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This case study focused on the Neshoba County Fair, located outside of Philadelphia, Mississippi, to investigate the role of design elements that foster a sense of community within the built environment. The fairground is unique because it exhibits two developed areas that portray different approaches to design: one that is sensitive to the landscape and one that is less respectful of original development practices. This research utilized a mailed survey, distributed to cabin owners within the fairground boundary. The survey examined whether cabin owners of the fair relate the sense of community with the elements in their built environment, as well as their perceptions of the fairgrounds. The results of this research indicate that cabin owners would prefer to be close to the areas of activity. Findings further indicate that how the individual elements are integrated into the built environment is what promotes sense of community, not the elements themselves.

The purpose of this study was (a) to investigate the functional use of e-mail in a university setting and the relationship of attitudes toward and self-efficacy with email technology, and (b) to evaluate writing effectiveness in an electronic medium. The study also sought to determine if certain personal characteristics could serve as predictor variables for explaining e-mail use, attitudes toward email, and self-efficacy with e-mail technology. The population of interest was the teaching faculty at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University who had a published e-mail address. A random sample of 500 faculty were sent a survey via campus mail. A total of 262 usable responses provided data for statistical treatment which included factor analysis and multiple regression. Additionally, 30 self-selected respondents provided copies of e-mail messages they had written. These messages were rated holistically for writing effectiveness, and the ratings were examined for their relationship with the extent of e-mail use, attitudes toward e-mail, and self-efficacy with e-mail technology. The items on the attitude toward e-mail scale clustered into two factors, "Usefulness," and "Comfort/Anxiety." The items on the e-mail purposes of use scale also clustered into two factors, "Task Use," and "Social Use." These factors were similar to the ones on the instruments from which this study's instrument was adapted. The results of the regression analyses indicated that several of the variables were significant predictors of e-mail use, attitudes toward e-mail, and self-efficacy with e-mail technology. An attitude of e-mail's usefulness and self-efficacy with e-mail technology were significant predictors of the extent of e-mail task and social use. Self-efficacy was a significant predictor of positive attitudes of usefulness and comfort. Age was a significant predictor of social use of e-mail as well as of a positive attitude of e-mail's usefulness. Years e-mail had been used was a significant predictor of the extent of e-mail use and of self-efficacy. Higher ranking teaching faculty had more positive attitudes of e-mail's usefulness. The results of analyses of holistic ratings indicate no significant correlations existed among the variables. Recommendations for instruction and for further research are described. / Ph. D.

Procrastination is a pervasive problem in education. In computer science, procrastination and lack of necessary time management skills to complete programming projects are viewed as primary causes of student attrition. The most effective techniques known to reduce procrastination are resource-intensive and do not scale well to large classrooms. In this thesis, we examine three course interventions designed to both reduce procrastination and be scalable for large classrooms. Reflective writing assignments require students to reflect on their time management choices and how these choices impact their classroom performance. Schedule sheets force students to plan out their work on an assignment. E-mail alerts inform students of their current progress as they work on their projects, and provide ideas on improving their work behavior if their progress is found to be unsatisfactory. We implemented these interventions in a junior-level course on data structures. The study was conducted over two semesters and 330 students agreed to participate in the study. Data collected from these students formed the basis of our analysis of the interventions. We found a statistically significant relationship between the time a project was completed and the quality of that work, with late work being of lower quality. We also found that the e-mail alert intervention had a statistically significant effect on reducing the number of late submissions. This result occurred despite students responded negatively to the treatment. / Master of Science

Proponents claim that the convenience of early voting increases voter turnout by reducing the time and effort to vote through expanded opportunities for participation beyond "traditional" in-person voting at polling places on election day. Yet, anecdotal evidence suggests that reforms intended to make the voting process easier do not have the same effect throughout the electorate. Instead, early voting is likely to exacerbate the lack of ability to meaningfully participate in the electoral process for those particularly vulnerable to the costs of voting. Fundamentally, early voting requires access to postal services to receive and return an early ballot by-mail, as well as the ability to travel to an early in-person voting site. The irregular mail delivery operations and long traveling distances common throughout Indian Country suggests that systems of early voting lack viability on reservation lands. This research asks how the costs of voting for Native Americans affects their participation in systems of early voting. To investigate this relationship, I elucidate the social, economic, cultural, political, and geographic factors that render political participation more difficult for Native Americans. By comparing voter turnout in the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections among reservation voters on the Navajo Nation to non-reservation voters in Apache, Navajo, and Coconino counties in Arizona, I find that reservation voters prefer to vote in-person on election day while non-reservation voters prefer to vote early. I also find that early voting turnout among reservation voters increased between 2012 and 2016, however, further analysis demonstrated that turnout was higher in reservation precincts with greater access to postal services. These findings illuminate our knowledge of the convenience of early voting and add to our specific understanding of the factors that affect Native American political participation. / Master of Arts / Early voting has become a popular alternative to the civic tradition of voting in-person at polling places on election day. During the 2016 presidential election, millions of American voters cast their ballots early, either by-mail or at early voting sites. These expanded opportunities for participation allow voters to avoid the hassle of large crowds and restrictive hours at the polls. Proponents claim that by making the voting process easier, early voting also increases voter turnout, yet anecdotal evidence suggests that the convenience of early voting is not enjoyed equally by all voters. Instead, Native American voters are at a likely disadvantage with regard to early voting due to the irregular mail delivery operations and long traveling distances common on reservation lands. Of course, access to mail and transportation are required to vote by-mail and early in-person. This research asks how the costs of voting for Native Americans affects their participation in systems of early voting. To investigate this question, I examine the costs of voting and voter turnout for reservation voters on the Navajo Nation compared to non-reservation voters in Apache, Navajo, and Coconino counties in Arizona. I find that political participation manifests differently for both groups; reservation voters prefer to vote in-person on election day and non-reservation voters prefer to vote early. Although it was significantly higher among non-reservation voters, early voting turnout increased among reservation voters between the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections. However, further analysis demonstrated that turnout is affected by proximity to post offices or other postal service providers. These findings suggest that Native American political participation is made more difficult by social, economic, cultural, political, and geographic barriers and that reforms to make the voting process easier do not reduce these costs of voting.

En esta propuesta de tesis doctoral abordamos el movimiento artístico Mail Art realizando un estudio en profundidad de los antecedentes y el contexto, que ha configurado tanto su forma teórica como práctica y artística. Los inicios del Mail Art, se presenta una tendencia de creación entre los artistas que conforman esta red. El canal, introduce la intervención de los espacios, además de ser portador de un mensaje que, en muchas ocasiones establece interacción entre varios individuos y permite la expresión libre y la circulación de multitud de documentos, ideas y materiales que se conjugan. La intención que define inicialmente al Mail Art es el de crear un circuito e intercambio de piezas artísticas, y Ray Johnson y la New York Correspondance School normalizan el canal del correo como el medio que predomina en los envíos. El colectivo germano-americano de carácter neo-dadaísta llamado “Fluxus†recupera las postales que Duchamp manda a sus conocidos y los sellos que grupos como los Nuevos Realistas y artistas que lo componen como Yves Klein, o el dadaísta Kurt Schwitters, que completaba los collages que realizaba con la impresión de sellos. En las últimas décadas del siglo pasado, circulan fanzines que dedican sus páginas casi exclusivamente al Mail Art, Arte Postal, Eternal Network o movimiento llamado también “Comunicación a Distancia†. En España, concretamente se publican los fanzines P.O.BOX, Boek y AMAE, que aunque han dejado de editarse, se publicaron en ellos la mayor parte de los artículos que se escribían acerca del movimiento y actualmente, la web boek861 sigue en funcionamiento y se actualiza constantemente, gracias a los investigadores que estudian el movimiento y a los artistas que comparten en la plataforma virtual sus trabajos y aportaciones. P.O.BOX, publicó artículos en relación al Mail Art, y también, trabajos relacionados con ámbitos alternativos como la poesía visual, y la huelga del arte, así como las actividades que proponen desde el Mail Art, artistas que plantean la posibilidad del Do-It-Yourself, apostando por la creatividad conjunta, procurando renunciar a la mera contemplación del espectador. Esta intención conecta con la experiencia que supone visualizar películas como Caché, que nos sirve de ejemplo a lo largo de esta tesis doctoral, ya que, plantea, desde la imagen en movimiento, la provocación suficiente para que el espectador aprecie lo singular de los sistemas de comunicación, y lo modificable de la conducta a través del correo. Se integra video, dibujos y mensajes. Material que elabora una construcción de la figura de un observador, que nos identifica en un marco social de cotidianeidad, y que describe, de forma muy acertada, comportamientos que se presentan inestables ante la visibilidad de acontecimientos que denuncian con mucha claridad los avatares sociopolíticos y culturales que afectan al protagonista del film, y también, inevitablemente al espectador que ocupa una butaca. Artistas que han denunciado injusticias sociales y situaciones dictatoriales también han hecho uso del Mail Art, que entre otras obras, destacan las “Pinturas Aeropostales†. El proyecto creativo, que se propone para realizar la investigación, se presenta desde una acción de Mail Art que pretende completar el conocimiento sobre el medio del correo conjugado con el arte, como método expresivo desde la práctica. Para ello, se han elaborado una serie de piezas impresas en formato postal cuyo motivo principal son las puertas con las que, simbólicamente, se ha intentado hacer referencia a mínimo espacio que existe entre lo público y lo privado. / In the proposal of this PhD thesis we cover the artistic movement Mail Art by undertaking an in-depth study of background and context, which has formed its theoretical, as well as pragmatic and artistic shape. The early days of Mail Art provide a creative trend among artists belonging to this network. The channel introduces the interaction between spaces, and it is also the message carrier that often provides a platform for interaction among individuals and provides free expression and flow of large numbers of documentation, ideas and other material that can be combined.   The aim that initially defines Mail Art is the creation of a network and exchange of artistic pieces. Ray Johnson and the New York Correspondence School normalised the mail channel as a predominant means of courier. “ Fluxus†, a German-American collective with  neo-Dadaist character, recvers the postcards Duchamp sends to his acquaintances. The collective recovers stamps that New Realistic groups, such as artist like Yves Klein or the Dadaist Kurt Schwitters, completed the collage that he made with the print of stamps. In the last decades of the last century there were fanzines circulated their pages almost exclusively to Mail Art, Courier Art, Eternal Network or movement also called “Communication at a Distance†.    In Spain, the fanzines P.O. BOX, Boek and AMAE are specifically published, which although they have ceased publication, most of their releases included articles about the movement. Currently, the web boek861 is working and updated regularly thanks to the researchers who study the movement and artists who share their work and contributions to the virtual platform. P.O. BOX published articles related to Mail Art and also studies related to alternative fields such as visual poetry, and the ‿strike of art‿. P.O. Box also published proposed activities by Mail Art, artists that provide the possibility of Do-It -Yourself, supporting joint creativity, trying to avoid the passive attitude of the viewer. Artists who have denounced social injustices and dictatorial situations have also made use of Mail Art, which, among other works, highlights the "Aeropostal Paintings". The creative project, which is proposed to carry out the research, is presented from an action of Mail Art that aims to complete the knowledge about the mail medium conjugated with art, as an expressive method from practice. For this purpose, a series of printed pieces have been produced in postal format, whose main motive is the doors with which, symbolically, an attempt has been made to refer to the minimum space that exists between the public and the private. This purpose is linked with the experience of watching films such as Caché, which serves as an example throughout this PhD thesis. This is because it provides, from the moving image, enough provocation for the viewer to appreciate the singularity of communication systems, and changing behaviour through the mail. Video, drawings and messages are integrated. Material that elaborates a construction of the figure of an observer, that identifies us in a social framework of everyday life, and that describes, in a very correct way, behaviors that are unstable in the face of the visibility of events that clearly denounce the socio-political avatars and that affect the protagonist of the film, and also, inevitably, the spectator who occupies a seat. / En aquesta proposta de tesi doctoral abordem el moviment artístic Mail Art realitzant un estudi en profunditat dels antecedents i el context, que ha configurat tant la seva forma teòrica com pràctica i artística. Els inicis del Mail Art, es presenta una tendÿncia de creació entre els artistes que conformen aquesta xarxa. El canal, introdueix la intervenció dels espais, a més de ser portador d'un missatge que, en moltes ocasions estableix interacció entre diversos individus i permet l'expressió lliure i la circulació de multitud de documents, idees i materials que es conjuguen. La intenció que defineix inicialment al Mail Art és el de crear un circuit i intercanvi de peces artístiques, i Ray Johnson i la New York Correspondance School normalitzen el canal del correu com el mitjà que predomina en els enviaments. El col·lectiu germano-americà de caràcter neo-dadaista anomenat "Fluxus" recupera les postals que Duchamp mana als seus coneguts i els segells que grups com els Nous Realistes i artistes que el componen com Yves Klein, o el dadaista Kurt Schwitters, que completava els collages que realitzava amb la impressió de segells. En les últimes dÿcades del segle passat, circulen fanzines que dediquen les seves pàgines gairebé exclusivament al Mail Art, Art Postal, Eternal Network o moviment anomenat també "Comunicació a Distància". A Espanya, concretament es publiquen els fanzines POBOX, Boek i AMAE, que tot i que han deixat d'editar-se, es van publicar en ells la major part dels articles que s'escrivien sobre el moviment i actualment, el web boek861 segueix en funcionament i s'actualitza constantment, gràcies als investigadors que estudien el moviment i als artistes que comparteixen a la plataforma virtual els seus treballs i aportacions. POBOX, va publicar articles en relació al Mail Art, i també, treballs relacionats amb àmbits alternatius com la poesia visual, i la vaga de l'art, així com les activitats que proposen des del Mail Art, artistes que plantegen la possibilitat del Do-It -Yourself, apostant per la creativitat conjunta, procurant renunciar a la mera contemplació de l'espectador. Aquesta intenció connecta amb l'experiÿncia que suposa visualitzar pel·lícules com Memòria cau, que ens serveix d'exemple al llarg d'aquesta tesi doctoral, ja que, planteja, des de la imatge en moviment, la provocació suficient perquÿ l'espectador apreciï la singularitat dels sistemes de comunicació, i el modificable de la conducta a través del correu. S'integra vídeo, dibuixos i missatges. Material que elabora una construcció de la figura d'un observador, que ens identifica en un marc social de quotidianitat, i que descriu, de forma molt encertada, comportaments que es presenten inestables davant la visibilitat d'esdeveniments que denuncien amb molta claredat els avatars sociopolítics i culturals que afecten el protagonista del film, i també, inevitablement l'espectador que ocupa una butaca. Artistes que han denunciat injustícies socials i situacions dictatorials també han fet ús del Mail Art, que entre altres obres, destaquen les "Pintures Aeropostales". El projecte creatiu, que es proposa per realitzar la investigació, es presenta des d'una acció de Mail Art que pretén completar el coneixement sobre el medi del correu conjugat amb l'art, com a mÿtode expressiu des de la pràctica. Per a això, s'han elaborat una sÿrie de peces impreses en format postal el motiu principal són les portes amb les que, simbòlicament, s'ha intentat fer referÿncia a mínim espai que hi ha entre el públic i el privat. / Covaleda Vicente, I. (2017). En el Umbral del Mail Art a través de la mirada de Michael Haneke en "Caché" (2005) [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/95417

À partir des années soixante, les nouvelles technologies ont colonisé les champs culturels. Prenant acte de cette puissance technologique, les artistes se sont mis à transformer ces dispositifs en outils de recherche esthétique. C'est ainsi que le Web est devenu un support à la fois pour les oeuvres d'art numérique et la réalisation de net oeuvres, et pour une mise en réseau universelle. Dans le même contexte, des critiques, des théoriciens et des philosophes ont annoncé un état de crise (comme l'avaient mentionné Aude de Kerros, Jean-Pierre Béland, Yves Michaud, Véronique Fabbri, Daniel Lagoutte, etc.). Selon eux, cet état est dû à un manque de communication et à une dissolution des courants artistiques, voire à une perte progressive de la communication entre les artistes. Comme le Web, l'e-mailing a généré plusieurs fantasmes de communication, il a institué également la réactivité et l'interactivité entre des individus. Pour cela, j'ai choisi d'approfondir mes recherches en thèse sur des pratiques artistiques qui peuvent toucher la crise de la communication et qui sollicitent une mise en réseau des artistes. Progrès pratique : En 2006, j'ai reçu un e-mail contenant une oeuvre scannée de l'artiste belge Luc Fierens. J'ai transmis cette image à environ 7000 adresses e-mails d'artistes en sollicitant leurs interactions, afin d'acquérir presque 200 contributions et réponses dont quelques-unes sont exposées sur le blog suivant : http://ramziturki.artblog.fr/11/. Mon acte consiste à analyser et à mettre en valeur la communication entre les artistes à travers un outil télé-communicationnel contemporain. / Since the sixties, new technologies have conquered cultural areas. Thanks to technological power, artists have transformed these technologies into tools of aesthetic research. Thus, the web has become a medium for digital art as well as network design in addition to establishing universal networking. In the same context, criticizers, thinkers and philosophers have announced a state of crisis (As announced by Aude de Kerros, Jean-Pierre Béland, Yves Michaud, Veronica Fabbri, Daniel Lagoutte, etc.). According to them, this crisis is due to lack of communication and dissolution of artistic movements, surely progressive loss of communication between artists. In the Web world, email has emerged several communication fantasies. It has also established the reactivity and the interactivity between people. For this, my research Thesis focuses on artistic practices that impact positively on communication between artists. This research also proposes an artist networking. Practical progress:In 2006, I received an email containing a scanned work of Luc Fierens, a Belgian artist. I emailed this work to nearly 7000 addresses of artists to solicit their interactions. This is to acquire about 200 contributions and answers, some of which are described on the blog: http://ramziturki.artblog.fr/11/. My Thesis aims to analyze and enhance the communication between artists via tools of modern communication.

The topic of the importance of modern didactic tools in the current conditions of pedagogical practice is considered as contemporary and often discussed. The thesis deals with the question whether the application of modern technology can streamline the work of teachers, including school management and also whether it can become one of the criteria for raising the level of education and organization development. The thesis gives an insight into the ability of school management and other education participants to accept, but also induce changes and innovations in education. It also concerns the issue of schools' open-minded thinking and providing lifelong learning to local community. The thesis attempts to find a mutual relationship between effective application of modern technology, collaboration and the impact on results of entire work. The thesis deals with the use of ICT across different types of schools. The survey should also verify the impact of didactic tools on the quality and results of education by type of school, especially those who participated in the project of Ústi nad Labem Region called Community School (elementary, secondary, special), including feedback. The output of the thesis is summarization, interpretation and completion of the data obtained.

An electronic DCT questionnaire, which was specially designed, pilot-tested, and refined, served as the chief instrument. Thirty students participated in the study and formed three cultural groups: ten native English-speaking American students (NS), ten Hong Kong Chinese learners of English (HKCLE) and ten Mainland Chinese learners of English (MLCLE). They completed the e-DCTs online and participated in stimulated recall sessions afterwards in which they were prompted to recall their thought processes while on task. Six American professors evaluated and commented on a random sample of the e-mails (30% of the corpus). The e-mail data were coded with a modified version of the CCSARP (Cross Cultural Speech Acts Realisation Patterns) manual; open-coding and thematic analysis were applied to the stimulated recalls and recipient feedback, with the aid of NVivo 8. / Concerning the interlanguage aspect of the requests, the major findings were: In making status-unequal requests to their professors, students from all three cohorts tended to be indirect in general. The two learners' groups demonstrated a fairly strong pragmalinguistic control in realising specific indirect requesting strategies with a variety of forms; they relied heavily on the conventionally indirect strategy of Query Preparatory (QP). By contrast, NSs exhibited greater flexibility in their strategy choices, which ranged from very direct to indirect. The CLEs were particularly weak in employing certain syntactic devices as downgraders; to compensate, they made excessive use of lexical/phrasal modifiers and external mitigating moves to soften the requestive force. / MLCLEs were found to always be the least confident group in terms of their language use, as compared to the HKCLE group, which was the most confident. The measurements of power difference and social distance were rather approximate among the three cohorts. NSs were more apt to lessen the power distinction and stress the mutuality of 'showing respect', whereas CLEs were inclined to accentuate unequal power distributions, and emphasise the hierarchical asymmetry. Imposition degree was found to be the most dynamic of the three variables. The reasons for its use were multi-faceted, encompassing diverse affective, cognitive, and social factors. / The audience (American professors) perceived that the students were both direct and polite in making requests. The NSs were found to be the most polite and most satisfactory group in terms of their linguistic production. (Mis)matches were identified between the expectations of the e-mail writers and their receivers. Case analyses revealed disparity in student performance and variations in their developmental progress in terms of pragmalinguistic competence, sociopragmatic awareness, and intercultural communicative competence. Based on the findings, pedagogical implications are discussed. Finally, the thesis concludes with suggestions for future studies. / The present study investigated the speech act realisation of requests in student-professor e-mail communication at a university in Hong Kong. This mixed-method study employed an electronic version of DCTs (Discourse Completion Tasks), stimulated recalls, and audience judgements to investigate the verbal behaviour of both native speakers of English and non-native speakers (Hong Kong and Mainland Chinese) who were students at the university. / Pan, Ping. / Advisers: Gwendolyn Gong; Jane Jackson. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 73-03, Section: A, page: . / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 348-363). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [201-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese.