Currently, the research community lacks the capacity to provide accurate, up-to-date information about conditions and trends in rural areas. Bringing together some of the best known rural development researchers, this volume begins to build an information base that can serve as a foundation for rural development policy. It deals with four components of development--education, entrepreneurship, physical infrastructure, and social infrastructure. The opening chapters address two aspects of each component--the use of the component to achieve rural development and measuring the impact of its use. The volume then applies specific analytic methods of measuring impact to each component.

The opening chapters address two aspects of each component--the concept of using that component to achieve rural development and the concept of measuring its impact. The volume then examines analytic methods of measuring impact. Following an overview of analytic methods, chapters apply a different analytic technique to each of the components. The techniques considered include econometric models, computable general equilibrium models, input-output analysis, and the case-study method.

Laboratory work is an essential part of undergraduate chemistry courses. The laboratory provides a setting for training not just in practical hand and instrument skills, but also for other skills such as planning, recording, interpreting and working in teams. However, students often learn little from their time in the laboratory and find it hard to make connections with lectures. Over half of third-level chemical students have no intention of becoming practising chemists anyway. Teaching staff may also feel pressured in relation to manpower, materials, time and safety. Carrying out exercises before and after laboratory sessions can maximise the benefit of practical work for higher education students. This books surveys existing materials for pre-laboratory and post-laboratory exercises in the chemical sciences. Twenty examples are given, and guidance is provided for constructing similar exercises.

This textbook brings together findings from global research on teaching and learning, with an emphasis on secondary and higher education. The book is unique in that the content is selected in an original way and its presentation reflects the most recent research evidence related to understanding. The book covers and presents themes that are based tightly on worldwide research evidence, scrupulously avoiding opinion or any dependence on the personal experience of the authors. The book starts by reflecting on educational research itself. The four chapters that follow relate the story of the research that shows how all humans learn and the variations within that framework. These chapters offer a tight framework that underpins much of the rest of the text. The next four chapters look at the way school curricula are organised and how the performance of learners can be assessed. They summarise the research evidence related to thinking skills and consider the importance of practical teaching. This is followed by two chapters that draw from the extensive social psychology research on attitude development as it applies in education, and then by two chapters that summarise the research related to major issues of controversy: the performativity agenda and the issue of quality. One chapter looks at the place of statistics in education. The next two chapters look at the evidence that can support or undermine many typical education beliefs, or myths and mirages. Finally, the last chapter brings it all together and looks into the future, pointing to some areas where future research is likely to be helpful, based on current knowledge.

A compilation of funny family stories from one family - unbelievable that these events all happened to one group of six people

Henry Wright, a milk-loathing dairy promoter turned environmentalist, is naive, unsure of himself, sometimes quirky. Now he is caught in the political fight of his life-to get a climate change bill passed by a Congress riddled with the scheming pals of polluters. But this test of his political skills is no match for his fight to escape his own seemingly inevitable death. The Hero of Gucci Gulch is set in the halls of Congress, where anti-environmental skullduggery mixes with mayhem to create exciting twists and turns sure to entice any fan of mysteries. Henry befriends Alicia Cummings, a pretty young intern whose passion for environmental justice matches his own. But youthful impetuousity leads her to ignore Henry's warnings and she digs too deeply into the nefarious plans of the powerful opposition. When Henry finds her strangled body in a lonely Washington garden, he becomes the number one murder suspect. He tries to plow his anguish into his legislative campaign, but the unsolved murder weighs heavily on him and he can't leave it alone. He stumbles onto clues that point to his anti-environmental enemies, and when the police are slow to act he takes matters into his own hands. His increasingly daring amateur investigation gets him crosswise with the police but he persists until violence and still more death force him to live on the run. Henry faces both personal threats and political challenges as he claws his way toward the surprising conclusion. The first novel in a series featuring the lobbyist amateur sleuth is rich with Washington and political insider details. It will appeal to mystery fans, environmentalists and lovers of political intrigue alike.