This thesis is focusing on designing a DSS to facilitate Human Resource Management decisions for the Hellenic Navy. A mathematical, multi-criteria optimization model was designed and a software environment implemented employing this model to make job assignment decisions. The rationale was to develop a software solution able to adapt in the most automated way possible to different issues concerning HRM. Assigning HRM resources in an optimal way while considering multiple criteria is a very difficult task. There are many attributes to be taken into account some of which contradict each other. The human mind has limitations when dealing with multi attribute problems and the associated set of multiple tradeoffs. Providing a mathematical solution to the problem with the ability to evaluate tradeoffs could provide useful insight to decision makers and help reduce bias in the overall HRM assignment process. Design and implementation of such a system is the purpose of this thesis.

The purpose of the study was to determine the effects of level III video disc instruction on high school biology students. There were three areas studied: students' achievement in biology, students' attitude toward biology, and confidence. The experimental group consisted of 70 biology students. The control group also consisted of 70 biology students. The teacher of the experimental group used level in video disc instruction to teach about invertebrates, vertebrates, human systems, and plants throughout the semester. The teachers of the control group taught the same topics during the same period using the traditional lecture method and without level III video disc instruction. Students took the Biology Achievement Test, the Purdue Master Attitude Scale, and the Confidence in Learning Inventory before and after the treatment period. A t-test on the pretest scores of the experimental group and the control group showed no significant difference between the two groups. The experimental group also took the Technology Preference Survey after the treatment period.

The problem of this study is to compare the effectiveness of two methods of teaching beginning typewriting in the community college. The two methods are an audio-tutorial approach and the traditional textbook approach. Groups taught by the contrasting methods of instruction were compared on the basis of their production performance and their straight-copy skills after thirty-six class periods of instruction. A comparison was also made of the attrition rate of the two groups.

This study investigated the effects of four different types of mental practice (free imagery, directed visual, directed reading, and directed audio) on the performance of 45 beginning and 40 intermediate college bowlers. The groups bowled six games with two sets of five minutes of mental practice prior to the first frame and the sixth frame of each game. Data were analyzed by a two-way analysis of variance with repeated measures. No significant differences existed between treatment groups at either the beginning or intermediate levels. Conclusions were that no one technique of mental practice was more effective than another in increasing bowling performance.

The problem of this study was to obtain empirical evidence of the functional nature of the Audio-visual Identification Instruction (AVII) model for designing effective music instruction for young children. The method was to use materials prepared according to the model specifications in actual classroom conditions. The purpose of the study was to compare the achievement gain of second grade children of high, middle, or low musical aptitude levels, who were instructed by experienced music specialists, first year music specialists, student teacher music specialists, or experienced classroom teachers using AVII model materials, on three tasks in the area of pitch and three tasks in the area of timbre. Subject to the circumstances and limitations of this investigation, the results indicate that the AVII model is effective for instruction for musical naming and identification tasks for young children.

Lee Chor To. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-112). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / List of appendices --- p.xi / List of tables --- p.xii / List of figures --- p.xii / Chapter CHAPTER 1. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter CHAPTER 2. --- LITERATURE REVIEW / Introduction --- p.3 / Prematurity --- p.3 / Parental feelings of a preterm birth --- p.5 / Transition from hospital to home care --- p.11 / Maternal information need --- p.13 / Discharge education --- p.15 / Use of video education --- p.18 / Summary --- p.21 / Chapter CHAPTER 3. --- OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY / Aims and Objectives --- p.22 / Operational definitions --- p.23 / Research design --- p.23 / Sample --- p.24 / Inclusion criteria --- p.24 / Sample size --- p.25 / Sampling procedure --- p.26 / Educational program of infant care --- p.27 / Usual care --- p.27 / Educational video --- p.27 / Data collection methods --- p.30 / Phase I: / Instruments --- p.31 / Chinese version State Scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Adults --- p.31 / The Chinese version of the Maternal Confidence Questionnaire --- p.31 / Knowledge Test Infant Care --- p.33 / Social Support Questionnaire --- p.35 / Demographic information --- p.35 / Satisfaction Questionnaire of the Video Education --- p.36 / Date Collection procedure in Phase I --- p.37 / Phase II: / Instrument --- p.39 / Interview guide --- p.39 / Data collection procedure in Phase II --- p.39 / Data analysis --- p.40 / Phase I of the quantitative data --- p.40 / Phase II of the qualitative data --- p.41 / Pilot study --- p.42 / Ethical considerations --- p.42 / Chapter CHAPTER 4. --- FINDINGS / Introduction --- p.44 / Phase I / Sample --- p.45 / Sociodemographic and other characteristics of participating women --- p.45 / Demographic characteristics of infants --- p.46 / Comparison of sociodemographic data between groups --- p.47 / "Maternal outcomes of knowledge, confidence and anxiety about infant care" --- p.52 / Knowledge of infant care --- p.52 / Confidence in infant care --- p.53 / Anxiety concerning infant care --- p.55 / Correlation between outcome measures and sociodemographic data --- p.56 / Video group women perceived satisfaction of the study video --- p.58 / Summary of major findings in Phase I --- p.61 / Phase II / Characteristics of informants --- p.62 / Six categories emerged from the content analysis --- p.63 / Feelings about infant care at home --- p.64 / Concerns about the infant --- p.65 / Perceptions of the discharge process --- p.67 / Sources of support --- p.69 / Help-seeking activities --- p.70 / Perceptions of the usefulness of video education --- p.74 / Differences and similarities in the perceptions of the video group and non-video group women about the experience of caring for their infants at home --- p.77 / Summary of major findings in Phase II --- p.78 / Chapter CHAPTER 5. --- DISCUSSION / Introduction --- p.80 / Sociodemographic characteristics of participants --- p.80 / Effects of video education on knowledge of infant care --- p.83 / Effects of video education on confidence about infant care --- p.85 / Effects of video education on anxiety about infant care --- p.88 / Women's feelings about caring for infants at home and their information need --- p.90 / Preferred methods of learning about infant care --- p.92 / Contributions of the study video --- p.93 / Chapter CHAPTER 6. --- CONCLUSION / Limitations --- p.96 / Implications for nursing practice --- p.98 / Recommendations for farther research --- p.100 / Conclusion --- p.101 / REFERENCES --- p.102 / APPENDICES / Appendix 1a State Scale of State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Adults (English) --- p.113 / Appendix 1b State Scale of State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Adults (Chinese) --- p.114 / Appendix 2a Maternal Confidence Questionnaire (English) --- p.115 / Appendix 2b Maternal Confidence Questionnaire (Chinese) --- p.116 / Appendix 3a Knowledge Test of Infant Care (English) --- p.117 / Appendix 3b Knowledge Test of Infant Care (Chinese) --- p.120 / Appendix 4a Social Support Questionnaire (English) --- p.123 / Appendix 4b Social Support Questionnaire (Chinese) --- p.125 / Appendix 5 Demographic information --- p.127 / Appendix 6a Satisfaction Questionnaire of the Video Questionnaire (English) --- p.128 / Appendix 6b Satisfaction Questionnaire of the Video Questionnaire (Chinese) --- p.129 / Appendix 7a Interview guide (English) --- p.130 / Appendix 7b Interview guide (Chinese) --- p.131 / Appendix 8a Ethics approval 2001 --- p.132 / Appendix 8b Ethics approval 2004 --- p.133 / Appendix 9 Permission from Prince of Wales Hospital --- p.134 / Appendix 10 Consent form --- p.135 / Appendix 11 Comments about the video provided by video group women --- p.136 / Appendix 12 Other topics of interest provided by video group women --- p.137

This study was meant to provide empirical evidence to support or challenge the assumption that a nonfiction video narrative will be better comprehended by students of ESL if it includes a variety of relevant visual information compared to only seeing a single speaker or "talking head" reciting a narration. The overarching goal of this study was to give teachers of ESL greater knowledge and confidence in using video materials to develop the listening skills of their students. It compared two video tapes which contained the identical soundtrack but different visual information. The first tape (also called the "lecture tape") showed a single speaker, standing behind a lectern, giving a speech about Costa Rica. The second video (also called the "documentary tape") contained the identical soundtrack of tape one, but included documentary video footage actually filmed in Costa Rica which complemented the narration. A questionnaire of 45 true/false questions was created based on facts given in the narration. Thirty-nine advanced and fifty-five intermediate university ESL students took part in the study. Approximate! y half of each group viewed the lecture tape while the other half watched the documentary tape. All students answered the 45 - item questionnaire while viewing their respective video tapes. A thorough item-analysis was then conducted with the initial raw scores of all 94 students, resulting in fifteen questions being omitted from the final analysis. Based on a revised 30 - item questionnaire, the scores of the video and documentary groups were compared within each proficiency level. The hypothesis of the study was that the documentary tape would significantly improve listening comprehension at the intermediate level but that no significant difference would be found between the advanced lecture and documentary groups. In other words, it was predicted that the documentary video would have an interaction effect depending upon proficiency level. However, the results of a 2-way ANOV A did not support the hypothesis. In addition to the ANOV A, a series oft-tests also found no significant difference between the mean scores of the documentary and lecture groups at either the intermediate or the advanced levels This study was intended to be a beginning to research which may eventually reveal a "taxonomy" of video images from those which enhance listening comprehension the most to those that aid it the least. It contained limitations in the testing procedures which caused the results to be inconclusive. A variety of testing methods was suggested in order to continue research which may reveal such a "video" taxonomy. Given the plethora of video materials that ESL teachers can purchase, record, or create themselves, empirical research is needed to help guide the choices that educators make in choosing video material for their students which will provide meaningful linguistic input.

This thesis is primarily concerned with Caryl Churchill and Edward Bond&rsquo / s attempts to implement Brechtian methods of Verfremdungseffekt with the same artistic intent of social change in their plays, Mad Forest and Red, Black and Ignorant. In order to provoke critical and objective thinking, and action for positive change, both of the playwrights make use of Brechtian Verfremdungseffekt techniques of characterization, open-endedness, episodic structure, and audio-visual aids. These techniques let the playwrights present familiar situations, actions and attitudes as if they were unfamiliar so that they could be alienated and evaluated with a critical eye by the audience and the reader. In addition to studying the Brechtian elements in these two plays, this thesis argues that there is a point which drifts Bond&rsquo / s Red, Black and Ignorant from Brechtian dramaturgy and Churchill&rsquo / s Mad Forest / the point is that Red, Black and Ignorant includes non-Brechtian character design aspects and lack of Brechtian audio-visual aids.

This creative project contains step by step procedures for the set up and operation of hardware as well as software for an automated four projector system designed for use in the Electronic Response Laboratory in the Department of Biology at Ball State University. The main divisions of this project were:1) Set up of four projectors including location, position and adjustments.2) Linkage of projectors to dissolve controls.3) Synchronization procedures for linkage of projector system with a tape recorder through the use of actuator cables and a sound synchronizer.4) Impulse recording and final operational procedures. 5) A brief description of software production.Ball State UniversityMuncie, IN 47306

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of computer-assisted practice on English grammar and mechanics achievement of third grade students. Specifically, it investigated whether or not there was a significant difference when one group received traditional instruction with practice provided by means of workbooks and worksheets while another group received traditional instruction with practice provided by utilizing a computer.The subjects consisted of 74 students from Chapter I schools from a large, midwestern school corporation in an industrial community. The groups were from four intact classrooms with 41 students in the experimental group and 33 students in the control group.The instrument used was the Language Mechanics and Language Expression subtests of the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS), Level E. Ability levels were determined by grade equivalent pretest scores. An analysis of covariance and a post hoc univariate analysis of covariance were used to determine results at the p<.05 level of significance.FindingsStatistical analyses revealed the following results:1. The experimental group made significantly greater gains than the control group in language mechanics and language expression achievement.2. There was no significant difference in language mechanics and language expression achievement with regard to gender or ability levels of the experimental group and the control group.3. There was a significant difference in language mechanics achievement, but not of language expression achievement, between the experimental group and the control group. The experimental group made greater gains in language mechanics achievement than the control group.ConclusionsBased on the findings of this study, the following conclusions were drawn:1. Computer-assisted practice significantly improved English grammar and mechanics scores of third grade students in this study, according to the Language Mechanics and Language Expression subtests of the CTBS.2. Computer-assisted practice did not significantly improve English grammar and mechanics of third grade students with regard to gender or ability.3. Computer-assisted practice significantly improved language mechanics scores, but not language expression scores, of third grade students.