Thesis (M.S.) in Human Development--University of Maine, 2002. / Includes vita. Bibliography: leaves 53-61.

This thesis proposes a novel and efficient method (Method of Evolving Junctions) for solving optimal control problems with path constraints, and whose optimal paths are separable. A path is separable if it is the concatenation of finite number of subarcs that are optimal and either entirely constraint active or entirely constraint inactive. In the case when the subarcs can be computed efficiently, the search for the optimal path boils down to determining the junctions that connect those subarcs. In this way, the original infinite dimensional problem of finding the entire path is converted into a finite dimensional problem of determine the optimal junctions. The finite dimensional optimization problem is then solved by a recently developed global optimization strategy, intermittent diffusion. The idea is to add perturbations (noise) to the gradient flow intermittently, which essentially converts the ODE's (gradient descent) into a SDE's problem. It can be shown that the probability of finding the globally optimal path can be arbitrarily close to one. Comparing to existing methods, the method of evolving junctions is fundamentally faster and able to find the globally optimal path as well as a series of locally optimal paths. The efficiency of the algorithm will be demonstrated by solving path planning problems, more specifically, finding the optimal path in cluttered environments with static or dynamic obstacles.

Teaching philosophy: Students must be kept abreast of the latest industry knowledge in order to have successful careers. The whole department works in conjunction to implement training of students so that they can understand and demonstrate skills as successful convergent and multimedia journalists during and after their studies at Tshwane University of Technology.

Title: Veingeskolan F - Investigation of the indoor environment and a structural analysis Method: Complete analysis of structural drawings to determine if the school have been constructed correctly. In my teorethical studies of the drawings I must seek out points that may have been damaged from moisture, this contains a full survey of the foundation, walls and ceiling. To strenghten the data collected from the drawings I must visit the school and do field investigations to find out if the school has any problems with the indoor environment. Analysis: I determined that we had some damages on specific places, these damages was caused by leaking roofs, a carpet that was tarnished by strong sunlight in connection with some type of glue and also the ventilation that may have been drawing malodorous air from a shaft in the foundation. Conclusion: I was able to see that the decision to demolish the school was quite drastic, if the county would have done continuous fixups on the construcion when the employes had complained maybe the action to the tear the school down would have been unnecessary. The lack of communication between the two parts lead up to the decision to demolish and build a complete new school.

Master's thesis “Possibilities of formation of learning environment in primary school" analyses the theoretical basis of formation of learning environment and reveals the possibilities of its formation. According to the works of many scholars, such as L. Jovaisa, B. Bitinas, A. Zulumskyte, etc. the conception of learning environment was formulated and its structure analyzed. A profound analysis of documents and governmental decisions regulating primary education and significant to the formation of learning environment was carried out. Assumptions of formation of auspicious learning environment are revealed: • through psychological recognition of primary student, by emphasizing that it was not enough for the teacher “to know the change of child's mind and understand child's development following <...> the psychology of age only" (Butkiene and Kepalaite, 1996, p. 104), but the learner has to be recognized directly as "children develop differently and individual development may not have some typical features" (Ruzgiene and Petruziene, 2005, p. 96); • through analysis of ergonomical analysis of learning environment, as according to V. Kucinskas (1997) and A. Zulumskyte (2006), the space impacts emotions and spiritual state of students of various age and therefore, comfortable environment stimulates activity and mobilizes nervous and mental functions; • through revealing educator's role in the process of formation of learning environment as his competence has much... [to full text]

The present investigation is concerned with the relation between environmental factors and the ability to transfer. Although many studies in the past have shown that differences in environment result in differences in I.Q., as measured by conventional intelligence tests, there has been less research measuring environmental effects on learning and transfer abilities. The typical approachof studies which deal with either differences in intelligence, or in learning and transfer abilities, has been to select subjects from different environments and, by testing, demonstrate significant differences in the ability in question. Using this method, the results invariably favor subjects from whichever is the "better" environment in the study. The present study treats environment as an independant variable, holding I.Q. constant, and attempts to show differences in transfer ability, the dependent variable, under these conditions. On the basis of the theoretical considerations and empirical results reviewed below, it was hypothesized that, with I.Q. held constant,children raised in a "restricted" environment would show greater facility for transfer than children from a "free" environment. [...]

The Relevance of the Research. In the general programmes/curricula and the Standards of Education of the School of General Education of Lithuania (2003) it is stated that “preschool, primary and basic child education is considered as one of the most important priorities of contemporary education policy, as the basis for lifelong learning”. Contemporary preschool education regulations are an aspiration to help a child to acquire competencies necessary for everyday life and successful education/self-education at school, the basis of which is the sum total of already possessed value attitudes, gained abilities and skills, and experience. It is not enough to call child’s competencies an aspiration – it is important to attempt to “measure” them, and it is what has been emphasized in the present work. The importance of one of the competencies – the cognitive competency – is emphasized in Preschool Education Standards (2003). The straightest way to the development of child’s cognitive competency is the formation of natural environment in a preschool institution. Cognitive psychology considers permanent investigation of environment as one of the most important factors of the development of child personality. In contemporary reformed nursery school the investigation activity, its importance, significance, functionality, relations between natural environment and the cognitive competency is little or almost not investigated area. The Object. The importance of natural environment for the... [to full text]

This study of the Quonset Auditorium, one roadhouse among many on the regular tour route of R&B, gospel and country musicians in the post-World War II era (1947- 1959), illustrates the important role of roadhouses during a time of growth and change in popular music. It situates memories and experiences from the Quonset Auditorium in relation to regional and national movements of the day such as highway development, commercial and popular music, and the civil rights movement. With hindsight, we can see that the Quonset Auditorium stood at a crossroads as regards these social and technological movements of the post-WW II era and the metaphor of crossroads has been applied throughout this study. Roadhouses have received little detailed attention in literature about commercial music, and this study has meant to provide details from the Quonset Auditorium in order to flesh out the generalizations often made about roadhouses, and touring. This study has drawn primarily on oral accounts collected from a variety of individuals: musicians who performed there, past audience members and people with second hand memories of the Quonset. It also utilizes historical documents relating to the Quonset Auditorium in university yearbooks, newspapers and ledgers from show poster companies.

St. Lawrence Islands National Park (SLINP) is one of Canada’s smallest national parks. In order to secure a future for biodiversity, Parks Canada must therefore work beyond the park’s boundaries to engage area residents in conservation on private lands. Despite an increasing understanding of the distribution of species and habitat in the region surrounding SLINP, Parks Canada still has limited insight into the landowners upon whom conservation efforts depend. This study employed interviews with owners of large (>50 acre) parcels in areas of interest for conservation and a hermeneutic methodology to explore the dimensions of landowners’ relationships to the land. Findings suggest that landowners may adopt a land ethic when their values and connection to the land are threatened, but that their management actions are constrained by competing interests. Management recommendations are provided to assist Parks Canada in working with landowners towards a shared vision of conservation for the region.

This thesis aims to show that Martin Heidegger’s notion of fundamental ontology can serve as the foundation for a new approach to environmental ethics. The thesis begins with a brief introduction to the traditional approaches of environmental thought and a description of how Heidegger’s interpretation of human existence as Dasein provides a new perspective from which to approach questions of the fitting relation between human beings and the nonhuman world. While traditional environmental thought approaches nature primarily as the object of modern science and technology, Heidegger’s thought allows nature to become meaningful for human beings as an important part of their everyday lives. The first chapter begins with an examination of the wilderness and environmental justice debates and argues that Anglo-American environmental thought has yet to understand and define the natural environment in a way that encompasses the needs of both human and nonhuman life. Heidegger’s existential analytic of Dasein describes human existence in a way that demonstrates its interconnectedness with the nonhuman world and can be used to rethink the fitting place of human existence within the natural environment. The second chapter demonstrates that Heidegger’s critique of the metaphysical foundations of modern science and technology clears the way for a renewed understanding of the interconnectedness of human and nonhuman life. Heidegger’s critique demonstrates that an authentic understanding of human existence necessarily entails a new approach to interpreting being. The final chapter of the thesis analyses Heidegger’s retrieval of the early Greek understanding of being as phusis together with Heidegger’s notion of poetic dwelling in order to provide a new perspective for interpreting the scope of a fitting relation between human beings and natural environment. Heidegger’s thought demonstrates that the natural environment must be understood as an essential condition of human existence and can thereby allow human beings to interpret the nonhuman world in a way that would encompass the needs of both human and nonhuman life.