Transit ridership analysis has been advancing towards the use of disaggregate spatial and boarding data. This study attempts to improve the understanding of factors influencing transit ridership by estimating/comparing ridership models at the route, the segmented route, and the stop level in the Austin area. Spatial and statistic analysis methods are used in this study. The dependent variable is ridership at the transit route, the segmented route, and the stop level, whereas independent variables consist of traveler characteristics, land use, transit service characteristics, and other contextual factors. Spatial analysis is conducted using Geographic Information System (GIS) to compile data within a quarter-mile buffer from each transit stop, each segregated route, and each route. Linear and semi-log models of ridership are estimated using Statistical Analysis System (SAS). Initial analysis confirms the qualitative understanding that traveler demographics such as population and employment densities, ethnic background, and income significantly affect transit ridership. Land use composition, measured by the shares of single-family homes, multi-family homes, commercial, civic uses, as well as the total area of paved parking, all influence transit use. Service qualities such as headway and transfer opportunities also matter. Sensitivity tests of these factors affecting ridership are carried out to compare model performance among the route, segmented route, and the stop level analyses. It is expected that the study findings will help to better inform transit agencies and local communities in optimizing existing transit operations, planning for new services, and developing transit-friendly environments. Primary data were obtained from the Capital Metropolitan Transit Authority and the Census Bureau, and secondary data was processed by GIS analysis. / text

This report is a hermeneutic analytical study of a practical pedagogical situation. For three occasions I observed my own practice as a dance teacher and how a moment, choreographic approach in the governing documents for upper secondary school GY11 was executed in a group of dance students. The part is formulated in the course objectives for the courses on the arts program under the topic Dansgestaltning with focus on choreographic approach. The study is based on a socio-cultural thinking but also takes into account the prevailing gender theories and focuses on how the process of formulation level, through the transformation level is portrayed in the realization level of the dance regarding choreographic approach. The study illustrates educational research from both a dance perspective and a school development perspective. The intention of this study was to raise the awareness of how a pedagogical situation was designed and what is realized in the dance studio. Some pedagogical models are described as useful in raising awareness of the process and the realization of the aspect of moment in a dance studio. The methodology used for the study was participant observation and focus conversations. The results are reported in a discussion on a larger awareness of my own practice, and the benefits it can bring to learning, dancing and school development.

No ambiente organizacional, o fenômeno criatividade é resultado da interação de fato-res. Cultura organizacional, disponibilidade de recursos, expertise, liderança, motivação, estratégia, formação de grupos, são exemplos de fatores que exercem influência sobre a criatividade nas organizações. Este trabalho teve por objetivo identificar e organizar nos níveis de indivíduo, de grupo e organizacional os fatores que exercem influência sobre a criatividade no ambiente das organizações. O presente estudo foi elaborado com caráter exploratório e pretendeu ampliar o entendimento do fenômeno criatividade em empresas brasileiras. Os fatores foram identificados a partir de revisão de literatura e questionados por meio de ferramenta quantitativa a fim de coletar a experiência e opinião de profissi-onais de organizações brasileiras reconhecidas por sua capacidade inovadora. O estudo de campo realizado confirmou a importância de cada um dos fatores o que permitiu a construção de um conjunto coerente de fatores que influenciam a criatividade no ambi-ente das organizações. Demonstrou-se ainda por meio dos resultados obtidos, que, con-forme a organização, podem ocorrer ênfase em alguns fatores e redução da importância de outros. Desta forma, considera-se que a consolidação dos fatores em uma estrutura possibilita a elaboração de ações com objetivo de desenvolver e incrementar o potencial criativo das empresas. / Creativity, within the organization environment, is a result from the interaction of sev-eral factors such as organizational culture, resources availability, expertise, leadership, motivation, strategy and group formation. This work did aim to identify and organize these factors in individual, group and organization levels. It was conducted as an ex-ploratory study intending to boost organizational creativity understanding in Brazilian companies. Factors identified in the literature were checked against Brazilian innovation professionals of well-known organizations through quantitative interviews. The research data did corroborate the factor’s importance making possible to build a structure of the factors that influence creativity in organizational context. The results have also demon-strated that there is alternation of importance of these factors according to the organiza-tion profile. As a result is possible to say that having a factor’s structure enable organi-zations to improve their creative potential.

No ambiente organizacional, o fenômeno criatividade é resultado da interação de fato-res. Cultura organizacional, disponibilidade de recursos, expertise, liderança, motivação, estratégia, formação de grupos, são exemplos de fatores que exercem influência sobre a criatividade nas organizações. Este trabalho teve por objetivo identificar e organizar nos níveis de indivíduo, de grupo e organizacional os fatores que exercem influência sobre a criatividade no ambiente das organizações. O presente estudo foi elaborado com caráter exploratório e pretendeu ampliar o entendimento do fenômeno criatividade em empresas brasileiras. Os fatores foram identificados a partir de revisão de literatura e questionados por meio de ferramenta quantitativa a fim de coletar a experiência e opinião de profissi-onais de organizações brasileiras reconhecidas por sua capacidade inovadora. O estudo de campo realizado confirmou a importância de cada um dos fatores o que permitiu a construção de um conjunto coerente de fatores que influenciam a criatividade no ambi-ente das organizações. Demonstrou-se ainda por meio dos resultados obtidos, que, con-forme a organização, podem ocorrer ênfase em alguns fatores e redução da importância de outros. Desta forma, considera-se que a consolidação dos fatores em uma estrutura possibilita a elaboração de ações com objetivo de desenvolver e incrementar o potencial criativo das empresas. / Creativity, within the organization environment, is a result from the interaction of sev-eral factors such as organizational culture, resources availability, expertise, leadership, motivation, strategy and group formation. This work did aim to identify and organize these factors in individual, group and organization levels. It was conducted as an ex-ploratory study intending to boost organizational creativity understanding in Brazilian companies. Factors identified in the literature were checked against Brazilian innovation professionals of well-known organizations through quantitative interviews. The research data did corroborate the factor’s importance making possible to build a structure of the factors that influence creativity in organizational context. The results have also demon-strated that there is alternation of importance of these factors according to the organiza-tion profile. As a result is possible to say that having a factor’s structure enable organi-zations to improve their creative potential.

No ambiente organizacional, o fenômeno criatividade é resultado da interação de fato-res. Cultura organizacional, disponibilidade de recursos, expertise, liderança, motivação, estratégia, formação de grupos, são exemplos de fatores que exercem influência sobre a criatividade nas organizações. Este trabalho teve por objetivo identificar e organizar nos níveis de indivíduo, de grupo e organizacional os fatores que exercem influência sobre a criatividade no ambiente das organizações. O presente estudo foi elaborado com caráter exploratório e pretendeu ampliar o entendimento do fenômeno criatividade em empresas brasileiras. Os fatores foram identificados a partir de revisão de literatura e questionados por meio de ferramenta quantitativa a fim de coletar a experiência e opinião de profissi-onais de organizações brasileiras reconhecidas por sua capacidade inovadora. O estudo de campo realizado confirmou a importância de cada um dos fatores o que permitiu a construção de um conjunto coerente de fatores que influenciam a criatividade no ambi-ente das organizações. Demonstrou-se ainda por meio dos resultados obtidos, que, con-forme a organização, podem ocorrer ênfase em alguns fatores e redução da importância de outros. Desta forma, considera-se que a consolidação dos fatores em uma estrutura possibilita a elaboração de ações com objetivo de desenvolver e incrementar o potencial criativo das empresas. / Creativity, within the organization environment, is a result from the interaction of sev-eral factors such as organizational culture, resources availability, expertise, leadership, motivation, strategy and group formation. This work did aim to identify and organize these factors in individual, group and organization levels. It was conducted as an ex-ploratory study intending to boost organizational creativity understanding in Brazilian companies. Factors identified in the literature were checked against Brazilian innovation professionals of well-known organizations through quantitative interviews. The research data did corroborate the factor’s importance making possible to build a structure of the factors that influence creativity in organizational context. The results have also demon-strated that there is alternation of importance of these factors according to the organiza-tion profile. As a result is possible to say that having a factor’s structure enable organi-zations to improve their creative potential.

One of the major challenges facing South African IT organisations today is the dramatic shortage of IT professionals. Both literature and business sentiment have indicated that employee turnover within the IT sector is on a continually rising trend. The ramifications of these high turnover rates translate into exorbitant direct and indirect costs to organisations. The purpose of this research was to identify the factors pertaining to the underlying structure of the turnover intention of these employees. A deeper understanding of these drivers may possibly enable management to reduce the turnover intention of employees within their organisations. A quantitative, multi-disciplinary research approach, focussing on the antecedents of turnover intention and the three systemic levels of organisational behaviour (micro, meso and macro) was used to operationalise the main research construct of this study. Data was collected by means of an anonymous self-administered web-based survey. A sample of 188 completed questionnaires was collected using a snowball sampling technique from the population of employees in the IT industry in South Africa. A statistical data reduction method, exploratory factor analysis, was conducted on the dataset to determine the underlying nature of the construct, IT employees’ perceived intention to resign from employment. After an appropriate number of factor analytic rounds, a robust 4-factor model of the data set was established. The results indicated that the factor, Personal Enrichment from Management Support, possibly plays the most significant role in understanding, monitoring, and managing IT employees’ perceived intention to resign from employment. The study provided support that monetary factors had the most significant influence in an employee’s decision to join an organisation; however, nonmonetary benefits, such as job satisfaction and skills development, were found to be more effective in retaining employees. The practical implications uncovered from this study will enable management to gain further insight into understanding the underlying factors and drivers of turnover intention and thereby minimise its impact on the organisation. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / lmgibs2014 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted

<p>QC 20160428</p>

Above-level testing is the practice administering a test level—of usually an academic achievement or aptitude test—to a gifted or high achieving child. This procedure is widely accepted in gifted education circles, on the basis of theoretical claims that above-level testing raises the test ceiling, increases variability among gifted students’ scores, improves reliability of data, reduces regression toward the mean, and improves interpretation of data from gifted students. However, above-level testing has not been subject to careful psychometric scrutiny. In this study, I examine reliability data, growth trajectories, distributions, and group differences of above-level test scores obtained from the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) and Iowa Tests of Educational Development (ITED). Subjects in this study were 224 students tested a total of 435 times while enrolled in a gifted magnet program for middle schoolers. Longitudinal analyses performed with hierarchical linear modeling indicate that substantial differences exist between students from overrepresented ethnicities (White and Asian Americans) and those from underrepresented ethnicities (Hispanic and African Americans) in both initial scores and the rate of score gains. Gender differences existed only for the rate of score increases for above-level reading scores. Socioeconomic differences existed, but did not have a unique impact beyond that of the ethnicity variable. A discussion of the place of these results within the wider gifted education research context and suggestions for further research are included. An appendix to the study gives information about item difficulty indexes for every item in the ITBS/ITED core battery for the eighth, ninth, and tenth grade levels of Form C.

Voltage sag (dip), a sudden reduction of the voltage magnitude within a short duration in power system, is one of major concerns of power quality problems. The main reason of the increased concerns for voltage sag problems is that the losses caused by voltage sag events are high and not negligible. Reliability indices have been used for many years to quantify the effect of sustained interruptions on the electric power system. Power quality indices reflecting the severity of various power quality problems, such as flicker, harmonics, voltage swell and sag conditions, power factor, losses, electromagnetic interference, and other phenomena, are still under development. The representation and classification of voltage sags have been studied recently by standard-setting organizations. In order to find compatibility between service quality and the equipment adopted and a least cost solution for possible power quality problems, the concept of system disturbance level and equipment immunity level was proposed in IEC 61000-3-7 but without clear definitions. A novel voltage sag index based on fuzzy logic technique to quantify system disturbance and equipment immunity levels is proposed in this dissertation. This approach takes network vulnerability, equipment sensitivity and uncertainties in measuring voltage sags into account, thereby, providing meaningful information for both the utility and customers. Using the proposed method, the probabilistic distribution of system disturbances can be obtained from the single event indices of all events recorded and the probabilistic distribution of equipment sag immunity capability can be evaluated based on the device voltage sag tolerance curve. This dissertation also presents a novel framework for predicting the number of equipment disruptions due to voltage sags in a unit of time by using the disturbance and immunity levels concepts. In the proposed approach, the number of disruptions is computed by using the unreliability concept. The area of overlapping between the distributions of site disturbance and equipment immunity levels, which indicates the number of possible disruptions, is calculated based on interference theory and reliability computations. The presented methodology can be used as a planning tool to quantify the system disturbances and equipment sensitivity. It can also be used to perform cost analysis of the compatibility of equipment with an electric power system. To minimize the costs due to voltage sags, it is always a good strategy to maintain a minimum overlap between the equipment immunity level and site disturbance level to have satisfactory operation of the equipment. The tool achieved in this work can be used to perform such analyses.

Even though English is a subject where Swedish pupils do well compared to pupils in other countries, research indicates that pupils are not always motivated to learn in the English classroom. Therefore, the aim of this study is to find research relating to the use of the target language in classrooms for pupils at the upper elementary level, particularly language learners in Sweden. The focus of this thesis is to find out what benefits and challenges accompany the use of the target language during English lessons, as well as what pupils’ opinions are on the consistent use of the target language in the classroom. This literature review of five research articles shows that it is beneficial for pupils’ language development to have lessons where mainly the target language is used. It is for example beneficial for pupils’ ability to speak, their pronunciation, vocabulary and ability to use language strategies. The results show that there are challenges as well, especially for the teachers, since use of the target language presumes that the teacher has good language skills and is capable of scaffolding each pupil at their individual level and in their zone of proximal development. Furthermore, there are challenges like differences in pupils’ skill level, creating tasks that both motivate and stimulate, and creating a safe learning environment. Even though the results in this thesis are limited, it is still obvious that it is an important area, where more research is necessary in order to assist teachers in how to teach English as effectively as possible. / <p>Engelska</p>