Practical intelligence that accounts for people's performance on real-life problem solving is not related to intelligence in the traditional theories. The primary purpose of this research was to investigate the role of two competing cognitive models in explaining practical intelligence. The author extracted from the literature four cognitive processes and two types of knowledge that significantly accounted for performance on real-life problem solving. The cognitive processes model included (a) metacognition, (b) defining a problem, (c) flexibility of thinking, and (d) selecting a solution strategy. The types of knowledge model included (a) structural knowledge, and (b) tacit knowledge. The secondary purpose of this research was to determine the contribution of some non-cognitive factors to practical intelligence. These factors included (a) self-efficacy, and (b) motivation. These processes and constructs were derived from contemporary theories of intelligence including the Triarchic Theory of Sternberg (1985a), the Bioecological Treatise of Ceci (1996), and theories of expertise.The author developed a Practical Intelligence Instrument (PII) battery based on components of the cognitive processes model, the types of knowledge model, and non-cognitive factors. The PII battery consisted of several subscales to measure components mentioned above. The PII also included items to measure familiarity with problems. The PII was administered to 116 volunteer participants. The validity of the PII subscales was derived from three sources: content, face, and construct validity, including convergent and discriminant. The reliability of the subscales in the PII battery ranged from .63 to .93. The PII also included four scenarios that are real-life problems. Participants were asked to provide solutions for these problems. Three experts from the social science field evaluated participants' strategies based on four criteria. Several statistical procedures were used to analyze the data including a hierarchal multiple regression model, ANOVA, and the Pearson Product-Moment correlation.The results showed that around 54% of the variance in practical intelligence was explained by the cognitive processes model, the types of knowledge model, and self-efficacy and motivation. The cognitive model explained around 42%. The types of knowledge model explained around 15%. The non-cognitive factors explained around 20 % of the variance in practical intelligence.

The advent of electronics and digital technologies in the last century has brought some significant changes in how we use and behave around doors. In this development, progress seems to imply a use of automation or shying away from physical interaction, and consequently a subtle yet potentially rich channel of information. Open Sesame aims to explore and reason around an opportunity and complementary perspective of leveraging digital technology to enrich the use of our haptic sense in future doors. The project poses an example situated in an office environment and builds on methods of hardware sketching to design a set of haptic door behaviours that reflect the state of a space. The resulting perspective attempts to make digital information about a room accessible for the user at a glance whilst reimagining the role of the door as a more active representative of the rooms it connects.

This project attempts to translate my experience of the everyday street for the viewer; to reveal my experience of walking and looking through drawing. The everyday is an elusive and slippery subject that has been used for various and sometimes radical agendas by many writers and artists in the last two centuries. It is seen as having potential for finding the authenticity that is lacking in other spheres of human activity. However, there is an inherent contradiction for the artist engaged with the everyday in that, by definition, the mundane is barely noticed yet it can swiftly become extraordinary when examined closely. This project uses a toolbox of everyday tactics, processes and methods to explore and devise appropriate modes of representing the everyday street, while taking this contradiction into account.

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This project attempts to translate my experience of the everyday street for the viewer; to reveal my experience of walking and looking through drawing. The everyday is an elusive and slippery subject that has been used for various and sometimes radical agendas by many writers and artists in the last two centuries. It is seen as having potential for finding the authenticity that is lacking in other spheres of human activity. However, there is an inherent contradiction for the artist engaged with the everyday in that, by definition, the mundane is barely noticed yet it can swiftly become extraordinary when examined closely. This project uses a toolbox of everyday tactics, processes and methods to explore and devise appropriate modes of representing the everyday street, while taking this contradiction into account.

The aim of my diplom work is to, at least partially, take a close look at everyday life in the mentioned city of Vsetín in the period of years 1939 - 1945. One of the primary tasks was to chronicle mainly commercial, communal and cultural life of this regional city using mainly archival sources, less commonly literature. The most of the information comes from official sources, which are stored in the State district record office in Vsetín. During the work, there were also used documents stored in Moravian provincial record office in Brno and in Provincial record office in Opava. In these cases, it dealt funds, that arose because of acts of German occupation authorities. In the submitted work, I have used not only literature, but also regional press. But it was used very marginally, because very little amount of it has preserved.

The past decade has seen the emergence of the Transitions Management theory rise to fame as the leading approach for dealing with the complex problem of sustainability. Its underlining principle considers sustainability as inherently difficult and requiring radical system changes to the wider society. Defined as a deliberative and prescriptive framework, it sets to influence governance activities through a gradual structured process. However, concerns have been raised which question the scope and practice of Transitions Management, including the criticism of its simplistic and narrow view, focussing primarily on technological innovations and policy influence while having little reflection on the dynamics and social relations involved in transitions. This research thesis aims to develop further insights to understand better the dynamics within the transitional process towards sustainability. By looking at the case of an international airport’s ongoing efforts to become more sustainable, this thesis argues that the social dynamics offer a significant contribution to the shaping of a sustainability agenda, by enabling practices that also seem vital in the framework of Transitions Management. This thesis applied ethnography as the primary approach to this research inquiry. The data collection involved qualitative interviews, documentary analysis, and participant observations spanning over 18 months between the periods of 2010-2012. Drawing on the critical studies of management and organisational theories, the research focus was on addressing the three key questions of what is the sustainability agenda, who decided on the agenda and how has the agenda been decided, within the context of airport operations. While other key issues have emerged from this research study, those aspects have underlined the tensions constituted in the everyday practices of an airports operations, how the conditions of tensions have enabled a positive influence, and how this is seen as significant to contribute to the theoretical understanding for dealing with the sustainability transitions process. Building on this perspective, this thesis further explored the dynamics of the individuals’ struggle, and suggests that it is part of a sense making process that also helps to construct the meaning of sustainability. In addition, it has identified how this experience of struggle has facilitated resistance “for changes” among individuals, and how this permits positive outcomes which are continuously shaping the agenda of sustainability and practices at the Airport.

Scholars and experts speak of a political apathy and a lack of political engagement in Jordan. In conventional studies of political engagement a large part of the actual everyday engagement of “the ordinary” is overlooked as it does not conform to the prevailing view of political or civic engagement.  Everyday politics as a field has developed as a response to this lacking view of political engagement or political behavior. The aim of the thesis is to find everyday political behaviors performed by Jordanian individuals. Additionally, everyday religious aspects according to the lived religion theory are discussed in relation to everyday politics as found.  A number of everyday political behaviors and everyday religious aspects of these were found through observations and interviews during two months of fieldwork in Amman, Jordan. Such behaviors were e.g. operating within the informal sector, relying on family and friends for money and labor, and derogatory joking about the regime. Religious aspects of these behaviors were e.g. explicit religious reasons for the behaviors, physical religious artifacts, and religious language.

This dissertation is an attempt to pose a challenge to the reified image of Kurdishness and Kurdayeti (awakening Kurdish nationalism), from an ethnographical perspective. The focus group is the comparatively understudied Kurmanji-speaking Kurds of Urmia county in Iran, both in rural and urban contexts. The questions is why do the Kurds of this study, in particular, and Kurds all over the Middle East, in general, have a high potential for mobilization during politically charged moments? / 博士(グローバル社会研究) / Doctor of Philosophy in Global Society Studies / 同志社大学 / Doshisha University

<p> The rationale for this project is based on the recognition that chemistry courses tend to be taught too much from a theoretical standpoint, with little reference to everyday life. This is one of the reasons that a majority of students think that chemistry is difficult, boring, tedious, and uninteresting (Worthy, 1982). If they have the choice, many students would rather not take a chemistry course, and if they do, it will probably be their last course in Chemistry.</p> <p> It is the intent of the Ontario Curriculum Guidelines to provide some science-technology-society connections. The aim of this project is to provide supplemental science-technology society connections, and selected concrete examples of practical, everyday chemistry for teachers, so that they may enrich their classes, motivate their students, and put theory into an appropriate context. If classes are more interesting and relevant to the world of the students, then more students could be motivated to take chemistry courses and consider continuing to more advanced classes. A second purpose for this project is to stimulate a typical non-science student's interest in chemistry and science. It is even more necessary to motivate these students by providing interesting connections with the real world and suitable applications of theory and principles. These connections with the real world are important for such students, so that they will be better able to make informed decisions as scientifically literate citizens, managers, or politicians, not only for themselves, but for the benefit of society as a whole.</p> <p> To accomplish the aims of this project, two or three short hand-outs of practical everyday chemistry were prepared for each of the core topics in the Grade 11 (SCH 3A) and Chemistry OAC (SCH OA) courses. A few of the examples included Dental Chemistry, Culinary Chemistry, Insect Pheromones, and Teflon.</p> <p> Results of the survey taken from chemistry teachers showed that these hand-outs would better motivate students to study chemistry. Teachers think it is useful for their classes. They would like a compilation of these examples, if one were to be made available.</p> / Thesis / Master of Science (Teaching)