The purpose of this research was to explore how Nunavut Educational Leadership (ELP), a school principal preparation program in Nunavut Territory, Canada, fulfills Inuit (the indigenous people of the territory) educational aspirations. In accordance with this purpose, the study focuses on answering four specific questions: (1) what are Inuit educational aspirations? (2) What is the context for Inuit education? (3) How is the Nunavut Educational Leadership Program organized to meet its objectives? (4) How do the activities of the Nunavut Educational Leadership Program (ELP) fulfill Inuit educational aspirations? Adopting an exploratory case study design grounded in qualitative approaches and undergirded by critical interpretative perspective, the research triangulates both primary and secondary sources of data. The primary data sources come from individual semi-structured interviews of 35 respondents (18 community members, 3 program development members, 3 presenters/facilitators, 7 program participants, and 4 educational officials) selected across Nunavut Territory. These sources are complemented with relevant secondary documents from 1987 to 2010. Using constant comparative and word-in-context as the main data analysis methods, concepts and themes were delineated from the data sources to form categories, with the research questions and conceptual framework guiding the process. The research results revealed, among many other things, that the Nunavut ELP partially fulfills Inuit educational aspirations as defined in the research. Issues arising from the data analysis and interpretation are also discussed under (1) Inuit culturally appropriate education/ self-determination in education, (2) Issues associated with Inuit and mainstream relationship, (3) The relationship between context and principal preparation and development programs, (4) Preparation programs for fulfilling local educational aspirations, (5) Framework for principal leadership practice, (6) Educational Governance Related-Issues, (7) University contribution to principal leadership preparation and development programs, (8) Nunavut ELP goals, and (9) Leadership Conceptualizations. Along with these are recommendations, theoretical implications and directions for future or further research. Though the research does not purport to design an educational leadership program for Nunavut school leaders, its evidence-based analysis and results may assist in any conversations toward the restructuring, improvement or enhancement of the Nunavut ELP as well as any educational leadership development programs in post-colonial societies.

Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 145-151). / Electronic reproduction. / Also available by subscription via World Wide Web / xi, 151 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

Thesis (M. Div.)--Columbia Biblical Seminary and School of Missions, 2007. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 159-169).

Thesis (M. Div.)--Columbia Biblical Seminary and School of Missions, 2007. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 159-169).

Este estudo objetivou avaliar a efetividade de uma Tecnologia Social de Capacitação Profissional para intervenção com vítimas de violência (TSCP-VS) mediante efeitos indiretos e o impacto no trabalho dos profissionais capacitados. A avaliação por meio dos efeitos indiretos investigou o impacto da TSCP-VS sobre os níveis de burnout, demanda, controle e apoio social. O impacto da TSCP-VS no trabalho dos profissionais capacitados foi avaliado por meio dos índices de impacto do treinamento no trabalho e dos níveis de transferência de aprendizagem. Foi investigado se os índices de burnout e as características do trabalho avaliados estavam relacionados aos níveis de impacto e transferência de aprendizagem. Foi utilizado o delineamento quasi-experimental. O grupo intervenção (G1) foi formado por 32 profissionais que concluíram a TSCP-VS. O grupo comparação (G2) constituiu-se por 24 profissionais que não participaram da TSCP-VS. Os participantes foram avaliados em três momentos. Referente ao G1, foi observado um aumento nos índices de exaustão emocional e baixa realização profissional de burnout, sendo que os níveis de despersonalização mantiveram-se estáveis. Os níveis de demanda, controle, autoridade decisória, uso de habilidades, e apoio social de G1 também permanecerem estáveis. O G2 apresentou um aumento nos índices de baixa realização profissional e despersonalização de burnout, os níveis de exaustão emocional mantiveram-se estáveis. Foi observada uma redução nos níveis de controle e de sua subdimensão autoridade decisória, sendo que os níveis de demanda, uso de habilidades e apoio social mantiveram-se estáveis. Ademais, foram observados altos índices de impacto e transferência de aprendizagem entre os participantes do G1, sendo que estes índices não se relacionaram aos níveis de burnout e as características do trabalho avaliadas. Os altos índices de impacto e transferência de aprendizagem sugerem que a TSCP-VS constitui-se como uma estratégia a qualificação dos profissionais de psicologia que trabalham em serviços públicos. / This study objective to evaluate the effectiveness of a Social Technology for Professional Qualification for intervention with victims of violence (TSCP-VS) through indirect effects and the impact on the work of professionals. The evaluation of indirect effects investigated the impact of TSCP-VS on levels of burnout, demand, control and social support. The impact of TSCP-VS at trained professionals’ work was assessed by training impact’s indices at work and levels of transfer of learning. It was investigated whether the levels of burnout and job characteristics evaluated were related to the levels of impact and transfer of learning. It was utilized the quasi-experimental design. The intervention group (G1) was composed of 32 professionals who completed the TSCP VS. The comparison group (G2) consisted of 24 professionals who did not participated at the TSCP-VS. Referring to the G1, it was observed an increase in levels of emotional exhaustion and low professional accomplishment of burnout, the levels of depersonalization have remained stable. The levels of demand, control, decision authority, use of skills, and social support of G1 also remained stable. The Group 2 showed an increase in the rates of low professional accomplishment and depersonalization of burnout, emotional exhaustion levels remained stable. It was observed a reduction in the levels of control and its subdimension decision authority, the levels of demand, use of skills and social support remained stable. Furthermore, were observed high levels of impact and transfer of learning among participants of G1, and these indices were not related to levels of burnout and the characteristics of evaluated work. The high levels of impact and transfer of learning suggest that TSCP-VS constitutes itself as a strategy for qualification of psychology professionals who work on public services.

In this thesis, specific practice conditions were examined for skill acquisition and transfer of perceptual-cognitive-motor processes underlying dynamic and complex performance. The availability of visual and cognitive processes during practice was modulated to examine contribution of each process to the skill acquisition using a novel computer-based task where participants were required to select and execute decisions to move a cursor to a target whilst avoiding random moving objects. Results demonstrated that practice with necessary information and processes improved the task performance, whereas limiting the underlying processes attenuated skill acquisition. Subsequently, the underlying processes were examined by measuring eye movements and condition-action pairs. Successful skill acquisition was underpinned by the modified visual search and decision making processes through practice. However, limiting necessary sensory information and decoupling cognitive processing during practice developed specific sensorimotor behaviour that did not lead to successful task performance. These results provided an insight of the skill acquisition by suggesting that when a task requires the acquisition of perceptual-cognitive-motor processes to be successful, integration of these processes would be necessary, whereas decoupling of these processes would limit skill acquisition. Moreover, transfer of acquired processes was examined between two tasks. Both tasks required the acquisition of similar perceptual-cognitive processes in order to select successful cursor trajectories, but the main goal differed between tasks. In addition, for both tasks a yoked condition aimed to limit cognitive processes to investigate the role of transfer-appropriate processing in skill acquisition. Results showed positive transfer indicating that practice on another task improved performance on the other task, whereas limiting cognitive processes attenuated the skill acquisition and transfer. Transfer would be maximised when the underlying processes between practice and transfer domain are similar or matched, whereas the transfer would be attenuated when the necessary processes are decoupled during practice. The overall findings extend the research in perceptual-cognitive-motor processes and have several theoretical and applied implications.

Este estudo objetivou avaliar a efetividade de uma Tecnologia Social de Capacitação Profissional para intervenção com vítimas de violência (TSCP-VS) mediante efeitos indiretos e o impacto no trabalho dos profissionais capacitados. A avaliação por meio dos efeitos indiretos investigou o impacto da TSCP-VS sobre os níveis de burnout, demanda, controle e apoio social. O impacto da TSCP-VS no trabalho dos profissionais capacitados foi avaliado por meio dos índices de impacto do treinamento no trabalho e dos níveis de transferência de aprendizagem. Foi investigado se os índices de burnout e as características do trabalho avaliados estavam relacionados aos níveis de impacto e transferência de aprendizagem. Foi utilizado o delineamento quasi-experimental. O grupo intervenção (G1) foi formado por 32 profissionais que concluíram a TSCP-VS. O grupo comparação (G2) constituiu-se por 24 profissionais que não participaram da TSCP-VS. Os participantes foram avaliados em três momentos. Referente ao G1, foi observado um aumento nos índices de exaustão emocional e baixa realização profissional de burnout, sendo que os níveis de despersonalização mantiveram-se estáveis. Os níveis de demanda, controle, autoridade decisória, uso de habilidades, e apoio social de G1 também permanecerem estáveis. O G2 apresentou um aumento nos índices de baixa realização profissional e despersonalização de burnout, os níveis de exaustão emocional mantiveram-se estáveis. Foi observada uma redução nos níveis de controle e de sua subdimensão autoridade decisória, sendo que os níveis de demanda, uso de habilidades e apoio social mantiveram-se estáveis. Ademais, foram observados altos índices de impacto e transferência de aprendizagem entre os participantes do G1, sendo que estes índices não se relacionaram aos níveis de burnout e as características do trabalho avaliadas. Os altos índices de impacto e transferência de aprendizagem sugerem que a TSCP-VS constitui-se como uma estratégia a qualificação dos profissionais de psicologia que trabalham em serviços públicos. / This study objective to evaluate the effectiveness of a Social Technology for Professional Qualification for intervention with victims of violence (TSCP-VS) through indirect effects and the impact on the work of professionals. The evaluation of indirect effects investigated the impact of TSCP-VS on levels of burnout, demand, control and social support. The impact of TSCP-VS at trained professionals’ work was assessed by training impact’s indices at work and levels of transfer of learning. It was investigated whether the levels of burnout and job characteristics evaluated were related to the levels of impact and transfer of learning. It was utilized the quasi-experimental design. The intervention group (G1) was composed of 32 professionals who completed the TSCP VS. The comparison group (G2) consisted of 24 professionals who did not participated at the TSCP-VS. Referring to the G1, it was observed an increase in levels of emotional exhaustion and low professional accomplishment of burnout, the levels of depersonalization have remained stable. The levels of demand, control, decision authority, use of skills, and social support of G1 also remained stable. The Group 2 showed an increase in the rates of low professional accomplishment and depersonalization of burnout, emotional exhaustion levels remained stable. It was observed a reduction in the levels of control and its subdimension decision authority, the levels of demand, use of skills and social support remained stable. Furthermore, were observed high levels of impact and transfer of learning among participants of G1, and these indices were not related to levels of burnout and the characteristics of evaluated work. The high levels of impact and transfer of learning suggest that TSCP-VS constitutes itself as a strategy for qualification of psychology professionals who work on public services.

Este estudo objetivou avaliar a efetividade de uma Tecnologia Social de Capacitação Profissional para intervenção com vítimas de violência (TSCP-VS) mediante efeitos indiretos e o impacto no trabalho dos profissionais capacitados. A avaliação por meio dos efeitos indiretos investigou o impacto da TSCP-VS sobre os níveis de burnout, demanda, controle e apoio social. O impacto da TSCP-VS no trabalho dos profissionais capacitados foi avaliado por meio dos índices de impacto do treinamento no trabalho e dos níveis de transferência de aprendizagem. Foi investigado se os índices de burnout e as características do trabalho avaliados estavam relacionados aos níveis de impacto e transferência de aprendizagem. Foi utilizado o delineamento quasi-experimental. O grupo intervenção (G1) foi formado por 32 profissionais que concluíram a TSCP-VS. O grupo comparação (G2) constituiu-se por 24 profissionais que não participaram da TSCP-VS. Os participantes foram avaliados em três momentos. Referente ao G1, foi observado um aumento nos índices de exaustão emocional e baixa realização profissional de burnout, sendo que os níveis de despersonalização mantiveram-se estáveis. Os níveis de demanda, controle, autoridade decisória, uso de habilidades, e apoio social de G1 também permanecerem estáveis. O G2 apresentou um aumento nos índices de baixa realização profissional e despersonalização de burnout, os níveis de exaustão emocional mantiveram-se estáveis. Foi observada uma redução nos níveis de controle e de sua subdimensão autoridade decisória, sendo que os níveis de demanda, uso de habilidades e apoio social mantiveram-se estáveis. Ademais, foram observados altos índices de impacto e transferência de aprendizagem entre os participantes do G1, sendo que estes índices não se relacionaram aos níveis de burnout e as características do trabalho avaliadas. Os altos índices de impacto e transferência de aprendizagem sugerem que a TSCP-VS constitui-se como uma estratégia a qualificação dos profissionais de psicologia que trabalham em serviços públicos. / This study objective to evaluate the effectiveness of a Social Technology for Professional Qualification for intervention with victims of violence (TSCP-VS) through indirect effects and the impact on the work of professionals. The evaluation of indirect effects investigated the impact of TSCP-VS on levels of burnout, demand, control and social support. The impact of TSCP-VS at trained professionals’ work was assessed by training impact’s indices at work and levels of transfer of learning. It was investigated whether the levels of burnout and job characteristics evaluated were related to the levels of impact and transfer of learning. It was utilized the quasi-experimental design. The intervention group (G1) was composed of 32 professionals who completed the TSCP VS. The comparison group (G2) consisted of 24 professionals who did not participated at the TSCP-VS. Referring to the G1, it was observed an increase in levels of emotional exhaustion and low professional accomplishment of burnout, the levels of depersonalization have remained stable. The levels of demand, control, decision authority, use of skills, and social support of G1 also remained stable. The Group 2 showed an increase in the rates of low professional accomplishment and depersonalization of burnout, emotional exhaustion levels remained stable. It was observed a reduction in the levels of control and its subdimension decision authority, the levels of demand, use of skills and social support remained stable. Furthermore, were observed high levels of impact and transfer of learning among participants of G1, and these indices were not related to levels of burnout and the characteristics of evaluated work. The high levels of impact and transfer of learning suggest that TSCP-VS constitutes itself as a strategy for qualification of psychology professionals who work on public services.

O processo de aprendizagem motora permite, por meio de mudanças nos padrões de ativação de redes neurais, a consolidação de modelos internos dos movimentos. Atualmente sabe-se que esses modelos internos podem ser desenvolvidos não só pela prática física, mas também pela prática mental, definida como um ensaio mental repetido dos movimentos, sem a sua execução. Essa forma de prática permitiria a formação de um modelo interno mais flexível e independente do efetor. Embora a prática mental esteja sendo amplamente utilizada para o treino esportivo e a reabilitação em adultos, sua utilização em crianças ainda é muito restrita. Isto se deve, em parte, pela escassez de estudos que mostrem seus efeitos em crianças. Assim, o objetivo desse estudo foi comparar os efeitos da prática física e mental para a capacidade de aprender e reter uma nova habilidade motora de movimentos sequenciais de oposição de dedos, transferir essa aprendizagem para uma sequência reversa de movimentos e para a mão contralateral, não treinada, em crianças de 9 a 10 anos de idade. Participaram deste estudo 36 crianças destras com idade entre 9 e 10 anos divididas aleatoriamente em três grupos: grupo de prática mental (PM), composto por 12 crianças com média de idade de 9,9±0,3 anos; o grupo de prática física (PF), composto por 12 crianças com média de idade de 10±0,5 anos; e o grupo sem prática (SP), composto por 12 crianças de 9,9±0,4 anos. Os grupos de PM e PF foram submetidos a uma sessão de treino com 2400 repetições realizadas com a mão direita, sendo que o primeiro realizou a prática de forma imaginativa e o segundo a prática física. O grupo SP realizou uma atividade de pintura com duração similar ao treino dos demais grupos. O desempenho da sequência de movimentos que recebeu treinamento (ST), dos três grupos foi avaliado nas mesmas condições antes do treino (AT), e após 5 minutos (DT), 4 (4dDT), 7 (7dDT), 14 (14dDT), e 28 (28dDT), dias após o término do treinamento. O desempenho da sequência reversa a treinada (SR), realizada pela mão direita e o da ST na mão esquerda, não treinada (MNT), foi avaliado AT, DT, 7dDT e 28dDT. Os resultados obtidos por meio da ANOVA para medidas repetidas mostraram que não houve diferença entre os efeitos da PM e PF para a aprendizagem, retenção de curta e longa duração. Por outro lado, a ANOVA mostrou que, após o treino, a SR alcançou o mesmo desempenho da ST, bem como a MNT alcançou o mesmo desempenho da MT para a ST, apenas para o grupo que realizou a PM. Adicionalmente, conforme o esperado, o grupo SP não apresentou ganhos significativos de desempenho. Assim, baseados nesses resultados, pode-se concluir que crianças de 9 e 10 anos são capazes de aprender novas habilidades por meio da prática mental, que proporcionou os mesmos efeitos da prática física para a aprendizagem, retenção de curta e longa duração, e efeitos superiores para a transferência entre tarefas e intermanual / Motor learning allows the consolidation of internal models of movement through activation patterns changes of neural networks. Currently it is known that these internal models can be developed not only by physical practice, but also by mental practice, defined as a mental rehearsal of movements repeated without the overt movement. Mental practice allows an internal model formation more flexible and independent of the effector. Although mental practice has been widely used for sports training and adults rehabilitation, pediatric use is still very limited. This is due, in part, to lack of studies which demonstrate effects in children. The objective of this study was to compare the effects of physical and mental practice on learning, retention of a new motor ability of sequential movements of fingers opposition and transfer this learning to a reverse sequence of movements and to the contralateral untrained hand, 9-10 years old children. This study included 36 right-handed children aged between 9 and 10 years old randomly allocated into three groups: mental practice (MP), composed of 12 children with a mean age of 9.9 ± 0.3 years, physical practice group (PP), composed of 12 children with mean age 10 ± 0.5 years, and the group without practice (NP), composed of 12 children aged 9.9 ± 0.4 years. The PP and MP groups were submitted to one session of training with 2400 repetitions with the dominant hand, and MP group trained using only mental rehearsal of movements PP group trained executing the movements. The NP group had a painting activity with similar duration of other groups. The performance of the sequence of movements that received training (TS) of the three groups was evaluated under the same conditions before training (BT), and after 5 minutes (AT), 4 (4dAT), 7 (7dAT), 14 (14dAT), and 28 (28dAT) days after training. The performance of the reverse sequence (RS) by the right trained hand (TH) and the performance of the trained sequence (TS) by the left untrained hand (UTH) was evaluated BT, AT, 7dAT and 28dAT. The results obtained by repeated measures ANOVA showed no differences between MP and PP for learning, retention of short and long term retention. Moreover, ANOVA revealed that, after training, only the MP group reached the same performance of the TS and RS, and UTH reached the same performance of the TS for the HT. Additionally, as expected, the NP group did not show significant performance gains. Thus, based on these results, it is possible to conclude that children aged 9 and 10 years old are able to learn new skills through mental practice, which provided the same effects of physical practice for learning, short and long term retention and higher effects for transfer between tasks and hands

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Physics / Nobel S. Rebello / Many introductory calculus-based physics students have difficulties when solving physics problems involving calculus. This study investigates students’ retention and transfer from calculus to physics. While retention is the ability to recall your knowledge at a later point in time, transfer of learning is defined as the ability to apply what one has learned in one situation to a different situation. In this dissertation we propose a theoretical framework to assess students’ transfer of learning in the context of problem solving. We define two kinds of transfer – horizontal transfer and vertical transfer. Horizontal transfer involves applying previously learned ideas in a problem. Vertical transfer involves constructing new ideas to solve the problem. Students need to employ both horizontal and vertical transfer when they solve any problem. This framework evolves through this research and provides a lens that enables us to examine horizontal and vertical transfer. Additionally, this proposed framework offers researchers a vocabulary to describe and assess transfer of learning in any problem solving context. We use a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to examine transfer in the context of problem solving. The participants in this study were students enrolled in a second-semester physics course taken by future engineers and physicists, calculus instructors and physics instructors. A total of 416 students’ exam sheets were collected and reviewed. Statistical methods were used to analyze the quantitative data. A total of 28 students and nine instructors were interviewed. The video and audio recordings were transcribed and analyzed in light of the aforementioned theoretical framework. A major finding from this study is that a majority of students possess the requisite calculus skills, yet have several difficulties in applying them in the context of physics. These difficulties included: deciding the appropriate variable and limits of integration; not being clear about the criteria to determine whether calculus is applicable in a given physics problem, and others. This study also provides a detailed understanding of students’ difficulties in terms of our theoretical framework. Instructional strategies are suggested at the end to facilitate the transfer from calculus to physics.