Without applications of physics such as counter-weighted sets and backdrops, inclined planes, stage lighting instruments, and other mechanisms for "deus ex machina," dramatic productions would revert to the words only--fine for Shakespeare and Becket, but not good for audiences who are accustomed to experiencing plays with the eye as well as the…

In the opening credits of the television cult classic "Iron Chef," Chairman Kaga takes a huge bite out of a big yellow bell pepper. With the ensuing smirk on his face, he introduces the famous "Kitchen Stadium," which he notes is his "dream in a form never seen before." What follows is a learning experience in which…

A colorimetric method for total capsaicinoids in chili pepper ("Capsicum") fruit is described. The placental material of the pepper, containing 90% of the capsaicinoids, was physically separated from the colored materials in the pericarp and extracted twice with methanol, capturing 85% of the remaining capsaicinoids. The extract, evaporated and…

In English, a sentence like "The cat didn't eat the carrot or the pepper" typically receives a "neither" interpretation; in Japanese it receives a "not this or not that" interpretation. These two interpretations are in a subset/superset relation, such that the "neither" interpretation (strong reading)…

This study explored how Black men make sense of the masculine aspect of their identity and adult development juxtaposed with the ideology of leadership within the realms of a Black, Greek-letter fraternity on a predominantly White college campus in the South. Historically, administrators of colleges and universities have accepted those who…

Assessment of performance, when national standards are required, has to be sustained by confidence. Confidence in the learner that they are engaged in learning that will provide them with a qualification that is worthwhile, and the confidence of the end user that the assessment is rigorous, equitable institution to institution, and accurate.…

Young children often struggle with referential communications because they fail to compare all valid referents. In two studies, we investigated this comparison process. In Study 1, 4-7 year-olds (N = 114) were asked to categorize pairs of objects according to their similarities or differences, and then identified a unique quality of one of the…

Cognitive interviewing (CI) provides a method of systematically collecting validity evidence of response processes for questionnaire items. CI involves a range of techniques for prompting individuals to verbalise their responses to items. One such technique is concurrent verbalisation, as developed in Think Aloud Protocol (TAP). This article…

Structures and functions of protein motifs are widely included in many biology-based course syllabi. However, little emphasis is placed to link this knowledge to applications in biotechnology to enhance the learning experience. Here, the conserved motifs of nucleotide binding site-leucine rich repeats (NBS-LRR) proteins, successfully used for the…

Most plants are able to obtain all of the nutrients that they need from air, water, and soil; however, this is not true of carnivorous plants. Because they tend to live in boggy soils where there are small amounts of nitrogen, carnivorous plants have developed specialized structures that enable them to lure and capture insects and sometimes other…

Over the past eight years, through examinations of school-administered reading assessments, Springboard has demonstrated internally that the average Springboard Summer scholar improves in reading during the program. Several partner school districts have compared Springboard scholars to their non-participating counterparts and found that, on…

The development of key competences for lifelong learning has been an important policy imperative for EU Member States. The European Reference Framework of key competences (2006) built on previous developments by the OECD, UNESCO and Member States themselves. It defined key competences as knowledge, skills and attitudes applied appropriately to…

This author agrees with the sentiments of John Hibbs' article "Was there ever any point to the three-part lesson?" (MT219). In particular the author fully supports a flexible approach to the structure of lessons. There are two interesting questions that arise from Hibbs' article: (1) Are there reasons for the large-scale adherence of teachers to…

The first nonpathologizing book for parents on trans and gender-nonconforming young people, Stephanie Brill and Rachel Pepper's "The Transgender Child: A Handbook for Families and Professionals", urges unconditional love and acceptance of both trans youth and gender-nonconforming children. The authors encourage parents not only to support their…

The need to deliver good online courses has intensified due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the surge in online education. Teaching online is a different experience from that of teaching in a face-to-face setting. In an online course, careful prior planning and course design is crucial to student success and a well-designed online course is…