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South African Journal of Education
On-line version ISSN 2076-3433
Print version ISSN 0256-0100
S. Afr. j. educ. vol.34 n.1 Pretoria Jan. 2014
Introducing problem-based learning (PBL) into a foundation programme to develop self-directed learning skills
Sharon B MalanI; Mdutshekelwa NdlovuI; Petra EngelbrechtII
IInstitute for Mathematics and Science Teaching, Stellenbosch University, South Africa firstname.lastname@example.com
IIFaculty of Education, Canterbury Christ Church University, UK
This article reports on the qualitative aspects of a study that examined whether introducing a Problem-based Learning (PBL) approach in a one-year foundation programme can create conditions for learners to develop and sustain self-directed learning skills. This interpretive-constructivist case study was located in evaluation research. Data were collected by means of classroom observations and interviews with 35 students and 14 former students. Findings indicated that introducing students to a PBL approach did promote more meaningful learning patterns, typified by processing the subject matter critically and self-regulating learning processes. The sustainability ofthe meaning-directed learning skills was questionable ifstudent beliefs in the approach did not support the activities employed. Introducing PBL into a foundation programme can develop self-directed learning skills in students and set in motion a process of growth towards lifelong learning.
Keywords: disadvantaged learners; evaluation research; foundation programmes; lifelong learning; Mathematics and Physical Science education; Problem-based Learning; self-directed learning; self-regulated learning
The diverse student intake into higher education in South Africa has changed not only in terms of numbers, but also in terms of preparedness (Quinn, 2003). The traditional way of teaching encourages learner dependency and superficial understanding, and fails to encourage reflection and self-direction (Engelbrecht, 2001). The more diverse student population has heightened the need for a broader range of teaching and learning approaches at tertiary level. Many higher education institutions are expanding their foundation programmes in order to provide learning opportunities that support students as self-directed, independent learners (Adendorff, 2006; Kgaphola, 1999).
Science and Mathematics at Stellenbosch University (SciMathUS) is an intensive, year-long foundation programme that recruits and gives socio-economically disad-vantaged students a second chance for access to university mainly in the Natural, Health, or Economic and Management Sciences. Recognising that social, economic and educational disadvantages contribute to students' poor performances in Grade 12 (Department of Basic Education, 2010), the programme allows students to rewrite the Senior Certificate examinations in Mathematics and Physical Sciences. The aim is that, once students have completed the SciMathUS year, they qualify for tertiary programmes in selected courses and are adequately equipped to succeed at their future tertiary studies (Michaels, 2005).
Before 2005, teaching at SciMathUS mainly focused on the content of the Grade 12 curriculum and the quality of the knowledge the educator controls. One likely consequence of this teacher-centred approach is the development of a closed conception of teaching and a reproductive, superficial conception of learning which strengthens learner dependency (Engelbrecht, 2001). A PBL approach was introduced into the programme in 2005 to enhance the students' chances of success in higher education. Several studies reveal that PBL supports students as self-directed learners and provides them with a more realistic picture of the academic challenges that they have to face in higher education (Dunlap, 1997; Johnston & Tinning, 2001; Mierson, 1998). This article presents the learning experiences of 35 former SciMathUS students to indicate ways in which self-directed learning patterns werepromoted.
The PBL philosophy of the programme
The PBL philosophy adopted by SciMathUS strives to equip students with the underlying skills and attitudes needed for lifelong learning (Johnston & Tinning, 2001). As second chance learners they cannot be taught by the same traditional methods that previously failed them. PBL prescribes a student-centred learning environment in which students are not viewed as empty vessels (Freire, 1985; Mierson, 1998), but as bringing their own perceptual frameworks and different learning styles, to an active, dynamic learning process (Adendorff, 2006). In PBL the starting point for learning is a real-world or ill-structured problem, the resolution of which requires students to work cooperatively in small groups (Dunlap, 1997; Limerick & Clarke, 1997). PBL provides students with a learning environment where they are stimulated to become more involved and take on more responsibility for the learning process. PBL involves a shift from content coverage to problem engagement; from lecturing to coaching; and from students as passive learners to that of active problem-solvers (Finucane, Johnson & Prideaux, 1998). This is quite different from most university teaching approaches which concentrate on the transmission of factual knowledge (Yeung, Au-Yeung, Chiu, Mok & Lai, 2003).
PBL can be considered to be constructivist in nature (Tynjala in Newman, 2004). Constructivism is based on a view that 'knowledge' is not absolute, but is actively constructed by the student based on previous knowledge and overall views of the world (Baker, 2000; Oxford, 1997). It therefore represents a significant break with traditional approaches. In the SciMathUS context, PBL is viewed as a combination of cognitive 'scientific' and social constructivist theories (as developed by Piaget and Vygotsky) in which learning is viewed as an activity that not only takes place within individuals, but also occurs when they are engaged in social activities (Kim, 2001; Von Glasersfeld, 1995). The focus shifts from restricted content to the development of conceptual understanding that fosters deep rather than surface learning. Content remains important, but there is more emphasis on the process of learning (Williams, 2001).
Nature of instructional practices
SciMathUS needed a Hybrid PBL approach (an adapted version of PBL) that suited our programme needs most, since it allowed us to implement PBL in shorter cycles and integrate only the main subjects (Newman, 2004). Integrated teaching sessions, where lecturers in Mathematics and Physical Science taught together in one classroom, were introduced in addition to subject-based teaching, where lecturers taught their subjects separately. Three large-scale PBL problems were designed for each term and the sessions brought together areas of interest common to each of the two main subjects.
We combined the seven-jump approach of the University of Maastricht (Schmidt, 1993) and the Howard Barrows PBL model (Barrows, 1996), since these models provide a more structured way of approaching problems and of developing self-directed learning skills. Figure 1 illustrates the basic steps of the PBL process employed at SciMathUS.
The steps involve students encountering a problem, clarifying working definitions of unclear terms or concepts, producing an exact definition of the problem, analysing the problem components, clustering ideas, identifying learning issues in an interactive process, researching the learning issues through self-study, applying newly gained knowledge to the problem, and summarizing what has been learned. The process concludes with students evaluating the experience. The students' self-directed learning time is the period between the problem presentation and problem discussion meetings.
The links between PBL and self-directed learning
Various principles govern the design of PBL based on self-directed and self-regulated learning theory. Newman (2004) emphasizes that successful learning requires the adoption of particular attitudes (or beliefs) and strategies (or activities). Self-directed learning (SDL) refers to the goal-dimension towards lifelong learning, i.e. an internal change in consciousness or beliefs whereas self-regulation (SRL) refers to the actual activities or strategies necessary to move towards the goal of SDL (Rodriguez & Cano, 2006). When the external technical dimension (SRL) is fused with the internal, reflective dimension (SDL), the most complete form of self-directed learning occurs (Brookfield, 1985).
Most students are not homogeneous in their background, knowledge, experience, learning abilities or learning styles. The self-directed activities which are embedded in every PBL phase suit students' diverse learning needs well (Siaw, 2000).The development of meta-cognition is also an important part of developing the skills associated with self-monitoring which contribute to the students' ability to become lifelong learners (Williams, 2001; Van Loggerenberg-Hattingh, 2003). PBL develops these skills when students establish educational goals and create action plans to meet those goals, reason aloud through discussion, reflect on their knowledge base, formulate and test hypotheses, clarify understanding through negotiation of meaning and critique and defend each other's points of view. These activities, when facilitated effectively, assist the students to develop self-monitoring skills necessary to identify learning progress and reveal their internal thinking processes. In this way students develop the independence and motivation to pursue the necessary self-directed and self-regulated learning via the best resources (Miflin, 2004; Williams, 2001) for lifelong learning (Johnston & Tinning, 2001). This logically leads to the necessity to examine learning styles that typify self-directed and self-regulated learning.
Vermunt's Inventory of Learning Styles
Based on constructivist views of learning, Vermunt (1994; 1998; 2004) proposed an Inventory of Learning Styles (ILS) which integrates four components of learning: cognitive processing strategies, meta-cognitive regulation strategies, students' mental models (conceptions) of learning, and their learning orientations (motives). The first two of these are the self-regulative components (Linares, 1999) whereas the last two are the self-directive components (Vermunt & Vermetten, 2004). Using explanatory factor analysis, Vermunt identified four different learning patterns or styles: a meaning-directed style, a reproduction-directed style, an application-directed style and an undirected style (Boyle, Duffy & Dunleavy, 2003). A meaning-directed style is typified by relating, structuring, and processing the subject matter critically, self-regulating learning processes and contents, constructing knowledge as learning conception, and personal interest as learning orientation. A reproduction-directed style favours memorising and rehearsing, analysing, external regulation of learning, certificate and self-test directed-learning orientations, and a learning conception in which learning is viewed as the intake of existing knowledge. An application-directed learning pattern is typified by concrete processing, a vocational learning orientation and a learning conception stressing the use of knowledge. Finally, an undirected learning style favours a lack of regulation, an ambivalent learning orientation, and a learning conception in which great value is attached to cooperation with fellow students and to lecturer stimulation. From the viewpoint of high-quality learning, the meaning- and application-directed learning patterns are more desirable and may improve academic achievement (Bothma & Monteith, 2004; Rodriguez & Cano, 2006).
The sustainability of meaning-directed learning activities is hindered if student beliefs in the approaches (SDL) do not support the activities (SRL) they employ. According to Brookfield (1985) and Rodriguez and Cano (2006), the most complete form of self-directed learning thus occurs when the external technical dimension (the SRL activities) is fused with the internal, reflective dimension (the SDL beliefs). This leads us to the research question of this study.
Research question
Does introducing a PBL approach within a one-year foundation programme create conditions for learners to develop self-directed and self-regulated learning skills?
Empirical study
Research design
This article reports on the qualitative findings of a PhD study conducted from 2005 to 2007. This single-case foundation programme (SciMathUS) study was located in evaluation research (Rossi, Lipsey & Freeman, 2004). The interpretive-constructivist paradigm with a pragmatic focus was adopted, typified by an emphasis on the insiders' perspective, location of the research in the natural setting of social actors, seeing the researcher as the 'main instrument' in the research process and the product of the inquiry as richly descriptive (Morgan, 2007).
Ethical considerations
Approval to proceed with this study was granted by the university ethics committee. The first author obtained written consent from the programme manager, lecturers and students who were to be involved in the study. The participants' anonymity and confidentiality were maintained through the use of pseudonyms (e.g. Student response 1).
In this single case-study the researcher used purposive sampling. During 2007, 35 adult male and female SciMathUS students from socio-economically disadvantaged families (aged between 17 and 22) and three educators (two Mathematics lecturers and one Physical Science lecturer) were interviewed and observed prior to and after a six-month period of PBL exposure. Qualitative data by means of open-ended structured questionnaires were also obtained from 14 randomly selected 2006 first-year students, eight months after they had been introduced to the PBL approach at SciMathUS. The data were used to determine the sustaining effects of the PBL approach used in the programme and the participants' general experiences in higher education.
Data collection procedures
Qualitative data were generated from the 35 students as well as the three lecturers through semi-structured focus group interviews and classroom observations. Three focus group interviews (with six to eight students per group) were conducted at the research site directly after students completed three PBL problems during each term. The interviews, based on a review of the literature, aimed to explore students' learning patterns after exposure to PBL problems to ascertain any changes in self-regulated skill levels, values and beliefs as well as their experiences of the whole PBL process. Empirical classroom observations included what participants were saying and doing in relation to working on actual PBL tasks and the skills and attitudes they displayed.
The researcher further wrote down how the class atmosphere was experienced, how the problems were approached and completed and described the interactions between the learners and learners and tutors. The interviews with the three lecturers were conducted separately at the research site immediately after the student interviews focusing on the quality of the problems, the quality of student-tutor interaction and their experiences of the PBL process.
An open-ended questionnaire which consisted of 7 questions targeted the 2006 students eight months after they had been introduced to the Hybrid PBL approach, to demonstrate whether learners could apply what had been learned in the programme within the university environment and the participants' general experiences in higher education.
PBL Context Problems dealt with
Problem1: The Global Warming and Power Plant Problem
Students were given a global warming problem to investigate the causes of global warming, its socio-economic implications and the precautions required when constructing a Power Plant, or possible solutions to be considered to mitigate the effects of global warming. The students were divided into groups; some focusing on the scientific aspects of the problem while others focused on the economic implications. They were to prepare and present a poster showing their group's findings.
Problem 2: The Amazing Race Problem
Given a map and clues, students were to find specific destinations and be able to work together as a group, interpret the clues and follow instructions, read the map accurately and follow the routes. They were instructed to record the time taken to find each destination and use the scale of the map to calculate the distances covered and ultimately calculate the average speed for each route taken. They were to write a letter to their lecturers describing how they experienced the race.
Problem 3: The Two Oceans Marathon Problem
The students were to analyse the data for the women athletes (Veteran Category) who participated in the 2007 Two Oceans Marathon and make recommendations to the Organising Committee of the 2008 edition of the Marathon about how the speed of each athlete over each stage can be determined or to carry out the calculations. In 2007 only data about time taken by each athlete had been collected as each athlete covered the various stages of the race (28km and 42.2km at 5km, 24km, 35km, 42km) until they reached the finishing line of the 56km race. The analyses and recommendations were to be presented in the form of a well-explained, well-illustrated five page group report.
Data analysis procedures
We used the four components and patterns of student learning identified in the ILS questionnaire as well as those obtained from our literature review for the classification of qualitative interview responses. We developed themes and counted the number of times they were indicated by students and groups in the text data. The categories on the ILS questionnaire provided a useful tool in both the insights being sought and in managing and organizing the extent of data being gathered from interviews and observations (Ely, 1991). The components on the ILS questionnaire guided both data construction and analysis, and provided an explanatory framework for the interpretation of findings (Babbie & Mouton, 2001).The results and discussion of results now follow in greater detail.
The statements given in the following section are from spontaneous comments made by students and lecturers in interviews.
Evidence of meaning-directed learning patterns
Prior to PBL exposure, qualitative results indicated a lack of deep processing strategies with all of the 35 students indicating a survival mentality to do things the easy way on entering the programme. This was reflected in the roles the students assumed as learners and the expectations they held about their lecturers.
"The task of the lecturer is thorough preparation before class, presenting work the easiest way possible, checking progress regularly and thinking about ways to improve it" (Student response 1 prior to PBL exposure).
The participants in the study expected to be mostly taught by their lecturers and to be directed in their studies both of which would leave them as dependent and passive learners:
"They (the lecturers) must present the work correctly and simply, they must be able to answer all my questions and provide me with a bit of inspiration" (Student response 2 prior to PBL exposure).
After exposure to PBL, qualitative data indicated an increase in students who were employing meta-cognitive strategies of self-regulation of learning processes and outcomes in their individual studies by being active and taking on more responsibility for their learning.
"My methods of studying is different, I'm more active now" (Student response 3, after PBL exposure).
"I take my work in my own hands now and don't wait for others to spoon feed me" (Student response 4 after PBL exposure).
After the PBL exposure, qualitative results also indicated improvement in the employment of deep processing strategies (relating and structuring) by students. They recognised, for instance, that knowledge transcends artificial disciplinary boundaries.
"PBL shows you how your subjects are related which improve understanding" (Student response5 after PBL exposure).
"We enjoy the problems, it gives us insight" (Student response 6 after problem 1).
"The lecturers wanted us to see that real-life problems have a strong correlation with the math and science we do here in SciMathUS" (Student response 7 after PBL exposure).
"PBL changed the way we think. We understand math, the calculus part and also physics; the relationship between gradient and velocity, etc." (Student response 8 after PBL exposure).
The lecturers further confirmed that the groups realized the importance of reasoning logically: "They now realise how important it is to reason logically" (Lecturer 1 after PBL exposure).
The students also showed some deep processing strategies of critical and reflective processing:
"Through constructive criticism and by evaluating whether or not we have answered the questions we determined whether we have grasped the problem" (Student response 9 after PBL exposure).
"I question things more and don't just accept things" (Student response 10 after PBL exposure).
Although the activities employed by students after PBL exposure indicated use of deep- processing learning strategies, some students still experienced conflicting beliefs regarding self-regulated learning and specifically their responsibility for constructing knowledge in the learning process.
"They (the lecturers) must tell me where I've made mistakes so that I can try again. They must encourage me sometimes when I get discouraged and negative. They must make sure that the work that I'm doing is correct" (Student response 11 after PBL exposure).
"The lecturer must support, provide necessary information and motivate" (Student response 12 after PBL exposure).
The few qualitative changes noted towards the application of more meaning-directed learning activities employed by learners included the following remarks:
"I learn differently than in the past. I plan now what I need to do" (Student response 13 after PBL exposure).
"There is a change. I realized not everything can be taken for granted like we did at school but that I have to work very hard and think well" (Student response 14 after PBL exposure).
Evidence of application-directed learning patterns
The qualitative results revealed changes in the students' application-directed learning patterns. Their cognitive processing became more concrete and realistically oriented and the students reported greater motivation to learn as the following responses indicate:
"We loved it. It took us beyond the text book and we find it prepares us for the outside world" (Student response 15 after PBL problem 1).
"I have experienced that my studies are real. It helps us to grasp the relevance of math and how science occurs in our daily lives" (Student response 16 after Problem 3).
"We enjoyed the part where we had to apply calculus to help us find the instantaneous velocity" (Student response 17 after PBL problem 3).
After exposure to PBL, students shifted their learning conceptions from mere textbook learning to applying learnt knowledge as the following responses suggest:
"PBL encouraged us to apply our knowledge instead of working out of a textbook. It creates a clear picture about textbook theory and real life problems. Math and science happens in everyday life" (Student response 18 after problem 2).
"PBL helps me to use the mathematics concepts in solving real world problems" (Student response 19 after problem 2).
"It familiarized us with problems that we actually do face and makes us apply our knowledge in everyday life" (Student response 20 after PBL problem 2).
"We have acquired information with the purpose of using it in our future and to implement it in practical situations" (Student response 21 after PBL problem 3).
The students also showed some shift in their learning orientations about vocation-directedness as the following responses suggest:
"PBL helps me feel like a professional" (Student response 22 after PBL problem 3).
"The kind of questions you get at varsity gives you an understanding of what is expected in your future career"(Student response 23 after PBL problem 3).
Reduced incidence of reproduction-directed learning patterns
The qualitative data pointed to some significant changes in the students' reproduction-directed learning patterns. After exposure to PBL, their cognitive processing activities indicated a significant decline in the use of the stepwise learning strategy of rote memorisation. Prior to PBL exposure, 20 students assumed that learning comprises rote memorisation of facts:
"I call my way of studying parroting 'papegaai leer'. I memorise everything precisely like it appears in the textbook and write it down so that I can remember it" (Student response 24 prior to PBL exposure).
After exposure to PBL, qualitative results indicated that only five out of the 35 students still focused on memorising. This was especially noted by the lecturers.
"I believe in PBL. I notice that the students think rather than memorise. Students are thinking critically about the questions and their answers are not just parroting. This has really made our students think" (Lecturer 3's comments after PBL exposure).
There were however some students, albeit fewer, who did not seem to change as the following cognitive processing responses of rehearsal and meta-cognitive self-regulation responses of external control showed.
"Most of the time I cram my work on the last minute, thinking I won't forget it but at the end of the day I normally forget everything I've studied" (Student response 25 after problem 3).
"When it's theory I read aloud and rehearse so that I can store the information in long term memory" (Student response 26 after problem 3).
"We didn't like it that there wasn't a direct way to get to the right answer. We disliked not knowing better how to go about getting answers so we asked help from the tutors'" (Student response 27 after problem 3).
The qualitative data after exposure to PBL revealed that fewer students (from 20 to only 11 students) were still applying the stepwise processing strategy of analysing and still believed in learning as mere absorption of knowledge. According to the lecturers the few students who viewed learning as the intake of knowledge by reproducing facts tended to experience PBL negatively since they felt insecure with the process:
"We did much smaller PBL problems in the class. Some of the students however did not experience this positively. They feel insecure with the PBL process. They like lectures and facts" (Lecturer 2 after PBL exposure).
The significant decline in the use of the stepwise learning strategy of rote memorisation and the fact that fewer students still believed in learning as mere absorption of knowledge was conducive to the development of meaning and application-directed learning patterns.
Reduced incidence of undirected learning patterns
Although many students had significantly shifted towards meaning-directed and application-directed learning patterns as reported above there was still occasional resort to undirected learning patterns. For example, some groups showed lack of effective meta-cognitive self-regulation as they underestimated the problem statement, showed a lack of collaboration, poor time management and struggled to process large amounts of information:
"We need to structure our working in our group better." "We did not use our time effectively." "Wefinished too early." "It is tough to prioritize all the information."
"We underestimated problem 2." (Group reports after PBL exposure)
"The past problems were fun and I learnt from them but this one left me with a lot of unanswered questions. For example what was the point of it all? I'm not sure what we were supposed to learn from it" (Student response 28 after problem 3).
Lecturers confirmed the persistence of some of these patterns and it was clear that more guidance during the facilitation process was needed.
"It was clear that the students were not aware of the credibility of the different types ofresources"" "I noticed groups going offon tangents, notfocusing on what the crux of the matter was - what was actually being asked and how can this question be answered and the answers justified"" (Lecturers 1 and 3 after PBL exposure)
The sustainability of the meaning-directed learning skills
We explored the sustainability of the meaning-directed learning skills next. Eleven of the 14 randomly selected 2006 students indicated that they were able to use some of the skills they had learnt eight months after being exposed to PBL in their tertiary studies when completing projects, assignments and practical work where research is required, whilst three did not acknowledge using specific PBL skills.
"I benefit from a few things that we did in PBL like assignments and writing essays but most of my courses are not like we get many things that we have to think out of the box or use our thinking" (Student response 29 eight months after PBL exposure).
"My classes are still very much like school where the teacher stands in front and talks and we do the listening" (Student response 30 eight months after PBL exposure).
The findings indicated that it is possible for the PBL approach adopted at SciMathUS to influence student learning patterns in a favourable direction. In particular the results show some shifts towards meaning-directed and application-directed learning patterns. For example, on the self-regulated learning (SRL) cognitive processing activities, the results show that exposure to the PBL approach did promote the use of deep-processing learning strategies, typified by processing the subject matter critically whilst making less use of surface approaches to learning such as memorising and rehearsing. Working in groups did allow for critical reflection and consensus building based on justification before findings could be taken-to-be shared (e.g. Student responses 9 and 10). In addition, the students appeared to make more use of meta-cognitive self-regulating activities such as planning, diagnosing the problem, testing their outcomes, and adjusting and reflecting on their solutions (e.g. Student responses 13 and 14 and Group reports). Student responses also showed that they were less dependent on lecturer stimulation (e.g. Student response 4).
However, not all students shifted in their cognitive processing strategies as expected (e.g. Student responses 11 and 12). There was evidence of tensions between previous experience of traditional learning and the PBL approach. For example some students demanded to know the correct answers from the lecturers (e.g. Student response 27, Lecturers 2 and 1 and 3) signifying inability to consistently take responsibility for justifying the accuracy of knowledge construction processes (unstable meta-cognitive self-regulation).
The sustainability of the meaning-directed learning activities employed by students was also questionable. Student beliefs (SDL) regarding their responsibility for constructing knowledge and their responsibility in the learning process did not always support the activities (SRL) they employed as shown by the occasional resort to reproduction-directed and undirected learning patterns (e.g. Student responses 25, 26, 27, and 28 as well as lecturers 1 and 3's comments). The fact that students are exposed to conventional approaches in higher education, often characterised by an absence of follow-up strategies to apply what has been learned, may further impede sustainability (e.g. Student response 30 eight months after PBL exposure). Peter Bouhuijs (pers. comm.), for instance, stated that the challenge to sustainability is that there is no methodology for PBL if it is only introduced in the foundation year, especially if higher education institutions use conventional approaches in their degree programmes. Bouhuijs stressed the importance of the PBL initiative being successful and being relevant when it is not just about the students surviving the foundation year, but about their succeeding in their tertiary studies.
The purpose of this study was to determine whether introducing a PBL approach within a one-year foundation programme created conditions for learners to develop self-directed and self-regulated learning skills.The findings indicated that it is possible to influence student-learning patterns in a favourable direction, if appropriate PBL context problems of interest to the learners are selected and integrated into the curriculum; if learner roles and responsibilities in the collaborative groups are clearly defined and emphasised, and if lecturers de-role from knowledge dispensers to facilitators of knowledge construction and transformation. In this regard we take note that in an educational setting Tan (2004) also found that whilst PBL was a promising approach to educational innovation, implementation deficiencies can occur resulting in a lack of direction for both students and staff. The sustainability of the meaning-directed learning activities employed by students can be hindered if there is a dis-juncture between students' beliefs regarding their conceptions of learning and the cognitive processing and self-regulation activities they apply. Exposure to conventional approaches in higher education can further impede sustainability if follow-up strategies do not encourage application of learnt skills. Nonetheless, when considering the shift towards more meaningful and application-directed learning patterns, and the reduced incidence of reproductive and undirected-learning patterns, we believe that introducing students to PBL did create conditions for learners to develop self-directed and self-regulated learning skillsand set in motion a process of growth towards lifelong learning.
Limitations of the study
The results of the study reported here are limited to the qualitative feedback. To determine the singular impact of the programme on overall academic performance of the learners, it would require a classical experimental design that would control for other factors such as the new tertiary environment that the learners are exposed to and the very fact that these learners would be repeating. Further research is required therefore to determine the throughput rate of the learners once admitted into their future studies to ascertain whether indeed the SciMathUS students are better prepared for lifelong learning than comparable students.
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Rodriguez L & Cano F 2006. The epistemological beliefs, learning approaches and study orchestrations of university students. Studies in Higher Education, 31:617-636. doi: 10.1080/03075070600923442 [ Links ]
Rossi PH, Lipsey MW & Freeman HE 2004. Evaluation: A systematic approach (7thed). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. [ Links ]
Schmidt HG 1993. Foundations of problem-based learning: some explanatory notes. Medical Education, 27(5):422-432. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2923.1993.tb00296.x [ Links ]
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Vermunt JD 2004. Inventory of learning styles (ILS). The Netherlands: Leiden University, Graduate School of Education. [ Links ]
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The importance of the prayer in Islam cannot be understated. It is the first pillar of Islam that the Prophet ﷺ mentioned after mentioning the testimony of faith, by which one becomes a Muslim. It was made obligatory upon all the prophets and for all peoples. Allah has declared its obligatory status under majestic circumstances. For example, when Allah spoke directly to Moses, He said,
|"And I have chosen you, so listen to that which is inspired to you. Verily, I am Allah! There is none worthy of worship but I, so worship Me and offer prayer perfectly for My remembrance." [Taha 13-14]
Similarly, the prayers were made obligatory upon the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ during his ascension to heaven. Furthermore, when Allah praises the believers, such as in the beginning of surah al-Muminoon, one of the first descriptions He states is their adherence to the prayers.
| Once a man asked the Prohpet ﷺ about the most virtuous deed. The Prophet ﷺ stated that the most virtuous deed is the prayer. The man asked again and again. The first three times, the Prophet ﷺ again answered, "The prayer," then on the fourth occasion he stated, "Jihad in the way of Allah." [This is form a hadith recorded by Ahmad and ibn Hibban. According to al-Albani, the hadith is hasan. Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani, Sahih al-Targheeb wa al-Tarheeb (Beirut: al-Maktab al-Islami, 1982), vol. 1, p. 150]
The importance of prayer is demonstrated in the many of the Prophets statement. For example, the Prophet ﷺ said,
| "The first matter that the slave will be brought to account for on the Day of Judgment is the prayer. If it is sound, then the rest of his deeds will be sound. And if it is bad, then the rest of his deeds will be bad." [Recorded by al-Tabarani. According to al-Albani, it is sahih. Al-Albani, Sahih al-Jami, vol.1, p. 503.
The importance of the prayers lies in the fact that no matter what actions one performs in his life, the most important aspect is ones relationship to Allah, that is, ones faith (imaan), God-consciousness (taqwa), sincerity (ikhlas) and worship of Allah (`ibaadah). This relationship with Allah is both demonstrated and put into practice, as well as improved and increased, by the prayer. Therefore, if the prayers are sound and proper, the rest of the deeds will be sound and proper; and if the prayers are not sound and proper, then the rest of the deeds will not be sound and proper, as the Prophet ﷺ himself stated.
In reality, the prayer is performed properly with true remembrance of Allah and turning to Him for forgiveness it will have a lasting effect on the person. After he finishes the prayer, his heart will be filled with the remembrance of Allah. He will be fearful as well as hopeful of Allah. After that experience, he will not want to move from that lofty position to one wherein he disobeys Allah. Allah has mentioned this aspect of the prayer when He has said,
|"Verily, the prayer keeps one from the great sins and evil deeds" (al-AnkAbut 45).
Nadwi has described this effect in the following eloquent way,
|Its aim is to generate within the subliminal self of man such spiritual power, light of faith and awareness of God as can enable him to strive successfully against all kinds of evils and temptations and remain steadfast at times of trial and adversity and protect himself against the weakness of the flesh and the mischief of immoderate appetites. [Nadwi, p. 24]
The overall affect that the properly performed prayers should have upon humans is described in other verses in the Quran:
|"Verily, man was created impatient, irritable when evil touches him and niggardly when good touches him. Except for those devoted to prayer those who remain constant in their prayers " (al-Maarij 19-23).
As for the Hereafter, Allahs forgiveness and pleasure is closely related to the prayers. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
| "Allah has obligated five prayers. Whoever excellently performs their ablutions, prays them in their proper times, completes their bows, prostrations and khushu` [Khushu` in the prayer is where the persons heart is attuned to the prayer. This feeling in the heart is then reflected on the body. The person remains still and calm. His gaze is also lowered. Even his voice is affected by this feeling in the heart. For more details on this concept (as well as the difference between it and khudhu`), see Muhammad al-Shaayi, al-Furooq al-Laughawiyyah wa Atharahaa fi Tafseer al-Quran al-Kareem (Riyadh: Maktabah al-Ubaikaan, 1993), pp. 249-254.] has a promise from Allah that He will forgive him. And whoever does not do that has no promise from Allah. He may either forgive him or punish him." [Recorded by Malik, Ahmad, Abu Dawud, al-NasaI and others. According to al-Albani, it is sahih. Al-Albani, Sahih al-Jami, vol. 1, p. 616.] ]
The prayers are a type of purification for a human being. He turns and meets with his Lord five times a day. As alluded to above, this repeated standing in front of Allah should keep the person from performing sins during the day. Furthermore, it should also be a time of remorse and repentance, such that he earnestly asks Allah for forgiveness for those sins that he committed. In addition, the prayer in itself is a good deed that wipes away some of the evil deeds that he performed. These points can be noted in the following hadith of the Prophet ﷺ:
| "If a person had a stream outside his door and he bathed in it five times a day, do you think he would have any filth left on him?" The people said, "No filth would remain on him whatsoever." The Prophet ﷺ then said, "That is like the five daily prayers: Allah wipes away the sins by them." (Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim.)
In another hadith, the Prophet ﷺ said,
| "The five daily prayers and the Friday Prayer until the Friday prayer are expiation for what is between them." (Recorded by Muslim.)

subset: commoncrawl


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Cooking can be stress buster for bachelors. More so if you don't cook so well but can lay your hands on a book with an easy but mouthwatering recipe. Well, I had Satarupa Banerjee's The Book of Indian Sweets (affiliate link) for help.
Missed my swimming lesson yesterday and so was desperate to put the evening to good use. I received the book yesterday from Kwench, and not having cooked for a while I decided to start with what a Bong outside Bengal craves for – The Oh-so-Awesome Rosogolla.
The Giant Rasgulla
Satarupa's book on Indian sweets starts off with the unputdownable (yeah Telegraph, I borrowed your subtitle, but I hope you would take it as flattery) Rasogolla. Since the book looked pretty handy, I thought of starting off sequentially. But then it would have been too Bong for comfort. The next one was Rajbhog and I chose it immediately. Satarupa calls it The Giant Rasogulla, with a little different texture. Followed instructions to the T and ended up with this:
You can search the internet for several videos, recipes and prep styles for Rajbhog so would include just the basic style (without the jazz).
What you need (Ingredients of Rajbhog)
Note: I prepared 12 giant balls (no pun intended :P) with these. So, if you want more/less, extrapolate the figures accordingly.
- 250 gm Paneer (softer the better. If you find Chhana, or Chhena, all the better)
- 60 gm Khowa (not many stores would give you this amount though)
- 1 tsp flour (maida), 1tsp semolina (suji), 1 cardamom (you just need the Elach, or Elaichi, seeds)
- 1 kg sugar (yes, you need that much Chini for the sugar syrup)
- 750 ml water (hopefully, you have one of those 1 litre mineral water bottles at your house, it would help in the measurement)
- Edible Yellow color (or, 1 gm saffron, or Kesar, if you have some extra dough. Mind you, not many stores would give you 1gm of this costly stuff, so be prepared to be set back by 150 odd rupees. Else, edible colors work just well. What do you think they give you in the Sweets shops anyways?)
- 1tsp rose water (if you already have all the other stuff at home, but not this one, don't worry too much about it)
How to make Rajbhog (preparation steps of Rajbhog)
- Ensure that the Paneer doesn't have too much water (yeah I know that sounds a little moronic), and knead the Paneer with your palm well until it becomes smooth.
- Then mix 1tsp (maida) and 1tsp semolina (suji) with the kneaded Paneer and knead again
- Make 12 smooth balls, and ensure that there isn't any crack
- Tip 1 (For Beginners): at the start you may not know the optimum size of each ball, so don't worry. Once you start making a few Golas, you would get a hang of how much Paneer to put in each Gola.
- Tip 2 (for all) : if you want the Rajbhogs to look yellow, while kneading the Paneer, mix some edible yellow color with it
Now, that we have Paneer Golas, we need to make some Khowa/Cardamom balls and put it inside the Paneer Golas. Lets get started.
- Mix Khowa and Cardamom (Elaichi) seeds and divide into 12 portions (I made 12 balls).
- Stuff one portion of the Khowa/Cardamom mix into each Paneer Gola, and roll the balls into your palm so that the Paneer covers all the Khowa
- Tip 3 (For Beginners): if you don't, while boiling the Golas in sugar syrup, the Khowa would drain out. It happened to 2 of my Golas.
Okay, now we need to prepare sugar syrup and then boil the Golas in it. Lets do it.
- In 750 ml water, put ½ kg sugar and boil it. When the sugar seems dissolved, pour another ½ kg sugar and continue with the heat. A while later (say 5-7 minutes), you have Sugar syrup with you.
- Put your Golas one by one into the heated sugar syrup and continue with the boil. You'll see that the Golas increase in size (I mean they will get puffed).
- Continue for another 7-8 minutes and you might see some crack appearing on the Rajbhog's surface. Remove them from fire.
- Add (rather sprinkle) 1tsp rose water
- You'll have let the Golas soak in sugar syrup for a few hours (say 3-4 hours) before you can have them.
Tada, your Rajbhog is ready.
Expert Eater Challenge
Try having one Rajbhog in one mouthful J. If you can, send us a photo, we'll publish it here.


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Breakfast On Pluto
First you must know that, to me, men or women in drag are magical creatures - like unicorns. I love them with a wonderment I can't explain or dare not lest I somehow diffuse the potent joy I get just from admiring their mystical powers of fashion and daring.
That said, Breakfast unfolded for me like a rose in the gutter. At first a quaint story of a misfit orphan in an unflinching Irish landscape, it quickly becomes a quixotic journey of a boy/girl in search of love. And the best part is that our hero/heroine, who has always known who he/she is, just becomes more and more himself/herself no matter the hardship or heartache.Continue Reading


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in Vital Posts and filtered by Small Churches, Communications, Advocacy + 5 other(s)
By ECFVP Editorial Team
Below you will find resources we've gathered from across the Church, designed to inform and support us through the current COVID-19 pandemic.
By Richelle Thompson
I wanted, really wanted, to be a gracious winner, but maybe there's greater opportunity for change if I can learn how to be a gracious loser.
By Miguel Escobar
More and more churchgoers want to make their financial contributions online. Does your church website make it easy for them to do so? Please keep in mind that this is an older resource and newer products and services may now be available.


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Klim3 Pty Ltd
Take Control Of Your Digital Future
To support small businesses to take advantage of all the tools and services available to them and take their business to market in this new digital-savvy world.
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Elenco delle migliori 9 aziende per Piccole imprese per il servizio di Strategia di contenuti Agenzie in ambito Servizi B2B in: Queensland. Scopri le agenzie di marketing più competenti della nostra community a cui affidare il tuo marketing.
Take Control Of Your Digital Future
To support small businesses to take advantage of all the tools and services available to them and take their business to market in this new digital-savvy world.
Intelligent marketing solutions
A flawless, one stop marketing solution for your business from one of Australia's largest Online Marketing Agencies. Helping businesses for nearly 15 years!
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Brisbane SEO & Digital Marketing Agency
Bambrick is a direct response, digital marketing agency. We specialise in digital media including Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Google Ads (PPC), Social Media Advertising, website design & development, Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO)
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Get The Right Heads in the Room
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We build websites that work
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Never waste a marketing dollar again.
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Specialist SEO Agency Sydney
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Digital Success Starts Here
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Lead Your Digital Transformation Journey
We deliver end to end IT Services including Web Design & Development, E-commerce, Digital Transformation, SEO & Digital Marketing, ADA Web Design, Mobile App, CRM, ERP, Custom Analytics, Custom Software Development & Application
The Smarter Way
A full-service agency based in Melbourne, Smith Brothers Media® has extensive expertise within the key areas of Marketing, Creative and Tech with over 10 years in the industry.
Hyper-Charge Your Digital Assets
For quarter a century, OmniHyper® has been providing electrifying, forward-thinking, value for money, hyper-innovative digital products and custom services for medium-sized business across Australia, New Zealand and around the world. OmniHyper is a
We help your business increase your revenue
Web design for small to medium businesses and search engine optimisation are the major services Abundance Web Designs offers. To help our clients grow their businesses, we create visually appealing websites that attract visitors and encourage them
We create digital assets that drive business
AX Digital is a full-service creative digital agency enabling your brand to engage with your audience. AX Digital is here to help you through the process of building a strong digital presence that resonates with your audience.
Marketing for purpose-driven brands
Young Folks is an independent agency on mission to make a positive difference by amplifying the growth and impact of purpose-driven brands. We're a certified B Corp and are certified carbon neutral by Climate Active.
Calibre9 SEO Agency Melbourne
At Calibre9, we are a specialist agency, focused purely on SEO to deliver high performing campaigns for businesses online.
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A full-service content marketing agency with a foolproof formula: killer marketing data + in-house creative geniuses = high quality content every time. We make impactful content marketing simple.
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We have provided our expertise throughout the years to thousands of businesses around the world. We provide efficient and highly effective SEO & SEM services demonstrating effective strategies, methodologies, and techniques that provide a
Unleash Your Online Potential with BSharp Tech
Boost your online presence! Our specialised team takes care of both website & SEO needs, optimising it for higher rankings. With expertise in WordPress and Shopify, we create tailored solutions for your business success. Elevate your website today!
Award Winning Digital Marketing Agency - Est.2010
Since 2010, we've been helping businesses reach their full potential through the power of digital marketing. We know you have a great product or service. But in today's complex, fragmented digital world, it takes more than that to succeed. You need
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We are a performance-focused digital agency, committed to identifying, executing, and delivering on marketing that drives real growth. Megaphone is committed to making each and every strategy for our clients awesome.
Digital Agency For Growing Businesses and Brands.
Sydney Digital Marketing Agency helps businesses to increase leads, sales and profits, using smart effective digital and online marketing strategies. We also use Facebook, Google Ads and SEO to provide outstanding award winning results. 🌟Google
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Unlock fresh opportunities and elevate your online presence with Eurisko – your digital success partner. Bespoke, ROI-fueled digital marketing campaigns tailored exclusively to your distinct goals.
Fortune favours the brave.
Affordable SEO in Melbourne, Australia. Brave Agency specialises in organic SEO for ethical companies and sustainable small businesses.
Dedicated SEO Specialists, no lock-in contracts.
StudioHawk is a boutique SEO agency that focuses on one thing, getting you found online through organic search. We don't do paid ads, we don't do social, we purely focus on being the best at one thing, SEO, which is what separates us from the rest.
Have you been burned by digital marketing agencies before? Have you spent lots of money on ad campaigns that didn't get any results? You're not alone! It's a real problem in our industry. And it's one I'm committed to changing. As a freelance Google
Full-service Digital Agency covering Paid Search, SEO, Social, Web Design/Development, Content Marketing & Marketing Automation. We focus on Outcomes, not just clicks. Google Premier Partner and Hubspot Partner.
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Copilot Crew is a team of growth marketing, sales, analytics and conversion optimisation experts with decades of digital and direct marketing experience. Featured in Forbes, CNN Asia, Entrepreneur and SEMrush, our founders have generated
Free $4000 Multi-Channel Audit & Strategy
Unlock explosive revenue growth with an honest, evidence-based digital marketing agency. For us, digital marketing is more than just the tech. It's how we think, what we do, and the way we relate to your busine
Delivering Tangible Business Outcomes Since 1999.
Founded in 1999, Redback is one of Newcastle's longest-running digital agencies, specialising in website design and development, content creation and digital marketing services. From small-medium companies, to large institutions, government/councils
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View Pastor Andy's message (YouTube) for May 31, 2020
We also need to remember to continue honoring God with our tithes and offerings. There is a drop box in the annex entrance of the church. Online giving is available here:
Second Baptist giving through PayPal
You can also choose to listen to the message:


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From my home to yours, I wish you the most merriest of Christmases and a very Happy and Healthy New Year!
Just a quick little note, have you guys seen the Artisto app? My friend, Donna discovered it and I've been a little obsessed lately with it. Take a peek at what it did to some of my photos.
And I'm in love with this one of my two cats.
There are different filters so you can different effects and colours. So fun and quite addictive! Enjoy your holidays!


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Elsie Doncaster
Alfred Drury, R.A. (1856-1944)
Bronze, dark brown patination
Dark green marble base
12 inches (31 cm.); with base 18 inches (47 cm.)
Robert Bowman, London
"The subject of this work is the daughter of the Doncasters who were friends with Drury. He used each of the daughters as the inspiration for one of his works. Clarrie was the model for the scuptures of Morning and Evening in the city square Leeds, Gracie was the model for the bust known as The Age of Innocence, but for this, his most charming work, he gave no allegorical title, just a simple portrait title" (Bowman, 22).
Robert Bowman and the Fine Art Society, London, have most generously given their permission to use information, images, and text from Sir Alfred Gilbert and the New Sculpture in the Victorian Web. Copyright on text and images from their catalogues remains, of course, with Robert Bowman and the Fine Art Society. [GPL]


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A History of Banking Where You're Known
with a Future of Moving you Forward
Please read these terms, conditions, and disclaimers carefully. By accessing this web site, you agree to be bound by all of these terms and conditions.
Although The State Bank Group has tried to provide accurate and timely information, the content of this site may not be accurate, complete or current and may include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. From time to time changes may be made to the content of this site without notice. The State Bank Group may change the products, services, and any other information described on this site at any time. The information published on this site is provided as a convenience to visitors and is for informational purposes only. You should verify all information before relying on it and decisions based on information contained in our site are your sole responsibility. If you need specific details about any information contained in our site, you should contact The State Bank Group as indicated on the Contact page of our website.
The State Bank Group controls and maintains this site from the United States of America and makes no representation that materials are appropriate or available for use in other locations. If you use this site from other locations, you are responsible for compliance with applicable local laws.
All of the information on this web site, including all images, is copyrighted material of The State Bank Group, except as otherwise indicated. You may not copy, download, republish, distribute or reproduce any of the information contained on this web site in any form without the prior consent of The State Bank Group unless otherwise indicated.
Links to this web site are not permitted without the prior consent of The State Bank Group.
The products and services referred to on this web site are offered by or through The State Bank Group, subsidiary or affiliate entities. The products and services and the applicable terms and conditions may change at any time. There may be eligibility requirements for these products and services and they may not be available in all geographic areas.
This site may contain links to other sites on the Internet. These links are provided for your convenience. Links to another site do not constitute The State Bank Group's approval or endorsement of that site or its products or advertisements.
The State Bank Group makes no warranties or representations as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained on this web site. This information and the products and services are provided "as is" "as available" without any warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.
Neither The State Bank Group nor any of its subsidiary or affiliate entities, agents, employees, or subcontractors shall be liable for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, consequential, punitive, or exemplary damages, including lost profits (even if we are advised of the possibility) arising in any way from the information contained in this web site or any information transmitted via this web site. The State Bank Group is not liable for any damages or losses that may be caused to any equipment and other software due to any viruses, defects or malfunctions in connection with access or use of this web site.
By transmitting information through this web site, you accept the risk that the information you transmit to us and any information that we transmit to you, may be intercepted by third parties.
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Please read our Privacy Notice.


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235 North Northwest Highway
Palatine, IL 60067
Northfield Dental Office
1721 Orchard Ln
Northfield, IL, 60093-3432
Northview Dental Assoc Ltd
1779 Willow Rd
Northfield, IL, 60093-3437
Amy Y Wong & Assoc
310 Happ Rd # 208
Northfield, IL, 60093-3457
Wong, Amy Y D.D.S.
310 Happ Rd # 208
Northfield, IL, 60093-3457
You'd be amazed (and probably delighted) by the options modern dentistry makes available for strong, natural-looking tooth restoration. Read on for more information about the exciting new cosmetic dental materials we have available now.
Traditionally, gold has been the "gold standard" of materials, and for good reason. Gold is highly biocompatible and is very long-wearing. A gold tooth, however, is not natural looking.
Today's a porcelain crowns or veneers don't mean choosing between strength and a lifelike appearance. You can opt for both. New all-porcelain crowns and veneers are available that look like natural teeth. They're durable enough to be used even for molars. This super-strong new generation porcelain is so resilient and tough it's being used in the manufacture of some tennis rackets!
Silver fillings (the kind that turn black) are a thing of the past. Instead, a composite resin filling can be used. And it's just as strong and durable as silver, and more closely reflects the color of the original tooth surface.
If you've had some cosmetic dentistry work done in the past, you'll be happy to know you're no longer locked into the choices of even five years ago. Modern dentistry is evolving rapidly, and fresher, more natural smiles, are the result.
Make sure your cosmetic dentist's office is interested in what's new for their patients. Ask them about other exciting new options (dental implants, teeth bleaching, onlays, inlays, etc.) they can offer you for your smile.
Have you ever smiled in the mirror and wondered what if?
What if your teeth were less prominent, or just a bit more even, or maybe that missing tooth was back in place?
Below you'll find the "What's In A Smile" quiz. It helps you play "What if" and then focus on what the mirror tells you.
Cosmetic dentistry isn't "just for movie stars" or "just for women." Typically it's very conservative treatment that returns huge dividends in personal self-confidence.
Today there are new tooth restoration materials and cosmetic dental care techniques that can put a beautiful smile within everyone's reach. For example, porcelain onlays and inlays can return structural integrity to damaged teeth, while leaving them looking as natural as the ones you were born with.
For teeth that are intact but seem to lack youthful sparkle, there are a variety of procedures that are simple, safe, and effective. You may want to inquire about teeth bleaching treatments, dental implants, or dental veneers that enhance your tooth enamel. Even a hygiene appointment can return light and color to your smile.
Many patients, whose appearance and self-esteem have been boosted enormously, have received only the simplest of cosmetic dentistry enhancements. Their only regret was that they'd waited so long to have them done.
Your cosmetic dentist will be happy to answer your questions. Please call to schedule a consultation.


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NumisWiki For the New Collector
Ancient Greek Coin Collecting 101
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Wholesale and Collector Bulk Lots of Byzantine Coins
Arrangement of the coins for the photographs is random - we do not pick the best coins and put them on top. Unless otherwise noted, the coins offered are the actual coins in the photograph, coins are unattributed, with no tags or flips, and no additional information about the coins is available. Bulk lots are offered with only a small mark-up over our cost and many are lots we have purchases for our retail store. When we have time, we withdraw an unsold bulk lot, photograph the coins, and add them to the store individually at retail. LARGE LOTS ARE AS IS, NO RETURN.


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Junior guard Isaac Wilson scored 24 points and added 6 assists and senior center Terry Muse added 17 points and ripped down 24 rebounds to spark Alice Lloyd College to a 94-62 victory over Crown College Saturday night.
The Eagles came out of the gates putting points on the board as they raced to an early lead. By intermission, they led 49-35.
In the second half, ALC took away any hopes of a Crown comeback as they steadily added to their output. They never were threatened as they kept the hosts at bay.
In addition to the big two, the Eagles (4-4) also received double digit scoring from freshman Tyler Rogers and junior Blaine Green, each with 10.
In addition, Rogers added 8 rebounds. Freshman guard Trevor Combs chipped in with 6 assists.
Guard Nate Humphrey led Crown (3-3) with 26 points.
The Eagles will next travel to Pittsburgh, PA to take on Point Park University on November 21st.


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The Judicial Branch advises filers to refrain from using hyperlinks unless required to do so by the court.
The Judicial Branch advises filers to refrain from using hyperlinks in the documents they submit for security reasons and the fact that one of the problems with hyperlinks is that the web page you are linking to can be deleted or modified in the future.
For cases where hyperlinks are required by the court:
When a document with active links is displayed, clicking a link will normally take the user to the referenced document or site. Two notable exceptions are described below.
Masked Hyperlinks
Hyperlinks are commonly "masked," meaning that the full address of the referenced file is not written out; for example, clicking the word Brief may open a brief stored in the system or elsewhere. An "unmasked" hyperlink has the full address visible to the user, such as "https://www.jud.ct.gov/external/super/E-Services/efile/PDFA-Sample-Brief-Page.htm".
Masked hyperlinks may or may not work in a PDF/A document, depending on how the PDF/A document was created. Currently, masked hyperlinks are preserved in PDF/A documents produced by the "Save As" method in Microsoft Word 2007 and 2010; the "PDFMaker" method in Microsoft Word 2007; and OpenOffice 2.4 ("PDF Export"). With other production methods, such as WordPerfect, the PDF/A document includes underlined words that appear to be links, but clicking them has no effect. To avoid this potential problem, filers may want to use unmasked links in their documents. An unmasked link would also be helpful to anyone viewing a printed copy of the document who needs to see a referenced item.
Adobe's PDF/A View Mode
If version 9 of Adobe Reader or Acrobat is being used for display, links will not work in "PDF/A View Mode" (the default mode). A user who wants to use the hyperlinks must disable "PDF/A View Mode", as shown below. According to Adobe, disabling PDF/A View Mode will not be necessary when using Version 10 (and possibly with a patch to Version 9) of the Adobe products; hyperlinks will be active in PDF/A View Mode.
From the Edit menu, select "Preferences" and click the "Documents" category; select "Never" in the PDF/A View Mode drop-down list:


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Target CFO to testify before Senate on big data breach
Target Corp's chief financial officer will testify before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on February 4 about a massive data breach in what is likely to be the first time the retailer publicly answers questions about the unprecedented attack.
The committee is chaired by Senator Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat and author of one of the few data security bills under consideration.
John Mulligan, who is executive vice president as well as chief financial officer, oversees Target's financial portfolio, including finance and retail services, company spokeswoman Molly Snyder said in an email confirming his appearance before the panel.
Representatives of the Federal Trade Commission, the Secret Service and the Department of Justice are also slated to testify at the hearing, according to the committee's schedule.
Last week, Democratic lawmakers called for a congressional inquiry into the hacking of credit and debit card data of tens of millions of customers of the No. 3 U.S. retailer during the holiday shopping season.
Target, based in Minneapolis, has said a breach of its networks resulted in the theft of about 40 million credit and debit card records and 70 million other records with customer information.
Privately owned luxury retail chain Neiman Marcus has said it too was victim of a cyber attack, and sources have told Reuters other retail chains have been hacked.
In a post on Neiman's website dated January 22, Chief Executive Officer Karen Katz said data tied to about 1.1 million customer payment cards could have been exposed as part of the breach from July 16 to October 30.
So far, about 2,400 payment cards used at Neiman Marcus' various chains have been used fraudulently, Katz said, citing notification from credit card networks Visa Inc, MasterCard Inc and Discover Financial Services.
(Reporting by Alina Selyukh, Dhanya Skariachan and Phil Wahba; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)


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Wed 22 Jul 2009
Building A Simple Scala List From Scratch
Posted by Matt under General, Scala
No Comments
In Java you don't see a lot of linked lists, and if you do it's almost always java.util.LinkedList. People never write their own lists. They don't really need to, I suppose. The one from java.util is fine. Plenty of people are leading fulfilling software careers never having implemented their own linked list. But it's kind of a shame. Knowing how your data structures work makes you a better programmer.
It's even rarer for a person to implement his own linked list in Scala. Scala's scala.List is one of the most used classes in the language, so it's packed with functionality. It's abstract, covariant, it has helper objects such as List and Nil and the little-known '::' class, it inherits from Product, Seq, Collection, Iterable, and PartialFunction. The machinery of List pulls in Array, ListBuffer, and more. It can be hard to take it all in.
So let's build our own linked list. We'll start out with something very basic and un-Scala-like. Then we'll improve it gradually until we have something a little closer to scala.List. I encourage you to fire up your Scala interpreter and follow along.
Back to Basics
First, a short review of linked lists. A linked list is a chain of nodes, each referring to exactly one other node until you get to the end of the chain. You refer to the list by its first item and you follow the chain of references to reach the other nodes.
What are the requirements for our first try? Our node should be able to hold a piece of data, and refer to the next node. It should also be able to report its length, and provide a toString method so we can visualize the list. Here we go.
class MyList(val head: Any, val tail: MyList) { def isEmpty = (head == null && tail == null) def length: Int = if (isEmpty) 0 else 1 + tail.length override def toString: String = if (isEmpty) "" else head + " " + tail }
The value 'head' holds the data for the node, 'tail' refers to the next element in the chain. The 'isEmpty' method is true if the head and tail are both null. The length and toString methods are both defined using a similar pattern: if (isEmpty) [base result] else [data for current node + result of same method on tail].
Here's what it looks like when we use this class:
scala> var list = new MyList(null, null) list: MyList = scala> list.length res0: Int = 0 scala> list.isEmpty res1: Boolean = true scala> list = new MyList("ABC", list) list: MyList = ABC scala> list.length res3: Int = 1 scala> list.isEmpty res4: Boolean = false scala> list = new MyList("XYZ", list) list: MyList = XYZ ABC scala> list = new MyList("123", list) list: MyList = 123 XYZ ABC scala> list.tail.head res7: Any = XYZ
Not bad. It gets the job done. But it has some problems. First is the use of 'null'. Use of null references is sloppy and increases the odds of a null pointer exception so, ideally, we don't want to see that. It has other problems, too. It's too verbose. It's not typesafe. But for now let's concentrate on getting rid of the nulls.
No Nulls Is Good Nulls
How can we do it? We're using the null as a special value, a marker to tell us when a node is at the end of a list. So we'll just use something else as that marker instead. What can we use? We'll create a special object for the empty list. It will be recognized as empty just based on its identity, not on null values. So let's try it:
class MyList(val head: Any, val tail: MyList) { def isEmpty = false def length: Int = if (isEmpty) 0 else 1 + tail.length override def toString: String = if (isEmpty) "" else head + " " + tail } object MyListNil extends MyList("arbitrary value", null) { override def isEmpty = true }
That's better. (The observant reader will note the similarity of MyListNil to scala.List's Nil object.) We got rid of the nulls in the isEmpty method, but we still have to put something in the head and tail parameters of the MyList constructor. We put an arbitrary non-null value in head, but what do we put for tail? Either null or create a new MyList. And how can that MyList be instantiated? It also needs a tail. Vicious circle. So this solution leaves us still stuck with a null.
Earlier, the null was there to mark a special node. We factored out that usage. Now it's there to allow us to create the MyListNil. How can we factor that out? MyListNil is required to call its parent's constructor. What if had no parent? Then it wouldn't be a MyList anymore. What if it had an abstract parent? Now you're talking. Let's see what that would look like.
abstract class MyList { def head: Any def tail: MyList def isEmpty: Boolean def length: Int } class MyListImpl(val head: Any, val tail: MyList) extends MyList { def isEmpty = false def length: Int = 1 + tail.length override def toString: String = head + " " + tail } object MyListNil extends MyList { def head: Any = throw new Exception("head of empty list") def tail: MyList = throw new Exception("tail of empty list") def isEmpty = true def length = 0 override def toString = "" }
It's a little more code, but much neater. There are no nulls anywhere. Here's how it looks when we use this new MyList:
scala> var list: MyList = MyListNil list: MyList = scala> list = new MyListImpl("ABC", list) list: MyList = ABC scala> list = new MyListImpl("XYZ", list) list: MyList = XYZ ABC scala> list = new MyListImpl("123", list) list: MyList = 123 XYZ ABC scala> list.length res3: Int = 3 scala> list.tail.head res4: Any = XYZ scala> list.tail.tail.tail.head java.lang.Exception: head of empty list at ...
Pretty neat. The equivalent of MyListImpl in the Scala's real List implementation is a class called '::', which has that funny name, by the way, because it looks nice in pattern matching code. Sometimes '::' is referred to as cons. With nulls finally eliminated, we can concentrate on other issues.
Brevity Is The Heart Of List
The thing that I notice at this point is that a lot of typing (on the keyboard) is required to use this list. We have to type out "list = new MyListImpl(…, list)" every time we add an item. We can improve this with a new method.
abstract class MyList { [...] def add(item: Any): MyList = new MyListImpl(item, this) }
Now we have classes referring to each other. MyList creates new MyListImpls, and MyListImpl extends MyList. So you'll need to put these classes in a .scala file and compile them instead of just typing them into the Scala interpreter. But, wow! Look how much easier it is to use MyList now:
scala> var list = MyListNil add("ABC") add("XYZ") add("123") list: MyList = 123 XYZ ABC scala> list.length res1: Int = 3
So much easier! One thing I notice, though, is that the order of items in the code is different from the order produced by toString. We can change our 'add' method so that is right-associative instead of left-associative by using a method name that ends in ':' (colon). We'll use '::' as the method name since that's what scala.List uses.
abstract class MyList { [...] def ::(item: Any): MyList = new MyListImpl(item, this) } scala> var list = "ABC" :: "XYZ" :: "123" :: MyListNil list: MyList = ABC XYZ 123
Now we're really getting somewhere. This is starting to look more like scala.List. One other thing that the standard list implementation gives you is a shortcut for initializing lists. It looks like "List(1, 2, 3, 4)". Notice there's no 'new' keyword. This is done using the scala.List helper object and its 'apply' method. Below is our own MyList helper object.
object MyList { def apply(items: Any*): MyList = { var list: MyList = MyListNil for (idx <- 0 until items.length reverse) list = items(idx) :: list list } } scala> var list = MyList("ABC", "XYZ", "123") list: MyList = ABC XYZ 123 scala> list = "Cool" :: list list: MyList = Cool ABC XYZ 123
Better Type-Safe Than Sorry
Better. Our code looks much neater now when we use MyList. I'll introduce just one more improvement to MyList. It still has a rather glaring problem. It provides no type information. It keeps all of its data using a reference to Any. If you don't see why this is a problem, let's see what happens when we want to get the length of some items in a MyList:
scala> var list = MyList("ABC", 12345, "WXYZ") list: MyList = ABC 12345 WXYZ scala> list.head.length <console>:6: error: value length is not a member of Any list.head.length ^ scala> list.head.asInstanceOf[String].length res10: Int = 3 scala> list.tail.head.asInstanceOf[String].length java.lang.ClassCastException: java.lang.Integer cannot be cast to java.lang.String at .<init>(<console>:6)
Ouch! First, when we try to call method 'length' on list.head Scala complains that list.head is a reference to Any. Any doesn't have a length method. This isn't a dynamically typed language like, say, Ruby. An object has to have the right type before we can start calling methods. What to do? You could implement a MyStringList where the head has type String. But then you'll need a MyIntList, MyDoubleList, etc. What we need is a way to specify the type of data in the list when we create the MyList instance. What we need is a type parameter.
Here's the complete MyList code using a type parameter, and a little demonstration code:
abstract class MyList[A] { def head: A def tail: MyList[A] def isEmpty: Boolean def length: Int def ::(item: A): MyList[A] = new MyListImpl[A](item, this) } class MyListImpl[A](val head: A, val tail: MyList[A]) extends MyList[A] { def isEmpty = false def length: Int = 1 + tail.length override def toString: String = head + " " + tail } object MyListNil extends MyList[Nothing] { def head: Nothing = throw new Exception("head of empty list") def tail: MyList[Nothing] = throw new Exception("tail of empty list") def isEmpty = true def length = 0 override def toString = "" } object MyList { def apply[A](items: A*): MyList[A] = { var list: MyList[A] = MyListNil.asInstanceOf[MyList[A]] for (idx <- 0 until items.length reverse) list = items(idx) :: list list } } scala> var list = MyList("ABC", "WXYZ", "123") list: MyList[java.lang.String] = ABC WXYZ 123 scala> list.head.length res0: Int = 3 scala> 3.14159 :: list <console>:6: error: type mismatch; found : Double required: java.lang.String 3.14159 :: list ^ scala> var list = MyList("ABC", 123, 3.14159) list: MyList[Any] = ABC 123 3.14159
Look at line 32. The "MyList(…)" returns a MyList[String]. Scala figures out from the parameters what type to use. In line 35, you can see how much easier it is to use the list contents when you know the type at compile time.
If you try to mix types, as in line 45, Scala determines the nearest common ancestor of the types (Any, in this case) and uses that. However, if the type parameter is already determined, as in line 38, it won't change when you try to add data of a different type. To make line 38 work, we can make a small change to the '::' method:
abstract class MyList[A] { [...] def ::[B >: A](item: B): MyList[B] = new MyListImpl(item, this.asInstanceOf[MyList[B]]) } scala> var list = MyList("ABC", "XYZ") list: MyList[java.lang.String] = ABC XYZ scala> 3.14159 :: list res0: MyList[Any] = 3.14159 ABC XYZ
This says that '::' takes a parameter of type B, which is either A or a superclass of A, and returns a MyList[B]. So if you have a MyList[String] and you call '::' on it with a Double parameter, Scala figures out that although Double is not a superclass of String, String and Double are both descendants of Any, and it returns a MyList[Any].
That's a good stopping point for now. Obviously you can take the MyList class a lot further and add a lot more methods, but we've created some code that approximates the basics provided by scala.List. In fact, you could take several of the scala.List methods (foldLeft, for example) and basically drop them right into MyList and they'd work fine.


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Tuesday, October 07, 2008
In Day 2 of links week, we'd like to discuss the importance of link architecture and answer more advanced questions on the topic. Link architecture—the method of internal linking on your site—is a crucial step in site design if you want your site indexed by search engines. It plays a critical role in Googlebot's ability to find your site's pages and ensures that your visitors can navigate and enjoy your site.
Keep important pages within several clicks from the home page
Although you may believe that users prefer a search box on your site rather than category navigation, it's uncommon for search engine crawlers to type into search boxes or navigate via pulldown menus. So make sure your important pages are clickable from the home page and for easy for Googlebot to find throughout your site. It's best to create a link architecture that's intuitive for users and crawlable for search engines. Here are more ideas to get started:
Intuitive navigation for users
Create common user scenarios, get "in character," then try working through your site. For example, if your site is about basketball, imagine being a visitor (in this case a "baller" :) trying to learn the best dribbling technique.
- Starting at the home page, if the user doesn't use the search box on your site or a pulldown menu, can they easily find the desired information (ball handling like a superstar) from the navigation links?
- Let's say a user found your site through an external link, but they didn't land on the home page. Starting from any (sub-/child) page on your site, make sure they can easily find their way to the home page and/or other relevant sections. In other words, make sure users aren't trapped or stuck. Was the "best dribbling technique" easy for your imaginary user to find? Often breadcrumbs such as "Home > Techniques > Dribbling" help users to understand where they are.
Crawlable links for search engines
Text links are easily discovered by search engines and are often the safest bet if your priority
is having your content crawled. While you're welcome to try the latest technologies,
keep-in-mind that when text-based links are available and easily navigable for users, chances
are that search engines can crawl your site as well.
This text link is easy for search engines to find.
- Sitemap submission is also helpful for major search engines, though it shouldn't be a substitute for crawlable link architecture. If your site utilizes newer techniques, such as AJAX, see "Verify that Googlebot finds your internal links" below.
Use descriptive anchor text
Writing descriptive anchor text, the clickable words in a link, is a useful signal to help search engines and users alike to better understand your content. The more Google knows about your site—through your content, page titles, anchor text, etc.—the more relevant results we can return for users (and your potential search visitors). For example, if you run a basketball site and you have videos to accompany the textual content, a not-very-optimal way of linking would be:
To see all our basketball videos, click here for the entire listing.
However, instead of the generic "click here," you could rewrite the anchor text more descriptively as:
You can browse all of our basketball videos.
Verify that Googlebot finds your internal links
For verified site owners, Webmaster Tools has the feature "Links > Pages with internal links that's great for verifying that Googlebot finds most of the links you'd expect. This is especially useful if your site uses navigation involving JavaScript (which Googlebot doesn't always execute)—you'll want to make sure that Googlebot is finding other internal links as expected.
Here's an abridged snapshot of our internal links to the introductory post for "
404 week at Webmaster Central".
Our internal links are discovered as we had hoped.
You can ask more internal linking questions
Here are some to get you started...
Q: What about using
for maximizing PageRank flow in my internal link architecture (such as
PageRank sculpting, or
PageRank siloing)?
A: It's not something we, as webmasters who also work at Google, would really spend time or energy on. In other words, if your site already has strong link architecture, it's far more productive to work on keeping users happy with fresh and compelling content rather than to worry about PageRank sculpting.
Matt Cutts answered more questions about "appropriate uses of
nofollow" in our
webmaster discussion group.
Q: Let's say my website is about my favorite hobbies: biking and camping. Should I keep my
internal linking architecture "themed" and not cross-link between the two?
A: We haven't found a case where a webmaster would benefit by intentionally "theming" their link architecture for search engines. And, keep-in-mind, if a visitor to one part of your site can't easily reach other parts of your site, that may be a problem for search engines as well.
Perhaps it's cliche, but at the end of the day, and at the end of this post, :) it's best to create solid link architecture (


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Contact Lenses
Envision Eyecare in Missoula offers many options for contact lenses.
There are a number of reasons why you might prefer contact lenses to standard eyewear: a glasses-free look, hassle-free vision correction, wearing non-prescription sunwear and goggles, or the convenience of not having to worry about misplacing your glasses. If you have a high prescription or astigmatism, contact lenses may provide more enhanced vision correction than glasses. Today, you can even replace your bifocal glasses with bifocal contact lenses.
Your eye care provider can recommend the best contact lenses for you based on a complete eye examination and a review of your visual needs both at work and play. Since most people can wear more than one type of lens, it's important to know what the choices are and the advantages and disadvantages to each.
Soft Lenses
These lenses are comfortable to wear and must be replaced monthly, weekly or daily depending on the type you choose. Soft lenses are often recommended for sports because they fit closer to the eye and are more difficult to dislodge. They can provide correction for most prescriptions including astigmatism. Today, with the introduction of newer materials like silicone hydrogels, which allow more oxygen to the eye, patients find it easier than ever to wear soft lenses comfortably.
Gas-Permeable (GP) Lenses
Made of moderately flexible plastics, GP lenses offer sharp vision and correct most vision problems. They are more durable than soft contact lenses and can be easier to handle and care for but require a longer adaptation period and consistent wear to maintain adaptation.
Scleral Lenses
A scleral contact lens is a large contact lens that rests on the white part of your eye (called the sclera) and creates a tear-filled vault over the cornea. This specialized contact lens can treat a variety of cornea disorders allowing for better vision than glasses and other types of contacts.
Multifocal Lenses
In both soft and GP designs, multifocal lenses offer patients both distance and near vision correction just like a pair of bifocal glasses.
Color Contact Lenses
Enhance your eye color or even change it completely. Colored contact lenses are fun and come in a variety of colors for both light and dark eyes.
Silicone Hydrogels
Silicone hydrogels are soft contact lenses that have high oxygen permeability and are comparable to GP lenses.
Regardless of the type of contact lenses you wear, an annual eye exam is recommended to ensure the continued good health of your eyes. Schedule an appointment for an assessment and advice at Envision Eyecare in Missoula, and we will be in touch with you shortly.


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Tags Toxic wind tunnel
Tag: toxic wind tunnel
Treasure Island Subsite 31: The Chernobyl trees at Mordor
Art student Maria Johnson, searching for Treasure Island friends, wandered in "cordoned off areas" to find bus stops. She "saw many buildings with asbestos hazards laden on them, graffiti made with spray paint and shattered, old windows. It looked very desolate. I am just shocked that we're allowed to access this 'normal' location even though the island is basically contaminated beyond repair."