Master of Arts / Department of Geography / John A. Harrington Jr / A question exists on how cultural backgrounds influence the paths students take to understand cultural geography and construct mental maps of their communities. This thesis draws on the interconnections among student multiculturalism, geo-progressions (learning trajectories in geography), and perception of the environment at the community scale. As a result of the Road Map for 21st Century Geography Education, geo-progressions have received increased attention by geography education researchers. The majority of the effort to-date has focused on the first theme of the National Geography Standards: the world in spatial terms (Standards 1-3). This study attempts to deconstruct and rethink a geo-progression by considering multiple paths to learning Geography Standard Six, "how culture and experience influence people's perceptions of places and regions." The study incorporates the concept of community, a major theme for third grade as indicated in the Kansas Standards for History, Government, and Social Studies. During this longitudinal study, students were asked to make mental maps and talk about their community-based sense of place twice during part of the 2015-2016 school year. Third-grade classrooms from four demographically distinct areas of Kansas were surveyed: Manhattan, Garden City, Horton, and Junction City. The first session was conducted in September 2015. In January 2016, the same students were asked to perform the same tasks to assess any temporal differences. Mental maps and interviews were coded and analyzed to assess the spectrum of how students perceive a spatial sense of community over time. Interviews with teachers helped document classroom-to-classroom differences in how the concept of community was incorporated into the teaching effort.

Psykisk ohälsa ökar och enligt socialstyrelsen lider cirka 20 % av arbetsför ålder av psykisk ohälsa. En enkätundersökning genomfördes för att undersöka, hur stor betydelse kön, ålder, coping och känsla av sammanhang har på psykisk ohälsa? Totalt insamlades 108 enkäter var av 101 användes för analys. Data analyserades med hjälp av en hierarkisk multipel regressionsanalys och Pearson korrelationer. 39 % av variationen i psykisk ohälsa förklarades av KASAM, copingstil, ålder och kön. Starkast relaterad till ohälsa i regressionsanalysen var KASAM. Högre KASAM hos en individ innebär bättre psykisk hälsa. Diskussion förs kring bland annat fördelar och nackdelar med valda instrument, sned könsfördelning, samhällsnytta och enkätkonstruktion. Att se vilka faktorer som starkt påverkar psykisk ohälsa är av betydelse för vidare forskning för att sätta fingret på vad som påverkar psykisk ohälsa och till vilken grad.

L'objectif de ce travail doctoral est de tester et d'expliquer l'influence des bénéfices que les membres perçoivent dans les communautés virtuelles de support initiées par les entreprises sur leurs intentions comportementales à l'égard de ses produits. Une étude ethnographique a d'abord été menée et a complété les enseignements tirés de la revue de littérature. Ensuite, une collecte de données quantitative a été menée sur des communautés virtuelles des éditeurs des logiciels. A l'issue des résultats de la recherche, nous avons principalement démontré que les bénéfices perçus par les membres favorisent leurs intentions de réachat et de recommandation des produits de l'entreprise sous conditions que cette dernière participe activement dans les activités de sa communauté. Par ailleurs, cette influence positive s'opère aussi à travers le sentiment communautaire du membre. / The objective of this doctoral work is to test and to explain the influence of the benefits that are paid to members in virtual communities of support initiated by companies on their behavioral intentions with respect to its products. An ethnographic study was first conducted and completed the lessons learned from the literature review. Then, quantitative data collection was conducted on virtual communities of software publishers. At the end of the search results, we mainly demonstrated that the benefits received by members promote their intentions of reachat and recommendation of the products of the company under conditions that the latter actively participates in the activities of its community. Moreover, this positive influence also operates through the community feeling of the Member.

This dissertation interrogates the generation of novel sense and meaning in the philosophy of Maurice Merleau-Ponty. In taking up the theme of creative transformation prominent in his work, I show how the emergence of novel sense and the advent of meaning structures are made possible through the asymmetrical relation of adversity and cliché. While the scholarship focuses primarily on expression, institution, and reversibility as the three principal forms of creative transformation within the work of Merleau-Ponty, I maintain that this asymmetrical relation provides the originary ground on which these forms operate. To this end, this project consists primarily of the elucidation of three terms within the context of Merleau-Ponty’s thought – namely, novelty, cliché, and adversity – and the latter two notion’s roles in the generation of sense and meaning manifest in several fields of experience including perception, the aesthetic, and the political. The immediate import of this project is in its contribution to Merleau-Ponty scholarship through a description of the relation of adversity and cliché on the generation of sense and meaning which has received little attention to date. Subsequently, this project – like the inauguration of sense and meaning – institutes a trajectory for future research. This dissertation serves to describe a fertile field of interrogation both within and in relation to Merleau-Ponty’s work on adversity, cliché, and novelty.

The aim of this research was to longitudinally and quantitatively investigate sense of coherence (SOC) and coping strategies as predictors of compassion satisfaction (CS) and compassion fatigue (CF) as measured by secondary traumatic stress (STS) and burnout (BT) during the first six months of training in a professional psychology training programme. Trainee therapists’, “dramatically shift” their “focus of functioning over time” to adorn the personality and self of the therapist (Rønnestad & Skovholt, 2003, p. 28). This adaptive process may initially unravel over six months as trainees balance client and workload stressors (Hill, Sullivan, Knox & Schlosser, 2007; Tryssenaar & Perkins, 2001). However, research on the developmental processes behind the negative (CF) and positive (CS) avenues of therapeutic stressors is lacking in the trainee therapists’ population, especially quantitatively (Schwing, LaFollette, Steinfeldt & Wong, 2010; Thériault, Gazzola & Richardson, 2009). This research aimed to explore these issues in relation to professional development through SOC and coping as predictors of CS and CF over a six month training period. Variables were investigated quantitatively through the Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL) (Stamm, 2010) the Brief COPE (BCOPE) (Carver, 1997) and the 29-item self-report Orientation to Life Questionnaire (OLQ) (Antonovsky, 1987). As such, the primary focus of this research was on how SOC and coping strategies were utilised by trainee therapists as process variables in predicting the positive (CS) and negative (CF) avenues of therapeutic work over a six month period of psychotherapy training. Findings suggested that, at the beginning of training, sense of coherence was directly associated with the core outcome variables (CS and CF (as measured by STS and BT). When trainee therapists started seeing clients two months later, the effect of SOC was mediated by coping. At the end of training, only coping was directly associated with outcome variables as the effect of SOC on CS and CF disappeared. These implications are further discussed in the research.

Esse trabalho pretende lidar com aspectos da relação entre a obra do escritor Franz Kafka (1883-1924) e a história. Parto da hipótese de que essa relação complexa é melhor observada a partir da exposição de deficiências históricas na elaboração de sentido do que a partir da exposição objetiva de processos sociais. Essa exposição da deficiência de sentido constitui uma literatura peculiar na qual convivem impossibilidade e narração, sem prejuízo, no entanto, da configuração de uma modalidade específica de realismo, atestada pela coexistência singularmente harmoniosa de situações transfiguradas e cotidiano. As articulações desenvolvidas concentram-se mais detalhadamente nas narrativas presentes no volume Um Médico Rural (Ein Landarzt). / This article aims to review some aspects of the relationship between the work of the writer Franz Kafka (1883-1924) and history. It draws on the idea that this complex relationship can be better understood by examining the construction of sense and its historical deficiencies, rather than through an objective description of social processes. The unique form of literature that results from the expression of these deficiencies combines impossibility and narrative, but that does not hinder the configuration of a specific modality of realism, characterized by the peculiarly harmonious coexistence of transfigured situations and everyday life. The arguments presented here focus mainly on the narrative of A Country Doctor (Ein Landarzt).

O Brasil enfrenta uma aceleração do processo de globalização, que representa um grande desafio, principalmente para países em desenvolvimento. Este desafio requer não apenas uma adaptação das empresas brasileiras, mas também uma resposta política comprometedora. Para buscar posição competitiva na economia mundial é necessário que exista uma integração entre o investimento público, competitividade da indústria e bem-estar social. Nos países desenvolvidos, a política industrial, os bancos de desenvolvimento e os agentes públicos atuam de maneira sintonizada e canalizam seus esforços para setores estratégicos, como infra-estrutura, P&D e atividades inovadoras, buscando aumentar a produtividade e competitividade de suas indústrias. A partir desse contexto, o objetivo do presente trabalho é analisar o impacto da atuação do Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (BNDES), no que diz respeito aos financiamentos de grande porte, no período de 2002 e 2003, enquanto agente de desenvolvimento, modernização e estimulador da competitividade da indústria brasileira. Compreende-se importância neste trabalho por permitir analisar a posição do BNDES no desenvolvimento e crescimento da indústria nacional, além de iniciar a construção de um processo de avaliação de sua atuação. Isso poderá contribuir no sentido de aprimorar operações em curso e futuras, em função das experiências passadas, além de permitir correção de rumos e garantir transparências às ações do Banco, no que diz respeito à sua contribuição com as políticas nacionais. / Brazil has been facing acceleration in the globalization process, which represents a huge challenge, mainly for developing countries. This challenge requires not only an adaptation in the brazilian companies, but also an involved political attitude. In order to find a competitive position in the worldwide economy, integration among the public investments, industry sense of competition, and social well-being is necessary. In developed countries, the industrial politics, the developing banks, and the public agents work synchronically and aim their efforts towards strategic sectors, like infrastructure, development and reseach, and new activities, trying to increase productivity and competition of their industries. Based on this context the objective of this paper is to analyze the impact of the acting of Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (BNDES), concerning the large financing, in the years of 2002 and 2003, as a modernization and developing agent, and a stimulant of competition in the brazilian industry. This paper has importance because it starts an analysis of the position of BNDES in the development and increasing of the national industry, as well as the process of evaluation of its acting. This can contribute in the sense of improving ongoing and future operations, due to past experiences, as well as it allows correction in the directions, and guarantees transparency over the actions of BNDES, regarding its contribution for the national politics.

Thesis advisor: Marina Vasilyeva / The ability to mentally store and manipulate information, termed working memory (WM), is essential to mathematical performance. Yet, little research has investigated the mechanisms through which WM capacity is related to mathematical performance in children. Furthermore, the extent to which children utilize specific WM resources when executing mathematical tasks is poorly understood. Addressing these gaps, this research investigated the nature of relations between WM and children's mathematical performance. Participants were 56 second and 32 fourth grade students from public and private elementary schools. Students completed tasks measuring their visuospatial-WM and verbal-WM capacities, the strength of their spatial and symbolic representations of numerical magnitude, and arithmetic performance. Arithmetic strategies were also assessed. In a dual-task condition, children's WM resources were experimentally manipulated: children completed mathematical tasks while retaining visuospatial and verbal stimuli in memory. Results showed that the relation between visuospatial-WM capacity and arithmetic accuracy was mediated by children's spatial numeric representations and the frequency of using a decomposition strategy in solving arithmetic problems. Conversely, the relation between verbal-WM and arithmetic accuracy was mediated by the frequency of using retrieval strategies in solving arithmetic problems. Additionally, the extent to which specific WM resources were involved in children's math performance varied by math task and children's skill level. Verbal-WM resources appeared to be minimally involved in children's spatial numerical representations, but highly involved in symbolic numerical representations and arithmetic calculations. On all math tasks, visuospatial-WM resources were involved to a greater extent among highly skilled children than low-skill children. The results suggest that WM capacity might improve spatial numerical representations and lead children to use memory-based arithmetic strategies more frequently, resulting in better arithmetic performance. Regardless of WM capacity, children who heavily use visuospatial-WM resources are more successful in executing mathematical tasks than children who rely on these resources minimally. These findings contribute to our understanding of how WM can facilitate children's mathematical performance. Implications for identifying specific challenges in children's mathematical learning are discussed. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.

Thesis advisor: Rebecca Lowenhaupt / Thesis advisor: Lauri Johnson / This single case study examines how stakeholders of a local education agency (LEA) understand and implement state turnaround policy for its chronically underperforming schools. While there is ample research on how to improve chronically underperforming schools, a research gap exists specifically around addressing implementation of mandated turnaround policy. This qualitative study uses the theory frame of policy sense-making to identify how implementers come to understand turnaround policy and to explore how that sense-making impacts their implementation decisions. This study seeks to understand the role of central office in turnaround policy sense-making by collecting data on superintendent and central office administrator sense-making and its impact on policy implementation. While recent research on school improvement has focused on school improvement actions and responsibilities of principals and teachers, this study seeks to address the research gap of the essential role of school district offices in school turnaround. In seeking to understand how district leaders make sense of turnaround policy implementation to support school turnaround, the findings revealed that the superintendent and central office administrators identified strong superintendent leadership, monitoring and supporting schools, strategic distribution of resources, and management of human capital as key implementer actions and areas of influence. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Thesis advisor: George O'Har / In these three longer short stories I explore the theme of "sense of place," of the geographic and psychological confusion of the world and the people in and on it. The first piece, "Cartography," is the story of a woman who, despite living in a large and vibrant city, struggles to find herself within it. The second piece, "The Birds," is the story of a man, Adam, who searches to define himself against the earth and attempts to reject his own embodiment, ultimately failing, but in doing so finds something else. The third piece, "Men Shall Know Nothing of This" (also the title of a Max Ernst painting) is a brief history of a city — and how it continues even when it appears to be dying — past its industrial prime, told through the interactions of four characters with the main road. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2005. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: English. / Discipline: College Honors Program.