The present paper is an attempt to study different aspects of academic writing and develop the profile of assessment criteria in academic writing. Since scholarly discourse is not uniform and monolithic, in Part One academic writing is discussed in terms of its three-fold purposes (viz. teaching, learning and assessing), its key distinctive features (complexity, formality, objectivity, explicitness, hedging, and responsibility), and the relationship between academic writing and other kinds of writing. University studies-related and most common genres, learner study skills and strategies (among which summarising, analysing and synthesising are emphasised) as well as different ways of acquiring adequate skills in academic writing are also discussed thoroughly. Part Two of the present paper focuses on establishing criteria for assessing certain pieces of students’ academic writing, viz. summaries and analyses. While pursuing this objective, manifold aims and principles in assessing academic writing skills, analytic and holistic scoring methods are given consideration, and a step-by-step procedure for developing analytic rating scales is constructed. The analytic rating scales (for assessing student written summaries and analyses) developed in the course of writing the present paper can provide students with useful feedback on the language gain and progress made. In Part Three of the paper, the devised scales are used to assess and discuss VPU second year student written... [to full text]

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2005. Graduate Programme in Psychology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 57-60). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url%5Fver=Z39.88-2004&res%5Fdat=xri:pqdiss &rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR11879

Τα κίνητρα αποτελούν σημαντικό στοιχείο στην εκπαιδευτική διαδικασία. Κίνητρο είναι ό, τι ωθεί ή κινεί το άτομο σε δράση. Η παρούσα έρευνα έχει σκοπό να διερευνήσει τις απόψεις παιδιών, εκπαιδευτικών και γονέων για τα κίνητρα μάθησης των παιδιών προσχολικής ηλικίας. Συγκεκριμένα, τα ερωτήματα της έρευνας είναι τα εξής: 1. Σε τι βαθμό τα παιδιά προσχολικής ηλικίας επιλέγουν να εμπλακούν σε μια δραστηριότητα με σκοπό την ικανοποίηση της εκπαιδευτικού; 2. Σε τι βαθμό τα παιδιά προσχολικής ηλικίας επιλέγουν να εμπλακούν σε μια δραστηριότητα με σκοπό την αμοιβή; 3. Σε τι βαθμό τα παιδιά προσχολικής ηλικίας εμπλέκονται σε μια δραστηριότητα με δική τους πρωτοβουλία; 4. Σε τι βαθμό τα παιδιά προσχολικής ηλικίας αναζητούν νέες γνώσεις και μαθησιακές εμπειρίες; 5. Σε τι βαθμό συγκλίνουν οι απόψεις εκπαιδευτικών και γονέων για τα κίνητρα των παιδιών για μάθηση; 6. Υπάρχει συσχέτιση ανάμεσα στις απόψεις γονέων, εκπαιδευτικών και παιδιών; Το δείγμα αποτέλεσαν 45 παιδιά προσχολικής ηλικίας, με τις εκπαιδευτικούς και τους γονείς τους. Χρησιμοποιήθηκε η κλίμακα Children’s achievement rating scale (CARS) που μεταφράστηκε και προσαρμόστηκε στα ελληνικά και δόθηκε σε γονείς και εκπαιδευτικούς. Για τα παιδιά δομήθηκε ένα εργαλείο βασισμένο στην κλίμακα της Harter για εσωτερικά και εξωτερικά κίνητρα. Τα συμπεράσματα της έρευνας μας δείχνουν πως υπάρχουν παιδιά προσχολικής ηλικίας που έχουν εσωτερικά κίνητρα για μάθηση. Δεν απουσιάζουν, ωστόσο, τα εξωτερικά και τα κοινωνικά κίνητρα. Γονείς και εκπαιδευτικοί φαίνεται να μην διαφοροποιούνται στις απαντήσεις τους σχετικά με τα κίνητρα των παιδιών, αλλά οι γονείς αναγνωρίζουν σε μεγαλύτερο βαθμό στη συμπεριφορά των παιδιών τους κίνητρα, απ’ ότι οι εκπαιδευτικοί. Τέλος, οι απόψεις γονέων, εκπαιδευτικών και παιδιών φαίνεται να συγκλίνουν, χωρίς να λείπουν, ωστόσο, μικρές παρεκκλίσεις. / Motivation constitutes an important element in the educational procedure. Motivation is whatever motivates or leads a person to action. Current research investigates children’s, teachers’ and parents’ views about learning motivation of pre-school age children. Particularly, the questions of the research are the following: 1. Do pre-school age children choose to get involved in an activity in order to satisfy the teacher? 2. Do children of pre-school age choose to get involved in an activity with the goal of reward? 3. Do children of pre-school age get involved in an activity with their own initiative? 4. Do children of pre-school age seek for new knowledge and learning experience? 5. Do the teacher’s and parent’s views converge about the motivation of children towards learning? 6. Is there a correlation among the parent’s, teacher’s and children’s views? The sample consisted of 45 children pre-school age with their teachers and parents. The scale Children’s Achievement Rating Scale (CARS) was used which was translated and adjusted in Greek was given to parents and teachers. A tool based on the scale of Harter about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation was structured for the children. The analysis of results shows that there are children of pre-school age who have intrinsic motivation for learning. However, the extrinsic motivation are not absent, as well as the social motivation. Both parents and teachers seems to agree concerning children’s motivation, but parents recognize higher motivation in their children learning behavior than the teachers. Finally, parent’s, teachers’ and children’s views seem to converge, although, there is some divergence.

abstract: The efficacy of deep brain stimulation (DBS) in Parkinson's disease (PD) has been convincingly demonstrated in studies that compare motor performance with and without stimulation, but characterization of performance at intermediate stimulation amplitudes has been limited. This study investigated the effects of changing DBS amplitude in order to assess dose-response characteristics, inter-subject variability, consistency of effect across outcome measures, and day-to-day variability. Eight subjects with PD and bilateral DBS systems were evaluated at their clinically determined stimulation (CDS) and at three reduced amplitude conditions: approximately 70%, 30%, and 0% of the CDS (MOD, LOW, and OFF, respectively). Overall symptom severity and performance on a battery of motor tasks - gait, postural control, single-joint flexion-extension, postural tremor, and tapping - were assessed at each condition using the motor section of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS-III) and quantitative measures. Data were analyzed to determine whether subjects demonstrated a threshold response (one decrement in stimulation resulted in ≥ 70% of the maximum change) or a graded response to reduced stimulation. Day-to-day variability was assessed using the CDS data from the three testing sessions. Although the cohort as a whole demonstrated a graded response on several measures, there was high variability across subjects, with subsets exhibiting graded, threshold, or minimal responses. Some subjects experienced greater variability in their CDS performance across the three days than the change induced by reducing stimulation. For several tasks, a subset of subjects exhibited improved performance at one or more of the reduced conditions. Reducing stimulation did not affect all subjects equally, nor did it uniformly affect each subject's performance across tasks. These results indicate that altered recruitment of neural structures can differentially affect motor capabilities and demonstrate the need for clinical consideration of the effects on multiple symptoms across several days when selecting DBS parameters. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Bioengineering 2013

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / Com a atual competitividade e exigÃncia do mercado, as empresas buscam, cada vez mais, um elevado grau de qualidade, garantindo, assim, sua permanÃncia no mercado. Para isso procuram uma constante atualizaÃÃo de tecnologias, modelos de organizaÃÃo e gestÃo, dentre outros. A cada dia surgem novos modelos e mÃtodos de implantaÃÃo de sistemas de gestÃo, onde a qualidade à um elemento nÃo mais distintivo, mas absolutamente essencial. Neste enfoque, a logÃstica se tornou ferramenta fundamental para reduÃÃo de custos e melhoria da qualidade. Para o bom desempenho das atividades logÃsticas de uma organizaÃÃo à preciso avaliar o desempenho da mesma no mercado e uma das possibilidades de avaliaÃÃo de desempenho logÃstico à o benchmarking. O presente estudo tem como objetivo aplicar a Teoria de Resposta ao Item, em particular, o Modelo de Escala Gradual, para analisar o grau de maturidade em relaÃÃo Ãs tecnologias de gestÃo, com base no construto do Sistema de Monitoramento de Arranjos Produtivos (SIMAP), que tem como finalidade atual o benchmarking competitivo. Os dados utilizados no trabalho sÃo de natureza secundÃria, provenientes de 39 itens avaliados em 109 empresas cadastradas no SIMAP. Os resultados revelados no estudo apresentaram indicativo de que as tecnologias âMÃtodo de anÃlise de investimentoâ, âEstudos de capabilidadeâ, âProgramas participativosâ, âCusteio ABCâ, âFilosofias e Ferramentas JITâ, âTempo de setupâ, âISO 14001â e âSA8000â oferecem uma maior contribuiÃÃo para medir o grau de maturidade das empresas quanto Ãs ferramentas de gestÃo. A empresa com maior grau de maturidade, 71,99 (na escala de (Â=50, σ=10)), à uma empresa de grande porte, pertence à cadeia produtiva de alimentos e bebidas, no elo dos fabricantes de laticÃnios, cevada, Ãgua e refrigerantes, que atua no mercado regional, com produÃÃo voltada para o abastecimento da regiÃo nordeste. O menor grau de maturidade, 31,63, foi encontrado em uma empresa de pequeno porte, pertencente à cadeia produtiva da construÃÃo civil, no elo da cerÃmica vermelha como varejista, tambÃm atuando no mercado regional. / Com a atual competitividade e exigÃncia do mercado, as empresas buscam, cada vez mais, um elevado grau de qualidade, garantindo, assim, sua permanÃncia no mercado. Para isso procuram uma constante atualizaÃÃo de tecnologias, modelos de organizaÃÃo e gestÃo, dentre outros. A cada dia surgem novos modelos e mÃtodos de implantaÃÃo de sistemas de gestÃo, onde a qualidade à um elemento nÃo mais distintivo, mas absolutamente essencial. Neste enfoque, a logÃstica se tornou ferramenta fundamental para reduÃÃo de custos e melhoria da qualidade. Para o bom desempenho das atividades logÃsticas de uma organizaÃÃo à preciso avaliar o desempenho da mesma no mercado e uma das possibilidades de avaliaÃÃo de desempenho logÃstico à o benchmarking. O presente estudo tem como objetivo aplicar a Teoria de Resposta ao Item, em particular, o Modelo de Escala Gradual, para analisar o grau de maturidade em relaÃÃo Ãs tecnologias de gestÃo, com base no construto do Sistema de Monitoramento de Arranjos Produtivos (SIMAP), que tem como finalidade atual o benchmarking competitivo. Os dados utilizados no trabalho sÃo de natureza secundÃria, provenientes de 39 itens avaliados em 109 empresas cadastradas no SIMAP. Os resultados revelados no estudo apresentaram indicativo de que as tecnologias âMÃtodo de anÃlise de investimentoâ, âEstudos de capabilidadeâ, âProgramas participativosâ, âCusteio ABCâ, âFilosofias e Ferramentas JITâ, âTempo de setupâ, âISO 14001â e âSA8000â oferecem uma maior contribuiÃÃo para medir o grau de maturidade das empresas quanto Ãs ferramentas de gestÃo. A empresa com maior grau de maturidade, 71,99 (na escala de (Â=50, σ=10)), à uma empresa de grande porte, pertence à cadeia produtiva de alimentos e bebidas, no elo dos fabricantes de laticÃnios, cevada, Ãgua e refrigerantes, que atua no mercado regional, com produÃÃo voltada para o abastecimento da regiÃo nordeste. O menor grau de maturidade, 31,63, foi encontrado em uma empresa de pequeno porte, pertencente à cadeia produtiva da construÃÃo civil, no elo da cerÃmica vermelha como varejista, tambÃm atuando no mercado regional. / The current competitive and demanding market make the companies look increasingly, a high degree of quality, thus ensuring their survival. To seek this constant updating of technologies, the companies need to update their organizational management models among other systems. Each day brings new models and methods of implementation of management systems, where quality is no longer a distinctive element, but absolutely essential. In this approach, logistics has become an essential tool for reducing costs and improving quality. For the good performance of the logistics activities of an organization it is necessary to evaluate its performance in the market and the possibilities of an assessment of logistics performance is benchmarking. The present study aims to apply the Item Response Theory, in particular, the Rating Scale Model, to analyze the degree of maturity in relation to management technologies, based on the construct of the Monitoring System Productive Arrangements (SIMAP), which aims to present the competitive benchmarking. The data used in this work are of secondary nature, from 39 items valued at 109 companies registered in SIMAP. The results revealed in the study had indicated that the technology âMethod of investment analysisâ, âCapability studiesâ, âParticipatory programsâ, âCosting ABCâ, âPhilosophies and Tools JITâ, âTime setupâ, âISO 14001â and âSA8000â provide a major contribution to measure the degree of maturity of the companies regarding to the management tools. The company with the highest degree of maturity, 71.99 (in the range of (μ = 50, σ = 10)), is a midsize company, which belongs to the productive chain of food and beverage manufacturers in the link of the dairy / barley / water and soft drinks, which operates in regional market, with production geared to supply the Northeast. The smaller degree of maturity, 31.63, was found in a small business, belonging to the productive chain of construction, linked to the red ceramic as a retailer, also serving the regional market. / The current competitive and demanding market make the companies look increasingly, a high degree of quality, thus ensuring their survival. To seek this constant updating of technologies, the companies need to update their organizational management models among other systems. Each day brings new models and methods of implementation of management systems, where quality is no longer a distinctive element, but absolutely essential. In this approach, logistics has become an essential tool for reducing costs and improving quality. For the good performance of the logistics activities of an organization it is necessary to evaluate its performance in the market and the possibilities of an assessment of logistics performance is benchmarking. The present study aims to apply the Item Response Theory, in particular, the Rating Scale Model, to analyze the degree of maturity in relation to management technologies, based on the construct of the Monitoring System Productive Arrangements (SIMAP), which aims to present the competitive benchmarking. The data used in this work are of secondary nature, from 39 items valued at 109 companies registered in SIMAP. The results revealed in the study had indicated that the technology âMethod of investment analysisâ, âCapability studiesâ, âParticipatory programsâ, âCosting ABCâ, âPhilosophies and Tools JITâ, âTime setupâ, âISO 14001â and âSA8000â provide a major contribution to measure the degree of maturity of the companies regarding to the management tools. The company with the highest degree of maturity, 71.99 (in the range of (μ = 50, σ = 10)), is a midsize company, which belongs to the productive chain of food and beverage manufacturers in the link of the dairy / barley / water and soft drinks, which operates in regional market, with production geared to supply the Northeast. The smaller degree of maturity, 31.63, was found in a small business, belonging to the productive chain of construction, linked to the red ceramic as a retailer, also serving the regional market.

Executive functioning skills are paramount to our ability to purposefully and successfully mediate our actions within our day-to-day environment. Dysfunction of the executive system can result in a multitude of behavioral manifestations in all stages of life. Increasing evidence supports the use of rating scales to obtain a more comprehensive and ecologically valid understanding of an individual’s executive functioning. The current thesis involves two articles examining the use of behavioral rating scales in the assessment of executive functions. Study 1: In response to a recent proliferation of executive functions rating scales, this article reviews and discusses currently available scales for the assessment of executive functions across the lifespan. Study 2: This study derived an executive functions screener from the Behavioral Assessment System for Children (BASC-2-SRP-COL) for use in young adults and evaluated it against a well-known executive function rating scale (the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Adult Version). / Graduate / 0622 / 0632 / eduggan@uvic.ca

Data derived from universal screening procedures are increasingly utilized by schools to identify and provide additional supports to students at-risk of behavioral and emotional concerns. As screening has the potential to be resource intensive, effort has been placed on the development of efficient screening procedures, namely brief behavior rating scales. This study utilized classical test theory and generalizability theory to examine the extent to which differences among students, raters, occasions, and screening measures affect the meaningfulness of data derived from universal screening procedures. Teacher pairs from three middle school classrooms completed two brief behavior rating scales during fall and spring screening administrations for all students in their respective classrooms. Correlation coefficients examining interrater reliability, test-retest reliability, and concurrent validity were generally strong. Generalizability analyses indicated that the majority of variance in teacher ratings were attributable to student differences across all score comparisons, but differences between teacher ratings for particular students accounted for relatively large percentages of error variance among student behavior ratings. Although decision studies showed that increasing the number of screening occasions resulted in more generalizable data, the impact of increasing the number of raters resulted in more efficient screening procedures.

This study was designed to assess the reliability of "The Psychiatric Rating Scale for Diagnostic Classification of Children and Adolescents" as an instrument for determining diagnoses congruent with DSM-III criteria. In Phase I graduate students from a University doctoral program in psychology independently rated case vignettes and completed the 64-item rating scale to arrive at Axis I or II diagnoses consistent with DSM-III classifications for Disorders Usually First Evident in Infancy, Childhood, or Adolescence. Subsequent correlations to determine individual scale reliability yielded significantly positive correlations. Clinicians practicing in three diverse metropolitan mental health settings acted as raters in Phase II of the study. Paired raters jointly interviewed a total of 54 child or adolescent patients and independently completed the rating scale to arrive at Axis I or II diagnoses. These diagnoses were subsequently correlated with diagnoses previously obtained by traditional psychometric methods. Phase II interrater agreement was 92 percent for Axis I and II combined, with a .96 correlation. Rating scale diagnoses when correlated with traditional psychometic diagnoses yielded an overall rate of agreement on Axis I of 95 percent for Rater 1 and 90 percent for Rater 2 and correlations of .96 and .95 respectively. Clinicians were asked to rate a case vignette having previously been given an erroneous diagnosis. This attempt to assess rater expectancy effects yielded an agreement rate of 100 percent for the correct diagnosis. These results supported both major hypotheses of the study at a minimum of the .001 level of significance. They also confirmed a prior belief concerning limited intrusion upon rating scale reliability from rater expectancies. As a reliable and objective method of eliciting, structuring, and evaluating patient information, the rating scale could aide in reducing interdisciplinary interview variability and time expenditures among clinicians while providing an appropriate foundation for entry into treatment.

The problem of this study addresses a preliminary Rasch rating scale analysis of the Brief Symptom Inventory in relation to reliability and validity. Also, this investigator will utilize information provided by the latent trait psychometric model.

Implementation of behavior analytic interventions has traditionally relied on professionals possessing the required skills and expertise within controlled settings. While effective, this can be both expensive and time consuming. Research has demonstrated parent’s ability to implement a variety of interventions within the natural environment. As a result, parents are increasingly involved in treatment implementation. Getting the cooperation, support, and active participation of clients is essential to successful intervention. Therefore, buy-in at the earliest stages of treatment may result in the greatest effect. One of the earliest steps in treatment is the collection of data. Data collection methodology, validity, and reliability have been well studied. Parents as data collectors has also been reported. However, indications regarding the best data collection methods for parents to use, as well as any evident correlation between preference and accuracy, has not been reported. Through repeated measures using a multiple baseline across subjects, the study assessed the rate of acquisition of three data collection procedures by evaluating their performance accuracy before and after training. Preference rankings and perceptions for the data collection procedures were also obtained. Finally, the study examined correlations between preference for and proficiency with each data collection procedure. Results showed that training improved performance of Partial Interval Recording for 2 participants with one participant displaying skill mastery. Though training also increased participant performance using the Structured ABC method, skill mastery was not displayed. All participants achieved skill mastery using the Behavior Rating Scale method through repeated exposure.