The little steel industrial community Hofors is situated in Gästrikland on the border to Dalarna and its population is decreasing every year. The biggest housing operator is in a place where they must tear down a lot of buildings because they do not have enough tenants. But what do people really want in an apartment and in the surroundings? What is needed to make it attractive? That is something that this study will discuss and in the end it will lead to a proposal of an area that is suitable for a new housing and a few proposals to make the existing apartments more attractive.

This study aimed to explore the relationships between elementary students&rsquo / epistemological beliefs, learning approaches, self-regulated learning strategies, and their science achievement. In this investigation, a model of the potential associations among these variables was proposed and tested by using structural equation modeling. It was hypothesized that (a) students&rsquo / epistemological beliefs would directly influence their learning approaches, self-regulated learning strategies, and science achievement, (b) students&rsquo / adopted learning approaches and their use of self-regulated learning strategies would be related with science achievement, and (c) students&rsquo / learning approaches were expected to be related with their use of self-regulated strategies. A total of 1240 seventh graders from 21 public elementary schools throughout the &Ccedil / ankaya district of Ankara completed measures designed to assess students&rsquo / (a) epistemological beliefs (beliefs about the Certainty of Knowledge, Development of Knowledge, Source of Knowing, and Justification for Knowing) (b) adopted learning approaches (either rote or meaningful), (c) use of self-regulated learning strategies, and (d) science achievement. Separate confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to determine the structure of students&rsquo / epistemological beliefs and their adopted learning approaches. While the factor analyses of students&rsquo / responses to the epistemological beliefs questionnaire supported the multidimensional nature of these beliefs, some features distinct from the findings of the Western countries were identified. Socio-cultural influences were proposed to account for the observed differences in the factor structure obtained with the Turkish sample. The results of the structural equation modeling while supporting some of the proposed hypotheses, contradicted with others. Epistemological beliefs emerged as a major contributor to learning approaches and science achievement as expected, whereas those beliefs can not be used as a predictor of self-regulated learning strategies. In addition, students&rsquo / adopted learning approaches were found to be a predictor of their self-regulated learning strategies which in turn influence the science achievement in the model. Contrary to the expectations, learning approaches of the students were not found to be directly related with their science achievement.

This study aims to investigate the effects of the &ldquo / PLEASE&rdquo / (a general paragraph writing strategy ) writing strategy instruction through the Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) model on descriptive writing of fifth grade English language learners studying in a private primary school in Istanbul. The current study specifically focuses on if instruction on pre-writing planning through the SRSD model results in improvements in students&rsquo / written products, planning behaviors and self-beliefs as writers. For the study, eight fifth grade students participated in a writing club activity offered by the researcher at school. They were taught strategies for planning and drafting descriptive paragraphs, and the procedures for regulating the use of these strategies and the writing process itself. The data collection tools included comparison of students&rsquo / final pieces of writing in terms of overall quality and length, retrospective verbal protocols, individual interviews, and questionnaires all of which were conducted both at the pre-intervention and the post-intervention phases. As a result, the pre-test and the post-test writing scores indicated that each student experienced improvement in terms of overall quality and length of the written products. The strategy training helped students become more aware of the need for pre-writing planning and they started to engage in planning prior to writing in real practice. After the treatment, the students also experienced increased self-confidence.

The current study seeks to investigate pre-service elementary mathematics teachers&rsquo / (PEMTs&rsquo / ) self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies within the context of their teaching practices in the field work. It was aimed to explore the SRL processes and strategies of four PEMTs while preparing mathematics lessons at their practice schools. In addition to PEMTs&rsquo / SRL strategies, the changes and adaptations through their teaching practices and reasons of those changes were also examined in the study. In total 22 pre-interviews and 22 post-interviews were made through the study. Observations were also performed for each teaching practice. Besides observations, PEMTs&rsquo / end of semester reflection papers in the context of Teaching Practice course were examined in the study. In addition to those multiple data sources, initial interviews representing detailed information about the participants were also analyzed. The overall data were analyzed by using the SRL framework combined and adapted from Zimmerman&rsquo / s and Pintrich&rsquo / s SRL models. The findings of the pre-interviews revealed that PEMTs began with a &lsquo / lesson planning process&rsquo / reflecting the forethought phase. This phase included searching resources, arranging and organizing the available sources, asking for help and feedback when needed, mental planning of the lesson, and setting goals for the teaching session. These strategies were considered as cognitive self-regulation strategies. In addition to cognitive SRL strategies, motivational factors such as self-efficacy, perception of task, and intrinsic interest were appeared in the study. Post-interviews reflecting the self-reflection phase revealed that PEMTs had a self-evaluation process covering various issues for their teaching sessions as a final step through the study. Finally, it was seen that contextual issues related to teaching practice played a substantial role in PEMTs&rsquo / SRL strategies.

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of problem solving approaches on pre-service elementary teachers&rsquo / basic mathematics achievement, problem- solving performance and their self regulated learning. The study was conducted as quasi - experimental design with 110 elementary school pre-service teachers at a public university in Central Anatolia Region in the 2007-2008 academic year during the second semester. The time duration of the study was 12 weeks. Experimental group was instructed by questioning problem solving approach while control group was instructed by traditional problem solving approach. The data were collected through Basic Mathematics Achievement Test, Mathematical Problem Solving Test, Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire, Treatment Evaluation Form, interviews and observation checklists. The quantitative data was analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance. The results revealed that questioning problem solving approach had a statistically significant effect on pre-service elementary school teachers&rsquo / basic mathematics achievement, problem solving performance, task value, and control of learning beliefs, metacognitive self-regulation and effort regulation. However, there was no statistically significant mean difference between the experimental and control group in terms of intrinsic and extrinsic goal orientation, self-efficacy for learning and performance, test anxiety, rehersal, elaboration, organisation, critical thinking, time and study environment management, peer learning and help seeking. In addition the interview results showed that questioning problem solving approach had developed pre-service teachers&rsquo / skills on Polya&rsquo / s problem solving phase which were devising a plan and looking back. The common opinions among the students about the qustioning problem solving approach that questioning problem solving approach improved their problem solving skills and they learned new ways of solution through class discussions. Moreover, they implied that they learned to think differently.

Issues of regulated streams naturalization were analyzed in the dissertation. Subject of the research was the streams regulated for drainage purposes in a hilly relief region of the Southeast Lithuania. Self-naturalization was researched only in plain relief. Since naturalization processes are running differently, it was decided to evaluate them in a hilly relief in the region of the Southern Lithuania. Researches of regulated streams are important due to the fact, that naturalization of regulated streams with growing woody vegetation on the slopes of a stream bed almost does not decrease its hydraulic conductivity but helps to restore regime of natural flows and restore damaged aqueous ecosystems at the same times. The main target of the research is to determine regularities of self-overgrowth of regulated streams with woody vegetation and assess influence of its distribution on bed’s hydraulic conductivity and flood dynamics. Following tasks are solved in the work: regularities of woody vegetation specie composition, frequency, density distribution, influence of woody and grass vegetation on regulated stream’s hydraulic conductivity. The dissertation is composed of introduction, five chapters, general conclusions, recommendations. Introduction describes relevance of the problem, aim of the work, tasks are introduced, scientific novelty of the work is described, presentations on scientific conferences and publications are introduced. Chapter one is dedicated for analysis of... [to full text] / Disertacijoje nagrinėjami reguliuotų upelių natūralizacijos klausimai. Tyrimo objektas yra Pietryčių Lietuvos sausinimo reikmėms reguliuoti upeliai, esantys kalvoto reljefo regione. Savaiminė natūralizacija tirta tik lyguminiame reljefe. Kadangi natūralizacijos procesai vyksta skirtingai, nuspręsta įvertinti juos kalvotame Pietryčių Lietuvos regione. Reguliuotų upelių tyrimai svarbūs tuo, kad reguliuotų upelių natūralizacija, sumedėjusiai augalijai augant ant upelio vagos šlaitų, beveik nemažina jų hidraulinio laidumo, tačiau padeda atkurti natūralių tėkmių režimą ir tuo pačiu atstatyti pažeistas vandens ekosistemas. Pagrindinis tyrimų tikslas – nustatyti reguliuotų upelių savaiminio apaugimo sumedėjusia augalija dėsningumus ir įvertinti jos pasiskirstymo įtaką vagos hidrauliniam laidumui bei potvynių dinamikai. Darbe sprendžiami šie uždaviniai: sumedėjusios augalijos rūšinės sudėties, dažnio, tankio pasiskirstymo dėsningumai, sumedėjusios ir žolinės augalijos poveikis reguliuotų upelių hidrauliniam laidumui. Disertaciją sudaro įvadas, penki skyriai, bendrosios išvados, rekomendacijos. Įvadiniame skyriuje nagrinėjamas problemos aktualumas, pateiktas darbo tikslas, uždaviniai, aprašomas mokslinis darbo naujumas, pristatomi mokslinių konferencijų pranešimai ir publikacijos. Pirmasis skyrius skirtas natūralių upelių reguliavimo tendencijoms analizuoti. Apibūdintas augalijos plitimas reguliuotuose upeliuose, jų įtaka hidrauliniam vagos laidumui. Antrajame skyriuje pateikta... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

Disertacijoje nagrinėjami reguliuotų upelių natūralizacijos klausimai. Tyrimo objektas yra Pietryčių Lietuvos sausinimo reikmėms reguliuoti upeliai, esantys kalvoto reljefo regione. Savaiminė natūralizacija tirta tik lyguminiame reljefe. Kadangi natūralizacijos procesai vyksta skirtingai, nuspręsta įvertinti juos kalvotame Pietryčių Lietuvos regione. Reguliuotų upelių tyrimai svarbūs tuo, kad reguliuotų upelių natūralizacija, sumedėjusiai augalijai augant ant upelio vagos šlaitų, beveik nemažina jų hidraulinio laidumo, tačiau padeda atkurti natūralių tėkmių režimą ir tuo pačiu atstatyti pažeistas vandens ekosistemas. Pagrindinis tyrimų tikslas – nustatyti reguliuotų upelių savaiminio apaugimo sumedėjusia augalija dėsningumus ir įvertinti jos pasiskirstymo įtaką vagos hidrauliniam laidumui bei potvynių dinamikai. Darbe sprendžiami šie uždaviniai: sumedėjusios augalijos rūšinės sudėties, dažnio, tankio pasiskirstymo dėsningumai, sumedėjusios ir žolinės augalijos poveikis reguliuotų upelių hidrauliniam laidumui. Disertaciją sudaro įvadas, penki skyriai, bendrosios išvados, rekomendacijos. Įvadiniame skyriuje nagrinėjamas problemos aktualumas, pateiktas darbo tikslas, uždaviniai, aprašomas mokslinis darbo naujumas, pristatomi mokslinių konferencijų pranešimai ir publikacijos. Pirmasis skyrius skirtas natūralių upelių reguliavimo tendencijoms analizuoti. Apibūdintas augalijos plitimas reguliuotuose upeliuose, jų įtaka hidrauliniam vagos laidumui. Antrajame skyriuje pateikta... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Issues of regulated streams naturalization were analyzed in the dissertation. Subject of the research was the streams regulated for drainage purposes in a hilly relief region of the Southeast Lithuania. Self-naturalization was researched only in plain relief. Since naturalization processes are running differently, it was decided to evaluate them in a hilly relief in the region of the Southern Lithuania. Researches of regulated streams are important due to the fact, that naturalization of regulated streams with growing woody vegetation on the slopes of a stream bed almost does not decrease its hydraulic conductivity but helps to restore regime of natural flows and restore damaged aqueous ecosystems at the same times. The main target of the research is to determine regularities of self-overgrowth of regulated streams with woody vegetation and assess influence of its distribution on bed’s hydraulic conductivity and flood dynamics. Following tasks are solved in the work: regularities of woody vegetation specie composition, frequency, density distribution, influence of woody and grass vegetation on regulated stream’s hydraulic conductivity. The dissertation is composed of introduction, five chapters, general conclusions, recommendations. Introduction describes relevance of the problem, aim of the work, tasks are introduced, scientific novelty of the work is described, presentations on scientific conferences and publications are introduced. Chapter one is dedicated for analysis of... [to full text]

Darbe plėtojama suaugusiųjų mokymosi tema. Aptarus suaugusiųjų mokymosi sritis Mokymosi visą gyvenimą kontekste išryškinama geriausiai nūdienos individo poreikius atliepianti savireguliacinio mokymosi forma, kuomet besimokantieji patys inicijuoja, planuoja, kontroliuoja ir įsivertina savo mokymosi procesą. Vadovaujantis konstruktyvizmo teorija, kai mokymasis suprantamas kaip aktyvus konstravimo procesas. Taip pat remiantis sistemos, kuri procesų pagalba įgalina pokyčius, samprata. Formuluojamas tyrimo tikslas: atskleisti savireguliacinio mokymosi sistemos projektavimo prielaidas. Iškeliami tyrimo uždaviniai: Išryškinti savireguliacinio mokymosi struktūrą. Atskleisti empiriškai pagrįstus savireguliaciniam mokymuisi būdingus vidinius procesus. Numatyti savireguliacinį mokymąsi palaikančius veiksnius. Tyrimo objektas: Suaugusiųjų mokymasis. Tyrimo metodologija: Kiekybinė ir kokybinė, tipas - aprašomoji. Tyrimo metodai - trianguliacijos metodas: apklausos ir dalinai struktūrizuotas interviu. Tyrimo dalyvių atranka - tikslinė: savarankiškai besimokantys suaugusieji. Tyrimo instrumentai: tiesioginė atvirų klausimų anketa; virtuali uždarų ir atviro tipo klausimų anketa; atvirų klausimų klausimynas. Atlikus tyrimą savireguliacinis mokymasis išryškėja kaip cikliškas, spiralinis procesas, kurį sudaro trys pagrindinės fazės : pasiruošimas, mokymasis ir savirefleksija. Atskleidžiami stipriai tarpusavyje koreliuojantys savireguliaciniam mokymuisi būdingi vidiniai procesai. Svarbiausi... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The work concentrates on the topic of adult education. Through analysis of adult education in the context of life-long learning, a form of self-regulated learning fitting the needs of today’s individual is highlighted. Individuals employing these techniques initiate, plan, control and evaluate their own learning process according to constructivism learning theory that defines learning as an active construction of knowledge, supported by a view of a system as a set of processes that enable change. The research objective is to identify the prerequisites for designing a self-regulated learning system. Research tasks include highlighting a framework for self-regulated learning, identifying internal processes characteristic of self-regulated learners, considering factors that support and encourage self-regulated learning. Research Subject: Adult education. Research methodology: Qualitative and quantitative, type - descriptive. Research methods - triangulation: surveys and partly structured interview. Research subject selection - purposive sampling: adults engaged in self-education. Research tools - direct open-ended questionnaire; virtual questionnaire of open-ended and closed-ended questions; list of open ended questions. Research shows that the self-regulated learning is a cyclical process, composed of three main phases: forethought, performance and self-reflection. The correlating inner processes characteristic of self-regulated learners are identified. Most notably:... [to full text]

Nicotine Addiction is a chronic relapsing disorder. Relapse risk persists despite years of abstinence. Drug-associated cues have been demonstrated to induce craving and provoke relapse. Surprisingly, in human smokers, craving for nicotine increases or “incubates” with longer abstinence durations, a phenomenon that may explain persistent relapse liability. This incubation phenomenon also presents in animals trained to intravenously self-administer nicotine though the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Two proteins, ERK (Extra-cellular signal Regulated Kinase) and CREB (cAMP Response Element Binding protein) play important roles in learning, memory, and numerous aspects of drug addiction. We therefore examined whether changes in these proteins are associated with incubation of craving for nicotine in rats. We found increased nicotine-seeking behaviour after 14 days of abstinence (compared to 1 day) along with elevated ERK and CREB activity in the Accumbens brain region suggesting that these proteins may be involved in the incubation phenomenon.

Nicotine Addiction is a chronic relapsing disorder. Relapse risk persists despite years of abstinence. Drug-associated cues have been demonstrated to induce craving and provoke relapse. Surprisingly, in human smokers, craving for nicotine increases or “incubates” with longer abstinence durations, a phenomenon that may explain persistent relapse liability. This incubation phenomenon also presents in animals trained to intravenously self-administer nicotine though the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Two proteins, ERK (Extra-cellular signal Regulated Kinase) and CREB (cAMP Response Element Binding protein) play important roles in learning, memory, and numerous aspects of drug addiction. We therefore examined whether changes in these proteins are associated with incubation of craving for nicotine in rats. We found increased nicotine-seeking behaviour after 14 days of abstinence (compared to 1 day) along with elevated ERK and CREB activity in the Accumbens brain region suggesting that these proteins may be involved in the incubation phenomenon.