Evaluating the impact of an environmental education programme; an empirical study in Mexico.

This study draws on information from 11 in-depth interviews, two focus groups and 72 written questionnaires to evaluate an extra-curricular environmental education programme on forestry designed for preparatory school students from a small rural community in Mexico. Specifically, the study assessed the impact of the programme on the ecological knowledge of 72 students. Qualitative feedback suggests that students learnt about forestry, acquired greater awareness of the importance of conservation for the local environment and enjoyed the participatory teaching methods used in the programme. Quantitative results show a positive and significant association between the number of times a student participated in the programme and the student&rsquo;s ecological knowledge. Students who participated in the programme once had a 16.3% higher knowledge on ecological concepts and knew, on average, 1.5 more local forest plants than students who never attended it (p<.001). Findings suggest that the inclusion of participatory environmental education programmes in preparatory schools would improve the acquisition of ecological knowledge. Further research could consider the consistency of the findings by replicating participatory methods presented here and by using an experimental research design.

The governance of specialist nursing education and professional practice

Researching the governance frameworks supporting specialist nursing education and practice attests to deficiencies with the frameworks, and incongruence between expectations of academics, regulators and the profession for performance outcomes. The thesis argues for an evidence based governance infrastructure for national application and establishment of functional cross sectoral partnerships.

Formation of networked mobile robots

This thesis presents a novel approach for controlling a robotic swarm to generate a geometric pattern described by a given contour, and a suitable communication scheme which enables the robots to communicate with each other as an all-to-all network.

Impact of four foreign aided projects on developments in secondary education in Bangladesh

Examines four foreign aided development projects in the secondary education sub-sector in Bangladesh. Investigates planning and implementation practices employed during the life of the four projects in order to identify factors likely to lead to greater sustainability of development projects financed with foreign aid. A major concern was how foreign aided projects sustain, or lack the means to sustain, developments that have begun when project funding ceases.

A study on the formation of MgAl2O4 and MgO crystals in Al-Mg/quartz composite by differential thermal analysis

The present study has examined the thermodynamics of MgAl<sub>2sub>O<sub>4sub> and MgO formations in Al&ndash;Mg alloy/quartz (>99% crystalline silica) through differential thermal analysis (DTA). The formation of MgAl<sub>2sub>O<sub>4sub> and MgO is detected as exothermic peaks in the heat flow curve and the reaction is confirmed by the Si dissolution peaks observed during the reheating of samples and SEM analysis of the reacted sample. The presence of MgAl<sub>2sub>O<sub>4sub> and MgO is confirmed in the XRD analysis of the reacted sample. The study has enabled the production of nano sized MgAl<sub>2sub>O<sub>4sub> and MgO crystals at the interface of Al&ndash;Mg alloy and quartz. The reaction between them is found to be influenced by the oxidation of Mg, which is reduced by increasing heating rates.

Thermodynamics and kinetics of the formation of Al2 O3/ MgAl2O4/MgO in Al-Silica metal matrix composite

The formation of Al<sub>2sub>O<sub>3sub>, MgAl<sub>2sub>O<sub>4sub>, and MgO has been widely studied in different Al base metal matrix composites, but the studies on thermodynamic aspects of the Al<sub>2sub>O<sub>3sub>/ MgAl<sub>2sub>O<sub>4sub>/MgO phase equilibria have been limited to few systems such as Al/Al<sub>2sub>O<sub>3sub> and Al/SiC. The present study analyzes the Al<sub>2sub>O<sub>3sub>/MgAl<sub>2sub>O<sub>4sub> and MgAl<sub>2sub>O<sub>4sub>/MgO equilibria with respect to the temperature and the Mg content in Al/SiO2 system using an extended Miedema model. There is a linear and parabolic variation in Mg with respect to the temperature for MgAl<sub>2sub>O<sub>4sub>/MgO and Al<sub>2sub>O<sub>3sub>/MgAl<sub>2sub>O<sub>4sub> equilibria, respectively, and the influence of Si and Cu in the two equilibria is not appreciable. The experimental verification has been limited to MgAl<sub>2sub>O<sub>4sub>/MgO equilibria due to the high Mg content (≥0.5 wt pct) required for composite processing. The study has been carried out on two varieties of Al/SiO<sub>2sub> composites, i.e., Al/Silica gel and Al/Micro silica processed by liquid metallurgy route (stir casting route). MgO is found to be more stable compared to MgAl<sub>2sub>O<sub>4sub> at Mg levels ≥5 and 1 wt pct in Al/Silica gel and Al/Micro silica composites, respectively, at 1073 K. MgO is also found to be more stable at lower Mg content (3 wt pct) in Al/Silica gel composite with decreasing particle size of silica gel from 180 micron to submicron and nanolevels. The MgO to MgAl<sub>2sub>O<sub>4sub> transformation has taken place through a series of transition phases influenced by the different thermodynamic and kinetic parameters such as holding temperature, Mg concentration in the alloy, holding time, and silica particle size.

Effect of particles on the formation of deformation twins in a magnesium-based alloy

The deformation behaviour of the age hardenable alloy Mg&ndash;5%Zn after different precipitation treatments has been examined. It has been found that during compressive deformation, fine particles increase the number of twins that form, but reduce the size and total volume fraction of twins. Visco-plastic selfconsistent modelling has been used to show that the presence of precipitates hardens the twin and prismatic slip systems more than the basal slip system. It is proposed that because the {10 ¯12} twin requires basal slip to accommodate the twinning shear, this twin type will always be hardened equal to, or more than, the basal slip system in response to precipitation.

Contextualising learning through the participatory construction of an environmental education programme

Strengthening links between school and community is critical for improving people's participation in environmental issues. However, Mexican education programmes are generally unrelated to rural students' life experience and are planned without considering either teachers' or students' opinions. This article describes the participatory construction of a preparatory school environmental education (EE) programme in Ixtlan de Juarez, a Mexican indigenous community internationally recognised for sustainable forest management. The qualitative research methods used are based on the action research methodology. Results from interviews conducted with the preparatory school's headmaster, the coordinator, and nine teachers provided the needed documentation of the school site for contextualising learning activities. Feedback during focus groups with six students, three teachers, five local communal authorities, and two researchers highlighted that all participants perceived the need for creating an educational programme focused on local forest management. The contents and activities of the programme were designed by the focus group's participants. The programme has been continuously taught by teachers and forest workers since 2005 and was officially integrated with the preparatory school science curriculum in 2006. This participative educational experience has thus transformed the mandatory school curriculum in Ixtlan.

Formation of defects in boron nitride by low energy ion bombardment

Formation of defects in hexagonal and cubic boron nitride (h -BN and c -BN, respectively) under low-energy argon or nitrogen ion-bombardment has been studied by near-edge x-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) around boron and nitrogen K -edges. Breaking of B-N bonds for both argon and nitrogen bombardment and formation of nitrogen vacancies, VN, has been identified from the B K -edge of both h -BN and c -BN, followed by the formation of molecular nitrogen, N2, at interstitial positions. The presence of N 2 produces an additional peak in photoemission spectra around N 1s core level and a sharp resonance in the low-resolution NEXAFS spectra around N K -edge, showing the characteristic vibrational fine structure in high-resolution measurements. In addition, several new peaks within the energy gap of BN, identified by NEXAFS around B and N K -edges, have been assigned to boron or nitrogen interstitials, in good agreement with theoretical predictions. Ion bombardment destroys the cubic phase of c -BN and produces a phase similar to a damaged hexagonal phase. © 2009 American Institute of Physics.

Microwave-accelerated 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition for the formation of fused [n]polynorbornanes

Microwave irradiation induces the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of cyclobutane epoxides with norbornenes to afford [n]polynorbornane scaffolds. Greatly enhanced reaction rates and significantly reduced levels of decomposition were observed.