This study examines how yearly pre-performance examinations (PPEs) for collegiate student-athletes support holistic student-athlete health. Specifically, the study evaluates PPE documents within the ambient environment of intercollegiate athletics and uses ambient rhetoric to demonstrate how PPE documents reify values from the collegiate athletics environment that a student-athlete's physical health and athletic participation is more important than their mental well-being. I argue that the influences of the collegiate athletics environment on the PPE documents inhibits the documents from adequately fulfilling their role of identifying pre-existing health conditions. I highlight three key features of the PPE documents—an underrepresentation of mental health questions, a prioritization of athletic participation, and the use of binary question framing—that do not support student-athlete mental health. These three features on PPE documents discourage student-athletes from being truthful on the documents and guide them to choose between prioritizing their health or their athletics participation. Finally, I connect my scholarship to social justice in technical communication and advocate for the use of ambient rhetoric and the consideration of environment in future rhetoric of health and medicine studies that evaluate institutional medical documents. / Master of Arts / Collegiate student-athletes experience many mental health concerns at higher rates than their non-athlete peers and face unique barriers to treatment because of their status as athletes. Despite the ubiquity of mental health concerns among student-athlete populations, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and participating institutions prioritize athlete physical health over athlete mental health. This is evident on the pre-performance examinations (PPEs) that student-athletes must complete each year to participate in athletics, as these documents emphasize physical health and athletic participation far more than mental health. I argue that the use of a typical medical intake form like a PPE is not a useful tool for identifying mental health concerns in this environment because the documents are associated with contributing to athlete participation and do not emphasize athlete mental health. I evaluate the documents in the context of the collegiate athletics environment and explore how the document features inhibit their ability to support student-athlete mental health.

A rapid growth phase often occurs with the onset of spring in the young horse. This coincides with changes in day length, temperature, and progesterone concentrations. The change in growth, from slow to rapid in young horses has been associated with various forms of developmental orthopedic disease. The objective of this study was to distinguish associations between progesterone concentrations and other physiological and environmental measures from birth through 16 mo in young Thoroughbreds. Growth data and plasma samples were collected monthly from 3 annual crops of 20 foals. Plasma progesterone (P4) and insulin like growth factor one (IGF-I) concentrations were measured with previously validated radio immunoassay's (RIA). Progesterone concentrations were compared with day length, IGF-I and ADG using Spearman correlations. Concentrations of progesterone at birth (2.3 ± 0.4 ng/mL) decreased within the first week of life to basal values (0.11 ± 0.01 ng/mL) in colts and fillies. Progesterone in the geldings remained at baseline concentrations at all sample times. An abrupt increase in progesterone concentration was detected in fillies at a mean age of 385 ± 6.4 d, weight 381 ± 7.2 kg, and ADG 0.63 ± 0.04 kg/d. Elevations in progesterone concentrations coincided with a measured day length of 13 ± 0.1 hrs, and temperature of 15 ± 1.7 °C. Positive associations were established between progesterone concentration day length (r = 0.59; P<0.0001), IGF-I (r = 0.25; P<0.01) and ADG (r = 0.34; P<0.0001). Day length IGF-I and ADG began to increase for both geldings and fillies at approximately 340 d of age, while progesterone started to increase at 385 ± 6.4 d for the fillies only. From this it could be hypothesized that an increase in ADG combined with optimal environmental conditions, may be associated with the subsequent elevation in progesterone concentrations in fillies. The relationship between IGF-I, and various reproductive hormones has been studied in the adult horse, yet the associations between environmental factors, ADG, and progesterone concentrations demonstrated in growing yearlings further emphasizes the extensive changes occurring during this crucial developmental stage. / Master of Science

No / The advent of the Internet and e-commerce in the mid-to-late 20th century, has been instrumental in changing the landscape of the business environment. This has led to new management approaches and practices, mediated by advances in technology that are revolutionizing the workplace and continue to impact organizational structures and strategies. In this paper, we develop a taxonomy for IT and organizational theory from which we identify a pressing need for a conceptualisation of this rapid development in technology and its impact on organizational form. We introduce the concept of the e-environment to define the new and problem domain in which organizations are now operating as a consequence, particularly, of new technologies and the Internet. We explain how as the complexity of the technology increases, the ability to manage and appropriately exploit this e-environment under a traditional organizational form becomes more difficult. Currently, organizations are in the process of re-structuring to address this issue and facilitate continued strategic technological take-up to remain competitive. We posit the need for developing suitable organizational forms comprising both functional and technological specialists. We argue that the resulting forms are best explained by an extended model that can be seen as a composite of the existing forms. Finally, we present an executive reporting structure that will provide long-term top-level support for organizational decision making to manage the dynamic domain that is the e-environment. The advent of the Internet and e-commerce in the mid-to-late 20th century, has been instrumental in changing the landscape of the business environment. This has led to new management approaches and practices, mediated by advances in technology that are revolutionizing the workplace and continue to impact organizational structures and strategies. In this paper, we develop a taxonomy for IT and organizational theory from which we identify a pressing need for a conceptualisation of this rapid development in technology and its impact on organizational form. We introduce the concept of the e-environment to define the new and problem domain in which organizations are now operating as a consequence, particularly, of new technologies and the Internet. We explain how as the complexity of the technology increases, the ability to manage and appropriately exploit this e-environment under a traditional organizational form becomes more difficult. Currently, organizations are in the process of re-structuring to address this issue and facilitate continued strategic technological take-up to remain competitive. We posit the need for developing suitable organizational forms comprising both functional and technological specialists. We argue that the resulting forms are best explained by an extended model that can be seen as a composite of the existing forms. Finally, we present an executive reporting structure that will provide long-term top-level support for organizational decision making to manage the dynamic domain that is the e-environment.

No

This essay uses a case study to examine in a particular school the nature of these interactions. By examining this case using ethnographic methods including walking tours and interviews the essay gains an insight into how the physical environment interacts with the learning environment in the school. The research identifies four main points of interaction. The need for ownership of space, the quality of the study environment, the atmosphere of the school and the need for privacy. These areas of interaction are identified also within the research with teaching staff at the school. From this research there appears to be evidence in favour of open school models which have significant variation and flexibility of space to allow for both teachers and students to adapt the environment to their various needs. The open school model does however invite significant benefits in terms of non-formal learning situations and new forms of interaction between teachers and students.

Master of Science / Architecture / R. Todd Gabbard / The purpose of the research study was to explore the role that the physical classroom environment plays in fostering student creativity in the combined fourth and fifth grade USD 475 gifted program. The research focused on answering the primary research question: Does the proposed environmental modification of the physical classroom foster creative behaviors in students? Secondary research questions included: 1) How does function-based classroom design affect both students and the classroom teacher in terms of creative process? 2) How does adaptability of the designed classroom environment affect both students and the classroom teacher in terms of creative process? A review of the literature led to the development of the author’s Framework for the Modification of Creative Learning Community Physical Environments. The study utilized a two-phase, experimental embedded research design that assessed the effects of an environmental modification to the physical classroom. Quantitative data collection methods included an environmental assessment and student survey utilizing a Likert scale. Qualitative data collection methods included participation observation, video observation, expert interviews, and open-ended student survey questions. The study found that the environmental modification of the physical classroom produced precursory creative behaviors in students. The emergent themes from the data analysis included facilitative physical environment, increased environmental acuity, leadership and self-esteem development, and improved teacher classroom management – all attributes found to be conducive to creativity development. These findings suggest further development of similar in-depth studies across a greater diversity of classroom learning environments is needed to establish reliability of the Framework for the Modification of Creative Learning Community Physical Environments.

This study investigates and describes the development of an instrument named the Electronics Laboratory Environment Inventory (ELEI), which is used to measure students' perceptions of the electronics laboratory class as a learning environment. The sample consisted of 353 of 708 Computer Engineering active students from eight classes in Bina Nusantara University, Jakarta, Indonesia. Bina Nusantara University which has the largest number of computer engineering students in Indonesia. Students' learning outcomes were measured using z-scores in electronics subjects and students' attitudes in laboratory classes were measured by using the Attitude Towards Electronics Questionnaire (ATEQ). Directed by the research questions, numerous statistical analyses were performed. These included item analysis, inter-item correlation analysis, one-way analysis of variance for establishing reliability and validity of the laboratory class environment instruments in the present study; descriptive statistics for investigating the nature of the learning environment in electronics subjects; simple and multiple correlation analyses for investigating associations between laboratory class environment and students' outcomes. In all cases, electronics laboratory classes have played a major role. The scales measured Student Cohesiveness, Open-endedness, Integration, Technology Adequacy, and Laboratory Availability. The results showed that all five scales have a reasonable alpha reliability with low mean correlations. / The study discovered that, generally, students perceived their electronics class learning environments as favourable. It was found that students' perceptions of electronics laboratory class environment were associated with students' learning outcomes. The results of this study make important and unique contributions to students' learning outcomes, suggesting that the instruments are useful for assessing laboratory class environment in the other studies.

Masters Research - Master of Design (Research) / This study explores the development of patterns for the visual design of interface elements within a virtual environment. The document will outline the process for this study and will formalise an approach for future research. Commonly, existing interface systems allow for the representation of data storage, manipulation and navigation via two dimensional structures. With the emergence of virtual reality systems in medicine, military and entertainment there becomes a need to transform this limited two dimensional representation into one that best facilitates the new environment. The proposed model will incorporate application menu systems and the modes of manipulation of data in specific applications. The framework for a prototype of the interface has been produced as well as a structure for assessment via user interaction and response. This framework will provide a template for understanding the base interaction with the operating system, that is, how to organise files and initiate software, as well as the operation of a simulated software package. If the prototype were built then it would be viewed as a virtual environment and the interaction could take place via the use of either mouse (or similar prop) or data-glove. Future study could include the actual building of each of the interface variations and putting the series of users through the prescribed experiment procedure. Applications of an interface resulting from testing such as this could be found within a range of fields. Military training currently makes use of virtual simulation and this could provide access to information needed within operational procedures. Similar technologies could be adapted for pilot control systems within a visor display. For medical research, where virtual surgical techniques are being used, information could be accessed within the operating environment that had otherwise been contained in adjacent systems outside immediate reach. Real world application of these models would be limited at this time by the use of the appropriate computing power, however, the future use of this study could have broader application within the development of game technology, internet access and data mining. The proposed experiment requires the development of interface variations based on a predefined pattern structure that informs the design of certain elements and of the tasks to be performed. The patterns included in this study form the initial set from which a library could be extended and developed upon. While these pattern definitions are crucial to the execution of the experiment, they have been presented here in Appendix A to preserve flow and readability of the document. The review of the current literature within this study covers a range of publications related to the development of virtual and augmented environment interfaces. A summation of the tools, devices, techniques and constraints which affect this area of development has been included. The review is presented to provide broad background information for the reader, building a context through which the experiment should be viewed. The purpose of this study is to provide a method through which the visual representation of an interface can be more consistently assessed. This will be achieved through the use of a pattern language for a development framework, providing interface consistency in structure and principle. This is significant to the field as currently the assessment of visual representation is conducted across projects without a consistent framework and the subsequent learning is not readily transferred across applications.

<p><strong>Purpose</strong> – The purpose of this dissertation is twofold. First, to identify and design a theoretical model of different factors that are important when evaluating fast changing industry environment. Second, to conduct interviews designed after the model and determine what factors are important within the company’s specific industry.</p><p><strong>Design/methodology/approach</strong> – A range of published research literature on Industry environment such as clusters, innovation and hyper competition has been used in this thesis. Our main approach has been to follow Porter’s Five Forces Model and applying it on the modern IT-industry.</p><p><strong>Findings</strong> – This research identified three additional forces for evaluating industry environment, namely Innovation, Complementary product & Cooperation and Customer Readiness.</p><p><strong>Limitations</strong> – The research was limited to northeastern Öresundsregionen, Sweden. The interview questions where limited to pre-designed factors. </p><p><strong>Originality/value</strong> – The findings of this research provide the companies and researchers with a context for understanding this specific type of industry environment. It will also provide companies with a set of tools and best practices to apply when evaluating their own environment.</p>

Purpose – The purpose of this dissertation is twofold. First, to identify and design a theoretical model of different factors that are important when evaluating fast changing industry environment. Second, to conduct interviews designed after the model and determine what factors are important within the company’s specific industry. Design/methodology/approach – A range of published research literature on Industry environment such as clusters, innovation and hyper competition has been used in this thesis. Our main approach has been to follow Porter’s Five Forces Model and applying it on the modern IT-industry. Findings – This research identified three additional forces for evaluating industry environment, namely Innovation, Complementary product &amp; Cooperation and Customer Readiness. Limitations – The research was limited to northeastern Öresundsregionen, Sweden. The interview questions where limited to pre-designed factors.  Originality/value – The findings of this research provide the companies and researchers with a context for understanding this specific type of industry environment. It will also provide companies with a set of tools and best practices to apply when evaluating their own environment.