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Insurance and annuities

Chapter 1
1. Insurance is risk protection in economical terms. Purpose is to hedge risk by compensating in the event of financial loss, not to provide an opportunity for financial gain.

2. Risk is uncertainty about the future.

3. Risk Management 4. Types of Risk Covered
 * Two types: speculative and pure
 * Speculative involves three outcomes:
 * Loss
 * Gain
 * No change
 * Pure involves no possibility of gain.
 * Either a loss or no loss.
 * Possibility of economic loss without the possibility of gain is pure risk
 * Only Pure risks can be insured.
 * Involves identifying risk, assessing risk and dealing with risk
 * In order to do eliminate or reduce expose to financial risk four things can be done:
 * Avoiding risk
 * Controlling risk – prevention or reduction of losses i.e. installing fire and smoke detectors
 * Accepting risk
 * Self-insurance – risk-management technique which accepts financial responsibility for loss
 * Transferring risk – shifting risk to another party in exchange for fee such as insurance
 * Insurance policy is document that contains terms of agreement between insurance company and owner of the policy
 * Policy benefit or policy proceeds provide that insurer receives a specific amount of money called a premium for accepting transfer of risk.
 * Property damage risk covers property damage due to such things as accident, theft, fire etc.
 * Liability risk includes economic losses from being held responsible for harming others or their property.
 * Personal risk includes risks of economic loss associated with death, poor health and outliving one’s savings.

Insurers for property and liability are called property-casualty or property-liability insurance companies. Property insurance covers insured property while liability insurance covers a party who is legally responsible for unintentionally harming others or their property.

Insurers for policies that provide financial security from personal risk are life and health insurance companies. These companies assume or accept the transferred risk from the insured.

Risk pooling – pools together individuals who may suffer a certain loss. The costs are then spread out among those individuals.

“If the economic losses that actually result from a given peril, such as disability, can be shared by large numbers of people who are all subject to such losses and the probability of loss is relatively small for each person, then the cost to each person will be relatively small.”

Insurability of Risks
Terms:

 * Applicant: applies for policy; either person(s) or business.
 * Policyowner: owns the policy; typically applicant
 * Insured: person whose life or health is insured
 * Third-part policy: insurance policy that on person purchase on life of another
 * Beneficiary: receives policy benefit if event insured against occurs

Insurable interest requirement: only pure risks are insurable. Insurance not intended for financial opportunity for gain. Must have an insurable interest in the likelihood that policyowner or beneficiary will suffer loss or detriment if event insured against occurs.

Insurable interest in health insurance – typically only for themselves and dependents.

Assessing Degree of Risk

 * Antiselection: tendency of individuals who believe they have a greater-than average likelihood of loss to seek greater insurance than those who do not.
 * Underwriting: process of identifying and assessing risks. Two stages:
 * identifying risks that proposed insured represents
 * classifying the degree of risk that a proposed insured represents

Identifying Risks

 * Physical hazard is a characteristic (e.g. history of heart disease) that increase likelihood of loss.
 * Moral hazard is chance that person involved in insurance transaction will act dishonestly.

Classifying risks enables insurers to categorize risks in order to determine equitable premium rate for coverage. Generally, four categories of proposed insureds:
 * Standard risk: normal chance of risk
 * Substandard risk: significantly greater risk. Has higher than standard premium.
 * Declined risk: risk too great to insure.
 * Preferred risk: significantly less risk. May have less than standard premium.

Characteristics of Insurable Risks
In order for a risk to be insurable it much have certain characteristics.

 * 1) The loss must occur by chance.
 * 2) The loss must be definite.
 * 3) Loss must be definite in terms of time and amount.
 * 4) Insurer must be able to determine when and how much.
 * 5) The loss must be significant
 * 6) The loss rate must be predictable.
 * 7) Must be able to predict probable rate of loss.
 * 8) Loss rate is prediction of number and timing of covered losses.
 * 9) This determines proper premium.
 * 10) Loss rates are based not upon individuals but a given large group.
 * 11) Probability and the law of large numbers
 * 12) In terms of death, probability and LLN is used to make mortality tables display the rates of mortality by age in a given group of people.
 * 13) Rates of morbidity (morbidity tables) are rates of sickness and accident by age in a given group of people.
 * 14) The loss must not be catastrophic to the insurer.
 * 15) Can not cause catastrophic financial damage to insurer.
 * 16) To prevent catastrophic financial damage, insurers spread risks
 * 17) Can also transfer risk to another insurer via reinsurance.
 * 18) A ceding company is the original insurer
 * 19) To cede is to obtain reinsurance by transferring all or part of risk to reinsurer.
 * 20) Retention limit is maximum amount of insurance that insurer is willing to carry at own risk on any one life. Reinsuring distributes those risks among many insurance companies.
 * 21) Retrocession is reinsurer ceding risk to another reinsurer. Reinsurer of reinsurer is called retrocessionaire.

Side note: Every insurance policy either a contract of indemnity or a valued contract. Contract of indemnity: amount of the policy benefit payable for a covered loss is based on the actual amount of financial loss that results from loss. Insured receives either amount of financial loss or maximum state in policy, which ever is less. Valued contract: specifies the amount of the benefit that will be payable when a covered loss occurs regardless of actual loss. This is the death benefit or face amount/value.

quiz
{Insurance is primarily for: + Compensating in the event of financial loss - Providing an opportunity for financial gain - Investing in stocks - Saving for retirement
 * type="[]"}
 * Correct! Insurance is meant to hedge risk by compensating in the event of financial loss.
 * Incorrect. Insurance is not meant to provide an opportunity for financial gain.
 * Incorrect. Insurance is not primarily for investing in stocks.
 * Incorrect. While some insurance products can have savings components, the primary purpose of insurance is risk protection.

{Risk is: + Uncertainty about the future - Always leading to financial gain - A guaranteed loss - Only about financial matters
 * type="[]"}
 * Correct! Risk is the uncertainty about the future.
 * Incorrect. Risk can lead to loss, gain, or no change.
 * Incorrect. Risk is not a guaranteed loss.
 * Incorrect. Risk can be about various aspects, not just financial.

{Which type of risk involves no possibility of gain? + Pure - Speculative - Financial - Operational
 * type="[]"}
 * Correct! Pure risk involves no possibility of gain.
 * Incorrect. Speculative risk can lead to loss, gain, or no change.
 * Incorrect. Financial is not a type of risk in this context.
 * Incorrect. Operational is not a type of risk in this context.

{Which of the following is NOT a method of risk management? - Installing fire and smoke detectors - Accepting risk + Investing in stocks - Transferring risk
 * type="[]"}
 * Incorrect. Installing fire and smoke detectors is a method of controlling risk.
 * Incorrect. Accepting risk is a method of risk management.
 * Correct! Investing in stocks is not a method of risk management in this context.
 * Incorrect. Transferring risk is a method of risk management.

{Which type of insurance company provides financial security from personal risks? + Life and health insurance companies - Property-casualty insurance companies - Auto insurance companies - Travel insurance companies
 * type="[]"}
 * Correct! Life and health insurance companies provide financial security from personal risks.
 * Incorrect. Property-casualty insurance companies cover property and liability risks.
 * Incorrect. Auto insurance is a subset of property-casualty insurance.
 * Incorrect. Travel insurance is a specific type of insurance and not primarily for personal risks.

{Which hazard increases the likelihood of loss due to a characteristic, such as a history of heart disease? + Physical hazard - Moral hazard - Financial hazard - Operational hazard
 * type="[]"}
 * Correct! A physical hazard is a characteristic that increases the likelihood of loss.
 * Incorrect. Moral hazard is the chance that a person involved in an insurance transaction will act dishonestly.
 * Incorrect. Financial hazard is not mentioned in the provided material.
 * Incorrect. Operational hazard is not mentioned in the provided material.

{For a risk to be insurable, which of the following is NOT a required characteristic? - The loss must occur by chance - The loss rate must be predictable + The loss must always be catastrophic - The loss must be significant
 * type="[]"}
 * Incorrect. This is a required characteristic for a risk to be insurable.
 * Incorrect. This is a required characteristic for a risk to be insurable.
 * Correct! The loss must NOT be catastrophic to the insurer.
 * Incorrect. This is a required characteristic for a risk to be insurable.

{What is the term for the original insurer that transfers all or part of a risk to a reinsurer? + Ceding company - Retrocessionaire - Policyowner - Beneficiary
 * type="[]"}
 * Correct! The original insurer that transfers risk to a reinsurer is called a ceding company.
 * Incorrect. A retrocessionaire is a reinsurer of a reinsurer.
 * Incorrect. The policyowner is the one who owns the insurance policy.
 * Incorrect. The beneficiary is the one who receives the policy benefit if the insured event occurs.

Chapter 2 – The Life and Health Insurance Industry
Insurance companies must be corporations to provide stability and security. •	Are either stock insurance companies or mutual insurance companies. •	Mutual insurance companies are owned by policyowners and policy dividends may be distributed. •	Stock insurance companies may convert to mutuals through mutualziation and mutual insurance company may convert to stocks insurance companies via demutualization.

Organizational operations •	Home office is generally located in state of incorporation and houses executive officers •	Regional office offers same functions and operations as home but is located geographically closer to market it serves. •	Field office is local sales office and receives support from home and regional.

Insurance company as financial institution •	Financial institutions accept savings and give loans •	Financial services industry is made of financial institutions and help save, borrow, invest and manage money.

Individual vs. group insurance.

Term, permanent and endowment life insurance. Some have annuity options.

Health insurance – two types: 1.	Medical expense coverage 2.	Disability income coverage

Fraternal benefit societies provide social and insurance benefits to members. Often share common ethnic, religious or vocational background.

quiz
{Insurance companies must be ________ to provide stability and security. + corporations - partnerships - sole proprietorships - associations
 * type="[]"}
 * Correct! Insurance companies must be corporations to ensure stability and security.
 * Incorrect. Partnerships do not provide the same level of stability and security as corporations.
 * Incorrect. Sole proprietorships do not provide the same level of stability and security as corporations.
 * Incorrect. Associations are not the primary structure for insurance companies.

{Stock insurance companies can convert to mutuals through ________. + mutualization - demutualization - incorporation - diversification
 * type="[]"}
 * Correct! This is the process by which stock insurance companies convert to mutuals.
 * Incorrect. Demutualization is the process by which mutual insurance companies convert to stock insurance companies.
 * Incorrect. Incorporation is the process of forming a corporation.
 * Incorrect. Diversification is not related to the conversion of insurance companies.

{The ________ office is generally located in the state of incorporation and houses executive officers. + Home - Regional - Field - Branch
 * type="[]"}
 * Correct! The home office is where the executive officers are typically located.
 * Incorrect. The regional office offers functions similar to the home office but is geographically closer to its market.
 * Incorrect. The field office is a local sales office.
 * Incorrect. This option is not mentioned in the material.

{Financial institutions accept ________ and give ________. + savings | loans - loans | savings - investments | dividends - deposits | interest
 * type="[]"}
 * Correct! Financial institutions accept savings and provide loans.
 * Incorrect. This is the opposite of the correct answer.
 * Incorrect. This is not the primary function of financial institutions.
 * Incorrect. While related, this does not capture the primary functions mentioned.

{Which type of insurance is NOT mentioned in the material? - auto insurance + term life insurance + permanent life insurance + health insurance
 * type="[]"}
 * Correct! Auto insurance is not mentioned in the material.
 * Incorrect. Term life insurance is mentioned.
 * Incorrect. Permanent life insurance is mentioned.
 * Incorrect. Health insurance is mentioned.

{Fraternal benefit societies often share a common ________. + ethnic, religious or vocational background - financial goal - geographic location - age group
 * type="[]"}
 * Correct! These societies are often formed based on shared backgrounds.
 * Incorrect. Financial goals are not the primary basis for forming these societies.
 * Incorrect. Geographic location is not the primary basis for forming these societies.
 * Incorrect. Age is not the primary basis for forming these societies.

Chapter 3 – Meeting Needs for Life and Health Insurance
Reasons for individual life insurance •	Final expenses and estate planning •	Dependent support •	Education costs •	Retirement Income •	Investment Income •	Tax deductible benefits from charitable donations

Reasons for business owners to purchase life insurance and/or annuity products •	Provides funds to ensure business continues in event of death of owner, partner or key person •	Purchase for life insurance and annuity products for employees

Business continuation insurance Business continuation insurance plan (BCIP) allows businesses to continue operation following death of owner or key person. Important to closely held business such as sole proprietorship, partnership. Ways BCIPs can fund the purchase of a deceased owner’s or partner’s share in business: Buy-sell agreements provides that (1) first party agrees to purchase the financial interest in a second party following second parties death, and (2) second party agrees to direct estate to sell business interest to first party. Sole proprietorship buy-sell agreements generally sale to employee. However employee may not have assets to purchase. Life insurance policy on sole proprietor paid for by employee could provide assets. Partnership buy-sell agreements establishes terms on which a deceased partner’s share would be purchased by surviving partners. Two ways: Cross-purchase method provides that surviving partner(s) purchase predetermined proportionate shares of deceased partner’s interest. Could be funded by purchasing insurance on life of other partners. Entity method provides that the partnership purchases deceased partners shares and distributes shares among surviving partners. Again, life insurance purchased by partnership could be used to fund this. Closely held corporation buy-sell agreements often resemble partnership buy-sell agreements and utilize the cross-purchase or entity method of purchase. Key person (or employee) life insurance is insurance that business purchases on life of a person whose contributions are needed for business to continue.

Life insurance and annuity products as employee benefits come in both group and individual plans and are either whole paid for by the company or costs are split. Split-dollar life insurance plan are policies provided for select employees such as owners, officers etc. The employer and employee agree to share costs and is a form of permanent insurance. Employer receives what it paid in premiums and employee’s beneficiary will receive rest. Deferred compensation plans provide income benefits to an employee at a later date. Is funded by a portion of employees salary.

Health insurance includes both medical expense insurance and disability income insurance and can be purchased in both individual and group plans. Used as benefit for employee or to protect business from financial loss caused by employee’s illness injury or disability (typically sole proprietorship or partnership).

quiz
{One of the reasons for individual life insurance is to cover ________.
 * type="[]"}

+ Final expenses and estate planning - Provides funds to ensure business continues in event of death of owner, partner or key person - Business continuation insurance plan (BCIP) - Split-dollar life insurance plan
 * Correct! This is one of the reasons for individual life insurance.
 * Incorrect. This is a reason for business owners to purchase life insurance.
 * Incorrect. BCIP is a plan for businesses, not an individual reason.
 * Incorrect. This is a type of life insurance plan for select employees.

{Business continuation insurance plan (BCIP) is important for ________.
 * type="[]"}

+ closely held business such as sole proprietorship, partnership - individual life insurance - group plans of life insurance - medical expense insurance
 * Correct! BCIP is crucial for these types of businesses.
 * Incorrect. BCIP is for businesses, not individuals.
 * Incorrect. BCIP is specific to certain types of businesses.
 * Incorrect. Medical expense insurance is a type of health insurance.

{In a sole proprietorship buy-sell agreement, the sale is generally to ________.
 * type="[]"}

+ an employee - a partner - the company - a third-party business
 * Correct! Sole proprietorship buy-sell agreements generally involve a sale to an employee.
 * Incorrect. Partnerships have different buy-sell agreements.
 * Incorrect. This is not typical for a sole proprietorship.
 * Incorrect. The general sale is to an employee in this context.

{In partnership buy-sell agreements, one way to fund the purchase of a deceased partner’s share is through ________.
 * type="[]"}

+ purchasing insurance on the life of other partners - deferred compensation plans - split-dollar life insurance plan - medical expense insurance
 * Correct! This is the Cross-purchase method.
 * Incorrect. This is a way to provide income benefits to an employee at a later date.
 * Incorrect. This is a type of life insurance plan for select employees.
 * Incorrect. This is a type of health insurance.

{Split-dollar life insurance plans are policies provided for ________.
 * type="[]"}

+ select employees such as owners, officers etc. - all employees in a company - sole proprietors only - partners in a partnership
 * Correct! These plans are for specific employees.
 * Incorrect. It's not for all employees, but select ones.
 * Incorrect. It's not exclusive to sole proprietors.
 * Incorrect. It's not exclusive to partners.

{Deferred compensation plans are funded by ________.
 * type="[]"}

+ a portion of an employee's salary - the company's profits - life insurance policies - medical expense insurance
 * Correct! These plans use a part of the employee's salary.
 * Incorrect. It's not typically funded by company profits.
 * Incorrect. These are different financial instruments.
 * Incorrect. This is a type of health insurance.

{Health insurance can be used to protect a business from financial loss caused by an employee’s ________.
 * type="[]"}

+ illness, injury, or disability - resignation or retirement - lack of skill or incompetence - legal disputes or lawsuits
 * Correct! Health insurance can cover these events.
 * Incorrect. Health insurance doesn't cover these scenarios.
 * Incorrect. Health insurance doesn't cover performance issues.
 * Incorrect. This would require a different type of insurance.

Chapter 4 – Regulation of the Insurance Industry
Primary goals of insurance industry regulation are ensure companies remain solvent and conduct business fairly and ethically.

In US, state governments have primary authority to regulate insurance industry.

title: Insurance and annuities


text:
User talk:Morley

Opening gambit
I'm glad you came on over from Wikipedia. I just read what you put at Colloquium and I will respond there. --JWSchmidt 03:41, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

Clarifying the Wikiversity proposal
Hi Morley, I actually moved your comment on w:Talk:Wikipedia to your userspace here User:Morley/Clarifying the Wikiversity proposal (linked to from your userpage). I hope it can be better used here to develop policy, as I said at Wikiversity talk:What is Wikiversity?. Thanks for your input so far - and, if you're looking for the "originators of the Wikiversity proposal", you might start with myself and/or JWSchmidt. Cheers. Cormaggio 10:55, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

Re: Towards improving the New User Experience
Hi Morley, and thanks for your input here. I very much welcome this - as we really need to make Wikiversity comprehensible, navigable, and usable so as we can begin to attract and retain new visitors to the site who may be as bewildered as you.

 * I attempted to build a Sandbox here, most of it trying to teach myself how you added sectional boxes and the like. Wiki coding is obviously very different from standard HTML.

 * I'm also unsure how to engage in dialogue in this environment, such as craft in-context responses to your input. Please make your recommendations.

Here are my responses to your suggestions:
 * Yes, we do need a "channel" or easily visible link from the main page that explains exactly what Wikiversity is. I don't think this can be done automatically for non-logged-in users (nor do I think this would be desirable),

 * I'd like to propose a Main Page which offers a prominent coloured box with large type bidding new users welcome. And the balance of the page designed for returning visitors offering Wikiversity announcements and quick links. I've already begun to think out the content of the new user channel. Essentially it would be a guided experience where users could drill down for further details and easily bounce back up to the main thread. Effectively it would take them through all the stuff normally contained in an extensive FAQ but in a much more palatible form.

but we can certainly make this more clearly pointed out on the Main Page. The page I was thinking of linking to (as a first stop) is What is Wikiversity?. This can have links off to info on, eg. how to browse content, or what are learning projects/communities.
 * I don't think we really need any (or, at least, many) new pages - as you point out, much of the information that needs to be there is already there in patchy or scattered form. This simply needs to be collated better in concentrated places, with interrelated links to other aspects in more detail.

 * I think of a "new user channel" as a section with "training wheels". Don't send them to links outside the new user channel where they then get lost and don't get to see the whole picture. That's exactly what happened to me on my first visit. I mistook one detail as being the complete picture.

 * You should shortly see what I have in mind.

 * As I work, I'm also going to be learning about wiki (up until now I've been primarily a reader of the Wikipedia, not a contributor or editor). So I want to provide guidance to others like me on not only how to navigate but also how to contribute.

 * Equally, there's not much point in doing this in secret/private in your sandbox or wherever - people who are interested in what Wikiversity is will be willing to help out on these pages and want to give their input, myself included.
 * Incidentally, I've created you a sandbox at User:Morley/Sandbox so you can play around with that to your heart's desire :-) I've moved there the text you had on this page under the heading "Sandbox" - I hope that's ok (generally, user talk pages are for leaving messages).

 * A good move. I have no problem with others viewing and editing from an early stage. But I'm equally wary of people piling on, ripping apart a rough work-in-progress. I often don't know exactly where I'm going until I'm nearly there.

You now have two pages in your "User space" - these are generally pages that you can do with whatever you like or which reflect your own personal views or whatever. Note that I'm not saying that the first one I made for you (ie the comment moved from Wikipedia) is not useful - I simply moved it there for the time being as it made more sense to have it in Wikiversity and it wasn't directly usable for any other page at this time. You could, for example, leave it as it is as a personal statement on Wikiversity to link to from other discussions - current, or in the future - it's up to you.

 * Excellent. I'll work here in my user space for a while, but will announce this draft project with links in the Colloquium for comment and contributions. I'd really like it to be a collective effort.

 * Overall, I feel, like you, we need a simple, comprehensible introduction with links out to further detail or clarification. I'd suggest starting with the page I mention above and see what this needs as a clear introduction to the project. Then think about what this needs further clarification on, and link to those pages and develop them. Don't worry, a lot of these pages were written in the first flush of enthusiasm or simply as placeholders for more comprehensive information, but now we need to bring all this together to make Wikiversity better for the newcomer.

 * I may have some policy recommendations to make about the execution of the Wikiversity. Because my first impression of the Wikiversity was that its form hadn't really been defined, and what there was of it, was primarily focused on individual studies, I drafted that original document you moved over here. I've since learned the people here have already been thinking along similar lines. Not sure yet what degree of convergence. It's my view the internet has now matured to the point where a well formed Wikiversity could be a very significant engine for education around the globe. To contribute to such a flowering would be awesome.

Thanks again for your help :-) Cormaggio 22:33, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

My 2¢: I think part of the problem of not having clear guidelines, goals, etc., is in that I don't think we're entirely figured out what Wikiversity is going to be yet. But I do think discussion needs to be more centralized. I've tried doing this for one topic by turning Creation of Free Online University into a hub discussion accreditation, etc (you can see how scattered discussion was just from looking at the links there!). But that needs to be done for many more topics. The Jade Knight 02:47, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

 * Excellent contribution, Jade. I'll check out the link. One of the problems of maintaining maximum flexibility through an overly loose self-definition, IMHO, is you end up with no definition at all. Which is exactly my first impression of the Wikiversity. I've since learned that was a false first impression, that there's actually much more here than I first thought. My purpose on these pages is to do two things at once — gather together a guide to new users (help them get up to speed and on the right track) and simultaneously help tease out a clearer self-definition for the workings of the Wikiversity.

 * Last week I posted a lengthy proposal for the overall shape of the Wikiversity (while I was still labouring under the false impression there wasn't much going on here). You'll find a link here. http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/User:Morley/Clarifying_the_Wikiversity_proposal (Obviously, I'm simultaneously learning how wiki markup differs from conventional HTML and have a long way to go.) I'm also working in a sandbox to develop a new top level introduction for first time visitors (eventual access through the Wikiversity Main page). I've just started, but will be working on this over the next few days. You'll see it here. http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/User:Morley/Sandbox Contributions and critiques welcome. Morley 03:51, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

 * FYI, standard protocol is to reply on the other person's talk page under an appropriate heading. =]  The Jade Knight 05:05, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

examples of good learning materials
I think each Wikipersity portal should start creating a list of learning resources. For example, see Portal:Life Sciences. --JWSchmidt 04:32, 20 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Maybe we could combined them all on Featured? Wait a minute, this isn't the Colloquium page... Um, Hi Morley!--134.48.93.193 01:41, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

Welcome newcomers
Morley - I am deeply enthused by what you're writing. I hadn't even read your talk page for weeks - and am seeing your replies to me and further discussion that's spawned. Wikiversity is such an exciting project - and you're right - it's still to be fully formed - or at least details certainly need to be hammered out. And, of course, this needs to be easily understandable to anyone who clicks on Wikiversity randomly, looking to find out what it's about. So, I'm very happy that you've taken such a keen interest in doing just this. There are still excellent questions on the Colloquium that need further discussion. This is all vital to the furthering of this project - and I'm really excited about what we can turn this project into.

But back to more the precise focus of our discussion at the moment - and I'm very relieved that you're taking it well. Believe me, I know full well what it's like to be a newcomer and have everything be so confusing - though you are navigating it like a pro. Particularly something as complex as what we are developing here. And I'm very happy to learn that you're going to stick with us. I was deeply concerned that we had lost someone fantastic. And even more so that it could have been my doing - I couldn't imagine anything worse.

When you say you need pointers to various features of a wiki, I hear you. In fact, I would very much like to help you. We all learn to a certain extent through doing and then making mistakes and learning from our mistakes. But we also need to be given helping hands from people who are a little more experienced with the technology/context etc. I would love to be able to help - here's a few tips about the things you asked.

Watching/navigating a page's history: This is probably the most useful part of a wiki - to be able to scroll through every single change that's happened to it and to see what changes were made between each version. This is through the "history" tab at the top of the page (beside the "edit" button). Clicking on the history tab of any page will give you the history of that specific page - both content pages and talk pages have an edit history. Here's the history of the Welcome, newcomers page. You can see every change that was made to the page, when, by whom, and what edit summary they provided. Then (and what's really nifty) you can go to any version of the page at any stage in its history - ie this is how it looked on the first day it was created, the 20th August, 2006 (you can do this by clicking on the date and timestamp - ie "22:40 20 August 2006" - in the specific line of the history that you're interested in). Also (and this is very useful), you can see what's changed between two versions by virtue of what's known as a "diff" (a difference between versions). For example with that version i just linked to (you may want to do this with two windows open at the same time so you can read this message and also see what I'm referring to), you might notice, in small text, under the page name, some details about what revision this is, at what time/date, as well as the name of the person who created it etc. Below this there is a line saying "Older revision, current revision, Newer revision". Clicking on the "older" or "newer" revisions will bring you to the version of the page as it was before or after - much as you would have done by clicking on one of these versions in the original page history. But beside these newer and older revisions, you will see (in brackets), the word "diff". Clicking on the "newer revision" diff will give you this - where you will see green and yellow coloured boxes at the top of the page with lots of red text in them. The text in red, or text in a green coloured box where there is no text on the other side means that this is text that was either moved, edited, created ar deleted. This was quite a substantial change to the page; however not all changes are that significant - here's the following diff (which I got by choosing the "next diff") and which shows Rob changing the link to the Colloquium to make it appear as "Colloquium" and not "Colloquium". (I'll help you with this too if you like - or you could go into edit mode here and look at what I've done - in fact, this is generally a very helpful way of learning - going into edit mode, seeing how something was done in wiki syntax, canceling the edit, and then replicating that wiki syntax elsewhere.) However, there are other ways of looking at diffs - you can see them directly from the page history. Go back into the main history page (you can always simply click on the "history" tab at the top of the page - regardless of what mode you are in), and you will see - on the left - two links in blue labelled "(cur)" and "(last)". These will give you the diff between one version and either the previous version or the following version (I generally just use "last" - as it tells me what that edit did to the page, ie the difference between the version as it was edited and the previous version).

There are other really handy ways of keeping track of changes - the most obvious other one is the ability to "watch" pages. You might have seen the "Recent changes" page - which is always in the left hand sidebar of every Wikimedia page (in Wikiversity it's the third link, under "Main Page" and "Browse"). This will give you all the edits that are happening throughout Wikiversity - over the last few hours/minutes, depending on how busy Wikiversity currently is. But if you don't want to scroll through everything that's happening, you can have a personalised recent changes page - which is known as a "watchlist". You can build a watchlist by going to every page you're interested (eg. Colloquium and Welcome, newcomers) and clicking on the watch tab in the top of the page - to the right of the "edit" and "history" tabs. Clicking "watch", means that that page (and its talk page) are added to your watchlist. Then, when you have built up a watchlist (and you need to be logged in to do this), you can go to where it says your name at the very top of the browser window (ie "Morley, my talk, my preferences.."), and you will see a "my watchlist" link. Click on this link, and you will be brought to a list of your watched pages with details of the last edit to each page (providing it is within the time specified by you - you can do this in preferences, but I won't get bogged down in such detail). I can't show you an exampe of this through a link - watchlists are completely personal pages that allow you to track changes to the pages only of interest to you (though it will not necessarily tell you about interesting new pages that are created - this is what the recent changes page is often good for).

There's so much to learn in editing wikis that sometimes it seems overwhelming. It seems like you never stop making mistakes. This is always the case. I've been around for over two years and I still feel like a newbie (honestly!). But making these mistakes and gradually learning from them and persisting with it - will eventually pay off. Little things that you find along the way (like watchlists and diffs) become your way of finding out quickly what's been happening. Other wiki syntax things are - for me - a constant path of discovery. There are some good help pages here for now in Wikiversity (through the "Help" link in the top left sidebar), eg Help:Editing, but maybe, if you really want to find out more about linking, editing, watching etc, you might be better following the help pages in Wikipedia (which have pretty much everything).

Anyway, I've been rambling on here long enough. Hopefully some of it might be useful. And I'm thinking (partly inspired by your comment) that we could even be creative about all of this and start an actual learning project/activity about editing/navigating wikis. There is a page on Learning to learn a wiki way (and others) but I think we could do something that's a little more exciting that our introduction and our help pages put together to get people started. What do you think? Is that what you were suggesting yourself?

Ok, well, I hope I've done enough to reassure you that I'm working in good faith. Turf wars couldn't be further from what I want to do. I want to turn Wikiversity into a real, positive force for good in this world - and to encourage anyone, the world over, to get involved and have their say. I admit, on reflection, that my edit was slightly brutal - and potentially hurtful. There's a fine line between "being bold" (a Wikimedia motto) and being rude (and/or destructive). I should have - at least - told you that this is what I was doing. I was in a bit of a rush - i didn't take the time to explain myself - and we could have had a terrible misunderstanding if you hadn't been so magnanimous. I thank you for that - and i think I've learned something from this - not to assume that another person will know or appreciate what you're doing, particularly a newcomer. It sounds so obvious to say - but we're always learning.

Take care Morley, looking forward to continuing this work/discussion, and anything else you're unsure of or need help/guidance with, please don't hesitate to contact me. But also, don't be afraid to make mistakes - everything on a wiki is undoable - even a whole edit (more on that later perhaps..). All the best. Cormaggio 08:46, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

jumpstart participation instructions for teachers and students in real-world courses
Maybe Wikiversity should have something simlar to w:Wikipedia:School and university projects/Piotrus educational boilerplate. --JWSchmidt 15:28, 31 October 2006 (UTC)
 * I'd be happy to help with that. What would be great is to have make such boilerplates more user friendly with interface like our tutorials have (Tutorial, w:Wikipedia:Tutorial).--Piotrus 16:13, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

Portal:Learning Projects
"I'm unclear on the intent or functionality of the "Learning Projects" page. Would it be fair to say it's intended to be a "cross discipline" compendium of online courses? Such a cross discipline page would be very useful in helping would-be learners to select something they might be interested in." <-- Notice that the Wikiversity project proposal established two major parts for the project: In order to start discussing these two parts of the project I created m:Wikiversity:Communities and Hunter-gatherers. When the Wikiversity website was started, these pages from the meta-wiki were imported and their content went into new pages such as Portal:Learning Projects and Portal:Learning Materials.
 * 1) learning materials - in my mind, these are "static resources" that could be downloaded for use in bricks-and-mortar schools
 * 2) learning projects - in my thinking, this means activities that are built around wiki editing and that take place at Wikiversity

"is there a mechanism in place to keep this page relatively current?" <-- the only mechanism I know of is called "editing". I think it is safe to say that most people gravitate towards a conventional academic area and to not pay much attention to pages such as Portal:Learning Projects.

"It would be useful to give this page some prominence, especially for newcomers. And find some way to raise it to the awareness of those introducing a 'Learning Project'. Prime the pump, as it were." <-- I think when new visitors are introduced to Wikiversity, a key point to be made is that visitors are invited to become Wikiversity participants who can create and develop learning activities, discussion groups, learning collaborations, in general, "learning projects". The idea of editing wiki pages as a form of collaborative learning is unknown to most people. I think it would be useful for the learning projects portal to have tutorials about active learning by wiki editing and featured examples of learning projects, particularly one related to "current events" and other topics that would give new visitors a quick peek at the potential of using Wikiversity as a tool for exploring their personal learning goals.--JWSchmidt 02:17, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

"Learning Materials/Learning Projects terminology" <-- I guess many people who publish in the education field use the term "Learning Objects". I find it hard to use the term "object" in this context. I prefer the general term "learning resources".

"worthwhile pointers to the Learning Projects and Learning Materials pages" <-- I think that the portals for academic areas such as Life Sciences should feature their best learning projects and materials. Eventually we will have featured content on the Main Page. I think content development projects should encourage people to think in terms of creating learning projects, so we have a link to Portal:Learning Materials from Template:Department boilerplate. Of course, one type of "learning resource" is a conventional course. Since this is a wiki, we need to encourage people to make "courses" that are learning projects that encourage participation in the form of wiki editing. Really, the whole lesson to be learned from Wikipedia is that it is learners who will add most of the wiki content, not expert teachers.

"objectives on the Education page" <-- It is all to easy for people to ignore the Wikiversity project proposal, not think about what it means, and just remain trapped in thinking that Wikiversity should make conventional courses like everyone else. The only thing I have against conventional courses it that they do not make use of the power of the wiki interface. I think Wikiversity could benefit by prominent discussion of these issues. One idea is to have a "wiki journal" that would feature meta-discussions about the Wikiversity earning model.--JWSchmidt 18:27, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

courses
"the content comes across as actively discouraging the creation of online Learning Projects" <-- I assume you mean that you have concerns over the wording and use of this template: Template:Courses. I believe that this template in in use on a total of 8 Wikiversity pages. Most of these 8 pages were created at Wikibooks before the Wikiversity project was ever approved and the pages were built around a list of courses. Such pages that portray Wikiversity as a place for lists of courses are a problems for Wikiversity because the original Wikiversity project proposal's model for "E-learning" was: "A framework within which members of the community can actually take courses online." The Board of Trustees rejected that original project proposal and requested that the WIkiversity community construct a new project proposal that would "exclude credentials, exclude online-courses".

My best guess is that the Board was thinking about conventional courses: "In U.S. education, a course is a unit of teaching that typically lasts one academic term, is led by one or more instructors (teachers or professors), has a fixed roster of students, and gives each student a grade and academic credit." (source)

I think that most people who create or see a list of courses are thinking about conventional courses. I think it is important for such people to think about what a wiki website is and to be aware of the contents of the approved Wikiversity project proposal. The purpose of Template:Courses is to get people to think about these issues and to provide links to pages where they are discussed.

I do not understand how, "Non-traditional Learning Projects that are oriented towards learning about conventional course subjects are encouraged within Wikiversity," can be interpreted as suggesting that Learning Projects are frowned on or banned by anyone. In my view, conventional courses are one type of "learning project" and the template says that even conventional courses are allowed at Wikiversity. The conclusion that should be drawn from reading the template is that participants should think about how a wiki website works. It might be wise if the Wikiversity community talked more about "Wikiversity courses" (courses at Wikiversity) and how they can differ from conventional courses. Wikiversity participants should try to take advantage of the power of the wiki user interface for collaborative webpage editing. Wikiversity does not have credentialed teachers and does not award academic credit for courses. Wikiversity participants should not expect to find conventional courses at Wikiversity. Wikiversity participants should not expect that they can create a conventional course at Wikiversity. It is a wiki, so people can do as they please, but nobody should have unrealistic expectations with respect to courses at Wikiversity.

"I'm hesitant to barge in and re-write." <-- I probably spent about 5 minutes making Template:Courses. That is not much. I have no doubt that there are better ways to word the template. Many people do not understand what Wikiversity can possibly be about if it is not for conventional courses. Many people can only think in terms of conventional courses. Some of these people get very frustrated and upset when they learn that the Board refused to approve Wikiversity as a project that would include conventional courses. It is important to try to get these upset people to think about the alternatives to conventional courses.

"From a newcomer's point of view, I'd much prefer text which points to the Learning Project and other pages, and possibly the Newcomers page as well. Give positive guidance rather than warning and 'danger' stickers." Wikiversity is very new and very small. I am an advocate of placing "featured content" on the main page and having a well-organized system for bringing the best examples of Wikiversity content to the attention of visitors. Most people seem to feel that there is still no real content at Wikiversity worth featuring. We have pages such as Wiki as a tool for learning that could be used to provide "positive guidance" and help get visitors tuned into the possibilities that exist for wiki-based learning projects. I started a list of "General Community Learning Projects" and put it at the top of the Browse page with the hope that there could be a few central projects where everyone could participate and learn what it is like to work within a collaborative learning group at Wikiversity. A serious problem we face right now is that it is hard for a small group of people to "cover" the vastness of all the various academic subject areas; chances for collaboration are few. Another problem is that most Wikiversity participants are still thinking in terms of conventional education rather than collaborative learning projects. I think this situation will continue until a few small collaborative learning groups form and real Wikiversity content starts to grow.--JWSchmidt 17:11, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

"points to limits but doesn't articulate what those are and is vague about their resolution" <-- I view Wikiversity as in experiment in how to make use of wiki technology to support education. It has been frustrating to try to guess exactly what the limits are because the limits were imposed by the Board and the Board has never given a clear description of the limits. My belief is that the Board would like the community to explore multiple approaches to online learning in wiki format in order to try to discover what works and what does not work. "..... the idea here is to also host learning communities, so people who are actually trying to learn, actually have a place to come and interact and help each other figure out how to learn things. We're also going to be hosting and fostering research into how these kinds of things can be used more effectively." (source)

I recognize that some people are made uncomfortable by uncertainty, but that does not mean that we should manufacture some artificial set of clearly defined limits just to make people feel better. Part of the approach to information exchange that has grown out of the Wikipedia project is the idea that people should be shown the original documents and allowed to decide what they mean. In a wiki it is easy to make use of hypertext links to connect people to original documents, often in their original context. I think that the Wikiversity community needs to continue to have discussions about why the Board rejected the first Wikiversity project proposal and approved the modified proposal. I suspect this is a topic that almost every Wikiversity participant should discuss and try to understand.

"it reads like something written by a lawyer, like a warning label" <-- I'm sure that part of that comes from my experience in having to produce and enforce contracts with students. In the old days, a course could have a short syllabus that would inform the students what the course was about and what the students would be doing in the course. Now a syllabus has to be a long legal contract anticipating every possible objection and complaint. In the year since the Board rejected the original Wikiversity project proposal there have been many people with objections and complaints. It is natural for me to try to anticipate those objections and complaints. If I crossed the line into being needlessly confrontational, it is your job to correct the situation.

"may I suggest the template speak instead about 'online learning projects' wherever one might otherwise use the word 'course'." I think the template has only been used where the term "course" was being used without any discussion of what "course" means. As long as the template functions to encourage people to think about how to make an effective course at Wikiversity, I'll be satisfied.

"Do I have your support for a rewording of the Template?" Of course.

"the way wiki software is currently structured, a back-and-forth dialogue such as this one isn't really comfortable. Needs a forum structure — but that's a different conversation." <-- I agree. I hope the wiki software will eventually incorporate a modern, searchable system for threaded discussions.--JWSchmidt 00:28, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

Fresh material and new comers
Hi Morley, sorry for not getting back sooner - I've been away for the weekend.

On providing examples of Wikiversity material, you asked: "How does the Wikipedia manage this? Are there any particular mechanics used over there to keep the content current and fresh?". Well, the only "mechanics" I can think of there is to have a featured article, as well as a featured picture, which change daily on the Main page. I think, in the extract you quoted me on, I was thinking of something more like what they have in Commons, where examples are searchable through categorisation - eg. Category:Video. However, this is still quite primitive - and I'm hoping that our metadata system will help us come to a usable solution. There may be other ways of providing current content - by maintaining a box on the main page with latest (preferably exemplary) material - an idea which could equally be implemented by individual portals or schools.

On the Welcome, newcomer's page, I made some edits before, but I'll go straight there to have another look.

Thanks again, Cormaggio 20:51, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

 * I've made a first stab at merging the "old" and "new" content on Welcome, newcomers - see what you think. Cormaggio 23:00, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

Learning projects
I was just commenting to someone that I had not seen a single "learning project" working like we layed it out to the board. I just did a survey a week ago, User:Rayc/School status. Hopefully this will change the next time I update it.--Rayc 23:28, 7 November 2006 (UTC)
 * I did the survey by just looking through the brose school listings. There are hidden stuff appearing all the time, and I've been trying to get categories on them so at least there is one way of getting to them.  I litteraly just found Facilitating Online today.  If you really want to see everything, look at Special:Allpages, that's how I find stuff.--Rayc 01:20, 9 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Have you seen this page: Featured? --Rayc 02:51, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

history
"how Wikiversity came to be?" <-- There is History of Wikiversity. I have also been working on a few history issues at User:JWSchmidt/history. --JWSchmidt 02:36, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia administrators
I'm an administrator on Wikipedia so, I was just wondering if I could automatically become one here also -- Drini 21:53, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

And I'm new here by the way. -- drini 21:59, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

From Colloquium
category:Wikiversity Essay Contests Did you mean that? By the way, I think the wikimedia convention uses Category:Wikiversity essay contests -- small letters. --Hillgentleman 02:07, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

Links to Category pages
Hi Morley. You've probably discovered this by now, but Category links work a bit differently. To simply display a Category page use the code Category:Whatever (Note the leading colon). Otherwise MediWiki thinks it's an active category. The Welcome section on your user page now displays the category pages instead of activating them. CQ 17:11, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

email options in user preferences; reaching talk pages
Wikipedia has a help file for user preferences w:Help:Preferences and that page has a short description of the email options. I think many people are bothered by the fact that they click on the link that is built into a signature and they go to the person's user page rather than that person's user discussion page. Some people put an extra link from their user page to their user discussion page. Other people make a custom signature that has a direct link to their user discussion page. --JWSchmidt 21:56, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

Where I see wikiversity going...
I'm not sure what comment you were referring to, but I what I was thinking of wikiversity as being something of a watering hole that people involved in various learning projects can meet and combine resources. In my personal view, there is already a huge amount of courseware online, but what is needed is for human beings to come together and make the skeleton come to life.

Roadrunner 01:50, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

Automatic Link between User:UserName and User_talk:UserName

 * You said,
 * "It would be a good idea, by default, to add a link to User_talk:UserName on the User:UserName page when created. I find myself on many user pages having to edit the URL in order to get to that person's Talk page."

 * Solution
 * The "User Page" tab and the "Discussion" tab are automatic built-in links for switching between User:UserName page and User_talk:UserName page. The use of the word "Discussion" rather than "User_talk page" does create confusion. (Does that answer your question? Robert Elliott)

@home
There are screensaver out there that can run processes in the background. Alone, they are only as good as the computer they run on, but when you've got it running on 10,000 computers, you can use that processing power to run simulations that rival supercomputers. People who want to work on a problem, like a cure for aids, make a screensaver that you could download that help run simulations to cure aids. I was saying that we should put them on the school pages. --Rayc 06:54, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

 * Hey Morley, I just stumbled on this via Rayc's talk page. I believe this is known as "Distributed computing" (see also list). Hope you're doing well. Cormaggio talk 12:30, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

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

title: User talk:Morley


text:
Talk:Insurance and annuities

This appears to be notes taken on a text on Insurance. What is the intent of this page? I think it's an orphan page. The Jade Knight 04:23, 10 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Appears to be a subsiduary of finance department of the business school. Needs a cleanup though, as it isn't too useful in its current form. Michael Billington (talk • contribs) 01:05, 14 October 2006 (UTC)

Attempted to format notes. Only had time for Chapter 1. May come back later. May not be that good, I'm not experienced in that field. --Comeau 22:42, 17 October 2006 (UTC)

Compare and select different Home owner's insurance
Home is where the heart is! And you would want your home to be the safest haven where you can relax, have fun and enjoy all your free time. Since your home is usually one of the most expensive and worthy assets that you have, you will want to safeguard it with a Home owner's insurance. Here is why Home owner's insurance is so important for every home owner:

1. Your Home insurance will cover all the essentials such as damage, temporary and permanent of your house.

2. Property inside your house is also covered in the home insurance. Thus, your house is covered against theft and burglary too.

3. If required you can get an additional coverage for valuable items in the house such as jewelry, ornaments, etc.

You cans easily get a free home insurance quote on the web or even call a few insurance agents and ask them for quotes. There are several types of policies such as HO -1, HO -2, HO -3, HO -4, HO -5, HO -6, and HO -8. With a little bit of research on the every type of Westchester Home Insurance you can figure out which one most suitable for your house. You may or may not want certain features in the home insurance policy, depending on your requirements you can pick the one you need. Your home insurance agent will help you out with the type of policy you need, and give you quotes accordingly. Many times if you are mortgaging your house, you will need to purchase a home insurance. This has become a mandatory requirement in many countries before taking a mortgage. This ensures that both the owner and lender are safe. The Suffolk Home Owner's Insurance differs from one country to another, so it is good to read about the policies and laws related to home insurance and other policies before you start your hunt. You can ask your insurance agent about the procedure of filing a claim in case you need to, and it is essential to do a background check on the company you purchase the insurance papers from. You want to be sure the company you take a home insurance from, is genuine and trustworthy.

title: Talk:Insurance and annuities


text:
Python Concepts/Introduction and Setup

Objectives

 * Install Python on your computer.
 * Learn how to run Python from the command line.
 * Learn how to make and run a Python script.
 * (Optional): Learn how to use IDLE.

Python 3 vs Python 2
There are two major versions of Python, Python 3 (newer) and Python 2 (older). You should consider them as separate languages, because code from Python 2 cannot be used in Python 3, and vise versa. This course teaches Python 3 only. In 2020, Python 2 reached end-of-life and support has stopped completely, so there is no point in learning it. It is important to make sure you are installing and using Python 3 instead. However, Python 2 sometimes comes preinstalled on certain operating systems. Installation instructions below will take this into account and guide you through using the correct version of Python. If you end up having both versions installed on your computer, you will need to use the  command anywhere the course tells you to use the   command (as   would run Python 2 in that case).

Installing Python
Before you can enter into the magical world of Python, you'll need to have Python installed on your computer. It may be possible, depending on your operating system, that Python is already installed on your computer. The instructions below will help you determine whether this is the case. Please select the installation instructions for your operating system, then return to this lesson once you have installed Python:

 * Windows Installation
 * MacOS Installation
 * Linux Installation

Online Interpreter
Downloading and installing Python onto your computer is the recommended way to run your code. However, if you feel concerned about downloading Python onto your computer or you just can't do that, then you can use a website to develop and run your code. An excellent free website to use is https://www.online-python.com/, which will let you follow along with most of this course without installing Python. However, this approach will eventually hinder you from learning the more advanced Python topics later on in the resource. Installation will eventually be required.

The Interactive Shell
The shell, terminal, command prompt, command line, or whatever you like to personally call it, is one of the mediums of communication between you and the Python interpreter. Through out much of this resource, you'll see examples of Python code being used in a shell. Essentially, the shell lets you type out Python code and run it directly, without creating a file first.

Before we go ahead, open interactive python in your operating system's shell. Simply open a new shell (command prompt, terminal, etc.) and type  into it. (Remember, if you're using a machine that had Python 2 preinstalled on it, you'll need to specifically type  instead.) Congratulations, you now have a working Python interpreter. This is what the shell may look like when you run interactive Python on your computer:

Python 3.10.5 (tags/v3.10.5:f377153, Jun 6 2022, 16:14:13) [MSC v.1929 64 bit (AMD64)] on win32 Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information. >>>

You may not get the first couple of lines exactly as shown above, since everyone has different versions, computers, and builds. As you've probably guessed, the interpreter tells us the Python version, date of build, the compiler used to build it, the computer's architecture, and the operating system. This information is important for debugging and is useful for checking Python's version. The most important thing that you'll need to know are those three greater-than signs. They symbolize a prompt that asks you for some input. Since this prompt is shown in examples, you'll need to remember that the prompt isn't some special keyword or thing you'd need to type on a daily bias. Here's an example with the prompt displayed only.

Try typing the following into your prompt. (Don't type the . That part is already there.)

As you can see, a newline without the prompt is output. In this case, the  function printed the text to the screen. (You just wrote your first line of Python code!) Another important thing to know is that the prompt changes to three periods if you enter a command with indentations (the Python interpreter is expecting more input). Overall, you'll need to be careful not to mistake the prompt for actual Python code. You will learn when to use indentations later in this course, but for now, you don't need to worry about them.

To exit the interactive shell, type:

Python Script
You will eventually find it tedious to retype programs into your shell. Like other interpreted programming languages, you can store and execute Python code from a file. There are two main types of Python files, script files and bytecode files. Script files are simple plain text files that you can create and edit with just a simple plain text editor. The other type of file, bytecode files, are compiled CPython files. These files are not meant to be edited. Don't worry about this type of file; it will be discussed later on in this course.

A Python script file name ends with the extension  and will be executable when you execute the script by itself on most operating systems. Create a file called  and write the following into it:

Now that you have created your script, it's time to run it. In your shell (command prompt, terminal, etc.) change directory to the folder where your  file is. (If you do not know how to use the cd command to do that, refer to this article.) Then, once your shell is in the folder with the script, type in. (Again, if you're using a machine that had Python 2 preinstalled on it, you'll need to type .)

You'll notice that the  command did not open the interactive shell this time around, but instead executed the contents of. The script should print  and , then it should let you type until you press the enter key. Congratulations, you got your first Python script to work.

IDLE

IDLE, or Integrated Development and Learning Environment, is the default IDE that comes bundled when you install CPython. IDLE is an alternative way to write and run Python scripts in the same program, rather than using a text editor and a shell separately. IDLE is merely a convenience and not required for this course -- if you prefer editing and running scripts like you did with, you can skip this section.

On Windows, IDLE can be accessed by right clicking the Python script and then by clicking on Edit with IDLE. On all operating systems, the program can be found in the start menu (or the Launchpad for Mac). When you run IDLE, you will notice Python's interactive shell. You can open or create a  file in the menu, and run the script directly from within the program by pressing F5 or selecting "Run" from the menu.

When working with IDLE, you'll notice a couple things. First, you'll notice that your code is colored. By default, strings are green, comment red, built-in functions purple, etc. This allows you to see certain parts of your code. This gives you an advantage over mono-colored text. Secondly, you'll notice that IDLE will make automatic indentations when your text is indented. IDLE will also convert presses of the tab key to four spaces.

Although the default settings are great, not all people will like them. Therefore, IDLE is extremely customizable and can be changed as needed. For example, this gives a color-blind person the ability to change the colored text to something more friendly. You can change IDLE's default settings under  in the menu bar.

Assignments

 * Try out the Python Interpreter. Get the general feeling of using it.
 * Create a Python script. Then, try and run it, errors or not.
 * (Optional): Open up IDLE and play around with it. Use and customize it at your own will.

 * Previous Lesson: Why Learn Python
 * Next Lesson: To Get You Started
 * Course Home Page

title: Python Concepts/Introduction and Setup


text:
Talk:Political science

add Public Policy

You are linked ;)
I've set up a link to you from the Strategic Studies Curriculum. Hope I can help in future!--Dnjkirk 18:42, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

title: Talk:Political science


text:
Wikiversity talk:Page creation requests

If possible, please notify the associated Schools or Departments of these requests! The School of History was not made aware of the stub page created for the Russian Revolution. Of course, right now there's probably no one regularly administering this page. We should figure out some sort of system for dealing with this. Should someone go through and tell Schools what pages have been requested? Or should people making requests be given a selection of schools to choose from to make their requests? Or should every single school have a gopher that checks this page for relevant content? Something else entirely? The Jade Knight 05:30, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

Also, it is evident that these people are unaware of where to find this stuff. The Jade Knight 07:22, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

Am I the only one watching this page? I think it needs a lot of work, but I don't have the time or the creative juices right now to restructure it, combine it with the other Request page, and come up with a way to get all the Schools involved on my own… anyone else have any thoughts, at all? The Jade Knight 08:31, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

 * "Calculus-Based Physics(Mechanics)"---This sounds very strange. Do they mean Hamiltonian/Lagrangian mechanics? Physics is based on calculus.  The secondary schools teach the student round-about ways to study physics before they learn calculus.  For example, they only study problems that, whenever they should differentiate, they only need to divide.(A philosophical point here: this round-aboutness may actually be the reason why some people find physics hard....)Hillgentleman|User talk:hillgentleman 06:28, 23 November 2006 (UTC)

Rampant Stub creation
Hey! Stubs are fine! Let's just make sure we deal with them appropriately and not let them get out of hand! It's a good idea to include a link to the relevant School or division/department that may assume responsibility for the stub's development and its context. It's also polite to place the stub in a category at some level, including a relevant link to a Wikipedia article if one exists (they usually do). At least one External link may also be appropo. Thanks for your consideration in this matter. CQ 00:20, 21 January 2007 (UTC)

Classification
Could we categorize more this page? It's quite "unreadable". Like, there are several requests on learning new musical instruments, types of arts... Wouldn't be great to organize in schools, divisions and departments? Khullah 01:51, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Feel free to organize the page. --JWSchmidt 03:27, 3 July 2007 (UTC)

Moved here from the "Page creation requests" page
"there should be an area that is divided by school district and furthur by school where students can post and compare study notes for exams and where there are examples of past tests which can be downloaded for practice"

title: Wikiversity talk:Page creation requests


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Python Concepts/Basic data types

Overview
This page serves as a generalized introduction to the variable types present within Python.

Types
Though different languages may handle variable types uniquely, most are quite similar. Python variable types, like the rest of the language, are quite simple. Variable types are determined by the value stored within the variable. Unlike most other languages, keywords like "int", "String", or "bool" are not required in Python, as Python supports type inferencing. The most general compatible variable type is chosen.

There are three main categories of variable types in Python (and every other programming language). They are listed below, ordered by increasing complexity.

Primitive Variables
Primitive variables are the most basic, hence their "primitive" title. They are capable of storing a single value. In Python there are seven primitive variable types, which are listed below.

NoneType
None

Boolean
True, False

int
12

float
12.00

complex
12+34j

(Note that this represents a single value, not an arithmetic operation!)

Strings
"twelve"

In Python, there is no "char" variable type. Instead, characters are represented with a string with a length of one.

Bytes
b"\x12\x34"

Complex Variable
Types are a category for things within Python with which Python will work. Types are
 * integer: Whole numbers from negative infinity to infinity, such as 1, 0, -5, etc.
 * float : Short for "floating point number," any rational number, usually used with decimals such as 2.8 or 3.14159.
 * string : A set of letters, numbers, or other characters.
 * tuple : A list with a fixed number of elements. ie x=(1,2,3) parentheses makes it a tuple.
 * list: A list without a fixed number of elements. ie x=[1,2,3] note the square brackets, a list
 * dictionaries : A type with multiple elements i.e. x = {1: 'a','b': 2,3: 3} where you address the elements with, e.g., a text.

Opening IDLE
First open IDLE and then open a shell. To open the shell look through the menu bar, some have it under windows, and some have their own shell list. Many also have the short-cut F5.

The shell prompts with ">>>" - the following examples are in the shell.

Integers
Integers are numeric values and can be stored, manipulated, and expressed inside variables without quotes.

Type: Notice how it returns the number.

Type:

You can also perform basic math using integers as well. Type:

Strings
Strings are a type. They are the basic unit of text in Python and all the other types except integers may contain strings. it contains the single or sequence of characters. Type the following into the shell:

>>>"I Love Python"

It will return

'I Love Python'

You can also make a variable refer to a string.

Type:

>>>x = "I Love Python"

Now Type:

>>>x

'I Love Python'

Now Type:

>>>print (x)

I Love Python

The print command prints the value that 'x' stands for on the screen. It removes the quotations. Whenever you type something into a type that isn't an integer, syntax (the commands that you give python, such as print), or variable (such as x just was) you need to put it into quotations. You can use  'single'  or  "double" quotations. If you wrote parenthesis outside of the quotations you would have made a tuple (the 'u' sounds like 'touch', not 'tooch') instead of a string. You can also call on a single element in a string.

Type either:

>>>print (x[3])

OR

>>>x[3]

o

Now Type either:

>>>print (x[9])

OR

>>>x[9]

t

As you can see the elements are numbered starting with 0 (due to Python using Ordinals).

Tuples
A tuple is an unchangeable sequence of values. When you typed ('I love Python') you included only one element. Type: When you do this you create a tuple with three elements. You can access these elements individually by typing the variable and then, inside brackets directly to the right of the variable, type the number of the element to which you are referring.

Type: You may think that it is odd that it returned element 2 instead of element 1. Python starts numbering at 0. element 1 = x[0], element 2= x[1], element 3= x[2]. You can also call on the elements in reverse order.

Type: Python returned element 3 and not element 2 because  and are the same:

For numbering in reverse Python begins with -1.

If you used brackets instead of parentheses you would have made a list.

Lists
A list is a changeable sequence of data. A list is contained by square brackets i.e. [1,2,3]

Type:

The above code changes element number 2 in. The last thing we learn is dictionaries.

Dictionaries
Dictionaries contain a key and a value. { } enclose dictionaries (Note, that you can also construct a set with curly brackets)

Type: Now Type: Depending on what IDLE you are using these may be in different order. The reason for the different order is because dictionaries have no order. You cannot type x[0] and be referring to  'key1':'value1' . What you do to refer to a value is type the key.

Type: Now Type: The keys stay the same but the values are changeable. You can also only have one occurrence of a key in a dictionary, but you may have the values all be the same.

Type: Now Type: The first key is overwritten by the second.

Type: Now Type: This example shows that you can create two separate keys with the same value.

data types quiz
{Which is an integer + 38 - pi - .42 - 2.2
 * type=""}

{Which is a dictionary? - {1,2,3} - [1,2,3] - (1,2,3) + {1: 1, 2: 2, 3: 2}
 * type=""}

Or take the:
 * Basic data types quiz

next: Python Operators

title: Python Concepts/Basic data types


text:
Introduction to Abstract Algebra/Lecture 1

Introduction to the Course
The study of abstract algebra has numerous applications to fields outside of mathematics, such as chemistry and in particular, physics. The primary objective of this introductory course in Abstract Algebra is to aquaint you with studying Group Theory. Groups are one of the most fundamental algebraic structures.

There are other fundamental structures, such as fields and rings. Those will be covered in a future course in algebra. For now, we'll start off with a brief review of set theory. For this, I'll assume you've already seen some logical symbols. Problem set exercises will be assigned following the lecture.

Elements
We'll start off with some set theory. A set is simply a collection of objects; be it a set of books, the complete 'set' of Star Wars movies, a set of baseball cards, whatever. So let's suppose $$A$$ is a set. We say $$a \in  A$$ when the element $$a$$ belongs to $$A$$. We say $$a \notin A$$ when $$a$$ does not belong to $$A$$.

A few very important characteristics about sets:

 * The elements of a set are unique. That means the set $$\left\{1, 2, 3\right\}$$ and $$\left\{1, 2, 3, 3\right\}$$ describe the exact same set.
 * A set has no order. That means the set $$\left\{1, 2, 3\right\}$$ and $$\left\{2, 3, 1\right\}$$ describe the exact same set.

Okay? Lets move on.

Subsets
Definition: Let $$A$$, $$B$$ be sets. We say A is a subset of B, and write $$A \subseteq B$$, if and only if $$ a \in A \Rightarrow a \in B$$.

This means that every element in A is also contained in B. Now we'll see what it means for two sets to be equal.

Definition: Let $$A$$, $$B$$ be sets. Then we say $$A$$ and $$B$$ are equal, and write $$A=B$$, if and only if $$A \subseteq B$$ and $$B \subseteq A$$.

We see here that two sets are equal if every element in A is contained in B and every element in B is contained in A. This definition of set equality invokes some interesting results:

Example: Let $$A = \left\{1,2,3\right\}$$. Then, $$A \subseteq A$$, i.e. $$A$$ is a subset of $$A$$. (Try reason it using our definition of subsets above).

As seen in the above example, a set is necessarily a subset of itself, which does not correspond to our conventional meaning of the word subset that implies a "smaller" set. We therefore invent a new definition for our conventional meaning of subsets.

Definition: Let $$A$$, $$B$$ be sets. We say that $$A$$ is a strict subset of $$B$$, and write $$A \subset B$$, if and only if $$A \subseteq B$$ and $$A \neq B$$.

Now for some set operations.

Set operations
Here are some basic set operations:

 * 1) $$A \cup B = \left\{x \mid x \in A \text{ or } x \in B \right\}$$. This is called the set union.
 * 2) $$A \cap B = \left\{x \mid x \in A \text{ and } x \in B\right\}$$. This is called the set intersection.
 * 3) $$A \setminus B = \left\{x \mid x \in A \text{ and } x \notin B\right\}$$. This is called the set difference.
 * 4) $$A \times B = \left\{(a,b) \mid a \in A \text{ and } b \in B\right\}$$. This is called the Cartesian product.

If you need further review on sets and their operations, please refer to Wikibooks textbook on Set Theory. We now turn our attention to a big concept in all of mathematics, relations. Relations will play a large part in our study of Algebra later on.

Equivalence Relations
Definition: A binary relation on a set, A, is a subset, R, of A x A.  Alternatively, we can say that a subset of A x A is a relation on A.

Here is some notation. Notation: a ~ b if $$(a,b) \in R$$. In other words, a is related to b if both a and b belong to R.

Here is a simple example. Let's say that we have a set of students in a classroom. Then two students are related if they sit in the same row of seats.

Definition: A relation ~ is called an equivalence relation if the following hold:

1): a ~ a $$\forall a \in A$$. This is called reflexivity. 2): If a ~ b $$\Rightarrow$$ b ~ a.  This is called symmetry. 3): If a ~ b and b ~ c, $$\Rightarrow$$ a ~ c. This is called transitivity.

Lets go back to our previous example of students in a classroom. Lets say we have a set of students in a classroom. Then a student is related to his/herself. If student a and student b are sitting in the same row, then student b and student a are in the same row. Finally, if student a and student b are sitting in the same row, and student b and student c are in the same row, then student a and student c are in the same row. Therefore, it is an equivalence relation. Lets look at another example.

Example: Let $$(a,b) \in \mathbb{Z}$$. Show a ~ b if 2 | (a - b). That is, 2 divides (a-b).

Therefore, ~ is an equivalence relation.
 * 1) If a ~ a, then 2 | (a - a).  So ~ is reflexive.
 * 2) If a ~ b $$\Rightarrow$$ 2 | (a - b), then 2 | (b - a) $$\Rightarrow$$ b ~ a.  So ~ is symmetric.
 * 3) If a ~ b and b ~ c, $$\Rightarrow$$ 2 | (a - b) and 2 | (b - c). $$\Rightarrow$$ 2 | [(a - b) + (b - c)].  That is, 2 | (a - c).  $$\Rightarrow$$ a ~ c. So ~ is transitive.

Now we look at another important idea, the equivalence class.

Equivalence Classes
Definition: Let ~ be an equivalence relation on a set A and let $$a \in A$$. Then the equivalence class of a is defined to be: cl(a) = {$$b \in A |$$ a ~ b}.

Going back to our previous example, there is an equivalence relation if two students are in the same row. Then the equivalence class is that row of students.

Example: If a ~ b with 2 | (a - b), what is the equivalence class of zero?

Well, cl(0) = {$$b \in A |$$ 0 ~ b} = $$cl(a) =$$ {$$b \in A |$$ 2 | (0 - b)} = $$cl(a) =$$ {$$b \in A |$$ 2 | b} = $$2 \mathbb{Z}$$ (the set of all even numbers.) So cl(0) = $$2 \mathbb{Z}$$. What then is cl(1)? Going through the same steps, cl(1) = $$2 \mathbb{Z} + 1$$

Next Time
That's all for this lecture. Next time we'll tie up the loose ends in set theory and begin our discussion on mappings. Please see the associated problem set for exercises.


text:
Introduction to Abstract Algebra/Problem set 1

Problem Set #1: Introduction to Abstract Algebra.

As you work through these problems, think about the logical steps you are using. You should know if your proof is correct or not if you have a reason for every step.

1: If$$B \subset A$$, prove $$A \cup B = A$$ and conversely

2: Prove $$( A \cap B ) \cap C = A \cap ( B \cap C )$$

3: Prove $$A \cup ( B \cap C ) = ( A \cup B ) \cap ( A \cup C )$$

4: Define the set C' to be the complement of the set C relative to a defined universal set U for which $$C \subset U$$ such that $$\forall c \in C, c \notin C'$$. Prove that $$( A \cap B )' = A' \cup B'$$ and $$( A \cup B )' = A' \cap B'$$.


text:
User talk:ArrowStomper

Your articles 'Lesson One' and 'Lesson Two'
Thankyou for contributing to Wikiversity. Your articles have been most useful and your contribution valued. However, I'm afraid we must move these two articles to more descriptive names. As a rule of thumb, when creating an article on a topic, mention a keyword from that topic's name in the article name - it helps keeps article names descriptive. 'Lesson One' could be about cooking, Hello World or the fundamentals of plastic explosive. Please see Naming conventions. I'll correct the links at Topic:Python. --Draicone (talk) 06:39, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

title: User talk:ArrowStomper


text:
User talk:Gibrel

Learning PHP
Hi there, I noticed you're interested in learning PHP. I'd be happy to mentor you, have you had any past expeience with web development? --Draicone (talk) 07:17, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

title: User talk:Gibrel


text:
Free online peer reviewed journals

General directories

 * Directory of Open Access Journals
 * Free Medical Journals
 * Highwire Press freely available journals - many journals not completely free, but it tells you when the free access for articles starts for each journal
 * Education-line

Multitopic

 * arXiv - Electronic preprint archive for Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science and Quantitative Biology, orginial public domain science database started in 1991
 * Philica - Instant academic publishing with transparent peer-review for articles on any subject

Agriculture and fisheries

 * Agronomy Journal - all except 2006 issues freely available
 * Crop Science Journal - all except 2006 issues freely available
 * Soil Science of America Journal - all except 2006 issues freely available
 * Acta agriculturae Slovenica - all issues available. Seems two-thirds of content is in Slovenian, the other third in English.
 * Vadose Zone Journal - all except 2006 issues freely available
 * Agraarteadus - Journal of Agricultural Science - all issues available - all content in both Estonian and English.
 * Journal of Environmental Quality - all except 2006 issues freely available
 * Journal of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Education - all issues including and before 2004 freely available (see 'archived issues')
 * Agricultura Técnica - all issues available - all articles in Spanish, all abstracts also available in English. Some articles are in English as well as Spanish.
 * Agricultural Engineering International - all issues available
 * Agrociencia - all issues available - from 2000 onwards all articles are in both Spanish and English. Before 2000 I don't see any English articles, though I might be wrong.
 * Agronomy Research - all issues available - Estonian journal all in English.
 * Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine - all issues seemingly available
 * Applied Ecology and Environmental Research - all issues available
 * Biotechnology, Agronomy, Society and Environment - all issues available, only some in English (mostly in French)

Computer science

 * INFOCOMP Journal of Computer Science
 * Journal of Object Technology
 * Journal of Computing

Earth science

 * Oil Shale - all issues since 1990 available

Education

 * Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice (open access, but restricted copyright)

Mathematics

 * Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society

Medicine

 * WikiJournal of Medicine

Internet and technology

 * First Monday
 * Computers and composition digital press

Psychology

 * Psychology/Journals

Qualitative research

 * Forum:Qualitative Social Research (in English and German)

title: Free online peer reviewed journals