Thesis (Ed. D.)--Florida State University, 2006. / Advisor: Carolyn L. Piazza, Florida State University, College of Education, Dept. of Childhood Education, Reading, and Disability Services. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed June 14, 2006). Document formatted into pages; contains xii, 205 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2006. / Advisor: Briley E. Proctor, Florida State University, College of Education, Dept. of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed July 28, 2006). Document formatted into pages; contains x, 122 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Ed. )--Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, 2004. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2761. Typescript. Abstract precedes thesis as 2 preliminary leaves ( iii-iv). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 39-41).

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 1996. / Title from title page screen, viewed May 23, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Lanny E. Morreau, Ming-Gon J. Lian (co-chairs), Keith E. Stearns, Kenneth H. Strand, Jeanne A. Howard. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 140-165) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 1987. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 113-118). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Nevada, Reno, 2008 / "August, 2008." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 162-171). Online version available on the World Wide Web.

This study examines the writing of six first grade children (three girls and three boys of varying abilities) in a "whole language" classroom where writing was modelled daily during "Morning News" and "writing skills" were taught in context. Conducted from a socio-psycholinguistic/emergent writing perspective, this study addresses two major questions: (1) What are the functions and forms of writing in first grade? (2) In what ways do these functions and forms change throughout the first-grade year? All of the children's writing produced during "Writing Workshop" time was analyzed to determine writing functions, structure (genres, structures of text, syntax and sentence patterns), and orthography (segmentation, punctuation marks, capitalization, and spelling). Interrelationships between function and the various levels of form were examined, as were changes throughout the school year. Analytical categories were developed from previous studies and from the data. Evidence was found to support the following conclusions: (1) First grade children write for a variety of purposes. Changes in function appear to be due to children's interests and preferences rather than to their development. There is a trend towards multifunctionalism in first grade writing. (2) Children compose written discourses from the beginning of first grade. (3) Discourse-level structure increases in both variety and complexity from beginning to end of first grade. (4) Segmentation increases in conventionality, with sentence segmentation becoming conventional before word segmentation. (5) Punctuation, capitalization, phonemic segmentation and representation, and spelling become increasingly conventional. (6) Discourse- and sentence-level forms "follow" function, but orthography does not. Changes in orthography are due to development and writing experience. (7) In a comparison of texts produced by children considered by the teacher at the beginning of the year to be "advanced" in development to those of children considered to be "average" or "delayed" in development, at the end of first grade, "advanced" children: (1) write in more complex genres, with more complex text structures; (2) use a greater variety of sentence patterns and punctuation marks; (3) write more conventionally in terms of segmentation, punctuation marks, capitalization and spelling. Thus, the study provides insight into how children develop as writers and the relationship between functions and various aspects of the development of form. / Graduate

O mapeamento da incerteza dos teores através de métodos de simulação geoestatística é uma metodologia que está começando a ser amplamente utilizada na indústria mineira. No entanto, o uso correto desse intervalo de incerteza para os processos subsequentes à avaliação de recursos ainda carece de entendimento e aplicação no setor industrial, onde o modelo de krigagem é empregado para o planejamento de mina. O sequenciamento da produção de longo prazo, com o objetivo de maximizar o Valor Presente Líquido (VPL), é uma das etapas mais importantes no planejamento de lavra e, portanto, o acesso à informação da variabilidade dos teores torna-se de grande importância permitindo a maximização dos lucros e da extração dos recursos. O objetivo deste estudo é avaliar o impacto da incerteza geológica no planejamento de lavra de modo a definir um sequenciamento a partir das simulações. Para isso ser alcançado, propõe-se uma análise probabilística incorporando as incertezas dos teores no sequenciamento de lavra, e quantificando, através de um índice de classificação proposto no estudo, os potenciais ganhos e riscos de perda associado a cada cenário sequenciado. O método de co-simulação por bandas rotativas é utilizado para gerar cenários equiprováveis. Em seguida, o sequenciamento de lavra é definido para cada cenário de teor simulado utilizando um software de otimização. Então, cada sequência de extração dos blocos obtida foi reavaliada para cada simulação de teor. Além disso, um índice de classificação é utilizado para definir o sequenciamento de lavra que gera o maior VPL. Por fim, é realizada uma comparação entre a opção de planejamento selecionada pela metodologia proposta e o modelo utilizado tradicionalmente na indústria obtido a partir de interpolações lineares (krigagem) dos teores. / Mapping grade uncertainty through geostatistical simulation is becoming widely used in the mining industry. However, the proper use of this uncertainty interval for subsequent decision making processes still lacks of understanding and use, where a grade kriging model is mostly employed for mine planning. The long-term scheduling aiming at maximizing Net Present Value (NPV) is one of the most important stages in mine planning, and therefore the assessment of grade variability is of great importance and allowing maximizing profit and resources extraction. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of geological uncertainty in mine planning in order to define the best scheduling given grade uncertainty derived from the simulations. For this to be achieved, it is proposed a probabilistic analysis incorporating grade uncertainties in the mining sequencing and quantifying, through a proposed classification index, the potential gains and risks of loss associated with each sequenced scenario. Turning bands algorithm is used to generate equally probable scenarios. Next, it is defined the mining sequence for each grade simulated scenario using an optimization software. Then, each block extraction sequence obtained is reevaluated for each grade simulation. Furthermore, a classification index is used to select the schedule which leads to the highest NPV. Finally, a comparison is performed with the selected schedule and the one obtained using the model traditionally used based on kriged grades.

<b>Background:</b> The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach offers a transparent framework for rating the certainty of evidence in systematic reviews. Concerns, however, have been raised that use of GRADE beyond biomedical interventions frequently downgrades the 'best evidence possible' for many complex interventions. This DPhil thesis aims to (1) further investigate the challenges of using GRADE in systematic reviews of complex interventions, (2) explore how the GRADE approach can be advanced to address these challenges, and (3) inform the write-up and dissemination of a new GRADE guidance for complex interventions. <b>Methods:</b> To address the broad aims of this thesis a range of methodological approaches were employed, primarily drawing on the best-practice techniques for developing research reporting guidelines (see Chapter 2). First, a systematic literature review method was used to establish whether an adequate system already exists for rating the certainty of evidence for complex interventions and informing the need for a new guidance (Chapter 3). Further consultation with experts, including semi-structured interviews with review authors and GRADE methodologists, provided a nuanced understanding of the challenges of applying GRADE in reviews of complex interventions and suggestions for advancing the guidance on GRADE (Chapter 4). Agreement around these suggestions was explored in a Delphi-based online expert panel (Chapter 5), and the content of the new GRADE guidance for complex interventions was discussed indepth in a three-day expert meeting held in Oxford in May 2017 (Chapter 6). <b>Results:</b> The systematic literature review identified a few systems attempting to modify GRADE for public health interventions; however, there was little reporting of rigorous procedures in the development and dissemination of these systems. Qualitative interviews captured differences in views on GRADE use between review authors and GRADE methodologists. Specifically, GRADE methodologists found it critical to consider GRADE from the beginning of the review process and exercise judgment in GRADE ratings. Review authors, on the other hand, often thought of GRADE as an 'annoying add-on' at the end of the review process and felt challenged by the need to be more interpretative with evidence and sift through many publications on GRADE. Suggestions were made to enhance the GRADE guidance. No significant disagreement was found in the online expert panel on any domain of evidence, and the expert meeting provided further insights into the content of the new GRADE guidance for complex interventions. Participants agreed that the new guidance should specify the meaning of the construct of 'certainty of evidence' for complex interventions, consider revisions of the initial categorisation of evidence based on study design, and better assess the coherence of the causal pathway of complex interventions. <b>Conclusion:</b> This thesis work consolidates up-to-date methodological knowledge on reviewing complex interventions by providing critical examination of the existing approaches and new insights. In transparent reporting of the research phases, it informs development of a new GRADE guidance on rating the certainty of evidence in systematic reviews of complex interventions.