The Comparative Effects of Cyclic Inquiry Model, Conceptual Change Text, and Traditional Instruction on Students' Understanding of Pho- tosynthesis and Respiration in Plants

The aim of this study was to explore the effects of the cyclic inquiry model,conceptual change texts,and traditional instructions on promoting understanding of photosynthesis and respiration in plants.The data were obtained from 33 students in the first experimental group taught with cyclic inquiry model(CIM),34 students in the second experimental group taught with conceptual change texts(CCT),and 34 students in the control group taught with traditional instruction(TI).After instruction,data were analyzed with analysis of covariance(ANCOVA)using pre-test scores and logical thinking scores as covariates.The results indicated the cyclic inquiry model(CIM)and conceptual change texts(CCT)treatment groups significantly outperformed the traditional instruction(TI)group in understanding the photosynthesis and respiration in plants.A statistically significant difference between two experimental groups was found in favor of the of cyclic inquiry model CIM.

Analysis of Viewing Paintings from the Perspective of Iconography

Distinguished from purely formalistic research methods,iconography pursues the interpretation of the hidden historical and humanistic connotations behind artworks,and is a discipline that combines visual text and content analysis methods.Combining the three stages of iconography proposed by Panofsky,the paper studies Shizeng Chen’s Viewing Paintings from the perspective of iconography,summarizing the formation and change of the images and contents of the artworks in the cultural system and civilization at that time,as well as their implied ideology,and analyzing the hidden spirit of the times and the historical significance behind them,so as to expound their iconographic significance.Through an in-depth discussion at three levels:pre-pictorial iconographic description,iconographic analysis,and iconographic interpretation,the facts and surface contents reproduced in the images,the traditional level of literary,artistic,and cultural knowledge,as well as the interpretation of the potential meanings are revealed.

Irrationality in Scientific Development？

The paper discusses several wide-spread misunderstandings of Kuhn＇s theory of scientific development, most prominently the ascription that he conceives of scientific development as irrational. The core of this ascription is an assessment of incommensurability as implying the lack of any rational possibility of theory comparison. This is supposed to be due to Gestalt switches and a quasi-religious element of conversion in theory change. Accordingly, scientific revolutions cannot be a serious matter for philosophical analysis; they furthermore foreclose any scientific progress. It is shown that such images of Kuhn＇s theory rest on deep misunderstandings that are partly due to Kuhn＇s writing style.

Application and comparison of coaxial correlation diagram and hydrological model for reconstructing flood series under human disturbance

Intense human activities have greatly changed the flood generation conditions in most areas of the world, and have destroyed the consistency in the annual flood peak and volume series. For design flood estimation, coaxial correlation diagram and conceptual hydrological model are two frequently used tools to adjust and reconstruct the flood series under human disturbance. This study took a typical mountain catchment of the Haihe River Basin as an example to investigate the effects of human activities on flood regime and to compare and assess the two adjustment methods. The main purpose is to construct a conceptual hydrological model which can incorporate the effects of human activities. The results show that the coaxial correlation diagram is simple and widely-used, but can only adjust the time series of total flood volumes. Therefore, it is only applicable under certain conditions(e.g. There is a strong link between the flood peaks and volumes and the link is not significantly affected by human activities). The conceptual model is a powerful tool to adjust the time series of both flood peak flows and flood volumes over different durations provided that it is closely related to the catchment hydrological characteristics, specifically accounting for the effects of human activities, and incorporating expert knowledge when estimating or calibrating parameters. It is suggested that the two methods should be used together to cross check each other.