Expectations for accountability have led policy makers to create standards designed to educate children to their highest potential. In addition to k-12 standards, the Commonwealth of Virginia created Foundation Blocks for a state-sponsored preschool program called the Virginia Preschool Initiative. This study included assessment of Virginia's Foundation Blocks for Early Learning: Comprehensive Standards for Four-Year-Olds as they relate to theories of Piaget, Vygotsky, and Rogoff. This assessment included play, scaffolded instruction, emergent literacy, and spatial reasoning. The Foundation Blocks were examined to determine how they were interpreted and implemented by preschool classroom teachers. Using a case-study format, four volunteer teachers participated in three days of classroom observations, be interviewed, and complete a survey. Evidence showed that the standards were theoretically based, and the participating teachers' pedagogy included play, emergent literacy, and spatial reasoning. Scaffolded instruction was not observed. There were concerns about teachers' low expectations and low-level questioning techniques. / Ph. D.

My goal in undertaking this research was to contribute to strengthening kindergarten educational practices in Kuwait with particular focus on literacy development. I was interested in the instructional techniques, tools, methods, language activities that would make sense to Arabic kindergartners and help them learn the formal, written register (i.e., formal literary Arabic) required in Kuwait. To this end, I used part of my graduate studies in education visiting and observing several kindergarten classes in the United States. During those visits, I noted that storybook reading was given a great deal of attention. Storybook reading is the process by which the teacher shares the content of storybooks with students, while at the same time encouraging social interaction (reading, showing illustrations, and encouraging student participation and conversation). This early exposure to storybook reading appears to support early literacy for American school children. My aim in undertaking this study was to develop an appropriate and effective literacy program for young children in my country. Specifically, I wanted a case of literacy development and storybook reading that might reveal important patterns in teaching early literacy. I planned four research objectives: (1) to document and analyze a Head Start teacher's verbal explanation of literacy teaching and storybook reading; (2) to observe the teacher's practices with respect to literacy teaching and storybook reading; and (3) to examine the extent and nature of students' participation in classroom literacy activities including storybook reading. My method of data collection was ethnographic, incorporating participant observation and verbal exchanges. I used the two methods simultaneously. Participant observation (including field notes, jot notes, reflective journal, audio-tapes, video-tapes, pictures, and artifacts) gave me richer access to the internal dynamics of the storybook reading event. Verbal exchanges, including in-depth interviews and informal discussions, enabled me to examine the participants' perceptions of literacy and literacy events. In-depth interviews enabled me to probe for participants' explanation of any unusual observations. Informal discussion enabled me to probe certain situations that I did not anticipate, ask for explanations of things that just cropped up, and give the teacher and the students opportunities to share with me things they felt I should know. The Head Start teacher explained that literacy spans most other activities and is a part of every day life. According to her, literacy occurs naturally while children are engaged in everyday routines at home, school, or in the community. She added that children learn reading and writing long before formal instruction and that there is a connection between print and the visual symbols that surround it. The use of storybook reading, she said, helps children to develop a positive attitude to books and a global sense of the world. To help children acquire literacy, the teacher provides an appropriate physical environment, including storybook reading, interaction with others, extensive involvement in literacy activities, and a generous display of print. The teacher used a multi-method approach and stimuli before, during, and after reading the story. Storybook reading was used to increase children's access to books, introduce the children to book conventions, integrate literacy and other curricular activities, encourage and empower students to actively participate in their learning, and to encourage cultural appreciation, and intercultural sensitivity. The students played several important roles during storybook reading: listening, conversing, collaborating, making decisions, choosing the books to be read, making seating arrangements, and helping the teacher. The four focal children manifested different reading characteristics including play reading, reading awareness, reading skills, reading development, writing and art, writing play, writing awareness, and writing skills. The findings of this study indicate that storybook reading is not only a source of enjoyment but an important stepping-stone to other language skills and a great stimulus for creativity in young children. To extend the insights that I have gained from the study to my country, and as instructor in the Kindergarten Curriculum Instruction Department of the Kuwait Basic College of Education, I plan to model some of the most significant findings of the study in my teaching and teacher training activities. Aspects of the findings that I plan to model are: (a) integrated learning; (b) learner-centered education; (c) collaborative learning; (d) variations in method; and (e) student empowerment. In addition, I plan to implement a follow-up action research enabling my students to develop and implement a more child-centered, and more meaningful instructional practices in Kuwaiti kindergarten classrooms. Another way in which I plan to extend the benefits of this research to my country and other Arab-speaking countries is to publish this study in Arabic. / Ph. D.

Meta-synthesis is an approach to synthesize qualitative research results. Originally proposed in the medical field and in education, this approach helps to advance current knowledge by generating a new interpretive synthesis. Since current research practices and knowledge development in emergency management is excessively divergent, there has been a need for a synthesis of knowledge from practice and research. One of the main arguments of this study is that the need is met by this study of a meta-synthesis. In this research, I suggested that many research results dealing with the issue of how to improve the performance of emergency management can be integrated into strategies for network management in emergencies. I used the term strategies in a much more generalized way to capture the idea of managerial/behavioral skills, plans, and insights for emergency management. The meta-synthesis was conducted from a keyword search, surveys, and expert interviews, which identified representative studies in emergency response. The review process of the representative studies is captured in a two-by-two matrix (intervention point axis and planning-improvisation axis) as a way of presenting the meta-synthesis results. This study then, turned to an analysis of reports of the Hurricane Katrina response using the meta-synthesis results. Qualitative content analysis was used as a method for the analysis. Reports from the White House, the House of Representatives, and the Senate are the target documents of the analysis. While conducting the analysis, I argued that the attempt of interpreting the failures of Katrina response into the failures of network management strategies provides clearer understandings regarding what went wrong and what was lacking. Furthermore, I argued that the way of thinking attempted in the analysis is a constructive one in that it provides an instructive action agenda for future disasters by connecting lessons learned to the strategies for emergency management. / Ph. D.

Ludonarrativ som begrepp är skapat för att kunna diskutera hur narrativ och mekanik påverkar varandra. Från detta ämne har andra begrepp uppstått bland annat ludonarrativ harmoni och emergent berättande. Då Journey (2012) är ett spel utan ord är det intressant att undersöka utifrån dessa koncept för att se hur narrativ och mekanik kan påverka varandra. Denna analys genomförs främst genom att applicera Larsen och Schoenau-Fog (2016) the narrative quality of game mechanics modell på spelet.

A rich variety of phases can exist in quantum systems. For example, the fractional quantum Hall states have persistent topological characteristics that derive from strong interaction. This thesis uses the exact diagonalization method to investigate quantum lattice models with strong interaction. Our research topics revolve around quantum phase transitions between novel phases. The goal is to find the best schemes for realizing these novel phases in experiments. We studied the fractional Chern insulator and its transition to uni-directional stripes of particles. In addition, we studied topological Mott insulators with spontaneous time-reversal symmetry breaking induced by interaction. We also studied emergent kinetics in one-dimensional lattices with spin-orbital coupling. The exact diagonalization method and its implementation for studying these systems can easily be applied to study other strongly correlated systems. / PHD / Topological quantum states are a new type of quantum state that have properties that cannot be described by local order parameters. These types of states were first discovered in the 1980s with the integer quantum Hall effect and the fractional quantum Hall effect. In the 2000s, the predicted and experimentally discovered topological insulators triggered studies of new topological quantum states. Studies of strongly correlated systems have been a parallel research topic in condensed matter physics. When combining topological systems with strong correlation, the resulting systems can have novel properties that emerge, such as fractional charge. This thesis summarizes our work that uses the exact diagonalization method to study topological states with strong interaction.

[pt] Estuários são corpos de água costeiros semi-fechados que servem como receptores finais de matéria orgânica. Os contaminantes emergentes correspondem, na maioria dos casos, a contaminantes não regulamentados, que podem ser candidatos a regulamentação futura, dependendo da pesquisa sobre seus efeitos potenciais para a saúde e dados de monitoramento relativos à sua ocorrência. Este é o caso dos produtos farmacêuticos e de cuidados pessoais (PPCPs) que possuem origem da contaminação antropogênica pela liberação contínua em águas residuárias ou diretamente no meio ambiente (via excreção humana e animal) sendo frequentemente persistentes e bioacumuláveis com difícil avaliação precisa do impacto no meio ambiente pela infinidade de fontes de entrada no ambiente. Este trabalho visa então o monitoramento de PPCPs na Lagoa de Piratininga que se localiza a leste da Baía de Guanabara, a qual passa por um acelerado processo de expansão residencial e comercial. Visando a otimização de tempo e custo, a extração das amostras foi definida com base em testes de diferentes metodologias, como a extração em fase sólida (SPE), etapa necessária para purificação do extrato. A identificação e quantificação foi realizada por cromatografia gasosa acoplada a espectrometria de massas em modo de monitoramento seletivo de íons (SIM) por aliar sensibilidade à elevada seletividade. Para análise por cromatografia gasosa ambos os métodos, porém, necessitam de prévia derivatização para formação de composto volátil. Para avaliar a qualidade do método, foi confirmada a linearidade das curvas analíticas pelo valor do coeficiente de determinação (R2) e pelo teste F na análise da variância (ANOVA) da regressão. A homocedasticidade dos dados foi confirmada pelo teste de Breusch e Pagan. O Limite de Detecção (LD) variou de 0,11 a 0,52 ng g-1. A repetibilidade, expressa através do desvio padrão relativo (DPR) apresentou valores inferiores a 30 por cento. A recuperação média dos analitos variou de 60 por cento a 118 por cento. O método validado foi aplicado para a análise do sedimento da Lagoa de Piratininga e obteve resultados que indicam uma presença significativa dos fármacos bisfenol A, beta-estradiol e ibuprofeno. / [en] Estuaries are defined as a semi-enclosed water that serve as final receptors of organic matter. Emerging contaminants correspond, in most cases, to unregulated contaminants, which may be candidates for future regulation depending on research on their potential health efects and monitoring data regarding their occurrence. This is the case of the pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) which the contamination origin is above all anthropogenic and continuously released in wastewater or directly in the environment (via human and animal excretion). They are more often persistent and bioaccumulable and the accurate assessment of PPCPs impact on the environment is as difficult as there is a multitude of input sources in environment. This work then aims to monitor PPCPs in the Piratininga lagoon which is located east of the Guanabara Bay, that is undergoing an accelerated process of residential and commercial expansion. In order to optimize time and cost, the sample extraction was defined based on tests of different methodologies, such as Solid Phase Extraction (SPE), a necessary step for extract purification. Identification and quantification were performed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry in Selected Ion Monitoring mode (SIM), combining sensitivity with high selectivity. For gas chromatography analysis, both methods, however, require prior derivatization to form a volatile compound. To assess the quality of the method, the linearity of the analytical curves was confirmed by the coefficient of determination (R2) value and by the F-test in the analysis of variance (ANOVA) of the regression. The homoscedasticity of the data was confirmed by the Breusch-Pagan test. The Limit of Detection (LOD) ranged from 0.11 to 0.52 ng g-1. Repeatability, expressed through the relative standard deviation (RSD), showed values below 30 percent. The average recovery of the analytes ranged from 59,8 percent to 100,7 percent. The validated method was applied to analyze sediment from Piratininga Lagoon and obtained results indicating a significant presence of the pharmaceuticals bisphenol A, beta-estradiol, and ibuprofen.

Better understanding of the role of vegetation in the transport of fluid and pollutants requires improved knowledge of the detailed flow structure within the vegetation. Instead of spatial averaging, this study uses discrete measurements at multiple locations within the canopy to develop velocity and turbulence intensity profiles and observe the changes in the flow characteristics as water travels through a vegetation array simulated by rigid dowels. Velocity data were collected with a one dimensional laser Doppler velocimeter (LDV) under single layer emergent and submerged flow conditions, and through two layers of vegetation. The effects of dowel arrangement, density, and roughness are also examined under the single layer experiments. The results show that the velocity within the vegetation array is constant with depth and the velocity profile is logarithmic above it. The region immediately behind a dowel, where the vorticity and turbulence intensity are highest, is characterized by a velocity spike near the bed and an inflection point near the top of the dowel arrays. With two dowel layers, the velocity profile in the region behind a tall dowel exhibits multiple inflection points and the highest turbulence intensities are found there. / Master of Science

Yes / This review paper addresses the structure of the mean flow and key turbulence quantities in free-surface flows with emergent vegetation. Emergent vegetation in open channel flow affects turbulence, flow patterns, flow resistance, sediment transport, and morphological changes. The last 15 years have witnessed significant advances in field, laboratory, and numerical investigations of turbulent flows within reaches of different types of emergent vegetation, such as rigid stems, flexible stems, with foliage or without foliage, and combinations of these. The influence of stem diameter, volume fraction, frontal area of stems, staggered and non-staggered arrangements of stems, and arrangement of stems in patches on mean flow and turbulence has been quantified in different research contexts using different instrumentation and numerical strategies. In this paper, a summary of key findings on emergent vegetation flows is offered, with particular emphasis on: (1) vertical structure of flow field, (2) velocity distribution, 2nd order moments, and distribution of turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) in horizontal plane, (3) horizontal structures which includes wake and shear flows and, (4) drag effect of emergent vegetation on the flow. It can be concluded that the drag coefficient of an emergent vegetation patch is proportional to the solid volume fraction and average drag of an individual vegetation stem is a linear function of the stem Reynolds number. The distribution of TKE in a horizontal plane demonstrates that the production of TKE is mostly associated with vortex shedding from individual stems. Production and dissipation of TKE are not in equilibrium, resulting in strong fluxes of TKE directed outward the near wake of each stem. In addition to Kelvin–Helmholtz and von Kármán vortices, the ejections and sweeps have profound influence on sediment dynamics in the emergent vegetated flows.

Text in Afrikaans / Learners who struggle to read from the start, will stay behind. But the earlier intervention can start, the greater the chances of success. But what type of intervention is needed? Nowadays researchers overseas use phonemic awareness as a criteria to predict reading success. About 80% of pre-school children will have no trouble grasping the phonological structure of their home language, provided that they are thoroughly immersed in literacy. It is these same 80% who will not have any trouble learning to read. But literacy is a continuous process that starts at birth and there is no magical moment in a child's life that he will all of a sudden be ready to receive literacy instruction. Experience and practice will ensure that the hierarchy of phonemic awareness skills will develop. Those preschoolers who do not have that advantage, must develop phonemic awareness skills while learning to read or else face reading problems. / Educational Studies / M. Ed.(Special Needs Education)

Using an emergent design, this study developed a program approach for young people in the child headed households of Zambia. Phase I dealt with prior ethnography, Phase II focused on independent living services, and Phase III concerned translation to Zambia. A total of 36 participants from Richmond, consisting of 20 Richmond Department of Social Services workers and youth and 16 Africans, were recruited. Three major themes emerged: feasibility, content, and quality. Lessons learned about translational research highlight the need for uniformity in a cultural screen’s composition. This might enhance the richness of perspectives on young people. Lessons for the Department of Social Services include a need to focus on tracking young people exiting services. This might involve exit interviews with young people and guidance with life decisions. There were lessons about decisions regarding local and expert knowledge in the translation process. This often becomes difficult when there are no assurances of participant uniformity. Paying attention to issues of local and expert knowledge would eliminate decision barriers that might arise during the translational process. Implications for social work education suggest that an emphasis on cultural competency might help students at the BSW and MSW levels to become better managers of adolescents. Implications for practice and policy include enhancing access to education and health for all young people. This process might be facilitated by the enactment of polices that highlight education and health for all young people at national and state levels. The following are crucial considerations for practice with young people: recruiting and training appropriate staff, promoting civic education, collaborating with young people, strengthening community involvement, strengthening agency collaboration, and developing targeted services. Implications for further research include: exploring what areas to consider when making a paradigm jump, considering cultural principles as bridges for making that jump, examining the implications for translational research as opposed to diffusion of innovation, determining what types of research samples would eliminate some of the gender issues that emerge with focus groups, recruiting more young people as participants, and conducting a study that focuses on lived experiences of young people.