This research study examined whether there is a relationship between teacher preparation and instructional practice. The dataset for this study was the1999-2000 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS). Specifically, variables created in SASS from the information provided by the Public School Teacher Questionnaire were utilized. The teacher population sample for this research study was derived from these data and then separated into two groups (alternatively and traditionally-certified teachers) based on certification variables within the dataset. The study conducted was a correlational study with instructional practices variables extracted from the dataset. Using Chi Square Goodness of Fit statistical tests, the data were analyzed to determine if teacher preparation influences instructional practice. Therefore, the research questions for this research study were: 1. Is there a statistically significant relationship between whether teachers are alternativelycertified or traditionally-certified and the extent to which they use state or district standards to guide instructional practice in their main teaching assignment? 2. Is there a statistically significant relationship between whether teachers are alternativelycertified or traditionally-certified and whether they use groupings of students in their classroom to teach students who learn at different rates? 3. Is there a statistically significant relationship between whether teachers are alternativelycertified or traditionally-certified and the extent to which they use the information from state or local achievement tests to group students into different instructional groups by achievement or ability? ii 4. Is there a statistically significant relationship between whether teachers are alternativelycertified or traditionally-certified and the extent to which they use the information from state or local achievement tests to assess areas where they need to strengthen their content knowledge or teaching practice? 5. Is there a statistically significant relationship between whether teachers are alternativelycertified or traditionally-certified and the extent to which they use the information from state or local achievement tests to adjust their curriculum in areas where their students encountered problems? Overall, while there were statistically significant relationships between certification type and various instructional practices, the effect sizes were very small (ranging from -.005 to .036). This suggests that the statistical significance may be an artifact of the large sample size and that there may be little practical significance. Therefore, a relationship was not found between the type of teacher preparation program and instructional practice.

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Under det senaste decenniet har många, om inte samtliga certifieringssystem för byggnader varit utformade för att kunna certifiera utifrån en miljö- och hållbarhetsaspekt. Syftet med denna studie är därvid att undersöka i vilken utsträckning miljöcertifieringar tar hänsyn till smarta tekniker i byggnader och om det finns plats för ett nytt certifieringssystem för smarta byggnader. Studien jämförde tidigare forskning rörande smarta byggnader och gröna byggnader med fyra existerande certifieringssystem. Därtill genomfördes en intervju för att undersöka det potentiella behovet av certifieringssystem för smarta byggnader. Studien påvisade att det i dagsläget är möjligt att certifiera smarta byggnader men då ur en miljöaspekt vilket leder till att information om byggnadens digitala funktioner och komponenter inte nådde ut till marknaden. Därtill framkom det genom studien att utmaningen med ett certifieringssystem för smarta byggnader är att hitta lämpliga mätområden som ligger till grund för certifieringen samt hur implementeringen av ett sådant system skulle gå till. / During the last decade, many if not all building certification systems have been formed for the certification of environmental aspects only. The purpose of this study was therefore to examine to what extent environmental certifications take smart solutions into consideration and to see if there was room for a new certification system for smart buildings. Furthermore, the possible need for another certification system for smart buildings was evaluated. The study compared previous research in smart buildings and green buildings in relation with four existing certification systems. An interview was conducted to investigate the possible need for a certification system for smart buildings. The study found that it is possible to certify smart buildings today but primarily in an environmental aspect which leads to a loss of information about the buildings that never reach the market. Additionally, the study concluded that the challenge in smart certifications is to find appropriate measurements and how the implementation itself should be conducted.

Cette thèse s’attache à définir la certification équitable depuis une perspective juridique. Tant l’analyse de sa dimension formelle que matérielle permettent de conclure qu’elle est caractérisée par un dualisme face au droit étatique. Elle entretient à la fois une relation d’autonomie et d’hétéronomie à l’égard des ordres juridiques étatiques. Sur le plan formel, le caractère autonome du régime équitable est révélé par l’existence d’un ordre juridique distinct des ordres étatiques. En effet, les institutions du régime équitable jouent le rôle de tiers neutre et désintéressé remplissant des fonctions législatives, exécutives et judiciaires à l’égard des parties constituantes que sont les producteurs du Sud et les acheteurs du Nord. Le rapport d’hétéronomie se manifeste par l’intervention d’éléments provenant d’ordres juridiques étatiques au sein du régime. D’une part, les relations entre les producteurs et le certificateur sont soumises au droit allemand par le biais des contrats de certification et de licence. D’autre part, les relations salarié/employeur et acheteur/vendeur, centrales dans le commerce équitable, font intervenir le droit de la consommation des pays consommateurs et le droit du travail des pays producteurs. L’intervention d’éléments relevant d’autres ordres juridiques contribue à sécuriser et à bonifier le régime équitable. Sur le plan matériel, l’autonomie du régime se traduit par des dispositions inédites. Bien qu’originales par rapport aux normes d’origine étatique, l’analyse de ces normes montre qu’elles ne se placent cependant pas en situation de concurrence face à celles-ci. Elles interviennent plutôt comme complément dans des sphères où il s’avère difficile pour les normes d’origine étatique d’intervenir, principalement en raison des limites intrinsèques du droit national et international. Les standards de la certification équitable ne comportent cependant pas que des normes inédites. Plusieurs reprennent textuellement des dispositions d’instruments juridiques internationaux et nationaux d’origine étatique, alors que d’autres les traduisent dans un langage plus accessible et adapté au contexte de leurs destinataires. Dans ces deux cas, il s’agit de réitérer le droit en vigueur plutôt que de s’y opposer. Son principal attrait réside dans le fait qu’elle ne se limite pas à le répéter mais à faciliter sa connaissance et sa mise en œuvre par des mesures concrètes.

Palm oil is a growing market, and environmental and social concerns have led to a global demand of sustainable palm oil. In this study I investigate the certification process of the Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) from the experiences of independent smallholders. I perform interviews and observations in two independent smallholder associations in the Riau province in Indonesia who are in the end of the RSPO certification process. What I find is that most smallholders have extrinsic motivators (an increase in price) for wanting to join the certi fication, but that a few smallholders express intrinsic motivators as well (a care for the environment). I find that the certification process is creating a lot of changes to the agricultural practices of the smallholders, mainly regarding harvest, fertilisation, pesticide usage, and pruning. The challenges that the independent smallholders experience mainly regard their knowledge, level of organisation, institutional support, fertilisation, and documentation. I find that many of the smallholders use traditional knowledge while the RSPO is an organisation that mainly use modern knowledge, and I claim that some of the dif ficulties that independent smallholders experience when certifying derives from this collision of knowledge systems. Lastly, I claim that the organisation is an expression of modernity and risk society, and that the rise of voluntary sustainability certi fications the last decade can be seen as a response to the modern risk of climate change.

Published Article / Quality Assurance has changed drastically in the last five years and these changes have impacted heavily on the operation of Higher Education Institutions in South Africa. The paper will review the process of quality assurance from as early as Certification of Council of Technikons Education (SERTEC) and Quality Promotion Unit (QPU) days. SERTEC and QPU did, pave the way for the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) to perform its roles as assigned by the Council of Higher Education (CHE).

Le monde agricole québécois a actuellement la volonté de mettre en place une filière biomasse pour la production de chaleur à la ferme. Toutefois, la législation sur la qualité de l’air du Québec ne permet pas de valoriser aisément des cultures énergétiques à cette fin. Dans la littérature, le manque de facteurs d’émission en lien avec la combustion de biomasses lignocellulosiques limite l’actualisation du règlement, plutôt contraignant dans le moment, pour répondre aux besoins du milieu. Par ailleurs, la variabilité des propriétés physico-chimiques des plantes agricoles rend le dossier encore plus complexe. Le présent projet visait donc à quantifier l’influence des caractéristiques (espèce, composition chimique, date de récolte, forme, etc.) des cultures dédiées ayant le meilleur potentiel de développement au Québec sur les émissions atmosphériques (particules et gaz) lors de la combustion à la ferme. Une revue critique de la littérature a d’abord ciblé, en plus du bois (référence), quatre biomasses agricoles d’intérêt : le saule à croissance rapide, le panic érigé, le miscanthus et l’alpiste roseau. Ces cultures pérennes ont ensuite été acquises de divers producteurs selon la forme du produit (copeaux, granules ou vrac) et sa date de récolte (automne ou printemps). Au total, 12 différentes biomasses ont été brûlées dans une chaudière multi-combustible de 29 kW au Laboratoire sur les énergies en agriculture durable (LEAD) de l’Institut de recherche et de développement en agroenvironnement (IRDA). Au cours de 36 essais expérimentaux (3 répétitions), les paramètres d’opération (masse du combustible, températures de la chambre, de l’effluent gazeux et de l’eau de l’échangeur de chaleur, débits des gaz et du fluide caloporteur, etc.) et les concentrations de 11 gaz (CO, CO[indice inférieur 2], CH[indice inférieur 4], N[indice inférieur 2]O, NO, NO[indice inférieur 2], NH[indice inférieur 3], SO[indice inférieur 2], HCl, H[indice inférieur 2]O et O[indice inférieur 2]) ont été mesurés en continu. Les matières particulaires ont aussi été échantillonnées pour chaque test de combustion à l’aide de la Méthode 5 de l’United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). Au final, aucune des biomasses n’a respecté les valeurs limites de particules décrites par la règlementation environnementale québécoise avec le système de combustion utilisé. Des contraintes technologiques et la vaste gamme de biomasses sélectionnées ont compliqué l’ajustement des conditions optimales d’opération pour chaque combustible. Néanmoins, plusieurs tendances ont été soulevées. Le bois, étant donné ses faibles teneurs en éléments inorganiques, a produit moins de polluants que les plantes à vocation énergétique. Dans leur cas, leurs émissions particulaires et gazeuses ont généralement été proportionnelles à leurs contenus en azote, en soufre, en chlore, en métaux alcalins et en cendres. C’est ce qui explique que le lessivage causé par la fonte des neiges et subi par une culture récoltée au printemps ait entraîné une diminution importante des rejets atmosphériques. De plus, la granulation, qui permet en densifiant et en homogénéisant le produit de mieux contrôler le procédé, a engendré une baisse des composés issus d’une combustion incomplète. L’analyse de l’impact des propriétés physico-chimiques des cultures sur les émissions lors de la combustion a mené à l’établissement d’un cadre potentiel de certification de la qualité de la biomasse agricole. Un modèle de prédiction de la composition des gaz, basé sur la notion d’équilibre thermodynamique et la minimisation de l’énergie libre de Gibbs, a également été développé pour estimer rapidement les rejets de combustion de toute biomasse et ainsi faciliter son classement à l’intérieur du cadre proposé.

In this thesis a method for verification, validation and uncertainty quantification (VV&UQ) has been tested and evaluated on a fuel transfer application in the fuel rig currently used at Saab. A simplified model has been developed for the limited part of the fuel system in the rig that is affected in the transfer, and VV&UQ has been performed on this model. The scope for the thesis has been to investigate if and how simulation models can be used for certification of the fuel system in a fighter aircraft. The VV&UQ-analysis was performed with the limitation that no probability distributions for uncertainties were considered. Instead, all uncertainties were described using intervals (so called epistemic uncertainties). Simulations were performed on five different operating points in terms of fuel flow to the engine with five different initial conditions for each, resulting in 25 different operating modes. For each of the 25 cases, the VV&UQ resulted in a minimum and maximum limit for how much fuel that could be transferred. 6 cases were chosen for validation measurements and the resulting amount of fuel transferred ended up between the corresponding epistemic intervals. Performing VV&UQ is a time demanding and computationally heavy task, which quickly grows as the model becomes more complex. Our conclusion is that a pilot study is necessary, where time and costs are evaluated, before choosing to use a simulation model and perform VV&UQ for certification. Further investigation of different methods for increasing confidence in simulation models is also needed, for which VV&UQ is one suitable option.

Technological innovation in mobile devices has upgraded the potential uses of the devices for living and learning. Mobile learning provides opportunities for mobile users to learn at any time in any location. A certification that confirms computing and Internet technology skills and knowledge provides more opportunities to students in higher education for their future careers. Students can attend a training course to better prepare for a certification exam. However, most students spend their time preparing for and reviewing their regular courses and have less time for the training course. The problems of time limitation and space restriction cause students' insufficient learning toward the preparation for the certification exams. Mobile learning may augment the face-to-face training course to solve these problems. The purpose of this study was to investigate undergraduate students' perceptions and the effectiveness of instruction using mobile devices to prepare for a standard certification exam in a blended certification-training course. Participants were randomly assigned to two groups: the experimental group received the treatment and the control group was treated as usual in a face-to-face class. Using a mixed-method research design, a pretest and a posttest collected data from all the participants and a survey and interviews gathered information from the students of the experimental group. The results showed a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in the posttest scores. In the pretest, the experimental and control groups did not differ significantly, which means that they were at the same level before the intervention. Then in the posttest, the experimental and control groups were significantly different, meaning that the treatment was instrumental in the difference. Further, the results revealed that learning via mobile devices provided the students more learning opportunities and improved interaction with other students; though using short message service for learning had positive effectiveness, multimedia messaging service may supplement it to demonstrate manipulation. Suggestions of experts familiar with the field and review of literature can assist development of using short message service messages for preparation of various certification examinations. Using mobile learning in an institute with integrated planning may decrease cost by sharing of resources.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Although business analysis has been around for a number of years, it is still seen as an emerging field. There are various efforts underway to formalise the business analysis practice. For example, the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA®) is widely accepted as setting the standards for the business analysis practice as well as raising the profile of the role. The IIBA first published their Business Analysis Body of Knowledge guide (BABOK®) in 2006 and extensively revised it in 2009. The IIBA offer two certifications based on this guide. Besides the IIBA certifications, there are also other business analysis and requirements engineering certifications available to South Africans. However, these are not all that well known locally and collectively the number of certified business analysts is very low. The success rate of software projects to date has been relatively poor to say the least. Business analysis is a critical component to the success of software development. One would expect that business analysts would welcome the opportunity to be certified in their profession and contribute to increasing the overall project success rate. However, in South Africa the low number of IIBA certified business analysts suggests otherwise. There also appears to be very little pressure or even encouragement from employers of business analysts to pursue certification. Besides improving software project success, there is growing opinion and literature asserting the view that business analysts will be playing an ever-increasing strategic role from what should be a professional function. To enable this strategic role, business analysts are required to have the necessary experience, skill and ideally certification. This research report sought to uncover the reasons behind so few business analysts taking up certification. Over and above the reasons for the low uptake, this research report also aimed to assess the business analyst’s and the employer’s attitude towards certification and the business analysis profession. Collectively this led to a high-level assessment of the maturity of business analysis from a practitioner’s point of view. As part of this research report, a survey was conducted amongst practicing business analysts across industries within South Africa. Additional research was undertaken with a select number of senior leaders and executives in business to understand the organisational view of business analysis certification.