Thesis (Ph. D.)--Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2007. / Washburn, David, Committee Member ; Spieler, Dan, Committee Member ; Schumacher, Eric, Committee Member ; Engle, Randall, Committee Chair ; Corballis, Paul, Committee Member.

This thesis develops an ecological perspective devoted to the question of what, if anything, it means to speak of music ‘itself’. As such it seeks to enrich and further develop music-centred perspectives in the sociology of music. To this end, the thesis uses and develops a sociology of mediations designed to specify empirically the constituents of localized, emergent and performed configurations of “music” within the ‘classical’ music world. An ethnographically informed and practice-driven case study of viola and viola playing is used as a means to gain insight into the avant-garde of viola playing today and to follow the ways in which different protagonists constitute viola aesthetics. Considering the viola’s identity historically, in terms of both reproduction and change (specifically, the instrument’s shift from a marginal status to a position nearer the centre within ‘classical’ music), the study addresses instrument materiality and technologies, sound playing techniques, as well as, more globally, viola identities in relation to the instrument’s sonic features, repertoire, psycho-cultural and affective associations and meaning making in interpretation and performance. It is also shown how musicians deal with and ‘erase’ ‘limitations’ formerly attributed to the viola and make the instrument ‘work’ (through technological calibration in collaboration with instrument-makers as well as playing techniques) and thus correspond the requirements of contemporary music performance. Aiming to be a useful resource for violists, this thesis traces change but also identifies potential constraints produced by the past history of the viola upon the ways the instrument is seen, used and explored. The data for this study was collected through audio/video-recorded interviews with eight widely recognized highly-skilled violists, video-recorded performance and observations of viola lessons, and documentary analysis. This thesis highlights the importance of intermediate mediations that, situated in-between score and performance, affect how music comes to sound when played. It also outlines a grounded theory of the affordances of couplings made between players and instruments, so as to develop a performative idiom that considers representations, discourses and social construction, but also materiality, bodies and minds, internalization processes, practices. The thesis concludes by suggesting that a ‘strong’ cultural and musical sociology requires a relational and transdiciplinary approach and that this approach in turn helps to articulate an eclectic and hybrid sociology of imbrications, one that challenges intra-disciplinary divides.

At performance level, classical ballet is a form of high-intensity, intermittent exercise, requiring a strong aerobic foundation. Existing training methods have remained largely unchanged over the past century, resulting in poorly conditioned dancers who are prone to injury. The purpose of the thesis was to examine, through several inter-related studies, the demands of training and performance at professional level, and whether fitness levels of classical ballet dancers affect both aesthetic components of performance, and injury. All participants were either in the final year of elite vocational training or were professional dancers. Initial, observational, investigations indicated that both rehearsal and performance posed a variety of demands on different ranks of dancer within a company’s structure, and depicted daily workloads which supported previous complaints of fatigue. Before examination of fitness or performance could begin, novel tools to assess both aerobic fitness, and performance proficiency in ballet dancers were designed and tested for reliability and validity. Both tests met with test-retest reliability standards, with 95% limits of agreement of ±6.2 ml.kg.-1min-1 for the aerobic test, and ±1.5 points (out of 10) for the performance rating scale. High overall performance scores were then best predicted by high jumps of both legs and good active flexibility of the left leg (F=4.142, df=3, P=0.042). Following this, an intervention study investigated the effects of a period of supplemental fitness training, designed to enhance aerobic fitness, jump height and local muscular endurance, on the performance scores of a randomly assigned group of dancers. A control group continued with regular training. Performance scores at the outset of the study were compared to those following the intervention period. Overall scores for the intervention group increased by significantly more than those of the control group, (p=0.03), with greatest gains seen for control and skill, indicating that supplemental fitness training, specifically targeting aerobic and local muscular endurance, can help improve performance, particularly elements such as control and skill. Finally, two separate studies confirmed that low aerobic fitness and low body fat percentage were related to injury in ballet dancers. Further research needs to focus on fully ascertaining the physical demands of ballet, and whether better training dancers to meet these demands results in enhanced performance and reduction in injury.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty Of Education in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree Of Doctor Of Philosophy (D.Ed) in Science Education in the Department of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education at the University Of Zululand, 2018 / Classroom assessment is an essential component of teaching and learning. It should be an on-going process that improves instruction rather than a periodic evaluation of what has been achieved. This study was designed to investigate teachers’ and learners’ conceptions and experiences about assessment for learning (AfL) and its impact on learners’ performance in Life Science. Simple random sampling was used to select four schools from the uThungulu district to participate in the study. Two of the selected schools constituted the Treatment Condition while the other two served as the Comparison Group. Altogether, 160 Grade 11 learners (forty from each participating school) participated in the study – comprised of four intact classrooms, one from each participating school. Two teachers were trained to use AfL as an instructional approach, while the teachers of the Comparison Group used their usual instructional approaches. The topic being studied by all the learners were Animal Nutrition and Cellular Respiration, lasting six weeks for the two groups. In addition, 80 Life Science teachers also took part in the study as respondents on their assessment practices in the subject. Data were collected using pre- and post-tests for the learners and a questionnaire for the teachers. These were followed by semi-structured interviews with the two teachers of the Treatment Group and selected learners from the same group. The quantitative component of the study took the form of a Quasi-Experimental Pretest-Posttest Comparison Group Design, while the qualitative component employed a hermeneutical research approach. Data were collected using a test, questionnaire, survey and semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed that the current formative assessment practices used by Life Science teachers in uThungulu district are out of alignment with the principles of formative assessment as directed by the Department of Basic Education (DBE). Furthermore, the respondents’ conceptions of AfL did not influence their classroom assessment and instructional practices. On the question of learner performance following the six week instructional intervention, the study found that learners in the Treatment Group performed significantly higher than learners’ in the Comparison Group. From these results, recommendations are made to influence both policy and classroom practice. Investigating the wide variety of assessment practices has allowed me to come to understand the culture of assessment within the AfL approach, where assessment placed learners at the center of learning to help support the learning process. Learners’ views/experiences about AfL approach suggests that AfL instructional approach constitutes a better strategy that makes learning a more enjoyable and pleasant experience.

‘Project performance’ is the metric of delivering project objectives. This research is motivated by levels of project failure and the purpose of the research is to investigate improved project performance. The scientific spectrum is considered; arguing project management as a sub-field of management science based in ‘design science’. Despite research since the 1950s, there is no established community paradigm for project management, illustrated by multiple ‘schools of thought’ failing to stimulate performance improvement. This is investigated with respect to the changing nature of projects and their management; application in numerous industrial sectors, across increasing scope of the product lifecycle (including service projects), and the changing role of project managers as value adding ‘implementers’ rather than status ‘reporters’. Methodology examines the community paradigm and identifies the lack of community paradigm and argues that gap spotting is not appropriate. Conducting research that fills knowledge gaps does not identify underlying issues and reinforces fundamental failings. Underlying assumptions are identified and challenged. Key characteristics are examined in the context of requirements of the community paradigm. The purpose of theory is to describe, explain and predict. Some techniques describe and explain. Few, if any, predict. This locates ‘performance prediction’ as the research issue and suggests it is a missing function for performance improvement. The research focus considers single tasks within a project network. A research model of early stage deviation from plan is developed from the literature on project pathogens and incubation processes. ‘Deviation lifecycle’ as a project function is identified as having no previous evidence in literature. This is developed into a practice model extending the role of failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) and integrating weak signals and tipping point theory to test performance. Case studies examine representative application of the model and build on the previous cases to illustrate potential for practice. The case studies were reviewed by industrial experts. The changing role of project managers to value added implementers implies a need to improve performance. Research found potential to understand and predict early stage deviation and develops the deviation lifecycle and research model. Across the case studies the research model illustrated potential application. Practical implications indicate potential contribution of project management techniques based on prediction rather than traditional reporting. Developing the community paradigm based on design science is discussed as further work. The originality of the research challenges the lack of theoretical foundation for project management by discussion of the community paradigm and proposes design science as a candidate. The work identifies ‘prediction’ as a relevant but missing function from the project management ‘toolbox’, and introduces the concept of the deviation lifecycle and note no previous literature. The research develops an industrial research model that extends the application of FMEA to examine ‘performance’ and integrates weak signals and tipping point analysis to manage the resolution.

This dissertation contributes an enhanced understanding of team cognition, in general, and collaborative problem solving (CPS), specifically, through an integration of methods that measure team interaction dynamics and knowledge building as it occurs during a complex CPS task. The need for better understanding CPS has risen in prominence as many organizations have increasingly worked to address complex problems requiring the combination of diverse sets of individual expertise to achieve solutions for novel problems. Towards this end, the present research drew from theoretical and empirical work on Macrocognition in Teams that describes the knowledge coordination arising from team communications during CPS. It built from this by incorporating the study of team interaction during complex collaborative cognition. Interaction between team members in such contexts has proven to be inherently dynamic and exhibiting nonlinear patterns not accounted for by extant research methods. To redress this gap, the present research drew from work in cognitive science designed to study social and team interaction as a nonlinear dynamical system. CPS was examined by studying knowledge building and interaction processes of 43 dyads working on NASA's Moonbase Alpha simulation, a CPS task. Both non-verbal and verbal interaction dynamics were examined. Specifically, frame-differencing, an automated video analysis technique, was used to capture the bodily movements of participants and content coding was applied to the teams' communications to characterize their CPS processes. A combination of linear (i.e., multiple regression, t-test, and time-lagged cross-correlation analysis), as well as nonlinear analytic techniques (i.e., recurrence quantification analysis; RQA) were applied. In terms of the predicted interaction dynamics, it was hypothesized that teams would exhibit synchronization in their bodily movements and complementarity in their communications and further, that teams more strongly exhibiting these forms of coordination will produce better problem solving outcomes. Results showed that teams did exhibit a pattern of bodily movements that could be characterized as synchronized, but higher synchronization was not systematically related to performance. Further, results showed that teams did exhibit communicative interaction that was complementary, but this was not predictive of better problem solving performance. Several exploratory research questions were proposed as a way of refining the application of these techniques to the investigation of CPS. Results showed that semantic code-based communications time-series and %REC and ENTROPY recurrence-based measures were most sensitive to differences in performance. Overall, this dissertation adds to the scientific body of knowledge by advancing theory and empirical knowledge on the forms of verbal and non-verbal team interaction during CPS, but future work remains to be conducted to identify the relationship between interaction dynamics and CPS performance.

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Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T20:56:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Fabio Alexandre Ferreira Gusmao.pdf: 1672138 bytes, checksum: 11bc28604f163a6e0886cb243d132e2b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-10-10 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Brazil has reached the 21st century providing universal access to elementary education to almost the entire population of the 7 to 14 age group. The 21st century was unquestionably a period of major economic advances, increase in the population s political participation, and consolidating democracy. However, many educational indicators are still dismal, such as the illiteracy rate for the population over 25 years, the student turnover rate, and access rates of students who finish elementary and middle school. The goals of this study are: 1) to establish the relationship between the characteristics of students and schools and the performance results of 8th grade students in Science, and 2) to show how social inequalities are mirrored in the educational system as found by Bourdieu and Passeron (2009). This study used data from the 1999 SAEB (the Brazilian Elementary Education Assessment System) on students, teachers, principal, and school facilities. The data were used to understand the relation and/or correlation between independent variables, indicators of economic and social inequality (GDP, HDI, Gini coefficient) with the dependent variable. This analysis enabled us to capture the impact of different independent variables on student performance in the SAEB database. Parametric and nonparametric tests were subsequently applied to verify whether the differences found were significant. CHAID method was employed to find the Best predictors of performance in Science. In regard to the level of the students, the results show that all the differences found among independent variables and the average proficiency rate in Science were statistically significant. The CHAID analysis highlighted that the following independent variables school system, income, cultural level, flunking rate, and doing homework are statistically related to the average Science proficiency rate. Concerning the level of the schools, results show that school organization and management, school resources, teacher education and pay, and school environment are statistically related to the average Science proficiency rate. In terms of the level of the states, results show that the correlation among social and economic inequality indicators with performance in Science is influenced by the economic, social, and educational situation of Brazilian states and region. CHAID method proved to be effective in possible crossings of data, thus rejecting non-significant variation in data crossing, and focusing its subdivisions on variations resulting from data crossings potentially significant to this study and on identifying predictors of Science learning based on 1999 SAEB data / O Brasil chega ao século XXI praticamente com a universalização do acesso ao ensino fundamental da população da faixa etária dos 7 aos 14 anos. Sem dúvida, um século que se inicia com grandes avanços na área econômica, na participação política da população e na consolidação da democracia; mas que ainda apresenta indicadores educacionais sofríveis, como o índice de analfabetismo da população com mais de 25 anos, a movimentação escolar e as taxas de acesso dos concluintes do ensino fundamental e médio. Os objetivos da presente pesquisa foram: 1º) estabelecer relações entre as características dos alunos e das escolas aos resultados do desempenho de Ciências dos alunos da 8ª série do ensino fundamental, e 2º) mostrar como as desigualdades sociais são reproduzidas no sistema educacional como afirmado por Bourdieu e Passeron (2009). Neste estudo foi utilizado os dados do SAEB de 1999 referentes aos dados coletados de alunos, professores, diretores e instalações físicas das escolas. Os dados foram utilizados para se compreender qual relação e/ou correlação entre as variáveis independentes, os indicadores de desigualdade econômica e social (PIB, IDH, índice de Gini) com a variável dependente. Este procedimento de análise permitiu captar o impacto de diferentes variáveis independentes sobre o desempenho dos alunos a partir da base de dados do SAEB. Foram aplicados testes estatísticos paramétricos e não paramétricos para verificar se as diferenças encontradas foram significativas. Foi utilizado o método CHAID para encontrar os melhores preditores para o desempenho em Ciências. Em relação ao nível dos alunos os resultados mostram que todas as diferenças encontradas entre as variáveis independentes e a proficiência média em Ciências foram estatisticamente significativas. A análise pelo método CHAID destaca que as variáveis independentes rede de ensino, capital econômico e cultural, repetência e fazer dever de casa se relacionam estatisticamente com a proficiência média em Ciências. Em relação ao nível das escolas os resultados indicam que as categorias organização e gestão da escola, recursos escolares, formação e salário docente e clima acadêmico se relacionam estatisticamente com a proficiência média em Ciências. Em relação ao nível dos estados os resultados demonstram que a correlação entre os indicadores de desigualdade econômica e social com o desempenho em Ciências sofre a influência da condição econômica, social e educacional dos estados e regiões brasileiras. O CHAID demonstrou ser eficiente nos cruzamentos possíveis dos dados rejeitando cruzamentos não significativos, e concentrando suas subdivisões em cruzamentos potencialmente significativos para a pesquisa e para identificação de preditores para a aprendizagem em Ciências a partir dos dados do SAEB de 1999

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Reading is considered to be a vital skill for academic success, yet it is seldom taught to or practised with students. Students begin to `read to learn' during primary and secondary schooling. However, at tertiary level the academic demands are much greater than before and involve more extensive reading of conceptually more complex texts. This study investigates the implementation of an intensive reading programme for post-matric English Second Language Science students, based on the assumption that reading improves reading. In addition, this study investigates the effect that reading ability has on academic performance in Science, which relies inter alia, on the ability to read, comprehend and interpret word problems. An intervention group and a control group were used to ascertain the effects of an intensive reading programme and the findings suggest that any reading (intensive or extensive) improves reading and language skills. This in turn impacts on academic performance in Science, if students have an ability in Science to begin with. / Linguistics / MA - SP APPLIED LINGUISTICS