The competencies and needs of those entering the teaching profession have become the subject of public debate since the release of A Nation at Risk. Subsequently many comprehensive and comparative reviews have documented the socialization of those entering the teaching profession especially student teachers and first-year teachers. The problems of beginning teachers have produced survival and self-oriented concerns. Internships and induction programs have been developed to ease the socialization of beginning teachers and mediate these concerns. As internships are developed and induction programs implemented, descriptive field studies which examine the processes of beginning teacher socialization are needed. Particularly, studies which investigate the socialization of first-year teachers prepared in cooperative field-based programs are necessary. This study was designed to document and analyze the teaching experiences of four first-year teachers who completed an extended field-based Internship – CPEP (Cooperative Professional Education Program). These teaching experiences were documented in terms of a conceptual framework drawn from socialization theory, occupational socialization theory, and teacher socialization research. Three questions were developed to guide this research into the teacher socialization process: 1) What are the socialization structures and processes, formal and informal, which shaped teachers' perceptions of their first year of teaching? 2) What are the teachers' perceptions of problems encountered and what adjustments are made? 3) What are the common concerns shared by these beginning teachers? The conceptual framework, socialization theory, coupled with a comparative case study design, were utilized to collect, organize, and interpret the data. Data sources included interviews, questionnaires, observations, video tapes, and journals. These multiple data sources provided evidence of the factors which explain beginning teachers’ induction into the teaching profession, teaching experiences in terms of teacher socialization theory and research and the relationship between teacher socialization and occupational socialization theory. The answers to the research questions are as follows: First, several significant contextual factors shaped these first-year teachers' perceptions of teaching: the organizational nature of the schools, the physical demands necessary to maintain energy levels for teaching, and the lack of time for planning. The influence of each teacher's primary socializing agent, the internship mentor teacher was expressed through a process of collegial emulation. Their students and teachers in other schools were also influential socializing agents. The behavioral outcomes of the teachers consistently focused on issues related to efficiency and organization. Second. the most significant self-perceived problems were the lack of planning time and the dynamics of working with other staff members. Although these beginning teachers became increasingly self-critical about the consequences of their teaching, they maintained a tone of confidence and competence. Third, the Stages of Concern Questionnaire administered to the teachers revealed relatively high student-focused (task) and teacher-oriented (impact) concern intensities. Their most commonly shared concerns included refocusing their teaching and identifying the consequences of their instruction. Although institutional demands influenced teacher adjustment to the norms and values of the profession and to the school as a social organization, the teachers also took an active role in this socialization process. The teachers were influenced by institutional norms, but they also created new roles and norms. Consequently, their socialization was a dynamic and interactive process. Occupational socialization variables which linked teacher socialization to occupation socialization theory included training, formal and informal mechanisms of control, and stages of socialization. The research findings contribute to the teacher education knowledge base and should be of value to four primary audiences: school site administrators who supervise beginning teachers, staff development administrators who organize in-service programs, governing bodies which regulate teacher certification, and university personnel who develop and supervise teacher preparation programs.

Recent research suggests a lack of information about the experiences of first-generation doctoral men who have moved from ground-based education to online education, which can negatively impact program completion for this group. This collective case study investigated the experiences of a group of first-generation doctoral male students attempting doctoral-level online education for the first time, in particular, to identify and develop a deep understanding of their experiences in interacting, participating, communicating, and relating with colleagues and instructors. The conceptual frameworks of the study were connectivism, experiential learning, symbolic interactionism, and constructionism. Data were collected through participant questionnaires, Skype interviews, and blogs, and analyzed using Microsoft Excel, Quicktime software, and NVivo to develop themes and codes that were intuitively constructed by the researcher. The study results provided evidence of limited interaction, participation, communication, group work or collaboration, and personal relationships with colleagues and instructors in online education at the university. Study findings suggest needed areas of improvement for universities, especially as they relate to students feeling more connected to their colleagues and instructors. The study findings can inform the design of practice that impacts retention and degree completion of first-generation doctoral male students who have transitioned from ground-based education to online education.

Retention of 1st-year students is a challenge facing higher education and remains relevant for all stakeholders. Low persistence negatively affects individual students, institutions, and society as a whole. Nationally, a significant number of students have reported working while in college, particularly 1st-generation, low socioeconomic status (SES), and racial and ethnic minority students, those same groups who are at higher risk of experiencing low retention rates. Guided by Tinto's interactionalist model of student departure, binary logistic regression analyses of archival data were used in this retrospective prediction study. The focus was to determine how on-campus employment (OCE), 1st-generation, low-SES, and racial and ethnic minority student status were related to retention to the 2nd year for 1,582 first-time full-time students who entered a 4 year institution in the fall semesters of 2013 to 2015. Students who worked on campus during their 1st year of college were nearly twice as likely to be retained as those students who did not work on campus. Although living on campus was found to be a significant predictor of retention for students who did not work on campus during their 1st year in college, it was not a significant predictor of retention for students who did work on campus. Based on the findings, a white paper was developed, recommending that student employment practices on campus be modified such that 1st-year students, especially those who may not be living on campus, be made more aware of OCE opportunities. Creating a better understanding of the role OCE plays in student retention has positive social change implications for students, faculty members, staff members, and administrators needing to make informed decisions that increase student retention.

I am inspired by the serendipitous connections to people, places, and things in the world around me. I approach art, much like my life, with an initial idea or plan, only to end up changing it. My pieces are records in the form of mixed media altered books that act as visual journals of my experiences. Phases of a 1st Year Teacher focuses on how I personally worked through these phases and attitudes my first year of teaching, and helped me to rediscover why I chose the teaching profession.

It is well established that such student precollege cognitive measures as high school GPA and test scores (ACT, SAT) have a certain predictive value in student retention. While research is replete with evidence of the value of student advising in a college’s retention strategy, there is a gap in the literature on the impact of using noncognitive survey information by advisors to better target student deficiencies. The primary goal of this study was to explore the relationship between retention and exposure to noncognitive risk factor information for students and advisors. One thousand fifty-four freshmen students enrolled in a first-year experience (FYE) course at Dixie State College were given the Student Strengths Inventory (SSI) survey that measures six different noncognitive risk factor variables. By using a regression discontinuity design, students were initially divided into two sample groups using an index score generated by combining the high school GPA and ACT (or equivalent) test score. Students who fell below the cutoff point were further subdivided by random sampling into three groups: (a) students who received their survey results with no further action, (b) students selected for general advisement, and (c) students selected for targeted advisement using the survey results. When comparing the retention rates from fall semester 2009 to fall semester 2010, the retention rates varied as predicted by the researcher; however, these differences in retention could not be attributed to the usage of the survey with one exception: when the treatment group was filtered only to include first-generation students, usage of the survey results was statistically significant in contributing to a 62% retention rate, the highest of any of the sample groups studied.

[Abstract]: This is a project to implement a Mice and Elephants queueing discipline, which favoursshort flows over long flows, on Linux. The project has three aims. The first aim is toproduce a prototype Mice and Elephants router for the purpose of further evaluation ofthe Mice and Elephants strategy and the Shortest Job First strategy. The second aim is tomake a contribution to Linux by making my implementation as code that is both fit fordistribution with Linux and useful in a small business or domestic setting. The third aimis to explore and document a method of creating Linux queueing disciplines in general.

Appendix in back pocket / xi, 284 leaves : / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (M.D.)--University of Adelaide, based on a study conducted in the Dept. of Social and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, 1973

<p>First North är en alternativ handelsplats för aktier, som är till för att små bolag med stor tillväxtspotential ska kunna plocka in externt kapital för att möjliggöra en snabbare expansion än om de varit privatägda aktiebolag. First North ställer dock inte samma formella krav på de listade bolagen som det ställs på företag som är noterade på Stockholmsbörsen då dessa är betydligt mycket större.</p><p>Under år 2007 har de växt fram en stark förtroendekritik mot bolag som är listade på First North. Analytiker och media har framfört stark kritik och menar att bolagen är alldeles för kortsiktiga i sitt tänkande och att de blygsamma krav som ställs på bolagen inte garanterar en trovärdig förvaltning. Kritikerna menar att detta tillsammans med ledningens girighet leder till att företagen vill lura externa intressenter på kapital.</p><p>För att undersöka om de finns någon sanning i dessa påståenden har vi undersökt hur strategierna ser ut för bolag som nyligen listats på First North. Detta har möjliggjorts genom fem stycken intervjuer med listade bolag på First North. Under intervjuernas gång har vi frågat antingen verkställande direktör eller styrelseordförande på hur de ser på strategierna för bolaget.</p><p>Med hjälp av olika teorier om strategier samt institutionell teori har vi försökt söka svar i hur ledningen ser på strategier samt försöka förklara varför de valt de strategier som de gjort.</p><p>De resultat som vi kommit fram till är att den kritik som riktats mot bolag listade på First North är befogad gällande kortsiktighet. Men till vår förvåning är att det inte ledningen som i första hand ska ställas till ansvar för valen av strategier, även om dessa såklart är de som genomfört strategibyten, utan att de är analytikerna själva som bär störst skuld i detta. Mycket beroende för att analytikerna har ett väldigt stort inflytande över vad som anses vara de bästa för bolagen och att de är svårt för ett enskilt nyligen listat bolag att stå emot de externa påtryckningar som de finansiella institutionerna har.</p>

New layered cathode materials, Li₀.₉Ni₀.₄₅Ti₀.₅₅O₂, were synthesized by means of ion-exchange from Na₀.₉Ni₀.₄₅Ti₀.₅₅O₂. The degree of cation disordering in the material depends critically on the synthesis conditions. Longer times and higher temperatures in the ion-exchange process induced more cation disordering. However, the partially disordered phase showed better capacity retention than the least disordered phase. First principles calculations indicated this could be attributed to the migration of Ti⁺⁴ into the Li layer during the electrochemical testing, which seems to depend sensitively on the Ni⁺² -Ti⁺⁴ configuration in the transition metal layer. The poor conductivity of this material could also be the reason for its low specific capacity according to the Density of States (DOS) obtained from first principles calculations indicating that only Ni participates in the electronic conductivity. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Full text release at OhioLINK's ETD Center delayed at author's request