Instant messaging with Internet-based software is a ubiquitous form of communication in industrialized nations. In fact, many educators are observing that students engage with instant messaging while simultaneously engaged in academic activity. Though this type of multitasking is pervasive, educational researchers have not examined how the practice of instant messaging impacts learning outcomes. This dissertation describes the background, empirical and theoretical foundations, methods and results of a study examining the impact of instant messaging activity on learning, where instant messaging and learning are simultaneous activities. The question posed is grounded in the related areas of instant messaging practices, the Generation M profile, Cognitive Load Theory, and integration of instant messaging in K-16 classrooms. This work presents empirical evidence pointing out the necessity of conducting empirical study regarding how instant messaging activity might impact learning. Quantitative methods used to conduct the study are presented including data collection instruments. The results of the study are discussed in broad terms related to Generation M and Cognitive Load Theory. Methodological limitations related to practice opportunities for the research sample as well as the performance measure used are detailed. In addition, implications of the results in relationship to those teaching members of Generation M in K-16 classrooms as well as those designing instruction for this population are discussed. The discussion concludes with recommendations for further research in this area.

No / Age progression that involves the reconstruction of facial appearance with a natural ageing effect has several applications. These include the search for missing people and identification of fugitives. The majority of age progression methods reported in the literature are data driven. Hence, such methods learn from training data and utilise statistical models such as 3D morphable models and active appearance models (AAM). Principal component analysis (PCA) which is a vital part of these models has an unfortunate drawback of averaging out texture details. Therefore, they work as a low pass filter and as such many of the face skin deformations and minor details become faded. Interestingly, recent work in 2D and 3D animation has shown that patches of the human face are somewhat similar when compared in isolation. Thus, researchers have proposed generating novel faces by compositing small face patches, usually from large image databases. Following these ideas, we propose a novel age progression model which synthesises aged faces using a hybrid of these two techniques. First, an invertible model of age synthesis is developed using AAM and sparse partial least squares regression (sPLS). Then the texture details of the face are enhanced using the patch-based synthesis approach. Our results show that the hybrid algorithm produces both unique and realistic images. Furthermore, our method demonstrates that the identity and ageing effects of subjects can be more emphasised.

The aim of this thesis is to describe some central conceptual ideas expressed in the language of six computer interested boys. The starting-point is the philosophy of language of Ludwig Wittgenstein, where language is seen as something deeply integrated in our practices, traditions and culture. The use of our language shows its meaning. The material consists of 18 months of observations in the computer room of a secondary school and a series of three deep-interviews with each one of the boys over a period of three years. The computer has a central function in their identity work. Within our culture, this object - with its structure and its ways of operating - has become a metaphor for human thinking. It offers freedom and control. The discussions involved in this work and its form of representation problemize some of the fundamental assumptions of linguistics and the humanities. The three portraits (chapters 3-5) are to be understood as meaningful examples, while the persons portrayed are to be seen as symbols, inviting the reader to reflect over our culture and our practices. The fostering into the computer world and the ways of looking at the world are shown through the "personal voice", each followed by an interpretation linked to the theories and results of other researchers. In the boys' ways of using language there are differences and similarities. Learning, growing, creating, signifying 'freedom', can be seen as central notions in the identity work of one of them. With another of the boys there is a strong resemblance in his talking of computers and of his personal God; he "fixes" the world through dividing-lines, strong recommendations, further emphasized through the frequent use of the verb ska (shall, should). In the third portrait it is evident that the boy's abundance of words and narrative-making is a strategy of preventing nearness and to be able both to control the interview situation and to intensify the here and now. "Going deep" into computers make certain assumptions about the world more essential than others. Central concepts explicit in their common language game are logic, power and control (chapter 7). There is a common tendency to hierarchize and dichotomize the world; upper/under world, outer/inner world, logic/feeling, we/they, right/wrong. Stability can be seen as a summarizing notion. The deeper significance of their feeling of safety and control in the computer world is a fostering both into male dominance and into a dominant way of thinking about knowledge as something primarily logical, controllable and possible to account for. This masculinist language game is confirmed in different ways: individually, in the group and at a more subtle and symbolic level. / <p>Diss. Umeå : Univ., 1992</p> / digitalisering@umu

Vid användning av audio-perceptuell röstanalys för framtagning av referensröster är begreppet reliabilitet av central betydelse. Syftet med denna uppsats var att undersöka reliabiliteten mellan erfarna röstlogopeders perceptuella röstanalys av ett antal utvalda röstexempel. Förhoppningen var att utifrån detta kunna sammanställa en början till ett referensröstmaterial bestående av manliga och kvinnliga referensröster representativa för olika parametrar i SVEA-protokollet. De specifika frågeställningarna var: Hur samstämmiga i perceptuell röstanalys är bedömarna kring de valda röstexemplens olika parametrar? Är någon eller några av de parametrar som bedömarna är överens om extra framträdande i någon röst så att denna röst kan användas som referensröst? Utifrån en databas med 65 röstinspelningar valdes 15 röstexempel ut av författarna att skattas av sju erfarna logopeder med SVEA-protokollet. En andra bedömningsomgång genomfördes med tre röstexempel slumpvis utvalda från de 15 röstexemplen i den första bedömningsomgången. Statistiska analyser av logopedernas inter- och intrabedömarreliabilitet gjordes både på alla röstexempel och på samtliga kvalitetsparametrar. Bedömarnas skattningar uppvisade mycket stor spridning i flera röstexempel, vilket inverkade på korrelationernas utfall och kan vid en första anblick ge ett missvisande resultat. En djupare analys av bedömarnas skattningar av enskilda röstparametrar visade på betydligt högre samstämmighet. Utifrån detta resultat tog författarna fram tre potentiella referensröster. Flera av de övriga 12 röstexemplen hade relativt hög interbedömarreliabilitet men då skattningsvärdena var så pass låga för dessa röster valdes de inte ut som referensröster. Trots låga skattningsvärden skulle dessa röstexempel kunna användas som referensröster för att exemplifiera lägre grader av avvikelser. Slutsatsen är att det finns skillnader i hur bedömarna skattat röstexemplen i denna studie och reliabiliteten mellan bedömarna skiftar. Författarna drar även slutsatsen att det är motiverat att fortsätta leta och analysera röstexempel för att få en heltäckande uppsättning referensröster. Metodvalet i denna studie anses vara en framkomlig väg för att fortsätta forma detta referensröstmaterial. / Interrater and intrarater reliability are of great importance in the selection of reference voice examples. The purpose of this study is to investigate the reliability of experienced speech and language pathologists’ evaluations of selected voice samples. The aim is to begin a collection of male and female reference voice examples which represent different voice quality parameters according to the Stockholm Voice Evaluation Approach (SVEA). The specific questions are: How well do speech and language pathologists agree when rating voices along different voice quality parameters? Are any of the voice quality parameters in the speech samples prominent enough to be qualified as reference voice examples? The authors selected 15 voice samples out of a database consisting of 65 voice samples. The voices were evaluated by seven experienced speech and language pathologists using the SVEA protocol. The results were statistically analyzed to study interrater reliability. In order to investigate intrarater reliability a second evaluation session was carried out in which the speech and language pathologists evaluated three voice samples randomly selected from the 15 samples used in the first evaluation session. The results showed a wide range in the raters’ evaluations, which had an impact on the correlations. However, a closer look at separate parameters indicated considerably higher similarity in the ratings. Based on these results three reference voice examples were selected. Even though high correlation values were found in several of the other twelve voice samples, the ratings in these were not high enough to qualify them as reference voice examples in this study. Nevertheless, these voices can still be used to exemplify various degrees of deviation. The conclusions are that there is a great variation regarding reliability between and within raters and also regarding how the different speech and language pathologists rate the voices. The authors also conclude that the search for clear reference voice examples is highly motivated and ought to be continued, preferably with the method used in this study.

Ease, comfort and efficiency are assumed desirables; they form the established norm of unquestioned values in commercial product design. The norm shapes our everyday. Those daily things considered mundane and commonplace, form how we go about our daily doings. How we actually live our lives. Design needs to be there to defend human interest; to approach the user differently than a passive consumer, to create space for human qualities in contemporary everyday life.  I have been exploring the potential of designing for effort, and argue for its value by giving examples. I have developed a series of three products under the shared name Friction Intended. The proposals evoke effort of different kinds, each creating space for other alternative values. Object A is a light concept working with reflections. Reflecting from one surface to another the light can be followed and its behavior studied. The reflective elements are tools for exploration and active learning; to actively perceive the daily phenomenon of light. Object B is a backpack to be assembled from a large sheet of textile and a set of straps. Over time, the usage of the bag can become a personal ritual. Wearing the bag can also be a statement; how will people  react when the large cloth is dramatically folded open in a public environment? Object C is a cup with rounded base. The cup moves; never fully finding its balance it sways back and forth ever differently depending on the amount of liquid inside and the qualities of the gestures it has been handled with. The attention is drawn to the moment by giving careful attention to a simple daily ritual. Designing for effort in everyday products creates space to design for an engaging and stimulating environment. Once deciding simple things are worth more time, strain and patience there is the opportunity to enrich those activities. Effort has the potential to create space for the development of contemporary rituals, active engagement and everyday curiosity. The design space of the potential of effort is a rich and varied. The examples given by the Friction Intended series, are representatives for a field where much more potential still lays. This is a call, especially on the design field, to question the given, to challenge the norm and to reflect on its impact.

Oliveira, Joan Edesson. Padre Osvaldo Carneiro Chaves: os caminhos da docência. 2006. 122f. Dissertação (Mestrado em Educação) - Universidade Federal do Ceará, Faculdade de Educação, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação, Fortaleza-CE, 2006. / Submitted by Maria Josineide Góis (josineide@ufc.br) on 2012-07-09T12:10:41Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2006_Dis_JEOliveira.pdf: 874712 bytes, checksum: 2fcd6283129a038503cc19f0b02c7432 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Maria Josineide Góis(josineide@ufc.br) on 2012-07-10T11:43:34Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2006_Dis_JEOliveira.pdf: 874712 bytes, checksum: 2fcd6283129a038503cc19f0b02c7432 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2012-07-10T11:43:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2006_Dis_JEOliveira.pdf: 874712 bytes, checksum: 2fcd6283129a038503cc19f0b02c7432 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006 / Trata da biografia do padre Osvaldo Carneiro Chaves, sacerdote nascido no município da Granja no ano de 1923 e que, durante quase três décadas, foi professor no Seminário da Betânia e no Colégio Sobralense, em Sobral, Ceará. Aborda a trajetória docente do padre Osvaldo, entre os anos de 1952 e 1980, quando o mesmo se aposentou como professor. Construído a partir de entrevistas e depoimentos do padre Osvaldo e dos seus ex-alunos, traça um perfil da docência desse personagem, buscando entender quem era esse professor, como era a sua sala de aula, e que ensinamentos a sua trajetória pode trazer para os professores de hoje e para os alunos dos cursos de formação de professores, futuros professores. Embora reconstitua toda a trajetória do padre Osvaldo, desde a sua infância, suas primeiras experiências escolares, sua entrada no seminário até a sua ordenação e o desenrolar do seu trabalho pastoral até os dias de hoje, a preocupação central do trabalho é com a trajetória docente do padre Osvaldo, esse período compreendido entre os anos de 1952 e 1980. Partindo da trajetória do padre Osvaldo apresentada por ele próprio em várias entrevistas faz, a seguir, um recorte para a sua trajetória docente, onde as falas do professor são postas em diálogo com as falas dos seus ex-alunos. A partir daí, explora as contradições entre as falas, procurando as contradições e o que elas refletem do biografado, para depois buscar, na sua trajetória como professor, a “exemplaridade educativa”, tentando entender o que esse professor tem a dizer aos professores de hoje e aos alunos dos cursos de formação de professores.

The 21st century is marked by the widespread influence of post-modernism and the relativisation of truth. As such, confidence in the truth of Scripture is flagging, and nowhere is this felt more, ironically, than in the appointment and the working of pastors of the Word of God. Movements such as the historical Jesus research abroad, and the so-called “New Reformation” in South Africa, are calling into question long-held tenets of the Christian faith, as well as the inerrant nature of the Bible. The failing trust in the Scripture has also led to a diminished reliance on exposition of the Bible. This again relates to the training of pastors, as theological training today is marked by greater disdain for biblical subjects and a threatening rift between practical theology and biblical exposition. The aim of this study is to demonstrate how the trend might be countered, by applying an exposition of portions of the book of Titus relevant to the selection, appoint, and task of the pastor, to the current situation as it exists today. The exposition focused on the following excerpts from the epistle: 1:1–2:8, 3:12–15. The pastor was discussed as the exemplification of the Church elder, but it was also noted that all that applies to the pastor, equally applies to all elders of the Church. Emphasis was laid on the character of the pastor, the biblical requirements for the ministry, the appointment of pastors, the biblically mandated task of the pastor, the role of the pastor in defending and teaching sound doctrine, and how the teaching of the pastor is to filter down through the congregation, through the older men to the younger men, the older women to the younger women, and how a general ethos of relational ministry is to pervade the mindset of the whole Church (pastor and congregants) in all that they do. Through the exposition, it is seen that biblical exposition is still relevant, and has a role to play in all spheres of life and theology, including practical theological concerns such as the appointment and task of pastors. / Dissertation (MA(Theol))--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

This thesis has served to accomplish several objectives. First, a foundation was laid for the consideration of ethical factors in an engineering context. This was done by first establishing the need for ethical judgement in the engineering disciplines. A summary of several significant classical ethical theories followed, providing several tools with which to evaluate decisions that have ethical implications. Finally, the conclusion was made that the best framework for making ethical decisions is found in the application of the virtues espoused by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Ce travail de thèse porte sur l'étude et le développement de stratégies innovantes pour la résolution, basée sur l'utilisation de la simulation et de la théorie de l'apprentissage statistique, de problèmes inverses dans le domaine contrôle non destructif (CND) par méthodes électromagnétiques. L’approche générale adoptée consiste à estimer un ensemble des paramètres inconnus, constituant un sous-ensemble des paramètres décrivant le scénario de contrôle étudié. Dans les cas de CND, les trois applications classiquement visées sont la détection, la localisation et la caractérisation de défauts localisés dans le matériau inspecté. Ce travail concerne d’une part la localisation et la caractérisation des fissures et d’autre part l'estimation de certains paramètres de sonde difficiles à maîtriser ou inconnus. Dans la littérature, de nombreuses méthodes permettant de remonter aux paramètres inconnus ont été étudiées. Les approches d'optimisation standard sont basées sur la minimisation d'une fonction de coût, décrivant l'écart entre les mesures et les données simulées avec un solveur numérique. Les algorithmes les plus répandus se fondent sur des approches itératives déterministes ou stochastiques. Cette thèse considère le problème de l'estimation de paramètres inconnus dans une perspective d'apprentissage statistique/automatique. L’approche supervisée adoptée est connue sous le nom de d’apprentissage par l'exemple (LBE en anglais). Elle se compose d’une première phase, dite hors ligne, pendant laquelle un « modèle inverse » est construit sur la base de la connaissance d’un ensemble de couples entrée/sortie connu, appelé ensemble d’entraînement. Une fois la phase d’apprentissage terminée et le modèle généré, le modèle est utilisé dans une phase dite en ligne pour prédire des sorties inconnues (les paramètres d'intérêt) en fonction de nouvelles entrées (signaux CND mesurés appartenant à un second ensemble dit de test) en temps quasi-réel. Lorsqu’on considère des situations pratiques d'inspection, en raison du grand nombre de variables impliquées, la création d'un modèle précis et robuste n’est pas une tâche triviale (problème connu comme la malédiction de la dimensionnalité). Grâce à une étude approfondie et systématique, l’approche développée dans cette thèse a conduit à la mise en place de différentes solutions capables d’atteindre une bonne précision dans l’estimation des paramètres inversés tout en conservant de très bonnes performances en temps de calcul. Le schéma LBE proposé dans cette thèse a été testé avec succès sur un ensemble des cas réels, en utilisant à la fois des données synthétiques bruitées et des mesures expérimentales. / The research activity of the PhD thesis focuses on the study and development of innovative strategies for the solution of inverse problems arising in the field of Non-Destructive Testing and Evaluation (NDT-NDE), based on the use of statistical learning theory. Generally speaking, the objective of the optimization stage is the retrieval of the unknown parameters within the studied electromagnetic scenario. In the case of NDT-NDE, the optimization problem, in terms of parameters to estimate, is divided into three stages, namely detection, localization and characterization. This work mainly addresses localization and characterization of crack(s) and/or estimation of probe(s) parameters. Unknown parameters, constituting a subset of the parameters set describing the electromagnetic scenario, are robustly estimated using several approaches. Standard optimization approaches are based on the minimization, by means of iterative approaches like stochastic and/or deterministic algorithms, of a cost function describing the discrepancy between measurements and prediction. This thesis considers the estimation problem in a machine learning perspective, adopting well known Learning-By-Example (LBE) paradigm. In a so-called offline phase, a surrogate inverse model is first fitted on a set of known input/output couples, generated through numerical simulations. Then, in a so-called online phase, the model predicts unknown outputs (the parameters of interest) based on new inputs (measured NDT signals) in quasi-real time. When considering practical inspection situations, due to the large number of variables involved (known as curse of dimensionality), obtaining an accurate and robust model is not a trivial task. This thesis carries out a deep and systematic study of different strategies and solutions to achieve simultaneously good accuracy and computational time efficiency in the parameters estimation. Moreover, a particular emphasis is put on the different approaches adopted for mitigating the curse of dimensionality issue. The proposed LBE schema has been tested with success on a wide set of practical problems, using both synthetic noisy data and experimental measurements.

While the body of evidence supporting the use of simulation-based learning in the education of health professionals is growing, howor why simulation-based learning works is not yet understood. There is a clear need for evidence, grounded in contemporary educational theory, to clarify the features of simulation instructional design that optimize learning outcomes and efficiency in health care professional students. Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) is a theoretical framework focused on a learner’s working memory capacity. One principle of CLT is example based learning. While this principle has been applied in both traditional classroom and laboratory settings, and has shown positive performance and learning outcomes, example based learning has not yet been applied to the simulation setting. This study had two main objectives: to explore if the example-based learning principle could successfully be applied to the simulation learning environment, and to establish response process validation evidence for a tool designed to measure types of cognitive load. Fifty-eight novice students from nursing, podiatric medicine, physician assistant, physical and occupational therapy programs participated in a blinded randomized control study. The dependent variable was the simulation brief. Participants were randomly assigned to either a traditional brief or a facilitated tutored problem brief. Performance outcomes were measured with verbal communications skill presented in the Introduction, Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation (I-SBAR) format. Response process evidence was collected from cognitive interviews of 11 students. Results indicate participation in a tutored problem brief led to statistically significant differences at t(52)=-3.259, p=.002 in verbal communication performance compared to students who participated in a traditional brief. Effect size for this comparison was d=(6.06-4.61)/1.63 = .89 (95% CI 0.32-1.44). Response process evidence demonstrated that additional factors unique to the simulationlearning environment should be accounted for when measuring cognitive load in simulation based learning (SBL). This study suggests that example based learning principles can be successfully applied to SBL and result in positive performance outcomes for health professions students. Additionally, measures of cognitive load do not appear to capture all contribution toload imposed by the simulation environment.