Past research has suggested that exposure to media in which the audience can observe positive interactions between a member or their group and a member of an outgroup can have a positive impact on audience attitudes towards the outgroup. This dissertation examines the reasons why individuals might voluntarily watch these types of intergroup media. Participants were exposed to two television show proposals in which three media features were experimentally manipulated: The social comparison between groups, the stereotypicality of outgroup character, and the presence of intergroup romance. The findings indicate that individuals were motivated to consume media that reduced uncertainty about other groups and increased the perceived status of their own. In addition, although not consistent across the two proposed shows, several of the manipulated media features were found to interact and/or relate indirectly to the attractiveness of the television show through the gratification of these motivations. The theoretical relevance and applicability of these findings is discussed.

Este trabajo tiene como objetivo relatar el papel que juega el uso de un Sistema de Álgebra Computacional (CAS) en el marco de la experiencia de innovación en un curso de integración en una y varias variables, Matemática B, destinado a alumnos del segundo semestre de primer año de las carreras de Ingeniería. El material de trabajo conformado por una parte impresa y otra digital constituye uno de los ejes centrales de la innovación. El material digital presentado en CD acompaña al impreso y está constituido por talleres que suponen la utilización del "sistema de álgebra computacional", Maple. Se describen las causas que motivaron la modificación de las materias de Matemática tanto en contenidos como en metodología de la enseñanza y que fueron incorporadas en la reforma de los planes de estudio de las carreras de Ingeniería. Se dan los fundamentos para la construcción del material de trabajo, detallándose con más detalle el material digital. Se presentan algunas conclusiones y la comparación del rendimiento académico de los alumnos de Matemática B del año 2006 (plan nuevo) con los de Análisis Matemático III del 2003 (plan anterior). Se dejan planteadas algunas alternativas para continuar con el análisis de la experiencia.

For my dissertation, I analyze the impact of English philosopher Stephen Toulmin's 1958 The Uses of Argument on philosophy and rhetoric. Because Toulmin holds that arguments must be assessed in relation to their original contexts, I begin by examining the intellectual context surrounding The Uses of Argument. I trace the development of formal, symbolic logic from the latter part of the nineteenth century and into the middle of the twentieth century. I argue that Toulmin was inspired by the work of ordinary language philosophers such as Ludwig Wittgenstein; with The Uses of Argument, Toulmin challenges the mathematical, deductive, and positivistic logics of philosophers such as Rene Descartes and Bertrand Russell. Next, I consider features of The Uses of Argument that are overlooked or misunderstood by critics and reviewers, including Toulmin's discussion of probability, field-dependent and independent aspects of arguments, and epistemological theory.After finding that many of the reviews of Toulmin's work were not as critical as recent scholars of rhetoric have portrayed, I evaluate the various ways philosophers and speech communication scholars have responded to Toulmin's arguments. Before examining composition scholars' uses of Toulmin, I briefly trace the development of argumentation in composition instruction. Then, I evaluate the wide range of reactions to and uses of Toulmin's work by composition scholars.Finally, having examined the intellectual history, the critical reception, and the variety of scholarly applications of The Uses of Argument, I offer my own application of Toulmin's work. I explain that good, "Toulmin-inspired" arguments are (1) contextual, (2) supported, and (3) multi-sided. Using student examples from my freshman composition courses, I demonstrate how students and I have used Toulmin's schema in several stages of the writing process, including invention and revision. I conclude that while Toulmin's work has had a significant impact on argumentation theory and pedagogy, rhetoricians-particularly composition scholars-have not yet fully realized the rhetorical and epistemological implications of The Uses of Argument. / Department of English

Researchers points out that social media has become a powerful venue to spread news, both for the news business and the users. Although the news diffusion has become a phenomenon to be reckoned with, we have found no research in Sweden about what motivate users of social media to share news. This thesis work therefore investigates news sharing on the social network Facebook by examining user motives in the light of the media theory uses and gratifications. A web survey was conducted and distributed to students at a Swedish university. The result showed that expression was the strongest motive to share news on Facebook, and the item that was highly valued by the students was to give other valuable information. The result also showed that other motives for sharing news was socialization, information, status and entertainment.

Networks of indigenous irrigating farmers played an influential role in the Cochabamba Water War of 2000 that succeeded in ousting the major water company Bechtel from Bolivia and securing changes to the national legislation to recognize indigenous water rights. In their mobilization against privatization, the irrigators used a narrative grounded in the defense of their water rights and traditional uses and customs or usos y costumbres. Following the Water War, the irrigators effectively organized to have their traditional water rights recognized in the new Irrigation Law no. 2878, which was signed into law in 2004, and the Regulations, which came into effect in 2006. This paper critically examines the impacts of the Irrigation Law on access to water in the heavily farmed region of the Cochabamba Valley. It asks whether the social inequalities amongst farming communities, often exacerbated by usos y costumbres, are being reinforced through the law’s implementation. An analysis of the political processes of institutional change and the power dynamics in the rural water sector reveals that the configuration of power asymmetries formalized in the Irrigation Law maintains unequal access to water resources.

The roles of urban public spaces in urban cores are being re-assessed across many North American cities. Public spaces within downtown cores are essential in ensuring the long- term viability of such urban centers economically and socially. Public spaces have been researched by utilizing a number of theories and frameworks in the past few decades, most notably through a socio-cultural lens. Another possible method of assessing what makes a great public space in a downtown core is by looking at how diverse a range of activities and uses it provides. The City of Vancouver’s downtown core has undergone massive redevelopment schemes in the past two decades. The downtown area has been transformed into a hub that not only retains major commercial and retail functions in the City but also boasting an active and increasing residential population living in mixed-use high density condominiums. Downtown Vancouver’s public spaces have also been increasing in number during the past two decades, on par with promoting a more active outdoor lifestyle for both residents and visitors. Assessing the degree to which the range of uses and activities meet the diverse range of users’ expectations and requirements is a possible method of analyzing these spaces’ viability in the public realm. Data for this research was collected by reviewing previous literature, unobtrusive observation and mapping of activities, compiling contextual maps of surrounding areas and usage maps for each selected public space, administering on-site user surveys, and conducting semi-structured interviews with professional and academic actors involved with planning, maintaining, and designing public spaces. Through conducting this research, it was found out that while some public spaces in Downtown Vancouver are more successful in terms of being used in a variety of ways, others are less so. Downtown Vancouver was also found to be lacking central public spaces such as plazas and squares, as these spaces would provide for a wider range of activities in the public realm. A number of strategies need to be taken by planners, officials in the City, and other actors in order to ensure more diverse range of activities in Downtown Vancouver’s public spaces in the future.

We describe the design background of the mathematics game Fingu for iPad aimed at 4 to 8 year old children. We first describe how Fingu theoretically can support children's development of fundamental arithmetic skills, focusing on conceptual subitizing, the embodiment of numerosity, and finger gnosis. Then we present the results of an exploratory micro-longitudinal study of the game with 11 5- and 6-year old children playing the game for several weeks and being filmed at three occasions. We discuss how their behavior with the game develops over time and can be related to the development of arithmetic skills. Finally we discuss how we will proceed testing the effectiveness of Fingu in a larger controlled study.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität, Köln, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 319-333).

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Kiel.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Bonn, 1974. / Includes bibliographical references (x-xxxiv).