Academic maturity of students in an extended programme in mathematics

ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on the students who are registered in the University of Pretoria’s academic development programme, named the Four-year Programme (FYP). The programme was introduced as a gateway for students who are underprepared but have the potential to succeed and then continue their studies into the mainstream science programmes. Our research focuses on measuring the change in the academic maturity of these students. In the theoretical framework that we developed, academic maturity is subdivided into two components namely non-subject based maturity and subject based maturity (mathematical maturity). This paper focuses on measuring non-subject based academic maturity. The survey used for this purpose is called the Student Academic Readiness Survey (STARS), taken at the beginning of the year and after the first semester respectively. The results of the surveys are compared to measure the change in students’ views. Results show that in all constructs there is a surprising decline in students’ perceptions regarding their own abilities over the first semester at university. We use the Dunning–Kruger effect to explain this unexpected decline, in that students seem to develop a more realistic view of their own maturity, which in itself can be seen as a growth in academic maturity.     

Isolation of the first ferromagnetically coupled Mn(III/IV) complex

Binuclear manganese complexes Mn2(III/IV)(dtsalpn)2DCBI, 1, Mn2(III/III)(dtsalpn)2HDCBI, 2, containing the ligand dicarboxyimidazole (DCBI) have been prepared in order to address the issue of imidazole bridged and ferromagnetically coupled Mn sites in high oxidation states of the OEC in Photosystem II (PS II). Temperature dependent magnetic susceptibility studies of 1 indicates that the interaction between the two Mn(III)/Mn(IV) ions is ferromagnetic (J = +1.4 cm(-1)). Variable temperature EPR spectra of 1 shows that a g = 2 multiline is as an excited state signal corresponding to S = 1/2.     

Ligand‐Free Palladium‐Catalyzed Aerobic Oxidative Coupling of Carboxylic Anhydrides with Arylboronic Acids

We report a new, effective and environmentally friendly protocol for selective aerobic oxidative coupling of arylboronic acids with carboxylic anhydrides in the presence of ligand‐free palladium catalyst. The aryl benzoates are obtained in good to excellent yields.     

Study on the cationic modification and dyeing of ramie fiber

A modification procedure for ramie fiber using 3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyltrimethyl ammonium chloride (CHPTAC) as a cationic agent and NaOH as a catalyst was developed in this paper. The morphological and structural transformations of the fiber induced by modification were determined by XRD (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and thermogravimetry analysis (TGA). XRD results show that the crystal structure of the modified fiber was still preserved although its crystallinity was decreased, which was confirmed from the TGA results. The mechanisms for the modification and dyeing of ramie fiber were analyzed, and the optimum modification conditions were determined to be the CHPTAC concentration of 30 g L⁻¹, the NaOH concentration of 15 g L⁻¹, the reaction temperature of 50 °C, and the reaction time of 60 min. The raw and the modified fibers were dyed with C.I. reactive red 2. The K/S values for the cationic modified fiber increased to be three times as high as the unmodified fiber. The dye uptakes increased greatly with an increase in the nitrogen contents up to 0.4% on the modified fibers.     

丝氨酸蛋白酶中催化三元组内氢键的作用

为了探究丝氨酸蛋白酶催化效率的来源,本文分别研究了丝氨酸酶催化水解多肽CI2、MCTI-A和六肽(SUB)的过程中催化三元组内的氢键所起的作用. 首先采用QM/MM-MD方法计算了在酶-底物复合物和过渡态下组氨酸和天冬氨酸之间质子转移的自由能曲线. 结果表明低能垒氢键仅在CI2酰化反应的过渡态区域形成,而在MCTI-A和SUB酰化反应中均是正常氢键. 与MCTI-A相比,CI2和SUB体系中氢键强度在过渡态时显著增强,因此相应的酰化反应能垒明显降低. 过渡态区域形成的低能垒氢键显然有助于加速酰化反应,同时研究也表明正常氢键也有可能降低能垒. 氢键降低能垒的关键则在于过渡态下氢键强度的增加程度,而不是其是否生成了低能垒氢键. 本文为研究催化三元组间的氢键在丝氨酸蛋白酶中的作用提供了新思路,并有助于理解丝氨酸蛋白酶中催化三元组的催化机制.     

提高大学物理实验教学质量的措施与设想

本提出了提高大学物理实验教学质量的一些措施与设想。并加以简要论述。     

义工旅行动机的量表开发与验证

随着义工旅行在年轻人中的普及,不少义工组织、旅行社和旅游目的地纷纷推出义工旅行项目。然而目前的项目安排大多仿照国外,对国内年轻人的需求认识尚不明晰,学术界对这一主题的研究也相对匮乏。鉴于此,以Voluntour和EASIN义工旅行组织的参与者为研究对象,严格遵循量表开发的流程,采用探索性因子分析、3次验证性因子分析和结构方程模型检验的方法,从多个角度验证了量表的信度和效度,得到了基于中国情境的义工旅行动机量表。研究结果表明：(1）由4个维度17个测量项目组成的量表,整体结构良好,具有较好的稳定性和适用性,可成为义工旅行研究的有效测量工具;(2）义工旅行的动机维度可划分为休闲逃避、深度体验、自我服务/发展与利他四类,动机中的利他维度是区分义工旅行与背包旅行、打工度假旅行的关键属性,是年轻人选择深度休闲方式的一种体现;(3）与国外研究相比,基于中国情境的量表无保护功能与宗教参与的动机维度,且社交动机表现不突出。最后,探讨了义工旅行项目在产品开发和市场营销方面的策略。     

Bi4B2O9晶体及其熔体结构的高温原位拉曼光谱研究

利用密度泛函理论计算了Bi₄B₂O₉晶体的常温拉曼光谱, 并通过与实验拉曼光谱对比, 对其振动模式进行了归属. 利用高温原位拉曼光谱研究了Bi₄B₂O₉从常温到750 ℃升温过程中微结构的变化. 随着温度的升高, 晶体的平均键长变长, 键角分布变宽, 熔化后晶体中的BiO₄和BiO₅多面体解体, BO₃构型则保持三配位不变. 运用量子化学从头算法模拟了Bi₄B₂O₉的熔体结构并与实验拉曼光谱进行了对比分析, 发现在Bi₄B₂O₉熔体中B原子团簇为孤立的BO₃构型, Bi ³⁺游离于BO₃之间, 并结合未参与形成BO₃的O原子起到平衡电荷的作用.