The study of perfection, progress and evolution is a central theme in the history of ideas. This thesis explores this theme seen and understood as part of a discourse in the new fields of anthropology, sociology and psychology in the nineteenth century. A particular focus is on the stance taken by philosophers, scientists and writers in the discussion of theories of human physical and mental evolution, as well as on their views concerning the nature of social progress and historical change. The wisdom and feasibility of improving the human species is discussed alongside an analysis of new methods of investigating and measuring physical and mental attributes of the human organism. The instruments used to assess the development of mind, body and society are described, and are viewed as part of an increased emphasis on the use of technology as an integral part of modern life, and as a means toward the ordered gathering of information in social-scientific practice. An international perspective is taken by observing the way in which ideas about the physical and mental development of humankind was discussed in light and consequence of English and European scientific exploration in the Southern Hemisphere. Further, an evaluation is made of the manner of the spread of new thought in the social sciences from the intellectual and cultural �centre� of England and Europe to the Anglo-European community located at the �periphery� in Australia in the late nineteenth century. In particular the educative role played by the non-professional enthusiast as a pivotal conduit for the dissemination of these ideas is highlighted and linked back to a significant tradition of amateur scholarship as a central phenomenon in the study of the history of ideas.

The focus of this thesis is to emphasise the lived experience of being a migrant, and of living in a multicultural society, and to acknowledge the multi-dimensionality of these experiences. The author conducted interviews with people from ethno-specific community groups in the Sydney suburb of Auburn. These interviews explored the physical, emotional and spiritual aspect of coming to terms with a changing sense of what is home and what is foreign. The tenor of the thesis is strongly optimistic and explores the social ecology of multiculturalism in Australia in the late 1990's, using Auburn, with its strong immigrant population and large Turkish community, as a case study. The contributions by the people of Auburn are woven through the thesis as voices in their own right, rather than as quotations for a line of argument. Social ecology, as a project, works to open up dimensions of awareness and to acknowledge complexity by addressing the physical and sensory levels of individual experience as well as the broader political and social contexts which frame people's lives. The thesis acknowledges that the success of contemporary Australian multiculturalism has something to do with the broad based policies that implement this social phenomenon. More importantly, multiculturalism succeeds because it has become the culture scape in which the soul of the community wanders. This thesis acknowledges that there is something intellectually difficult about the word soul, but there is an ecological value in James Hillman's idea of the soul as not an elevated idea but rather one 'down in the earth'; soul in this sense is about place, finding and taking root in a new place. / Doctor of Philosophy(PhD)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 251-288).

This study discussed past research, litigation, and legislation that pertained to the topics of parental involvement in special education. Past barriers were discussed that kept parents from interacting and suggestions were provided for future help in overcoming these barriers. In particular, parental perceptions of their roles as communicators and decision makers in the special education process were examined in terms of ethnicity and child’s educational level. Very few items found differences between the perceptions of Hispanic parents when compared to the perceptions of white parents; and some items found as children advance academically, there is less agreement among parents that they were able to be good communicators and good decision makers. Still, this research study showed that, overall, parents in Texas perceive that schools are allowing them to at least adequately fulfill these roles. Thus, the results of this study are much more positive than past research, which indicated that parents felt left out of their children’s education. This more positive perception could be a result of legislation passed to ensure parental roles in educational decision making; it could be a result of actions taken by the state of Texas to monitor the enactment of this legislation; or it could be because schools are taking a more active role in providing best practice services to students and parents in terms of communication and decision-making opportunities; or it could be because the parents who answered the survey were particularly compliant or complacent.

Designers use various representations to externalize their ideas, physical models being an important one. Physical models are widely used by designers and their use is promoted as an effective design tool by industry and government agencies. However, very little is known about the cognitive effects of physical models in the design process; the available guidelines are conflicting. Some researchers argue for the frequent implementation of physical models, while others observe that the use of physical models fixates designers. In light of these conflicts, the research discussed in this dissertation focuses on understanding the cognitive effects of physical models and developing guidelines for aiding designers in their implementation. A combination of controlled lab studies and qualitative studies is adopted to achieve said goal. The results from the controlled studies show that physical models supplement designers’ erroneous mental models and help them to come up with more ideas satisfying the problem requirements. These studies also demonstrate that design fixation is not inherent in physical modeling, but it is caused by the Sunk Cost Effect. According to Sunk Cost Effect, as designers spend more time building physical models of their initial ideas, they tend to fixate more to the variations of those ideas. A qualitative study on industry-sponsored projects and development cases of award-winning products further supports these results in more realistic situations. Further, the studies reported in this dissertation show that physical models can be effective tools for the mitigation of fixation to undesirable design features in a flawed example; however, these results can also depend upon the experience level of a designer in solving open-ended design problems. With these insights from the series of studies, a set of guidelines and a Model Error Reeducation Method (MERM) are formulated and tested with novice designers. MERM helps designers in identifying critical loads and interface designs they miss in their original designs, before prototyping. The results from the testing of this method show that this method is very useful in avoiding said errors in physical modeling.

In this paper, I will try to answer the question how the aesthetic idea in Kant’s aesthetic theory accounts for the universal validity of the subjective judgment of taste, and what the nature of the aesthetic idea is that makes such account possible. This claim about universal validity of the subjective judgment of taste in Kant’s philosophy is regarded to be problematic because of the seeming contradiction between the subjectivity of a judgment and its universality. What can solve this contradiction, from my point of view, is the role of the aesthetic idea that it plays in the judgment of taste and the subjective principle that puts cognitive powers of mind in a harmonious free relationship. The main feature that makes the aesthetic idea the source of the universal validity is its universal communicability expressed in the universally pleasurable feeling of the judgment of taste.

Purpose: The study that has been conducted is a comparative one, where the group compared different innovation management strategies used by three different globally- known Swedish firms that are in the manufacturing industry. The study is aimed at describing, analyzing and making conclusions of the innovation strategies used during the process of product development in the chosen companies bycomparing their similarities and differences. Method: The Study was carried out using a comparative study drawing on the qualitative data. Conclusion: Volvo CE and ABB CRC have similar strategies in internal idea generation because both firms have formalized systems, by using strong online data bases for idea sharing and evaluation. Volvo CE uses a pronounced forum called “Innovation Jams” for online idea sharing among Volvo Group employees whereas ABB CRC uses a strong data base called “ABB Inside” to evaluate ideas within the group. On the other hand, Scania R&D’s internal idea generation process is more informal as it is based on “person-to-person”. When it comes to external idea generation, Scania R&D has a more established strategy of using suppliers and customers for inspiration of ideas. However, ABB CRC generates inspirations from customers through its business centers, whereas Volvo CE has no customer system in place. But one thing that is common in all the three companies is that they are highly collaborating with universities for idea generation and human resource.

To respond effectively in today's quickly changing, highly complex business environment, management must depend on organizational members' mental capacities to generate new and meaningful ideas. Consequently, creativity has evolved into a fundamental organizational resource useful in establishing and maintaining competitive advantage. One relatively new set of tools intended to augment the creative process is Idea-Generation Support System (IGSS). These computer-based tools are generally aimed at enhancing boundary-breaking, insightful thought during problem solving. However, if a IGSS were to directly enhance creative performance, the benefits could be multifaceted. For example, students could use the IGSS for reinforcing techniques learned in formal creativity training. Or, by matching IGSS tools to specific lesson needs, the IGSS might enable teachers to better enhance student's creative performance. Due to (1) the effects of culture gap on system performance and user satisfaction, (2) the lack of clear empirical evidence concerning the value of an IGSS, there is also little theoretical justification. Each IGSS appears to provide a different methodology for enhancing creativity with little more than anecdotal reasoning to justify the approach; a laboratory experiment was conducted to evaluate the performance of IGSS developed in Taiwan. The results suggest that responses generated with software support are significantly more novel and valuable than responses without software support. It is hoped the findings from this investigation can be used to improve individual creative performance, further research concerning factors relevant to creativity, and guide future IGSS development efforts.

This study discussed past research, litigation, and legislation that pertained to the topics of parental involvement in special education. Past barriers were discussed that kept parents from interacting and suggestions were provided for future help in overcoming these barriers. In particular, parental perceptions of their roles as communicators and decision makers in the special education process were examined in terms of ethnicity and child’s educational level. Very few items found differences between the perceptions of Hispanic parents when compared to the perceptions of white parents; and some items found as children advance academically, there is less agreement among parents that they were able to be good communicators and good decision makers. Still, this research study showed that, overall, parents in Texas perceive that schools are allowing them to at least adequately fulfill these roles. Thus, the results of this study are much more positive than past research, which indicated that parents felt left out of their children’s education. This more positive perception could be a result of legislation passed to ensure parental roles in educational decision making; it could be a result of actions taken by the state of Texas to monitor the enactment of this legislation; or it could be because schools are taking a more active role in providing best practice services to students and parents in terms of communication and decision-making opportunities; or it could be because the parents who answered the survey were particularly compliant or complacent.

Abstract This thesis discusses the music idea, music aesthetics and writing skills of the author¡¦s composition JING. The music idea and aesthetics of the JING are inspired by Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. The common important issue that these three isms concern about and also the point inspires the author is Nature. The author uses Repetition as the music writing skills to represent the constancy of the nature. In other words, music repetition and the variation of the repetition is what the author wants to experiment in the composition JING. In order to learn how the repetition used and represents the Nature in the three isms, the author also studies and analyzes important ritual music for the rites of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Furthermore the author discusses how repetition works and means in western music. Concluding the discussions on the three pieces of ritual music and the western music, the author comes out her own point of view which becomes the important material and creating process in JING. JING is consisted of three movements. The first movement is JI, the second is ZHI, and the third is JIE. Although the three movements are titled differently, the points that the author wants to present are all the same and is about Constant Nature. The author experiments the skills of repetition in the piece throughout to show her intention for understanding Constancy of Nature.