Thesis advisor: Lauri Johnson / While the academic and social success of two-way immersion programs in the public school sector is widely documented, little research has been conducted on how US Catholic school leaders have managed this whole school reform. Through an exploratory case study, the motivations and perceptions of 28 Catholic school administrators and change agents/key informants (including teachers, assistant/vice principals, board members, and consultants) from ten Catholic elementary schools were interviewed regarding the conversion to a dual language immersion model. Findings considered how Hargreaves and Fullan’s (2012) concept of professional capital and Grace’s (2002; 2010) notion of spiritual capital contributed to the leaders’ capacity to meet the school’s change needs. Most schools began with limited resources and knowledge about the technical aspects of dual language immersion, but made use of key local and national social networks as well as drew upon their own biographies and Catholic vision to increase enrollment and engender professional learning among faculty. Implications for future research and practice include attention to the nuances of academic excellence and the complex language history of Catholic schools. The study concludes with recommendations for Catholic school principals. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This thesis investigates ion energy distributions (IEDs) during plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII). PIII is a surface modification technique where an object is placed in a plasma and pulse biased with large negative voltages. The energy distribution of implanted ions is important in determining the extent of surface modifications. IED measurements were made during PIII using a pulse biased retarding field energy analyser (RFEA) in a capacitive RF plasma. Experimental results were compared with those obtained from a two dimensional numerical simulation to help explain the origins of features in the IEDs. Time resolved IED measurements were made during PIII of metal and insulator materials and investigated the effects of the use of a metal mesh over the surface and the effects of insulator surface charging. When the pulse was applied to the RFEA, the ion flux rapidly increased above the pulse-off value and then slowly decreased during the pulse. The ion density during the pulse decreased below values measured when no pulse was applied to the RFEA. This indicates that the depletion of ions by the pulsed RFEA is greater than the generation of ions in the plasma. IEDs measured during pulse biasing showed a peak close to the maximum sheath potential energy and a spread of ions with energies between zero and the maximum ion energy. Simulations showed that the peak is produced by ions from the sheath edge directly above the RFEA inlet and that the spread of ions is produced by ions which collide in the sheath and/or arrive at the RFEA with trajectories not perpendicular to the RFEA front surface. The RFEA discriminates ions based only on the component of their velocity perpendicular to the RFEA front surface. To minimise the effects of surface charging during PIII of an insulator, a metal mesh can be placed over the insulator and pulse biased together with the object. Measurements were made with metal mesh cylinders fixed to the metal RFEA front surface. The use of a mesh gave a larger ion flux compared to the use of no mesh. The larger ion flux is attributed to the larger plasma-sheath surface area around the mesh. The measured IEDs showed a low, medium and high energy peak. Simulation results show that the high energy peak is produced by ions from the sheath above the mesh top. The low energy peak is produced by ions trapped by the space charge potential hump which forms inside the mesh. The medium energy peak is produced by ions from the sheath above the mesh corners. Simulations showed that the IED is dependent on measurement position under the mesh. To investigate the effects of insulator surface charging during PIII, IED measurements were made through an orifice cut into a Mylar insulator on the RFEA front surface. With no mesh, during the pulse, an increasing number of lower energy ions were measured. Simulation results show that this is due to the increase in the curvature of the sheath over the orifice region as the insulator potential increases due to surface charging. The surface charging observed at the insulator would reduce the average energy of ions implanted into the insulator during the pulse. Compared to the case with no mesh, the use of a mesh increases the total ion flux and the ion flux during the early stages of the pulse but does not eliminate surface charging. During the pulse, compared to the no mesh case, a larger number of lower energy ions are measured. Simulation results show that this is caused by the potential in the mesh region which affects the trajectories of ions from the sheaths above the mesh top and corners and results in more ions being measured with trajectories less than ninety degrees to the RFEA front surface.

Doctor of Education / With the heightened profile of language learning in a global community, language education is exploring a new model of intercultural language learning. The goal of intercultural language learning is to produce language users equipped with explicit skills in understanding connections and differences between their own culture and the culture of the target language. The research literature suggests that language learners’ resulting intercultural competence will encompass a range of characteristics. There have been few empirical studies, however, to provide illustration of intercultural competence, in order to assist teachers’ understanding of desired outcomes and student development. This case study investigates the characteristics of intercultural competence in young language learners in one Australian primary school. The learners have been engaged in an immersion language program for up to eight years, in one of three languages: French, German or Japanese. The study also investigates the behaviours and understandings in their language teachers which may facilitate the development of learners’ intercultural competence. It explores in summary what may be the nature of intercultural competence in the case study language learners. The study is relevant to research of both intercultural language learning and of immersion language classrooms. Using a case study design, the study incorporates qualitative data in the form of student focus group interviews, teacher interviews, and classroom observations. Data were collected at the case study school, in Sydney, Australia, over a school semester, and involved 49 Year 6 students and four teachers. Results of the study suggest a number of indicators of the case study students’ development in intercultural competence – that is, through understanding of language culture and identity. The student is and sees him or herself as a purposeful interactive communicator. The student understands the target language itself to be the vehicle of the target culture, and often displays metalinguistic curiosity and skills. Some students are able to critically reflect on their (multiple) linguistic and cultural memberships, and to negotiate their identity as a non-native language user. The study found that teachers provide a model of interculturality to their students. The teachers’ interculturality is enacted in their relationships and pedagogical choices, in their design of experiential learning tasks, and their facilitation of linguistic and cultural connections for their students. The study also found that the nature of the immersion language classroom itself facilitates intercultural competence in students. The study provides a case study illustration of intercultural competence in language learners which is relevant to research in intercultural language learning, immersion pedagogy and the emerging related pedagogy of content-based language learning.

In an age of substantial educational reform, the teaching and learning of 'thinking-skills' are considered to be an integral component of a child's education. Further, they are considered an important factor in developing skills which may contribute to increased learning outcomes for all learners. Current reform agenda nominate a range of 'thinking-skills' and processes that inform essential lifelong learnings and that are supported by characteristics that all learners should exhibit. At the heart of such prescription is a vision of a future in which 'process' rather than 'knowledge' will be the focus. A fundamental paradigm shift is pressing, and so too, the revised role of the teacher. Teacher practices that assist students to search for their own understandings rather than follow other people's logic are paramount and essential to the successful implementation of educational change. This case study presents one teacher's approach to the provision of 'thinking-skills' instruction in a primary school classroom for year-six children. The three objectives of the project were first, to trial a different pedagogical approach, second, to influence and change the 'thinking' habits of youngsters, and third, to encourage students to employ 'good thinking' in order to maximize learning outcomes. The model for implementation was underpinned by philosophical approaches gleaned from the literature, which were caring, humane, stimulating and creative. An eclectic mix of insights and strategies were employed to target full immersion of students and teacher into a 'Thinking-Skills Classroom'. Data were gathered from two groups of student participants who represented two discrete learning contexts. One context was that of the Trial Classroom, where the 'immersion' process sought to create a 'culture of thinking', in which 'thinking' was the focus of all teaching, learning, and operating activity. The context of the Control Classroom, was one in which 'thinking' was not the focus of all instruction and learning, but rather, was taught in an incidental and less formal manner. The aim of this study was to determine whether significant educational outcomes would become apparent in the Trial Classroom, that is in a context where children were immersed in, and learned to use, a range of strategies aimed at progressing them as independent, confident and 'accomplished thinkers'. The teaching experiment that was 'The Thinking-Skills Classroom', proved successful. The research has revealed effective 'transfer' after instruction for students in the Trial Classroom. Learners effectively applied new 'thinking understandings' into everyday thinking situations, in addressing real-life problem solving, and in producing evidence of new ways of operating. Across all strata of academic ability students from the Trial Classroom increased their thinking prowess. A category was established for 'excellent thinkers', where students demonstrated acquisition of a different set of skills from those normally associated with 'good thinking'. Students developed increased self-confidence, risk-taking initiatives and independence across the board as a result of increased thinking ability. A study of this kind may be helpful to other teacher/researchers who are considering instructional and curriculum change in light of wider paradigmatic change in education. Although this particular study would be difficult to replicate, this researcher's story can be usefully interpreted to allow insights and generalizations from the case-study to be made. These may serve as a catalyst for other innovative school-based pedagogies to emerge, and for new learning approaches to be considered and trialled, in order to prepare students for life and learning in the Twenty-First Century.

The use of deep-water immersion during labour and birth is commonplace in many countries including Australia, yet there has been little contemporary Australian data from which to form policies regarding its use during childbirth, or which have included women’s experiences using water immersion. The literature reviewed for this study was positive with regard to the effect of water immersion during childbirth and was associated with decreased rates of perineal trauma, low episiotomy rates, low rates of analgesic use, lower operative deliveries coupled with increased maternal satisfaction of the experience of childbirth when compared with births where water immersion was not involved. The purpose of this research was to investigate the influence of deep-water immersion upon maternal and neonatal outcomes and women's experiences of giving birth in Australia. This study used a mixed method in an attempt to fulfil this purpose: the first phase was a Quasi-experimental design and the second phase was based upon a Hermeneutic Phenomenological approach. Data were collected via a Random Chart Audit, from a random sample of fifty nulliparous women who used deepwater immersion during labour and childbirth and six women were selected to participate in a semi-structured interview. Data from each phase of this study revealed positive birth outcomes and these findings were supported by the literature. The women's stories were positive and comprised elements of four lifeworld themes. • Water’s Embrace • Warped Time • Naked but Clothed • The Shape of Water. Each of these themes encapsulated different aspects of the women's experiences, which when considered together, increased the understanding of the phenomenon of deep-water immersion upon the experience of giving birth.

Cette thèse propose une methode de codage optimise d'automate synchrone dans un environnement du type compilateur de silicium. Dans une première partie, on recherche sur le graphe d'état des situations prédictives de minimisation des équations des variables internes et des sorties. Ceci définit des contraintes sur le codage en terme d'une liste de groupes d'adjacence d'états a immerger sur des faces ou cubes de l'hypercube. Dans une deuxième partie le codage est réalisé en satisfaisant au mieux ces affectations de faces et leurs intersections. Les principes de base de cette approche sont les suivants: (i) pour la première phase, la recherche de situations prédictives de minimisation est fondée sur la théorie des paires de partition de Hartmannis. Les situations sont recherchées entrée par entrée; cette approche locale permettra de faire face aux grandes complexités; remarquons que le codage des entrées n'est pas aborde. La priorité est donnée aux fusions potentielles de monômes dans les équations. On ne recherchera pas de façon indifférenciée comme dans d'autres approches (mustang) toutes les minimisations possibles incluant les factorisations. En effet, il est raisonnablement estime que seule la fusion de monômes assure un gain de surface et en connectique; (ii) pour la deuxième phase, les techniques d'immersion dans l'hypercube seront très sophistiquées. Elles reprendront une représentation de l'hypercube par le treillis de l'ensemble des parties de n éléments. Pour résoudre les problèmes des contraintes intersectantes, c'est-a-dire des contraintes impliquant des sous-ensembles d'états en commun, une théorie dite théorie des cubes intersectant sera proposée. Les résultats de cette thèse ont donne lieu a un logiciel intégré dans le système asyl. Les résultats obtenus en gain de surface sur silicium, de chemin critique et de facteurs de routage sont les meilleurs actuellement connus

Le but de cette thèse est d'étudier des questions issues de la théorie de l'élasticité en utilisant des méthodes d'analyse mathématique et de géométrie différentielle. Dans le cas mono-dimensionnel, qui est lié à l'étude des fils élastiques, nous prouvons des résultats d'existence, d'unicité et de stabilité d'une courbe dans des espaces de Sobolev. Nous traitons ensuite le cas général d'une immersion de dimension et de co-dimension quelconques d'une sous-variété dans l'espace euclidien. Nous montrons ainsi que le résultat classique d'existence et d'unicité d'une telle immersion peut être étendu jusqu'au bord de la sous-variété, sous une hypothèse de régularité peu restrictive sur celui-ci. En outre, nous montrons que l'application ainsi construite est localement lipschitzienne pour les topologies appropriées. Enfin, nous revenons à l'étude des fils élastiques, pour obtenir des inégalités de Korn linéaires et non linéaires pour les courbes en dimension 3.

Les environnements 3D immersifs et collaboratifs en ligne sont en pleine émergence. Ils posent les problématiques du sentiment de présence au sein des mondes virtuels, de l'immersion et des capacités d'interaction. Les systèmes 3D multi-caméra permettent, sur la base d'une information photométrique, d'extraire une information géométrique (modèle 3D) de la scène observée. Il est alors possible de calculer un modèle numérique texturé en temps-réel qui est utilisé pour assurer la présence de l'utilisateur dans l'espace numérique. Dans le cadre de cette thèse nous avons étudié comment coupler la capacité de présence fournie par un tel système avec une immersion visuelle et des interactions co-localisées. Ceci a mené à la réalisation d'une application qui couple un visio-casque, un système de suivi optique et un système multi-caméra. Ainsi l'utilisateur peut visualiser son modèle 3D correctement aligné avec son corps et mixé avec les objets virtuels. Nous avons aussi mis en place une expérimentation de télépresence sur 3 sites (Bordeaux, Grenoble, Orléans) qui permet à plusieurs utilisateurs de se rencontrer en 3D et de collaborer à distance. Le modèle 3D texturé donne une très forte impression de présence de l'autre et renforce les interactions physiques grâce au langage corporel et aux expressions faciales. Enfin, nous avons étudié comment extraire une information de vitesse à partir des informations issues des caméras, grâce au flot optique et à des correspondances 2D et 3D, nous pouvons estimer le déplacement dense du modèle 3D. Cette donnée étend les capacités d'interaction en enrichissant le modèle 3D.

<p>Uppsatsen behandlar upplevelse. Analysen av upplevelse utgår från uppsatsförfattarens möte med den amerikanske videokonstnären Bill Violas installation Five Angels for the Millennium (2001).</p><p>Forskningsansatsen är främst fenomenologisk vilket innebär att fokus ligger på att undersöka vad som är, vad det föreställer och hur den upplevande uppfattar detta.</p><p>I bakgrunden står frågan hur upplevelse, med utgångspunkt i en persons möte med ett videokonstverk, kan analyseras teoretiskt. Uppsatsförfattaren för samman ett antal teoretiker som alla skrivit om emotioner, i form av känsla eller affekt, i samband med en tolkningsakt. De forskare som det främst refereras till är Bent Fausing, Mark Hansen, Laura Marks, Janet H. Murray, Lynne Pearce och Roland Barthes. Barthes har även påverkat förhållningssättet till analysen i stort.</p><p>Den metod som används är att först skildra mötet med verket och att därefter analysera mötet utifrån fyra olika infallsvinklar. Från analysen av vad som mött den upplevande, flyttar perspektivet till att se vad som skett i den upplevande, för att därefter undersöka hur den upplevande utvecklat en relation till verket. Slutligen diskuteras verkets religiositet, bl.a. med hänvisning till Wassily Kandinskys texter om det andliga i konsten, Walter Benjamins beskrivning av upplevelse, nyare forskning om religiös upplevelse och Violas kontext och uttalade avsikt.</p><p>I texter om Viola framkommer det att de som mött hans verk delar en likartad upplevelse. Analysen är avsedd att ge en förståelse för hur Viola går till väga för att få den som möter hans verk att känna och tänka på ett visst sätt. Slutsatsen är att den upplevande, i mötet med verket, möter Violas ideologi, vilken kan sägas vila i utgångspunkten att människan måste finna en ny form av verklighet. Implicerat är att den värld hon lever i idag inte är människovänlig.</p>

La connaissance du comportement thermique des fours et des pièces est un problème difficile et cependant essentiel dans les thématiques de recherche industrielles actuelles. L'industrie cherche à se doter de moyens numériques de plus en plus efficaces tout en réduisant sans cesse le temps de calcul afin de modéliser des pièces et des assemblages de plus en plus réalistes. Les cinétiques de chauffe ainsi que la distribution de la température dans l'enceinte et dans les pièces traitées doivent également être maîtrisées, afin d'améliorer la qualité des produits chauffées en terme de résistance et dureté. Le travail présenté dans cette thèse porte donc sur le développement de méthodes de résolution numérique pour la simulation du transfert thermique. Ces méthodes permettent le calcul couplé de la température des pièces avec l'environnement du four afin d'optimiser la géométrie de ces pièces, leur position dans le four mais également les conditions initiales de chauffe. Le calcul de dynamique des fluides (CFD) peut être considéré comme un puissant outil technique de prédiction de l'écoulement des fluides et du transfert thermique dans des cas industriels réalistes. La première partie de la thèse porte sur l'étude de schémas numériques avancés relatifs aux méthodes éléments finis stabilisés. Ces méthodes de calculs efficaces ont étaient utilisées pour simuler des écoulements instationnaires et des transferts thermiques conjugués. Par la suite, deux modèles de turbulence (modèle k-epsilon et modèle Large Eddy Simulation) sont introduits et utilisés pour prendre en compte les écoulements complexes et turbulents dans l'enceinte du four. Le transfert radiatif est assuré par la résolution du modèle P1 tout en calculant un terme source volumique qui sera intégré dans l'équation de la chaleur. La deuxième partie de cette thèse se consacre à la mise en place d'une méthodologie de discrétisation robuste qui permet aux utilisateurs de générer de façon entièrement automatique un seul maillage. Ce maillage contient à la fois des domaines axés sur la résolution d'un problème fluide (air, eau, ...) mais également solides spécifiques aux structures, et ce quel que soit le niveau de détail et donc de complexité du cas étudié. Cette approche, connue sous le nom d' « immersion de volume », garantit un maillage anisotrope précis aux interfaces fluide-solide afin de capturer plus précisément les gradients thermiques et la forte discontinuité des propriétés physiques. Cette méthode offre donc une grande flexibilité dans la mise en données du problème mixte fluide-structure et aussi dans la prise en compte de plusieurs géométries (four, pièces, supports) et elle est également bien adaptée aux solveurs thermomécaniques développés.