Humans and other animals discount the value of future rewards, a phenomenon known as delay discounting. Individuals vary widely in the extent to which they discount future rewards, and these tendencies have been associated with important life outcomes. Recent studies have demonstrated that imagining the future reduces subsequent discounting behavior, but no research to date has examined whether a similar principle applies at the trait level, and whether training visualization changes discounting. The current study examined if individual differences in visualization abilities are linked to individual differences in discounting and whether practicing visualization can change discounting behaviors in a lasting way. Participants (n = 48) completed the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ) and delay discounting task and then underwent a 4-week intervention consisting of visualization training (intervention) or relaxation training (control). Contrary to our hypotheses, participants who reported greater visualization abilities (lower scores) on the VVIQ were higher discounters. To further examine this relationship, an additional 106 participants completed the VVIQ and delay discounting task. In the total sample (n = 154), there was a significant negative correlation between VVIQ scores and discount rates, showing that individuals who are better visualizers are also higher discounters. Consistent with this relationship but again to our surprise, visualization training tended, albeit weakly, to increase discount rates, and those whose VVIQ decreased the most were those whose discount rates increased the most. These results suggest a novel association between visualization abilities and delay discounting.

This study focused on the perceptions of six superintendents regarding the state of the profession as of 2012, and it reports their thoughts and suggestions as to what preparation is needed by superintendents for the 21st century. The participating superintendents, who were all members of the Western States Benchmarking Consortium, were employed in six school districts in five states. Data were collected through surveys and telephone interviews. The findings of this study clearly indicate a lack of cohesion between what superintendents learned in their university professional preparation programs and what they practice in their day to day activities. The superintendents involved in this study tended to favor a hybrid approach – rigorous theoretical insight grounded in real world practice. Since superintendents typically spend a good deal of their time solving challenging problems including funding shortfalls, competition from other educational institutions, and the constant scrutiny of the media; their preparation needs to provide opportunities to develop their leadership skills and solve real world problems in an environment where they can take risks. Mentoring and participation in professional consortiums were recommended as key elements for the preparation of the twenty-first century superintendent. This study contributes to the discussion of how to best prepare school leaders for the current and future demands of superintendency.

The tension uncovered during this study is between two worlds: the very pragmatic and enormously challenging world of managing in a rapidly changing and highly competitive global market, and the scientific world of strategic management thinking and the concern that contemporary strategic management is unable to deal effectively with the modern dilemma of globalisation. This dilemma is as a result of change; before a current scenario can be solved, the next evolution of scenarios is upon the business community. In today's turbulent world, globalisation is sweeping away the market and industry structures that, historically, have defined competition. Swept away with them are the classic approaches to strategic management, nearly all of which mistakenly assume that a predictable path to the future can be paved from the experiences of the past. The solution: Strategy should be dynamic and should change constantly in order to contend with external turbulences. Organisations should brace themselves for a future of hyper-competition. They should respond to these rapid changes in the business environment by adopting a new approach to strategy, one that combines speed, openness, and flexibility. Organisations need: an ability to sense changes in their environment; an ability to understand the impact, of this change, on the whole; a willingness to adapt to change; and an ability to adapt. Experimenting with new strategies is also important. Constant testing, adaptation and building on what is found to be successful with customers is the way ahead, especially when one is trying to re-invent the value provided, or the way in which it is produced and delivered. The overall purpose of this experimental strategic learning and management process is to establish which strategic options or elements thereof are robust across the possible competitive scenarios, and use the healthiest elements to develop your strategic intent - your core strategic focus or theme.

According to some logicians and philosophers, future contingent propositions pose a specific problem. Many of those who look into this problem now and those who looked into it (even hundreds) years ago, refer to Aristotle. Nevertheless not in agreement. Our aim is to give an overview of traditional and non-traditional interpretations of the part of Aristotle's work which deals with this issue. On the basis of their comparison we will try to uncover what causes the variety of readings. That will allow us to assess whether the truth of future contingent propositions really is a specific problem and what is its actual nature.

What is next for the luxury experience when autonomous technology is replacing your private chau eur and there is no need for improving the performance of a vehicle? What if consumers simply get bored of rare and expensive materials as the only reference to luxury? There is a potential to change the mindset and rethink the value of mobility. As it is already happening, people start to treasure experiences rather than ownership. Vehicles play multiple important roles in our lives and some of our most precious stories can happen during a ride. Inspired by such insights, this project pushed the boundaries to envision a new kind of luxurious mobility experience designed to be slow. Research, ideation, storytelling, 3D modelling and visualisation were used to propose a shared airborne mobility service for the megacity. A system composed of dirigibles and docking stations, inspired and fictitiously operated by the Lexus brand.

The automotive industry is blooming with new interpretations of what future cars will be in the future. Progressive technologies, environmental awareness and people’s behavioral change o er new opportunities for creating more sustainable vehicles. While these are primarily being developed to solve problems in urban environments, similar developments should be aimed to preserve our natural surroundings. During this project I traveled to Iceland to explore the country and learn how we can improve the experience of travel. I used my research, observations and the Land Rover heritage to look for opportunities in an autonomous o -road scenario. Furthermore I wanted to explore of how renewable energy sources can be used to benefit vehicle development and usage. Project outcome is Land Rover Melrakki, a vehicle developed to explore Iceland while sustaining main traveller needs in a downscaled solution.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction / Jacqueline D. Spears / There is a growing concern that the number of students graduating with a STEM major in the U.S. is insufficient to fill the growing demand in STEM careers.  In order to fulfill that demand, it is important to increase student retention in STEM majors and also to attract more students to pursue careers in those areas.  Previous research has indicated that children start losing interest in science at the elementary level because science is taught with a focus on learning vocabulary and ideas rather than learning through inquiry-based techniques.  A factor that affects the quality of science education at the elementary level is the preparation of elementary teachers. Many elementary teachers feel unprepared to teach science because they lack adequate content knowledge as well as the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for teaching the subject.  Previous studies of teacher preparation in science identified some areas with which pre-service teachers need assistance.  One of these areas is understanding children’s ideas of science. To address that issue, this dissertation investigates whether the use of an instructional approach that teaches physics phenomena along with an understanding of how children think about the physical phenomena promotes changes in students’ knowledge of children’s ideas and use of those ideas in instructional and assessment strategies.  Results indicated that students who were explicitly exposed to knowledge of children’s ideas more often incorporated those ideas into their own microteaching and demonstrated higher levels of sophistication of knowledge of children’s ideas, instructional strategies, and assessment strategies that incorporated those ideas.  This research explores an instructional model for blending physics content and pedagogical content knowledge.

With an increase in alternative forms of work, people are no longer limited to traditional office spaces. The aim for a healthier integration of private and work comes with the advantages of experimenting with new technologies. As a result, coworking spaces are spreading through the urban centers. But our way of dealing with work is still marked by our corporate-focused past. This project aims to explore how can co-working spaces occupy a more meaningful role by connecting people with their interests. My interest is to unveil the social rules of the space and turn interactions between coworkers more pleasant and easy. The result is a reflection about the future of collaborative workplaces. The success of the experiments reflect the openness of most co-workers and hosts. On a higher level the project gave me a better understanding of how AI could help to improve the social aspect of our workplaces.

2045 a progressive European city is banning driving and BMW has to respond. Technological evolution, and a culture used to new interfaces leads to the option to recreate the relationship between human and car. But how to interact with our new friends? Talking to experts in the fields of science fiction, environmentalism, horse riding and piloting helped in first constructing a future and then tailoring an interface-vision for its inhabitants and their autonomous cars. The result is a tactile bond connecting driver and machine. Working together with your car doesn't have to mean loosing control, it's just another quality of control.

What if future air travel was highly sustainable and appealing? What if you could hop from building rooftop to rooftop or better, from a city to an island without the worries of ground congestion and gridlocks? And how would it look like if NIO decided to take this opportunity and broaden their product offerings? These were some of the initial question that guided the project towards a mode of mobility which is new and challenging to realise. Admittedly It was also exciting to imagine what would future of autonomy look like in something other that a car and to see if A.I. driven technologies and fresh architecture ideas could enhance this experience. And remove the safety and social acceptance stigmas from this type of mobility. Furthermore to see how the design would be influenced by specific target user group & their needs. From Post-it ideation to Alias mock-up and Virtual reality software to validate  ideas, the process saw use of several tools. Initial  stage included several basic  CAS layout  proposals which  allowed for  fresh  ideas which were translated into detailed sketches on paper and in Photoshop.  Two loops of mid-level detailed CAS were generated  and then  through  combination of both, and  additional  analogue  material  the  final  loop  of  Alias was completed and then  handed to  In-house  CAS team  for  refinement  and  physical  prototyping  support. Throughout  the  process there were several check  points with the mentor, interior  director  &  university tutors which gave valuable input & direction to the project. The  final  outcome  is  a  Vertical  take  off  landing  vehicle which shows a holistic idea of how future NIO products could  look  like.  A  small  fleet  and  a  shared  model make this realistic and accessible mode  of  mobility. Passengers  are  welcomed  to  a NIO  house  which  also acts as a sky-deck  for  the  vehicle. Open  interior  layout of  the  vehicle  poses unique  and  exciting  possibilities for  either  enjoying  personal  time  or  a  dialogue  during the journey. Key functions such as ambient air, music or photo-chromatic  glass can  be activated by interacting with  the  two  A.I.  units  placed on  top  of  each  seating zone.  Use of recycled & vegan materials and lightweight construction  of the seats allow for  a bigger surface area but optimized weight. The overall welcoming gesture of the  interior  space aims for  attracting  a wide group of passengers.