This dissertation proposes two modified cognitive diagnostic models (CDMs), the deterministic, inputs, noisy, "and" gate with hierarchy (DINA-H) model and the deterministic, inputs, noisy, "or" gate with hierarchy (DINO-H) model. Both models incorporate the hierarchical structures of the cognitive skills in the model estimation process, and can be used for situations where the attributes are ordered hierarchically. The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003 data are analyzed to illustrate the proposed approaches. The simulation study evaluates the effectiveness of the proposed approaches under various conditions (e.g., various numbers of attributes, test lengths, sample sizes, and hierarchical structures). The simulation study attempts to address the model fits, items fit, and accuracy of item parameter recovery when the skills are in a specified hierarchy and varying estimation models are applied. The simulation analysis examines and compares the impacts of the misspecification of a skill hierarchy on various estimation models under their varying assumptions of dependent or independent attributes. The study is unique in incorporating a skill hierarchy with the conventional DINA and DINO models. It also reduces the number of possible latent classes and decreases the sample size requirements. The study suggests that the DINA-H/ DINO-H models, instead of the conventional DINA/ DINO models, should be considered when skills are hierarchically ordered. Its results demonstrate the proposed approaches to analyzing the hierarchically structured CDMs, illustrate the usage in applying cognitive diagnosis models to a large-scale assessment, and provide researchers and test users with practical guidelines.

This thesis seeks to investigate the erotic components of three Central American writers, Ana Istarú, Dina Posada and Jacinta Escudos from a postmodernist feminist perspective. The purpose of this thesis is to understand the importance and the development of the topic within the confines of the work of each of the three writers.<p> The first chapter defines eroticism from a feminist perspective. After, this chapter differentiates between eroticism written by women and that written by men. In order to better understand eroticism we look at how relationships between men and women are changing, not only because of the impetus of women, but also that of men. The theories of Anais Nin and Helene Cixous are presented and these discuss the importance of eroticism in literature written by women. Finally, the textual analysis, as proposed by López Casanova, is laid out for use.<p> Chapters two, three and four examine the work of each of the authors. In the first section of each chapter a textual analysis is done of selected poems and also of the narrative work. After, the topic of eroticism is discussed in the context of each of the works and then how this is linked to the feminist movement.<p> The thesis concludes with what these works of eroticism mean to the feminist movement, specifically in the Central American context, as well as a wider context. The contribution of each writer is recognized, even though it may be small and also that it may be difficult to connect the writing to specific, concrete changes in Central American society. This thesis seeks to prove that the primary outcome of these works is to see the hope and the possibilities that they may to lead us towards.<p> Resumen de tesis<p> Esta tesis investiga el aspecto erótico en las obras de tres escritoras centroamericanas, Ana Istarú, Dina Posada y Jacinta Escudos desde un enfoque posmodernista feminista. El propósito de la tesis es de ver la importancia del tema y el desarrollo del dicho tema en la obra de estas tres escritoras.<p> En el primer capítulo se define el erotismo desde una perspectiva feminista y después cómo se diferencia el que está escrito por una mujer con el que está escrito por un hombre. Para entender mejor el tema se ve cómo las relaciones íntimas entre los hombres y las mujeres han cambiado y qué tipo de cambios buscan tanto las mujeres como los hombres. En esta sección hay un análisis de las teorías de feministas importantes, Anais Nin y Helene Cixous. Ellas presentan un discurso sobre la importancia del aspecto erótico en la literatura de mujeres. Finalmente, como metodología, se emplea un análisis textual basado en la teoría de López Casanova.<p> Los capítulos dos, tres y cuatro examinan las obras de Ana Istarú, Dina Posada y Jacinta Escudos. La primera sección presenta un análisis textual de poemas seleccionados y de la obra de narrativa; después se habla de cada obra en el contexto del tema erótica y cómo esta tiene nexos con el movimiento feminista.<p> La tesis concluye con el significado del erotismo para el movimiento feminista en el contexto centroamericano específicamente, pero también en un contexto más amplio. Se reconoce la contribución de cada escritora a la lucha feminista por pequeña que sea, aunque generalmente es difícil poder atribuir hechos concretos en la sociedad centroamericana, pero con el propósito de ver la esperanza y la posibilidad que producen estas obras.

This thesis seeks to investigate the erotic components of three Central American writers, Ana Istarú, Dina Posada and Jacinta Escudos from a postmodernist feminist perspective. The purpose of this thesis is to understand the importance and the development of the topic within the confines of the work of each of the three writers.<p> The first chapter defines eroticism from a feminist perspective. After, this chapter differentiates between eroticism written by women and that written by men. In order to better understand eroticism we look at how relationships between men and women are changing, not only because of the impetus of women, but also that of men. The theories of Anais Nin and Helene Cixous are presented and these discuss the importance of eroticism in literature written by women. Finally, the textual analysis, as proposed by López Casanova, is laid out for use.<p> Chapters two, three and four examine the work of each of the authors. In the first section of each chapter a textual analysis is done of selected poems and also of the narrative work. After, the topic of eroticism is discussed in the context of each of the works and then how this is linked to the feminist movement.<p> The thesis concludes with what these works of eroticism mean to the feminist movement, specifically in the Central American context, as well as a wider context. The contribution of each writer is recognized, even though it may be small and also that it may be difficult to connect the writing to specific, concrete changes in Central American society. This thesis seeks to prove that the primary outcome of these works is to see the hope and the possibilities that they may to lead us towards.<p> Resumen de tesis<p> Esta tesis investiga el aspecto erótico en las obras de tres escritoras centroamericanas, Ana Istarú, Dina Posada y Jacinta Escudos desde un enfoque posmodernista feminista. El propósito de la tesis es de ver la importancia del tema y el desarrollo del dicho tema en la obra de estas tres escritoras.<p> En el primer capítulo se define el erotismo desde una perspectiva feminista y después cómo se diferencia el que está escrito por una mujer con el que está escrito por un hombre. Para entender mejor el tema se ve cómo las relaciones íntimas entre los hombres y las mujeres han cambiado y qué tipo de cambios buscan tanto las mujeres como los hombres. En esta sección hay un análisis de las teorías de feministas importantes, Anais Nin y Helene Cixous. Ellas presentan un discurso sobre la importancia del aspecto erótico en la literatura de mujeres. Finalmente, como metodología, se emplea un análisis textual basado en la teoría de López Casanova.<p> Los capítulos dos, tres y cuatro examinan las obras de Ana Istarú, Dina Posada y Jacinta Escudos. La primera sección presenta un análisis textual de poemas seleccionados y de la obra de narrativa; después se habla de cada obra en el contexto del tema erótica y cómo esta tiene nexos con el movimiento feminista.<p> La tesis concluye con el significado del erotismo para el movimiento feminista en el contexto centroamericano específicamente, pero también en un contexto más amplio. Se reconoce la contribución de cada escritora a la lucha feminista por pequeña que sea, aunque generalmente es difícil poder atribuir hechos concretos en la sociedad centroamericana, pero con el propósito de ver la esperanza y la posibilidad que producen estas obras.

Thesis (M.Ed. (Education)) - Rhodes University, 2009. / Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Education (Mathematics Education)

Student misconceptions in science are common and may be present even for students who are academically successful. Concept inventories, multiple-choice tests in which the distractors map onto common, previously identified misconceptions, are commonly used by researchers and educators to gauge the prevalence of student misconceptions in science. Distractor analysis of concept inventory responses could be used to create profiles of individual student misconceptions which could provide deeper insight into the phenomenon and provide useful information for instructional planning, but this is rarely done as the inventories are not designed to facilitate it. Researchers in educational measurement have suggested that diagnostic cognitive models (DCMs) could be used to diagnose misconceptions and to create such misconception profiles. DCMs are multidimensional, confirmatory latent class models which are designed to measure the mastery/presence of fine-grained skills/attributes. By replacing the skills/attributes in the model with common misconceptions, DCMs could be used to filter students into misconception profiles based on their responses to concept inventory-like questions. A few researchers have developed new DCMs that are specifically designed to do this and have retrofitted data from existing concept inventories to them. However, cognitive diagnostic assessments, which are likely to display better model fit with DCMs, have not been developed. This project developed a cognitive diagnostic assessment to measure knowledge and misconceptions about Newton's laws and fitted it with the deterministic input noisy-and-gate (DINA) model. Experienced physics instructors assessed content validity and Q-matrix alignment. A pilot test with 100 undergraduates was conducted to assess item quality within a classical test theory framework. The final version of the assessment was field tested with 349 undergraduates. Results showed that response data displayed acceptable fit to the DINA model at the item level, but more questionable fit at the overall model level; that responses to selected items were similar to those given to two items from the Force Concept Inventory; and that, although all students were likely to have misconceptions, those with lower knowledge scores were more likely to have misconceptions. / Doctor of Philosophy / Misconceptions about science are common even among well-educated adults. Misconceptions range from incorrect facts to personal explanations for natural phenomena that make intuitive sense but are incorrect. Frequently, they exist in people's minds alongside correct science knowledge. Because of this, misconceptions are often difficult to identify and to change. Students may be academically successful and still retain their misconceptions. Concept inventories, multiple-choice tests in which the incorrect answer choices appeal to students with common misconceptions, are frequently used by researchers and educators to gauge the prevalence of student misconceptions in science. Analysis of incorrect answer choices to concept inventory questions can be used to determine individual student's misconceptions, but it is rarely done because the inventories are not known to be valid measures for this purpose. One source of validity for tests is the statistical model that is used to calculate test scores. In valid tests, student's answers to the questions should follow similar patterns to those predicted by the model. For instance, students are likely to get questions about the same things either all correct or all incorrect. Researchers in educational measurement have proposed that certain types of innovative statistical models could be used to develop tests that identify student's misconceptions, but no one has done so. This project developed a test to measure knowledge and misconceptions about forces and assessed how well it predicted student's misconceptions compared to two statistical models. Results showed that the test predicted student's knowledge in good agreement and misconceptions in moderate agreement with the statistical models; that students tended to answer selected questions in the same way that they answered two similar questions from an existing test about forces; and that, although students with lower test scores were more likely to have misconceptions, students with high test scores also had misconceptions.

Esse trabalho analisa a formação de coleções etnográficas no periodo entre guerras a partir da documentação da Sociedade de Etnografia e Folclore e do anteprojeto de Mário de Andrade para o SPHAN, a primeira proposta de uma ação governamental na tentativa de identificação, coleta, registro e estudo desses aspectos para preservar manifestações da cultura popular brasileira. O período entre guerras é um momento importante para a constituição e estudo de coleções etnográficas no Brasil, por ser o momento da profissionalização e institucionalização das ciências sociais. Discutimos e o papel do Departamento de Cultura e a influência da presença francesa na formação de profissionais na área de etnografia brasileira, por meio do Curso de Etnografia ministrado por Dina Lévi-Strauss e oferecido pelo Departamento de Cultura dirigido por Mário de Andrade. / This work analyzes the formation of ethnographic collections created between the first and second World Wars. The starting points were the Sociedade de Etnografia e Folclore´s documentation and the Mario de Andrade project to SPHAN. The Mario de Andrade project is the first proposition for a governmental action that tried to preserve of the aspects of the so called Brazilian Popular Culture. The period between the first and second World Wars is a very important moment to the construction and study of ethnographic collections in Brazil, because it was the the moment when the social sciences were professionalized and institutionalized. We discuss the Department of Culture role and the influence of the french presence in the formation of professionals in the brazilian ethnography.

A presente pesquisa acompanha os diálogos e experiências comuns entre Mário de Andrade, Dina Dreyfus Lévi-Strauss e Claude Lévi-Strauss na cidade de São Paulo entre 1935 e 1938, quando Mário de Andrade era o diretor do Departamento de Cultura da Prefeitura de São Paulo, e Lévi-Strauss e Dreyfus vieram ao Brasil junto à Missão Francesa na Universidade de São Paulo, tendo como objetivo primeiro a realização de pesquisa de campo entre povos ameríndios. Acompanhando a sua interlocução e seus projetos comuns para um laboratório antropológico que se concretizará na Sociedade de Etnografia e Folclore (1937-1941), pretendo captar de um ponto de vista preciso uma imagem do laboratório antropológico tal como ele era concebido - na imaginação e na prática - no período entre-guerras no Brasil e alhures. / This research follows the dialogues and shared experiences between Mário de Andrade, Dina Dreyfus Lévi-Strauss and Claude Lévi-Strauss in São Paulo, 1935-1938, when Andrade was director at the City of São Paulos Department of Culture and Recreation, and Lévi-Strauss and Dreyfus come to Brazil along with the French Mission at the University of São Paulo, aiming to do fieldwork among amerindian peoples. By following their dialogues and the common projects they develop regarding the establishment of an anthropological laboratory that would come to be the Society of Ethnography and Folklore (Sociedade de Etnografia e Folclore, 1937-1941), I intend to obtain, from a precise point of view, an image of the anthropological laboratory as conceived in imagination and practice during the interwar period in Brazil and elsewhere.

Esse trabalho analisa a formação de coleções etnográficas no periodo entre guerras a partir da documentação da Sociedade de Etnografia e Folclore e do anteprojeto de Mário de Andrade para o SPHAN, a primeira proposta de uma ação governamental na tentativa de identificação, coleta, registro e estudo desses aspectos para preservar manifestações da cultura popular brasileira. O período entre guerras é um momento importante para a constituição e estudo de coleções etnográficas no Brasil, por ser o momento da profissionalização e institucionalização das ciências sociais. Discutimos e o papel do Departamento de Cultura e a influência da presença francesa na formação de profissionais na área de etnografia brasileira, por meio do Curso de Etnografia ministrado por Dina Lévi-Strauss e oferecido pelo Departamento de Cultura dirigido por Mário de Andrade. / This work analyzes the formation of ethnographic collections created between the first and second World Wars. The starting points were the Sociedade de Etnografia e Folclore´s documentation and the Mario de Andrade project to SPHAN. The Mario de Andrade project is the first proposition for a governmental action that tried to preserve of the aspects of the so called Brazilian Popular Culture. The period between the first and second World Wars is a very important moment to the construction and study of ethnographic collections in Brazil, because it was the the moment when the social sciences were professionalized and institutionalized. We discuss the Department of Culture role and the influence of the french presence in the formation of professionals in the brazilian ethnography.

A presente pesquisa acompanha os diálogos e experiências comuns entre Mário de Andrade, Dina Dreyfus Lévi-Strauss e Claude Lévi-Strauss na cidade de São Paulo entre 1935 e 1938, quando Mário de Andrade era o diretor do Departamento de Cultura da Prefeitura de São Paulo, e Lévi-Strauss e Dreyfus vieram ao Brasil junto à Missão Francesa na Universidade de São Paulo, tendo como objetivo primeiro a realização de pesquisa de campo entre povos ameríndios. Acompanhando a sua interlocução e seus projetos comuns para um laboratório antropológico que se concretizará na Sociedade de Etnografia e Folclore (1937-1941), pretendo captar de um ponto de vista preciso uma imagem do laboratório antropológico tal como ele era concebido - na imaginação e na prática - no período entre-guerras no Brasil e alhures. / This research follows the dialogues and shared experiences between Mário de Andrade, Dina Dreyfus Lévi-Strauss and Claude Lévi-Strauss in São Paulo, 1935-1938, when Andrade was director at the City of São Paulos Department of Culture and Recreation, and Lévi-Strauss and Dreyfus come to Brazil along with the French Mission at the University of São Paulo, aiming to do fieldwork among amerindian peoples. By following their dialogues and the common projects they develop regarding the establishment of an anthropological laboratory that would come to be the Society of Ethnography and Folklore (Sociedade de Etnografia e Folclore, 1937-1941), I intend to obtain, from a precise point of view, an image of the anthropological laboratory as conceived in imagination and practice during the interwar period in Brazil and elsewhere.

A literatura de autoria feminina nas sociedades pós-coloniais é considerada por Gayatri C. Spivak um processo metonímico da saga das mulheres usado como ferramenta de denúncia, que possibilita a quebra de mitos e preconceitos há muito reforçados pelo discurso patriarcal. Dentre as mulheres que encontraram sua voz e se fizeram ouvir, deixando de ser consideradas apenas informantes nativas das histórias orais de sua cultura, merecem destaque as cabo-verdianas Dina Salústio, Vera Duarte, Fátima Bettencourt, Orlanda Amarílis e Dulce Almada Duarte, e as moçambicanas Paulina Chiziane e Lília Momplé. O objetivo desta tese é investigar nos romances A Louca de Serrano e O alegre canto da perdiz, de Dina Salústio e Paulina Chiziane, respectivamente, como se constrói a temática da loucura, representada pelas mulheres africanas (e personagens) Louca de Serrano e Maria das Dores (louca do rio), que pode ser compreendida como uma voz carregada de solidão, dor, negação, rebeldia e inconformismo e como marca de resistência à marginalização feminina nas e pelas práticas sociais hegemônicas. / The female literature in the post-colonial societies is considered by Gayatri C. Spivak as a process of metonymic saga of women used as a complain instrument, which allows the myths and the prejudices failure a long time reinforced by the patriarchal discourse. Among the women who found her voice and spoke up, no longer considered as only native informants of oral histories of their culture deserve mention the Cape Verdean Dina Salústio, Vera Duarte, Fátima Bettencourt, Orlanda Amarilis and Dulce Almada Duarte, and the Mozambican Paulina Chiziane and Lilia Momplé. The objective of this work is to investigate in the Dina Salústios and Paulina Chizianes novels A Louca de Serrano and O alegre canto da perdiz, respectively, how the insanity theme is built, represented by the african women (and characters) Louca de Serrano and Maria das Dores, which can be understood as a voice full of loneliness, pain, denial, rebelliousness and nonconformism and as a resistance mark to the women marginalization into and by the hegemonic social practices.