This dissertation encourages adoption of a message-oriented receiver perspective when developing new instructional communication theories and proposes a causal-process model derived from Knowledge Acquisition Theory to demonstrate how this perspective can be used to predict student cognitive learning outcomes. Three hypotheses are generated to test the propositions of the derived model. The first hypothesis seeks to determine which dimensions of instructional message clarity and course content relevance best predict student interactions with instructional content. The second hypothesis predicts that student self-reported knowledge gains are a function of student interactions with content. The third hypothesis predicts that a significant proportion of the variance in knowledge gains can be explained by the combination of message characteristics with student content interactions both in and outside the classroom. A cross-sectional survey research design was used to collect responses from undergraduate students at a large southern public research university (n=333). The hypotheses were tested using linear and hierarchical regression and results demonstrated statistical support for all three hypotheses. The first hypothesis revealed the dimensions of instructional message clarity and course content relevance that significantly predicted student interactions with content inside and outside of class. Support for the second hypothesis illustrated that both in class and out of class content interactions significantly predicted student self-reports of knowledge gains. Finally, hypothesis 3 tested the comprehensive causalprocess model derived from Knowledge Acquisition Theory. The derived model received strong support and ultimately accounted for 65% of the variance in student perceptions of knowledge gains. Student perceptions of knowledge gains increased when students perceived textbook messages as clear, course goals and expectations as clear, content as relevant to their own lives, and when students enacted knowledge acquisition behaviors outside of class. Surprisingly, in class content interaction, presentation clarity, and procedural clarity dropped out of the model. Implications and limitations of the present study are discussed, directions for future research are suggested, and a persuasive argument is presented for why instructional communication researchers should continue to develop a message effects research agenda supporting the development of strong instructional communication theories that produce practical results to inform educational practices.

This research addresses the question, "how do we evaluate systems like LOLITA?" LOLITA is the Natural Language Processing (NLP) system under development at the University of Durham. It is intended as a platform for building NL applications. We are therefore interested in questions of evaluation for such general NLP systems. The thesis has two, parts. The first, and main, part concerns the participation of LOLITA in the Sixth Message Understanding Conference (MUC-6). The MUC-relevant portion of LOLITA is described in detail. The adaptation of LOLITA for MUC-6 is discussed, including work undertaken by the author. Performance on a specimen article is analysed qualitatively, and in detail, with anonymous comparisons to competitors' output. We also examine current LOLITA performance. A template comparison tool was implemented to aid these analyses. The overall scores are then considered. A methodology for analysis is discussed, and a comparison made with current scores. The comparison tool is used to analyse how systems performed relative to each-other. One method, Correctness Analysis, was particularly interesting. It provides a characterisation of task difficulty, and indicates how systems approached a task. Finally, MUC-6 is analysed. In particular, we consider the methodology and ways of interpreting the results. Several criticisms of MUC-6 are made, along with suggestions for future MUC-style events. The second part considers evaluation from the point of view of general systems. A literature review shows a lack of serious work on this aspect of evaluation. A first principles discussion of evaluation, starting from a view of NL systems as a particular kind of software, raises several interesting points for single task evaluation. No evaluations could be suggested for general systems; their value was seen as primarily economic. That is, we are unable to analyse their linguistic capability directly.

Chemnitz, Techn. Univ., Diplomarb., 2008.

The aim of the research was to explore the relationship between the use of SMS communication by adolescents and their perceived feelings of loneliness. The SMS seems to be the new communication medium for young people as they are most comfortable with and enthusiastic about this technology and its applications. The adolescent stage is characterised by the building of own social networks, the definition of boundaries between themselves and parents, self-presentation constructed on a social stage in relation to others and characterised by the development of romantic attachments, feelings of anxiety, self-esteem development and maintenance which may result in feelings of isolation and loneliness. Loneliness can be defined as an emotional and cognitive reaction to having fewer and less satisfying relationships than one desires. This includes the absence or self-perceived absence of satisfying social relationships and the unpleasant experience that occurs when a person's network of social relations is deficient in some important way. The motivation for this research was to get insight into the relationship between the use of SMS communication and loneliness in the South African context. An internet search on the 13th February 2006 indicated that no research has yet been done on the relationship between the use of the SMS and loneliness of adolescents in South Africa. An availability sample was used. One hundred and seventeen Grade 11 and 12 learners from two schools in the North West Province participated in the research project. An explanatory cross-sectional survey design with features of qualitative data analysis was used in this investigation. Three methods were used to obtain data, namely the UCLA Loneliness Scale (Version 3), Satisfaction with Life Scale as well as a self-compiled questionnaire. After scoring the UCLA scale the researcher determined which of the participants had the highest level of loneliness and the lowest level of loneliness. Two groups were chosen, each consisting or 15 learners, according to the highest and lowest scores on the loneliness scale respectively. These two groups represented the top and bottom 14% of the sample. The data obtained from the self-compiled questionnaire and Satisfaction with Life scale were qualitatively compared. Analysis of the data indicated that there might be a relationship between the experience of loneliness and the following: gender; number of siblings; involvement in romantic relationships; amount of money spent on bill (financial constraints); quantity of SMS messages sent and received; need to stay in contact with friends over the weekend; reasons for sending SMS messages; feelings regarding sending or receiving SMS messages; feelings regarding no response to SMS messages; feeling with regard to not receiving SMS messages from a friend for a long time; initiating of friendships via cellphone and the SMS rather than face-to-face communication. Suggestions for future research projects were made. / Thesis (M.A. (Clinical Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007

Thesis (M.A. (Clinical Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

The aim of the research was to explore the relationship between the use of SMS communication by adolescents and their perceived feelings of loneliness. The SMS seems to be the new communication medium for young people as they are most comfortable with and enthusiastic about this technology and its applications. The adolescent stage is characterised by the building of own social networks, the definition of boundaries between themselves and parents, self-presentation constructed on a social stage in relation to others and characterised by the development of romantic attachments, feelings of anxiety, self-esteem development and maintenance which may result in feelings of isolation and loneliness. Loneliness can be defined as an emotional and cognitive reaction to having fewer and less satisfying relationships than one desires. This includes the absence or self-perceived absence of satisfying social relationships and the unpleasant experience that occurs when a person's network of social relations is deficient in some important way. The motivation for this research was to get insight into the relationship between the use of SMS communication and loneliness in the South African context. An internet search on the 13th February 2006 indicated that no research has yet been done on the relationship between the use of the SMS and loneliness of adolescents in South Africa. An availability sample was used. One hundred and seventeen Grade 11 and 12 learners from two schools in the North West Province participated in the research project. An explanatory cross-sectional survey design with features of qualitative data analysis was used in this investigation. Three methods were used to obtain data, namely the UCLA Loneliness Scale (Version 3), Satisfaction with Life Scale as well as a self-compiled questionnaire. After scoring the UCLA scale the researcher determined which of the participants had the highest level of loneliness and the lowest level of loneliness. Two groups were chosen, each consisting or 15 learners, according to the highest and lowest scores on the loneliness scale respectively. These two groups represented the top and bottom 14% of the sample. The data obtained from the self-compiled questionnaire and Satisfaction with Life scale were qualitatively compared. Analysis of the data indicated that there might be a relationship between the experience of loneliness and the following: gender; number of siblings; involvement in romantic relationships; amount of money spent on bill (financial constraints); quantity of SMS messages sent and received; need to stay in contact with friends over the weekend; reasons for sending SMS messages; feelings regarding sending or receiving SMS messages; feelings regarding no response to SMS messages; feeling with regard to not receiving SMS messages from a friend for a long time; initiating of friendships via cellphone and the SMS rather than face-to-face communication. Suggestions for future research projects were made. / Thesis (M.A. (Clinical Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007

Cette étude sur la compréhension des jeunes face aux messages médiatiques vise : - à mettre en évidence les apports des études de réception et plus précisément les capacités et les besoins des récepteurs médiatiques, le cadre de réception, la nature du public et les médiations socioculturelles ; - reconstituer la capacité, la compétence et l’intention communicationnelles du récepteur médiatique et la rhétorique de la réception ; - poser le cadrage pratique de notre étude par la nature scientifique et le type des messages proposés. Nous nous intéressons à la construction du sens par des jeunes de cultures diverses lors de la réception de messages scripturaux, audiovisuels et audio scriptovisuels. Nous traitons les données collectées par l’observation et le questionnement à la fois quantitativement et qualitativement. Les techniques de recueil de données retenues sont le questionnaire et l’observation. Problématiser notre objet de recherche revient à se poser la question suivante : quelle est la compréhension des jeunes face à la réception des messages médiatiques ? Nous organisons notre recherche autour de deux axes : - le jeune construit sa compréhension du message médiatique ; - le culturel et le social ont un impact sur la compréhension du message médiatique par le jeune. / This study on the understanding of young people facing media messages aims: -to highlight the contributions of reception studies and specifically capabilities and the needs of media receivers, the approval framework, the nature of the public andsociocultural mediations; -restore the capacity, competence and the communicative intention of the media receiverand rhetoric of reception; -ask the practical framing of our study by the scientific nature and type of the proposedposts. We are interested in the construction of meaning by young people from various cultures during the reception of messages scriptural, audio-visual and audio disposed. We treat data collected through observation and questioning both quantitatively and qualitatively. Selected data collection techniques are the questionnaire and observation.Problematize our object of research is to ask the following question: what is the understanding of young people in receipt of media messages? We organize our research around two axes: -the young built his understanding of the media message.-the cultural and social impact on the understanding of the media message by the young.

As systems have grown bigger and bigger with time message brokers have become popular to help build better and more flexible designed systems. A message broker provides communication between services in a system while still keeping the components independent from one another. This thesis evaluates end-to-end latency and throughput of two of the most popular message broker software. The first message broker is Apache Kafka which uses a commit log to write all messages to disk and a message batching to optimize throughput. The second message broker is RabbitMQ which implements the standardized Advanced MessageQueuing Protocol and, contrary to Kafka, primarily stores messages in the main memory. The throughput and message latency of both brokers were tested by integrating them both in an established system with micro-services and sending messages from one service to another through the message brokers. Results showed that RabbitMQ reached the highest recorded throughput while sendinga large amount of data, and it also reached lower latency on individual messages sent without any queue build up. Kafka had more throughput and lower latency under smaller loads of data, but needs further configuration to become more effective as the default settings are limiting under heavy loads.

In the past decades, teaching and learning has undergone rapid transformation partly because of advances in technology and access to such technology (Sung, Chang, and Liu, 2016). Mobile technologies (i.e. tablets, smartphones, and access to Internet) have become widespread, and is visible, even in the developing world (Aguayo, Cochrane, and Narayan , 2017). Mobile technologies allow for online learners to access learning resources on the go (McQuiggan, McQuiggan, Sabourin, and Kosturko, 2015). Instructional message design principles advance empirical tools aimed at producing lessons that allow for effective learning (Bishop, 2014). The purpose of this study was to develop a set of considerations for designing messages for mobile learning primarily through literature review and expert reviewers' feedback. The research methodology employed in the study is based on design and development research methodology (Richey and Klein, 2007). The study utilized Clark and Mayer's (2016) multimedia principles, Center for Universal Design's (1997) universal design for instruction (UDI) and mobile interface design best practices. Five expert reviewers with varied expertise in human computer interaction, special education, mobile learning, and instructional design were sought to review the considerations and provide feedback on its effectiveness for instructional message design. Overall the expert reviewers agreed that the considerations were effective and will be helpful to instructional designers, instructors of instructional design and content developers. They provided several helpful recommendations which were used to revise the considerations for designing content for mobile phones. / Ph. D. / In the past decades, teaching and learning has undergone rapid transformation partly because of advances in technology and access to such technology (Sung, Chang, & Liu, 2016). Mobile technologies (i.e. tablets, smartphones, and access to Internet) have become widespread, and is visible, even in the developing world (Aguayo, Cochrane, & Narayan, 2017). The Mobile technologies allow for online learners to access learning resources on the go (McQuiggan, McQuiggan, Sabourin, & Kosturko, 2015). Instructional message design principles advance empirical tools aimed at producing lessons that allow for effective learning (Bishop, 2014). The purpose of this study was to develop a set of considerations for designing messages for mobile learning primarily through literature review and expert reviewers’ feedback. The research methodology employed in the study is based on design and development research methodology (Richey & Klein, 2007). The study utilized Clark and Mayer’s (2016) multimedia principles, Center for Universal Design’s (1997) universal design for instruction (UDI) and mobile interface design best practices Five expert reviewers with varied expertise in human computer interaction, special education, mobile learning, and instructional design were sought to review the considerations and provide feedback on its effectiveness for instructional message design. Overall, the expert reviewers agreed that the considerations were effective and will be helpful to instructional designers, instructors of instructional design and content developers. They provided several helpful recommendations which were used to revise the considerations for designing content for mobile phones

Four speech production experiments were conducted to examine how adults produce preverbal messages involving comparisons. It was argued that the generation of any message involving a comparison involves three decisions. First, a dimension for the comparison must be selected. Second, a contrasting object for this dimension must be selected. Third, a referent must be selected for the contrasting object. Participants were shown three objects on a computer screen and were asked to compare two objects along the dimensions of size (Experiments 1 and 2) or hue (Experiments 3 and 4). For example, a participant might be asked to compare the size of a medium-sized snake to either a small fish or a large bird. With each comparison, participants produced a noun (fish, bird) and an adjective (bigger, smaller) that could be repeated or switched from one trial to another. Experiment 1 showed a large tendency to repeat nouns, suggesting that speakers were repeating referents. Experiment 2, however, showed a large tendency to repeat comparisons to objects of the same size, suggesting that speakers were repeating contrasting objects not referents. Experiments 3 and 4 showed that the repetition effect disappeared after one filler trial. This suggested that decisions were made in short-term working memory. It was concluded that these three decisions are both necessary and sufficient for the generation of a preverbal message involving any comparison.