The purpose of this study was to examine children's perceptions of their alternative child care environment without constraining thought processes or suggesting appropriate answers. The Child Care Game Assessment (CCGA) was developed to meet these goals. The CCGA is a role-plating, game-like assessment for preschool children. It uses a model of the child's alternative care environment and allows children to act out portions of a typical day. The CCGA was administered to 57 four- and five-year-old children attending non-parental child care. Twenty-one children (11 boys and 10 girls) attended Utah State University's Child Development Laboratory, a 10-hour-per-week preschool. Twenty-one children (10 boys and 11 girls) participated in a full day child care centers, and fifteen children (12 boys and 3 girls) attended state-licensed, full-day home care settings. The CCGA provided a factor score that reflected each child's perceptions regarding several areas of child care. These factors yielded a "contentment" score that measured how children liked attending their alternative child care environment. Results suggested that children generally liked attending alternative child care. They viewed care providers as an important element contributing to their contentment. Children are the primary consumers of alternative care and their perceptions concerning child care were imperative. They furnished convergent data regarding their preferences at child care and gave important information regarding child care practices. The CCGA appears to provide useful information regarding children's perceptions of alternative child care. Parents and child care providers can use this information to provide children with better alternative environments by noting interactions and providing child-centered activities.

Canopy transpiration is a major factor determining crop evapotranspiration and energy budgets. Unfortunately the development of robust models of canopy transpiration is hindered by a lack of reliable data due to the difficulties of making canopy-scale measurements. However, measurements of canopy water vapor and carbon fluxes via gas exchange techniques are possible in controlled environments. Simultaneous measurements of transpiration, photosynthesis, and canopy temperature were made in wheat and soybean communities. These data were used to calculate chamber aerodynamic and canopy stomata! conductances, and to model the response of canopy transpiration to CO2concentration and vapor pressure deficit. Canopy stomata! conductance was found to decrease diurnally by 20-30% in well-watered crops grown under constant environmental conditions. The magnitude of this diurnal decrease in the canopy stomata! conductance of wheat and soybean decreased with increasing ambient CO2 concentrations. Eight models describing how canopy stomatal conductance responds to environmental changes were incorporated into a canopy transpiration model. The results and methods developed in this study will allow future physiologically-based canopy transpiration models to incorporate these models for predicting the response of transpiration rates in controlled environments.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / Groundwater dependent vegetation (GDV) communities are increasingly threatened by the transformation of the natural environment to different land use/land cover, over-exploitation of groundwater resources and the proliferation of invasive species within the Cape Floristic Region (CFR). These changes affect the groundwater regime, level, and quality, which supports GDV. Natural resource managers often lack an understanding at appropriate scales of the nature of dependency of GDV to make informed sustainable decisions. This work thus assesses the spatial distribution of GDV and their responses to groundwater variability within the Cape floristic region from June 2017 to July 2018. To achieve this aim, firstly a literature review on the background of GDV, threats and the impact of climate change was assessed.

No description available.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University / This study aimed at refining one of the most influential and well-known theories of distance education - the theory of transactional distance (TD). TD theory was developed by Michael G. Moore based on correspondence forms of distance education. The study researched a distance learning environment that had not been investigated in relation to TD - synchronous Web-extended classrooms. In this unique format, live on- campus classes are delivered simultaneously to both in-class students on campus and remote students on the Web who attend synchronously via virtual classroom Web collaboration software. The research involved N=235 students enrolled in 14 graduate business courses. ANOVA tests, correlation and regression analyses were deployed on the 46-item "Scale of TD for synchronous Web-extended learning environments" questionnaire. The study compared perceived TD for three attendance groups: always in-class, always online, and mixed. It found no difference in TD among them. The learning environment enabled by using Saba-Centra Web collaboration software combined with other technologies provided a comparable learning experience for all three learner groups. The findings confirmed that four dimensions of dialogue, student-student, student-instructor, student-content, and student-interface interactions are significant in students' perceived TD and their engagement with learning. Moreover, their significance levels varied for different attendance groups. This research confirms the need to refine TD theory to view dialogue as a multidimensional construct. Furthermore, student-instructor and student-student interactions were significant factors that affected TD in all three learner groups. This study analyzed student satisfaction. The study not only found no difference in satisfaction by attendance type, but also it found that TD is strongly related to student satisfaction: the lower the TD, the more satisfied the students are with the learning environment, including interactions with the instructor, fellow students, course content, and the interface. For all attendance groups, interaction with other students was the common factor that affected satisfaction. The study demonstrated that the level of TD also affects students' perceived learning: the lower the TD, the higher the students' perceived learning. Thus, the study suggests that instructors plan activities that include interpersonal interactions between themselves and students, and also among students in all attendance groups.

The traditional language laboratory consists of computer-based exercises in which students practice the language individually, working on language form drills and listening comprehension activities. In addition to the traditional approach to the laboratory requirement, students in the study participated in a weekly conversation hour focusing on improving oral proficiency. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to determine the effect of two different types of conversation hours, face-to-face and virtual, on the oral proficiency levels of students enrolled in intermediate Spanish classes at the college level. Oral proficiency was measured using the Simulated Oral Proficiency Interview (SOPI), before and after treatment. The face-to-face conversation hours took place at the language laboratory in a classroom and the virtual conversation hours took place in the online multi-user virtual environment known as Second Life. The research question was: What is the effect of attending virtual conversation hours or face-to-face conversation hours on students' oral proficiency? The statistical data analysis was conducted using the conversation hours as the independent variable (face-to-face or virtual), the SOPI posttest scores as the dependent variable, and the SOPI pretest scores as the covariate. A total sample of 52 students was involved. Posttest data were collected following 14 weeks of treatment during which students in each group attended the weekly conversation hours. Data analysis showed there was significant difference in oral proficiency gain between the face-to-face group and the virtual group. The results of the ANCOVA test allowed the rejection of the null hypothesis, as there was a significant difference in effect on the adjusted SOPI posttest scores of the participants in the virtual conversation group versus those in the face-to-face conversation group. The virtual group improved their oral proficiency significantly better than the face-to-face group. In addition, the SOPI scores of both groups increased significantly. The SOPI posttest scores were significantly higher than the SOPI pretest scores for both groups. Therefore, both face-to-face and virtual conversation hours could yield a supplemental method to the traditional approach of the language laboratory to improve communicative competence.

Denna studie syftar till att undersöka hur förskolans dagliga verksamhet formas och möjliggörs av tidsliga och rumsliga förutsättningar. Vi har närmat oss detta ämne genom att observera två klasser, en med fyra- och en med femåringar, på en stor förskola i São Paulo, Brasilien. Genom att fokusera på hur rum, scheman, rutiner, regler, material och normer samverkar till att forma denna förskola som en institution, vill vi undersöka barns och vuxnas möjligheter att skapa och omförhandla tid och rum inom förskolan. Vi har valt att undersöka detta genom en etnografisk ansats, där vi främst samlat in fältanteckningar som vi tolkat och diskuterat i förhållande till ett institutions- och aktörsperspektiv. Med stöd i Foucaults teorier om disciplinär makt, där den tidsliga och rumsliga organiseringen av institutioner diskuteras i relation till människors tankar, handlingar och kroppens rörelser, har vi analyserat våra fältanteckningar som uttryck och förhandlingar av normer och makt. För att tydligare få syn på dessa processer har vi speglat våra observationer mot ett urval av skandinavisk förskoleforskning som diskuterar makt och normer. Genom att återknyta till denna forskning och betona vår bakgrund inom en svensk förskoletradition, har vi försökt lyfta vår analys till att diskutera hur den tidsliga och rumsliga organiseringen i förskolor alltid genomsyras av särskilda maktrelationer och normer. Resultatet av vår analys visar på en tydlig kollektiv norm i de brasilianska förskolegrupperna. Organiseringen av tid och rum vilar på klassen som kollektiv enhet, där barns individuella behov ofta får stå åt sidan för planerade gruppaktiviteter. Studien visar också hur olika rum i förskolan – i synnerhet korridoren, klassrummet och lekplatsen – härbärgerar olika förväntningar och normer på barn och vuxna som ofta tar sig i uttryck i kroppsligstyrning. Samtidigt visar våra observationer hur barn och vuxna identifierar mellanrum i förskolans tidsliga och rumsliga struktur och utvecklar strategier för att kringgå styrning och istället omförhandla förskolans verksamhet och skapa egna aktiviteter inom institutionens ramar.

Children’s outdoor play is decreasing. One factor is children's increased use of technology. Contributing to an existing research project, Hållbara Lekmiljöer i Staden by Uppsala University and KTH, the aim of this research project is to investigate the potential role technology could play in children’s outdoor play if integrated within outdoor environments. A further aim of the project is to understand how children use and repurpose (appropriate) their surroundings for play, and whether evidence of one child's play can influence a future child’s play. After a review of relevant literature and previous work, the project conducted a workshop to understand how children conduct outdoor play. Through analysing the behaviours and activities of the children during this workshop (obtained via observations and interviews), three play patterns involving natural materials emerged. These include collecting materials, constructing structures using the materials, and destroying materials. The former two, alongside appropriation and technology, became themes for ideation and inspired the design process, which ultimately produced The Drum. The Drum is a digital-physical play artefact that allows children to create patterns based on their combination and types of touch interactions. Children used the technology to facilitate their play, successful appropriations due to three design features: a recognisable output medium, portability, and small design. However, these features were unable to influence future play and behaviour due to the lack of development of The Drum and the research setup. Therefore, further development of The Drum and a better research setup are suggested as actions for future work.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Integrated approaches in the study of petroleum exploration are increasingly becoming significant in recent times and have yielded much better result as oil exploration is a combination of different related topics. The production capacity in hydrocarbon exploration has been the major concern for oil and gas industries. In the present work an integrated approach was made with seismic, well logs and biostratigraphy for predicting the depositional environment and to understand the heterogeneity within the reservoirs belonging to Valanginian (Early Cretaceous) age of Gamtoos Basin, Offshore South Africa. Objectively, the integrated work was mainly based on seismic stratigraphy (seismic sequence and seismic facie analysis) for interpretation of the depositional environments with combination of microfossil biostratigraphic inputs. The biostratigraphic study provides evidences of paleo depth from benthic foraminifera and information about bottom condition within the sedimentary basin, changing of depositional depth during gradual basinal fill during the Valanginian time. The petrophysical characterization of the reservoir succession was based on formation evaluation studies using well logs to investigate the hydrocarbon potential of the reservoir across Valanginian depositional sequence. Further, the static modeling from 2D-seismic data interpreted to a geological map to 3D-numerical modeling by stochastic model to quantify the evaluation of uncertainty for accurate characterisation of the reservoir sandstones and to provide better understanding of the spatial distribution of the discrete and continuous Petrophysical properties within the study area.

No description available.