A Corpus-Based Comparison of Inclusiveness in L2 Reading Materials for Refugee Children

Despite increased emphasis on the role of inclusive practices and materials in post-COVID-19 classrooms and warnings about implicit biases against disadvantaged groups, the textbook problem has rarely been approached with equity measures in mind. This multimethod study aimed to investigate to what extent L2 reading materials, locally produced and used for refugee education in Turkey and New Zealand, include all children with different proficiency levels, gender identities and cultural backgrounds using corpus-driven methods. All verbal and nonverbal texts from ten thematically similar third-grade storybooks were subjected to qualitative and quantitative analysis. Comparisons against measures of grammatical and lexical complexity, and of gender and cultural equity revealed that despite both being far from achieving the ideal composition for creating inclusive learning-friendly environments, TSL materials were lagging further behind ESL counterparts. They depended on almost uniform sets of easy-to-read narratives embodying simpler grammatical features and high-frequency words, and thus needed extension with relatively elaborate ones to accommodate mixed-abilities. Gender disparities were institutionalised through male overrepresentation in hero-making, negative stereotyping, familial and occupational identification, and engagement in monetary and mobility activities, but occasionally ameliorated, in the ESL case, by reversing conventionally-gendered domestic, technical and intellectual skills in texts and illustrations. The widest gap was observed in cultural representations because TSL materials, written from a tourist's perspective, focused on imposing superficial knowledge of target-culture elements, and ESL materials on ensuring relevance through greater use of elements from diverse cultures. Therefore, egalitarian representations in gendered and cultural contents are required for their rehabilitation.

Urban and peri-urban agriculture in Egypt

Around the world, urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) has evolved into a new socio-political manifestation that can endorse social solidarity, environmental education, and leisure activities. It is also a way to support the urban poor in middle and low-income counties and ensure food sovereignty and self-sufficiency. Furthermore, global shocks, pandemics, and crises (e.g., food crisis 2008, COVID- 19, climate change) have illustrated the vulnerability of the global food supply chain, as well as the need for resilience in cities' long-term food security, shedding more light on UPA's multiple functions in densely populated areas, offering an alternative land use and greater genuine value. Considering the present worldwide governmental push to promote urban agriculture and contemplate its consequences on urban dwellers and their environs, it is vital to investigate Egypt as one of the world's most populous countries, with densely packed cities and significant poverty rates. Using a systematic literature review, this article studies the impact of UPA in Egypt. Data were gathered using the Scopus database and supplemented with information from grey literature. The findings demonstrate that UPA can perform a wide range of socio-economic and environmental roles, including aesthetic urban design, waste management, circular economy, energy use efficiency, microclimate control, preservation of cultural heritage, biodiversity conservation, and health and well-being promotion. However, there is possible apprehension concerning soil erosion, extensive use of fertilizers and pesticides, contamination from wastewater resulting from the poor implementation. Finally, while UPA can make a beneficial difference in Egypt, socio-political, cultural, and technical hurdles may stymie its growth.

Keeping Cool with SageModeler

In this article, we explore how students interact with the various aspects of ST and CT as they build and refine computational models using SageModeler (a free web-based semi-quantitative system modeling application) in a chemistry unit on evaporative cooling (see Online Connections). Characterize problem or phenomenon to model Students begin Investigation 1 by doing a hands-on experiment, placing small amounts of various contact-safe liquids (water, rubbing alcohol, acetone, and oil) on their arms using bulb pipettes. By facilitating discussion around the evaporative cooling process and the key variables needed to model this process, these illustrations not only help students participate in the modeling practice of define the boundaries of the system, but also assist with the cognitive shift needed to design and construct model structure using SageModeler system modeling software (see Online Connections). [...]students can adjust the magnitude of these causal relationships using the relationship tab.

Scientific illustrations of SARS-CoV-2 in the media: An imagedemic on screens

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused an overload of scientific information in the media, sometimes including misinformation or the dissemination of false content. This so-called infodemic, at a low intensity level, is also manifested in the spread of scientific and medical illustrations of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Since the beginning of the pandemic, images of other long-known viruses, sometimes imaginary reconstructions, or viruses that cause diseases in other, non-human species have been attributed to SARS-CoV-2. In a certain way, one can thus speak of a case of an imagedemic based on an alteration of the rigour and truth of informative illustrations in the media. Images that illustrate informative data have an influence on the emotional perception of viewers and the formation of attitudes and behaviours in the face of the current or future pandemics. So, image disinformation should be avoided, making it desirable that journalists confirm the validity of scientific images with the same rigour that they apply to any other type of image, instead of working with fake, made-up images from photo stock services. At a time when scientific illustration has great didactic power, high-quality information must be illustrated using images that are as accurate and real as possible, as for any other news topic. It is fundamental that informative illustrations about COVID-19 used in the media are scientifically rigorous.