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[pt] O precedente determina que decisão em caso anterior deve ser repetida em um caso atual porque ambos os casos são similares. Trata-se de argumento independente do conteúdo: a anterioridade de decisão em caso similar é importante, e não a qualidade. O precedente implica a valorização de se decidir, preferível, pelo que se supõe com o argumento, que se decidir corretamente ou conforme as melhores consequências. Se os casos são similares, devem receber o mesmo tratamento – ótimo ou subótimo. Mas quando casos são similares? Num sentido possível, casos são similares quando se pode garantir justificação interna num silogismo em que a prescrição extraída da decisão anterior é premissa maior, os fatos do caso atual são premissa menor e a conclusão é o resultado determinado no precedente. O precedente é uma regra. Noutro sentido possível, casos são similares quando se mapeiam categorias fáticas relevantes de ambos e conclui-se que são análogas. O precedente configura analogia. Uma teoria assegura a vinculação do juiz ao precedente, mas não acomoda a prática do distinguishing; a outra se ajusta ao distinguishing, mas não oferece vinculação – trata-se de um problema de alocação entre estabilidade e flexibilidade. Essas possibilidades teóricas ensejam questões empíricas: existe um conceito ordinário, dedutivo ou analógico, para precedentes? Se o precedente é uma regra, a sua extração de decisão anterior é enviesada pela escolha de seu grau de generalidade? Se o precedente corresponde à analogia, há manipulação da relevância dos fatos do caso precedente para que se atinja um resultado desejável no caso atual? / [en] The precedent establishes that a prior decision in a past case must be repeated in a current case because both cases are similar. It is a content-independent argument: the anteriority of the decision in a similar case is important, not its quality. The precedent implicates the value of deciding, which is more desirable, for what it is assumed with the argument, than deciding correctly or according to the best consequences. If cases are similar, they must receive the same treatment – optimal or suboptimal. But when are cases similar? In one plausible account, cases are similar when there is internal justification in a syllogism in which the prescription from the past decision is the major premise; the facts of the current case are the minor premise and the conclusion is the result established in the precedent. Thus the precedent is a rule. In another possible account, cases are similar when relevant factual categories are mapped in both cases and it is possible to conclude that they are analogous. The precedent is an analogy. One account assures precedential constraint, but cannot adjust to distinguishing; the other can make room for distinguishing, but cannot offer precedential constraint. – that is a problem of allocating between stability and flexibility. The theoretical possibilities gives rise to empirical questions: is there an ordinary concept, deductive or analogical, of precedents? If the precedent is a rule, its extraction from the prior decision is manipulated by choosing different generality levels? If the precedent is an analogy, are there biases on the determination of relevance to the facts of a precedent case in order to get a desirable result in the current case?

Through a direct application of two cognitive science theories, conceptual metaphor (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980, 1999) and structure mapping (Gentner, 1983, 1989; Gentner & Markman, 1995), this project defined an instructional design model for the design, development, and assessment of metaphor-enhanced, computer-mediated learning environments. It used the model to produce an instructional product with a metaphor-based interface. The project also built a parallel learning environment that employed a concept map interface. To test the metaphor-based product's effectiveness at enabling learners to build rich mental models of a complex, abstract concept, the project ran fifty-seven preservice teachers (55 female, 2 male; mean age of 21) through the instruction, randomly assigning half to the concept map interface environment and half to the metaphor-based interface environment. Participants completed four essay-type assessment questions. Trained raters, blind to participant assignment, isolated any of the 13 targeted concepts present within participants' protocols and, through consensus, constructed a concept map for each participant, representing that participant's mental model of the targeted domain. Map attributes were translated into four weighted subscores (nodes, branches, levels, and cross-links) and summed. Comparison across the two groups indicated no significant difference for richness of mental model, t(55)=-.72, p > .05, although the discussion suggests methods for increasing the power in subsequent experimental sessions. A significant interaction between Subscore and Achievement, F(3,51)=33.42, p < .01, suggests that concept map cross-links are much more sensitive to differences in domain integration and the general richness of a participant's mental model than the level and branch subscores. This result has implications for classroom application. Concept maps have taken a place as a learner's, a teacher's, and a researcher's tool. With cross-domain validation and domain-specific extensions, specification of the relative sensitivity of various subscales, that is, the structure of the concept map, will enable educators to justify weighting scales and identify learner achievement. Credible concept map weighting scales also enhance learners' self-reliant and impartial assessment of personal growth in domain-specific knowledge. Results suggest that learners who have difficulty integrating domain concepts require direct, explicit instruction to help them to make connections between disparate conceptual strands. / Ph. D.

This thesis attempts to establish a first design philosophy by proposing nature and architecture as mutually interactive conceits within the scope of the design process. Positing that our conceptions of "green" design are rightfully influenced by the various and often highly metaphorical social constructions of nature that precede them, an architecural exercise is then explored as a similarly constructed response. After assembling a definition of nature based in part on the climate, terrain and traditional building practices of rural western North Carolina, a house is then posed for its site on the border of the Pisgah National Forest. / Master of Architecture

The mechanics of a woven wire mesh material are investigated to characterize the elasto--plastic behavior of this class of materials under tensile conditions. The study focuses on a representative 316L stainless steel (3161 SS) 325x2300 twill-dutch woven wire mesh typically used as a fine filtration media in applications such as water reclamation, air filtration, and as a key component in swab wands used in conjunction with explosive trace detection (Em) equipment. Mechanical experiments and a 3-D finite element model (FEM) are employed to study the macro-scale and meso-scale mechanical behavior of the woven wire mesh under uniaxial tensile conditions. A parametric study of the orientation dependence of the mechanical response of this material ~ been carried out, relating material properties such as elastic modulus, yield strength, etc. to material orientation. Ratcheting type tensile tests are also performed in a similar orientation study, and an elementary damage model is presented for the woven wire mesh based on continuum damage mechanics (CDM). The meso-scale behavior of the wire mesh is studied via the finite element method, and observations are made relating wire scale conditions to macro-scale material behavior.