Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Think tanks are generally described as nonprofit institutions made up of experts who achieve change by offering policy prescriptions to lawmakers and by strategically marketing their ideas in the media. They have been part of the American political landscape since the turn of the 20th century, and there are now hundreds of such organizations across the country. This study was directed to state-based groups on the conservative side of the political spectrum that produce policy research in support of their political philosophy of a limited role for government, free enterprise in the marketplace, and greater individual liberty. The purpose was to examine the effectiveness of state-level, free-market think tanks, using some of the same criteria that have been applied to national think tanks; evaluate their use of nonprofit networks and the types of social capital they generate; and provide new insights into this relationship.

En del didaktisk forskning handlar om hur elever lär sig kunskaper effektivt och praktiskt. Ett effektivtsätt att lära ut fysikkunskaper är med hjälp av representationer som text, språk, matematik, grafer ochtekniska verktyg som simulering. Det finns många forskare och elever som hävdar att PhET-simuleringar är ett grundläggande verktyg för att hjälpa till att förbättra och utveckla fysikaliskkonceptuell förståelse.”Rörelse och krafter” är ett centralt innehåll i fysikundervisningen. I detta arbete undersöks därför hursimulering och särskilt PhET-simulering kan bidra till djupare förståelse av det fysikaliska begreppetfjäderkraft (Hooks lag). I den här studien genomfördes kort enskild undervisning för femgymnasieelever och sen användande de PhET-simuleringen för att lösa några problem samtidigt somde berättade hur de tänkte. Datan samlades in genom metoden ”think aloud protocols” ochanalyserades senare med en kvalitativ metod (tematisk analys). I studien undersöktes också vilkainställningar i PhET-simuleringen som var mest och mist hjälpsamma.Resultatet visar att PhET-simuleringen hjälpte eleverna på i huvudsak tre sätt; att ge visualisering avdet fysikaliska begreppet (fjäderkraft), att vara interaktivt (få direkt feedback) och att fokusera på denkonceptuella förståelsen. Eftersom eleverna svarade olika på vilka inställningar som var mest ochminst hjälpsamma, visade detta att eleverna lär sig på olika sätt, beroende på deras tidigare kunskaperoch förutsättningar. Alla deltagarna tyckte att PhET-simuleringen var ett bra sätt att utforskafjäderkraften på egen hand.Elever behöver få vissa förkunskaper från lärare eller pedagoger innan användning av simuleringenannars lär de sig inte effektivt. Lärare måste också förtydliga vilka skillnader det är mellansimuleringen, som är en modell av verkligheten, och verkligheten. Lärare måste lyfta fram skillnadermellan karaktärsdrag för naturvetenskapliga arbetssättet och användning av simulering, annars missar elever detta.

Effective teacher questioning during whole group instruction remains an important pedagogy in science education, especially the importance of helping novice teachers to guide student thinking using effective questions. This study examined how novice secondary science teachers’ understand the relationship between student thinking and teacher questioning. The sample was seven novice secondary science teachers’ enrolled in the University of Central Florida’s job embedded Resident Teacher Professional Preparation Program (RTP3 ). All participants received instruction and guided practice with the use of questions to elicit, probe, and challenge student ideas in the secondary science pedagogy class. Participants completed a questionnaire describing their teaching experience and science content knowledge. The primary data were think aloud interviews describing their thinking while observing two science instruction videos. Protocols, critical incident interviews, and field notes were transcribed and coded for analysis. Descriptive codes identified properly classified question types and the purpose or value of questions, student thinking, and student reaction to teacher questions. Pattern codes identified student engagement, feedback, wait time, and communication patterns. The think aloud used in this study provided insight into what the participants were thinking about the purposes of questions to elicit, probe, and challenge student ideas and gave insight into the decision process. Evidence from the protocol analysis provided insight about what the participants were thinking about the decisions made when attending to teacher questions and student thinking. All seven participants identified question types using language suggesting they understood the differences, but at a naïve level. Although participants used the iii correct language to show understanding of the question types, they had a fairly naïve understanding of the pedagogical purpose of the questions. This was especially true of the questions to elicit student ideas, but perhaps less true of the probing and challenging questions. The participants had more of a ritualistic understanding of the questions to elicit student ideas; they noticed them but perhaps did not have a deep understanding of this question type. Analyses of this study also revealed novice teachers learning is framed by the priorities of the public school system. All participants attended to teacher instruction, especially wait time and student engagement, while a few participants focused on feedback, praise, and higher- and lower-order questions. This study suggested school culture and the way teachers are now assessed may scaffold and support these teachers to have a more nuanced and sophisticated understanding of questioning and student thinking than has previously been reported for novice/beginning teachers. While some aspects of school culture and assessment may be problematic- i.e. wait time, feedback, praise, higher-order questions, etc.-on the whole it seems to be leading them in the right direction.

This study investigated the applicability of a general model of physics students' problem-solving experiences that suggests there are four dynamic factors affecting the problem-solving process: categorization, goal interpretation, resource relevance, and complexity. Furthermore, it suggests an overarching control factor called stabilization, which describes the inter-relatedness of the other factors over the problem-solving process. Think-aloud protocols of problem-solving experiences were used to investigate the model. Results of the study showed that conceptual resources had a significant impact on the success of problem-solving attempts. Participants who exhibited a lack of understanding of physics concepts were less likely to check their work, use diagrams effectively, set subgoals, or to use geometric or trigonometric resources, and were more likely to use a formula-driven search for a solution than those who exhibited evidence of conceptual understanding. However, conceptual understanding did guarantee problem-solving success. Mathematical and procedural knowledge was also seen as important. While many of the specific observations were consistent with the existing literature, the model provides an alternative framework with which to understand and synthesize those observations. The model was shown to be partially successful in describing participants' problem-solving experiences. Categorization, resource relevance and goal interpretation were supported to varying degrees; however, there was less evidence to support the construct of complexity. Determination of evidence for stabilization was guided by a working definition based on the participants' search for a stable understanding of the problem. Implications of these results for research and practice were noted.

I den här uppsatsen undersökes inlärning av svenska som andraspråk hos två grupper av ungdomar på en gymnasieskola i Sverige. Fokus i studien riktas mot användningen av ordinlärningsstrategier vid andraspråksinlärning hos dessa informanter, dvs. vilka typer av strategier och hur inlärares användning av dessa strategier kan beskrivas med särskilt fokus på bestämning av okända ords betydelser. Fokus riktas även mot betydelsen som användningen av dessa strategier har på informanternas resultat. Särskilt fokus riktas på användningen av strategier när eleverna härleder och/eller genererar de okända för dem ords betydelser utifrån sammanhanget under läsprocessen, vilket kallas lexical inferencing (LIF) inom språkvetenskap. I studien tillämpas think-aloud- metoden för undersökning av informanternas färdigheter i lexical inferencing, dvs. informanterna informerarmuntligt sina tankar och slutsatser om de okända ords betydelser i den givna läspassagen. I studien görs analys och förs resonemang och diskussion om varför vissa strategier används och vilka implikationer dessa kan ha på mer eller mindre framgångsrik ordinlärning. Studiens resultat visar bl.a. att informanterna använder sig av hela spektrumet av kognitiva, metakognitiva, sociala och affektiva strategier, men att de använder sig av dessa strategier i olika stor utsträckning och i olika grad av skicklighet. Studiens resultat visar också att det är svårt att påstå något entydigt om sambandet mellan användning av inlärningsstrategier och framgång i LIF eller om samvariation mellan strategierna, men att det finns indikationer på samvariation mellan kognitiva och sociala strategier, mellan kognitiva och metakognitiva strategier samt mellan affektiva och metakognitiva strategier. Det finns äver indikationer på hur dessa påverkar framgången i LIF och ansats till att förklara varför dessa samvariationer leder till mer eller mindre framgångsrik härledning görs i studiens analys- och diskussionsdel.

The purpose of research - to identify the distinctive features of management of analytical centers, affecting the work of improving the competitiveness of organizations. The object of the study is analytical centers in Russia and abroad. The subject of the study are the factors influencing the increase of competitiveness of think tanks. Think tanks perform a wide range of tasks involved in research and consulting in the field of social policy, political strategy, economy, militarization, technology and culture. In addition to commercial activities, they fulfill an important political role, creating a dialogue between public authorities, the academic community and civil society organizations, as well as the two largest world centers of research organizations in the field of economic policy is the United States and the European Union, which formed sector analytical centers, While in Russia, they are just beginning to separate segments organizations. / Цель исследования – определить отличительные особенности управления аналитическими центрами, влияющие на повышение конкурентоспособности работы таких организаций. Объектом исследования выступают аналитические центры России и зарубежных стран. Предметом исследования являются факторы, влияющие на повышение конкурентоспособности аналитических центров. Аналитические центры выполняют широкий набор задач, занимаются проведением исследований и консалтингом в области социальной политики, политической стратегии, экономики, милитаризации, технологий и культуры. Помимо осуществления коммерческой деятельности, они выполняют важную политическую роль, создавая диалог между органами государственной власти, академическим сообществом и гражданскими организациями, а также двумя крупнейшими мировыми центрами исследовательских организаций в области экономической политики являются Соединенные Штаты и Евросоюз, в которых сформирован сектор аналитических центров, в то время как в России их только начинают выделять в отдельный сегмент организаций.

Many academic institutions are tasked with trying to improve the usability of their online educational support technologies such as ePortfolios, intelligent websites, and other interface technology to make them as efficient as possible to meet the requirements of their end users. This is particularly important for the academic institutions during times and situations when they may not have a live human presence available to respond to various inquiries from their end users about the technology. The challenges of an academic institution in making its ePortfolios viable can cost itself, its end users, as well as its other stakeholders, money, time, and confidence in the technology. This study is about usability testing for improving the user-interface for ePortfolios. This is a qualitative study using the think-aloud protocol (TAP) for data collection and failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) for data analysis.

The following study aims to examine how multimodal texts are used in English as a foreign language education in a Swedish school. It explores both how multimodal texts occur in learning materials as well as how teachers could use these learning materials when teaching their pupils. The study is based on the theory of social semiotics by van Leeuwen (2005) and uses a model for analysis of teaching materials by Danielsson and Selander (2014). Two methods are used in the study: a think-aloud-method and a teaching material analysis. The result of the study shows that the teachers who were part of the survey showed a deep understanding of how different modes in the teaching materials could be used in meaning-making for the pupils. Furthermore the result also showed that the teachers often used external resources, such as movies, books and Youtube clips in their teaching. The teaching material analysis showed that the two pages in the teaching materials that were used were rich of different modal resources and that these resources were of high quality. Using teaching materials and external resources in a well functioning way creates an opportunity for meaning-making for the pupils. The teachers that were part of the survey used these in a well functioning way, even if they were not explicitly conscious of this. The use of multimodal texts in education is a cornerstone in creating a widened literacy within the pupils and giving them the ability to communicate in the modern world of multimedia.

The Arctic is a region which has been historically and is contemporary important for Russia. The Arctic is a matter of concern not only for the states bordering it but has also garnered attention from China. It demonstrated its interest by releasing its policy on the region for the first time in 2018. This thesis examines Russia's perception of China in the Arctic from 2018 to 2023. To realise this goal, the thesis will analyse the official Russian government's stance and narrative with experts' opinions in Russian think tanks and compare the two. Furthermore, mapping out how the views have evolved and whether they differ between think tank experts and the official government approach. A mixed method content analysis is employed to analyse the change over time and make the comparison fruitfully. A coding scheme is formed by utilising a theoretical framework grounded in extant studies on the relations between Russia and the Arctic. The findings suggest an absence of threat in policy documents and other publications, implying that China is not perceived as a threat in the Arctic. In addition, the think tank views follow and reinforce views expressed in policy documents.

This thesis aims to investigate how the major U.S. and UK think tanks perceive and convey the military prowess of Russia and Ukraine following the Russia-Ukraine war from February 2022 to October 2023. The study uses poststructuralism and discourse analysis to examine blogs and reports from the major U.S. and U.K. think tanks to identify their perceptions and attitudes. In scrutinizing their perceptions, this paper has limited itself to examining three dimensions of military prowess those being; morale and leadership, offensive capabilities, and the logistics and equipment. The relevance of recognizing how the major U.S. and UK think tanks perceive and convey the military prowess of Russia and Ukraine from a poststructuralist lens is due to the think tanks' influence in shaping domestic and foreign policymaking, as well as public debate. Something which could impact not only the trajectory of the Russia-Ukraine war, but also have national, regional, and global repercussions. The major findings of this thesis show that although the major U.S. and U.K. think tanks, which say they are non-biased actors, still prescribe and convey negative and subjective undertones and themes. Portraying for example Russia as having “incompetent” leadership and moral stature with its material advantage being its “only” cause for “success”. Whereas, for example, Ukraine's leadership and morale are praised for being the driving force for the “success” they have “enjoyed”. Whilst simultaneously being reluctant about its future, as it is described as the “only” factor for its “success”. Based on the findings, the thesis suggests future research on the issue in other domains is needed due to its relevancy in this and other fields.