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Comprehensive history taking

A comprehensive history taking is a way to perform a History-taking from a patient. The features of it is that the questioner have a complete set of questions to ask, in contrast to iterative hypothesis testing, where the questioner adapt his/her questions to the circumstances. Therefore, comprehensive history taking is mostly performed by Medicine students, who aren't yet as experienced that they can improvize. Afterwards, the Medicine student can report all the answers to a physician, who can put the right diagnosis.

Performance
This is an example of how a comprehensive history taking could be performed.

Presentation

 * Greet the patient, present yourself and the purpose of the meeting.
 * Listen Start with open-ended questions and let the patient tell freely.
 * Specify with restricted questions.

chief complaint or presenting illness

 * Why do you seek health care today? New trouble or worsening of an earlier one?
 * Symtoms
 * Localization. Where? Does it change position?
 * Debut
 * Duration
 * Worsening factors. Body position? Exercise? Food intake?
 * Alleviating factors. Is there anything that makes the symtoms better?
 * Restriction of life. Worse sleep? Apetite?

Ongoing illnesses
E.g. diabetes, rheumatism, hypertension

Past medical history
Includes illnesses that are already treated. It's important to get to know:
 * major illnesses,
 * any previous surgery/operations
 * What illness?
 * when?
 * where it was treated
 * how it was treated

Medication
What kind of medicines is the patient taking? It also includes: It's important to know:
 * Medication taken regularily as well as when necessary
 * Over-the-counter medications
 * contraceptive pills
 * Form (pills, injections)
 * Name
 * Strength (mg/pill)
 * Doses/day

Heredity
Has anybody in the family had similar problems?

Social

 * Profession. Environment? Stress? Tasks? Unemployed?
 * Family. Live alone or with husband/wife? Children? How many? Do they live nearby?
 * Residence. House? Flat? Which floor? Is there an elevator?
 * ADL Independent or home help? Get about with stick/walker.
 * Exercise and nutrition
 * Tobacco smoking. How many cigarettes/day? Smoked earlier?
 * Alcoholic beverages. How many centilitres of beer, wine and spirits.

Gynecologic
This is of interest in fertile women or women after menopause.
 * Menstruation-problems?
 * Pregnancies?
 * Deliveries?
 * Menopause?
 * Gynecologist-contacts?

Abuse

 * Ongoing drugs?
 * Debut?
 * Treatment?
 * Complications?
 * Withdrawal-symptoms?
 * Social contacts?
 * Contact with addiction health care?

Allergies
To medications? Food? What is the reaction? Rashes? Dyspnea?

Organ-specific questions
In addition to general questions, the Medicine student could also have an arsenal of organ-specific questions, in order to put the right differential diagnosis.

Gastrointestinal problems

 * How long time?
 * Consistency of faeces?
 * Number of defecations/day?
 * Nocturnal problems?
 * Blood content?
 * Problems after meal?
 * Pain?
 * Weight loss?

Upper abdominal problem

 * Heartburn?
 * Changes with body position?
 * Epigastric pain?
 * Does food alleviate?
 * Does antacids alleviate?
 * Nausea? Vomiting? (blood)
 * Dysphagia?
 * Colour of faeces?
 * Nocturnal problems?
 * Weight loss?

Liver disease

 * Contact with hepatitis-patient?
 * Formerly operated? ( Cholelithiasis, tumor)
 * Alcohol abuse?
 * Drug abuse?
 * Abdominal pain?
 * Itch?
 * Fever?
 * Diarrhea?

Chest pain

 * How long time?
 * Have the problems changed?
 * Duration of an attack?
 * What triggers an attack?
 * How does the patient break an attack?
 * Localization?
 * Characteristics of the pain?
 * Radiation?

Dyspnea

 * How long time?
 * Is it constant or coming and going?
 * Smoking?
 * Cough? Blood present?
 * Worsening factors
 * Alleviating factors

Joint problems

 * How long time?
 * Which joints?
 * Morning stiffness?
 * Has the patient had any disease the month before the visit?
 * Is the pain worse in rest or in motion?
 * Symtoms from other organs?

Weight loss/fatigue

 * How long time?
 * Was there a triggering cause?
 * Worsening factors?
 * Does sleep alleviate?
 * Variations over the day?
 * Is the appetite normal?
 * How large weight loss?
 * Colour and consistency of faeces?
 * Amount and colour of urine?

Unconsciousness
(A relative gives the medical history)
 * When did the patient become unconscious?
 * Was there a sudden or gradual debut?
 * Urine/faeces-micturition?
 * Cramps?
 * What was the colour of the skin?
 * Medications?
 * Psychiatric symtoms?
 * Suicidal thoughts?
 * Abuse?
 * Physical trauma?
 * Vomiting?

Finally, Sum up what the patient has said to be sure you've got it right.

title: Comprehensive history taking


text:
User:Immay

imran abbas s/o Talib Hussain Lecturer (Commerce) New Pak College of Commerce, Okara Pakistan

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: User:Immay


text:
User:Al-20

Hi, I am Al-20

I am a student in germany, although I was in America for a long time.

I am interested in science, and programming(visit the Java cource)

if you have a question or a remark, don't hesitate to write me a e-mail!

title: User:Al-20


text:
User talk:Al-20

Say whatever you want here:

title: User talk:Al-20


text:
File:Screen Shot after splitting regions.png

Used with the WikiU Film School Lesson on how to create music for motion pictures.


text:
File:Screen Shot after removing regions.png

Used with the WikiU Film School Lesson on how to create music for motion pictures.


text:
File:Final notes with fade.ogg

Used with the WikiU Film School Lesson on how to create music for motion pictures.

title: File:Final notes with fade.ogg


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Particle mechanics

The attempt of obtaining the sorbents selective with respect to biologycally active components of essential oil Eucaliptus dives.

Ivanov A.R. St. Petersburg Univ. Chem. Dep. Universitetskii pr., d.26 Petrodvorec, St. Petersburg, 198504 Russia antonruben@yandex.ru antonruben@rambler.ru

The principle of molecular asymmetry was founded in our experiments of preparing immunity protraction preparations. The attempt to produce of bio-passive sorption-matter was made. It’s having ability of chiral selective extraction of components from essential hydrocarbon oils: Eucalyptus dives. This substations are used as immunity modulators in Pharmacology and traditional (Tibet) medicine. The optical active antibiotic CAP was added into matrix silica solutions. As result the solid silica substances were obtained and used for hydrocarbon oils processing. Electron-microscopy, X-ray and surface characteristics were measured. The Nano-cell asymmetric parameters were calculated. The Diameter of pores consists 1,2-3,0 nm. The attempt to use of Magnetic influence (>0,1 Tl) for Chiral solid silica synthesis is made. The shifting of optical rotation activity of Eucalyptus dives liquid oil under the chiral selective SiO2 solid phase has been observed. The sorbents prepared under the magnetic influence have more than 10 times greater activity. It has been concluded that chiral selective effect is growing for the systems under the magnetic influence. According to chromatography and mass-spectra data among the main active extracted hydrocarbon component of studied oil is Trans-(-)-5-methyl-3-(1-methylethenyl)-cyclohexen [3-isopropenyl-5-methyl-cyclohexen] (CAS#56816-08-1 172-175 *C b.p.). However, the structure of this hydrocarbon is not typical for biology objects. Indeed, in special literature there are some differences of mass-spectra of this compound. Most likely the hydrocarbon, which is observed in our experiments has structure agrees: trans-(-)-6-methyl-3-(1-methylethenyl)-cyclohexen [3-isopropenyl-6-methil-cyclohexen]. This minor agent can take part in pharmacology effects with 1,8-cineol because this structure has a type of optical active antibiotic CAP

title: Particle mechanics


text:
User:Fairyofthewoods

I'm user:Banshee. But I've lost my password and changed my e-mail address so I created this new account. I'm from Greece and I'm particularly interested in Biology and Art, although I am very keen on expanding the Ancient Greek Language Department as I have been learning the A.G.L. since I was 12. I write stories and poems. I am pretty good at English but I know no terminology with a few exceptions. I want to become either a forensics-pathologist or a geneticist. Thank you for bothering to read this.

Fairyofthewoods 16:32, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

title: User:Fairyofthewoods


text:
Learning resource

Learning resources are text, media, and other digital assets that are useful for teaching, learning, and assessing as well as for research purposes. Wikiversity has many types of learning resources not available at other Wikimedia Foundation projects (see: What Wikiversity is not). However, Wikiversity doesn't automatically include all of the learning resources available in other projects, such as encyclopedia articles, textbooks, or source texts (see: Wikimedia). In special cases these types of resources may be hosted by Wikiversity projects.

What learning resources does Wikiversity include?
Wikiversity includes learning resources in all subject areas for all age groups. Learning resources can be roughly divided into:
 * 1) Learning projects that support active learning, and
 * 2) Static learning materials for use outside of Wikiversity.

Learning projects
Learning projects guide active learners to exercises and collaborative learning projects. See: Portal:Learning Projects.

Research projects
Research is an integral part of advanced education and professional work in many fields. See Research for information on Wikiversity research projects.

Learning materials
Learning materials can be audio and video files, text files and are generally static learning objects that can be used either by Wikiversity participants or downloaded for use at bricks-and-mortar educational institutions.

Finding Wikiversity Learning resources
Portals. Every Wikiversity learning resource may be linked to by at least one portal page. You can browse the Wikiversity portals. See Category:Portals. Categories. Every Wikiversity learning resource should be in at least one Category. You can browse Wikiversity by category. See: Category:Categories.

Search. Try using the search feature to find learning resources. See: Searching.

Your turn
Wikiversity had many learning resources that are on hard-to-find pages. You can help make sure that every learning resource has a link to it from at least one portal page. Particularly exciting learning resources should become featured content on portals or the Main Page.

When existing portals become too crowded you can make new portals.

Creating learning resources
See: Content development.

title: Learning resource


text:
Learning resources

 * Learning resources (Education) - links to learning resources for education
 * Learning resource - Wikiversity learning project about Learning Resources
 * Learning resources - a guide to creating learning resources on Wikiversity

Categorising Resources

 * Category:Resources
 * Category:Resources by completion status
 * Category:Resources by level
 * Category:Resources by need
 * Category:Resources by project
 * Category:Resources by type
 * Category:Resources by who participants are
 * Category:Resource centers
 * Category:Resources under construction
 * Category:Resources with an attribution
 * Category:Resources with disclosures
 * Category:Resources with related material
 * Category:Featured resources
 * Category:Completed resources
 * Category:Nearly complete resources
 * Category:Half-finished resources
 * Category:Partly developed resources
 * Category:Freshly started resources

title: Learning resources


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User:Dileepgarg~enwikiversity

Hello,

I am Dileep Garg from Pachore (Madhya Pradesh) India.

I am a student of Law, Commerce, Economics & Management & also teach Commerce subject in college & coachings.

title: User:Dileepgarg~enwikiversity


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Wikiversity:Templates/potential conflicts

Here we list potential conflicts in template use.

template:2x, template:3x,...
Such templates, as 100x are used in iterate. Please avoid. On the other hand, template:x2,...template:x9 are currently used as "dummy" templates for demonstrations.


text:
Talk:GarageBand/Graduation Day - Music Cue 1

This is just pathetic. You're petitioning the general public for help??? As someone who also tried for this film, it saddens me to know it went to a composer who has to beg strangers for assistance. Why not leave the jobs to those of us who are capable of doing the work? -SD

Please contact me.

 * Please contact me. This is getting interesting.  Robert Elliott 04:14, 31 May 2007 (UTC)


text:
Templates

In MediaWiki, templates are (mostly) pages which contain texts for multiple uses. It is a flexible and surprisingly versatile tool.

In this topic we explore the potential of mediawiki templates. For coordination of template coding and maintenance in Wikiversity, see templates. For introduction to templates, see help:templates.

Recursive conversion
See category:Recursive conversion templates for a list of such templates

These templates are actually programs. They come in hand for demonstrations in such learning projects as Conway's game of life or Calculating the square root of a.

Existing programmes

 * Euclidean algorithm is demonstrated in Euclidean algorithm
 * factorise - so far a very primitive brute-force factoriser. It cannot handle even mildly large numbers, because there are limits on pre-expansion and post-expansion sizes.  It can improve a lot.
 * quadratic reciprocity - currently it does not work; to make it algorithmic, I think we should first master factorizations.

More ideas

 * It would be good to have a usable list of prime numbers, with ,e.g, giving 5, the third prime number; or,  giving 11. It would improve factorise. The task may be easier after StringFunctions is implemented.

Threaded discussions
See THREADNAV

Templates for css and javascripts

 * click - to superimpose an invisible link on an image, but there are problems in its use

Unicode

 * It would be great, especially for the language departments, to have such a template unihan database that would give the link to the information page   on http://unicode.org/charts/unihan.html.  It needs stringFunctions. (Please go to 6455 and vote!)

WikiProjects on Templates in other wikia

 * Meta:m:Help:templates
 * Wikipedia: w:Wikipedia:WikiProject templates,w:Wikipedia:WikiProject template sharing

title: Templates


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The visible sky

Have you ever looked carefully and curiously at the night sky far was from a city? If so, at first glance you may have found no order in the stars, and no way to judge their distances, except to say that they are far away. What patterns emerge from a careful long term scrutiny?

Objective
Describe the daily motions of the sun, moon, stars and planets relative to the horizon.

Constellations
Take the time to study the stars for a while; you'll find that they fall into patterns, designs imposed by your mind. Ancient skywatchers perceived stellar patterns and passed them on such patterns are called Constellations. Early named constellations marked a convenient group of stars, with ill-defined boundaries, that typically outlined a mythological or realistic figure. In Babylonian times the constellations came into use as signposts in the sky to mark the positions of the sun and moon. The constellations used today (there are 88 of them) are established by international agreement of astronomers.

Wikipedia readings

 * Andromeda
 * Antlia
 * Apus
 * Aquarius
 * Aquila
 * Ara
 * Aries
 * Auriga
 * Bootes
 * Caelum
 * Camelopardus
 * Cancer
 * Canes Venatici
 * Canis Major
 * Canis Minor
 * Capricornus
 * Carina
 * Cassiopeia
 * Centaurus
 * Cephus
 * Cetus
 * Chamaeleon
 * Circinus
 * Columba
 * Coma Berenices
 * Coona Australis
 * Corona Borealis
 * Corvus
 * Crater
 * Crux
 * Cygnus
 * Delphinus
 * Dorado
 * Draco
 * Equuleus
 * Eridanus
 * Fornax
 * Gemini
 * Grus

title: The visible sky


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Category:TemplateTaskforce

See Templates

title: Category:TemplateTaskforce


text:
Wikiversity talk:Categories/2007/Week22

OK Category:Life Sciences was more fully developed so I moved the lonely Category:Plant sciences to there and deleted "Category:Life sciences". Category:Plant sciences, however, seems less developed than Category:Plant Sciences, so what's the convention? Do we need both? Now, If we need to we can move Category:Life Sciences to "Life sciences" if that makes more sense. Should we try to simplify the CategoryTree by merging redundant categories? I'm still not sure how to procede. CQ 18:49, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

 * If you delete the category:life sciences, somebody else may come and create it again. It is better to keep a redirect. Hillgentleman|Talk 18:53, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

title: Wikiversity talk:Categories/2007/Week22


text:
Making links

This is a quick tutorial about how to make hypertext links on Wikiversity webpages.

Terminology

 * hypertext link ("link" for short). Here are some examples of links: Link and Hyperlink.
 * internal link. Here is an example of an "internal link": Link. Internal links are links to other Wikiversity pages.
 * external link. External links are links to another website such as the Wikipedia website or in the wider sense, anywhere on the Internet. You can easily recognize external links from the little arrow on their right side. Here is an example of an "external link": Google.com.

Make an internal link
Try creating a link from this page section to another Wikiversity page. Example: Main Page can be used to create a link to the Wikiversity Main Page. Click on the "edit" link for this page section. When you see the edit window, practice making a link below:
 * Link
 * Main Page
 * Test
 * Main Page
 * Hyperlink

Make an external link
In many cases it is useful to make links from Wikiversity pages to web pages at other websites. The simplest way is to paste the URL (website address) and save the page. Then the link will automatically be displayed as a hyperlink. For example:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sturnus_vulgaris_-California-8.jpg

Single-square brackets can also be used, within which the URL and text to show are added e.g., youtube was created using this syntax: youtube.

You can edit this page section and practice making external links.
 * youtube
 * google
 * Project Gutenberg
 * Tech GO Simple
 * cnn
 * Green White S.C.

Some link tricks

 * link trick #1: external links that look like internal links Here are three links to the same page: Main Page and Main_Page and Wikipedia website. To make a link to Wikipedia look like an internal link use this format: Main Page . The "w:" prefix means to make a link to Wikipedia and "Main Page" is an example of a page name at Wikipedia. " Main Page " is an example of MediaWiki Markup; the special instructions that are used at Wikiversity to do things like make hypertext links on pages. Do not fear: there are shortcuts (see below) for making links so you do not have to remember the MediaWiki Markup details. Advanced reading: Interwiki linking.
 * link trick #2: the "piped link" In case the form of an internal link is not correspond with the desired output, you can use "piped links". Above, the link "Wikipedia website" was made using Wikipedia website, where the vertical line is called a "pipe". The text to the left of the "pipe" is the correct form of the internal link, but it is not shown. To the right of it is the text as it is shown on the page.
 * link trick #3: shortcut buttons There are buttons on the Editing toolbar for starting internal and external links. When you edit a Wikiversity page, if you do not see the editing toolbar, make sure that "Show edit toolbar" is active in your editing preferences. When you click on the buttons, the basic MediaWiki Markup for a link will be added into the edit window then you just fill in the required page name information. Required information:
 * 1) link title <-- for internal links, add the page name of the page to be linked to.
 * 2) www.example.com <-- for external links, provide the URL of the page. Note: the difference between Main Page and Main_Page is that in the first link an optional "link title" was provided: Main Page.

Exercise
Edit the "Terminology" and "Tricks" sections of the page, above, and see how the various types of links are created.

Your turn
Edit this section of the page and practice making some links.

Technical writing

Technical writing

English literature     e.g. link to Wikipedia

English literature

Creative Writing   e.g. link to Wikibooks

Creative Writing

Discussion
Confused? Edit this section of the page and ask a question.
 * Could someone write this all out more simply with examples, showing me exactly how to create a link?
 * Yes I'm confused. Followed the tutorial "how to create a new page", Entered a page title: Decentralised education, the page jumped somewhere and after some fumbling around I ended up here. So, where is my page title??  I am out of time so will not try the exercises now.  ¬¬¬¬ (my keyboard does not know the horizontal wiggly character).  Janos Abel
 * Did you try the exercises/activities listed above? --JWSchmidt 23:31, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

title: Making links


text:
Wikiversity:Candidates for Custodianship/Countrymike

Request for custodianship I've long avoided requesting custodianship on Wikiversity because of a dictum oft repeated by JWSchmidt that custodianship is "no big deal". I recently wanted to be bold and edit the front page of Wikiversity in regards to a disturbing discovery I made that the front page had not been edited in over a year; the front page is a locked page. Custodianship would have allowed me to edit that page, so now i'm being bold again and requesting Custodianship for myself. Many in Wikiversity will know me from my constant lurking on IRC perhaps more than my edits on the site itself. I have though started two projects on WV:
 * 1) Web architecture for Wikis: learning project to discuss the implications of web architecture on the emergence of large scale participatory wiki projects like Wikiversity; and
 * 2) Ivan Illich: Deschooling Society - a Reading Group. I am also working on the Portal:Reading groups page.

Many of you may also know that I am active in the WikiEducator project where I am a beauracrat and sysop as well as being a member of the Interim Advisory Board. I also have over 2,500 edits on WikiEducator and have developed the WE Tutorial and given workshops to numerous educators and individuals on editing MediaWiki sites. I have had an account on WP since December 2001. My main goals for Custodianship should it be granted by the community are to strengthen relationships between the two projects that I am most involved with in my networked life, to continue working on developing learning projects inside Wikiversity, and to act as trusted and informed member of this community, helping newcomers become old-timers and visa-versa ;-) Countrymike 20:29, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

Mentoring
To the candidate: please list preferred mentor(s), if any. Willing mentors can list themselves, below.

The two people that I have had the most discussion/dialogue with on Wikiversity would be JWSchmidt and Cormaggio and I would welcome either one of them to mentor me. Countrymike 23:23, 14 December 2007 (UTC)
 * In a case like this, where the candidate has a clear record of constructive Wikiversity participation and prior experience as a MediaWiki sysop, mentorship is really no big deal. I'd be happy to be the mentor of record for Countrymike. --JWSchmidt 00:32, 15 December 2007 (UTC)
 * Thanks JWS, its a deal then - you and me it is. :-) Countrymike 04:03, 15 December 2007 (UTC)

 * Countrymike is now a probationary custodian. Enjoy the tools! sebmol ? 14:33, 15 December 2007 (UTC)

Nomination for full custodianship
I nominate Countrymike for full custodianship. Countrymike has been a probationary custodian since December 15, 2007. Countrymike has been a participant at Wikiversity for 8 months. He also participates at IRC freenode #wikiversity-en and Colloquium. One day in December 2007 Countrymike commented about how he could edit protected pages if he was a custodian, but he had no plans to become a great vandal hunter. I said, "the usual deal is: if you become a custodian and you notice some idiot vandalizing a bunch of pages, be willing to block the vandal's account....other than that, we do not expect much". Countrymike has continued to be a trusted member of the community during the probationary period. Countrymike should now be confirmed by the Wikiversity community as a full custodian. --JWS 15:27, 15 January 2008 (UTC)

Comments and discussion
There will be five days for community discussion of Countrymike (January 15-20).

 * Sounds like worthy goals to me. All of my interactions with Countrymike on IRC and elsewhere have been satisfactory.  I think we should take a chance on him.   I encourage some custodian to mentor him.   I vote AYE.  Give him a chance, we need more custodians in anticipation of soon to be arriving hordes.  Mirwin 21:56, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

 * There is a very lengthy and ongoing discussion between McCormack and Countrymike here, in which the candidate's reasons for requesting custodianship are put under the microscope. McCormack 16:44, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

 * An interview with the candidate has been set up here. McCormack 16:44, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
 * The candidate added a full set of serious answers today, following on from the McCarthyism comment he made two weeks ago. I think all of it is really worth reading, as I think Countrymike reveals more about his candidacy here than he has elsewhere to date. --McCormack 11:36, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

 * Custodianship is not a big deal. If a Wikiversity participant is trusted to not vandalize protected pages or to block vandals on sight or to help edit in the MediaWiki namespace and if an existing custodian agrees to be mentor then the participant is likely to become a probationary custodian. Given the nature of Wikiversity, I think we have to contemplate the creation of additional types of trusted functionaries beyond the types that have been found to be useful at Wikipedia. I have explored this idea at pages such as Review board, specifically in the context of the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees request that Wikiversity have a policy for research. Independent of the need for supporting research activities, there is a need at Wikiversity for people who can do outreach and take on "ambassadorial functions" and be "liaisons for facilitating interactions between Wikiversity and professional educators and researchers outside of Wikiversity". So far, Wikiversity has tried to achieve "ambassadorial functions" by using an informal approach (example). I think the Wikiversity community should explore the development of additional types of community-approved functionaries and this would involve a process by which the community formally designates and approves fellow community members who are trusted to perform outreach functions for Wikiversity. It is a simple fact that informal systems along these lines already exist, largely out of view of the community. For example, existing administrators such as myself get contacted by people in the Foundation Office and asked to perform "outreach" functions such as talking to the press and collaborating with academics who are writing grant proposals involving Wikiversity. We should have a system for formalizing this kind of Wikiversity community representation, a system that makes everything transparent and gets the larger community involved. In conclusion, I think Countrymike is an obvious candidate for recognition as a trusted member of the Wikiversity community (which is why I pushed him to request custodianship and why I agreed to mentor) and I hope Countrymike will take on "ambassadorial" functions that aid development of Wikiversity. Wikiversity needs participants who can network with educators and help facilitate constructive interactions between Wikiversity, individual educators and other institutions/websites that serve educators. --JWSchmidt 15:25, 29 December 2007 (UTC)

 * Countrymike, You are competent as an editor and as a custodian.  Does  the confirmation of your custodianship imply that the role of wikiversity custodian would be expanded to include ambassadorial roles, for that is your principal candidacy platform?  (Or should it be discussed in the colloquium?)  Do you really think it is a good idea?  And are you going to take major part in developing wikiversity outreach? Hillgentleman|Talk 21:28, 15 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Hillgentleman: I think that people should be comfortable requesting candidacy for custodianship along wider lines than just solely wanting access to "the tools"; learning to use the tools is a valuable asset to this community, but so are things like networking, promoting the values and projects embodied here and having the community endorse you in doing so by granting custodianship. I do hope to develop wikiversity outreach as much as I possibly can. Countrymike 07:38, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Quick clarification: I take it that you mean "Yes it implies, (No comment on whether to discuss in collquium), Yes it is a good idea, and Yes I shall take part". Hillgentleman|Talk 15:00, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

 * Hillgentleman, I don't think that it implies that all custodians need be ambassadorial, but I suppose it does suggest that other criteria besides just access to the tools should be considered. Yes, it should be discussed in the Colloqium (which I'm glad to see it now is), and yes I will do my best to take part. I often do take part in outreach, but this may not be reflected in Wikiversity edits. I have long had a page about WV on WE and also created the WikiEducator page on WV; i'm always pointing people on WE to WV projects on the WE mailing list, I recently had interwiki links created from WE to WV, and have recently been suggesting to people on WE that they join in on Teemu's Composing free and open online educational resources course. Countrymike 21:00, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Normally probationary candidates use their probationary period (or indeed the time before that) to show, very concretely, how they propose to put their words into actions. Custodians aren't normally elected on the basis of promises, but on the basis of solid actions backing up their words. It's unfortunate that you haven't really done very much about this "ambassador" thing to date, because then we could really see what you mean. Perhaps you could (right now?!) add an entire plan to the talk page of the outreach project on how you would develop it? Would you consider delaying or withdrawing your candidacy until you have had a better chance to back up your words with actions? --McCormack 11:45, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
 * In my opinion, nothing could ever be presented by the candidate which could 'back up words with actions' - the success or failure of this custodianship is presented in a way that heavily hinges on something that a Wiki - a specialized piece of software that mediates asynchronous collaboration - was never designed to regulate, nor have oversight on, (among many other things). For a Wiki to grant symbolic support and autonomy for actions off-wiki, I am not entirely comfortable with, and I would say, my inclination is being heavily against it, at least, in the form that it has been presented here. Where is the delineation of one's virtual-wiki and real presence, and to what extent should these influence each other? The community hasn't a satisfactory answer, and it probably cannot supply it either. Yes, Wikiversity is an experimental Wiki, and should it choose to engage this directly with this candidacy, good luck to it. I feel that in a way this custodianship has been made much more complicated than it had to be. I regret not jumping in much earlier to suggest that we should not be examining these issues in quite a strongly coupled way. A discussion about reconsidering the notion of a "custodian" should have been initiated, and kept separate from evaluating the custodianship. What has happened now, is that we have knowledge in advance that Countrymike intends to use custodianship off-wiki in a sense, and I am not sure whether anyone can be impartial enough to evaluate this fairly. What exactly would it mean to "support" or "oppose" in this context? It has become slightly loaded. Ironically, if the candidacy was simply presented as a plain vanilla one which passed, and then, sometime later, a statement was issued to the community, (say, on the Colloquium) to the effect "I'm well connected in the real word to people who could make a difference, and I think I can get them to help us out", there would have likely been an enthusiastic support. The difference here is that this shows initiative on the part of the custodian, which does not require the community's judgment. Personally, I think we are potentially losing a valuable candidate if this does not pass, but I cannot support this wholeheartedly as it stands. One alternative might be to resubmit this candidacy a little bit later, and perhaps by that time, it would be more apparent to the community that the candidacy, in reality, does not hinge so much on what one does off wiki. In short, it is not entirely convincing that the proper mechanisms are in place to support ambassador-type functions satisfactorily, even though it has been presented with the best of intentions. More discussion is necessary, although I think we need to give this a rest for the time being. --HappyCamper 17:42, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Scratch all the above. I've changed my mind on a number of issues after some intense reviewing and thinking these days. --HappyCamper 23:31, 19 January 2008 (UTC)

 * When I read the candidacy I thought: "Who is Countrymike ?" since I didnt remember having talks with him in IRC or so and did not remember his edits either (probably I am just getting old or it was that my internet was gone at end of December :-)) So I had to look at the figures first.

 * In the time as probationary custodian Countrymike's:
 * usage of sysop tools:
 * deletion: 1
 * undo: 1
 * rollback: 4
 * no protections, no blocks
 * about 130 WV-edits (85 of them )

 * in the same period of time for all custodians in total:
 * 190 deletions
 * 17 protections
 * 9 blocks

 * Then I had a look at the candidates history in the same time on Wikieducator:
 * about 340 edits
 * revert: 1

 * I liked that McCormack asked questions. It helps me gather more data about the candidates past edits, though it is a selection. Thanks again to McCormack who did this for us.

 * Regarding the mediawiki software the difference between a custodian and a registered user is written here. Expectations in the sysop flag are by humans who assume a status/something special in the sysop flag, because the real world likes such things. But we are in the virtual world here. As it says in How are Custodians expected to act?: "Custodians are supposed to follow the same principles as every other user, including being civil, assuming good faith, and understanding what Wikiversity is. They are expected to act professionally."

 * Why were the tools not so much used ? Perhaps this indicates a problem with the explanation of the tools or when to use them appropriately ? If the tools are not used, they seem not to be needed. Or was there nothing to use the tools with ? As I read you were on holiday, but I see regularly edits in the probationary time. Or were there some other reason ? (Comparison with wikieducator for your account since February 2006: 48 deletions, 4 blocks, 0 protections.)

 * Erkan: I didn't find a lot of opportunities to use the tools during this period, which was probably quite quiet anyway due to falling within the holiday season. Couple of rollbacks for vandalism was about all I noted and dealt with. Countrymike 20:24, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

 * Being active in several projects where the candidate is involved could cause problems like:
 * dedication of time for each project - and being specific for: WV ?
 * any interest of conflict might appear between a WV project and non-WV-project? Or is there actually no difference and we just make a difference ? But instead of seeing the differences, perhaps we can use Countrymike as a bridge/ambassador. But then again the question arises of: the day just has 24h and how much time will be spend with tasks where the sysops tools are used, which are the only difference between a custodian and a normal user from mediawiki point of view. Since being custodian is really hard work, which Countrymike probably knows from Wikieducator, could you also give an answer to this ?

 * I tend to have both WV and WE open all day long and check both regularly as well as being logged into both IRC channels. I don't really buy the conflict of interest arguement -- the two projects are complementary to each other and not in competition. To me this is about changing and challenging education and I participate in many channels that have similar goals. Countrymike 20:24, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

 * In general it is good that the candidate's mentor is supporting him, since the mentor should have had a close eye on the candidate. And probably will also continue doing so later on.
 * We should be open to anyone. Even people, who we do not consider as being yet ready for custodian can change their habits. This can be a learning project too - in one kind of way. I guess a sysop flag can also be reverted when the community feels afterwards that the flag does not suit the human or ? Erkan Yilmaz ( Wikiversity:Chat, wiki blog ) 16:47, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

 * Erkan, you may note that there are at least 4 or 5 custodians who are no longer active on the project at all. Countrymike 20:24, 17 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Hello Brent, thank you for your explanations above. About the inactivity: that is true. And if the inactive custodians would be around here, it would be better than not being around. WV would profit from this, I am sure. We could think of ways to make them participate more again perhaps ? Erkan Yilmaz ( Wikiversity:Chat, wiki blog ) 20:54, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

My goodness! I came here from the colloquium, and am honestly stunned by the diatribes here. Just 3 quick comments: Seems to me this is a tempest in a teapot caused by making mountains out of molehills, and we need to resist the temptation to try to drown the moles with the bathwater and dropping the baby in the process. --SB_Johnny | talk 18:15, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
 * 1) I doubt my own logs are much beefier over the past month... should I be desysopped for inactivity? There's really just not that much to do on Wikiversity when it comes to actually employing custodian tools, because we don't have 1,000 vandals per day.
 * 2) I can't imagine anyone thinks that Countrymike would use sysop tools to hurt the project, and as far as I'm concerned, that's the threshold for custodianship.
 * 3) Interpreting the "custodian position" as being an "ambassador position" is fine too. "Custodian", in my view, means nothing more than "trusted user who understands what Wikiversity is," and he (or I, or anyone else) is more than welcome to do outreach as a "trusted user who understands what Wikiversity is."

 * Reply to comments made above on this page (HappyCamper 17:42, 16 January 2008): "For a Wiki to grant symbolic support and autonomy for actions off-wiki....in the form that it has been presented here". <-- As far as I can tell, "the form it has been presented here" is not significantly different from what has been going on in Wikimedia projects for the past four or so years. Wikimedia volunteers perform outreach duties and when people from outside of Wikimedia want to talk to a volunteer they often seek out community-designated functionaries rather than other editors who have never been evaluated and discussed by their wiki peers. In that sense, every community decision about granting an editor access to MediaWiki sysop tools is implicitly a decision that involves a potential change in the candidate's chances of performing outreach in the future. In my view, what is unusual in this case is that there is explicit discussion about outreach rather everyone leaving the topic in background. So far, the Wikiversity community has had little constructive discussion about how to deal with the challenges of outreach. I put my general comments on outreach at the Colloquium. I think what we need to discuss is not exactly "reconsidering the notion of a custodian". I think we need to think creatively about the nature of community-designated functionaries and if there are new types of functionaries that are worth having at Wikiversity. "it is not entirely convincing that the proper mechanisms are in place to support ambassador-type functions satisfactorily" <-- This is a general failing of Wikimedia and is not really the topic of discussion for this page. I previously started a page for discussion of new types of Wikiversity functionaries, but that was oriented towards the needs of research policy. Maybe we should start to make use of Outreach for a serious discussion of "ambassador-type functions". --JWSchmidt 20:53, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Round and round we go, and it seems the "policy people" want to drown out the "content people". Mirwin and I on the same page as content creators, McCormack (contribs) and JWS (contribs) (other contribs) arguing on principle. No offense to either of you (and Countrymike's contribs on that "other wiki" are just like yours here), but you (and Countrymike) seem more interested in helping people make content than you are in actually generating content. That's fine, BUT: constantly leaving links to Outreach isn't the same as collaborating with fellow Wikiversitans to make outreach happen, and arguing about whether the Wikimedia Foundation should promote Wikiversity over WikiEducator should be done on the foundation mailinglist (and last I checked, I am the only one who even brought it up!).
 * I (me, personally, SB_Johnny) am just as happy having Countrymike speak for our project as I am having JWSchmidt or McCormack speaking for our project. I (same disclosure) would be even happier if it was mirwin or myself, but we're usually too busy creating content. Content is what people expect to find or create when they come here, and the two of you have to stop worrying about policies and welcome templates so you can spend your policy-making energies on just helping people make content. Every choice we make as a community will affect what comes next as our community (and content) moves toward. God only knows how we made it out of the "beta" phase, but here we are, and if we want to preserve what we've created, we can't start saying who can do what and when they can do it: certainly not this soon, and hopefully never. This sort of politics is toxic. All we need do is stick to the principles: anyone can edit, anyone can create, and anyone can say what they will about us. The only question for Countrymike is whether he'll speak for us in a kind and supportive way, and I can't imagine he'd do otherwise, because even though he's taken a beating here (did you really mean to accuse him of spamming?????), he's still here being his kind old self.
 * I vote that we never have this sort of conversation again.--SB_Johnny | talk 23:17, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

Quite a lot of discussion going on here. As a more or less inactive custodian on WV with a fairly neutral perspective on the issue (nobody has perfect NPOV, and to claim as much would be in violation of NPOV!) I'm going to pitch in a couple of points here. Please note that these are entirely my opinions, however are based on my understanding of the general policies accepted on WV and the issues at stake here.
 * First, JWS notes that custodianship is not a big deal. It isn't. If he needs the tools, and he isn't going to abuse them, we give him the tools. If he does abuse them, we take them away. That's how WV's approach to democracy works and that's why bureaucrats are perfectly normal members of the WV community.
 * This then means that there is very little, if any, implied faith in a custodian as an ambassador for WV. Custodianship is simply taking care of the wiki, and probably is more about spending hours importing pages from wikibooks than engaging in major decision making. Being accepted as a custodian shows some basic trust from the community. However, at present, with no real standards for custodianship, as well as JWS doing a lot of the decision making in this area, I feel it would be inaccurate to suggest all custodians are automatically considered trustworthy ambassadors for WV. We don't have a WP-style RFA process with very careful scrutiny from such a broad range of users to the point where POV pushing is destined to fail, so we have to be careful what assertions we make about our custodians.
 * Following on from this, at one point here in this discussion an issue of NPOV and the potential for a relationship with WE to undermine WV was raised. This is totally irrelevant to Countrymike's custodianship. If there is any evidence of such a relationship undermining WV it should be brought to the community's attention and it should be dealt with on consensus. It is not a matter to be taken lightly, and it's not something we can confine to IRC as we do for quite a few of our policy debates.
 * Countrymike's role as an ambassador for WE raises another issue altogether. I discuss it here as it is potentially relevant to his custodianship. It seems to be generally taken for granted by some of the members of the community that granting Countrymike custodianship is granting WE custodianship. It isn't. Countrymike is not WE, although he does have strong ties to it. We must trust him to take NPOV seriously and have a clear seperation between his role on WE and his role on WV. If he fails in this respect, we warn him about it. If he fails again, he is unfit to be a custodian and he loses the mop, to use the WP phrase for the event. However:
 * And this is the key issue here. WV is an open community. We welcome open discussion, we welcome open suggestion for change, and we welcome intelligent debate. Personal attacks, POV pushing etc. are not tolerated. But unless Countrymike has significant evidence of this in his history (my recent response to one of his comments notwithstanding) we begin by placing basic trust in him and we do not make premature judgements of him. The period of probation for custodians would ideally be six to eight weeks, as the candidates themselves have proved themselves reasonable editors, and we need six to eight weeks to assess their approach to custodianship. However, we cannot start assuming that he will attempt to undermine WV or to abuse his power, and this is part of the spirit and culture of WV.
 * There was also a question of WE's relationship with WV being about little besides stealing traffic. Allegations of this nature should be avoided at all costs, however an assertion to the contrary is essential. If the WE representatives here, presumably starting with Countrymike and Mackiewg, were to start a page in the Wikiversity namespace documenting what exactly it is this relationship would involve from there side, in simple terms, and the WV representatives do the same, the community would see what exactly is going on. A lot of the controversy here seems to be because of a lack of understanding of WE's side of the debate; clarification would be very important, and should probably start with Countrymike. Of course, allegations must be responded to, to which I pose this question to Countrymike - 'will you respect NPOV in your dealings as a WV custodian? I have no reason to suspect otherwise, however a simple answer to this question should put to rest the minds of some who have contributed to this discussion.
 * Dracione, yes. I have just spent some time reviewing the policies on both WP and WV and will respect NPOV or otherwise as a participant in learning projects disclose my biases. Countrymike 01:29, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

 * Finally, this brings us to a key issue of culture between WE and WV - as above, this custodianship should have no impact on WV's culture. If WE culture starts creeping into policy through Countrymike, so be it. Wikis are ever changing worlds. If any negative impacts come about, I trust the community will act quickly, and if it cannot there is little reason to accept more custodians than it needs and than it can handle.
 * Dracione, While participating in debate around policy is not something I shirk from, actively authoring policy is not particularly my forte -- what is becoming somewhat clouded in this debate is that I really want all the OER projects to succeed, and that I'm willing to volunteer the time to help develop interesting and engaging learning projects, use the mop(s) where needed, to help clean-up, organize, categorize and make sense of Wikiversity, and to promote this project throughout my network where appropriate. I'm truly surprised by what I think someone referred to as the tempest in a teacup that my candidacy has stirred amongst a few users. Countrymike 01:29, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

Any responses directly to me should probably be CC'd to my email inbox, draicone at gmail, as I infrequently monitor my watchlist pages due to my present lack of time. --Draicone (talk) 12:15, 19 January 2008 (UTC)

 * - looking forward to working with Countrymike here. --HappyCamper 23:28, 19 January 2008 (UTC)

✅ I'm closing this nomination as successful. After having read the comments made here, the interview, the "discussion part 1" and the discussion at the Colloquium, I've come to the conclusion that there is no significant obstacles to Countrymike being given the status of custodian. Taking on an ambassadorial role does not conflict with acting as a custodian, those two roles don't really overlap either. The concerns expressed by one user about NPOV, loyalties, spamming, etc. are interesting, they are however hypothetical and demonstrate a somewhat pessimistic perspective not particularly helpful in developing Wikiversity further. Assuming good faith is a cornerstone of Wikiversity and it's something one should not forget simply because one doesn't agree with all the activities someone engages in or someone doesn't fulfill a role exactly according to the picture one has of it It's the differences and diversity of opinions and viewpoints that, in the end, will make sure Wikiversity keeps progressing as a useful project. sebmol ? 12:48, 20 January 2008 (UTC)


text:
User:Confusedintx

ConfusedinTX

Age: 20

Attending Southern Arkansas University

title: User:Confusedintx


text:
User talk:Confusedintx

Don't forget to log in
Someone (you?) edited your user page anonymously. This shows up in the page history and on Special:Recentchanges. Be sure to log in so we know it's really you! -- CQ 22:12, 29 May 2007 (UTC) Support staff

title: User talk:Confusedintx


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User:Mystictoaster~enwikiversity

I live in Austin, TX. I don't know much, but I know how to proofread! (sort of)

title: User:Mystictoaster~enwikiversity


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User:CQ/2007/W22/2

29 May 2007 - I started working some on Wikiversity and Wikibooks services.

title: User:CQ/2007/W22/2


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User:HappyCamper/Toolbox

Category:Candidates for speedy deletion

title: User:HappyCamper/Toolbox


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User:CQ/2007/W22/1

28 May 2007 - Memorial Day (USA) - Joined Technical Theatre and Main page design changes projects

title: User:CQ/2007/W22/1


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User:CQ/2007/W22/3

30 May 2007 - Working on this journaling system... Hey! look at this!

title: User:CQ/2007/W22/3


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User:Meatballhat

I am Dan Buch. Hi there.

title: User:Meatballhat


text:
Lunar Boom Town/Lunar base light cycles

Posing the question
To those who know, what would be the technical limitations of such a setup? How much time out of the year does the far side of the moon face the sun? Other limitations making this idea impractical?

Response
There is no dark side of the moon... There is a side that never points towards earth, but all of the moon receives pretty much the same light, just like on earth.

title: Lunar Boom Town/Lunar base light cycles


text:
How to attempt paper

How to attempt paper?It is a big question for students in Asia.There are few steps for attempting a paper.First you have to analyze and pass through the whole question paper.

Lets us first look at the title. How to attempt paper is a title which perhaps written and posted in a hurry (no offence). Perhaps a calmer title would be how to effectively manage attempting a question paper. The other point "it is a big question for students in Asia" also assumes the importance asian studnets place on education and it seems to suggest that somehow Asian students are less well adept in handling exam hall pressure. This certainly isn't the case. Students all over the world perhaps are similar when it comes to handling that final moment before the exam paper is handed out: sweaty palms, twitching fingers, sipping water/drink/energy drink even when not thirsty, checking pen/pencil box, ensuring got the right roll number, registration ticket etc. If there ever was a technique to handle a question paper it is preparation, preparation, preparation. No two studnets are similar but a well prepapred student is very likely to manage his question paper well in the exam hall.

Whislt preparing for the exams it is important to anticipate questions well in advance and do mock answers so that one knows how much to write in the actual exam paper. For any question don't write everything you know just because you want to prove a point. Examiner wants to know if you know what you are asked to know. Secondly maximize(this can be done if you don't assume that the examiner knows all the stuff anyway so he will understand if you miss a formula ! never!!) your words for the questions for which there are more marks allocated. Fancy work(underlining, highlighting, colouring etc.) can wait for those last spare moments. Give answers like it were a verbal exam between your examiner and you. That means your answers should seem like you are making a reasoned argument or  a   case. Deploying your sharp memory as a tool to write word by word from a book is less likely to impress the examiner. Examiners perhaps more likely to award you for making attempts to reason out. However dont waffle if you are not certain. It is better to jot down that "theory" without an argument then trying to impress with a non-sensesical pseudo-intellect argument. Point is don't over do it. Do it to the extent where it seems intelligent and not boastful. The answers of the questions should reflect the degree of the knowledge you have of the subject. That's why the exams are designed for. Most students thinks exams are to pass(that they are) but at the same time they are also there to challenge yourself and test your memory, understanding of a subject, ability to argue and reason, ability to put a theory in practice and most importantly  your ability to handle this "not so life threatning" stress. An exam is not designed to make you feel less inferior to your fellow students. Some though may like to gloat but you should keep your nerve. Enjoy education, test yourself, read that question paper calmly, answer the question in order if possible. It is always a good idea to write in the beginning of the answer sheet how you have answered the questions (it is best to leave a few lines blank to write this information at the end of the exam )If you attempt all long questions first then short ones followed by multiple choice then write so. An examiner will only appreciate your attempt to help him save his time. This will also make you come across as a confident  fearless students.

The key to a question paper is prepare well in advance, anticipate a difficult paper, have a disciplined scheduled for a few months before the exam, sleep well all this while, entertain but most importantly don't catch up bad habits (drinking, smoking, etc.) to handle stress.

Rohit Tiwari MRes, MBA, BSc

title: How to attempt paper


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Talk:Learning Java/Swing and AWT

I hope these changes make a bit of context Al-20 15:50, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

title: Talk:Learning Java/Swing and AWT


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User:Barbarian~enwikiversity

THE PAGE FOR THE LAST BARBARIAN
THE LAST BARBARIAN My name is David Adjonteh. An up and coming young man who is pursueing a course in telecommunication and electronics. I am a tolerant person and can welcome any criticism. I hope to learn from everybody especially you (ie. if you have anything to share with me anything linked towardsmmy course). Thank you very much

title: User:Barbarian~enwikiversity


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User:DoveofWar~enwikiversity

DoveofWar
I am a writer/researcher, and student of communications

title: User:DoveofWar~enwikiversity


text:
Learning and memory

Welcome to the Learning and Memory learning project.

Wikibooks

 * Introduction to Psychology - Learning

Watch video

 * http://www.archive.org/details/Motivati1948

Discussion

 * Do experiments with laboratory animals provide a useful model for some aspects of human learning?

title: Learning and memory


text:
Musical direction

<!--

Course Information & A Little More Housecleaning

 * This Class
 * Thanks for visiting this course. This course is intended to teach the basics of Musical Direction for Musical Theatre Productions. This will cover all aspects of the process, from understanding the music, to the audition process, all the way to organizing and conducting the band and singers.

Thanks again for visiting!!

--Pianoman55 01:45, 31 May 2007 (UTC)
 * }

{| cellpadding="10" cellspacing="5" style="width: 100%; background-color: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto"
 * style="width: 60%; background-color: #ffffe0; border: 1px solid #777777; vertical-align: top; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 8px; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 8px; -moz-border-radius-topright: 8px; -moz-border-radius-bottomright: 8px;" rowspan="1" |

Lessons

 * The Lessons
 * /Introduction/ - Why?- The Immortal Question Answered]]
 * A brief history of Musical Theatre
 * Lesson 1- The Score
 * Lesson 2- Auditions & Casting
 * Lesson 3- Rehearsals
 * Lesson 4- The Week Before We Open (Hell Week)
 * Lesson 5- Performance

 * style="width: 40%; background-color: cornsilk; border: 1px solid #777777; vertical-align: top; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 8px; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 8px; -moz-border-radius-topright: 8px; -moz-border-radius-bottomright: 8px; height: 100px;" rowspan="1" |

Homework/Quizzes/Tests

 * Homework

 * Quizzes/Tests

 * }

title: Musical direction


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User:CQ/2007/W23

Test page for journaling system

last week | this week | next week

title: User:CQ/2007/W23


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Talk:Elementary math facts

Could this be merged with Arithmetic?Alorocaste 21:18, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

title: Talk:Elementary math facts


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User:Gamersedge

Hi, Im Justin Gerard, host Of the Gamer's Edge Podcast. I really dislike the band Girl Authority, and am unlucky enough to have my locker next to country girl :-(. I am a member of the school of computer science

title: User:Gamersedge


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Musical direction/Introduction

{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0em 0em 1em 0em; width:100%" Introduction
 * colspan="1" style="width:100%; vertical-align:top; border:1px solid Sienna; background-color:Cornsilk;" |

Introduction- Why?- The Immortal Question Answered

 * As a Musical Director for numerous Musical Theatre companies and productions, I have often attempted to research into techniques, tactics, and knowledge on the subject of Musical Directing in Musical Theatre. Of course, this being a very specific field, there is little useful knowledge around. This is partly because of it being a very specific field, as fore-mentioned, but this lack of educational resources for Musical Theatre Music Directors (we'll refer to them as MD's) may also be caused by the wide range of knowledge needed to MD (musically direct) a full-throttle, leg-kickin' musical. The MD must be fluent in not only Musical knowledge (reading the score, interpreting the score, etc.) but also in the theatrical aspect. In fact, many MDs have been actors/actresses at one point or another, or have worked as Directors or Assistant Directors of theatrical productions. This cannot be stressed enough. A familiarity in theatre is completely necesarry in order to succeed as an MD in musical theatre.

 * This course will attempt to train MDs in Musical Theatre with all the knowledge needed. However, some basic knowledge is needed before the start of this course. You must be fluent in basic music theory, and must be able to, at the least, play notes on the piano. You also should have general theatre experience, however this is not required.

 * Most of all.. HAVE FUN! This course is intended to be fun and exciting!

 * }

title: Musical direction/Introduction


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Talk:Learning to program with Alice

This just reads like an advertisement to me.

Are all the exclamation points really necessary? I agree, the article sounds like advertising; ironically, it's such a turn off to read, such a hard sell, that it's apt to prejudice people against the language it's so strenuously praising.

title: Talk:Learning to program with Alice


text: Template:Film School:Music Cue 1:Completed Assignments


text: Template:Film School:Music Cue 2:Completed Assignments


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User:Julieshen

I am a librarian at Cal Poly Pomona University.

For more information about me, visit my website at work or my personal website.

title: User:Julieshen


text: Template:Film School:All about lenses:Pop Quiz 1:Completed answers


text: Template:Film School:All about lenses:Pop Quiz 2:Completed answers


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User:Robert Verdon

Robert Verdon
My name is Robert Verdon — also known as Auntie Rhoberta and Rhobi — and I am a writer (fiction, poetry et al). I live in Canberra. (See my home page at http://www.alphalink.com.au/~agp if you like, though that's very out of date now.) I am more or less a Marxist. I have an Honours degree in English from Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria; (my BA comprised a double major in English and the History of Ideas). I am currently halfway through an M.A. in Applied Linguistics at the University of New England at Armidale, N.S.W., and hope to do a PhD in narratology at some stage which can link linguistics to literature. I have also studied librarianship at University of Canberra, but left after five successfully-completed units due to extreme boredom. All three establishments are in a minor outlying island of America called Australia.

Dreary personal details: I am transgendered, a vegetarian (I eat vegans), and have a warped sense of humour. (My spelling predates Noah Webster's.) I don't smoke, drink, gamble, or own a car. I do walk, ride a tricycle or bicycle, and often go by bus. I abhor postmodernism, though I find Derrida interesting at times. I am 53 years old.

title: User:Robert Verdon


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User talk:Robert Verdon

Hello Robert Verdon, and welcome to Wikiversity! If you need help, feel free to visit my talk page, or contact us and ask questions. When leaving comments for others to read, remember to sign and date; it helps everyone keep track of who is writing messages. The signature icon in the edit window makes it simple. To help you get started:
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Be bold, and see you around Wikiversity! --HappyCamper 05:36, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

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Life of Alexander

Part of the Department of European History.

This course will be focusing on the time period in the Classical Greek and Persian world from the birth of Alexander's father, Philip II, up to Alexander's untimely death. The course will examine not only Alexander's life, but also the many personalities, nations and concepts which were drastically altered due to Alexander and his army. The end result of the course will hopefully be to improve the student's understanding of the effects which Alexander's conquests had on all subsequent eras of history, up to and including modern times.

Student/Instructor Registration
Sign up here if you are interested in either learning about the life of Alexander the Great or helping add to this project.

Instructors
Strothatynhe 19:19, 22 June 2007 (UTC)

Students

 * stopsignnamedcat, 12:41, 8 December 2007
 * Gradvmedusa 17:31, 13 December 2007 (UTC)
 * you
 * Victoria Butler 17:50, 01 December 2011

Materials/Suggested Reading
I am constructing this course from a number of different printed sources which will prove useful for students who desire a greater immersion in the subject. These include:
 * Alexander of Macedon, 356-323 B.C., A Historical Biography by Peter Green. (Highly useful!)
 * Alexander the Great by Heckel and Yardley. (Historical sources in translation)
 * The Ancient World: A Social and Cultural History by Nagle, Sixth Ed. (Broad overview)
 * The Ancient World: Readings in Social and Cultural History by Nagle and Burstein, Third Ed.
 * Greece and the Hellenistic World by Boardman, Griffin and Murray.

Of course, any text on Alexander from today draws its information from ancient sources and authors (such as Arrian, Plutarch, Quintus Curtius Rufus, etc). Nearly all of these ancient sources can be found in completion and free of charge at Perseus Digital Library.

Additionally, students may use the Wikipedia pages on the subject to supplement their knowledge.

Format of the Course/Assignments
This course will be taught following a lecture format. As of right now I don't plan to assign any work or give any tests, but if there is any interest in adding something like this to the course, I am open for discussion. I am also open to address any questions/confusion on the discussion page. At some point I would like to be able to have a discussion regarding each week's different lesson, but this is once again pending student interest.

title: Life of Alexander


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User:Dmitri~enwikiversity

Hi, I am from Moscow!

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User talk:Julieshen

Hello Julieshen, and welcome to Wikiversity! If you need help, feel free to visit my talk page, or contact us and ask questions. When leaving comments for others to read, remember to sign and date; it helps everyone keep track of who is writing messages. The signature icon in the edit window makes it simple. To help you get started:
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Be bold, and see you around Wikiversity! --Hillgentleman|Talk 10:03, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

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See WV:THREADNAV

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Wikiversity:Threaded discussions with NavFrames with subst/preloadwithtemplates

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Podcasting/ffmpeg2theora

For details on using ffmpeg2theora, you can double click on the ffmpeg2theora icon. You should see a list of options such as: ffmpeg2theora 0.16

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Islamic political thought/The Spanish-Muslims

Lectures on the Spanish Muslim Philosophers Ibn Bajja (Avempace), Ibn Tufayl, and Ibn Rushd’s (Averroes) Political Thought

By Jason Thomas Craig

Possible target date for lectures: Week 7-10 of the Pre-Modern Islamic Political Thought Class

Note: These lectures should be given in consecutive classes.

Learning Goals:

i.	Understand the Spanish Muslim philosophy movement (general dates, governments in power, the Islamic philosophy movement in general, etc.) ii. Understand the political themes of these particular philosophers. iii. Connect these political themes to the larger issues covered in the course: human nature, traditionalists versus rationalists, political power, elites, etc. iv. Prepare for exams.

Reading Requirements for Lecture:

(Selections from)

Avempace: The Governance of the Solitary

Ibn Tufayl: Hayy the Son of Yaqzan

Averroes: The Decisive Treatise/Commentary on the Republic

Recommended Supplemental Reading

Averroës, & Rosenthal, E. I. J. (1969). Commentary on plato's republic (1st ed.). Cambridge Eng.: Cambridge University Press.

Averroës, Shaltūt, M., & Peters, R. (1977). Jihad in mediaeval and modern islam : The chapter on jihad from averroes' legal handbook 'bidāyat al-mudjtahid' and the treatise 'koran and fighting' by the late shaykh-al-azhar, mahmūd shaltūt. Leyden: Brill.

Berman, L. V. (1961). The political interpretation of the maxim: The purpose of philosophy is the imitation of god. Studia Islamica, (15), 53-61.

Butterworth, C. E. (1972). Averroes: Politics and opinion. The American Political Science Review, 66(3), 894-901.

Butterworth, C. E. (1972). Rhetoric and islamic political philosophy. International Journal of Middle East Studies, 3(2), 187-198.

Leaman, O. (1987). Continuity in islamic political philosophy: The role of myth. Bulletin (British Society for Middle Eastern Studies), 14(2), 147-155.

Rosenthal, E. I. J. (1953). The place of politics in the philosophy of ibn rushd. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 15(2), 246-278.

El Ghannouchi, A. "Religious Truth and Philosophical Truth according to Ibn Rushd" in Averroes and the Enlightenment, Wahba, Mourad (ed), 229. [Contribution] Prometheus, Amherst.

Abousenna, Mona. "Ibn Rushd, Founder of Hermeneutics" in Averroes and the Enlightenment, Wahba, Mourad (ed), 105-112. [Contribution] Prometheus, Amherst.

Gutas, Dimitri. “Avicenna's Eastern ("Oriental") Philosophy Nature, Contents, Transmission.” [Journal Article] Arabic Sciences and Philosophy: A Historical Journal. 10(2): 159-180, 2000.

Kochin, Michael S. “Weeds: Cultivating the Imagination in Medieval Arabic Political Philosophy.” [Journal Article] Journal of the History of Ideas. 60(3): 399-416, 1999.

Nasri, Hani Y. ”The ‘Mystic’ and Society According to Ibn Bajjah and Ibn Tufayl” [Journal Article] International Philosophical Quarterly. 26: 223-227, 1986.

Introduction

In the sea of Western philosophy, from those great waves of Platonic and Aristotelian thought, through Aquinas, Descartes, and Nietzsche, it is often easy to get lost in argumentation and style. It is not often that the philosopher or student steps back and looks at the history, the genealogy, of the art and discipline of philosophy. How did the philosophy of the Greeks come to us? Most students do not know that for many centuries, those fundamental works of the two great masters—Plato and Aristotle—were rumors in the small academic circles of Europe. The works of The Republic, and The Metaphysics were vague mentions in commentaries of commentaries; most assumed they were lost. In fact, there was, by the 8th and 9th centuries C.E., a large, patronage based, scholarship endeavor going on in the young Islamic empire. As the nascent Islamic umma (Islamic community) began its march throughout Arabia, Persia, the Maghreb, etc., it began to assimilate texts and other forms of scholarship that were in these areas as a result of Hellenistic empires. There were already large groups of Christians and Jews in cities such as Alexandria, Baghdad, Damascus, and Toledo that were the direct heirs to the Platonic, Aristotelian, and Neo-Platonic traditions. A great translation project began, with thousands of texts being translated from Hebrew to Arabic. By virtue of inheriting this mother lode of knowledge, Arabic and Islamic scholars were able to digest and comment on philosophical works at a high level of innovation and complexity. Indeed, the scholarship resulting from these endeavors was not an abstract, isolated academic endeavor. The results were immediate and concrete, as the philosopher’s ideas were decried by some and accepted by others. The philosophy became in some instances (for instance, al-Razi) opposed to religious orthodoxy, and in others, such as Avicenna, the tools of philosophy became instrumental in a project to reconcile or justify the results of reason and the tenets of faith. As more and more penetration of space occurred between Christendom and the Islamic empires, as geography and blood was swapped and spilled, Christians came into possession of the texts they had long thought lost. It was this rediscovery that is the direct catalyst for the Western Renaissance and Enlightenment. Without them, the math, science, and theology of the West would not have developed as quickly, fully, or, perhaps, at all. The dense problems and thoughts of Plato and Aristotle inspired the Christian scholastic tradition—with such key thinkers as St. Thomas Aquinas. In other words, the debt we in the West owe to the unique and amazingly insightful groups of Islamic, Arabic, and Persian philosophers is immense—indeed, the world we know today would not exist without the scholarship of those individuals.

I. The Spanish-Muslim Philosophers

As Montada points out, Islam’s influence in Spain during its control of the region was immense. This conquest had come through “Eastern” powers (read Syrian and Persian), and so, in governmental style, etc. Andalusia was “subsidiary to that of the East” (Montada 2005, 155). This debt to the east resulted in a similar pattern of theological and philosophical thought—for awhile. Eventually, through various reformist movements, notably the Almohad and Almoravid, The schools of thought in Andalusia diverged from their Eastern predecessors. Spanish-Muslim philosophy developed distinctly from the philosophy of al-Farabi and Avicenna in two important ways:

1. Their philosophy became focused on Aristotle and rationalism as opposed to traditionalism.

2. There was also a strong strain of sufi mysticism present in their philosophy.

We should keep these two points in mind as we begin to discuss the three main figures of Andalusian philosophy. '''II. A Few notes on the Republic'''

a.I think it would be of value if we began this lecture with a few key ideas from Plato’s Republic. It must be kept in mind that while the Spanish-Muslims were often working from a purely Aristotelian-Sufi mind-set, that they were aware of, and influenced by both Plato and the commentaries on his works completed by people like Farabi. From what we know of what texts were available to what thinkers, no one had a full copy of Aristotle’s Politics. Averroes, who is the only one of the Spanish or Arab thinkers to do a full commentary on Plato’s Republic, says that he does so because “Aristotle’s book on governance has not yet fallen into our hands” (Averroes 1974, 4). Keeping this in mind—that Plato’s political influence in many ways outstripped Aristotle’s by virtue of text availability, we can proceed to some quick points about the Republic.

b.Plato’s work has had perhaps the greatest impact of all political thought in the West. Agree or disagree, the issues raised in the Republic—the issues of sovereignty, just rule, just war, the proper role of the citizen in the city, proper education, eugenics, etc.—are all there to be dealt with. Plato does it systematically via the dialogue between Plato’s Socrates and other various interlocutors.

c.Plato sets out to build and defend his virtuous city by explaining why cities arise—for protection, and because people are better suited to focus on one craft rather than, in the state of nature, being forced to be their own cobbler, farmer, etc. However, the city needs to be just, and thus, the individual needs to be just. If either of these entities is unjust, then one runs into the problem of the city of fever, or the other despotic or tyrannical modes of government that plague humanity.

d.Plato arrives at measures to ensure security and ethical order by a long process of weeding out the various “diseases” inherent within the fevered city and implanting political, aesthetic, cultural, and sexual systems to strictly regulate and control activity and information. Thus, noble myths are created that justify a highly stratified society with philosophers on top, with other kinds of “metals” being resigned to certain lives. Marriage and procreation are controlled to ensure proper education. Poetry of the emotional variety is banned because it gives the wrong message about the relationship between humans and authority. The list of restrictions and actions goes on. But it is important to keep in mind the views on humanity, society, the availability of people who can grasp hard concepts, elitism, sexism, ethnocentrism, etc. that are espoused by Plato’s characters in order to ground our discussion of Islamic or Arabic figures.

'''III. Ibn Bajja'''

a.Ibn Bajja (d. 1138), known to the Latin West as Avempace, was born in Spain toward the end of the 11th century, and lived in Seville, Granada, and North Africa. He was a respected member of the Almoravid court, and, while not to much is known of his life, it is obvious from his and others writings that he was a master of many scholarly disciplines. It also seems as if he had many enemies; Montada states that “Ibn Bajja wanted to go to Oran but he died in Fez in May 1139. Ibn Ma’yub, a servant of his enemy the physician Abu al-Ala ibn Zuhr, was suspected of poisoning him with an eggplant” (156).

b.While Ibn Bajja wrote on many topics, including logic, and astronomy, his work that directly applies to our interests is his work in political philosophy The Governance of the Solitary.

''c.What is the theme, or larger point of this work? What does the title imply?''

i.Theme—the lone philosopher in the imperfect city.

ii.Plato was one of the first (perhaps the first in a systematic sense) to tackle the issue of the citizen, philosopher, and ruler within the city. How should these components of a city be related? What is the proper goal of the city as a whole and the individual within it? Al-Farabi, in his Attainment of Happiness, and Plato’s Laws, was the first Muslim philosopher to comment on these issues as dealt with by Plato.

iii.Now, it is unclear whether Plato or Farabi thought that the “virtuous city,” or, “the city in speech,” was actually a realistic possibility. the Republic seems to be an argument for why the virtuous city should be sought after. Plato himself experimented with implementing the rigid social and aesthetic controls he advocates within the Republic in a famous failed experiment in Italy (which I believe almost cost him his life).

iv.There are those who argue that Plato and Farabi saw the virtuous city as a realistic possibility. Averroes, as we shall see, had some reservations about parts of Plato’s doctrines, but, for the most part, he synthesized the Republic in a way that made it more universal (thus allowing for Islam to be a participant in the good cities—Plato was staunchly ethnocentric).

v.The Governance of the Solitary is Ibn Bajja’s attempt to answer this question. And, as the title suggests, he does not see the utopian society as constructed by Plato and Farabi as an actual possibility. Thus, his work is addressed, rather esoterically, to the “solitary.” To those philosophers who need to adapt to living in societies hostile to the aims and practice of philosophy. This book, then, is a guide to living and acting within a city opposed to ones very nature.

1. An Exposition and Questions within the text

a.Ibn Bajja owes a large debt to Plato, and, indeed, unless one has at least a passing familiarity with the tenets of the Republic parts of Ibn Bajja’s assumptions may leave one unclear as to his position. For instance, in this passage dealing with right and wrong governance, ibn Bajja opines that, “[a]s far as the governance of cities is concerned, Plato has explained it in the Republic. He explained what is meant by the right governance of cities and the source of wrongness that adheres to it. To trouble oneself with the task of dealing with something that has been adequately dealt with before is superfluous, a result of ignorance, or a sign of evil intent” (Ibn Bajja 1963, 124).

b. As the correctness of Plato is unquestioned, there remains the governance of the four imperfect cities as elucidated in the Republic. For Ibn Bajja, all other “households”—actual households within the city, and the “governance” of those households—are necessarily corrupt, as “[a]ll other households are imperfect and diseased in comparison in comparison with the [natural] household….Certain authors have gone through the trouble of treating the governance of these imperfect—that is, the diseased—households….[T]he position we stated is clear: except for the virtuous household, the households are diseased; and they are all corrupt; and they do not exist by nature but only by convention” (125). We can see from this passage that Ibn Bajja views all non-virtuous cities and households as diseased. The disease is not of nature, but of humanity’s own design, or convention.

c. The prefect city is free of art and adjudication, as its citizens will be in accord with each other, and trained and educated properly, dispensing with the need for bad rhetoric and judges (as there will be no need for that kind of education or judges to settle non-existing disputes). The health benefits of this harmony are discussed on page 126.

d. Not only is the perfect city perfectly ordered, but it is free of false opinion. “[A]ll of its opinions are true and there is no false opinion in it” (126). These benefits of the perfect city are totally absent within the four imperfect cities. Ibn Bajja, following Farabi, labels those who find truth or hold the opposite of the wrong opinion of the imperfect cities “Weeds.” He elaborates, “[s]trictly speaking, the term applies to these men alone. But it may be applied, more generally, to anyone who holds an opinion other than the opinion of the citizens of the city, regardless of whether his opinion is true or false” (127).

e. The perfect city is devoid of Weeds, but within the imperfect cities, in the dense brush of false opinion, they spring up, and, indeed, it is the existence of these Weeds which leads to the possibility of the perfect city. (127)

f. The danger for these Weeds is immediate and often violent. Ibn Bajja intends “to discourse here about the governance of this solitary man” (128).

g. Ibn Bajja begins his treatise proper with an elaboration on kinds of people—those concerned with their corporeal form, their particular spiritual form, or the universal spiritual form. He goes on to show how any person concerned with just one aspect of any of these three parts of a human cannot properly be called a philosopher, or gain true knowledge. Those focused on the corporeal (bodily) are bestial and hedonistic. It is equally bad to totally disregard the corporeal, as the noble-minded people do. The man of wisdom “shares with every class of men the best states that characterize them. But he stands alone as the one who performs the most excellent and noblest of actions….He will be free from the mortal sensible qualities, as well as from the high [particular] spiritual qualities: it will be fitting to describe him as a pure divinity” (132).

h. From Ibn Bajja’s views shown above, it becomes obvious that the Weeds must not associate with improper souls, or, at the least, minimize contact with those people. “[H]e must associate with those who pursue the sciences. Now since those who pursue the sciences are few in some ways of life and may in others…it follows that in some of the ways of life the solitary must keep away from men completely so far as he can” (132).

i. Some might claim that this insistence on solitary contemplation and hidden opinion contradicts the accepted notion of the basis of human life—being a political (social) animal. On top of that, there are questions as to how, if a philosopher holds knowledge, she could impart knowledge to guide others out of the “cave.” Is this a duty of philosophy? Are the diseased cities to far gone to be changed? Ibn Bajja answers that solitariness is indeed unnatural, but things that are unnatural may, in fact, at points be good. For instance, a substance that is poison to a body normally may in fact be a curative when one is ill. Thus, while it is contrary to the nature of the man of wisdom to be a weed, it is, because of the situation of the diseased cities, in fact the natural and proper course of action.

2. Larger Themes

a. What have we gathered from this exposition of Ibn Bajja? Well, we have caught a glimpse into a political philosophy of intense pessimism. The ideal utopia of Plato, while for Ibn Bajja structurally and argumentatively sound, is, alas, unattainable. What then? If it is the case that men are unable or unwilling to look beyond themselves and are doomed to perpetuate the life of the “fevered” cities, then this has forced Ibn Bajja into a course of guidance based off of the possibility of persecution by the false opinions of those in power. In this way, Ibn Bajja, like Plato, is a strong elitist. Here we have themes that crop up again and again in Islamic political philosophy—a negative view of humanity, a hidden but strong critique of the way cities and societies are being run, and a strong dose of elitism from Plato and Farabi. Interestingly, within the text, one can begin to see this elitism being married to esotericism, which, in turn, signals the burgeoning influence of sufi mysticism.

End of lecture one…