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Teachers can use culturally relevant pedagogical strategies and technologies as emerging tools to improve students' problem-solving skills. The purpose of this study was to investigate and assess the effectiveness of culturally specific computer-based instructional tasks on ninth-grade African American mathematics students. This study tried to determine if problem-solving skills and overall mathematical achievement and attitude could be improved using these computer-based tasks. A culturally specific, computer-based mathematics assessment (CD-ROM) and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) assessment were used to measure student growth in mathematical problem solving. The Modified Fennema-Sherman Attitude Scales (MFSAS) were used to measure mathematics attitude. To determine whether or not the study was practical, an initial study was conducted (Study I) to see if pre- and post-tests would accurately forecast student performance. There were three groups for Study I. The two treatment groups worked in the computer lab on a Cognitive Tutor program to improve skills in Algebra 1. They were also exposed to word problems that were based on culturally specific themes. The control group had no exposure to the computer lab or word problems with culturally specific themes. Only one significant difference occurred in Study I. One of the treatment groups' data results declined significantly on the CD-ROM. In spite of this, the group revealed a slightly more favorable attitude towards mathematics than the other two groups. This treatment group also demonstrated the largest increase in NAEP pre- and post-test data results. For Study II there were two groups. The treatment group worked on a Google Maps project where students mapped different coordinates within their neighborhoods and plotted the results. The control group received computer lab instruction similar to the treatment group but did not work on Google Maps. When scores of the control and treatment groups on the CD-ROM assessment, NAEP assessment, and MFSAS survey were compared using a pre-test/post-test design in Study II, only one significant difference occurred. The control groups' CD-ROM scores resulted in nearly a 50% decline. A correlation analysis in Study II revealed that there were weak relationships between most of the measures, suggesting scores on each measure were unrelated. / CITE/Mathematics and Science Education

The purpose of this study was two-fold. The first was to determine the degree of culturally responsive teaching practices and level of cultural competence of participants who teach upper elementary (grades three through six) STEM educators of predominantly Native Hawaiian students. The second purpose was to identify differences in cultural competence and culturally responsive teaching practices of those same participants identified above. These two participant groups were from the State of Hawaiʻi Department of Education’s Keonepoko and Pāhoa Elementary Schools. Both schools are from the Keaʻau-Kaʻu-Pāhoa Complex Area. The educators from Keonepoko were afforded knowledge and experiences from a culture-based professional development program known as the Moenahā School Program, while the educators from Pāhoa were not afforded these same knowledge and experiences. Using a quantitative, quasi-experimental design, data were collected via an online survey using three instruments: the Culturally Responsive Teaching Self-Efficacy Inventory (CRTSE), the Cultural Competence Self-Assessment Questionnaire (CCSAQ), and the Cultural Competence Self-Assessment Scale Demographic Information (CCSASDI). The data were analyzed using mean scores and those mean scores were compared for differences using a Mann-Whitney U test. The findings indicated the Moenahā participants had a statistically significantly higher level of cultural competence and higher degree of culturally responsive teaching practices than the non-Moenahā participants suggesting the importance of cultural competence professional development iii opportunities. These findings are applicable for teachers in schools with an higher Native Hawaiian student population. / Ph. D.

It is widely accepted that in order for education to serve the people effectively, the school curriculum should be localised. In Namibia a high rate of failure, unemployment and a low standard of life, especially among the black section of the population, is attributed to the foreign education which the people receive. This study attempts to shed some light on the nature of school curriculum. From a comparative study of attempts of Africanisation of the school curriculum in three African countries, some universal strategies can be distilled. A short survey is given of the school curriculum in Namibia and the history of its development. Finally, on the basis of the distilled strategies, some guidelines are drawn concerning Africanisation of the school curriculum in Namibia. These guidelines could be used to make the school curriculum in Namibia more relevant / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Comparative Education)

It is widely accepted that in order for education to serve the people effectively, the school curriculum should be localised. In Namibia a high rate of failure, unemployment and a low standard of life, especially among the black section of the population, is attributed to the foreign education which the people receive. This study attempts to shed some light on the nature of school curriculum. From a comparative study of attempts of Africanisation of the school curriculum in three African countries, some universal strategies can be distilled. A short survey is given of the school curriculum in Namibia and the history of its development. Finally, on the basis of the distilled strategies, some guidelines are drawn concerning Africanisation of the school curriculum in Namibia. These guidelines could be used to make the school curriculum in Namibia more relevant / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Comparative Education)

The study shows that multi-sided markets pose difficulties when the relevant product market is to be defined. These difficulties pertain to two questions. The first question is whether one or several markets should be defined. In this regard, it is not easy to extract a coherent method from the cases examined. Instead, the methods applied give the impression of ad hoc-solutions, where similar circumstances result in dissimilar outcomes. Indeed, it is hard to reconcile the different market definitions in Visa International MIF and MasterCard MIF. The uncertainties are not limited to these two cases, as the methods applied in Google Shopping too give rise to ambiguities. Why was the market for general search engine platforms separated into two distinct product markets, but the market for comparison shopping services encompassed both sides? Unfortunately, this discussion was not present in the decision. This only serves to reinforce the impression that these questions are solved on an ad hoc-basis. A clear method of approaching multi-sided markets is desirable, not least because the enforcement of competition rules must be characterized by consistency and foreseeability. Hopefully, the judgement in Google Shopping will bring further clarity to this. Nonetheless, the conclusion is that one market should be defined when differences between competitive constraints on the two sides are absent. E contrario, this means that two markets should be defined when such differences are present. This is true regardless of the market in question being a transaction or a non-transaction market. This method seems preferable to strictly adhering to the division of multi-sided markets into transaction or non-transaction markets. If the Commission’s analysis is correct in that there are no differences in competitive constraints on the two sides of comparison shopping services, in combination with crossing network effects, the platform’s multi-sidedness is a necessary trait for both sides. This means that a substitute has to be multi-sided in order for it to be included on the relevant product market, which minimizes the risk for false negatives. Vice versa, the definition of two markets allows for one-sided products to be included on the relevant product market, which minimizes the risk for false positives. This is important not only for the binary finding of dominance or non-dominance, but also the degree of dominance. As concluded above, incorrectly defining one market may artificially inflate the degree of dominance into false super-dominance, and incorrectly defining several markets may artificially dilute the degree of dominance. The second question is how substitutability should be measured. It is obvious from the cases examined that qualitative measures are used and not quantitative measures. The products’ characteristics, intended use, purpose, functionalities, users’ perceptions of the product, etc. were given much attention. The SSNIP test was not applied in any of the cases. The first conclusion to be drawn from the examination above is therefore that the difficulties regarding measuring substitutability on multi-sided markets mainly concern quantitative measures. The arguments against applying a SSNIP test related to the cellophane fallacy (in two different forms, one of which was deceivingly similar to the reverse cellophane fallacy) and differences in price sensitivities between the two sides. Network effects present an additional difficulty, which may lead to exaggerated results when measuring substitutability. The second conclusion to be drawn is that there exists a reluctance to apply a SSNIP test in a way that is tailored for multi-sided markets. One method that has been proposed is to apply the test on the total sum paid by both sides, while allowing the intermediary to adjust the increase in price in accordance with its price structure. The categorical dismissal of applying the test in this way suggests that adapted versions have some time to wait before being introduced into case law and decisional practice. If they, as their proponents argue, are a robust way of broadening the evidence of possible substitutability, this is unfortunate. The risk of defining the market overly narrow or overly broad is of course present in this regard as well. A broader spectrum of evidence therefore minimizes the risk of incorrectly finding both dominance and non-dominance.

The thesis entitled “New Supramolecular Ion Sensing Probes and their Application in the Detection of Environmentally Relevant Ions” deals with the design and synthesis of several small molecular probes which can specifically sense environmentally relevant ions of (anion or cation) particularly in aqueous or biological medium. The probes have been designed using four different molecular entities which include anthraquinone, oxidized bis-indolyl system, pyrene and rhodamine. The probes afford naked eye detection of a particular ion in the aqueous medium. This work has been divided into six chapters. Chapter 1. Introduction The first chapter gives a brief idea of ion sensor. It provides the description of various approaches used for designing molecular sensors. The chapter further presents an overview of the four different dyes (anthraquinone, oxidized-bis-indole, pyrene and rhodamine) used for designing probes in this work. The properties of these probes, their advantages and disadvantages to use as a signaling subunit have been discussed. This chapter also describes the use of micellar medium for solubilizing different organic dyes in water. Chapter 2. Colorimetric Probes based on Anthraimidazolediones for Selective Sensing of Fluoride and Cyanide ion via Intramolecular Charge Transfer. The second chapter describes the design and synthesis of four different probes based on anthra [1, 2-d] imidazole-6, 11-dione. The anthraquinone part of each molecule has an acceptor moiety whereas substituted nitrogen linked aromatic unit forms the donor site. Each probe acted as strong colorimetric sensor for fluoride and cyanide ion detection and exhibited intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) band which showed significant red-shifts after addition of either the F¯ or CN¯ ion. One of the probes 2 showed selective colorimetric sensing for both cyanide and fluoride ions. In organic medium 2 showed selective color change with fluoride and cyanide, whereas in aqueous organic medium it showed a selective ratiometric response towards cyanide ion. The effect of anionic charge (on the donor moiety) on ICT has been discussed. Among the various donor moieties, the donor site having negative charges on them was found to disperse greater electron density on them. Figure 1. Molecular structures of the sensors Chapter 3 deals with chemodosimetric detection of cyanide ion in water using various oxidized bis-indole based compounds. Chapter 3A. A Chemodosimetric Probe based on a Conjugated and oxidized Bis¬ indolyl System for Selective Naked Eye Sensing of Cyanide ion in Water. The chapter 3A describes the design and synthesis of a new water-soluble bis-indolyl based probe, 5 which possesses two –COOH groups. This probe specifically reacted with the CN¯ ion in pure water at ambient temperature and produced a remarkable change in color from red to colorless. The mechanism of this process was investigated by NMR (1H, 13C and DEPT-135) spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and kinetic studies. The mechanism investigation showed that the cyanide ion reacts with the probe and removes the conjugation of the bis-indolyl moiety of the probe with that of the 4-substituted aromatic ring which renders the probe colorless. Taken together a plausible mechanism of the reaction was presented which showed to operate via a Michael type adduct formation under ambient conditions of pH and temperature in water. The probe gave a detection limit of 0.38 ppm for detection of cyanide ion in water. Figure 2. Molecular structure of the probe 5. Chapter 3B. Micelle Assisted ppb level Detection of Cyanide ion in Water by Chemodosimetry and Visual detection of the Endogenous Cyanide. The chapter 3B deals with the synthesis of a bis-indole based colorimetric probe 6. The probe showed selective detection of the cyanide ion in water at ppb level and a visible detection of endogenous cyanide from cassava (a major staple food in the developing world) by chemodosimetry. The cyanide ion binds with the probe 6 in a chemodosimetric fashion and follows pseudo first-order kinetics in water under appropriate conditions. It showed a highly sensitive detection of the cyanide ion in water with a detection limit of 0.33 ppm. The use of the micellar medium improved the detection limit drastically and a ppb level detection limit was achieved. The probe also showed the detection of the endogenously bound cyanide in cassava both visually and by spectrophotometer. Figure 3. Molecular structure of the probe 6. Chapter 3C. Ratiometric Cyanide ion probe in Water and for the detection of the Endogenously bound cyanide. Chapter 3C presents the synthesis of two new bis-indolyl (7 and 8) based probes for colorimetric detection of cyanide ion in pure water. Compound 8 showed a ratiometric response with cyanide in water and a visual detection of the endogenously bound cyanide ion in cassava. Using compound 8 the selective detection of the cyanide ion in water was achieved with a detection limit of ~ 17 ppb which is almost 13 times lower than the permitted limit as specified by EPA, United States. 7; R = H 8; R = -(OCH2CH2)3CH3 Figure 4. Molecular structures of the probes 1 and 2. Chapter 4 deals with the colorimetric and ratiometric detection of the Cu2+and Hg2+ions using different small synthetic molecular probes. Chapter 4A. Colorimetric Sensors for Ratiometric Detection of Copper and Mercury ions in Biological media and below ppm level in Water. The chapter 4A deals with the synthesis of two novel colorimetric probes (9, 10) using bispicolyl unit as the binding moiety and anthraimidazolediones and bis-indolyl system as a signaling sub-unit. Using the two sensors, Cu2+ion can be detected below the permitted limit (1.3 ppm) in both drinking water and at physiological pH 7.4. Sensor 9 can detect both Cu2+and Hg2+ in water with very low detection limit. It showed specific binding with Cu2+ at physiological pH 7.4 and in presence of serum albumins. Chemosensor 10 can be used for the specific detection of both Cu2+and Hg2in water as well as for the contamination in microorganisms. Figure 5. Molecular structure of the sensors 9 and 10. Chapter 4B. A New Molecular Probe for the Selective Sensing of Cu2+ and Hg2+ ions in Micellar Media and in Live ells.This chapter describes a synthesis of a novel bispicolyl based sensor 11 which can detect Cu2+ ion specifically in water medium and both Cu2+ and Hg2+ ions selectivelyin Brij-58 micellar medium. In micellar medium both the ions can be detected in the ppb level. Using fluorescence spectroscopy these two metal ions can be discriminated.The probe is also be useful for checking metal ion contamination in cellular samples. Figure 6. Molecular structure of the sensor 11. Chapter 4C. Rhodamine based Sensors for Cu2+ and Hg2+ ions in Water and in Biological media. The chapter 4C presents the synthesis and the sensing properties of the three positional isomers of the pyridine end of the rhodamine-pyridine compounds (12-14). The three isomers only differ in the position of nitrogen of the pyridine moiety. Sensor 12, which contains the pyridine nitrogen at the ortho-position showed selective sensing toward Cu2+ ion in both pure water and in buffered physiological media of pH 7.4. It gave a detection limit of ~13 ppb which is 100 times lesser than the EPA permitted limit. The other two sensors 13 and 14, which possessed the pyridine ends with the nitrogen atom at the meta- and the para- positions respectively showed the selective sensing of Hg2+ ion in water and did not show any interaction with the Cu2+ ion. Probes 2 and 3 showed ‘turn-on’ detection of Hg2+ ion both in the UV-vis and the fluorescence emission spectroscopy. Compound 2 and 3 showed a detection limit of ~ 9 and 4 ppb respectively. The NMR titration showed the change in color was due to the opening of the spirolactam ring of the rhodamine. The sensors can also be used for the detection of Cu2+ and Hg2+ ion in real life water samples and in the live cells. Figure 7. Molecular structure of the sensors 12, 13 and 14. Chapter 5. Ratiometric and ppb level Detection of Toxic Transition Metal ions using a Single Probe in Micellar media. This chapter describes the selective sensing of multiple ions using a single probe 15. The probe incorporates pyrene and pyridine as signaling and interacting moiety respectively. The sensor showed different responses towards different metal ions just by varying the medium of detection. In organic solvent (acetonitrile), the probe showed selective detection of Hg2+ ion. In water the fluorescence quenching was observed with three metal ions, Cu2+, Hg2+ and Ni2+. Further just by varying the surface charge of different micellar media, the probe showed selective interaction with Hg2+ ion in neutral micelles (Brij-58). However, in anionic micellar medium (SDS), the probe showed selective changes with both Cu2+ and Ni2+ in the UV-vis spectroscopy. The discrimination between these two ions was achieved by emission spectroscopy, where it showed selective quenching only with Cu2+. Thus using a single probe all the three metal ions Cu2+, Hg2+ and Ni2+ can be detected and discriminated just by varying the surface charge of the micellar medium. Figure 8. Molecular structure of the sensors 15. Chapter 6. Highly sensitive Rhodamine Based Dual Probes for the Visual detection of F¯ and Hg2+ ions in Water. This chapter deals with the design and synthesis of two new rhodamine based probes (16-17) which act as dual probes for the ppb level selective detection of Hg2+ and F¯ ions in water and at physiological pH 7.4. The two probes were synthesized by coupling tert-butyldiphenylsilyl (TBDPS) protected forms of 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde and 2, 4- dihydroxy benzaldehyde with rhodamine hydrazone. The F¯ ion detection is based on the desilylation of the probe, whereas the spirolactam ring opening leads to the detection of Hg2+ ion. The two probes gave turn-on detection of both Hg2+ and F¯ ion selectively in aqueous medium with the detection limit well below the EPA permitted limits. The probes showed detection of both the ions by dual mode with visibly different color and fluorescence under UV-lamp. The F¯ ion interacts with the silyl bond of probe and the cleavage results into yellow color whereas; the addition of Hg2+ ion to the probe solution opened the spirolactam ring and resulted into appearance of pink color. Figure 9. Molecular structure of the probes 16 and 17. (For structural formula pl see the abstract file)

現今資料大量且快速數位化的時代，各領域對資訊探勘分析技術越趨倚重。而在數位人文中領域中從2009年「數位典藏與數位人文國際研討會」開始，此議題逐漸受到重視，主要目的為將數位文物結合資訊分析與圖像化輔助，透過不同層面的詮釋建構出更完整的文物資訊。 本研究建構一個針對各種中文語料分析的工具，藉由latent semantic analysis、pointwise mutual information、Person’s chi-squared test、typed dependencies distance、word2vec、Gibbs sampling for latent Dirichlet allocation等計算語料中關鍵詞彙關聯強度的方法，並結合分群方法找出可能的主題，最後擷取符合分群結果的相關句子予以輔助人文學者分析詮釋。透過提供各種觀察語料的面向，進而提升語料相關研究學者的效率。 我們利用《人民日報》、《新青年》、《聯合報》、《中國時報》作為實驗與測試的中文語料。且將《新青年》藉由此套工具分析後的結果提供給專業人文學者，做為分析詮釋的參考資訊與佐證依據，並在「2015年數位典藏與數位人文國際研討會」中發表論文。目前我們透過各種中文語料評估工具的效能，且在未來將公開此套工具提供給更多學者使用，節省對於語料分析的時間。 / In recent years, a wide variety of text documents have been transformed into digital format. Hence, using data mining techniques to analyze data is becoming more and more popular in many research fields. The digital humanities gradually have taken seriously since "International Conference of Digital Archives and Digital Humanities" began in 2009. The main purpose of the digital heritage combined with information analysis and visualization could improve the effectiveness of cultural information through different levels of interpretation. In this study, we construct a set of tools for Chinese text mining, calculating associated strengths of collocations work through latent semantic analysis, pointwise mutual information, Person’s chi-squared test, typed dependencies distance, word2vec, and Gibbs sampling for latent Dirichlet allocation etc. The tools employ clustering method to identify the possible topics, meanwhile, the tools will extract the relevant statements according to the clustering results. These clustering and relevant statements contribute and improve the efficiency of humanities scholars’ analysis through providing a variety of observations about the corpora. At the experimental stage of this study, we considered the "People's Daily", "New Youth", "United Daily News", and "China Times" as as the corpora for testing. Among the research, humanities scholars analyzed the "New Youth" by the tools and published a paper in the "2015 International Conference of Digital Archives and Digital Humanities". Currently, we assess the effectiveness of the tools through a variety of Chinese corpora. In the future, we will make the tools freely available on the Internet for Chinese text mining. We hope these time-saving tools can assist in humanities scholars’ study of Chinese corpora.

Children from many culturally diverse backgrounds do not achieve in mathematics at the same rates as their counterparts from the dominant White, European-American culture (Gay, 2010). This so-called achievement gap is an artifact of an educational system that continues to fail to provide equal learning opportunities to culturally diverse children (Ladson-Billings, 2006; Nieto & Bode, 2011). Teachers who employ culturally responsive teaching (Gay, 2010) may help to close this opportunity gap and hence, the achievement gap. This study investigated, "How do elementary teacher candidates perceive teaching mathematics in a multicultural environment"; Using a critical constructivism research paradigm, this qualitative instrumental multiple case study involved a questionnaire, two interviews and a focus group with four elementary teacher candidates enrolled in a one-year teaching licensure program. The study examined elementary teacher candidates' images of mathematics and diverse students and the relationship between those images and their perceptions of teaching mathematics in a multicultural environment. The study concluded that the participants', images of mathematics, learners, and the teaching of mathematics were interrelated. The participants struggled to understand how students' diversity based on group membership (e.g., culture) influences a mathematics classroom and their teaching. However, on the basis of these participants, teacher candidates who hold a conceptual image of mathematics could be more open to adopting culturally responsive teaching than teacher candidates who hold a procedural image of mathematics. The study recommends the integration and modeling of culturally responsive teaching throughout all teacher education coursework.

- Competitor's Dominant Position and Its Abuse in the Czech and European Law The aim of this thesis is to identify and analyze issues of market dominance and its abuse as one of the most important areas of the competition law. An indispensable part of every analysis of such abuse is also a definition and assessment of the relevant market which we will deal with in a separate section of this thesis. The issue of abuse of a dominant position is analyzed with the help of the competition rules and the judicial practice of the competent authorities, both at the community and national level. First chapters are designed as an introduction to the issue of dominance, offering readers a better understanding of often ambiguous approach to competition law, its restrictions and distortions. We will also be dealing with related terms such as the competitor, the company and their mutual interchangeability. Special attention will be paid to the introduction and further analysis of the relevant market, where the correct definition is the basis for the assessment of any competition case. The issue of relevant market is demonstrated on particular examples, especially on the current case of Student Agency, where the mode of defining the relevant market also decides the final outcome of the case with respect to the...