<p>The aim of this study is to find out if dramatic structure is essential to the sitcom's ability to entertain and make audiences laugh. This study is a comparative analysis of the more humorous American situation comedy <em>Friends</em> and the less humorous Swedish situation comedy <em>Svensson, Svensson</em>. However, as no major structural flaws are found in either situation comedy the conclusion must be that dramatic structure does not impact on a sitcom's ability to amuse.</p> / <p>Denna uppsats undersöker huruvida den dramaturgiska strukturen är en förutsättning för att en situationskomedi ska fungera väl – det vill säga, vara underhållande och locka till skratt. I en komparativ analys av den mycket väl fungerande amerikanska situationskomedin <em>Friends</em> och den mindre bra svenska situationskomedin <em>Svensson, Svensson</em> framkom dock inga större strukturella brister hos något av analysobjekten. Följaktligen är inte den dramaturgiska strukturen avgörande för slutresultatets förmåga att roa.</p>

Central to many theories of deviance and delinquency (differential association, social learning, and social bond) are peer and familial influences on deviant behavior. A conceptual framework that incorporated both peer and familial influence to address the role of cross-sex peers on female deviance was built based on a review of the literature. Using substance use as an indicator of deviance, the effects of having three forms of male associates (male friends, romantic partners, and sexual partners) on female substance use were examined. Focus was on the effects of different types of male peer relationships, how those effects differed from the effects of female peer relationships, and how parental control might be greater for girls with only female peers. The conceptual model incorporated three measures of parental control—parentally granted autonomy, parental presence at home, and time spent in shared activities with parents—that were used to test the effects of male associates on female substance use. Analyzing data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), one combined measure for male associates was regressed on female substance use while controlling for parental control measures to determine if the effects of male associates on female substance use were mediated by parental control. Results indicated that while each type of male associate increased the likelihood of female substance use, effects were stronger for romantic and sexual partners than for male friends. Female friends also increased the likelihood of substance use. While the effects of male friends did not significantly differ from the effects of female friends, the effects of romantic and sexual partners did. The effects of male associates were significant even with the inclusion of parental control measures. Though both relationships with male associates and parents significantly affected female substance use, results did not provide support for the conceptual model. With results providing greater support for theories of peer influence than parental influence, future research should continue to examine peer relationship influences on deviance, how these influences vary by type of association, and how gender effects peer influence processes.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--McMaster University, 2005. / Supervisor: Harvey A. Feit. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 238-258). Also available online.

Mitt arbete handlar om hur franskstuderande elever i grundskolan skulle kunna använda sina kunskaper i engelska. Det engelska språket innehåller en mängd romanska ord, d.v.s. ord med franskt och latinskt ursprung. Således finns det många ord i franskan som eleverna känner igen från engelskan. Min uppfattning är att det borde underlätta för eleverna i franskinlärningen att utnyttja denna företeelse som en inlärningsstrategi och en kommunikationsstrategi. Att använda sina förkunskaper vid inlärning är för övrigt ett grepp som många lärare förespråkar. Resultatet av min undersökning i fyra högstadieklasser visar att det finns en klar positiv attityd till denna form av ordinlärning, men också att den kan förefalla förvirrande för många elever. I min uppsats behandlar jag även ordinlärning i allmänhet samt vikten av att använda sina förkunskaper.

This study deals with an important and challenging issue that each school is facing today, that is the prevention work of bullying. The purpose is to investigate how two elementary schools define bullying and how the work of prevention looks like today. The study highlights two models, Farsta and Friends, that many schools follows in their work and struggle against bullying. We conducted this study by looking at how bullying looks at two elementary schools. How these schools developed working method in order to secure a safe environment for all children in the school. The findings in this study highlighted the involvement of these two schools in the work of prevention against bullying, which methods they used and how these schools worked intensively with organisations such as Friends. As a conclusion we want to say that there is an excellent work that is going on in these schools but the struggle is not over.

Studiens syfte var att bidra med kunskaper kring kollegial observation av nätbaserad undervisning genom att beskriva och analysera hur detta har använts och upplevts vid Umeå universitet. Data samlades in genom intervjuer med 6 universitetslärare som deltog i en vidareutbildning om kollegial observation på nätet. En kvalitativ analys genomfördes och resultaten visar att kollegial observation på nätet i huvudsak upplevdes som något positivt. Samtliga deltagare var positiva till kollegial observation av nätbaserade kurser och de tyckte att metoden uppmuntrade reflektion och lärande. Resultatet visade också att lärarna till stor utsträckning utgick i från egna erfarenheter när de bedömde kollegornas undervisning. Flera av informanterna upplevde rollen som observatör som mer givande än när rollen var att bli observerad. Hinder för kollegial observation upplevdes till stor del bero på organisation, tidsbrist och oförstående kollegor. Att känna trygghet med kollegan visade sig vara av central vikt för att överhuvudtaget vilja använda kollegial observation i nätbaserad undervisning.

Critical Friends Groups (CFGs) were established in 1995 as a form of professional development for teachers. The current study employed the use of video as a medium for documenting the effects of CFG participation on teaching practices. This allowed links to be drawn between CFG participation and teaching practice, a critical gap in the literature. This qualitative case study drew upon Knowles’s Adult Learning Theory to help provide a framework for thinking about Critical Friends Groups and analyzing the findings. The 9 participants in this study included 1 third grade Early Intervention Program teacher and 8 CFG members from an urban elementary school. Multiple data sources were analyzed including classroom teaching practice videos, focal teacher's and CFG members’ written reflections, CFG meeting verbatim transcriptions, focal teacher and CFG member interviews, and researcher memos. Data analysis was iterative and axial coding led to a code book depicting the final 6 key themes: change in teacher attitude toward the use of video, shared teaching practice, pedagogical-driven conversations, change in pupil engagement, captured classroom practice and promotion of teacher reflection. Barriers to the use of video in a CFG included logistics and teacher resistance. The researcher used data triangulation, member-checking and an audit trail to assure the trustworthiness of the study. Teachers reported that they learned from watching one another’s practices and from discussing each other’s ideas. The use of video in this study appeared to offer a viable innovation in an already prevalent model of professional development, CFGs. Video appeared to have much potential at the in-service level as it helped to cultivate knowledge, skills, and attitudes among teachers.

School-based physical education is a critical setting for the promotion of physical activity and health among adolescents. However, enrollment in physical education significantly decreases when physical education becomes an optional subject in grade 11, with only 10% of females and 22% of males choosing to enroll. Limited research has identified individual and social environmental perceived barriers to enrollment in elective physical education. Further, no research has explored perceived individual and social environmental facilitators to electing to enroll in physical education. Thus, the purpose of the study was to identify perceived barriers and facilitators to intention to enroll in elective physical education among a diverse group of female and male adolescents using focus group methodology. <p>Two schools were purposely selected to participate in this study, one with the highest enrollment in grade 11 physical education (57%) and one with the lowest enrollment in grade 11 physical education (33%). By selecting schools with the highest and lowest enrollment, comparisons were made between the perceived barriers and facilitators identified by the participants in a school with high enrollment and a school with low enrollment. However, when participant recruitment occurred, no male students at the high enrollment school indicated they did not intend to enroll in grade 11 physical education. In order to attain sufficient participant recruitment within each required group (i.e., male- no intention group) the school with the second highest enrollment in grade 11 physical education (40%) was included within the study. <p>Grade 10 adolescents (N=63) with either an intention to enroll or no intention to enroll in grade 11 physical education participated in a focus group interview. Focus groups were separated based on gender (female/male) and intention to enroll in grade 11 physical education (intention/no intention). Following the completion of the focus group interviews barriers and facilitators were categorized, using McLeroys ecological model, as individual level (e.g., intrapersonal) or social environmental (e.g., interpersonal, institutional, community). <p> Findings revealed several factors that influenced students enrollment intention. However, differences were minimal between factors reported by students in the high and low enrollment schools. Differences were more prominent between gender and intention. These differences between females and males and between participants who were intending to enroll and participants who were not intending to enroll had consistent overarching themes. At the individual level (i.e., intrapersonal) four factors were associated with enrollment intention: past experience, self-efficacy, personal choice: scheduling, and knowledge. Several social environmental factors (interpersonal, institutional, and community) were also reported. These included parents, friends, teammates/coaches, teacher, course curriculum, and activity opportunities within the community.

Although the Epicurean ethical system is fundamentally egoistic and hedonistic, it attributes a surprisingly significant role to friendship. Even so, I argue that traditional discussions of Epicurean friendship fail to adequately account for the value (or pleasure) of individual friends. In this thesis I present an amended notion of Epicurean friendship that better accounts for all of the pleasure friends afford. However, the success of my project requires rejecting an Epicurean ethical principle. Because of this, I explore textual evidence both in favor and against the amended notion I propose and the problematic ethical principle. After arguing against the problematic ethical principle and dispelling additional objections to my project, I conclude that Epicureans should endorse the amended notion of friendship I have developed.

School-based physical education is a critical setting for the promotion of physical activity and health among adolescents. However, enrollment in physical education significantly decreases when physical education becomes an optional subject in grade 11, with only 10% of females and 22% of males choosing to enroll. Limited research has identified individual and social environmental perceived barriers to enrollment in elective physical education. Further, no research has explored perceived individual and social environmental facilitators to electing to enroll in physical education. Thus, the purpose of the study was to identify perceived barriers and facilitators to intention to enroll in elective physical education among a diverse group of female and male adolescents using focus group methodology. <p>Two schools were purposely selected to participate in this study, one with the highest enrollment in grade 11 physical education (57%) and one with the lowest enrollment in grade 11 physical education (33%). By selecting schools with the highest and lowest enrollment, comparisons were made between the perceived barriers and facilitators identified by the participants in a school with high enrollment and a school with low enrollment. However, when participant recruitment occurred, no male students at the high enrollment school indicated they did not intend to enroll in grade 11 physical education. In order to attain sufficient participant recruitment within each required group (i.e., male- no intention group) the school with the second highest enrollment in grade 11 physical education (40%) was included within the study. <p>Grade 10 adolescents (N=63) with either an intention to enroll or no intention to enroll in grade 11 physical education participated in a focus group interview. Focus groups were separated based on gender (female/male) and intention to enroll in grade 11 physical education (intention/no intention). Following the completion of the focus group interviews barriers and facilitators were categorized, using McLeroys ecological model, as individual level (e.g., intrapersonal) or social environmental (e.g., interpersonal, institutional, community). <p> Findings revealed several factors that influenced students enrollment intention. However, differences were minimal between factors reported by students in the high and low enrollment schools. Differences were more prominent between gender and intention. These differences between females and males and between participants who were intending to enroll and participants who were not intending to enroll had consistent overarching themes. At the individual level (i.e., intrapersonal) four factors were associated with enrollment intention: past experience, self-efficacy, personal choice: scheduling, and knowledge. Several social environmental factors (interpersonal, institutional, and community) were also reported. These included parents, friends, teammates/coaches, teacher, course curriculum, and activity opportunities within the community.