Aluminium castings with a large grain structure have poor mechanical properties which are primarily due to casting defects as opposed to fine grain structure. The grain refinement practice using chemical addition is well established for wrought alloys, however in the case of casting alloys, the practice of adding grain refiners and the impact on castability is not well established. The addition of well known Al-5Ti-B grain refiner to casting alloys with silicon (Si) content above 3 wt.% is not effective. This is believed to be due to the chemical reaction between Ti and Si. The current research aim is to find an alternative, but effective, chemical phase which can refine Al-Si alloy grains. Based on a crystallographic database search and intermetallic phases found in Aluminium–Niobium-Boron, there exists several iso-structural phases similar to those of Al3Ti and TiB2. We have selected a phase which exhibits chemical phase stability with Si (below 900 oC) and developed a potential novel grain refiner Nb-B for Al-Si cast alloys. Various Al-Si binary alloys and a commercial sourced LM6 (Al-10Si-Mg) cast alloys were cast after novel grain refiner addition to the melt. It is the first time that such fine grain structures were achieved for Al-Si alloys when Si >4wt.%. It is believed that Nb-B grain refiner enhances the heterogeneous nuclei in the melt. The effectiveness of this grain refiner under various cooling rate conditions is investigated to simulate various practical casting conditions. Due to increased heterogeneous nuclei density, a fine grain structure is also obtained at low cooling rates and the grain size is less sensitive to the cooling rate. The processing of high Si containing alloys for complex shaped castings with reduced defects, fine grain structure and improved mechanical properties are now possible.

Collaboration is at the foundation of modern theatre practices. All of the individuals involved in a production share their contributions with their immediate colleagues for the benefit of the production. Reoccurring or very similar technical challenges often arise in productions no matter where they are produced. Sharing the creative solutions to these problems among graduate technical theatre students will benefit the theatre industry by increasing the possibility for innovation. An information-sharing infrastructure should be developed in a way that will ease the burden for the individuals who wish to share their innovations with the broader community, while including a way to receive acknowledgment for their contributions. This paper looks to the theories of Eric Von Hippel on “innovation communities” and the ideas and motivations for “free revealing”. The theories are related to the specific characteristics and needs of the community of Master of Fine Arts graduate students in theatre technology programs. Six techniques currently used for the sharing of information will be analyzed for their benefits and limitations. Topics such as open source software development, the principles of the organization Public Library of Sciences, and the practice of creating online instructional videos are all explored for successful techniques that can be applied to technical theatre innovation sharing. In addition, the protection of authorship will be discussed including: a broad history of copyright law in America, the cultural property theories of Lawrence Lessig, and the Creative Commons. I plan to compile all of the necessary information to lay the foundation for the development of a new approach to sharing information in theatre technology. Open Theatre Source will be the name for the proposed infrastructure. It will provide an online meeting place among the potential innovators in MFA programs. The infrastructure will employ new sharing techniques and will use innovative technologies to the community. The primary objective of Open Theatre Source will be to facilitate a dialogue among individuals who are studying within the many different programs. The dialogue will transcend institutional boundaries, which will benefit and improve the entire community of academic institutions. Open Theatre Source will create a valuable case study for future research in open sharing infrastructures for theatre technology. Through its successes or failures, the information gathered could then be applied to other areas of the theatre community, including the professional industry. / text

Implementation of production planning and scheduling systems at Synlait Milk Ltd. for its process manufacturing plant required a project be carried out. Socio-technical considerations as well as ease-of-use for the end-users of a planning system were found to be of the utmost importance in the implementation of a production planning and control system. Implementation options for the systems were weighed and a viable solution found.

Hydrologic catchment response varies in time. The goal of this dissertation is to investigate how and why it varies and what controls these variations. In order to tackle these questions the first step is to develop a method that permits the capturing of the temporal variation of transit time distributions (TTDs). To this end, the established transfer function-convolution approach using time series of stable water isotopes was modified so that it is now able to determine variable mean transit times (mTTs). The type and the shape parameter of the transfer function also vary in time. We found that antecedent moisture content, saturated hydraulic conductivity, soil depth and subsequent precipitation intensity are all potential controls. We propose a dimensionless number that integrates these controls and relates available storage to incoming and outgoing water fluxes in combination with information on antecedent moisture conditions to predict TTD type and shape. The individual TTDs for every time step produced by this model can be superimposed, summed and normalized to create a classification tool for catchments that is based on its general response behavior to precipitation events: the master transit time distribution. With this model in hand the hydrologic response for three consecutive monsoon seasons in ten nested subcatchments was examined. It was found that the major response controls were changing between the years in accordance with three hydrologic response modes. The mTT correlated most strongly with soil depth in the first year, with hydraulic conductivity in the second year and with curvature in the third year. These variations were produced by differences in precipitation patterns that led to differences in soil saturation and consequently to different dominant flow processes: in the first year most of the water left the catchment via fast flow paths (macropore flow, overland flow), in the second year shallow subsurface flow in the soil matrix was more dominant and in the third year most outflowing water derived from slow base flow. To better predict hydrologic catchment response we propose to apply a dimensionless number to determine the catchment response mode for every time step before selecting the appropriate response control.

В данной магистерской работе “М. Булгаков и Московский Художественный театр” рассматривается трагическая история взаимоотношений М. Булгакова с Московским Художественным академическим театром, которая нашла своё художественное отражение в ”Театральном романе”. Трагические переживания М. Булгакова в романе выражаются через призму смеха, что сообщает ему необычайную легкость. В ”Театральном романе” писатель использует разные формы комического: сатиру, иронию, пародию. Вместе с тем, в романе Булгакова раскрывается подлинная трагедия художника, творящего в условиях несвободы и насилия. / Šiame magistro darbe „M. Bulgakov‘as ir Maskvos teatras „Chudožestvennyj“ yra aptariama tragiška M. Bulgakov‘o santykių su Maskvos akademiniu teatru „Chudožestvennyj“ istorija, meniškai atsispindėjusi „Teatro romane“. Tragiški M. Bulgakov‘o išgyvenimai romane yra išreiškiami per juoko prizmę, kas suteikia jam nepaprasto lengvumo. „Teatro romane“ rašytojas naudoja įvairias komiškumo formas: satyrą, ironiją, parodiją. Tuo pačiu M. Bulgakov‘o romane yra atskleidžiama tikroji menininko, kuriančio prievartos ir laisvės nebuvimo sąlygomis, tragedija. / In the Master Paper “M. Bulgakov and Moscow Khudozhestvenny Theatre”, the tragic history of relations between M. Bulgakov and Moscow Khudozhestvenny Theatre that was artistically reflected in “The Theatre Novel” is discussed upon. The tragic experience of M. Bulgakov is expressed in the novel through a prism of laugh that provides it with an extraordinary lightness. In “The Theatre Novel”, the author uses various comic forms, such as satire, irony and parody. Simultaneously, the novel by M. Bulgakov discloses the real tragedy of the artist involved in the creative activities upon compulsion and lack of freedom.

The purpose of this study is to contribute to the literature on successful aging, serious leisure, and sport. A qualitative methodology was used to understand the lived experiences of three master-aged athletes involved in serious powerlifting. The goal of using such an approach was to share participants’ stories within a given context, as well as uphold the emotion, merit, and authenticity of each narrative. The results address issues around participants’ initial and continued engagement with the sport of powerlifting, the ways in which powerlifting shapes the aging process, and the meaningful role that powerlifting plays in one’s life. The discussion offers further exploration of key points, including: reconnecting to one’s youth, modified training and pain management, identity formation, resistance toward older female powerlifters, powerlifting as a context for self-improvement, career stages over the life-course, social interactions and relationships, and aging successfully. A number of future research directions are offered in the hope of continuing to understand the experiences of older adults in the context of physical activity. / Graduate / 0680 / absilver@uvic.ca

Jag har genom en självobservation studerat hur jag som värmländsk spelman har jobbat för att lära mig Ranungspolskorna av Jon Erik Öst. Syftet har varit att studera min egen läroprocess genom att tillägna mig musik från en annan tradition med noter som mästare. En central fråga i mitt arbete har varit om de förkunskaper jag haft räcker för att spela den nya traditionen eller om jag behöver addera ny kunskap, och i så fall vilken, för att lyckas. Jag har använt mig av videofilmning, ljudinspelning och loggboksskrivande för att dokumentera vad som hänt, och detta material ligger till grund för mitt resultat. Det teoretiska perspektiv som arbetet bygger på är mästarläran, dock med fokus på att det bara har varit jag, instrumentet och noterna som har samarbetat, och inte en ytterligare människa som har agerat mästare. I och med att det bara har varit jag, instrumentet och noterna som samarbetat så har inte ytterligare en människa agerat mästare i studien. Slutligen presenteras resultatet av studien under två rubriker där den första rubriken presenterar läroprocessen och den sista ger konkreta exempel på skillnader och likheter mellan Värmlands och Hälsinglands folkmusikgenre. Resultatet diskuteras därefter i relation till tidigare forskning och bakgrundslitteraturen som använts i föreliggande studie. / I have by a self-observation studied how I as a fiddler from the province of Värmland have worked to learn to play the Ranungspolskorna by Jon Erik Öst. The aim has been to study my own learning process by studying music from a different tradition with sheet notes as a master. A central issue in my work has been to find out if the previous knowledge I already have is enough to play the new music tradition or what new knowledge I need to add to succeed. I have been using video recording, audio recording and writing logbook to document what has happened, and this material forms the basis of my results. The theoretical perspective underpinning the work is master learning, but with focus on the cooperation between myself, my instrument and the sheet notes, and no another person acting as the master in the study. Finally I present the result of the study under two headings. The first one presents the learning process and the second gives concrete examples of the differences and similarities between the folk music genre from the provinces of Värmland and Hälsingand. The result is then discussed in relation to the previous research and background literature used in the present study.

Tyrimo tikslas – atskleisti projektinės veiklos reikšmę skatinant daugiakalbystę. Tyrimo objektas – projektinės veiklos reikšmė skatinant daugiakalbystę. Duomenų rinkimo metodai: mokslo šaltinių apžvalga ir analizė, dokumentų analizė, pusiau struktūrizuotas interviu. Duomenų analizės metodas: kokybinė turinio analizė. Magistro darbas susideda iš dviejų dalių. Pirmojoje dalyje yra analizuojami Europos Sąjungos daugiakalbystės strategijos dokumentai, švietimo projektų ir švietimo organizacijų vadovo veiklos teoriniai aspektai. Antrojoje dalyje yra analizuojami rezultatai, gauti atlikus kokybinį tyrimą. Galiausiai pateikiamos išvados ir rekomendacijos. Šio tyrimo rezultatai atskleidė, kad projektinė veikla švietimo organizacijose vykdoma vangiai ir ypatingos reikšmės neturi. Remiantis gautais empirinio tyrimo rezultatais galima teigti, kad švietimo organizacijų vadovai neskiria ypatingo dėmesio kalbų politikos dokumentų analizavimui ir nepilnai išnaudoja savo, kaip vadovo, ir organizacines vidines galias, inicijuodami ir skatindami mokyklos narių įsitraukimą į projektinę veiklą ir dalyvavimą joje. Projektinė veikla švietimo organizacijose lieka neišnaudota dėl: užsienio kalbos kompetencijos trūkumo; laiko stokos; žinių ir įgūdžių, rengiant projektus, stokos; mokinių dalyvių atrankos; mokytojų nenoro. Apibendrinti informantų pasisakymai leido prieiti prie išvados, kad švietimo organizacijų vadovams ir mokytojams kalbų mokymas mokykloje yra svarbus ir aktualus, tačiau... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The aim of the research is to reveal the significance of projects in encouraging multilingualism. The object of the research is the significance of projects in encouraging multilingualism. The methods of collecting data: the review and analysis of academic sources, the analysis of documents, and a partially structuralised interview. The method of analysing data: the qualitative analysis of the content. The Master dissertation is composed of two parts. The first part deals with the analysis of the strategy of multilingualism in European Union‘s documents as well as the analyses of the theoretical aspects of education projects and the performance of the leaders of educational institutions. In the second part the subject of analysis is the results of the quantitative research. Finally, the conclusions and recommendations are presented. The results of the study indicate that projects in educational institutions are carried out slowly and do not contain any special significance. Based on the empirical results of the study, it can be implied that the leaders of educational institutions do not place significance on the analysis of the language policy documents. Moreover, the leaders of such institutions do not fully exploit their role as the leader and the internal institutional powers in initiating and encouraging the involvement and participation of the school members in projects. The shortage of projects in educational institutions is due to the limited foreign language... [to full text]

Over the past twenty years, an increasing amount of research has been devoted to the study of student engagement within the field of educational psychology. This led to a growing body of research touting the benefits of engaged learning—from increased student achievement to more positive school experiences for learners. However, the literature is characterized by competing theoretical frameworks and multiple definitions of the construct of student engagement. Additionally, few works seek to capitalized on the expertise of classroom teachers to hone and develop what is known about engagement from the theoretical perspective. The current study used qualitative methodology to observe and interview master teachers, as defined by their designation as a National Board Certified Teachers, to learn how expert teachers define student engagement and how these conceptualizations match up to current theoretical frameworks. It also examined the sources for their professional knowledge of student engagement. The individual teachers defined student engagement through the presence of interest, engaged behaviors, social interaction, real world connections, strategic thinking, and positive student-teacher rapport. As a group, their answers support a four-dimensional construction of student engagement including affective, behavioral, cognitive and social engagement, which aligns well with one of the major theories of engagement within educational psychology. These teachers’ beliefs include an emphasis on real world connections to learning within cognitive engagement, and student-teacher rapport within social engagement that has yet to be explored deeply in the literature. Teachers identified multiple sources for this knowledge including experience, peer interactions, the NBCT process, and guidance from school leaders. While some noted formal professional education as a source, they saw classroom experience reflective and embedded professional development as more formative. This work shows these master teachers arrived independently at constructions for student engagement close to those proposed by the research community. It supports a meta-construct of student engagement that includes affective, behavioral, cognitive and social processes, and calls for greater theoretical advocacy within the study of engagement to help more teachers fully conceptualize student engagement without the need for trial-and-error learning and extensive classroom experience.

Research shows that student teachers find the mentor teacher and the student teaching experience itself the two most influential factors in their practicum experience. This study examined five student teachers and the two mentor teachers of each in elementary school settings within a metropolitan school district in North Texas. Lave and Wenger’s (1991, 2002) community of practice theory informed this study. Data sources included mentor teacher interviews, student teacher interviews, student teacher observations, student teacher/mentor teacher dialogue journals, and student teacher reflections. A collective case study approach was followed to gain a detailed understanding of the experiences of the five student teachers, looking specifically at their confidence in teaching and the factors associated with it. Findings indicated that the confidence in teaching of all five student teachers changed throughout their practicum experiences. Results suggested many factors influenced these changes. Student teachers shared that the student teaching experience, the grade level/subjects taught, their relationships with their students, and their relationships with their mentor teachers contributed to their confidence. The mentor teachers perceived that student teachers’ confidence could be influenced by consistency in classroom management and their interactions with their mentor teachers. Two areas of influence on student teacher confidence not uncovered by other researchers were the quest of student teachers for perfection while teaching and the need of mentor teachers for control of the content presented by the student teachers, especially during the months prior to state-mandated testing. Implications of the study included the need for university supervisors to mediate between student teachers and mentor teachers in promoting shared ownership of student learning within that community of practice enabled by student teaching.