Although blogs have been used in online learning environments with optimistic expectations, the distributed nature of blogs can pose some challenges. Currently, we do not have a robust collection of tested blogging strategies to help students interact more effectively with each other when blogs are used as a primary form of engagement in an online class. Prior studies have illuminated the need for effective strategies that will lead to greater active engagement on student blogs. Thus, the purpose of the study was to test an early iteration of an instructional blogging strategy, “Featured Student Profiles,” which is designed to help students become acquainted with each other better and encourage them to visit and comment on each other’s blogs. Eighteen undergraduate students who were enrolled in an online course for pre-service teachers in which student blogs are the primary medium of peer interactions, participated in the study. Using a case study design, seven students participated in interviews and all student blog interactions were analyzed. Thematic analysis was applied to analyze the interview data and identify salient themes of students’ blogging experiences overall under the study strategy. The findings indicated that students took the most direct and efficient path they experienced to complete the blog task. Their peer interaction patterns varied, but several shifted from random to targeted relationships as the semester progressed. Although all students perceived the strategy as a positive approach to peer awareness, there was no clear evidence of its effect on student interactions. This study provides three suggestions that are needed to achieve more effective use of the strategy. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2018. / March 30, 2018. / Includes bibliographical references. / Vanessa P. Dennen, Professor Directing Dissertation; Jonathan Adams, University Representative; James D. Klein, Committee Member; Fengfeng Ke, Committee Member.

by Li Wai Ming. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-79). / ABSTRACT --- p.ii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iii / LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS --- p.v / PREFACE --- p.vi / Chapter / Chapter I. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Company Background --- p.1 / Polymers Division --- p.2 / Project Objectives --- p.3 / Methodology --- p.4 / Chapter II --- LITERATURE REVIEW - THE EMERGING CONCEPT & TECHNOLOGY OF EIS --- p.7 / Evolution of EIS --- p.7 / Definition and Characteristics of EIS --- p.9 / The Executive's Role --- p.10 / Chapter III --- REVIEW OF CURRENT SYSTEM AND INFORMATION NEEDS --- p.15 / BPCS - AS/400 --- p.15 / Personal Computer Usage --- p.17 / Local Area Network --- p.17 / Management Information System --- p.18 / Limitations of Current Management Information System --- p.19 / Information Needs of Executives --- p.20 / Chapter IV --- CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OF THE EIS --- p.23 / Addressing Problems of the Current MIS --- p.23 / New System --- p.24 / Chapter V --- SELECTION OF TOOLS --- p.26 / Considerations for Hardware and Software Selection --- p.26 / Client Server Concept --- p.28 / Microsoft Visual Basic 3.0 for Windows & Microsoft SQL Server4.21 --- p.29 / Potential Problems --- p.34 / Chapter VI --- COST ESTIMATION --- p.36 / Hardware --- p.36 / Software --- p.36 / Personnel Cost --- p.36 / Time Frame of Development --- p.37 / Chapter VII --- RESOURCE ALLOCATION --- p.38 / Existing Computing Resources in PO Division --- p.38 / Chapter VIII --- DESIGNING THE EIS INTERFACE AND DATABASE STRUCTURE OF THE NEW SYSTEM --- p.40 / User Interface --- p.41 / Information Provided by the System --- p.41 / Database Structure --- p.42 / Data Security --- p.43 / Chapter IX --- DISCUSSION --- p.44 / Implementation Problems --- p.44 / Evaluation --- p.45 / Chapter X --- CONCLUSION --- p.48 / APPENDIX --- p.53 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.78

Reliable controller designs have been developed in this thesis for a number of finite-horizon and infinite-horizon problems with possibly non-zero initial conditions. These reliable controllers assure that system stability and system performance will be maintained despite certain system faults. The performance measure used in this thesis is an "H[subscript ���]-like norm", which is an induced two-norm from all exogenous signals and initial conditions to the regulated output and final states. Controller designs and existence conditions are presented for a reliable controller for faults in any pre-selected subset of actuators or sensors. Also, controller designs and an existence condition are presented for a reliable controller for any single sensor or actuator fault using sensor and actuator redundancy. / Graduation date: 1999

The purpose of this study was to investigate the professional interaction and interpersonal communication factors in the management of biomedical instructional development projects which involved the use of electronic media. Reference is made, repeatedly, in instructional development literature to the need to include interpersonal communication skills in the education and training of present and future instructional systems developers. It has been suggested that subject specialist consultation is one of the most vital instructional design skills. However, this skill may not be taught in educational and training programs. Before specific skills can be identified and included in the professional preparation of ISDs, it is necessary to determine what the communication factors are, as well as exactly where and when interpersonal communication conflicts occur within the ISD process. To provide relevancy, these issues need to be linked to actual occurrences in actual settings. This study provides insight into actual roles, relationships and interpersonal communication factors in the context within which they occur. / Graduation date: 1995

The analysis of electromyographic (EMG) signals detected during muscle contraction provides important information to aid in the diagnosis and characterization of neuromuscular disorders. One important analysis measures neuromuscular jitter, which is the variability of the time intervals between two muscle fibre potentials (MFPs) belonging to the same motor unit over a set of discharges. Conventionally, neuromuscular jitter is measured using single fibre (SF) EMG techniques, which can identify individual MFPs by using a SF needle electrode. However, SF electrodes are expensive, very sensitive to needle movement and not easy to operate in practise. <br /><br /> A method is studied in this thesis for automatically measuring neuromuscular jitter in motor unit potentials (MUP), it measures jitter using routine EMG techniques, which detect MUPs using a concentric needle (CN) electrode. The method is based on the detection of near MFP contributions, which correspond to individual muscle fibre contributions to MUPs, and the identification of individual MFP pairs. The method was evaluated using simulated EMG data. After an EMG signal is decomposed into MUP trains, a second-order differentiator, McGill filter, is applied to detect near MFP contributions to MUPs. Then, using nearest neighbour clustering and minimum spanning tree algorithms, the sets of available filtered MUPs can be selected and individual MFPs can be identified according to the features of their shapes. Finally, individual MFP pairs are selected and neuromuscular jitter is measured. <br /><br /> Using the McGill filter, near MFP contributions to detected CN MUPs can be consistently detected across an ensemble of successive firings of a motor unit. The method is an extension of the work Sheng Ma, compared to previous works, more efficient algorithms are used which have demonstrated acceptable performance, and which can consistently measure neuromuscular jitter in a variety of EMG signals.

Since the early sixties, the armed services of the United States have been moving progressively toward refinement of the teaching/training process for soldiers and civilians employed in the business of national defense. The major military services have all moved to a position whereby they are generally using systematic approaches to training analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation. The developed course, a copy of which is included in this dissertation, was pilot tested on a sample of contractor personnel, and the pre- and posttest data were analyzed. This analysis demonstrated that the contractor course as implemented and evaluated was perceived as a significant intervention tool for all contractor personnel developing training materials for the U.S. Army Intelligence Center and School. The course was viewed as significant regardless of the amount of education or previous experience in training development on the part of the contractor. The successful completion of the course culminated in the recommendation that all contractors working for the U.S. Army Intelligence Center and School take such training; that other armed services agencies implement such training, using the results of this study as justification; that colleges and universities develop programs to train private-sector contractors in the function of systematically designed instruction; and that additional studies be conducted to determine the actual dollar savings made possible by having contractor personnel trained prior to actual contract letting.

Instructional Systems Development is a comprehensive method for the analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation of training. It was produced for the United States Army in 1975 by Florida State University. Since that time, it has been the Army's goal to develop all of its training using this format. This has become increasingly difficult in the case of the U.S. Army Intelligence Center and School, because more and more of its instruction is being developed by civilian contractors. Contract completion dates must continually be extended while contractors train their personnel in the policies and procedures of Instructional Systems Development. Additionally, these delays then serve to increase contract costs. This study was conducted to ameliorate this performance discrepancy by providing a framework for the development of an Instructional Systems Development course for contractors. Both the analysis and design procedures accomplished in this effort were performed using the methods discussed in the actual Instructional Systems Development process. Thus, an instructional course would be developed through the use of the methods it would be teaching. The analysis portion of the study includes a comprehensive major and subordinate task list. This compilation identifies the twelve major tasks a contractor must perform in order to develop training materials according to the Instructional Systems Development process. These are: (1)Perform behavior analysis. (2)Perform analyses procedures. (3)Select tasks for training. (4)Perform all procedures in developing objectives. (5)Assess existing training materials. (6) Design and develop all tests. (7)Perform all sequencing procedures. (8)Develop job aids. (9)Select delivery methodologies. (10)Develop course procedures and control documents. (11)Write all training materials. (12)Validate all training materials. Each task has been analyzed to determine the skills and knowledges required for its satisfactory performance. Thus, the results of the analysis portion of the study are a complete task listing and a compilation of all required skills and knowledges. The design portion of the study concentrates on the pyramiding of all of these identified skills and knowledges. Pyramiding is a process whereby skills and knowledges are displayed in the hierarchical order in which they must be learned. They also provide valuable data for use in the development of instructional maps, detailing the sequences in which students may progress through the course. The final section of the study involves using the information generated in each pyramid to develop complete performance objectives. These objectives provide the framework around which the actual course is to be developed. The final products of the study are the competency tests constructed for each of the performance objectives. The development of the tests at this point in the process ensures that only the objectives are tested and not any extraneous material that might be included by either a course writer or an instructor. Thus, the parameters for a course for contractors working with the United States Army Intelligence Center and School have been defined. These parameters represent the instructional framework for the construction of an Instructional Systems Development course.

No description available.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 60-62). / vii, 102 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1993. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 101-105). Also available via the Internet.