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Student-generated questions can be an effective study technique to improve active learning, metacognitive skills, and performance on examinations. Students have shown greater success when assessed using peer-made study questions than when studying without questions. In three semesters of a kinesiology research methods course students were taught how to write high-quality multiple-choice questions that addressed course objectives and Bloom’s Taxonomy. Students were given a graded assignment to write three multiple-choice questions using Makequiz, a Java and web-based tool for helping students generate multiple choice questions. Student- generated questions that were rated as good quality (n = 169-245) were provided to the students as a study resource prior to the final exam. Of those study questions, 40 were selected each semester to be on the final exam. Students performed significantly better on student-written questions than instructor-written questions on the final exam in Class A (p < .05) and in Class C (p < .05). A majority of students felt this assignment was a worthwhile component of the course, voting to keep Makequiz in the curriculum (Class A: 52.6%, Class B: 62.3%, Class C: 58.3%) or to modify Makequiz (Class A: 25.3%, Class B: 14.5%, Class C: 18.1%). Many of the students stated it was the most valuable assignment of the course (32% Class B and Class C). Makequiz is, therefore, a recommended study tool for students. Comparisons are also made with PeerWise, an online platform for creating and sharing MCQ and feedback. Further investigation is required to measure the impact Makequiz has on learning, metacognitive skills, and anxiety levels before test-taking.

Thirty-eight samples were taken from the banks of the Sanaga River and its main tributaries draining different plant ecosystems, but also from rivers in the coastal basins of Cameroon. This study aims to characterize the origins of pollen and the dominant mode of transport of pollen inputs to the continental shelf. The classical method of pollen spectra analysis and multivariate statistical analysis revealed three groups of samples corresponding to the three main ecosystems in which the samples were taken. Pollens typical of the northern savannas are found in the spectra of samples taken further downstream from the Sanaga River in forest areas and not in samples from rivers draining mainly the forested coastal basins. The level of similarity between groups and the spatial evolution of spectra from upstream to downstream are related to the fluvial transport of pollen.

Functionalism is a popular solution to the mind–body problem. It has a number of versions. We outline some of the major releases of functionalism, listing some of their important features as well as some of the bugs that plagued these releases. We outline how different versions are related. Many have been pessimistic about functionalism’s prospects, but most criticisms have missed the latest upgrades. We end by suggesting a version of functionalism that provides a complete account of the mind.

Afghanistan is severely contaminated by anti-personnel mines, which pose major physical, social and economic threats to repatriating refugees. Fortunately, mine action - a multidimensional effort to address these problems through survey, detection, clearance, mine awareness, and victim assistance - is well developed in Afghanistan, with the Afghan Mine Action Program a model of good practice. That said, mine action faces ongoing challenges, of which those originating in the realm of politics are the most troubling.

At the end of the Neolithic Era, during the third millennium BCE, there were fewer humid periods of weather, and the sub-Saharan Sahelian zone, from the Atlantic to Lake Chad, assumed its current geographical form. Since then, the climate has continued undergoing major variations. The succession of climatic episodes, humid or dry, is pointed out along with their complex interactions. These variations are placed in parallel to cultural phases of evolution in archeology and history. Climate-related events have always had heavy consequences on the peopling of this vast region, often subject to extreme natural conditions. The relative synchronism between the principal cultural trends from west to east across the Sahel seems to have often been subject to swings in the climate and the resulting environmental changes.