The first chapter of the thesis describes the period of the First Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1938). This chapter describes the establishment of the First Republic, a new constitution, social legislation, relations between Czechoslovakia and Austria, the German minority in Czechoslovakia's borderlands and the events preceding World War II. Also mentioned is the issue of Slavic solidarity. The second chapter outlines the nature of Christianity in this period, meaning the establishment new churches and their basic directions, the confessional distribution of the population and the crisis in the church which began during this era. Part of the chapter is devoted to the first president of Czechoslovakia, T. G. Masaryk, and his thoughts, particularly those relating to religious belief. The last chapter will form an analysis of the writers, Jan Čep and Přemysl Pitter: their lives, work and thoughts from this period. The analysis of documents of both these authors aims to capture their response to the religious situation of those years and how they, in turn, influenced religious and political events during the period of the First Republic. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

This research presents the development and proof of concept of a TeleGeoMonitoring (TGM) system for spatially monitoring and analyzing, in real-time, data derived from vehicle-mounted sensors. In response to the concern for vibration related injuries experienced by equipment operators in surface mining and construction operations, the prototype TGM system focuses on spatially monitoring vehicle vibration in real-time. The TGM vibration system consists of 3 components: (1) Data Acquisition Component, (2) Data Transfer Component, and (3) Data Analysis Component. A GPS receiver, laptop PC, data acquisition hardware, triaxial accelerometer, and client software make up the Data Acquisition Component. The Data Transfer Component consists of a wireless data network and a data server. The Data Analysis Component provides tools to the end user for spatially monitoring and analyzing vehicle vibration data in real-time via the web or GIS workstations. Functionality of the prototype TGM system was successfully demonstrated in both lab and field tests. The TGM vibration system presented in this research demonstrates the potential for TGM systems as a tool for research and management projects, which aim to spatially monitor and analyze data derived from mobile sensors in real-time. / Master of Science

The Tactical Games Model (TGM) is an instructional model in which the primary assumption is to facilitate students' tactical understanding of games (i.e., response-selection and execution processes). Additionally, there is speculation that tactical understanding of one game transfers to other tactically similar games (Mitchell, Oslin & Griffin, 2006, p. 20). Limited research has been conducted regarding student response selection processes, problem representations, knowledge base development, or transfer of learning in this model. Griffin and Patton (2005) called for examination of TGM through an information processing lens. Examining action, condition, and goal responses of novice physical education students could provide significant insight to students' improved game performance. Also, examining students' engagement in particular tactical problems across diverse activities in a single game category could provide insight into how and which knowledge structures transfer. The purpose of this study was to examine fifth-grade students' tactical understanding and decision-making in a net/wall unit. A second purpose was to analyze the transfer of knowledge structures across the unit. Participants included an elementary school physical educator and purposively selected students (n=16; M=8, F=8) from a fifth-grade physical education class (N=50) at a suburban elementary school in the northeastern United States. Appropriate permission was obtained from the university's Institutional Review Board. The unit consisted of 20 lessons (50 minute classes). Select students remained in a cohort, participating with and against each other throughout the unit. Data was collected using multiple sources: (a) game performance (pre-post-unit), (b) situational knowledge quiz (pre-post-unit), (c) formal, semi-structured teacher interviews/written response to structured questions (pre-post-unit), (d) descriptive field notes, (e) video-taped and audio-taped teacher/student performances, (f) student think-aloud reports during the second game of each lesson (McPherson & Thomas, 1989), and (g) student focus group interviews (post-unit). Interviews were transcribed, open, axial, and selectively coded, then triangulated to develop categories. Situational quizzes, verbal recall data, and focus group interviews were micro-analyzed using a protocol analysis developed by McPherson and Thomas (1989) to examine action, condition, and goal orientations of students. Video taped game performances were analyzed using the Game Performance Assessment Instrument (Griffin, Mitchell, & Oslin, 1997). Results contribute to the empirical support for TGM, as well as contribute to what is known about knowledge structure development and transfer of learning for 5th grade novice games players.