A cultura nacional influencia o processo de tomada de decisão? Quais são os pressupostos da tomada de decisão? Qual a relação entre a cultura nacional do tomador de decisão, seus constructos pessoais, a produção de sentido e a tomada de decisão? Este trabalho buscou desenvolver um raciocínio acerca desta temática, criando um modelo que integra conceitos de culturas nacionais, a teoria dos constructos pessoais e a teoria da produção de sentido. Este modelo de análise foi então aplicado a estudantes universitários de origem alemã, italiana e ibérica no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul. Foram aplicados dois questionários estruturados, um aberto e um fechado bem como um quase-experimento para chegar-se aos resultados. Aproximadamente 700 pessoas participaram da pesquisa em 6 cidades. Os dados foram então analisados através de análise de conteúdo (para as questões abertas), e técnicas estatísticas como regressão linear e análise fatorial para as questões fechadas. A relação entre cultura nacional, constructos pessoais, produção de sentido e tomada de decisão foi evidenciada parcialmente. Observou-se que os constructos pessoais variaram conforme a origem dos respondentes, porém a diferença entre as culturas italiana, alemã e ibérica não foi significativa para a decisão individual, não influenciando de forma diferente a tomada de decisão e a produção de sentido. Houve no entanto, uma diferença importante entre decisão individual e organizacional, verificando-se a influência da origem cultural (ascendência) no processo de tomada de decisão organizacional, no que tange a percepção da qualidade, sem no entanto alterar a ordem de importância dos atributos (constructos pessoais) de decisão. Estes resultados são importantes pois ajudam a entender o processo decisório, ressaltando a emergência de uma cultura regional (geral), mais forte do que as influências dos países de origem (ascendências). / Does national culture influence the decision-making process? What are the assumptions of decision-making? What is the relationship between the decision maker´s national culture, his personal constructs, his sensemaking and his actual decision? This study aimed to develop an argument about this issue, creating a model that integrates concepts of national culture, the personal constructs theory, and the sensemaking theory. This analysis model was then applied to Brazilian university students of German, Italian and Iberian origins (ancestry) in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil). Two structured questionnaires were applied as well as a quasi-experiment to get to the results. Approximately 700 people participated in the survey in 6 cities. The data were then analyzed using content analysis (for open questions), and statistical techniques such as correlation, regression and factor analysis for the closed questions. The relationship between national culture, personal constructs, sensemaking and decision-making was evidenced in part. It was observed that personal constructs varied according to the origin of the respondents, but the difference between Italian, German and Iberian cultures was not significant for the individual decision, not influencing in a different way the decision-making and the sensemaking. There was however, an important difference between individual and organizational decision, showing the influence of cultural origin (ancestry) in the organizational decision making process regarding the perception of quality, without changing the order of importance of the decision attributes (personal constructs). These results are useful to understand the decision-making process, highlighting the emergence of a (general) regional culture, stronger than the influence of countries of origin (ancestry).

The research reported in the present explored the interaction between perception and action, focusing on how this might occur under memory conditions. This was done in line with the proposals of grounded cognition and situated action, in which action and perception are tightly linked, and able to influence one another in order to aid the performance of a task. Following this idea of a bi-directional loop between the two processes, studies were conducted which focused on each side of this relationship, in conditions where memory would be necessary. The first experiments investigated how the perception of objects and the memory of those perceived objects could influence the production of actions. Later studies examined how the preparation and performance of actions could affect the perception of a scene, and subsequent recall of the objects presented. Throughout these studies, object properties (e.g., shape, colour, position) were used as a means to either manipulate or measure the effect of the tasks. The findings of the studies suggested that weighting an off-line memory representation by means of the task setting was possible, but that this was not an automatic occurrence. Based on the results obtained, it seemed that there were conditions which would affect whether memories could be tailored to the current demands of the tasks, and that these conditions were linked to the realism of the situation. Factors such as the task complexity, the potential for object interaction and the immersive environment were all suggested as possible contributors to the construction and use of weighted representations. Overall, the studies conducted suggest that memory can play a role in guiding action, as on-line perception does, so long as the situation makes it clear that this is necessary. If such weightings are useful, then the memory will be constructed accordingly. However, if the situation is such that there is no clear task, then the memory representations will remain unaffected and unprepared for one specific action, or not be used to aid action. Memory can be seen as serving action, but our memory systems are flexible, allowing us to cope with the demands and restrictions of particular situations.

abstract: International schools and international education initiatives are experiencing tremendous growth as the world’s economy continues to globalize. International schools operating outside of the traditional boundaries of state and national contexts have become havens noted for their diverse and multicultural staff, student bodies and school communities. However, the challenges facing international education have only recently begun to be studied independent from their traditional teaching counterparts. International schools, and any study associated with them, require an individual approach for identifying and solving the challenges unique to their context. “I’m Leaving!” is an action research study which incorporates phenomenological hermeneutics, action research, and a transformational innovation to examine the social structures associated with the decision-making process of the “I’m Leaving!” phenomenon and the administrative action developed in response. Guided by Transformational Leadership Theory (TLT), this study combined the latest action research methodological perspectives with hermeneutic tradition and Professional Learning Community (PLC) theory to provide a deep and unflinching view into the real and lived experiences of the one subject often forgot about in educational research: the teacher. The study results confirm previous study findings that teacher feelings and perceptions of the leadership effectiveness, teacher-leader relationships, and teacher professional growth opportunities were all improved after teachers participated in an action research communities. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2018

The purpose of this study was to examine attitudes and general knowledge of Affirmative Action in higher education admissions at one HBCU in Tennessee. The researcher used a modified version of the Echols’s Affirmative Action Inventory (EAAI) to assess attitudes and general knowledge of all administrators, faculty, staff, and students at this institution. At the conclusion of the collection period, 269 surveys were deemed usable. Of these, 31 surveys were completed by administrators, faculty completed 62 surveys, 55 surveys were completed by staff, and 121 surveys were completed by students. The dependent variables for the study were individual survey questions (1-9) and three dimensions created by transforming the data from sets of survey questions. The independent variables were participant group (administrators, faculty, staff, and students), gender, race, and academic discipline. Two-way contingency tables and c2 were used to examine the associations between each independent variable and the dependent variable for each of the individual survey questions. Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the mean differences between the dimensions and pairs of independent variables. The quantitative findings indicated that the independent variable, participant group, was found to differ in five of the 11 research questions significantly. Administrators hold positive attitudes and exhibit greater general knowledge on the topic of Affirmative Action compared to faculty, staff, or students. Of the other independent variables, only race and academic discipline resulted in significant differences. Respondents who identified as Non-White exhibited positive attitudes towards the dimension that assessed whether Affirmative Action was moral and ethical over respondents who identified as White. Respondents who were classified as belonging to the humanities (academic discipline) were more likely to exhibit positive attitudes toward support of Affirmative Action over respondents who were classified as belonging to business.

acase@tulane.edu / 1 / Emily A. Lewis

In this dissertation, I develop a framework to investigate the implications of Affirmative Action in college admissions on both study effort choice and college placement outcomes for high school students. I model the college admissions process as a Bayesian game where heterogeneous students compete for seats at colleges and universities of varying prestige. There is an allocation mechanism which maps each student's achieved test score into a seat at some college. A colorblind mechanism ignores race, while Affirmative Action mechanisms may give preferential treatment to minorities in a variety of ways. The particular form of the mechanism determines how students' study effort is linked with their payoff, playing a key roll in shaping behavior. I use the model to evaluate the ability of a given college admission policy to promote academic achievement and to minimize racial academic gaps--namely, the achievement gap and the college enrollment gap. On the basis of these criteria, I derive a qualitative comparison of three canonical classes of college admissions policies: color-blind admissions, quotas, and admission preferences. I also perform an empirical policy analysis of Affirmative Action (AA) in US college admissions, using data from 1996 on American colleges, freshman admissions, and entrance test scores to measure actual AA practices in the American college market. Minority college applicants in the United States effectively benefit from a 9% inflation of their SAT scores, as well as a small fixed bonus of approximately 34 SAT points. I also estimate distributions over student heterogeneity and perform a series of counterfactual policy experiments. This procedure shows that AA practices in the US significantly improve college placement outcomes for minorities, at the cost of discouraging achievement by the most and least talented students. The analysis also indicates ways in which AA could be re-designed in order to better achieve its objectives. As it turns out, a quota system produces a substantial improvement relative to either the current system or a color-blind system. However, quotas are illegal in the US and cannot be implemented as such. Nevertheless, I propose a variation on the AA policy already in place that is outcome-equivalent to a quota.

This study explores how governments use knowledge to inform telecommunications policy-making and policy-implementation in regional development. It focuses on epistemological aspects and assumptions made within the parameters of Enlightenment thinking or the Newtonian paradigm, also known as the classical scientit1c paradigm. It argues that lmowledge formed within this paradigm, usually generated at a distance, has been individ,uated, detached, segmented and abstracted. 'Individuation' focuses on individuals and things rather than communities and processes. 'Detachment' separates the subjective mind from the objective environment to produce reliable information. 'Segmentation' produces validity of information by parsing the objective environment from its social and historical context. 'Abstraction' allows objectivity and systematisation of information. When used to inform policy, such knowledge creates a narrow 'standardising gaze' that 'disciplines' communities to conform to dominant social behaviour and beliefs. Case studies are used to demonstrate that the two major models of development, as products ofthis paradigm, employ this gaze rendering replicability difficult ifnot impossible. These models are the top-down and bottom-up approach that are epitomised by the Silicon Valley model and telecentre moveluent respectively. How this gaze inhibits/facilitates development in policy implementation is then examined in the Goldfields Esperance region in Western Australia. An holistic approach using cotnplex adaptive systems is used to understand the multidisciplinary aspects involved in development. This is combined with action research, a reflexive methodology. Action research has the ability to access local knowledge to provide data and evaluation in situ rather than on a post hoc basis. The findings demonstrate that complex systems analysis and action research provide a modus operandi that: a) recognises the interplay of various factors (such as power relations, economic cycle, social and political institutions) at different levels of the system; b) recognises time, context and path-dependence of regional development; c) provides a filter that minimises the 'standardising gaze' and d) gives an access to knowledge and insight to local issues, which can facilitate policy implementation of development that is sympathetic to regional communities.

The aim of this paper is to position art within the realm of the everyday for the purposes of establishing the critical/political capabilities of art practice in a post-aesthetic information-based age. In this way, art can be conceived of as a 'technology' which, having been placed in a situation/site, assumes an agency in the engagement of the subject within the dialectic tension of everyday conflict - the background in which the day to day micro-political decisions are made. I use the figure of the walker to examine the potential of a phenomenological approach to the interpretation of a theory of art and everydayness - it is the sensate nature of the walker which is valuable to the perception and interpretation of daily conflicts and dilemmas. The potential of the politically informed walking subject is to 'read' in a discriminating way the fragmented codes of complicity with which the individual/artist relates to or engages with the invisible monumentality of more powerful forces. This paper positions both art and viewer within a space which can no longer be seen as the perspectival unifying limitations of the traditional grid but as a fluid and multidimensional topology of power relations. It is within this context that the social-relational networks are predicted on unavoidable complicities and tacit agreements which are the substance of art and critical action / Master of Arts (Hons) Visual Arts

This thesis investigates the teaching of statistical literacy in the first two years of secondary school mathematics. The teachers involved in the research aim to make changes to classroom practice in the teaching and learning of statistics and statistical literacy in response to changes in the New Zealand curriculum. An action research methodology is adopted by the research. A group of three teachers and the author undertake an action research cycle of planning, observing, acting and reflecting in three different Year 9 and 10 mathematics classrooms. The research documents the designing and implementing of strategies by a group of teachers in a mathematics department for integrating statistical literacy into teaching programmes. The research adopts framework for improving practice that utilise models for statistical literacy and thinking and principles for teaching with a language learning or literacy focus. Data is collected through discussions with teachers, observations of lessons and interviews with teachers and students. Themes emerge from the data. They include the significance of teacher and student concepts of statistics and statistical literacy, the importance of language and literacy in the statistics classroom, the adoption of teaching principles to facilitate statistical literacy and the challenge of adopting a critical literacy stance in the statistics classroom. The study highlights the importance of literacy and language skills in statistical literacy. The research concludes that the important changes needed for developing statistical literacy are about classroom methodology rather than content knowledge and shows that adoption of language learning principles into the teaching programme may achieve this.

This thesis examines the effectiveness of participatory research processes as a form of agricultural extension within the Australian Dairy Industry, and specifically addresses the question : Does Action Research provide an effective methodology and method(s) for enacting farmer-driven research? The experiences of the Dairy Australian-funded Profitable Pastures Protection Project (PPP), delivered to farmers across New South Wales from 1999 to 2003, provided the context within which Action Research was assessed. Data were derived from journal records of the researcher’s personal experiences as a participant observer, a PhD candidate and project coordinator. The other main data sources were industry reports that tracked the progress, outputs and outcomes of PPP. A three-tiered research framework, consisting of Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary levels was devised as a basis to direct research, and interpret results. Conclusions are drawn that contemporary extension practice can be improved by better linking the on-and off-farm domains using participatory research processes such as Action Research. Meeting this challenge appears increasingly urgent in light of a globally relevant and strengthening off-farm environmental agenda that requires democratic engagement amongst greater numbers of agricultural stakeholders. This environmental agenda also places still greater demands on farmers, their management systems and the products and effects of the on-farm domain. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)