title: Marie Leszczyńska

text: In these complicated disputes over the choice of a royal marriage partner, Marie Leszczyńska eventually emerged as a choice acceptable to both the party of the Duke of Bourbon and Madame de Prie, as well as the party of Cardinal Fleury, mainly because she was politically uncontroversial and lacked any of the alliances which could harm either party. At this point, there were already negotiations of marriage between Marie and the Duke of Bourbon. The Duke of d'Argensson had already left a favorable report of her, and the groundwork had been done. Cardinal Fleury accepted the choice as Marie posed no threat to him because of her lack of connections, while the Duke of Bourbon and Madame de Prie, precisely because she lacked any personal power base, expected her to be indebted to them for her position. Marie was, finally, chosen because she was a healthy adult Catholic princess ready to procreate immediately after the wedding. Reportedly, Madame de Prie had a flattering portrait painted of Marie, in which she was deliberately made to look like the King's favorite portrait of his mother, and when he was shown it, he was impressed and exclaimed: "She is the loveliest of them all!" and became enthusiastic of the match, an episode which attracted some attention.


title: Marie Leszczyńska

text: The formal proposal was made on 2 April 1725. The announcement of the wedding was not received well at the royal court. Marie's father Stanislaus had been a monarch for only a short time and she was thought to be a poor choice of inferior status not worthy of being queen of France.


title: Marie Leszczyńska

text: The Dowager Duchess of Lorraine, sister of the former Duke of Orléans, was also insulted that her own daughter Elisabeth-Therese had not been chosen. The nobility and the court looked upon the future queen as an upstart intruder, the ministers as a cause to diplomatic trouble with Spain and Russia, whose princesses had been refused in favor of Marie, and the general public was also reportedly initially dissatisfied with the fact that France would gain "from this marriage neither glory nor honor, riches nor alliances." There were rumors before the wedding that the bride was ugly, epileptic and sterile. The 6 May 1725, Marie was forced to undergo a medical examination, which ruled out epilepsy and also gave reassuring reports about her menstruation and ability to procreate. In the marriage contract, the same terms were given to her as were previously given to the Spanish Infanta, and she was thus guaranteed fifty thousand crowns for rings and jewelry, two hundred and fifty thousand crowns upon her wedding, and the further guarantee of an annual widow allowance of twenty thousand crowns.


title: Marie Leszczyńska

text: The marriage by proxy took place on 15 August 1725 in the Cathedral of Strasbourg, Louis XV represented by his cousin the Duke of Orléans, "Louis le Pieux". On her marriage, Maria's Polish name was changed to the French "Marie". Despite her surname being difficult for the French to pronounce, it was still often used by commoners. She was escorted by Mademoiselle de Clermont, seven ladies-in-waiting, two maids-of-honour, numerous equerries and pages in a long train of coaches; however, she was not welcomed by triumphal entries, diplomatic greetings or the other official celebrations, as was normally the custom upon the arrival of a foreign princess for a royal marriage. Marie made a good impression upon the public from the beginning, such as when she handed out "largesse" on her way to her wedding in Fontainebleau.


title: Marie Leszczyńska

text: Louis and Marie first met on the eve of their wedding on 4 September 1725 at the Château de Fontainebleau. Marie was twenty-two years old and Louis fifteen. The couple were reported to have fallen in love at first sight. Their relationship was happy at first and for eight years Louis XV was faithful to her. He had been impatient to marry her, was reportedly flattered to have a twenty-two-year-old wife, and refused to allow criticism of her appearance.


title: Marie Leszczyńska

text: In August 1727, at Versailles, Marie gave birth to twins, named Louise Élisabeth and Henriette of France (1727–1752). The King was delighted, declaring that, after it had been said that he could not become a father, he had become the father of two. His first minister, Cardinal Fleury, however, was displeased and decided that until the Queen had given birth to a son she could not be allowed to accompany the King on his trips but had to stay at Versailles. A year later, to the King's disappoinment, another daughter, Marie Louise, was born. The long-awaited dauphin, Louis, was born on 4 September 1729 to the relief of a country whose royal family had a history of failing to establish a secure male line of succession.


title: Marie Leszczyńska

text: Marie had ten live children, seven of whom survived to adulthood. They all regarded her as a model of virtue, particularly her daughters. Marie herself, being of a phlegmatic nature, was not known to show them much affection.


title: Marie Leszczyńska

text: Marie was regarded as plain in appearance by her contemporaries but with a fresh and healthy complexion. That faded with age but piety precluded her from using artificial means to make herself look attractive. She was described as shy and reserved in the company of her husband. She considered it her duty to show him gratitude and reverence but was unable to relax enough to entertain him or to flirt with him. Once, for example, she could find no other way to entertain him than to suggest he to kill the flies in the window panes.


title: Marie Leszczyńska

text: Louis XV, who suffered from melancholy and boredom, became inclined to listen when Marie was unfavorably compared to other women, and Cardinal Fleury, who wished to prevent Marie from eventually getting any influence over the King, favored the idea of the King taking a mistress as long as she was apolitical.


title: Marie Leszczyńska

text: Louis XV eventually became a notorious womanizer. In 1733, he entered into his first infidelity with Louise Julie de Mailly; until 1737, this relationship was not official, and she was known at court as the "Fair Unknown". These years, Marie unsuccessfully tried to figure out who the mistress was and did display her displeasure over the state of affairs, but the adultery had the support of Cardinal Fleury because de Mailly was not interested in politics, and after the first years of the king's adultery, Marie became resigned to it.


title: Marie Leszczyńska

text: After the difficult birth of Princess Louise in 1737, which nearly took her life, Marie was advised by the doctors that another pregnancy may end her life, and from 1738, she refused Louis's entrance to her bedroom.


title: Marie Leszczyńska

text: In parallel with this, Louise Julie de Mailly was officially recognized as the King's royal mistress and favorite at court, and the relationship between the King and Queen discontinued in all but name, though they continued to perform their ceremonial roles side by side. The King paid only purely ceremonial visits to her rooms and no longer participated in her card games. The court, wary of her loss of the King's affection, only attended to her when court representation required.


title: Marie Leszczyńska

text: Louise Julie de Mailly was followed by Pauline Félicité de Mailly in 1739, Marie Anne de Mailly in 1742 and Diane Adélaïde de Mailly also in 1742. During the serious illness of Louis XV in Metz in August 1744, when he was believed to be dying, Marie was given his permission to join him. She was cheered by the supporting public along her journey, but when she arrived, he no longer wished to see her. She and the clergy supported the idea of the King exiling his mistress Marie Anne de Mailly including her sister, and the idea that the King should make a public regret for his adultery, but this did not improve their marriage.


title: Marie Leszczyńska

text: Madame de Pompadour was presented at court in 1745 and was given such an important and influential position at court until her death in 1764 that she somewhat eclipsed the Queen. The lovers of Louis were often given positions in the court of Marie in order for them to have a permanent access and official excuse to remain at court, which placed Marie in a difficult position. She regarded the first official mistress Louise Julie de Mailly as the most hurtful because she was the first one; however, she disliked Marie Anne de Mailly on a more personal level because Marie Anne was haughty and insolent. In contrast to the other official mistresses, Marie had a moderately friendly and cordial relationship to Madame de Pompadour, who always treated the Queen with deference and respect, though Marie did, unsuccessfully, oppose Pompadour's appointment as a lady-in-waiting in 1756. In contrast, Marie herself seems never to have had extramarital relations.


title: Marie Leszczyńska

text: Queen Marie never managed to develop political influence. After her marriage, her appointed court consisted of a great number of followers of the Duke of Bourbon, among them Madame de Prie, the Duchess de Béthune, and the Marquise de Matignon, who, among her twelve ladies-in-waiting or "dame du palais", the Duke's own sister, Marie Anne de Bourbon, became her "Surintendante de la Maison de la Reine" and Paris de Verney was appointed as her secretary. Cardinal de Fleury, who had been Louis's tutor, was appointed her grand almoner.


title: Marie Leszczyńska

text: Marie had been given advice by her father to always loyally stand by the Duke of Bourbon, to whom she owed her marriage and position, and it was a favor to the Duke that Marie made her first attempt to interfere in politics. On 17 December 1725 the Duke of Bourbon, Madame de Prie and Paris de Verney attempted to banish Cardinal de Fleury through a plot. On their instruction, the Queen called on the King to come to her chambers, where the Duke de Bourbon was present. The doors were locked to ensure secrecy and the Duke presented the King with a report from their ambassador in Rome which blamed Fleury for the French failure in a dispute with the Pope. Bourbon asked the King if they should write a reply, which the King refused without the presence of Fleury. Meanwhile, Cardinal Fleury learned of the plot to discredit him and left the palace. The Duke and de Prie planned to use the absence of Fleury to have him confined to an abbey, and gave Marie the task of informing Louis XV that the absent Fleury wished to enter an Abbey and leave his position at court.


title: Marie Leszczyńska

text: This led to a crisis when the King gave Bourbon the choice to either expel Madame de Prie and Paris de Verney or be removed from his post of prime minister. This incident led to Cardinal Fleury categorizing Queen Marie as his opponent, and his decision to oust the ministry of the Duke of Bourbon. Cardinal Fleury warned the King that no woman should be allowed to participate in state affairs and that listening to women's advice would lead to disaster.


title: Marie Leszczyńska

text: In June 1726, Fleury convinced the King to deprive the Duke of Bourbon of his ministry. Madame de Prie immediately enlisted the Queen to speak to the King in favor of Bourbon. She protested but agreed and reportedly spoke passionately about the affair to the King, but she was unable to succeed as the King reacted very negatively to her attempt to interfere in politics after the preparation from Fleury that women should not be allowed to participate in state affairs.


title: Marie Leszczyńska

text: The day following the fall of the Duke de Bourbon's ministry, Louis XV stated to Queen Marie that he demanded of her to let herself be directed by Cardinal Fleury in the future with the words:


title: Marie Leszczyńska

text: Marie's attempt to participate in state affairs during the events of 1726 resulted in a crisis in her relationship with Louis XV, and she sought advice on how to behave from the Princess of Carignano, whom unbeknownst to her was a spy in service of Savoy. The princess' advice was that as Queen of France, it was Marie's duty not to involve herself in political intrigues and plots, but to act as an example of virtue and piety; a role model of a "Catholic consort of the Most Christian King". Queen Marie accepted the advice and followed it for the rest of her life, as she was never again involved in any political activity. After the 1726 crisis and until the birth of a dauphin in 1729, Cardinal Fleury and the Princess of Carignano made long running preparations to replace Marie, preferably with Charlotte of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg, if she should die in childbirth.


title: Marie Leszczyńska

text: Marie reconciled with Cardinal Fleury, whom she kept contact with through letters and humbly entrusted to advise her how to behave in order to please the King. Fleury and Marie developed a cordial relationship and he often granted her his support when he estimated that her request to the King was harmless; such as in 1742, when the Cardinal, on her request, persuaded the King to allow her to appoint her personal friend Amable-Gabrielle de Villars as "Dame d'atours". Her political activity after 1726 was limited to asking Louis XV to grant a pension or a promotion to a friend, and she often used Cardinal Fleury as a mediator to achieve this.


title: Marie Leszczyńska

text: Despite her lack of influence, she did have political views, and also some indirect political importance. During the War of the Polish Succession in 1733–1736, she supported her father's candidacy to the Polish throne, and upon her father's demand, she did her best to encourage Cardinal Fleury to support her father's candidacy, though she herself expressed to the Cardinal that she had never wished for the war and that she was an innocent cause of it because the French wished to enhance her dynastic status. After the war, her father was given the Duchy of Lorraine because he was the father-in-law of the King of France, and the Duchy became part of France after the death of her father who became Duke of Lorraine, thus making herself indirectly useful in the political arena. As a devout Catholic, Queen Marie gave her passive support to the so-called Dévots party at court, supported the bishops in their conflicts with the Parliament of Paris, and expressed sympathy for the Jesuit order in their conflict with the crown. It was also a fact, that if the King should die before his son was an adult, then she would in accordance with custom have become regent of France until his 13th birthday, which made Marie a potential regent from the birth of the dauphin until his 13th-birthday, a fact which would have been well known at court.


title: Marie Leszczyńska

text: Queen Marie was initially not respected by the royal court, where she was regarded as low-born. Her lack of dynastic status and lack of connections left her without a political power base, and she did not manage to acquire any personal or political influence. She was not credited with any personal significance and not given much personal attention outside of her ceremonial role as queen.


title: Marie Leszczyńska

text: As queen, Marie Leszczyńska performed her ceremonial role in strict accordance with formal court etiquette and regularly and punctually fulfilled all representational duties that the court life at Versailles demanded of her. She valued the ritualized pomp and court presentations in order to increase her dignity and win the respect of the court nobility, which was necessary because she had no prestigious dynastic connections of birth and was thus initially seen as low born by them: her successor as queen, Marie Antoinette, was to ignore many of these rules, and once pointed out, that in contrast to her predecessor Queen Marie Leszczyńska, it was not necessary for her to enhance her status and dignity since her dynastic status was evident by birth, and that she could therefore afford to relax on her etiquette without losing respect.


title: Marie Leszczyńska

text: Marie was given an allowance of 100.000 livres for pleasure, charity and gambling, a sum which was in reality often irregularly paid and also insufficient, as she was often in debt. Though she had simple habits, her apartments at Versailles were not redecorated after 1737 - her favorite game, "cavagnole", often placed her in debt, and the King was normally unwilling to pay these off for her.


title: Marie Leszczyńska

text: She accepted that her courtiers were appointed because of rank rather than personal preference, and conversed politely with those who were in attendance. However, though she was careful to always fulfill her representational role, she never participated in court life outside of what was necessary to fulfill her ceremonial duties, and when they were done, she preferred to retire to her private apartments with an intimate circle of friends. Among her own private friends were her grand almoner Cardinal de Luynes, Duke Charles Philippe d'Albert de Luynes and her" Dame d'honneur" Marie Brûlart as well as the wealthy widow of the late Regent the Dowager Duchess of Orleans: Francoise Marie de Bourbon


title: Marie Leszczyńska

text: (legitimized daughter of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan) who would invite and organized parties in her palaces in Paris for Marie Leczinska. Her other favorite lady in waiting was her "Dame d'atour", Françoise de Mazarin, who supported Marie during the affair between her cousin, Louise Julie de Mailly and the King. Marie's private circle of friends was completed with the addition of President Hénault (her "Surintendant" since 1753) and Comte d'Argenson, whom she had asked not to address her with her title and with whom she also consulted when she wished to have a pension or a promotion given to a protégé. Like her mother, Marie maintained a political correspondence with Margareta Gyllenstierna, the spouse of Arvid Horn, after she had made her acquaintance during her stay in Sweden.


title: Marie Leszczyńska

text: Queen Marie eventually did manage to win the respect of the court nobility by her strict adherence to court etiquette, which made her opinion at least formally important. In 1747, Voltaire was banished from the royal court through her influence. The reason were two incidents, both of which insulted the queen: During one long night of gambling, Voltaire's lover, Emilie du Chatelet, lost a fortune at the Queen's gambling table, during which Voltaire whispered to her in English that she had been cheated. This was regarded as an insult to the Queen, because it denounced her guests as cheats; Voltaire could have been arrested for his ill-timed remark. Shortly afterward, Voltaire wrote a poem in honor of his patron, the royal mistress Madame de Pompadour, in which he alluded to the sexual relationship between Pompadour and the King. This insulted Marie and led to the banishment of Voltaire from court.


title: Marie Leszczyńska

text: When her first daughter-in-law died in 1746, the Queen, very fond and loving of her only son, opposed the selection of his next spouse, the Duchess Marie-Josèphe of Saxony, because she was the daughter of her father's rival, King Augustus III of Poland. Her dislike of the match was known but ignored, as she had no dynastic connections. Initially, this issue caused some friction between the Queen and her new daughter-in-law. However, the friction was soon overcome, reportedly because Marie-Josèphe was an admirer of the Queen's father. In honour of him, several of the Queen's grandsons received the name Stanislaus (Stanislas in French) at their christening.


title: Marie Leszczyńska

text: Marie played some part as a cultural patron. Marie was the benefactor of the painter Jean-Marc Nattier, whom she commissioned in 1748 to paint the last portrait she ever sat for, an unusual one as it was informal. It was a major success for Jean-Marc, as it was printed and sold in prints. It was also her favorite portrait, which she had reproduced to give to friends. She was a great lover of music, painting and the promoter of many artists. She met the castrato Farinelli in 1737, and the young Mozart in 1764, whom she found very charming. During his visit to Versailles, she acted as an interpreter for her spouse and family who did not understand German. Her major contribution to life at Versailles was the weekly Polish choral concerts.


title: Marie Leszczyńska

text: Queen Marie maintained the role and reputation of a simple and dignified Catholic queen. She functioned as an example of Catholic piety and was framed for her generosity to the poor and needy through her philanthropy which included establishing workhouses, livelihood programs and financial assistance for the poor as well as supporting orphanages and hospitals, which made her very popular among the public her entire life as Queen.


title: Marie Leszczyńska

text: Marie Leszczyńska died on 24 June 1768, one day after her birthday, at the age of 65. She had enjoyed great popularity among the public in her early and later years. She was buried at the Basilica of St Denis, and her heart was entombed at the Church of Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours in Nancy.


title: Simon Property Group

text: Simon Property Group, Inc. is an American real estate investment trust that invests in shopping malls, outlet centers, and community/lifestyle centers. It is the largest owner of shopping malls in the United States and is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. Worldwide, it owns interests in 232 properties comprising approximately of gross leasable area in North America and Asia.


title: Simon Property Group

text: Simon Property Group dates to 1960, when brothers Melvin Simon and Herbert Simon began developing strip malls in Indianapolis, Indiana. In December 1993, they took their interests public as Simon Property Group in the largest initial public offering of a real estate investment trust to date. Simon Property merged with the newly public DeBartolo Realty Corporation, owner of the real estate assets of Edward J. DeBartolo Sr., in 1996 to form Simon DeBartolo Group.


title: Simon Property Group

text: In 1997, the company acquired The Retail Property Trust for $1.2 billion in a hostile takeover. Also in 1997, in partnership with Macerich, the company acquired 12 malls from IBM's pension plan for $974.5 million. One year after these acquisitions, the company acquired Corporate Property Investors and was renamed Simon Property Group. The company also acquired an ownership interest in Groupe BEG, S.A., operator of shopping centers in Europe.


title: Simon Property Group

text: In 2002, in partnership with Westfield Group and The Rouse Company, the company acquired 13 properties from Rodamco North America including Copley Place, Houston Galleria, and SouthPark Mall.


title: Simon Property Group

text: In 2003, Simon acquired a majority interest The Kravco Company, owner of the King of Prussia, for $300 million.


title: Simon Property Group

text: In 2004, the company entered the outlet mall business with the acquisition of Chelsea Property Group Inc. for $3.5 billion.


title: Simon Property Group

text: In 2009, Simon tried to buy malls owned by General Growth Properties. In February 2010, Simon placed a bid acquire General Growth, which was in bankruptcy protection. However, the bid was rejected by GGP. A GGP shareholder filed suit "(Young v. Bucksbaum)" against the company's board of directors for rejecting Simon's bid, alleging breach of fiduciary duty. In April 2010, Simon offered to make a $2.5 billion equity investment in GGP including a $1 billion investment by Paulson & Co. In May 2010, Simon withdrew from the bidding for GGP after GGP favored transactions with Brookfield Asset Management.


title: Simon Property Group

text: In May 2010, Simon acquired Prime Retail's Prime Outlets-Puerto Rico in Barceloneta, Puerto Rico In August 2010, Simon acquired an additional 21 outlet malls, including locations in Williamsburg, Virginia, San Marcos, Texas and Hagerstown, Maryland for a total of $2.3 billion.


title: Simon Property Group

text: In December 2010, Simon made a $4.5 billion bid for Capital Shopping Centres Group plc; however, the offer was rejected and withdrawn in January 2011.


title: Simon Property Group

text: In August 2013, Toronto Premium Outlets opened in Halton Hills, Ontario, Canada. In October 2014, Premium Outlets Montreal, the second in Canada, opened. In May 2018, Premium Outlet Collection YEG opened at Edmonton International Airport.


title: Simon Property Group

text: In May 2014, the company completed the corporate spin-off of Washington Prime Group, headed by Mark Ordan, the final CEO of Mills Corporation.


title: Simon Property Group

text: In January 2015, Washington Prime Group acquired Glimcher Realty Trust and was renamed WP Glimcher. As part of the deal, Simon acquired Jersey Gardens in Elizabeth, New Jersey and University Park Village in Fort Worth, Texas, while WP Glimcher acquired Brunswick Square in East Brunswick, New Jersey from Simon.


title: Simon Property Group

text: In March 2015, the company offered $23.3 billion for Macerich; however the offer was rejected and withdrawn in April 2015.


title: Simon Property Group

text: In September 2016, in partnership with Authentic Brands Group and GGP Inc., the company acquired Aéropostale.


title: Simon Property Group

text: On March 18, 2020, the company announced the closure of its U.S. shopping malls until March 29, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, it was the largest mall owner in the U.S.


title: Simon Property Group

text: In August 2020, the company discussed repurposing large stores into warehouses and fulfillment centers for Amazon. Also in August 2020, in partnership with Authentic Brands, the company acquired Brooks Brothers and Lucky Brand Jeans.


title: Simon Property Group

text: In December 2020, the company acquired Taubman Centers for $3.4 billion. It also acquired J.C. Penney in partnership with Brookfield Asset Management.


title: Simon Property Group

text: In 2007, the company was sued for banning the use of Segways, which the plaintiff claimed was in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act.


title: Simon Property Group

text: In 2009, the company was sued by a nightclub for racial discrimination for allegedly blocking its main entrance since the majority of its clientele were black.


title: Simon Property Group

text: In 2011, the company agreed to pay $125,000 to settle allegations by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that Latino janitors working for the company were subjected to daily verbal attacks because of their national origin.


title: Malta (island)

text: Malta is the largest of the three major islands that constitute the Maltese archipelago. It is sometimes referred to as Valletta for statistical purposes to distinguish the main island from the entire country. Malta is in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea directly south of Italy and north of Libya. The island is long and wide, with a total area of . The capital is Valletta, while the largest locality is Rabat. The island is made up of many small towns, which together form one larger urban zone with a population of 409,259. The landscape is characterised by low hills with terraced fields.


title: Malta (island)

text: Humans have inhabited Malta since about 5200 BC, when stone age hunters or farmers arrived from Sicily. Early Neolithic settlements were discovered in open areas and also in caves, such as Għar Dalam. Around 3500 BC, a culture of megalithic temple builders then either supplanted or arose. They built some of the oldest existing, free-standing structures in the world in the form of megalithic temples such as those at Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra. After 2500 BC, Malta was depopulated but soon became the home of Bronze Age settlers, who settled in sites such as Borġ in-Nadur. They built first fortifications in Malta.


title: Malta (island)

text: Malta was later ruled by the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Byzantines and Arabs before it was occupied by the County of Sicily in 1091. The island then became part of the Kingdom of Sicily until it was given to the Order of Saint John along with Gozo and Tripoli (North Africa) in 1530. In 1192 Tancred, King of Sicily created Margaritus of Brindisi the first Count of Malta. In 1565, the Order and the Maltese withstood a major Ottoman invasion which became known as the Great Siege of Malta. The Order ruled Malta for over 250 years and built many great pieces of architecture, including the capital city Valletta. In 1798, the French under Napoleon occupied Malta and ruled from 1798–1800. Napoleon's stay lasted from 12–18 June when he resided at Palazzo Parisio in Valletta. The French remained until the Maltese rebelled against their rule. In 1800, the British took control over Malta and the island initially became a British protectorate, and a colony a couple of years later. The British ruled for about 150 years and Malta became independent in 1964. Ten years later the State of Malta became the Republic of Malta. Malta joined the European Union in 2004 and adopted the Euro four years later.


title: Malta (island)

text: Malta is the largest island in an archipelago in the central Mediterranean, some south of the Italian island of Sicily across the Malta Channel. Malta is located east of its sister islands of Gozo and Comino. It lies on the Malta plateau, a shallow shelf formed from the high points of a land bridge between Sicily and North Africa that became isolated as sea levels rose after the last ice age. Malta is therefore situated in the zone between the Eurasian and African tectonic plates.


title: Malta (island)

text: Numerous bays along the indented coastline of the islands provide good harbours. The landscape consists of low hills with terraced fields. The highest point in Malta is Ta' Dmejrek, at , near Dingli. Although there are some small rivers at times of high rainfall, there are no permanent rivers or lakes on Malta. However, some watercourses have fresh water running all year round, such as those at Ras ir-Raħeb near Baħrija and at l-Imtaħleb.


title: Malta (island)

text: Phytogeographically, Malta belongs to the Liguro-Tyrrhenian province of the Mediterranean Region within the Boreal Kingdom. According to the WWF, the territory of Malta belongs to the ecoregion of "Mediterranean Forests, Woodlands and Scrub".


title: Malta (island)

text: Malta has a Subtropical–Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification "Csa"), with very mild winters and hot summers. Rain occurs mainly in winter, with summer being generally dry. According to the International Living, Malta is the country with the best climate in the world.


title: Malta (island)

text: The average yearly temperature is around during the day and at night. In the coldest month – January – the typically maximum temperature ranges from during the day and minimum at night. In the warmest month – August – the typically maximum temperature ranges from during the day and minimum at night. Generally – summers/holiday season lasts to 8 months, starting from around mid-April with temperatures during the day and at night, ending in November with temperatures during the day and at night, although also in the remaining 4 months temperatures sometimes reach . Amongst all capitals in the continent of Europe, Valletta – the capital of Malta has the warmest winters, with average temperatures of around during the day and at night in the period January–February. In March and December average temperatures is around during the day and at night. Large fluctuations in temperature are rare. Also, Malta is one of the few places in Europe which are "green" all year round.


title: Malta (island)

text: Average annual temperature of the sea is (the highest in the continent of Europe), from in February to in August. In the 6 months – from June to November – the average sea temperature exceeds .


title: Malta (island)

text: Sunshine duration hours total around 3,000 per year (one of the highest results in Europe), from an average above five hours of sunshine per day in December to an average above 12 hours in July. This is about double that of cities in the northern half of Europe, for comparison: London – 1,461; however, in winter it has up to several times more sunshine; for comparison: in December, London has 37 hours of sunshine whereas Malta has about 160.


title: Malta (island)

text: According to Eurostat, Malta Island is a single Larger Urban Zone nominally referred to as "Valletta". According to Demographia, the whole country is identified as urban area. According to European Spatial Planning Observation Network, Malta is identified as Functional Urban Area (FUA). According to United Nations, about 95% area of Malta is urban area and the number grows every year. Also, according to the results of ESPON and EU Commission studies, ""the whole territory of Malta constitutes a single urban region"".


title: Malta (island)

text: The main island of Malta contributes significantly to the country's overall economy, which itself is classified as an advanced economy according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Until 1800 Malta depended on cotton, tobacco and its shipyards for exports. Once under British control, they came to depend on Malta Dockyard for support of the Royal Navy, especially during the Crimean war of 1854. Malta's economy was boosted by the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, as there was a massive increase of civilian shipping which entered the port. Ships stopping at Malta's docks for refuelling helped the Entrepôt trade, which brought additional benefits to the island. Towards the end of the 19th century the economy began declining, and by the 1940s Malta's economy was in serious crisis. One factor was the longer range of newer merchant ships that required less frequent refuelling stops. The economy was boosted again after World War II when the island needed to be rebuilt.Currently, Malta's major resources are limestone, a favourable geographic location and a productive labour force. Malta produces only about 20% of its food needs, has limited freshwater supplies because of the drought in the summer and has no domestic energy sources, aside from the potential for solar energy from its plentiful sunlight. The economy is dependent on foreign trade (serving as a freight trans-shipment point), manufacturing (especially electronics and textiles) and tourism.


title: Malta (island)

text: Film production is a growing contributor to the Maltese economy. Despite its size, Malta continues to attract international film productions from around the world and this is the best sign of confidence that a small country can get from foreign producers. The first film shot in Malta was "Sons of the Sea" in 1925. Since then, over 100 other films were partially or fully shot in Malta, including "Malta Story" (1953), "Midnight Express" (1978), "Popeye" (1980), "Gladiator" (2000), "Munich" (2005), "World War Z" (2013) and "Captain Phillips" (2013).


title: Malta (island)

text: In preparation for Malta's membership in the European Union, which it joined on 1 May 2004, it privatised some state-controlled firms and liberalised markets. For example, the government announced on 8 January 2007 that it was selling its 40% stake in MaltaPost, to complete a privatisation process which has been ongoing for the past five years. By 2010, Malta had privatised telecommunications, postal services, shipyards and shipbuilding.


title: Malta (island)

text: The two largest commercial banks are Bank of Valletta and HSBC Bank Malta, both of which can trace their origins back to the 19th century.


title: Malta (island)

text: The Central Bank of Malta (Bank Ċentrali ta' Malta) has two key areas of responsibility: the formulation and implementation of monetary policy and the promotion of a sound and efficient financial system. It was established by the Central Bank of Malta Act on 17 April 1968. The Maltese government entered ERM II on 4 May 2005, and adopted the euro as the country's currency on 1 January 2008.


title: Malta (island)

text: FinanceMalta is the quasi-governmental organisation tasked with marketing and educating business leaders in coming to Malta and runs seminars and events around the world highlighting the emerging strength of Malta as a jurisdiction for banking and finance and insurance.


title: Malta (island)

text: Traffic in Malta drives on the left. Car ownership in Malta is exceedingly high, given the very small size of the island.


title: Malta (island)

text: The main roads of Malta from the southernmost point to the northernmost point are these: Triq Birżebbuġa in Birżebbuġa, Għar Dalam Road and Tal-Barrani Road in Żejtun, Santa Luċija Avenue in Paola, Aldo Moro Street (Trunk Road), 13 December Street and Ħamrun-Marsa Bypass in Marsa, Regional Road in Santa Venera/Msida/Gżira/San Ġwann, St Andrew's Road in Swieqi/Pembroke, Malta, Coast Road in Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq, Salina Road, Kennedy Drive, St. Paul's Bypass and Xemxija Hill in San Pawl il-Baħar, Mistra Hill, Wettinger Street (Mellieħa Bypass) and Marfa Road in Mellieħa.


title: Malta (island)

text: Buses ("xarabank" or "karozza tal-linja") are the primary method of public transport. Established in 1905, the service underwent an extensive reform in July 2011. The management structure changed from having self-employed drivers driving their own vehicles to a service being offered by a single company through a public tender. The public tender was won by Arriva Malta, a member of the Arriva group, but the company ceased operations on 1 January 2014 having been nationalised as "Malta Public Transport" by the Maltese government, with a new bus operator to take over their operations in the near future.


title: Malta (island)

text: There is also a man-made harbour at Ċirkewwa. This is connected with Mġarr Harbour on Gozo by the Gozo ferry which makes numerous trips each day.


title: Malta (island)

text: The only airport on Malta is Malta International Airport. It is built on the land formerly occupied by the RAF Luqa air base. Two further airfields at Ta' Qali and Ħal Far were operated during World War II and into the 1960s but are now closed. Today, Ta' Qali houses a national park, stadium, the Crafts Village visitor attraction and the Malta Aviation Museum. This museum preserves several aircraft, including Hurricane and Spitfire fighters that defended the island in World War II. The national airline is Air Malta.


title: Malta (island)

text: Malta is a popular tourist destination, with 1.2 million tourists per year. Three times more tourists visit than there are residents. Tourism infrastructure has increased dramatically over the years and a number of good-quality hotels are present on the island, although overdevelopment and the destruction of traditional housing is of growing concern. An increasing number of Maltese now travel abroad on holiday.


title: Malta (island)

text: In recent years, Malta has advertised itself as a medical tourism destination, and a number of health tourism providers are developing the industry. However, no Maltese hospital has undergone independent international healthcare accreditation. Malta is popular with British medical tourists, pointing Maltese hospitals towards seeking UK-sourced accreditation, such as with the Trent Accreditation Scheme. Dual accreditation with the American-oriented Joint Commission is necessary if hospitals in Malta wish to compete with the Far East and Latin America for medical tourists from the United States.


title: Malta (island)

text: Native Maltese people make up the majority of the island. However, there are minorities, the largest of which are British, many of whom have retired to Malta. According to the government's estimate of 2013, the population of Malta stood at 409,259 people which is about 91.6% of the country's total population. The largest city is Birkirkara with a population of 22,319. The capital Valletta has a relatively small population of 6675 people.


title: Malta (island)

text: The main language spoken on Malta is the Maltese language, a Semitic language descended from the now defunct Siculo-Arabic dialect of southern Italy. The language has substantial borrowing from Sicilian, Italian, a little French, and more recently and increasingly, English. The hybrid character of Maltese was established by a long period of Maltese-Sicilian urban bilingualism gradually transforming rural speech and which ended in the early 19th century with Maltese emerging as the vernacular of the entire native population. The language includes different dialects that can vary greatly from one town to another or from one island to another.


title: Malta (island)

text: The Eurobarometer states that 100% of the population speak Maltese. Also, 88% of the population speak English, 66% speak Italian, and 17% speak French. This widespread knowledge of second languages makes Malta one of the most multilingual countries in the European Union. A study collecting public opinion on what language was "preferred" discovered that 86% of the population express a preference for Maltese, 12% for English, and 2% for Italian. Still, Italian television channels from Italy-based broadcasters, such as Mediaset and RAI, reach Malta and remain popular.


title: Malta (island)

text: Malta has had a system of local government since 1993, based on the European Charter of Local Self-Government. The main island is divided into four regions, each having its own Regional Committee:


title: Malta (island)

text: Each region is further divided into local councils. Some hamlets have administrative committees, which are part of larger local councils. Currently there are 54 local councils and 13 administrative committees in Malta.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: Learning theory describes how students receive, process, and retain knowledge during learning. Cognitive, emotional, and environmental influences, as well as prior experience, all play a part in how understanding, or a world view, is acquired or changed and knowledge and skills retained.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: Behaviorists look at learning as an aspect of conditioning and advocate a system of rewards and targets in education. Educators who embrace cognitive theory believe that the definition of learning as a change in behaviour is too narrow, and study the learner rather than their environment—and in particular the complexities of human memory. Those who advocate constructivism believe that a learner's ability to learn relies largely on what they already know and understand, and the acquisition of knowledge should be an individually tailored process of construction. Transformative learning theory focuses on the often-necessary change required in a learner's preconceptions and world view. Geographical learning theory focuses on the ways that contexts and environments shape the learning process.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: Outside the realm of educational psychology, techniques to directly observe the functioning of the brain during the learning process, such as event-related potential and functional magnetic resonance imaging, are used in educational neuroscience. The theory of multiple intelligences, where learning is seen as the interaction between dozens of different functional areas in the brain each with their own individual strengths and weaknesses in any particular human learner, has also been proposed, but empirical research has found the theory to be unsupported by evidence.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: Plato (428 BC–347 BC) proposed the question: How does an individual learn something new when the topic is brand new to that person? This question may seem trivial; however, think of a human like a computer. The question would then become: How does a computer take in any factual information without previous programming? Plato answered his own question by stating that knowledge is present at birth and all information learned by a person is merely a recollection of something the soul has already learned previously, which is called the Theory of Recollection or Platonic epistemology. This answer could be further justified by a paradox: If a person knows something, they don't need to question it, and if a person does not know something, they don't know to question it. Plato says that if one did not previously know something, then they cannot learn it. He describes learning as a passive process, where information and knowledge are ironed into the soul over time. However, Plato's theory elicits even more questions about knowledge: If we can only learn something when we already had the knowledge impressed onto our souls, then how did our souls gain that knowledge in the first place? Plato's theory can seem convoluted; however, his classical theory can still help us understand knowledge today.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: John Locke (1632–1704) offered an answer to Plato's question as well. Locke offered the "blank slate" theory where humans are born into the world with no innate knowledge and are ready to be written on and influenced by the environment. The thinker maintained that knowledge and ideas originate from two sources, which are sensation and reflection. The former provides insights regarding external objects (including their properties) while the latter provides the ideas about one's mental faculties (volition and understanding). In the theory of empiricism, these sources are direct experience and observation. Locke, like David Hume, is considered an empiricist because he locates the source of human knowledge in the empirical world.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: Locke recognized that something had to be present, however. This something, to Locke, seemed to be "mental powers". Locke viewed these powers as a biological ability the baby is born with, similar to how a baby knows how to biologically function when born. So as soon as the baby enters the world, it immediately has experiences with its surroundings and all of those experiences are being transcribed to the baby's "slate". All of the experiences then eventually culminate into complex and abstract ideas. This theory can still help teachers understand their students' learning today.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: The term "behaviorism" was coined by American psychologist John Watson (1878–1959). Watson believed the behaviorist view is a purely objective experimental branch of natural science with a goal to predict and control behavior. In an article in the "Psychological Review", he stated that, "Its theoretical goal is the prediction and control of behavior. Introspection forms no essential part of its methods, nor is the scientific value of its data dependent upon the readiness with which they lend themselves to interpretation in terms of consciousness."


title: Learning theory (education)

text: Methodological behaviorism is based on the theory of only explaining public events, or observable behavior. B.F. Skinner introduced another type of behaviorism called radical behaviorism, or the conceptual analysis of behavior, which is based on the theory of also explaining private events; particularly, thinking and feelings. Radical behaviorism forms the conceptual piece of behavior analysis.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: In behavior analysis, learning is the acquisition of a new behavior through conditioning and social learning.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: Ivan Pavlov discovered classical conditioning. He observed that if dogs come to associate the delivery of food with a white lab coat or the ringing of a bell, they produce saliva, even when there is no sight or smell of food. Classical conditioning considers this form of learning the same, whether in dogs or in humans. Operant conditioning reinforces this behavior with a reward or a punishment. A reward increases the likelihood of the behavior recurring, a punishment decreases its likelihood. Social learning theory observes behavior and is followed with modeling.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: These three learning theories form the basis of applied behavior analysis, the application of behavior analysis, which uses analyzed antecedents, functional analysis, replacement behavior strategies, and often data collection and reinforcement to change behavior. The old practice was called behavior modification, which only used "assumed" antecedents and consequences to change behavior without acknowledging the conceptual analysis; analyzing the function of behavior and teaching of new behaviors that would serve the same function was never relevant in behavior modification.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: Behaviorists view the learning process as a change in behavior, and arrange the environment to elicit desired responses through such devices as behavioral objectives, Competency-based learning, and skill development and training. Educational approaches such as Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention, curriculum-based measurement, and direct instruction have emerged from this model.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: Transfer of learning is the idea that what one learns in school somehow carries over to situations different from that particular time and that particular setting. Transfer was amongst the first phenomena tested in educational psychology. Edward Lee Thorndike was a pioneer in transfer research. He found that though transfer is extremely important for learning, it is a rarely occurring phenomenon. In fact, he held an experiment where he had the subjects estimate the size of a specific shape and then he would switch the shape. He found that the prior information did not help the subjects; instead it impeded their learning.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: One explanation of why transfer does not occur often involves surface structure and deep structure. The surface structure is the way a problem is framed. The deep structure is the steps for the solution. For example, when a math story problem changes contexts from asking how much it costs to reseed a lawn to how much it costs to varnish a table, they have different surface structures, but the steps for getting the answers are the same. However, many people are more influenced by the surface structure. In reality, the surface structure is unimportant. Nonetheless, people are concerned with it because they believe that it provides background knowledge on how to do the problem. Consequently, this interferes with their understanding of the deep structure of the problem. Even if somebody tries to concentrate on the deep structure, transfer still may be unsuccessful because the deep structure is not usually obvious. Therefore, surface structure gets in the way of people's ability to see the deep structure of the problem and transfer the knowledge they have learned to come up with a solution to a new problem.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: Current learning pedagogies focus on conveying rote knowledge, independent of the context that gives it meaning. Because of this, students often struggle to transfer this stand-alone information into other aspects of their education. Students need much more than abstract concepts and self-contained knowledge; they need to be exposed to learning that is practiced in the context of authentic activity and culture. Critics of situated cognition, however, would argue that by discrediting stand-alone information, the transfer of knowledge across contextual boundaries becomes impossible. There must be a balance between situating knowledge while also grasping the deep structure of material, or the understanding of how one arrives to know such information.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: Some theorists argue that transfer does not even occur at all. They believe that students transform what they have learned into the new context. They say that transfer is too much of a passive notion. They believe students, instead, transform their knowledge in an active way. Students don't simply carry over knowledge from the classroom, but they construct the knowledge in a way that they can understand it themselves. The learner changes the information they have learned to make it best adapt to the changing contexts that they use the knowledge in. This transformation process can occur when a learner feels motivated to use the knowledge—however, if the student does not find the transformation necessary, it is less likely that the knowledge will ever transform


title: Learning theory (education)

text: There are many different conditions that influence transfer of learning in the classroom. These conditions include features of the task, features of the learner, features of the organization and social context of the activity. The features of the task include practicing through simulations, problem-based learning, and knowledge and skills for implementing new plans. The features of learners include their ability to reflect on past experiences, their ability to participate in group discussions, practice skills, and participate in written discussions. All the unique features contribute to a student's ability to use transfer of learning. There are structural techniques that can aid learning transfer in the classroom. These structural strategies include hugging and bridging.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: Hugging uses the technique of simulating an activity to encourage reflexive learning. An example of the hugging strategy is when a student practices teaching a lesson or when a student role plays with another student. These examples encourage critical thinking that engages the student and helps them understand what they are learning—one of the goals of transfer of learning and desirable difficulties.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: Bridging is when instruction encourages thinking abstractly by helping to identify connections between ideas and to analyze those connections. An example is when a teacher lets the student analyze their past test results and the way they got those results. This includes amount of study time and study strategies. Looking at their past study strategies can help them come up with strategies to improve performance. These are some of the ideas important to successful to hugging and bridging practices.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: There are many benefits of transfer of learning in the classroom. One of the main benefits is the ability to quickly learn a new task. This has many real-life applications such as language and speech processing. Transfer of learning is also very useful in teaching students to use higher cognitive thinking by applying their background knowledge to new situations.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: Cognitive theories grew out of Gestalt psychology. Gestalt psychology was developed in Germany in the early 1900s by Wolfgang Kohler and was brought to America in the 1920s. The German word "Gestalt" is roughly equivalent to the English "emergence (of a form-as in the game pictionary, when all of a sudden one recognises what the person is trying to convey - the form and meaning "emerge")", "configuration" or "organization" and emphasizes the whole of human experience. Over the years, the Gestalt psychologists provided demonstrations and described principles to explain the way we organize our sensations into perceptions. Max Wertheimer, one of the founding fathers of Gestalt Theory, observed that sometimes we interpret motion when there is no motion at all. For example: a powered sign used at a convenience store to indicate that the store is open or closed might be seen as a sign with "constant light". However, the lights are actually flashing. Each light has been programmed to blink rapidly at their own individual pace. Perceived as a whole however, the sign appears fully lit without flashes. If perceived individually, the lights turn off and on at designated times. Another example of this would be a brick house: As a whole, it is viewed as a standing structure. However, it is actually composed of many smaller parts, which are individual bricks. People tend to see things from a holistic point of view rather than breaking it down into sub units.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: In Gestalt theory, psychologists say that instead of obtaining knowledge from what's in front of us, we often learn by making sense of the relationship between what's new and old. Because we have a unique perspective of the world, humans have the ability to generate their own learning experiences and interpret information that may or may not be the same for someone else.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: Gestalt psychologists criticize behaviorists for being too dependent on overt behavior to explain learning. They propose looking at the patterns rather than isolated events. Gestalt views of learning have been incorporated into what have come to be labeled "cognitive theories". Two key assumptions underlie this cognitive approach: that the memory system is an active organized processor of information and that prior knowledge plays an important role in learning. Gestalt theorists believe that for learning to occur, prior knowledge must exist on the topic. When the learner applies their prior knowledge to the advanced topic, the learner can understand the meaning in the advanced topic, and learning can occur. Cognitive theories look beyond behavior to consider how human memory works to promote learning, and an understanding of short term memory and long term memory is important to educators influenced by cognitive theory. They view learning as an internal mental process (including insight, information processing, memory and perception) where the educator focuses on building intelligence and cognitive development. The individual learner is more important than the environment.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: Once memory theories like the Atkinson-Shiffrin memory model and Baddeley's working memory model were established as a theoretical framework in cognitive psychology, new cognitive frameworks of learning began to emerge during the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. Today, researchers are concentrating on topics like cognitive load and information processing theory. These theories of learning play a role in influencing instructional design. Cognitive theory is used to explain such topics as social role acquisition, intelligence and memory as related to age.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: In the late twentieth century, situated cognition emerged as a theory that recognized current learning as primarily the transfer of decontextualized and formal knowledge. Bredo (1994) depicts situated cognition as "shifting the focus from individual in environment to individual and environment". In other words, individual cognition should be considered as intimately related with the context of social interactions and culturally constructed meaning. Learning through this perspective, in which knowing and doing become inseparable, becomes both applicable and whole.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: Much of the education students receive is limited to the culture of schools, without consideration for authentic cultures outside of education. Curricula framed by situated cognition can bring knowledge to life by embedding the learned material within the culture students are familiar with. For example, formal and abstract syntax of math problems can be transformed by placing a traditional math problem within a practical story problem. This presents an opportunity to meet that appropriate balance between situated and transferable knowledge. Lampert (1987) successfully did this by having students explore mathematical concepts that are continuous with their background knowledge. She does so by using money, which all students are familiar with, and then develops the lesson to include more complex stories that allow for students to see various solutions as well as create their own. In this way, knowledge becomes active, evolving as students participate and negotiate their way through new situations.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: Founded by Jean Piaget, constructivism emphasizes the importance of the active involvement of learners in constructing knowledge for themselves. Students are thought to use background knowledge and concepts to assist them in their acquisition of novel information. On approaching such new information, the learner faces a loss of equilibrium with their previous understanding, and this demands a change in cognitive structure. This change effectively combines previous and novel information to form an improved cognitive schema. Constructivism can be both subjectively and contextually based. Under the theory of radical constructivism, coined by Ernst von Glasersfeld, understanding relies on one's subjective interpretation of experience as opposed to objective "reality". Similarly, William Cobern's idea of contextual constructivism encompasses the effects of culture and society on experience.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: Constructivism asks why students do not learn deeply by listening to a teacher, or reading from a textbook. To design effective teaching environments, it believes one needs a good understanding of what children already know when they come into the classroom. The curriculum should be designed in a way that builds on the pupil's background knowledge and is allowed to develop with them. Begin with complex problems and teach basic skills while solving these problems. The learning theories of John Dewey, Maria Montessori, and David A. Kolb serve as the foundation of the application of constructivist learning theory in the classroom. Constructivism has many varieties such as active learning, discovery learning, and knowledge building, but all versions promote a student's free exploration within a given framework or structure. The teacher acts as a facilitator who encourages students to discover principles for themselves and to construct knowledge by working answering open-ended questions and solving real-world problems. To do this, a teacher should encourage curiosity and discussion among his/her students as well as promoting their autonomy. In scientific areas in the classroom, constructivist teachers provide raw data and physical materials for the students to work with and analyze.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: Transformative learning theory seeks to explain how humans revise and reinterpret meaning. Transformative learning is the cognitive process of effecting change in a frame of reference. A frame of reference defines our view of the world. The emotions are often involved. Adults have a tendency to reject any ideas that do not correspond to their particular values, associations and concepts.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: Our frames of reference are composed of two dimensions: habits of mind and points of view. Habits of mind, such as ethnocentrism, are harder to change than points of view. Habits of mind influence our point of view and the resulting thoughts or feelings associated with them, but points of view may change over time as a result of influences such as reflection, appropriation and feedback. Transformative learning takes place by discussing with others the "reasons presented in support of competing interpretations, by critically examining evidence, arguments, and alternative points of view". When circumstances permit, transformative learners move toward a frame of reference that is more inclusive, discriminating, self-reflective, and integrative of experience.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: American Universities such as Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and University of Southern California began offering majors and degrees dedicated to educational neuroscience or neuroeducation in the first decade of the twenty-first century. Such studies seek to link an understanding of brain processes with classroom instruction and experiences. Neuroeducation analyzes biological changes in the brain from processing new information. It looks at what environmental, emotional, and social situations best help the brain store and retain new information via the linking of neurons—and best keep the dendrites from being reabsorbed, losing the information. The 1990s were designated "The Decade of the Brain", and advances took place in neuroscience at an especially rapid pace. The three dominant methods for measuring brain activities are event-related potential, functional magnetic resonance imaging and magnetoencephalography (MEG).


title: Learning theory (education)

text: The integration and application to education of what we know about the brain was strengthened in 2000 when the American Federation of Teachers stated: "It is vital that we identify what science tells us about how people learn in order to improve the education curriculum." What is exciting about this new field in education is that modern brain imaging techniques now make it possible, in some sense, to watch the brain as it learns, and the question then arises: can the results of neuro-scientific studies of brains as they are learning usefully inform practice in this area? The neuroscience field is young. Researchers expected that new technologies and ways of observing will produce new scientific evidence that helps refine the paradigms of what students need and how they learn best. In particular, it may bring more informed strategies for teaching students with learning disabilities.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: All individuals have the ability to develop mental discipline and the skill of mindfulness, the two go hand in hand. Mental discipline is huge in shaping what people do, say, think and feel. It's critical in terms of the processing of information and involves the ability to recognize and respond appropriately to new things and information people come across, or have recently been taught. Mindfulness is important to the process of learning in many aspects. Being mindful means to be present with and engaged in whatever you are doing at a specific moment in time. Being mindful can aid in helping us to more critically think, feel and understand the new information we are in the process of absorbing.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: The formal discipline approach seeks to develop causation between the advancement of the mind by exercising it through exposure to abstract school subjects such as science, language and mathematics. With student's repetitive exposure to these particular subjects, some scholars feel that the acquisition of knowledge pertaining to science, language and math is of "secondary importance", and believe that the strengthening and further development of the mind that this curriculum provides holds far greater significance to the progressing learner in the long haul. D.C. Phillips and Jonas F. Soltis provide some skepticism to this notion. Their skepticism stems largely in part from feeling that the relationship between formal discipline and the overall advancement of the mind is not as strong as some would say. They illustrate their skepticism by opining that it is foolish to blindly assume that people are better off in life, or at performing certain tasks, because of taking particular, yet unrelated courses.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: The existence of multiple intelligences is proposed by psychologist Howard Gardner, who suggests that different kinds of intelligence exists in human beings. It is a theory that has been fashionable in continuous professional development (CPD) training courses for teachers. However, the theory of multiple intelligences is often cited as an example of pseudoscience because it lacks empirical evidence or falsifiability.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: Multimedia learning refers to the use of visual and auditory teaching materials that may include video, computer and other information technology. Multimedia learning theory focuses on the principles that determine the effective use of multimedia in learning, with emphasis on using both the visual and auditory channels for information processing.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: The auditory channel deals with information that is heard, and the visual channel processes information that is seen. The visual channel holds less information than the auditory channel. If both the visual and auditory channels are presented with information, more knowledge is retained. However, if too much information is delivered it is inadequately processed, and long term memory is not acquired. Multimedia learning seeks to give instructors the ability to stimulate both the visual and auditory channels of the learner, resulting in better progress.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: Many educators and researchers believe that information technology could bring innovation on traditional educational instructions. Teachers and technologists are searching for new and innovative ways to design learner-centered learning environments effectively, trying to engage learners more in the learning process. Claims have been made that online games have the potential to teach, train and educate and they are effective means for learning skills and attitudes that are not so easy to learn by rote memorization.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: There has been a lot of research done in identifying the learning effectiveness in game based learning. Learner characteristics and cognitive learning outcomes have been identified as the key factors in research on the implementation of games in educational settings. In the process of learning a language through an online game, there is a strong relationship between the learner's prior knowledge of that language and their cognitive learning outcomes. For the people with prior knowledge of the language, the learning effectiveness of the games is much more than those with none or less knowledge of the language.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: Other learning theories have also been developed for more specific purposes. For example, andragogy is the art and science to help adults learn. Connectivism is a recent theory of networked learning, which focuses on learning as making connections. The Learning as a Network (LaaN) theory builds upon connectivism, complexity theory, and double-loop learning. It starts from the learner and views learning as the continuous creation of a personal knowledge network (PKN).


title: Learning theory (education)

text: Learning style theories propose that individuals learn in different ways, that there are distinct learning styles and that knowledge of a learner's preferred learning style leads to faster and more satisfactory improvement. However, the current research has not been able to find solid scientific evidence to support the main premises of learning styles theory.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: People remember how things made them feel, and use those emotional imprints to create memories on demand.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: In theories that make use of cognitive restructuring, an informal curriculum promotes the use of prior knowledge to help students gain a broad understanding of concepts. New knowledge cannot be told to students, it believes, but rather the students' current knowledge must be challenged. In this way, students adjust their ideas to more closely resemble actual theories or concepts. By using this method students gain the broad understanding they're taught and later are more willing to learn and keep the specifics of the concept or theory. This theory further aligns with the idea that teaching the concepts and the language of a subject should be split into multiple steps.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: Other informal learning theories look at the sources of motivation for learning. Intrinsic motivation may create a more self-regulated learner, yet schools undermine intrinsic motivation. Critics argue that the average student learning in isolation performs significantly less well than those learning with collaboration and mediation. Students learn through talk, discussion, and argumentation.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: According to Theodora Polito, "every well-constructed theory of education [has] at [its] center a philosophical anthropology," which is "a philosophical reflection on some basic problems of mankind." Philosophical anthropology is an exploration of human nature and humanity. Aristotle, an early influence on the field, deemed human nature to be "rational animality," wherein humans are closely related to other animals but still set apart by their ability to form rational thought. Philosophical anthropology expanded upon these ideas by clarifying that rationality is, "determined by the biological and social conditions in which the lives of human beings are embedded." Fully developed learning theories address some of the "basic problems of mankind" by examining these biological and social conditions to understand and manipulate the rationality of humanity in the context of learning.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: Philosophical anthropology is evident in behaviorism, which requires an understanding of humanity and human nature in order to assert that the similarities between humans and other animals are critical and influential to the process of learning. Situated cognition focuses on how humans interact with each other and their environments, which would be considered the "social conditions" explored within the field of philosophical anthropology. Transformative learning theories operate with the assumption that humans are rational creatures capable of examining and redefining perspectives, something that is heavily considered within philosophical anthropology.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: An awareness and understanding of philosophical anthropology contributes to a greater comprehension and practice of any learning theory. In some cases, philosophy can be used to further explore and define uncertain terms within the field of education. Philosophy can also be a vehicle to explore the purpose of education, which can greatly influence an educational theory.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: Critics of learning theories that seek to displace traditional educational practices claim that there is no need for such theories; that the attempt to comprehend the process of learning through the construction of theories creates problems and inhibits personal freedom.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: 45. Teaching for Transfer of Learning. Thomas, Ruth; National Center for Research in Vocational Education, Berkeley, CA.. 93 NCRVE, December 1992.


title: Learning theory (education)

text: 46. Perkins, D. (1992). Transfer of Learning. International Encyclopedia of Education, 2. Retrieved March 23, 2015.


title: Existential nihilism

text: Existential nihilism is the philosophical theory that life has no intrinsic meaning or value. With respect to the universe, existential nihilism suggests that a single human or even the entire human species is insignificant, without purpose and unlikely to change in the totality of existence. According to the theory, each individual is an isolated being born into the universe, barred from knowing 'why'. The inherent meaninglessness of life is largely explored in the philosophical school of existentialism, where one can potentially create their own subjective 'meaning' or 'purpose'. Of all types of nihilism, existential nihilism has received the most literary and philosophical attention.


title: Existential nihilism

text: The idea that meaning and values are without foundation is a form of nihilism, and the existential response to that idea is noting that meaning is not 'a matter of contemplative theory,' but instead, 'a consequence of engagement and commitment.'


title: Existential nihilism

text: In his essay "Existentialism is a Humanism", Jean-Paul Sartre wrote "What do we mean by saying that existence precedes essence? We mean that man first of all exists, encounters himself, surges up in the world – and defines himself afterwards. If man as the existentialist sees him is not definable, it is because to begin with he is nothing. He will not be anything until later, and then he will be what he makes of himself." Here it is made clear what is meant by Existentialists when they say meaning is "a consequence of engagement and commitment".


title: Existential nihilism

text: The theory purports to describe the human situation to create a life outlook and create meaning, which has been summarized as, "Strut, fret, and delude ourselves as we may, our lives are of no significance, and it is futile to seek or to affirm meaning where none can be found." Existential nihilists claim that, to be honest, one must face the absurdity of existence, that they will eventually die, and that both religion and metaphysics are simply results of the fear of death.


title: Existential nihilism

text: According to Donald A. Crosby, "There is no justification for life, but also no reason not to live. Those who claim to find meaning in their lives are either dishonest or deluded. In either case, they fail to face up to the harsh reality of the human situations."


title: Existential nihilism

text: Existential nihilism has been a part of the Western intellectual tradition since the Cyrenaics, such as Hegesias of Cyrene. During the Renaissance, William Shakespeare eloquently summarised the existential nihilist's perspective through Macbeth's mindset in the end of the eponymous play. Arthur Schopenhauer, Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche further expanded on these ideas, and Nietzsche, particularly, has become a major figure in existential nihilism.


title: Existential nihilism

text: The atheistic existentialist movement spread in 1940s France. Jean-Paul Sartre's "Being and Nothingness" and Albert Camus' "The Myth of Sisyphus" discussed the topic. Camus wrote further works, such as "The Stranger", "Caligula", "The Plague", "The Fall" and "The Rebel". Other figures include Martin Heidegger and Jacques Derrida. In addition, Ernest Becker's Pulitzer Prize-winning life's work "The Denial of Death" is a collection of thoughts on existential nihilism.


title: Mark Cavendish

text: Mark Simon Cavendish (born 21 May 1985) is a Manx professional road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . As a track cyclist he specialises in the madison, points race, and scratch race disciplines; as a road racer he is a sprinter. He is widely considered one of the greatest road sprinters of all time, and in 2021 was called "the greatest sprinter in the history of the Tour and of cycling" by Christian Prudhomme, director of the Tour de France.


title: Mark Cavendish

text: In his first years as an elite track rider, Cavendish won gold in the madison at the 2005 and 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships riding for Great Britain, with Rob Hayles and Bradley Wiggins respectively, and in the scratch race at the 2006 Commonwealth Games riding for Isle of Man. After failing to win a medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics he did not compete on track again until 2015, subsequently winning his third UCI Track Cycling World Championships title with Wiggins in the madison in 2016, and an individual silver medal in the omnium at the 2016 Summer Olympics.


title: Mark Cavendish

text: As a road cyclist, Cavendish turned professional in 2005, and achieved eleven wins in his first professional season. Cavendish has won 34 Tour de France stages, tieing him for first on the all-time list with the legendary Eddy Merckx, contributing to a third-highest total of fifty-three Grand Tour stage victories. He won the Men's road race at the 2011 road world championships, becoming the second male British rider to do so after Tom Simpson. Cavendish has also won the points classification (the sprinter's jersey) in all three of the grand tours: the 2010 Vuelta a España, the 2011, and 2021 Tours de France and the 2013 Giro d'Italia. In 2012, he became the first person to win the final Champs-Élysées stage in the Tour de France in four consecutive years.


title: Mark Cavendish

text: He won seven Grand Tour stages in 2013, one in 2015 and four in 2016. This included a win on stage one of the 2016 Tour de France, claiming him his first Tour de France yellow jersey of his career. Cavendish crashed with Peter Sagan on stage four of the 2017 Tour de France, forcing him out of the race. Cavendish continued producing good results until August 2018, when he was diagnosed with Epstein–Barr virus. Before his diagnosis, Cavendish was able to compete in the 2018 Tour de France but was disqualified after not making the cut-off time on stage eleven. He returned to the Tour de France at the 2021 edition, winning stage four, six, and ten to take his total to 33 stage wins, one off the overall stage victory record. Three days later, on 9 July, he won the stage from Nîmes to Carcassonne to equal the record. He also won the points classification ahead of Michael Matthews and Sonny Colbrelli.


title: Mark Cavendish

text: In the 2011 Queen's Birthday Honours, Cavendish was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) "for services to British Cycling." He also won the 2011 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award with nearly half of the votes going to him out of a field of ten nominations.


title: Mark Cavendish

text: Cavendish was born in Douglas, Isle of Man, the son of David also from the Isle and Adele from Yorkshire, England. He began riding Bicycle motocross (BMX) at an early age, racing at the National Sports Centre in Douglas.


title: Mark Cavendish

text: He joined his local club in Douglas at the age of nine - his determination soon becoming apparent. "He didn't like losing," said Dot Tilbury, his former coach; "He started to win and often he would lap the other riders in the field".


title: Mark Cavendish

text: He said: "I was always riding a bike, getting dropped in little races." "My mum would laugh at me, and I said it was because all my mates had mountain bikes, so I asked for a mountain bike for my thirteenth birthday and got one. The very next day I went out and beat everyone." It was at that time that Cavendish met British cyclist David Millar at a race on the Isle of Man, who was an inspiration to him. Cavendish worked in a bank for two years after leaving school to earn enough money for an attempt at a professional career.


title: Mark Cavendish

text: He gained a place as one of the first six riders selected for British Cycling's Olympic Academy for junior riders in 2003 having almost been rejected because of his relatively poor performance in stationary bike tests. Coaches Rod Ellingworth, John Herety and Simon Lillistone lobbied British Cycling Performance Director Peter Keen to include him because of his potential. Although he initially struggled because of a lack of fitness, he recorded his first win in senior competition in March 2004; in the Girvan Three Day race he managed to latch back onto the lead group after being dropped over a climb before winning the finishing sprint ahead of Julian Winn. Whilst at the academy, he won two gold medals at the 2003 Island Games.


title: Mark Cavendish

text: Cavendish progressed well at the academy. Ellingworth said, "Cav kind of liked it" when asked about the rigid rules and "dictatorship style" of the academy. The junior riders lived on £58 a week and financial management became a part of life at the academy as well as cooking and cleaning. "Cycling Weekly" described the academy as "a boot camp style training regime" controlled by Ellingworth, who, after finding out they had skipped a three-hour training ride, made the juniors complete four hours hard training at night.


title: Mark Cavendish

text: He won gold in the madison with Rob Hayles at the 2005 track world championships in Los Angeles. They had not raced together before as Hayles' usual partner, Geraint Thomas, had crashed during training a few weeks earlier—but finished one lap ahead of the field to claim the gold medal, followed by the Dutch and Belgian teams, Cavendish's first world title. Cavendish also won the European championship points race.


title: Mark Cavendish

text: Cavendish turned professional in 2005 with Team Sparkasse. During this time, he rode the Tour de Berlin and Tour of Britain. He began 2006 with the Continental team, Team Sparkasse, a feeder squad for the . In June, he won two stages and the points and sprint competitions in the Tour de Berlin. He rode for the Isle of Man on the track at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, riding the scratch race. He lapped the field with three others: England’s Rob Hayles; Ashley Hutchinson of Australia; and James McCallum of Scotland. Hayles then led him out for the sprint to win gold for the Isle of Man. The race time was 23.05, an average .


title: Mark Cavendish

text: His success at the Tour de Berlin led to a post as a "stagiaire" with the from August until the end of the season. His best result on the road was in the 2006 Tour of Britain where he came second twice and third once and won the points classification.


title: Mark Cavendish

text: His breakthrough came at the 2007 Scheldeprijs race in Belgium, which he won. He went on to win stages at the Four Days of Dunkirk and the Volta a Catalunya leading to his selection for the Tour de France. He crashed in stages one and two and abandoned the race at stage eight as it reached the Alps. Although he had taken two top-ten placings he was unhappy not to have had a top-five placing. His début season continued with ten stage wins, one behind Alessandro Petacchi's record eleven for a début season. Cavendish took his eleventh win in early October—the Circuit Franco-Belge—to equal Petacchi's record. Among the wins were three in UCI ProTour events—two in the Volta a Catalunya and one in the Eneco Tour.


title: Mark Cavendish

text: In 2008, Cavendish returned to the track for the world championships in Manchester. Cavendish was brought in to partner Bradley Wiggins in the madison, as Hayles failed a routine blood test, and was subsequently banned. At around halfway through the race they appeared to be out of contention, with their closest rivals all gaining a lap. With thirty-five laps left to race, however, Wiggins launched an attack which helped them reach the field ten laps later. They took the lead due to the superior points they had collected in the sprints. They held on to win the gold medal, finishing with nineteen points, ahead of Germany on thirteen.


title: Mark Cavendish

text: On the road, Cavendish won his first stages of a Grand Tour with two victories in the Giro d'Italia and four stages in the Tour de France, the first of which was on stage five. He won also stages eight, twelve and thirteen. After stage fourteen, Cavendish abandoned the Tour to concentrate on the Olympics in Beijing. He paired with Wiggins in the madison, and as the reigning world champions, they were favourites for the gold medal but finished ninth. Cavendish felt Wiggins had not performed to the best of his ability in the madison.


title: Mark Cavendish

text: The rest of his season was successful, with a total of eleven further race wins, including three each at the Tour of Ireland and the Tour of Missouri where he won his only points classification of the season. At the Tour de Romandie, he won the opening time trial, beating compatriot Wiggins and emphasising his short-distance time-trial abilities.


title: Mark Cavendish

text: Cavendish's 2009 season began at the Tour of Qatar, where he renewed his rivalry with 's Tom Boonen. Boonen won the race and one stage, though Cavendish took two stages. He also won two stages at the Tour of California, again beating Boonen in the sprint finishes. The Tour of California also saw him win his first points of classification of the 2009 season.


title: Mark Cavendish

text: He was a surprise inclusion on the British squad for the 2009 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, where he competed in the scratch race and the madison, failing to pick up medals in either. He took up the European season at Tirreno–Adriatico, the Italian one-week stage race, winning one stage. He then entered his first classic race, Milan–San Remo, where he tracked down rider Heinrich Haussler in the last narrowly winning the sprint and the race—Cavendish's first victory in a race known as one of the "five monuments of cycling".


title: Mark Cavendish

text: Cavendish repeated his 2008 two-stage victory at the Three Days of De Panne, also winning the points classification. At the start of the Giro d'Italia Team Columbia-High Road won the team time trial and Cavendish was given the pink leader's jersey, becoming the first Manx rider to wear it. The first two road stages, however, were fruitless for Cavendish, who was beaten to the line by Petacchi in the first stage. He was caught behind a crash and failed to make it back for the sprint the next day. Cavendish soon asserted his sprinting dominance on the race, however, gaining three stage wins before abandoning it after stage thirteen, citing a need to rest in preparation for the Tour de France. He continued his preparation by racing the Tour de Suisse where he won stage three and stage six.


title: Mark Cavendish

text: During the season, Cavendish developed a remarkable partnership with his lead out man, Mark Renshaw. Continuing his run of success, he won stages two, three, ten, eleven, nineteen and twenty-one of the Tour de France. In winning the third stage, he became the first Briton to hold the green jersey two days in a row. Cavendish's stage eleven win enabled him to reclaim the green jersey from rival Thor Hushovd of Cervélo TestTeam. It also equalled Barry Hoban's British record of eight stage wins. Winning stage nineteen, Cavendish set a new record for Tour de France stage wins by a British rider. In winning the last stage, he led home a one–two for his team, when his team-mate and lead out man, Renshaw, finished second on the Champs-Élysées.


title: Mark Cavendish

text: Following on from the Tour de France, Cavendish won the Sparkassen Giro Bochum and took part in the Tour of Ireland, winning stage two. In September he recorded the fiftieth win of his road racing career in a sprint finish in the opening stage of the Tour of Missouri. Before the race he confirmed he would remain with in 2010, ending speculation that he was moving to the newly created British team, . Cavendish retained the leader's jersey by sprinting to victory in stage two but finished fifth in stage three, losing the overall lead to Hushovd. A lung infection forced him to withdraw from the race before stage four. Although selected for the British team for the road race at the 2009 UCI Road World Championships, his illness prevented him from taking part.


title: Mark Cavendish

text: After a dental problem, Cavendish delayed the start of his 2010 season until the Vuelta a Andalucía in mid-February. Following the lay off his form was poor, and he failed to defend his victory at the Milan–San Remo, coming in six minutes behind the winner in eighty-ninth place. His pre-season goals were to win the green jersey in the Tour de France and win the road race at the UCI Road World Championships. Cavendish raced in the Tour of Flanders but only to work for a teammate and gain experience. He was involved in a crash and did not finish.


title: Mark Cavendish

text: Following a poor start to the season, he found form at the Volta a Catalunya, finishing seventh in the time-trial and winning stage two. His team withdrew Cavendish from the Tour de Romandie for making an offensive gesture after winning the second stage. Missing the Giro d'Italia, he chose instead to compete at the Tour of California starting in May, where he won stage one—only his third victory of the season. In June, Cavendish crashed heavily whilst sprinting in the closing metres of stage four of the Tour de Suisse. He appeared to veer off line and brought down Haussler and several other riders, raising criticism from other teams regarding his riding style.


title: Mark Cavendish

text: Cavendish entered the Tour de France. During stage one, he crashed out of the final sprint, with just under remaining in the stage. Overhead camera footage showed him failing to negotiate a corner after entering too fast and turning too late. He then leaned his shoulder into a fellow rider as he travelled away from the racing line. Cavendish returned to form by winning the stage five, six, eleven, eighteen and twenty, bringing his career total to fifteen tour stage wins. He ended up second in the points classification, eleven points behind Petacchi. Cavendish's next race was the Vuelta a España. His team won the team time trial with Cavendish finishing first, taking the leader's jersey. He could place only second or third in the subsequent sprint stages but returned to form later in the race winning stage twelve, thirteen, eighteen and the points classification.


title: Mark Cavendish

text: Cavendish had a slow start to 2011 failing to win a race until late February when he won stage six of the Tour of Oman. His second victory of the season came in the Scheldeprijs—his third in this event following his wins in 2007 and 2008—bringing him to the record tied with . He failed to finish at the Paris–Roubaix. He came second in the second stage of the Giro d'Italia in contentious circumstances (Cavendish gestured at winner Petacchi for appearing to move across his path in the final sprint) to take the pink jersey into stage three. Cavendish got his first grand tour victory of the year by winning stage ten of the Giro, denying claims that he had illegally held on to his team car when climbing Mount Etna on stage nine. He won his second Giro victory of 2011 on stage twelve before leaving the race. On 11 June, it was announced that Cavendish was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the Queen's Birthday Honours.


title: Mark Cavendish

text: He won stage five, seven, eleven, fifteen and twenty-one of the Tour de France — bringing his total to twenty career Tour de France stage wins. He also became the first person to win the final stage three years in succession. Cavendish was docked twenty points for finishing outside the time limit after stage nine and again after eighteen. He went on to win the points classification—the first British cyclist to do so.


title: Mark Cavendish

text: Over the following weeks, Cavendish took part in the post-Tour criteriums. He won the Stiphout Criterium in The Netherlands, beating brothers Andy and Fränk Schleck of to the line. He then won the Profcriterium Wolvertem-Meise, followed by the Wateringse Wielerdag. In August, Cavendish's team HTC-Highroad announced they would fold at the end of the season, fuelling speculation that Cavendish would move to Team Sky. The following week, racing for team Great Britain, he won the London–Surrey Cycle Classic, the official test event for the road race at the 2012 Summer Olympics and part of the London Prepares series. Less than a week later, Cavendish started the Vuelta a España, but abandoned it during stage four due to the searing heat. After withdrawing from the Vuelta Cavendish was allowed to be a late addition to the line up of the Tour of Britain. Cavendish won stage one in Dumfries to take the leader's jersey, and the final stage in London.


title: Mark Cavendish

text: At the end of September, Cavendish went to the UCI Road World Championships in Copenhagen taking part in the road race with an eight-strong British team. After the team controlled the whole race it came down to a sprint finish with Cavendish crossing the line in first place taking the rainbow jersey. He became the second British male UCI world champion after Tom Simpson in 1965. Amid much speculation, it was announced Cavendish would join for the 2012 season. His HTC-Highroad team-mate Bernhard Eisel joined him.


title: Mark Cavendish

text: In November, Cavendish made a cameo return to the track, competing in the Revolution event at Manchester Velodrome. He won the scratch race, his first win on the track of any kind since 2008. He announced he was starting his training for the 2012 season earlier than in previous years, with the aim of being more competitive in the Classics. In November, he won the 2011 Most Inspirational Sportsman of the Year Award at the Jaguar Academy of Sport Annual Awards at The Savoy Hotel in London. In December, Cavendish won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award with 169,152 (49.47%) of the votes cast, ahead of Mo Farah and Darren Clarke.


title: Mark Cavendish

text: Cavendish began his 2012 season at the Tour of Qatar. After recovering from illness, he won stage three—his first victory for Team Sky. He won stage five later in the week, moving back into the top ten of the overall classification. He finished the race in sixth place, despite crashing on the final stage. Although he did not win any stages at the Tour of Oman, having suffered an injury in the first stage, he returned to win the Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne. Cavendish targeted a second victory in Milan–San Remo in March, but was dropped on "Le Manie", from the finish. He did not manage to finish high up in the remaining 2012 Classics. In the Tour de Romandie, he showed his ability in short time trials by finishing third in the prologue but did not take any stage wins.


title: Mark Cavendish

text: A week later, Cavendish took his season victories to five by winning the sprint on stage two of the Giro d'Italia. The following day, he was again in contention for victory on stage three, but in the sprint, 's Roberto Ferrari aggressively switched lanes, clipping Cavendish and sending him to the ground, causing other riders to fall including overall leader Taylor Phinney (). Cavendish later tweeted that Ferrari should be "ashamed to take out Pink, Red & World Champ jerseys". He recovered from minor injuries to win stages five and thirteen. Cavendish completed the Giro, but lost the points classification to 's Joaquim Rodríguez by a single point. He did win the minor Azzurri d'Italia and stage combativeness classifications. Cavendish competed in the Ster ZLM Toer GP Jan van Heeswijk, in mid-June. Despite failing to win any of the four, mostly flat, stages, Cavendish's consistency ensured that he won the overall general classification—the first of his professional career—by eight seconds.