Thesis--University of Maryland. / Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 408-414).

Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio State University, 1967. / Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

The purpose of the study is to identify and quantify the hydrologic and ecologic differences between two adjacent sections of Colt Creek; one section unaltered and one section altered by clearing and drainage. These differences were measured by monitoring water levels, groundcover vegetation in each of the two areas, and monitoring numbers and species of birds utilizing the two areas. Surface water levels were measured in three locations: in the historic Colt Creek flow way, in the ditch draining the creek, and in an adjacent wetland strand. In addition, a shallow monitor well in the creek was used to measure groundwater levels when the creek was dry. The intent of avian monitoring was to use birds as a relatively easily observable surrogate for wildlife habitat utilization in general. Groundcover vegetation species and approximate percent cover data were recorded at several locations in both wetlands. Data collection occurred from January 2010 to January 2011. The results indicate that the hydrology, vegetation, and avian utilization of the two adjacent areas were substantially different. Specifically, the hydroperiod during the monitoring period was seven weeks shorter in duration in the downstream area than in the upstream unaltered area. In addition, the presence of flowing water, i.e., stream flow, through the downstream area was approximately 18 weeks less than the upstream area. Vegetation species composition, diversity, and percent cover also differed in the two areas. A total of 39 groundcover species were identified in the two sites. Seven (7) additional plants were identified to genus. Twenty one species (74.9 %) of all plants identified were common to both areas. Sixteen species (41.0 %) were found only in the unaltered site and 10 species (25.6 %) were found only in the altered site. Species richness was greater in the unaltered site while percent cover was less, i.e., more bare ground / plant litter. Relative percent cover by wetland species in the unaltered site was 11.8 percent greater than in the altered site. Finally, avian utilization was greater in the altered area, as 484 individual birds and 27 species were identified in the altered site compared to 138 individual birds and 13 different species identified in the unaltered area.

While historians often point to the rise of the United States as a major global player and technological leader on the world stage in the 1890s and early 1900s, this study argues it was the 1850s, not the 1890s, that this transition occurred. It utilizes transnational methodologies to analyze European perceptions of the United States, American international businessmen, and new ways Americans thought and talked about their place in the world. During the 1850s, European travelers to the United States began to recognize the young nation was taking the lead in technological innovation, while American businessmen like Samuel Colt began to take mass-produced goods to Europe and the world. American politicians, infrastructure boosters, and the commercial press worked to reimagine the place of the United States in the world, not as peripheral to Europe but rather at the center of a global commercial system. These trends would only be amplified as the nineteenth century wore on, until Europeans like the British journalist William Stead announced the “Americanization of the world” in the early 1900s. This study analyzes the origins of this process in the United States of the 1850s.

The two main purposes of this study were to create a systematic observation instrument in order to obtain clearer and more specific feedback from junior high school teachers about student teachers' teaching performances during their practicum, and to provide a way for junior college, university teachers, student teachers, and practicum supervisors to observe student teachers' teaching and then to communicate their observations more effectively with one another. The participants were 57 student teachers, 19 college teachers, and 28 junior high school teachers. Four instruments were used: a written consent form, a questionnaire about 15 teaching skills (The Teaching Skill Questionnaire), a 60-minute videotape with a checklist (The Japanese COLT), and a 42-item questionnaire (The Student Teachers' Videotaped Instruction). The study produced four major findings. First, by using the Japanese COLT (Communicative Orientation of Language Teaching Observation scheme), the three groups of raters (student teachers, college teachers, practicum supervisor) identified four specific problems with individual student teacher's teaching. They (a) explained new sentence patterns without interacting with the students, (b) asked fewer questions than expected, (c) had the students practice reading for a shorter time than expected, and (d) provided few opportunities for the students to speak in Japanese or English, and spoke Japanese more than necessary. The second finding was that the student teachers differed from the older teacher groups in their views of specific teaching skills because of their limited teaching experience and lower English proficiency. The third finding was that the three groups of raters perceived the student teachers' teaching on the videotape similarly. The fourth finding indicated that there was no statistically significant difference in the three groups' views of the teaching techniques used by the student teachers; however, a statistically significant difference was found for the three groups' evaluations of the student teachers' teaching. The Japanese COLT was a useful instrument for assessing the student teachers' classroom performances, as it provided more specific feedback to the student teachers, and allowed the three groups to share their viewpoints more effectively. / CITE/Language Arts

No description available.

Software radio is a radio that is substantially defined in software and whose physical layer behavior can be significantly altered through changes to its software. As a primary goal of software radio is the ability to support existing and future wireless protocols, software radio necessitates the use of a rapidly reprogrammable baseband processing solution. However third generation wireless protocols represent a significant increase in complexity over second generation protocols. Due to the natural performance sacrifices that must be made when moving an application from an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) to a general purpose processor or a digital signal processor, it is feared that reprogrammable processing solutions may not suffice for the emerging wireless protocols, which would significantly hinder the realization of software radio, particularly in the handheld domain where power consumption and chip area are critical. Recently, the Configurable Computing Lab at Virginia Tech developed a new breed of reprogrammable processor which they called "custom computing machine" (CCM). Representing a dramatic departure from traditional architectures used for baseband processing solutions, CCMs utilize a large number of optimized and programmable processing cores connected through a programmable mesh. Due to this architectural approach, CCMs have been promoted as supplying a level of processing power and power efficiency similar to ASICs while providing a level of reconfigurability similar to that of a DSP. Subsequently, Dr. Srikathyayani Srikanteswara proposed a new software radio architecture, known as the Layered Radio Architecture, which is intended to facilitate the inclusion of CCMs into a software radio. The primary goal of the research presented in this thesis is to demonstrate how a particular CCM, Stallion, can be used within the Layered Radio Architecture to provide sufficient processing performance, power efficiency, and reconfigurability to meet the constraints of the handheld domain through implementations of a single user adaptive receiver with adaptive complex filtering and a W-CDMA downlink rake receiver. These metrics are measured from a detailed simulation of Stallion and the Configuration Layer of the Layered Radio Architecture using advanced object oriented programming techniques that facilitate the inclusion of statistics gathering routines into normal operation. To provide perspective, these statistics are compared to the performance that could be expected from an implementation on a top-of-the-line DSP. / Master of Science

Research on self-efficacy has been a productive field and abundant research has shown that teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs influence teachers’ actions and performances and thus affect students’ learning outcomes. However, there is a lack of literature on EFL teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs and even less research was set in Chinese EFL contexts. On the one hand, this study was conducted to provide a general picture of the current status of EFL teachers’ perceived English proficiency, self-rated self-efficacy beliefs and self-reported teaching practices in terms of some demographic perspectives; On the other hand, it aimed to explore the correlations among Chinese primary EFL teachers’ perceived English proficiency, self-efficacy beliefs and teaching practices. The quantitative study surveyed 217 in-service primary EFL teachers. The descriptive results showed that: (1) EFL teachers varied in perceived English proficiency in terms of age, years of teaching experience and college major; (2) age and teaching experience did while college major didn’t make a difference for EFL teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs; (3) the surveyed EFL teachers, in general, had a greater preference to communication-oriented language teaching (COLT) than form-oriented language teaching (FOLT). The results from the correlational statistics showed that: (1) perceived English proficiency (PEP), on the whole, had a significant predictive effect on self-efficacy beliefs (SEB). It was striking that among the four skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) of English language, speaking had the most significant predictive effect on self-efficacy beliefs; (2) EFL teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs (SEB) had a predictive effect on COLT practices whereas not on FOLT practices; (3) The mediation model of showing the causal impacts of PEP (through SEB) on COLT was tested. i.e. Chinese primary EFL teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs played a complete mediating role between perceived English proficiency and communication-oriented language teaching. The findings of the present study added on the compelling evidence that self-efficacy beliefs matter in the realm of primary EFL teaching in China. In light of these findings, implications were generated to primary EFL teacher education and in-service EFL teacher training programs, such as courses related to improving English proficiency, especially speaking skills, should be offered for non-English major EFL teachers; training courses related to improving self-efficacy beliefs, especially on classroom management strategies, and the recommended communicative-oriented language teaching practices should be offered to pre-service and inexperienced in-service EFL teachers.

Recently it has been noticed that there is a marked decline in the culture of teaching and learning (COLT) in sortie of the schools in the KwaZulu Natal province. An investigation was undertaken to check whether the instructional leadership of school principals was a contributory factor to this decline. A literature study and an empirical investigation was done to identify if any relationship existed between the instructional leadership ofthe principal and COLT in schools. From the findings it became apparent that such a relationship did exist. Schools where principals neglected such instructional leadership roles were more susceptible to perpetuate the erosion of the culture of teaching and learning (COLT), whereas principals who do fulfil their instructional tasks tend to alleviate the erosion of COLT. The educational implications of the findings are discussed and guidelines are provided to assist school principals in attaining their roles as effective instructional leaders. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Educational Management)

Recently it has been noticed that there is a marked decline in the culture of teaching and learning (COLT) in sortie of the schools in the KwaZulu Natal province. An investigation was undertaken to check whether the instructional leadership of school principals was a contributory factor to this decline. A literature study and an empirical investigation was done to identify if any relationship existed between the instructional leadership ofthe principal and COLT in schools. From the findings it became apparent that such a relationship did exist. Schools where principals neglected such instructional leadership roles were more susceptible to perpetuate the erosion of the culture of teaching and learning (COLT), whereas principals who do fulfil their instructional tasks tend to alleviate the erosion of COLT. The educational implications of the findings are discussed and guidelines are provided to assist school principals in attaining their roles as effective instructional leaders. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Educational Management)