thailand and South Korea. Indonesia’s post-crisis reform should be understood in the context of dismantling of the Soeharto regime to seek a new democratic state system. 　　　In the political sphere, dramatic institutional changes have occurred since the downfall of the Soeharto government in May 1998. In comparison, changes in the economic sphere are more complex than the political changes, as the former involve at least three aspects. The first is the continuity in the basic framework of capitalist system with policy orientation toward economic liberalization. In this framework, the policies to overcome the crisis are continued from the last period of the Soeharto rule, under the support system of IMF and CGI (Consultative Group on Indonesia). The second aspect is the impact of the political regime change on the economic structure. It is considered that the structure of economic vested interests of the Soeharto regime is being disintegrated as the regime breaks down. The third aspect is the impact of the political regime change on economic policy-making process. The process of formulating and implementing policies has changed drastically from the Soeharto time. With these three aspects simultaneously at work, it is not so easy to identify which of them is the main cause for a given specific economic phenomenon emerging in Indonesia today. 　　　Keeping this difficulty in mind, this paper attempts to situate the post-crisis economic reform in the broader context of the historical development of Indonesian economic policies and their achievements. We focus in particular on the reform policies for banking and corporate sectors and resulting structural changes in these sectors. This paper aims at understanding the significance of the changes in the economic ownership structure that are occurring in the post-Soeharto Indonesia. Economic policies here do not mean macro economic policies, such as fiscal, financial and trade policies, but refer to micro economic policies whereby the government intervenes in the economic ownership structure. In Section 1, we clarify why economic policies for intervening in the ownership structure are important in understanding Indonesia. Section 2 follows the historical development of Indonesia’s economic policies as specified above, throughout the four successive periods since Indonesia’s independence, namely, the parliamentary democracy period, the Guided Democracy period under Soekarno, the Soeharto-regime consolidation period, and the Soeharto-regime transfiguration period2. Then we observe what economic ownership structure was at work in the pre-crisis last days of the Soeharto rule as an outcome of the economic policies. In Section 3, we examine what structural changes have taken place in the banking and corporate sectors due to the reform policies in the post-crisis and post-Soeharto Indonesia. Lastly in Section 4, we interpret the current reorganization of the economic ownership in the context of the historical transition of the ownership structure, taking account of the changes in the policy-making processes under democratization.

Methodology for the metric restoration of the historical cartography applied to Francisco Coello's cartografic series of the Royal Site of Aranjuez

Hojas Kilométricas (Kilometric Sheets). Specifically, the study focuses on those sheets referring to the city centre and surrounding area of the Royal Site of Aranjuez, a town in the south of the Province of Madrid. The aim of this study is to restore the actual size and measurements of scanned images of the Hojas Kilométricas. This would allow us, among other things, to reestablish both the format and scale of the original plans. To achieve this goal it is necessary to rectify and then georeference these images, i.e. assign them a geographic reference system. This procedure is essential in the overlaying and comparison of the Hojas Kilométricas of the Royal Site with other historical cartography as well as other sources related to the same area from different time periods. Subsequent research would allow us, for example, to reconstruct the time-evolution of the urban area, to spot new construction and to pinpoint the locations of any altered or missing buildings or architectural features. In addition, this would allow us to develop and integrate databases for GIS models applicable to the management of our cultural heritage.

Correlating a documentary record of historical floods with the dendrochronological dating of a wooden decking in the old mint of Segovia (Spain)

the aim of this study is to apply an integrated methodological approximation where dendrochronology and documentary analysis allow us to reconstruct the historical flood record of the Segovia Mint. Our hypothesis is that differences between the dendrochronological data of the wooden decking pieces can be related to historical floods and, therefore, they could be used as proxy-source data in future palaeoflood research.

Theoretical and experimental structural studies of historical Latin-American laminated planked timber arches

This article describes a first group of theoretical and experimental works undertaken at the Polytechnic University of Madrid. One major purpose is to obtain a structural model for the assessment of historical Latin-American vertically laminated planked timber arches built by the Spanish, mainly in the XVII and XVIII centuries. Many of those constructions still stand and represent a notable historical heritage. Pedro Hurtado recently presented his Ph. D. thesis on historical and construction topics. A structural study was then undertaken. This step of the structural research focussed on static analysis, most especially the deformation in the connection system. This article describes part of this first structural research. Even though it is still at a basic level, it shows reasonable agreement with the experimental results. Further static analytical models are been now developed and implemented. The next stage will address the dynamic problem, even though improvements will be made also in the constitutive equations.

GIS analysis of the accuracy of Tomas Lopez's historical cartography in the Canary Islands (1742 - 1746)

The accuracy of Tomás López´s historical cartography of the Canary Islands included in the “Atlas Particular” of the Kingdoms of Spain, Portugal and Adjacent Islands” is analyzed. For this purpose, we propose a methodology based on Geographic Information Systems (GIS), a comparison of digitized historical cartography population centres with current ones. This study shows that the lineal error value is small for the smaller islands: Lanzarote, El Hierro, La Palma and La Gomera. In the large islands of Tenerife, Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria, the error is smaller in central zones but increases towards the coast. This indicates that Tomás López began his cartography starting from central island zones, accumulating errors due to lack of geodetic references as he moved toward the coast.

Hacia una taxonomía constructiva de las tapias de tierra y fábricas encofradas históricas = Towards a constructive taxonomy of the historical rammed-earth and formwork masonry

El objetivo fundamental de la investigación es el estudio de los fundamentos constructivos de las fábricas históricas de tapia de tierra y mampostería encofrada de las fortificaciones bajomedievales. Ante las incertidumbres detectadas en la datación de estas estructuras y frente al excesivo número de excepciones que quedan fuera de las clasificaciones tradicionalmente empleadas para estudiar este tipo de técnicas, el artículo desarrolla una propuesta de tipología o taxonomía constructiva basada en un sistema abierto. Este sistema nace del análisis de un número significativo de fábricas y atiende a diversos parámetros de control para la completa caracterización de cada fábrica: material, grado de compactación, función constructiva, encofrado, acabado superficial, combinación de materiales y situación, profundidad, formación y sección de los agujales. Cada fábrica se clasifica mediante una etiqueta alfanumérica. El sistema permite establecer tipos constructivos con los que se genera una clasificación cronotipológica constructiva. ABSTRACT The principal aim of the research is the study of the constructive reasons of the historical masonries built with rammed earth and formwork masonry, belonging to late medieval fortifications. Uncertainties have been warned about dating the historical masonries and there are excessive exceptions that do not fall in the rankings traditionally employed to study these techniques. Due to these reasons, the article develops a proposal of constructive typology or taxonomy based in an open system that comes from the analysis of a representative number of masonries and that attends to several control parameters tor the complete characterization of each masonry: material, compaction degree, constructive function, formwork, rendering, combination of materials and, last, the situation, deepness, formation and section of the putlogholes. Each masonry is classified through an alphanumeric label. The system allows establishing several constructive types which it is possible to do a cronotypological and constructive classification.