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Pizza, Poetry, and punk rock came together to form a reading that, in summary, sounds vaguely like a bad 80's movie, but actually turned out to be one of the best readings I've ever been to, let alone read at.
The night was hosted by Pizza Supreme in West Covina, which might just become a go-to spot for literary officianados. The reading was hosted by Jeffrey Graessley, who led the night with the kind of tipsy, casual exuberance that was just right for the mood.
Michaelsun Knapp opened with his trademarked "Grass Angel" poem and followed with a few crowd-pleasing poems that combine a wry, comical voice with truly poignant lines and strong, resonant final lines. Despite having frequently read around the San Gabriel Valley, this was Michaelsun's first time reading as a co-feature. This was not evident, however, as he handled himself like an old pro and let the scotch-soaked profanity roll off his tongue like milk and honey pours from the heavens.
The next reader, Scott Creley, shuffled into the stage and muttered into the microphone. He opened with what appeared to be a set of vocal warm-ups (despite the fact that he read in a sonorous monotone), and then followed with a set of poems that seemed to be set entirely in Keatsian grave yards populated by deceased women. He closed with a poem that seemed to repeat the phrase "good bye" with various random objects inserted at the end. Either that or "good night" (I'd honestly stopped paying attention). Eventually he staggered off stage, seemingly unaware of where he was or how he'd gotten there.
John Brantingham, Poppa Brantingham to some, Mmmm Daddy to others, took the stage next, and read poems from Mediterranian Garden and East of Los Angeles. Brantingham always reads with impact and energy, and this night was not an exception (see the accompanying photos that reveal an almost maniacal glee). Poems like "Ah, That the World Could Be L.A." deal with concepts like the Crusades with easy humor while simultaneously turning the poem to make the supposed shallowness of Los Angeles seem like a boon to its inhabitants. Brantingham's poem "Los Angeles", in which his narrator pays homage to "King Smog" in lyrical prayer-like lines, is one of my favorites, and it fit the poignant-yet-festive end-of-summer filled-with-hyphens mood of the reading perfectly.
Roy Anthony Shabla followed Brantingham, and head read from his chapbook casa la reina. Shabla doles out spectral imagery in minimalist lines. His poetry is high impact, and uses short lines to evoke a landscape where the supernatural and divine drifts between what initially seems to be the ephemera of daily life.
Lines like "even a few lines/ can keep the/ wolf from the whore" are followed by "maybe a shadow/ passes but/ not the moon/ not the stars."
to craft a dreamlike mood that was perfect as the center of the reading. Shabla has an excellent reading voice, and his poetry completely mesmerized an audience that was otherwise large and joyously rowdy.
Jo Scott-Coe read from her book "Teacher at Point Blank", a haunting book of non-fiction that syncopates with the rhythm of prose-poetry as it confronts the industrialized conditions of modern education. Her reading style perfectly fit her work, capturing the cold facts that edge the almost hysterical minutia that make up the environment of a school lunch room. Edgy lines like –
"This is the suburbs. This is the inner city. This is the inner city inside the suburbs."
were supported by Scott-Coe's tight language and a litany of personal experience. Her selection closed with the haunting line –
"Even the best students have learned to practice orphanhood and homelessness. Even you."
Closing out the readers was Michael Torres, whose book The Beautiful Distraction is available for pre-order from Finishing Line Press. Torres read a short, scintillating set with the verve and focus of a spoken word performer without losing any of the detail and impact of a more traditional writing style.
Torres read poems that were perfect for the end of our hot Southern California summer in the San Gabriel Valley. One poem that stood out particular described how the narrator took a bike ride and ran into a younger version of himself, and then kept riding hoping to meet other versions of himself. The version fresh out of highschool, the version before the mounting worries of adulthood and all the accompanying existential angst.
Torres's poems perfectly described the feeling this reading instilled in me, a sense of nostalgia twining with exuberance, the almost indefinable vitality and longing that drifts through the hot summer valley on nights like these. This is the best reading I've been to in years, and I can't wait for the next reading in a pizza place.
Lloyd Aquino loved the reading as well, and he generously granted us permission to repost a poem of his inspired by the night.
According to the math, this happens one in seventeen times.
This time, the band played tributes to teen moms and circle jerks,
consecutively not concurrently. A candy machine was involved.
This had never happened before in all of recorded history.
One in five poetry readings ends in multiple acts of hugging.
One in six ends in regret that has nothing to do with alcohol.
One in seven begins with someone losing their innocence.
One in two involves the song "Kumbaya."
One in every thousand poetry readings, a rapture happens,
and those of us left behind auction off wallets, jewelry, the odd sex toy.
Someone speaks too fast and someone else overbids, usually
on the odd sex toy. The last rapture happened in Rancho Cucamonga,
and one lucky sinner got an ivory-handle switchblade for a buck-fifty
and an old condom.
One in twenty-five poetry readings will include the loss of a limb.
One in two poetry readings, someone makes a drunken confession.
This usually has something to do with statutes of limitation or else
the real reason behind the self-portrait tattoo on one's, well, you know.
One in two poetry readings, the poet has a sobering realization.
Half the time, it happens in the middle of a poem about casual sex,
the other half in the middle of a piece about that trip to Thailand.
And it always has to do with the poet's real sexual orientation.
One in three poetry readings occurs in the poet's natural habitat.
Picture dim lights stuttering Bukowski in Morse code, uncomfortable
chairs, the smell of a microphone's frayed wiring and coffee beans.
Hand-woven scarves and horn-rimmed glasses are ubiquitous.
No poetry reading ever involves un-ironic finger-snapping.
One in four readings, someone un-ironically invokes Ginsberg's "Howl."
One in eleven, someone un-ironically invokes Neruda.
One in a million, someone un-ironically invokes the singer Jewel.
One in fifty poetry readings features a poet who loves himself
a little too much, with the resulting spectacle making all save one
in the audience a little too uncomfortable because public lewdness
is a near-universal taboo. He compliments himself after every piece
and gazes up at heaven wrapped in fluorescent lighting.
Three poems in, he's forgotten that anyone's there listening,
and two poems later, everyone else has forgotten, too.
Once every fifty readings, the poet touches him- or herself
and the audience is left to wonder if it's all part of the show.
One in one-point-three-three-three-to-infinity features a poet
who loathes everything he's ever written and is really only there
because self-flagellation means too much of a time commitment.
One in four readings, everyone is touched.
One in twenty readings, everyone is touched.
On average, every poetry reading births eleven-point-seven new poems.
Ten-point-four of them are much, much better than this one.
3 Responses to "Pizza and Punk Rock (with a poem from Lloyd Aquino!)"
It was such a fun reading. We should do that once a month!!
Hey Guys, sounds like you all had a great time…Oh so sorry for me that I missed out…oh days of pizza, punk and what did you say…oh yeah ROCK. Anyways…see ya all soon
Oh Lloyd, loved the poem, all so fitting. (love to all—–Augie)


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text: Hi Folks When I issue: cvs up dev/rsm/ I get the following error: cvs [server aborted]: cannot find dev/rsm/: No such file or directory Whereas cvs up dev/rsm Works as expected. I'd expect it to be straight forward to strip a trailing / or \, in fact I believe that's how it used to work. Med venlig hilsen / kind regards Anders Truelsen Systems Engineer, MSc C.S. Systematic Software Engineering A/S Søren Frichs Vej 39, DK-8000 Aarhus C Tel.: +45 8943 2151 Fax: +45 8943 2020 Web: www.systematic.dk


text:
In Florida there is a two-tiered electoral system for judges. Trial court judges face competitive election, while appellate court judges are subject to merit retention votes every six years. Merit retention votes are essentially up-or-down votes of confidence.
While no jurist has been removed by the voters through merit retention since the first such election in 1978, there is another way that the state judiciary is policed. The Judicial Qualifications Commission has the job of investigating allegations of wrongdoing by state judges and can recommend their removal for ethical breaches. Numerous judges have been disciplined and removed as a result of the JQC's recommendations.
This region votes on merit retention for judges on the 2nd District Court of Appeal and Florida Supreme Court. Terms are staggered so that a different group of jurists is up every two years. This year, those facing merit retention are: Florida Supreme Court Justice Charles Wells; and 2nd District Court of Appeal Judges Chris Altenbernd, Carolyn Fulmer, Morris Silberman and James Whatley.
Most instructive in determining whether these jurists are performing up to standards is a biennial Florida Bar poll. Attorneys with at least some knowledge of the judges are asked about their qualifications, including the quality and clarity of judicial opinions, knowledge of law, integrity and other key factors. More than 4,000 lawyers participated this year, and the overwhelming support for retention is reassuring: Wells, 91 percent; Altenbernd, 94 percent; Fulmer, 88 percent; Silberman, 90 percent; and Whatley, 87 percent.
A check of JQC records found that none of these jurists have had formal charges brought against them.
For all of these jurists, the Times recommends a "retain" vote for the merit retention.


text: > i have compiled the 32 bit mom on the 64 bit arch. everything seemed to > complete properly. however, now the pbs_mom segfaults with an error 7 when > i try to start it up. also, i am running a 32 bit server on the head. > will this cause communication problems with the 64 bit moms on the other > nodes? i read that they could not communicate with each other properly. > > Out of curiosity -- where did you read about communication problems between 32bit server and 64bit mom? And what version of torque are you using? Are you sure that your setup would work on a pure 32bit or pure 64bit cluster? Maybe your mom crashing is unrelated to 32/64 bit issues. Our setup is obviously opposite to yours, 64bit server with some 32bit clients, but at least that works fine (our installation uses torque-2.1.10-5.fc9). > the 64 bit compilation of moms are up and running on the other nodes but no > jobs are pushed out to them. i am assuming from your response that this is > because of some library dependencies? does torque check job dependencies or > is the job pushed out and then rejected when the job itself determines that > it does not have the required libs? When your job script invokes a binary with missing libraries, the same thing happens that occurs when you run such binaries from the command line: you get an error message about missing libs and the binary terminates. You should see that in the job's stderr log file. In the alternative, you might just want to run a job directly via command line on the compute nodes. If it doesn't run directly from the shell, chances are it won't run through torque either. If it runs from shell bot not torque, see if your interactive shell sets LD_LIBRARY_PATH to search for shared libraries in non-standard places. You should then make sure the same is set in your job when you submit it to torque (e.g., put an "export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=path:path:path...." at the beginning of your job script). > if that is indeed the case, how does > one find the library requirements for jobs that i do not compile or submit? > -- Torsten Rohlfing, PhD SRI International, Neuroscience Program Research Scientist 333 Ravenswood Ave, Menlo Park, CA 94025 Phone: ++1 (650) 859-3379 Fax: ++1 (650) 859-2743 torsten at synapse.sri.com http://www.stanford.edu/~rohlfing/ "Though this be madness, yet there is a method in't" -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: torsten.vcf Type: text/x-vcard Size: 366 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.supercluster.org/pipermail/torqueusers/attachments/20081025/3a5be4a2/torsten.vcf


text:
|René Nyffenegger's collection of things on the web
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Taking a look at Laszlo (or how to build Laszlo from scratch)
Update October 18th 2004: Using the Laszlo framework with a standalone application.
Laszlo Systems, Inc has recently released Laszlo under an Open Source License. Laszlo creates Flash Applications out of XML (more exaclty: LXZ) files. This is reason enough to take a look at Laszlo.
As I am a developer myself, I decided to download the sources rather than the binary distribution. In order to build it, J2SE 1.4.2 SDK, Cygwin and Jython are additionally needed.
The sources for Laszlo can be downloaded from http://openlaszlo.org/download/. The file is called lps-2.2-src.tar.gz and is 104MB big.
Of course, the file needs to be unzipped after downloading it. In my case, these files were unzipped into C:\rene\laszlo.
Setting up the build environment
Environment Variables
We need to create some environment variables. The variable LASZLO_ROOT is the only variable that you will have to set differently. LASZLO_ROOT is the directory in which Laszlo was unzipped
C:\> set LASZLO_ROOT=c:\test\laszlo C:\> set LPS_HOME=%LASZLO_ROOT%\lps-2.2-src\lps-2.2 C:\> set ANT_HOME=%LASZLO_ROOT%\lps-2.2-src\tools\jakarta-ant-1.5.1 C:\> set PATH=%ANT_HOME%\bin;%PATH%
Make sure you have a JDK version 1.4.2. Set the JAVA_HOME accordingly:
C:\> set JAVA_HOME=\j2sdk1.4.2_06 C:\> set PATH=%JAVA_HOME%\bin;%PATH%
The source distribution comes with JavaCC which needs to be installed:
C:\> set JAVACC_HOME=%LASZLO_ROOT%\lps-2.2-src\tools\ C:\> copy "%LPS_HOME%\3rd-party\jars\dev\JavaCC.zip" %LASZLO_ROOT%\lps-2.2-src\tools C:\> cd %JAVACC_HOME% C:\rene\laszlo\lps-2.2-src\tools> java -cp . JavaCC2_1
The installer asks for a directory in which JavaCC will be installed. Use %LASZLO_ROOT%\lps-2.2-src\tools\javacc2.1. Most probably, the installer will not try to expand %LASZLO_ROOT%, so insert your LASZLO_ROOT.
Get Python 2.2 and install it.
Python.exe must also be included in the PATH.
C:\> set PATH=c:\python22;%PATH%
Jython needs to be installed:
C:\> cd %LASZLO_ROOT%\lps-2.2-src\tools C:\rene\laszlo\lps-2.2-src\tools> java -cp . jython-21
The installer will ask for an installation directory. I chose c:\rene\tools. You will have to set JYTHON_HOME to this directory:
C:\> set JYTHON_HOME=c:\rene\tools\jython-2.1 C:\> set PATH=%JYTHON_HOME%;%PATH%
Just because it's so much fun, PyXML has to be installed as well:
C:\> %LASZLO_ROOT%\lps-2.2-src\tools\PyXML-0.8.win32-py2.2.exe
We're not finished yet, a (modified?) version of Tomcat is going to be installed:
I have already a Tomcat on my System, so I overwrote the port (4321 instead of 8080). Also, remember the username and password you used.
Set TOMCAT_HOME to the directory in which Tomcat was installed:
C:\> set TOMCAT_HOME=\LaszloTomcat5.0
You need also to adjust %LPS_HOME%\build.properties to reflect username, password and port:
tom.url = http://localhost:4321/manager tom.username = laszlo tom.password = *******
Get and install Cygwin. The default options should do. Adjust the PATH so that it finds the bin directory of Cygwin:
C:\> set PATH=c:\Cygwin\bin;%PATH%
C:\> set PATH=%LPS_HOME%\WEB-INF\lps\server\bin;%PATH% C:\> cd %LPS_HOME% C:\rene\laszlo\lps-2.2-src\lps-2.2> ant build C:\rene\laszlo\lps-2.2-src\lps-2.2> ant start C:\rene\laszlo\lps-2.2-src\lps-2.2> ant install
Now, go to
A small examples
In order to create some small demonstration examples, I create a directory under %LPS_HOME%:
C:\rene\laszlo\lps-2.2-src\lps-2.2> mkdir %LPS_HOME%\test
In this directory, an lzx file (named first.lzx) is created:
<canvas> <text>This is a test-text.</text> <button>press me</button> <window> <view bgcolor='white' width='100' height='100'> <view bgcolor='black' width='50' height='50' x='50' /> <view bgcolor='black' width='50' height='50' y='50' /> </view> </window> </canvas>
After this file is created, it needs to be deployed. This can be done using ant:
C:\rene\laszlo\lps-2.2-src\lps-2.2> ant stop C:\rene\laszlo\lps-2.2-src\lps-2.2> ant install C:\rene\laszlo\lps-2.2-src\lps-2.2> ant start
Now, it can be looked at with
Berlin Laszlo User Group


text:
Identifying Non-Sustainable Courses of Action: A Prerequisite for Decision-Making in Education for Sustainable Development
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Students are faced with a multitude of decisions as consumers and in societal debates. Because of the scarcity of resources, the destruction of ecosystems and social injustice in a globalized world, it is vital that students are able to identify non-sustainable courses of action when involved in decision-making. The application of decision-making strategies is one approach to enhancing the quality of decisions. Options that do not meet ecological, social or economic standards should be excluded using non-compensatory strategies whereas other tasks may require a complete trade-off of all the evidence, following a compensatory approach. To enhance decision-making competence, a computer-based intervention study was conducted that focused on the use of decision-making strategies. While the results of the summative evaluation are reported by Gresch et al. (International Journal of Science Education, 2011), in-depth analyses of process-related data collected during the information processing are presented in this paper to reveal insights into the mechanisms of the intervention. The quality of high school students' (n = 120) metadecision skills when selecting a decision-making strategy was investigated using qualitative content analyses combined with inferential statistics. The results reveal that the students offered elaborate reflections on the sustainability of options. However, the characteristics that were declared non-sustainable differed among the students because societal norms and personal values were intertwined. One implication for education for sustainable development is that students are capable of reflecting on decision-making tasks and on corresponding favorable decision-making strategies at a metadecision level. From these results, we offer suggestions for improving learning environments and constructing test instruments for decision-making competence.
KeywordsDecision-making Education for sustainable development Socioscientific issues Societal norms Values
Theoretical Framework
Education for Sustainable Development
Within the last two decades, the global community has acknowledged the need to ensure sustainable development of the world to meet the "needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" (World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) 1987, p. 43). Environmental threats and increasing social injustice require thoughtful decisions and actions on both a political and an individual level. As a consequence, non-sustainable courses of action must be identified when deciding for a course of action. Options that do not meet standards that are based on societal norms should be excluded. An international consensus on the characteristics of sustainable development was reached at the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) and in its final action plan, Agenda 21 (UNCED 1992). However, these goals can only be reached through interdisciplinary approaches that integrate ecological, social and economic aspects (Bourn 2005; Eilam and Trop 2011; Herremans and Reid 2002; Marcinkowski 2010; Sauvé 1996, 2005; Scott and Gough 2003; UNCED 1992). One vital aspect of promoting sustainable development is education (UNCED 1992). Education should aim to foster societal development according to norms negotiated by the global community, i.e., the United Nations (de Haan et al. 2008). However, education in general, and science and environmental education in particular, should not promote a specific point of view or certain courses of action; instead, it should strengthen students' autonomy and empower them to make thoughtful decisions (Aikenhead 1985; de Haan et al. 2008; Hodson 2003; Hungerford 2010; Jickling 1992; McConnell 1982; Pedretti 2003; Ratcliffe and Grace 2003; Solomon and Aikenhead 1994).
Within the broader framework of science, technology, society and environment (STSE) education, which embraces education for sustainable development (Pedretti 2003), the quality of the students' decisions can be enhanced through dealing with socioscientific issues (ibid.; Eggert and Bögeholz 2006; Eggert et al. 2010; Gresch et al. 2011; Ratcliffe and Grace 2003). Sadler (2004) defines these types of issues as complex, open-ended and contentious problems that lack simple and straightforward solutions. Moreover, scientific evidence, ethical implications and inherent values must be integrated to deal with socioscientific issues adequately (Aikenhead 1985; Bögeholz and Barkmann 2003; Eggert and Bögeholz 2006; Kolstø 2001; Ratcliffe and Grace 2003; Sadler 2004; Sauvé 2005; Zeidler et al. 2005). Consequently, decision-making regarding socioscientific issues has been incorporated into national standards worldwide (American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 1993; Kultusministerkonferenz (KMK) 2005; National Research Council (NRC) 1996; Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) 2004). Moreover, education for sustainable development as a field of socioscientific decision-making has been integrated into the national standards of many countries, including England and Germany (KMK 2005; QCA 2004).
Decision-Making in Science Education
In the present study, decision-making competence refers to the ability to systematically evaluate possible courses of action in factually and ethically complex situations related to sustainable development and systematically make a final decision. Moreover, students are expected to reflect on their own decision-making processes and those of others (Bögeholz 2007; Bögeholz and Barkmann 2003; Eggert and Bögeholz 2006, 2010). This concept of decision-making competence is based on the general definition of competence as a domain-specific cognitive ability to solve specific problems (Hartig and Klieme 2006; cf. Weinert 2001a, b), which was proposed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Several intervention studies in the field of science education have focused on improving the quality of students' decision-making processes (Eggert et al. 2010; Grace 2009; Gresch et al. 2011; Jiménez-Aleixandre and Pereiro-Muñoz 2002; Ratcliffe 1997; Roberts et al. 1997 (Science Education for Public Understanding Program (SEPUP)); Seethaler and Linn 2004; Siegel 2006). In the science and sustainability curriculum that was part of SEPUP, Siegel (2006) successfully trained students to connect specific evidence to their arguments to make trade-offs. Ratcliffe (1997) provided her students with a guideline to structure the decision-making process. Although the students considered this guideline helpful, they did not weigh the advantages and disadvantages of their options in a systematic way. Using this guideline in small-group discussions about biological conservation issues, Grace (2009) found that the students' level of personal reasoning could be improved within a short time. In the field of education for sustainable development, Eggert et al. (2010) trained students in cooperative learning settings to trade off several courses of action. A general increase in decision-making competence was found, although additional metacognitive training in a second training group did not further improve the students' decision-making processes.
Although several interventions have been conducted to enhance students' decision-making processes, no study has examined whether reflectively applying several decision-making strategies fosters decision-making competence. Because such strategies seem promising for systematically structuring the decision-making process, they were chosen for the present study.
Decision-Making Strategies
Different decision-making tasks related to sustainable development require different decision-making strategies to evaluate possible courses of action because some decisions involve non-sustainable and, thus, unacceptable options with regard to ecological, social or economic standards while others may demand a full trade-off of all evidence. These standards may be set at an individual or societal level, i.e., based on personal values or societal norms, respectively.
Behavioral decision research aims to describe the strategies people use to make a decision. In certain decision-making situations, decision-makers exclude options if one or several characteristics do not reach a required standard. Some criteria may be considered knockout criteria, for which unacceptable characteristics cannot be outweighed by other attributes. Jungermann et al. (2005) and Payne et al. (1998) describe this choice rule as a non-compensatory strategy. One example is the elimination-by-aspects rule (Tversky 1972). If the characteristics of the most important criteria do not reach the threshold level to fulfill a certain socially or individually required standard, the options are eliminated. For other decisions, the decision-maker may weigh all available information before reaching a conclusion. Hence, in this compensatory strategy, all advantages and disadvantages are evaluated in a full trade-off (Jungermann et al. 2005; Payne et al. 1998).
Beach (1990) and Beach and Mitchell (1978) state that decision-making frequently involves both compensatory and non-compensatory approaches. During a screening phase, unacceptable options are eliminated in the first step, and the remaining options are compared in a full trade-off (mixed strategy).
Metadecision and Self-Regulated Learning
The application of a decision-making strategy is a cognitive process whereas the selection of a decision-making strategy requires metacognitive skills to determine which strategy fits best. Beach (1990) refers to this concept as metadecision, which involves considering the features of a decision-making problem, the environment of the decision and the characteristics of the decision-maker. From a normative, educational perspective, students should be enabled to detect non-sustainable options based on societal norms regarding the framework of sustainable development and apply a non-compensatory strategy to such tasks. On the other hand, students should also be capable of identifying decision-making situations with equally legitimate options (i.e., options without knockout criteria based on societal norms) and employing a compensatory strategy (Eggert and Bögeholz 2006; Gresch et al. 2011). Consequently, science and environmental education should foster the ability to distinguish between different types of decision-making situations to apply an appropriate decision-making strategy.
Zimmerman's model of self-regulated learning provides a suitable framework to foster these metadecision skills because it integrates cognitive, metacognitive and motivational aspects to describe how self-regulated learners deal with new tasks (Zimmerman 2000). Before beginning a task, learners should analyze the task in the forethought phase to select an appropriate strategy; they should observe and control the procedure during the performance phase; and finally, they should self-reflect on their own performance and draw conclusions for future tasks in the reflection phase.
To resolve socioscientific issues related to sustainable development, these concepts of metadecision and self-regulated learning can be combined to construct a training program that focuses on the reflective application of decision-making strategies (Gresch et al. 2011). In the forethought phase, the learner analyzes the decision-making task in terms of the sustainability of the options. Can the benefits and drawbacks of different options be compensated for, or should a non-compensatory strategy be applied to exclude non-sustainable options if knockout criteria exist based on societal norms? Do the task's characteristics require a combination of both strategies? In this metadecision activity, a decision-making strategy should be selected. During the performance phase, the learner observes the correct application of the strategy and, finally, reflects on the outcome and whether the decision-making strategy was appropriate for the presented task.
Intervention Study on Decision-Making Strategies
Outline of the Research Project
To investigate the effects of a reflected use of decision-making strategies on decision-making competence, a computer-based intervention study was conducted. Two distinct perspectives were selected to describe the outcomes and mechanisms of the intervention: a summative evaluation to demonstrate the effects using a pre-post-follow-up control-group design and an in-depth analysis of qualitative data collected during the intervention. This paper focuses on the analyses of process-related data, and therefore, the results of the summative evaluation reported by Gresch et al. (2011) will only be reviewed briefly before deriving our research questions.
Description of the Intervention
In the intervention, which consists of two 45-minute sessions, students resolved different socioscientific issues pertaining to sustainable development (Gresch et al. 2011). All students were assigned to one of two training groups or the control group when they began the program.
Structure of the training program: contexts chosen to demonstrate the decision-making strategies
Features: Do knockout criteria exist according to societal norms?
Decision-making strategy that fits best according to societal norms
Session 1
Task 1
Choice of different measures for the protection of coral reefs
Several knockout criteria (effect on ecosystem, impact on local society, financial constraints)
Non-compensatory strategy
Task 2
Land-use decision after brown coal mining
No knockout criteria (equally legitimate options)
Compensatory strategy
Task 3
Choice of an aquaculture sitea
One knockout criterion (poor conditions for fish in aquaculture)
Mixed strategy
Session 2
Task 1
Selection of apples for the school cafeteriab
No knockout criteria (equally legitimate options)
Compensatory strategy
Task 2
Choice of a production site for a shipyardc
One knockout criterion (state of the limnological ecosystem)
Mixed strategy
Task 3
Consumer decision to purchase a bed
Several knockout criteria (wood from primeval forests, working conditions, length of transportation route)
Non-compensatory strategy
In the second session, which took place within a week of the first session, the students in the training groups were asked to select the strategy they considered to fit best by taking the framework of sustainable development into account. The first training group selected the strategy directly whereas the second training group had to conduct a prior task analysis and explain why they considered this strategy to fit best. They were encouraged to reflect on whether knockout criteria based on societal norms were inherent in the given task. The control group again was given additional information instead of strategic training, as in the first session.
- 1.
Example for the compensatory decision-making strategy- Apples for the school cafeteria: The first context of the second session was a consumer decision. The students were asked to select one variety of apples that should be sold in the school's cafeteria (cf. Barfod-Werner et al. 2008). Characteristics such as the price (1.80 to 2.49 Euro/kg), the taste (sweet, slightly sour, juicy), the length of the transportation route (short to intermediate; all within Europe) and whether the apples were organically grown were presented.
Because all these features were considered acceptable according to the normative framework of sustainable development, the compensatory strategy was expected to provide the best fit by allowing a complete trade-off between all advantages and disadvantages.
- 2.
Example for the mixed decision-making strategy- Shipyard production site: In the second decision-making task, possible production sites of a shipyard had to be examined from a political point of view (cf. Mühlenhoff 2009). One option would have a strong negative impact on the quality of the adjacent river; hence, these effects on the limnological ecosystem are considered unacceptable in terms of ecological standards. To pursue this course of action, the river would have to be dammed to launch the container ships safely. Consequently, the water temperature would increase in the summer and the oxygen concentration would fall below a level that could support animal life, e.g., endangered fish species. Furthermore, the implications for the workforce in a region with high unemployment rates and the productivity of the enterprise had to be taken into account.
Thus, one option had unacceptable characteristics based on societal norms (ecological standards) whereas the features of the remaining options should be compared in a full trade-off. Hence, the mixed strategy was expected to fit best.
- 3.
Example for the non-compensatory decision-making strategy- Purchase of a bed: In this task, four beds for the student's new apartment after he or she left school were presented as options. Upon closer examination, most of the beds either consisted of wood from primeval forests, in which endangered animal species such as the Siberian tiger live, or were built in regions with extremely low wages, where social standards are nearly non-existent. Moreover, disproportionately long transportation routes were necessary to deliver one bed from Indonesia across the globe to Europe.
Hence, several knockout criteria based on societal norms were apparent (wood from primeval forests, working conditions, long transportation), which would suggest the use of the elimination-by-aspects rule as one example of a non-compensatory strategy.
Review of the Summative Evaluation of the Presented Intervention Study
To determine the effects of the intervention (Gresch et al. 2011), decision-making competence was assessed at three measurement times using an open-ended questionnaire developed by Eggert and Bögeholz (2010). The analyses revealed that the quality of the students' decisions on the follow-up test administered three months after the intervention were significantly more elaborate in the training groups compared to the control group. However, the students who received a strategic training tended to overuse non-compensatory strategies in the post-test. Further analyses showed that their ability to reflect on the decision-making processes of others improved between the pre- and post-tests. The long-term effects on reflection were less evident.
Research Questions
Although the summative evaluation of the intervention has shown promising results with regard to gains in decision-making competence, it is still unclear in which way students who are familiar with different decision-making strategies use metadecision skills to transfer these strategies to new tasks by selecting a strategy suitable for the given task. Moreover, the mechanisms of the intervention should be investigated by looking at the processes that take place in the course of the training. The qualitative data that was collected while the students of the second training group worked on the decision-making tasks are considered valuable for this purpose.
- 1.1
How do students explain their use of different decision-making strategies?
- 1.2
Are the quality levels of the explanations valid? In which ways are they related to decision-making competence?
From these levels of metadecision explanations, inferences should be made about the students' performance in the transfer phase of the decision-making training and the quality of the learning tasks used to train the students to deal systematically with socioscientific issues.
- 2.1
To what extent did the students select the decision-making strategies that best fit the decision-making tasks according to societal norms?
- 2.2
Did those students who selected the strategy that fits best according to societal norms elaborate more on explanations than those who selected a different strategy?
- 2.3
Is the use of the non-compensatory decision-making strategy associated with a lower cognitive load?
A total of 386 students from 25 biology classes (Grades 11 to 13) in Northern Germany participated in the entire intervention and were randomly assigned to one of two training groups or a control group (training group 1: n = 126; training group 2: n = 137; control group: n = 123). For 120 students in the second training group, who conducted an initial task analysis before selecting a decision-making strategy, complete process-related data sets with explanations for their decision-making strategy selection are available. The mean age of this subsample was 17.3 years, and 58% were girls.
To investigate research questions 1.1, 1.2 and 2.2, process-related data from training group 2 is used because only this group reported explanations regarding the selection of a decision-making strategy. For research questions 2.1 and 2.3, data from both training groups is analyzed.
Recollection of Data and Data Analysis
Note in bullet points the task characteristics that provide information about which decision-making strategy best fits this situation. Explain briefly why these task characteristics make one decision-making strategy particularly appropriate. Finally, click on a button to select the strategy that you consider to fit best to this task.
The data were imported using software for qualitative content analyses (MAXQDA) and coded using a deductive-inductive approach (Mayring 2008). In the first step, categories were derived from behavioral decision-making research (Eggert and Bögeholz 2006; Jungermann et al. 2005; Payne et al. 1998). Next, sub-categories and different quality levels were developed according to the data to further differentiate between different types of responses. For each sub-category, examples (anchors) and definitions were generated.
A second rater coded all text passages to further refine the categories and sub-categories, the selection of examples and the definitions. All data were then independently coded by the two raters based on this final scoring rubric. The interrater reliability (Cohen's kappa (percentage of agreement)) was good (κ = .72 (94%)). In a final step, all differing scores were discussed to reach a consensus before the statistical analyses were performed.
To determine the validity of the quality levels of the explanations (see research question 1.2), the scores that students yielded in a decision-making questionnaire (Eggert and Bögeholz 2010) were used. This test was administered directly before the intervention (Gresch et al. 2011).
Moreover, data regarding the frequencies of the selected decision-making strategies were collected in the course of the intervention.
Assessment of Cognitive Load
Cognitive load is a concept that consists of two aspects: mental load, which is induced by the task structure and other instructional parameters, and mental effort, i.e., the capacity that a person allocates to the task (Paas 1992). The higher the mental load of a task, i.e., the more difficult it is, the more mental effort it requires. In other studies, mental effort has been assessed effectively in problem-solving tasks and computer-based trainings (Paas 1992; Paas and van Merriënboer 1994) to provide insights about the quality of instructions. Consequently, instructions should have a medium level of cognitive load to be efficient. In the present study, the cognitive load construct is used to determine which decision-making strategy produces more cognitive load. After each task of the learning program, the students were asked to self-report the level of mental effort expended during the preceding task on a symmetrical seven-level Likert scale (−3/+3).
Research Question 1.1: How Do the Students Explain Their Use of Different Decision-Making Strategies?
The students had been asked to explain which decision-making strategy would be most appropriate to resolve the issue and, hence, to provide metadecision statements. In the qualitative content analysis, all students' responses were assigned to two major categories: explanations for the use of parts of a compensatory and a non-compensatory strategy. Because the mixed strategy is a combination of both, explanations were scored separately for each component. Furthermore, we distinguished between three levels of explanations. At the lowest level (Score: 0), the students made no reference to the strategy they selected. At a basic level (Score: 1), the students explained their selection in terms of strategic considerations; however, this explanation was not linked to specific task characteristics. At the highest level (Score: 2), the students based their decision-making strategy selection on both strategic aspects and task characteristics. Both aspects were clearly linked.
"I decide for the 380 Euro bed from Finland because it seems best to me. Furthermore, it is made from birch wood and is hence from nature." (Task 3, purchase of a bed; UserID 429)
"For such a topic, the compensatory strategy is best." (Task 2, shipyard production site; UserID 465)
"Mixed strategy: I'll take Granny Smith." (Task 1, apples for the school cafeteria; UserID 468)
"It's important to preserve jobs!" (Task 2, shipyard production site; UserID 531)
Scoring rubric with anchor examples: explanations for the selection of a decision-making strategy
Score 1: Reference to strategic aspects.
Score 2: Reference to the interrelation between strategic aspects and specific task characteristics.
Compensatory strategy
Subcategory 1: Trade-off possible
"If you compare the different varieties of apples, you cannot identify a severe disadvantage for any variety, which would suggest the non-compensatory strategy. Therefore, I would choose the compensatory decision-making strategy in this case." (Task 1, apples for the school cafeteria; UserID 480)
"I don't think that a non-compensatory decision-making strategy would be the right solution here, as there are no severe disadvantages (the prices are similar; all (apples) are sweet or juicy)." (Task 1, apples for the school cafeteria; UserID 231)
"Compensatory decision-making strategy because you can weigh up advantages and disadvantages. There are no knockout criteria." (Task 3, purchase of a bed; UserID 093)
"I decide to take the compensatory strategy here because I think that every disadvantage of a bed can potentially be compensated for. A high price, for example, with environmentally friendly production and good appearance; a moderate look with a low price; and so on." (Task 3, purchase of a bed; UserID 105)
Subcategory 2: Value hierarchy: Equal weights for all criteria
"Compensatory (strategy), because I consider no criterion to be so important that it could not be compensated for." (Task 3, purchase of a bed; UserID 549)
"In this task, several factors can generally be compensated for, because taste as well as price and organic farming are important factors that all have to be taken into account." (Task 1, apples for the school cafeteria; UserID 255)
Non-compensatory strategy
Subcategory 1: Trade-off not possible
"Several knockout criteria exist." (Task 2, shipyard production site; UserID 042)
"Because the school has a role model function and should place value on offering local products, the transportation route should be a knockout criterion." (Task 1, apples for the school cafeteria; UserID 390)
"Non-compensatory (strategy) because the severe disadvantages cannot be compensated for by the advantages." (Task 3, purchase of a bed; UserID 216)
"In this decision-making task, I consider the non-compensatory decision-making strategy to be most suitable because knockout criteria exist. Permanent damage to the river cannot be compensated for through advantages but must be prevented." (Task 2, shipyard production site; UserID 093)
Subcategory 2: Value hierarchy: Important criteria as knockout criteria
"The non-compensatory decision-making strategy would be appropriate, as the most important criteria should be observed. A compensation would not be reasonable." (Task 1, apples for the school cafeteria; UserID 540)
"The deterioration of the water quality is very important and should have top priority. It would not be reasonable to compensate for this." (Task 2, shipyard production site; UserID 540)
Relative frequencies of the categories and subcategories of explanations for the selection of a decision-making strategy
Score 1: Reference to strategic aspects.
Score 2: Reference to the interrelation between strategic aspects and specific task characteristics.
Compensatory decision-making
Trade-off possiblea
Value hierarchy: Equal weights for all criteria.a
Non-compensatory decision-making
No trade-off possibleb
Value hierarchy. Important criteria as knockout criteria.b
On average across all three contexts, more than 10% (sum of responses scored 1 and 2) of the students explained their choice of a compensatory or non-compensatory decision-making strategy by referring to a hierarchy of values (see Table 3).
"I choose the compensatory decision-making strategy because the price difference is not too big, and the rest should be weighed up." (Task 1, apples for the school cafeteria; UserID 621)
"The differing prices are particularly conspicuous and could result in an exclusion principle." (Task 1, apples for the school cafeteria; UserID 261)
"First, the price is important, because only 400 Euros are at my disposal. Higher prices can be excluded." (Task 3, purchase of a bed; UserID 540)
For other criteria, no ecological or social standards were stated as a threshold.
Research Question 1.2: Are the Quality Levels of the Explanations Valid? In Which Way are they Related to Decision-Making Competence?
To validate the quality levels of the explanations, a total score was calculated, indicating the overall performance in the explanations of the selected decision-making strategies. The scores of each task were added, and the median score was used to divide the students into one group with high-quality explanations and another with low-quality explanations. Furthermore, the median of the decision-making questionnaire scores (Eggert and Bögeholz 2010) was determined,2 and the students were divided into those who showed a high level of decision-making competence and those with a lower level. Chi-square analyses revealed that the students who had higher-quality explanations also reached a higher level of decision-making competence, according to the questionnaire: χ2 = 5.6, df = 1, p < .05. Hence, the level of explanations and decision-making competence are connected. This connection supports the validity of the identified quality levels.
Research Question 2.1: To What Extent Did the Students Select the Decision-Making Strategies That Best Fit the Decision-Making Tasks According to Societal Norms?
Research Question 2.2: Did Those Students Who Selected the Strategy That Fits Best, According to Societal Norms, Elaborate More on Their Explanations than Those Who Selected a Different Strategy?
Expected and observed patterns for the quality of metadecision explanations according to different selected decision-making strategies
Selected strategy
Expected pattern
Observed pattern
Score 1
Score 2
Score 1
Score 2
Task 1: Compensatory strategy example: Apple selection
Compensatory strategy
Non-compensatory strategy
Task 2: Mixed strategy example: Shipyard production site
Compensatory strategy
Non-compensatory strategy
Task 3: Non-compensatory strategy example: Purchase of a bed
Compensatory strategy
Non-compensatory strategy
For the first task (the compensatory decision-making strategy example, apples for the school cafeteria), it could be shown that the students who selected the compensatory strategy provided explanations at a basic level (Score: 1) whereas those who selected the non-compensatory strategy provided higher-level explanations (Score: 2): χ2 = 9.9, df = 1, p < .01. For Task 2 (the mixed strategy example, shipyard production site), the pattern was similar: χ2 = 8.6, df = 1, p < .01. For the third task (the non-compensatory strategy example, purchase of a bed), however, the students who chose the compensatory strategy offered fewer strategic explanations in general whereas those who selected a non-compensatory strategy offered Level 1 explanations more often than in the preceding tasks. Thus, no differences in the level of explanation could be found between the students who applied a compensatory strategy in Task 3 and those who selected a non-compensatory strategy: χ2 = 1.0, df = 1, p > .05.
These analyses reveal that in the first two tasks, the pattern of responses was quite similar, even though different strategies were expected to fit best according to societal norms (the compensatory strategy in the first task and the mixed strategy in the second task). The third task presented a comparable pattern, although the level of the explanation was generally lower than in the preceding tasks: it included more statements that did not refer to the selection of a strategy, and more explanations were made on a basic level than the higher level, at which strategic considerations were linked to specific task characteristics. Hence, the hypothesis that those students who selected the a priori expected strategy would also offer higher-level explanations for their selection had to be rejected.
Research Question 2.3: Is the Use of the Non-Compensatory Decision-Making Strategy Associated with Lower Cognitive Load?
To investigate this research question, three types of results were examined. First, verbal data from the students' explanations about their selection of a decision-making strategy were considered. Second, analyses of the levels of explanations were conducted to examine whether the proportion of students who did not provide an elaborate explanation for their strategy choice (Score: 0) was higher for those who used a non-compensatory strategy than for those who used a compensatory approach. Third, we tested whether the application of non-compensatory strategies caused less cognitive load than the application of compensatory strategies and, hence, is less complex.
"I have chosen the non-compensatory strategy because it works faster than the mixed strategy and, thus, comes faster to a conclusion." (Task 1, apples for the school cafeteria; User ID 594)
However, only 3% of the students per task explained their strategy selection by referring explicitly to reduced complexity.
Across all three tasks, the average percentage of the students who used a compensatory strategy but did not provide an explanation for doing so (Score: 0) was 28.5% whereas the average percentage of students with a 0 score was higher among those who applied a non-compensatory strategy (34.1%; cf. Fig. 2 for the relative frequencies separately for each task). However, this difference was not significant. Chi-square analyses were conducted separately for each task, contrasting inadequate explanations (Score: 0) with elaborate explanations (Score: 1 or 2) differentiated according to whether the compensatory or the non-compensatory strategy was chosen. As a result, a score of 0 was not significantly more frequent for those who used the non-compensatory strategy than those who used the compensatory strategy for any of the tasks.
Self-reported cognitive load after applying the decision-making strategy (means and standard deviations; seven-level Likert scale; −3/+3)
Compensatory strategy selected
Non-compensatory strategy selected
Task 1 (Compensatory strategy example: Apples for the school cafeteria)
Task 2 (Mixed strategy example: Shipyard production site)
Task 3 (Non-compensatory strategy example: Purchase of a bed)
Discussion and Implications for Science and Environmental Education
In this study, we investigated how students made decisions on socioscientific issues pertaining to sustainable development. The computer-based intervention enabled students to differentiate between sustainable and non-sustainable options through training that focused on the reflective application of three decision-making strategies. In a transfer phase, the students had to use metadecision skills to select an appropriate strategy for resolving the socioscientific issue based on the characteristics of the decision-making situation. The levels of metadecision explanations, which were developed through qualitative content analyses, could be validated by measures of decision-making competence (Eggert and Bögeholz 2010; Gresch et al. 2011). Moreover, the high interrater reliability suggests clearly identifiable categories.
From these categorizations, it could be shown that the majority of the students scrutinized the task to analyze whether knockout criteria existed or whether a full trade-off was possible. Consequently, the intervention addresses crucial requirements of the German science education standards: systematic decision-making processes and the identification of non-sustainable options through the analysis of relevant criteria (Eggert and Bögeholz 2006; KMK 2005). The levels described to which extent strategic considerations regarding the selection of a decision-making strategy were linked with specific task characteristics. The highest score required the students to reflect on the application of the decision-making strategies in a more elaborate way and process the task information more deeply. This graduation of levels according to the degree of contextualization is in line with the more general definition of competence as a cognitive ability to master particular, contextualized problems effectively (Hartig and Klieme 2006; cf. Weinert 2001a, b). On the whole, it is compelling that approximately three-quarters of the students offered reflective explanations on a strategic level to explain their strategy choice. We suggest that these elaborate metadecision considerations are an important component of thoughtful decisions (Eggert and Bögeholz 2006; Gresch et al. 2011). Similarly, Kuhn (1999) and Means and Voss (1996) consider metastatements to be part of high-quality argumentation as a way to structure an argument. Moreover, the application of decision-making strategies combined with metadecision considerations allow for a free choice of a course of action, while still triggering deeper reflection upon the inherent task characteristics. This is supported through the findings of Gresch et al. (2011), who found that the application of decision-making strategies combined with metadecision aids enhanced the students' perceived autonomy. Consequently, the intervention study addresses one central requirement of science education, the empowerment to make autonomous and reflected decisions rather than adopting particular viewpoints (Aikenhead 1985; Hodson 2003; Hungerford 2010; Jickling 1992; McConnell 1982; Pedretti 2003; Ratcliffe and Grace 2003; Solomon and Aikenhead 1994).
When designing the learning environment of this study, all decision-making contexts were selected and modified so that each decision-making task required one specific decision-making strategy to adequately resolve the issue according to societal norms regarding sustainable development. However, despite a validation process in which the research group members discussed the fit of the decision-making context with the specific decision-making strategy and optimized it in several consecutive steps, only 39 to 55% of the participating students chose the expected strategy in each of the three tasks of the transfer phase. When evaluating these results, one should consider that these data were not collected after the intervention as part of the assessment, but during the learning process. A compelling result is that in both tasks with inherent knockout criteria based on societal norms (Task 2, the mixed strategy example (shipyard production site), and Task 3, the non-compensatory strategy example (purchase of a bed)) approximately 80% of the students identified at least one of the knockout criteria, i.e., they excluded options using a non-compensatory or mixed strategy. This result suggests that the students considered inherent norms and values, one requirement for the resolution of socioscientific issues (Jiménez-Aleixandre and Pereiro-Muñoz 2002; Kolstø 2001; Ratcliffe and Grace 2003; Sadler 2004; Zeidler et al. 2005). However, from these data, it could not be distinguished between an exclusion of options based on societal norms or personal values. Many students excluded courses of action in the task without knockout criteria (Task 1, the compensatory strategy example (apples for the school cafeteria)) for reasons that were not based on societal norms. To investigate the reasons that the students did not select the expected strategy, two hypotheses were tested: first, selecting the strategy that fits best according to societal norms is associated with more elaborate metadecision explanations, whereas other strategies are justified in a less elaborate way; and second, the non-compensatory strategy was selected more often because it causes less cognitive load.
Contrary to our expectations, the students who selected the most adequate strategy did not provide higher level explanations than those who chose other strategies. Students who selected a compensatory strategy offered explanations regarding strategic aspects without linking them to specific task characteristics whereas students who selected a non-compensatory strategy offered explanations that were more often linked to the decision-making task. This result suggests that the students found it easier to identify concrete knockout criteria than to illustrate why the disadvantages of one criterion can be compensated for by the advantages of another in a full trade-off. This outcome is plausible because it is less demanding to identify one aspect than to simultaneously take several aspects into account to describe why a trade-off between them would be appropriate.
Gresch et al. (2011) found that students who were familiar with decision-making strategies tended to overuse non-compensatory approaches. One possible explanation for this finding is that the non-compensatory decision-making strategy was associated with a lower cognitive load because it requires less evidence to be considered before reaching a conclusion than a compensatory strategy does (Hong and Chang 2004). The analyses of the process-related written data in the present study and the measurements of cognitive load revealed that for some students, the non-compensatory strategy is indeed a way to reduce the complexity of the decision-making situation, particularly in the last task of the intervention. This difference may also be a result of the effect of the task's position at the end of the program, when students may have attempted to finish the program more quickly. Nevertheless, the large majority of the students dealt with the socioscientific issues in an elaborate and reflective way.
In conclusion, the analysis of the process-related data from the intervention study revealed that the students did not randomly select a strategy in the transfer phase of the intervention, but did indeed exert elaborate and reflective metadecision skills. Because the students generally dealt adequately with the intervention tasks, two aspects should be considered when interpreting the finding that the students selected different strategies than expected. First, a closer examination of the presented contexts is necessary to draw conclusions for developing decision-making tasks of future trainings. All tasks consisted of three or four options, which were described according to four or five relevant criteria. Generally, the cognitive load was considered moderate for all tasks. This finding suggests that the complexity level was adequate for the trained students and that the quality was suitable to engage the students in the training. Another aspect is the presentation of the knockout criteria. When the contexts were selected and modified during the learning program development, options were considered non-sustainable if they had knockout criteria based on societal norms, such as devastating ecological, social or economic impacts. For the decision-making tasks with inherent knockout criteria, most students identified at least one of these characteristics, which suggests that these knockout criteria were presented in a way that allowed the students to recognize them. However, for the first task, an example of compensatory decision-making in which the students had to select a variety of apples for the school's cafeteria, many students selected the non-compensatory or mixed strategy. Because no societal norms demanded an exclusion of options in this task, personal criteria, such as the price of an apple or a strict avoidance of fruits that were not locally grown, prompted the selection of non-compensatory decision-making strategies. Hence, the individual decision-makers had different thresholds for eliminating options. We propose that consumer decisions that are routine and everyday decisions are not optimal for introducing the application of decision-making strategies because thresholds determined by societal norms interfere with personal knockout criteria. Furthermore, consumer decisions are not ideal for assessing decision-making competence when considering the application of decision-making strategies. However, we recommend dealing with consumer decisions in a subsequent step in class to further differentiate between societal norms and personal values.
This leads to the second, more theoretical, implication, the balance between the students' autonomy when resolving socioscientific issues and the need, from a normative educational perspective, to confront students with the framework of sustainable development as the outcome of an international political consensus. In science and environmental education, it is widely acknowledged that teachers should not promote a particular point of view to avoid indoctrination (de Haan et al. 2008; Hodson 2003; Hungerford 2010; Jickling 1992; Ratcliffe and Grace 2003). Instead, education should enable students to make elaborate decisions. In the present study, the autonomous selection of a decision-making strategy and a course of action allowed the students to express their procedural knowledge and their standpoint in an elaborate and independent way. Gresch et al. (2011) found that this combined teaching of decision-making strategies and metadecision activities not only enhanced the level of decision-making competence but also increased the students' perceived autonomy when dealing with socioscientific issues related to sustainable development. Furthermore, we observed that despite this autonomy, the majority of the students detected non-sustainable options based on societal norms in the transfer phase of the training. In addition, personal values, which are highly dependent on the decision-maker's attitudes, prior individual experiences and routines, were considered. This result supports the claim of Beach (1990) and Beach and Mitchell (1978) that the selection of a decision-making strategy depends on both the characteristics of the decision-making task, which involved both non-sustainable and sustainable options in this study, and on the decision-maker's characteristics, because the perception of the task characteristics is a subjective process. Consequently, an evaluation of the quality of students' decision-making processes should involve an analysis of the metadecision explanations to gain further insights. Nevertheless, the concept of the fit of a strategy with the type of task is useful when designing learning environments due to normative educational considerations. Strategic training in decision-making becomes meaningful only if the contexts are selected in a way that makes the application of the decision-making strategy plausible to the majority of the students. On the other hand, if societal norms and a multitude of personal values interfere, it provides a good opportunity to reflect on the development of societal norms. Moreover, it is vital from a normative educational viewpoint that students are able to reflect upon the norms that were negotiated and accepted by the majority of the world's societies to ensure sustainable development because this stimulates self-reflection (de Haan et al. 2008). Central efforts to yield a global consensus, such as Agenda 21 of the United Nations (UNCED 1992) and subsequent global conferences, are important points of reference for classroom activities.
The present study has revealed that thresholds are only considered explicitly for financial criteria. Consequently, ecological standards, e.g., minimum requirements for the water quality of limnological or marine ecosystems, or social standards, such as working conditions and social security, should be discussed in class. Such negotiations can be used to make the societal norm development process more transparent. This determination of thresholds could then be combined with strategic considerations to examine which options should be excluded in a non-compensatory approach because they do not reach the minimum thresholds. Consequently, the use of decision-making strategies to resolve socioscientific issues related to sustainable development offers opportunities to reflect on the distinction between societal norms and personal values and improve perspective-taking abilities. Therefore, future research should further elaborate on the development of suitable methods and appropriately framed decision-making tasks to stimulate this reflection process. Moreover, we suggest that the distinction between societal norms and personal values should not only be part of learning environments and curricula but also be assessed as a component of decision-making competence. Analyses of metadecision statements are one promising approach for this purpose.
ANCOVA of post-test scores (number of considered advantages and disadvantages for chosen and rejected options; see Gresch et al. (2011) for detailed scoring rubric; pre-test scores as covariate), including both training groups and the control group.
The decision-making questionnaire developed by Eggert and Bögeholz (2010) consists of two scales based on the student's own decision and his/her reflection on decisions of other people. A total score was calculated for this study by weighting each scale with 50%. For the analyses, the pre-test scores from the intervention study (Gresch et al. 2011) were chosen.
This study was conducted with the support of the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) and its Research Training Group 1195 Understanding and Enhancing Educational Fit in Schools. The authors thank Christian Rolfes for his excellent technical support during the development of the web-based training program and all members of the Research Training Group 1195 and the department for biology education, especially Prof. Dr. Marcus Hasselhorn, Frauke Ostermeyer and Dr. Sabina Eggert.
Open Access
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited.


text: 任彦亮 wrote: > Dear Every body: > Today I have successfully install the ganglia monitor system, but the proble > is happened when I install the gangle_pbs_0.9.13, when I runing the pbs_stat.py > the erro is: > File "./pbs_stat.py", line 40, in? > import pbs > ImportError: No module named pbs > > It seems the error is couldn`t find the pbs module in my system, but I couldn`t > how to install this module, if this module can be autoinstall when we install pbs. > Hope some body can give me some help. > > Best Regard! You need to install pbs_python python module for the dependency. Prakash


text:
Adding to the difficulty of lower volume due to large losses by customers and overall deleveraging is that the remedy for the recession — a low to zero interest rate policy by central banks — has made it difficult for brokers to earn interest on customer funds. As competition continues to squeeze brokers' fees, they have relied more on interest or the float they could earn.
"It has been more difficult. Volume has been dropping. One of the main issues is that Treasury interest income on the customer segregated fund side [is down] so there is less revenue," Blanc says. "When you have extremely low commission rates and no more Treasury income, what the industry is realizing is that clearing of [futures] was subsidized by Treasury interest."
And while most of the heads of FCMs we spoke to believe that will change in 2010, it may not be until the second half of the year.
"As we have seen in certain parts of the world, like Australia, there is going to be tightening. Whether it is the next couple of months or not, we expect the UK and U.S. to do the same to ward off potential inflation," Dan says.
Junya (Jeff) Nagase, president and CEO of Triland USA, expects business to improve in 2010 but adds, "Interest rates will remain low for most of 2010."
Dan adds that MF Global was still able to generate interest income despite low interest rates. "In the last quarter, Fed Funds have had an effective interest rate of [18 basis points] and we still managed to drive a meaningful return." Dan estimates MF earned $32 million in the third quarter from net earned interest.
And several FCMs have reported improving conditions as the year has gone on. "Things appear to be loosening up and growing," says Joseph Guinan, chairman and CEO of Advantage Futures. "August and September were our two best months."
Marc Nagel, COO of Dorman Trading, also has seen growth and believes Dorman benefits from being smaller. They have grown in the last five years from a small FCM servicing locals to one averaging three million contracts a month. "We have no committees [and] no chain of command [to go through]. We are trying to be a boutique for the retail trader.
"Like everybody else we hit a soft spot in the middle of the year," Nagel says, but adds, "We are opening up accounts left and right. They look at us and say, 'they are a little small but they give us the service we need and they have the products we want."
However, Guinan adds that there is still a great deal of uncertainly following the credit crisis. In prior years he could take those better numbers in the second half of the year and use them to extrapolate growth in 2010. "The problem is that everything has changed. In the past you could better predict growth but since the credit crisis [hit], it is harder to gauge how and when people [will] come back to the markets," Guinan says.
Peterffy also is concerned with regulatory harmonization. "The CFTC and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are entrusted with drafting legislation that they have to agree on and if they cannot agree they could go to court. That sounds frightening to me because we all will be frozen."
Peterffy would like to see one merged and powerful regulator and certain sunset laws but fears with both agencies having input you could end up with a similar situation to single stock futures. They have not succeeded in the United States and many insiders blame the dual regulatory structure.
Nagase is concerned with the proposed added capital requirements for FCMs but says the biggest issue for brokers is liquidity and notes that while some additional regulation is necessary, too much regulation could hurt liquidity. "We need liquidity and stability," Nagase says.
Dan is concerned with the direction the CFTC appears to be taking in terms of position limits. "You don't control pricing and volatility by limiting participation, so what is going to happen — and you are seeing some signs of it from a U.S. perspective — is people are going to offset risk elsewhere."
Dan adds that it won't hurt MF Global because of its global footprint but it is still a bad trend. "The CFTC approach has been more reaction to pricing, as opposed to introducing greater transparency. I find it hard that anybody in Washington should determine how much BP should access the market. It doesn't make sense."
Dan adds, "What I am concerned about is politicians responding to populist trends to monitor market performance and they are not looking at a root cause. That to me, from a U.S. perspective, will drive business internationally or away from the regulated market."


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Costa Mesa, CA 92626
- Sun 12pm-6:30pm, Mon-Sat 11:30am-2pm, Mon-Thu 5pm-9pm, Fri-Sat 5pm-9:30pm
- $$$
- Takeout, Wheelchair accessible
- Dinner, Lunch
- Full bar
- Free Parking, Garage Parking
- Reservations Accepted
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No. 68, Okaki Asparagus at Hamamori
Tuesday, July 10, 2012 at 11 a.m. by Anne Marie Panoringan
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The Place: Hamamori Restaurant & Sushi Bar, 3333 Bear St., Suite 320, Costa Mesa; 714-850-1549; www.hamamorisushi.com.The Hours: Every day, 5 p.m.-6:30 p.m.The Deal: Signature cocktails and sushi rolls for $7; assorted appetizers up...
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Mission of the Web Office
The University Web Office is responsible for the design and maintenance of the top-level Humboldt State University Web pages, and the development of campus-wide Web policies and standards. The Web Office is also available to staff and faculty for consulting on issues of Web design standards, policies, ADA compliance and graphic standards.
Mission of the HSU Web site
The Humboldt State University Web site has the following major purposes:
- To play an integral role in promoting the university to external audiences and enhancing its reputation for excellence and innovation.
- To directly support university-wide strategic initiatives.
- To serve as an information system for the HSU community, offering ready access to a broad range of news and information from and about HSU.
- To provide a gateway to the same information—and to the HSU community—for visitors from beyond HSU.
- To support the academic mission of HSU by providing a medium for teaching, learning and research, and by providing access to a wide variety of electronic scholarly resources.


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Recently taken over by competitive food eater and Atlanta celebrity, Grace Lee, Cruzado is the revamped Las Palmeras. Everything is the same and nothing is the same. While the small menu has many of the same items that Las Palmas had, Cruzado puts it own unique twist on them.
Start off your meal with Empanadas and the Cod Fritters. Both priced at $6 they are small but quite delicious. Each bite of empanadas was filled with perfectly done chicken and spices. Grace and her fiance / partner John also shared with me that they are proud to be one of the only restaurants in Atlanta with Pique sauce (pictured below), a Puerto Rican sauce ( hard to come by here in Atlanta) made of peppers, oil, vinegar, pineapple and a bunch of other items . It went perfectly on just about everything we tried.
While I was tempted to get the Ropa Vieja, Grace nudged me toward the Masitas de Puercos. This is made with Mofongo, a mashed plantain dish. Cruzado serves this with pieces of fried pork. The pork was tender and juicy and went perfectly the slightly garlicky plantain mash. I chose a side of Yuca fries and was happy to be the guinea pig that tried out the Bacalo ketchup, ketchup with pieces of Cod fish in it. Word is this may soon be offered as an appetizer.
Mr. ARB ordered the Oxtail stew and mopped it up. His sides of Okra and Maduros, or sweet Plantains, were perfectly done too. Don't be fooled by the smaller portions of appetizers, as the entrees are VERY filling. Prices are reasonable too, at only about $14.
Do save room for the mango pie for dessert. In contrast to some mango pies that taste store bought, this had the perfect balance of sweet and tart and the guava sauce served with it was superb. They also do a brunch on Sundays with items like chilaquiles and all sorts of egg dishes.
We are so happy for Grace and her fiance John. John shared with us that the space next to the restaurant will soon be turned into a wine bar and have expanded seating for the restaurant as well. Tip: Make sure you or someone driving knows how to parallel park as that is the only kind of parking available in the neighborhood restaurant.
366 5th Street
Atlanta, GA 30308


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A missing man from Esher was found "badly decomposed" in a back garden a month after he was last seen alive, an inquest heard.
Darren Tollworthy, 42, also known as Darren or Danny Deacon, was reported missing on October 15 last year, two days after he was last seen alive in Hinchley Wood by a friend.
Coroner Dr Sean Cummings told the inquest at West London Coroner's Court on Monday, March 24, it was normal for Mr Tollworthy to go off for a couple of days at a time.
Mr Tollworthy, who had previously suffered from alcohol dependency and drug related problems, was found dead by police in a garden in New Malden on November 13.
A neighbour reported a backpack and bicycle propped up against her garage in Berkeley Lodge, Sandal Road, for two to three weeks.
Police went to the address and found personal items and identification belonging to Mr Tollworthy.
In his witness statement read to the inquest, PC Ian Matthews said he looked over the fence at the bottom of the garden and gained access to the garden of another home in Sandal Road.
He said: "I looked over the fence and the rear of the garden had a shed as well as a pile of clothes.
"I climbed over and saw the clothing was a person's body badly decomposed. I believe the body in question related to the missing person Darren Tollworthy."
The body was found lying face-down in the undergrowth at the bottom of the garden and items of discarded food and drink were found in the shed.
PC Jonathan Hinder said it looked as though someone had been using the unused shed as shelter "for some time".
Dr Cummings said there was no evidence of foul play and the state of the body suggested it had been there for several weeks.
A postmortem examination was unable to establish a cause of death due to the state of the body but toxicology reports showed the presence of morphine in Mr Tollworthy's system.
Summing up, Dr Cummings said: "Considering all the available documents to me, I am unable to reach a conclusion other than to say that I shall reach an open verdict.
"There is no evidence to support any foul play, no evidence to support any medical cause and no evidence of any actions by Darren himself."
No relatives of Mr Tollworthy were present at the inquest, despite attempts by the coroner to contact them.


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The City of Rigby Downtown has recently experienced a facelift that has transformed the look and appeal of four city blocks. Rigby Urban Renewal Agency's ultimate goal was to make a warm and inviting atmosphere that encouraged people to stroll the streets downtown and conduct their everyday business in their local community. After just a short time of the project being complete, this goal seems to have been a success.
Keller Associates completed the engineering design and construction administration for this project. The four city blocks are adorned with 55 decorative street lights, 80 trees of six different varieties with tree grates (Little Leaf Linden, Evelyn Hedge Maple, Japanese Pagota Tree, Japanese Tree Lilac, Columnar English Oak, and the Thornless Honeylocust), 2-feet of sidewalk pavers from the back of curb, new sidewalk where needed, and a new pocket park with a dedicated city Christmas tree.
The original intent was to complete one city block of East Main Street and perhaps, if money was available, complete one city block of West Main Street as well. With conscientious designing and low construction costs, the Rigby Urban Renewal Agency was able to encompass much more to the delight of the city, the community, and all the downtown businesses.
Keller Associates assisted the Rigby Urban Renewal Agency apply for and receive a $500,000 Community Block Grant to help fund this $1,046,000 project. www.localnews8.com/news/25776410/detail.html


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Mark Stewart, Dennis Bovell & More Live
Laurie Tuffrey
, September 5th, 2013 09:51
Three-date run taking place next month
Next month, Mark Stewart will be playing a three-date tour of the UK centred around a live collaboration with dub veteran Dennis Bovell.
Joining them on stage will be MC Brother Culture and PiL founding member Keith Levene, with support coming from 23 Skidoo and Young Echo.
Have a look at the dates below and get hold of tickets through Stewart's website; in the meantime, have a listen to 'Babycino', the opener of Exorcism Of Envy, Stewart's dub reworking of his last LP, The Politics Of Envy, following:
Tue 22 - The Assembly, Leamington Spa
Wed 23 - The Trinity Centre, Bristol
Thu 24 - O2 Islington Academy, London
Sep 6, 2013 9:11pm
mark stewart is one of the heroes of the modern world.
last time i saw him live (with the on-u crew), it was truly awe inspiring.


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Although news stories like this make it clear that Best Buy will rip you off when given the opportunity, the video after the break shows us that they will also tie up 911 and the police, check bags and purses and kick people out if too many show up at one of their locations wearing blue polo shirts and khakis.
Check out the absurdity after the break.
(Tastefully Offensive via SISFTI)


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Notice: On April 23, 2014, Statalist moved from an email list to a forum, based at statalist.org.
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st: 2013 Nordic and Baltic Stata Users Group meeting: call for presentations
Nicola Orsini <email@example.com>
"<email@example.com>" <firstname.lastname@example.com>
st: 2013 Nordic and Baltic Stata Users Group meeting: call for presentations
Fri, 26 Apr 2013 07:32:34 +0000
2013 Nordic and Baltic Stata Users Group meeting
Date: Friday, September 27, 2013
Venue: Nobel Forum at Karolinska Institutet
Host: Unit of Biostatistics, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet
Stockholm, Sweden. http://www.imm.ki.se/biostatistics/
Cost: Free
Announcement and call for presentations
This is the first announcement and call for presentations for the 2013 Nordic and Baltic Stata Users Group meeting. The meeting is open to everyone interested in the use or development of Stata. Personnel from StataCorp will attend, and there will be the usual "Wishes and grumbles" session at which you may air your thoughts to Stata developers. Attending from StataCorp are David M. Drukker, Director of Econometrics, and Bill Rising, Director of Educational Services.
To register for the meeting, please send an email to email@example.com containing your name, affiliation, and contact details.
Please send an email to Nicola Orsini (email@example.com) if you are interested in giving a presentation. Indicate whether you want to give
• a 20 min talk (followed by a 10 min discussion),
• a 10 min talk (followed by a 5 min discussion), or
• some other kind of presentation.
Abstracts should be sent by email to Nicola Orsini no later than August 31, 2013. Presentations could focus on any topic of interest, including but not limited to
• using Stata for modeling and analysis,
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The meeting is intended for general Stata users and no special statistical background is required of presenters or attendees. We look forward to hearing from you.
Scientific committee
Nicola Orsini, firstname.lastname@example.com
Unit of Biostatistics, The National Institute of Environmental Medicine
Karolinska Institutet
Matteo Bottai, firstname.lastname@example.com
Unit of Biostatistics, The National Institute of Environmental Medicine
Karolinska Institutet
Peter Hedström, firstname.lastname@example.com
Institute for Futures Studies, Stockholm
Logistics organizers
The meeting is jointly organized by the Unit of Biostatistics, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet and Metrika Consulting.
Metrika Consulting is the distributor of Stata in the Nordic and Baltic regions. For further information about Stata, please contact them at email@example.com.
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* http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/


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Southern Cross chairman Max Moore-Wilton said that the board would review its composition in line with its charter over the coming year.
"On behalf of the SCMG Board and management, I thank Marina for her commitment and dedication and wish her well in her future endeavours," he said.
Southern Cross has a metropolitan FM network, including 2Day FM in Sydney and Triple M, a regional radio network, and a regional television network, which broadcasts mostly Ten Network Holdings programs.
Ms Darling is also on the board of property group
The Australian Financial Review


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World of Beer will open its second Colorado location in Belmar
World of Beer Belmar Facebook page
World of Beer, the Florida-based bar chain that focuses on craft beer, will open is second Denver-area location on August 12 in Belmar, at 7260 West Alaska Drive. The company unveiled its first spot, in the City Set development in Glendale, last May, and plans to open several more locations in Colorado over the next year or so.
"This is one of the meccas for craft beer in the country, if not the mecca for it," says Neill Boyd, who moved from Tampa Bay to Denver in February to become the general manager of World of Beer Belmar. "It was a great opportunity to be a part of it."
See also: - World of Beer opens in Glendale's City Set with sixty brews on tap - Reader: Forget Jax -- what's the World of Beer? - Photos: Rocko's Tacos is serving tacos, burritos and margs in Belmar
The 2,500-square-foot location will feature a 1,000-square-foot patio along with fifty rotating taps and 500 bottles, all of them U.S. craft beers or imports.
"There aren't a lot of craft beer options in Lakewood or Belmar even," Boyd says. "We will carry a little bit of everything. That keeps everybody happy."
Each World of Beer location - and there are 45 in several states -- chooses its own selection, and Boyd says the beers depend on what people in the area want to drink. "Each community is unique, so we kind of knock it out location by location."
World of Beer Belmar will hold a soft opening on August 12 involving a Facebook party. There will also be live music and a loyalty night that week. Check out the bar's Facebook page for more information and details. The opening night beer list is below:
Avery White Rascal Boulder Obovoid Boulder Kinda Blue Breckenridge Regal Imperial Pilsner Breckenridge Vanilla Porter Breckenridge Agave Wheat Oskar Blues Gubna Oskar Blues Dale's Pale Ale Oskar Blues Old Chub Nitro New Belgium Fat Tire Odell IPA Odell Cutthroat Porter Odell 90 Shilling Great Divide Old Ruffian Great Divide Nomad Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro Left Hand Sawtooth Nitro Twisted Pine Hoppy Boy Twisted Pine Hoppy Knight Twisted Pine Raspberry Wheat Ska Decadent Ska Modus Hoperandi Prost Weissbier Dry Dock Paragon(Apricot Blonde) Dry Dock Amber Wynkoop Silverback Wynkoop Uber Lager Fort Collins Hoptitude Renegade Absconder Elevation IPA Funkwerks Saison Tommyknocker Hop Strike St. Louis Framboise Delirium Tremens Chimay Cinq Cents(White) St. Bernadus ABT 12 Wittekerke Angry Orchard Apple Crisp Spaten Dunkel Dogfish Head Midas Touch Young's Double Chocolate Stout Lost Abbey Lost and Found Abita Turbo Dog Woodchuck Pear Reissdorf Kolsch Deschutes Chain Breaker Firestone Walker Double Jack Unibroue Ephemere Samuel Adam's Double Agent IPL Sierra Nevada Hoptimum
Westword's Beer Man on Twitter at @ColoBeerMan and on Facebook at Colo BeerMan
Related Location
7260 W. Alaska Dr.
Lakewood, CO 80226
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Mechanics and Construction > Mechanics and Construction
Small hovercraft....
So, I was contemplating building a very small hovercraft. I looked at a pretty blue light power supply fan - (I was going to build it out of transparent plastic we have left over from something else) and noticed the pressure created was 2.7 mm/h20.
I did some conversion, and well, this is FAR less than one pound per square foot.
I'm no engineer here, but something tells me that even in an ideal world where the pressure under the skirt of the hovercraft were inflated completely to that pressure, I seriously doubt that the weight of the craft would be supported.
That said, can someone with a little knowledge of errr, fluid dynamics I guess share the love and reveal how one Might calculate the actual pressure needed to lift a very small hovercraft. (I say very small because the fan surface should be a significant portion of the overall surface area.)
Or is it as simple as the PSI under the hovercraft time the surface area of the hovercraft (I'm assuming it would be somewhat less than the pressure provided by the fan, owing to constant leakage) being greater than the weight of the hovercraft?
Thanks in advance!
Try this --> Hovercraft Air Cushion Calculator :)
[0] Message IndexGo to full version


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Garden Green Beans Recipe
Diane Hixon of Niceville, Florida uses garlic and Italian seasoning to dress up green beans straight from the garden. "This fast flavorful side dish is frequently on the menu for special occasions," she relates.
- 4 cups cut fresh green beans (2-inch pieces)
- 1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
- 2 tablespoons chopped onion, optional
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/3 cup sliced water chestnuts
- 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, optional
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1. Place beans in a saucepan and cover with water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until crisp-tender.
- 2. Meanwhile, in a skillet, saute mushrooms, onion if desired and garlic in oil until tender. Stir in water chestnuts and seasonings; heat through. Drain beans and stir into skillet. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately. Yield: 6 servings.
Nutritional Facts
0.700 cup: 38 calories, 1g fat (0 saturated fat), 2mg cholesterol, 40mg sodium, 6g carbohydrate (0 sugars, 3g fiber), 2g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1-1/2 vegetable.
Reviews for Garden Green Beans
Average Rating
Reviewed Apr. 20, 2014
"easy and different way to serve green beans. I took this to a potluck today and received compliments. I love the fact that the ingredients are pretty basic and that it's low in fat, carbs and calories. When I make it again I am going to add some chopped red bell pepper to the sautéed vegetables for a little burst of color."
Reviewed Nov. 23, 2009
"I make this recipe all of the time. This is our favorite way to serve green beans!!"
© 2017 RDA Enthusiast Brands, LLC


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- Antonyms of ACUMEN:
- bluntness, dulness, obtuseness, stupidity, artlessness, greenness, guilelessness, ingenuousness, innocence, naiveness, naïveté, simplemindedness, simpleness, simplicity, unsophistication, unworldliness, brainlessness, density, doltishness, dopiness, dumbness, fatuity, foolishness, half-wittedness, mindlessness, oafishness, senselessness, slowness, stupidness, vacuity, witlessness.
- Examples of usage:
Men of the most devout spirit, intellectual acumen, and profound scholarship, uphold these various theories.
"Love's Final Victory",Horatio.
Featherstone had shown considerable acumen in giving Jim the corner room on the first floor.
"Colorado Jim",George Goodchild.
On perspicuity and accuracy, about sixty pages were extracted from Blair; and it requires no great critical acumen to discover, that they are miserably deficient in both.
"The Grammar of English Grammars",Goold Brown.
- Men of the most devout spirit, intellectual acumen, and profound scholarship, uphold these various theories.
- Top resources with antonyms for ACUMEN:
Synonyms for "acumen" | Collins English ThesaurusSynonyms for "acumen" | The official Collins English Thesaurus online. Over 1 million synonyms and antonyms with quotations and translations to other ...
Acumen Synonyms, Acumen Antonyms | Merriam-Webster Thesaurusexceptional discernment and judgment especially in practical matters <had the business acumen to know that the market for sportswear was becoming ...
acumen - Meaning in Punjabi - acumen in Punjabi - Shabdkosh ...acumen - Meaning in Punjabi, what is meaning of acumen in Punjabi dictionary, audio pronunciation, ... Pronunciation of acumen ... Antonyms of acumen.
acumen - Meaning in Hindi - acumen in Hindi - Shabdkosh ...acumen - Meaning in Hindi, what is meaning of acumen in Hindi dictionary, audio pronunciation, synonyms ... Pronunciation of acumen ... Antonyms of acumen.
Synonyms for acumen | Synonym.comSynonyms and antonyms for acumen. 1. acumen (n.) shrewdness shown by keen insight. Synonyms: perspicacity,; insightfulness,; shrewdness ...


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While some of you may still be sulking from the absence of new episodes of iCarly and Victorious on your TV screens, this may be the perfect remedy to heal your wounds: Sam & Cat has a release date! (Or a release month, anyway). The spin-off Nickelodeon show, starring Jennette McCurdy and Ariana Grande, which was confirmed for pick-up in late November, finally has a slot on the network. But when, you ask? Just before the beans were spilled, Jennette and Ari had a little fun via Twitter:
Here's a little sum'n sum'n about @samandcat
— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) April 18, 2013
Okay, enough of the suspense. Watch the video above — Sophia Grace & Rosie make an appearance! — then tell us if you're ready for Sam & Cat in the comments.
WATCH: Ariana Grande's "The Way" Music Video!
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