A spatio-temporal analysis of academic performance at the Basic Education Certificate Examination in Ghana

Over the last decade, Ghana has more than tripled investment in its basic education system. Consequently, the country has made huge educational gains, primarily in providing universal access to basic education. However, many stakeholders are worried that academic performance is lagging because of disproportional attention to accessing basic education. Discussion of these concerns is hampered by ongoing disagreement about the true trajectory of academic performance at the basic education level and the widespread nature of students' lagging academic performance. In part, this disagreement stems from the failure of empirical studies to comprehensively examine trends in academic performance standards at the basic education level by concurrently considering a geographical and longitudinal perspective. Thus, this study examines the spatio-temporal trends of academic performance at the junior high school level since 2009 by using multilevel growth curve modeling, spatial statistics, and district-level longitudinal data. Results reveal 3 statistically distinct trajectories of academic performance: erratic, accelerating, and decelerating changes. Results also show that rural–urban gaps explain 31% of the performance trajectories, a trend which is expected to persist in the long term. In addition, we find extreme variations in academic performance within rural areas. Given the varying trajectories and geographical variability in academic performance, we suggest a localized approach to addressing challenges of low academic achievement at the basic education level in Ghana.     

笃实求真 勘者师表——记贵州籍老地质学家何立贤先生

何立贤先生是跨越了若干历史时代的贵州籍著名地质学家,阅历广阔,学养深厚,成果丰硕,积极进取,思想活跃,乐观向上,健康阳光。本文回顾了何立贤先生90年的人生历程和70年的地质生涯,反映了他为人为学的精神品质和人格风貌,特别是执着于地矿事业、为家乡贵州地质矿产勘查、科技管理和科学研究做出了巨大的贡献,取得了丰硕的成果。其言其行,其道德文章,其学而不厌、诲而不倦,言传身教,教育培养了贵州几代地质勘探队员。作为老一代地质学家的代表,他所反复强调的"重视野外工作,倡导求实学风"正成为地质找矿和地质科研的精神理念;是极其宝贵的精神财富,在当前地质矿产资源勘查、地质环境保护、努力实现找矿突破中具有深远意义,需要传承和弘扬光大。     

深切怀念地貌与第四纪地质科学家杨怀仁教授深切怀念地貌与第四纪地质科学家杨怀仁教授

编辑按　杨怀仁先生是我国著名的地貌学与第四纪地质学家,在地貌与第四纪科学研究、教学和人才培养方面做出了杰出贡献。前不久,杨先生因病逝世。《第四纪研究》特刊载南京大学地理与海洋科学学院杨达源教授等撰写的纪念短文,以表达学界对先生的缅怀之情。     

Demanding distances in later life leisure travel

This article draws on a serial interview study of later life leisure travel in the UK to question how a wider trend towards holidaying further afield has come to feature in the lives of three cohorts of older Britons. Drawing on theories of social practice that see notions of desirable activity as produced through the interplay of opportunities to engage in relevant activities, collective apprehensions of what doing these activities should involve, and the physical capacities necessarily required to undertake them, we examine their leisure travel in two regards. Firstly, we consider how evolving social and infrastructural arrangements are effectively demanding greater distance travel in the sense that they shape what socially desirable leisure travel is taken to entail at certain points in time. Secondly, we examine how distance travel may be physically demanding in the sense that older bodies may be particularly likely to face certain challenges when they travel. This strategy allows us to examine how broader social expectations regarding distance travel have become part of the lives of older Britons and the manner in which they are currently reconciling them with both the anticipation and the experience of bodily ageing. We end with the implications of our findings for the future of later life leisure travel as a potential hotspot of growing societal energy demand and the further application of social practice theory in view of the evidently variable capacities of human bodies.     

转变教育思想教育观念培养跨世纪高等工程人才

作者从迎接２１世纪对高等教育挑战的高度出发，讨论了转变教育思想和教育观念的重要性和必要性。重点阐述了素质教育的观念，变专业“对口”为“适应”的观念，以及创新能力的培养和学生个性的发展问题。     

无私奉献的楷模做人为学的典范——追记贵州省地质局原总工程师燕树檀先生

简要叙述了老地质学家、贵州省地质局原总工程师燕树檀在地质事业特别是在贵州地质事业发展中的主要贡献、工作业绩,缅怀了他爱岗敬业、学而不厌、诲而不倦、严谨求实、克己奉公、淡泊名利的人格风貌和做人为学的高尚精神品质,表达了贵州地矿系统职工对他的敬佩、景仰的感情。     

Spatial aspects of the residential adjustments of older parents moving to low-income senior housing: A longitudinal study

The purpose of this paper is to determine the effects of changes in local behaviour settings and individual attributes on the adjustments of older parents moving to government-subsidized senior citizen apartment (SCA) projects. The data were elicited from a sample of 106 residents of 25 SCAs in Winnipeg, Manitoba, who participated in a longitudinal interview survey. The data analysis involved use of bivariate statistical inferential tests and multiple regression frameworks. The findings disclose that the moves had only a moderate impact on parent-child residential separation and interaction. However, statistically significant predictors of four personal state outcomes (self-rated health, morale, depression, self-esteem) of the moves include variables concerning change in the older parent’s personal resources, everyday travel, and subjective appraisals of service, social, and physical components of the local neighbourhood. The findings have important policy implications in relation to the provision of appropriate behaviour settings for senior housing.     

在中国建立注册地质师制度的探讨

在我国建立与风险投资相关的制度和法规，吸引民间多元资本与商业性地质勘查项目的投资，首先要对项目进行风险分析，评估，做出权威认定。为此，要实行地质学家职业资格制度，对地质师进行注册管理。接受注册管理的地质师在执业中以中立的，客观的，公正的态度独立地行使技术权利，为投资人和筹资人服务。章提出了建立注册地质师制度的必要性，可行性和可操作性。