Converting a large lecture class to an active blended learning class: why,how, and what we learned

Faced with diminished faculty resources and increased student enrolment from 2010 to 2017, we sought to use blended learning to achieve active learning in a large c.400-student introductory geography class. Working iteratively over seven years and eight classes and using smart classrooms, better timetabling, experimentation with peer review and learning management system (LMS) technologies, as well as the expertise of Queen’s University Continuing and Distance Studies instructional design team to improve integration between course elements, we closely approached the quality of learning achieved in a much smaller enrolment class. It is possible to teach large classes of 400 students in an active and engaged manner. The greatest obstacle to the development and maintenance of this model is institutional culture.     

AT THE ROOTS OF THE ‘FINLAND BOOM’

Finland enjoys a positive country image in Japan, where, reportedly, enthusiasm for things Finnish reached the state of a ‘boom’ during the 2000s–2010s. What is this positive visibility based on? To shed light on the foundations of Finland’s visibility in Japan, this article tracks Finland’s national imaging there from a historical perspective. Through an empirical study of Finnish diplomatic archives, the article looks beyond nation branding – the latest mode in the official promotion of states to foreign audiences – and opens a window into the past practices of Finland’s official promotion in the distant East Asian case. In the 1960s, the Press Bureau of Finland’s Foreign Ministry drafted an image policy to support Finland’s neutrality and to broaden the country’s interaction with the West. The policy was implemented through Finland’s embassies, and therefore Finland’s newly defined characteristics also became actively promoted in Tokyo. As a result of this intensification of Finnish public diplomacy in the Cold War, many of the modern aspects of Finland’s later nation branding in Japan were introduced. Of the redefined official autostereotype, cultural and commercial dimensions proved the easiest to promote, whereas its foreign political dimension was met with the most local contradiction.     

Was the Fishing Village of Lepenski Vir Built by Europe’s First Farmers?

Journal of World Prehistory - It is now widely accepted that agriculture and settled village life arrived in Europe as a cultural package, carried by people migrating from Anatolia and the Aegean...     

Jerusalem Transformed in Post-Reformation England: The Case of the Cliffords and Beamsley Hospital

Abstract

This article explores the impact of the Tudor religious reforms in the rural upland parish of Kirkby Malhamdale, Craven, in the Yorkshire Dales, from the late medieval period, when it was dominated by the economic power of the monasteries, during the Dissolution and subsequent changes, to 1603. Although early churchwardens' accounts have not survived for the parish, the analysis draws upon a variety of contemporary sources including wills, ecclesiastical documents, manor court rolls and other miscellaneous material, as well as the fabric and structure of the parish church itself. Aspects of worship and ritual in Kirkby Malham, the response to the reforms, and the extent to which conformity in the reformed Church of England was established in the parish by the end of the sixteenth century, are examined.     

When “Bomb Canada” is Really Just a Metaphor: Using the American Jeremiad to Reinterpret Anti-Canadianism in the American Press

The most prominent motif in American social commentary is the jeremiad, a biblical prototype that bitterly laments the state of society and calls for its reform. In the post-9/11 period, as Canada and the US pursued diverging military policies, American pundits responded with a torrent of “anti-Canadian” criticism. Canadian pundits and scholars have argued that this critique fosters negative social attitudes and prejudice that could result in less favorable political relations. In contrast, this article evaluates political punditry through the framework of the jeremiad. It argues that these political pundits subject Canada to a unique form of self-criticism that identifies Canada as part of the national mission. The American Jeremiah scolds Canadian “apostates” as he would address American citizens who have backslid from the national ideal. The desired effect is spiritual, and will not necessarily lead to the political sanctions feared by Canadian observers.     

An Eocene moncotyledon from Nelly Creek,Central Australia,with affinities to Hemerocallidaceae (Lilianae: Asparagales)

A monocotyledonous partial leaf macrofossil from Eocene beds at Nelly Creek near Lake Eyre in Central Australia is described. It is recognised as being close to several extant Australasian species of Dianella Lam. ex Juss. (Hemerocallidaceae), especially the D. odorata Blume / D. bambusifolia Hallier f. complex. However, because it has unique cuticular features relative to extant Hemerocallidaceae, the fossil is assigned to the new genus and species Dianellophyllum eocenicum Conran, Christophel & Cunningham.     

Historical essay: electroconvulsive therapy, memory, and self in America

Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) practitioners and anti-ECT activists have divergent interpretations of both the treatment and its history. Despite claims by ECT opponents that practitioners do not acknowledge memory side effects, the published literature on the procedure demonstrates psychiatrists' awareness of this issue. And though current ECT practitioners claim that memory side effects were mostly the result of outmoded methods, investigators continue to publish studies that indicate ongoing memory problems. This article explores the conflict between pro- and anti-ECT groups around the issue of memory side effects in the broader context of changes in American psychiatry and society.