A presente tese tem por objetivo traçar um perfil dos empreendedores universitários atuantes em incubadoras de empresas e empresas juniores. Para tanto, realizamos uma pesquisa qualitativa junto a estudantes de engenharia, integrantes da POLI-Júnior, e empresários envolvidos em inovação tecnológica, incubados no CIETEC. Após uma breve apresentação, no primeiro capítulo, procuramos conceituar quem são os empreendedores. Exibiremos também, no primeiro capítulo, alguns dados acerca da recente expansão na criação de incubadoras de empresas e empresas juniores no Brasil. No segundo capítulo, fizemos uma revisão bibliográfica a partir das contribuições que a economia e a sociologia do conhecimento deram ao tema. Preferimos enquadrar o problema de pesquisa no bojo da teoria dos campos. No terceiro capítulo, o tema da tese é situado no quadro histórico das políticas públicas para C&T e da trajetória da comunidade de pesquisa brasileira. No quarto capítulo, apresentamos a amostra e o âmbito de pesquisa, os métodos e técnicas empregados no trabalho de campo. Lançamos ainda hipóteses conforme as quais o empreendedorismo representaria a nova face das recentes tentativas de reforma universitária e estreitamento das relações entre pesquisa e mercado. No quinto capítulo, apresentamos e analisamos os resultados das observações e das entrevistas, por meio das quais testamos nossas hipóteses. Por fim, fechamos com uma breve conclusão onde estão resumidas nossas contribuições e onde refletimos acerca das ampliações e limitações desta tese. / This thesis aims to draw a profile of university entrepreneurs today actives in business incubators and junior companies. Therefore, we conducted a qualitative research with engineering students (members of the POLI-Junior), and entrepreneurs engaged in technological innovation (incubated in CIETEC). After a brief introduction, in the first chapter, we try to conceptualize who are the entrepreneurs. Also, we display some data about the recent expansion in the creation of business incubators and junior companies in Brazil. In the second chapter, we made a review of the available literature from the contributions that the economy and the sociology of knowledge gave the theme. We prefer to frame the research problem in the field theory. In the third chapter, the topic of the thesis is situated in the historical framework of public policies for S&T and the trajectory of Brazilian research community. In the fourth chapter, we present the sample and the scope of research, the methods and techniques employed in the empirical research. We also launched hypothesis according to which entrepreneurship represent the new face of recent attempts to university reforms and closer relations between research and market. In the fifth chapter, we present and analyze the results of observations and interviews, through which we test our hypotheses. Finally, we close the work with a brief conclusion, where our contributions are summarized and where we reflect about the extensions and limitations of this thesis.

Although cricket is played around the world by all ages, very little attention has been focused on junior cricket. The research presented here evaluated the effects on junior cricket of reducing the pitch length, developed a method for scaling the pitch to suit the players and applied this method to the under-11 age group. In the first of four studies it was established that shortening the cricket pitch had positive effects for bowlers, batters and fielders at both club and county standards, consequently resulting in matches that were more engaging. The second study found that top under-10 and under-11 seam bowlers released the ball on average 3.4° further below horizontal on a 16 yard pitch compared with a 19 yard pitch. This was closer to elite adult pace bowlers release angles and should enable junior players to achieve greater success and develop more variety in their bowling. The third study calculated where a good length delivery should be pitched to under-10 and under-11 batters in order to provoke uncertainty, and also examined the influence of pitch length on batters decisions to play front or back foot shots according to the length of the delivery. A shorter pitch should strengthen the coupling between the perception of delivery length and appropriate shot selection, and the increased task demand should lead to improved anticipation; both are key features of skilled batting. In the final study a method of calculating the optimal pitch length for an age group was developed which used age-specific bowling and batting inputs. This was applied to scale the pitch for under-11s giving a pitch length of 16.22 yards (14.83 m), 19% shorter than previously recommended for the age group by the England and Wales Cricket Board. Scaled in this way across the junior age groups, pitch lengths would fit the players better as they develop, enabling more consistent ball release by bowlers and temporal demands for batters, as well as greater involvement for fielders.

We know that it is important that students feel a sense of belonging in school, but additional research is needed to better understand the influences on belonging, especially for junior high and middle school students. Junior high lunchtime is an ideal space to study as a potential influence on belonging because it is a central part of the secondary school experience and it is a social space for students. The purpose of this study is to connect lunchtime experiences to school belonging by showing that how students experience lunchtime and how this affects their overall sense of belonging in school.Descriptive statistical methods such as SPSS Two-Step Cluster Analysis as well as predictive statistics such as logistical regression are used to evaluate data collected during a schoolwide survey conducted in spring 2014 at a junior high (grades 7-8) located in the intermountain region of the United States. The survey provided responses from 832 students across the junior high. Results indicate that loving lunch significantly positively affects school belonging and that students naturally group into different profiles based on their lunchtime preferences. The results also indicate that these lunchtime activity preference profiles significantly affect belonging. Three recommendations are made based on the findings of this study. (a) Offer a variety of lunchtime activity options for students to choose from aimed at making lunch a more positive experience for all students. (b) Create more structured activities for students to participate in during lunch for those who may have anxiety about what to do during lunch. (c) Involve students in making lunch more enjoyable for themselves and others through a school-wide initiative to improve lunchtime experiences for all students.While this study confirms the suspected connection between lunchtime experiences and school belonging, further research is necessary to better understand how lunchtime is experienced by students and how lunchtime can be used as a space for fostering belonging in junior highs.

The purpose of this study was to inform educators of the impact of grade retention on a child's perception of self, and to provide recommendations and practical applications for educators in the future. Although the long-term effects of grade retention are still unclear, the number of students being retained annually is steadily on the rise. Conflicting beliefs about the advantages and disadvantages of the retention experience make it difficult to clearly predict which students will benefit from being retained. A large body of research reports the impact of grade retention on scholastic achievement. As retention has usually been considered to remediate academic difficulties, the effectiveness of retention is logically studied in terms of academic performance. However, because educators recognize the importance of affective variables, it is equally important to assess the effectiveness of retention in terms of self-perceptions and engagement at school. The focus of this inquiry was to explore the effects of retention as reported by twelve 5th and 6th grade students who had been retained. Because logical and theoretical arguments have been made for the negative effects of retention on a child's self-image, this study examined the self-esteem of retained students. Research techniques included open-ended questions and interviews, using Patton's qualitative interview guide approach. From the findings, the investigator reached the following conclusions: (a) for the participants in this study, being retained was not detrimental to their perceptions of self; (b) all participants perceived others to like them well; in fact, 5 of the 12 reported that others liked them better following their retention experiences; and (c) all students in this study believed that retention helped them to do better in school.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact on the self-concept of students when they transitioned into an academically selective independent middle school. The sample consisted of 107 middle school students in an all-boys independent school in the northeast United States. Data on students' general self-concept, academic self-concept and domain specific academic self-concepts were collected using the Academic Self-Description Questionnaire I and II.;Four hypotheses were tested: 1) Newly enrolled students to the all-boys middle school will initially experience significantly more negative domain specific academic self-concepts than students who are returning or have been promoted from within the school; 2) New students to the all-boys middle school will initially experience a significant negative difference in general academic self-concept than students who are returning or have been promoted from within the school; 3) New students to the all-boys middle school will have a general self-concept that does not differ substantially from the students who are returning or have been promoted from within the school; 4) New students to the all-boys middle school will initially experience lower academic achievement than students who are returning or have been promoted from within the school.;The findings of the study do not support the Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect; whereas, the students transitioning into the independent middle school were found to have self-concept scores equal to or more positive than current students. Consequently, the findings support the concept of reflected glory and expansion of the Internal/External Frame of Reference Theory.

The opinions of male students at Logan Junior High School and their parents were analyzed to determine attitudes toward physical education and the existing physical education program at the school. The data was obtained by the use of a questionnaire given to 458 boys and their parents. Students of all three grades and the parents of all three classes indicated a positive attitude toward physical education and also toward the existing physical education program at Logan Junior High School. Ninth-graders showed the most favorable attitude of the student groups toward physical education. Parents of eighth-graders were the strongest supporters from the parent groups. The most favorable attitude toward the existing program from the students was accumulated by the ninth-grade boys, and the parents of seventh graders were the strongest supporters among the three parent groups. In addition, each of the six groups was overwhelmingly in favor of the intramural program. Basketball, flag football, and European handball were the three most liked activities. Calisthenics, relays, and Color Achievement were the least liked activities.

Instructional coaching, a multifaceted form of job-embedded professional development in education, is widely spreading across the United States as a means of improving staff performance and student learning. The problem was that there was a decrease in 8th grade student achievement in mathematics in this school district. The purpose of the intrinsic qualitative case study was to examine the perceptions and experiences of middle school math teachers about the role of instructional coaches in supporting math instruction. Maslow's hierarchy of needs and Knowles' andragogy adult learning theories formed the conceptual framework that guided this study. The research questions focused on mathematics teachers' perceptions of the role of instructional coaches and their experiences working with coaches. A case study design was used to capture the insights of 5 mathematics teachers through semistructured interviews. Emergent themes were identified through open coding, and the findings were developed and checked for trustworthiness through member checking and a peer audit. The findings revealed 5 themes: collaboration, observations with feedback sessions, data analysis sessions, professional development, and student achievement. A professional development project was created to provide and improve collaborative skills between teachers and instructional coaches. This study has implications for positive social change through the creation of a plan to build stronger teacher-coach connections to improve student learning opportunities.

An investigation of the physical education programs enlightens the physical educator to the extent that he is aware of the types and quality of programs carried on in his immediate area.

The goal of this study is to contribute to understandings of parent-school relationships involving parents of students with autism by exploring notions of belonging with a small group of parents. The purpose of the study is to describe the experiences of middle school parents of children with autism. From these descriptions, I examined how parents of students with autism might contribute to understandings of belonging in school-family partnerships and enable schools and families to collaborate more effectively. This study addresses an apparent gap in understandings of belonging of parents of children with autism in their relationships with their child's school. As parents are asked to make connections with their children's school in parent-school partnerships, understandings of those connections are vital to generating and sustaining meaningful and effective relationships between parents and schools. This study uses thick descriptive methods (Geetz, 1973) to examine the phenomenon of belonging in parent-school partnerships among a small group of parents of middle school children with autism. The experiences of the parents in this study suggest that parents of middle school students with autism seek a sense of belonging in their relationships with those they work with regarding their children's schooling. This study also suggests that a sense of belonging may be an essential element of effective parent-school partnerships.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1983. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.