The thesis aims at a critical reflexion on experimental ethnography with a special focus on the role of sound. A reassessment of its predominant discourse, as conceptualized by Cathrine Russell, is paired with a conceptual approach to film sound and audio-vision. By reactivating experimental filmmaker Peter Kubelka’s concept sync event and its aesthetic realisation in Unsere Afrikareise (Our Trip to Africa, Peter Kubelka, 1966) the thesis provide a themed reflection on the materiality of film as audiovisual relation. Sync event is a concept focused on the separation and meeting of image and sound to create new meanings, or metaphors. By reintroducing the concept and discussing its implication in relation to Michel Chion’s audio-vision, the thesis theorizes the audiovisual relation in ethnographic/documentary film more broadly. Through examples from the Russian avant-garde and Surrealism the sync event is connected to a historical genealogy of audiovisual experiments. With James Clifford’s notion ethnographic allegory Unsere Afrikareise becomes a case in point of experimental ethnography at work. The sync event is comprehended as an ethnographic allegory with the audience at its focal point; a colonial critique performed in the active process of audio-viewing film.

M.Ed. (Education) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Ed. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Des sites de visionnement de contenu audio-vidéo en temps-réel comme YouTube sont devenus très populaires. Le téléchargement des fichiers audio/vidéo consomme une quantité importante de bande passante des réseaux Internet. L’utilisation de codecs à bas débit permet de compresser la taille des fichiers transmis afin de consommer moins de bande passante. La conséquence est une diminution de la qualité de ce qui est transmis. Une diminution de qualité mène à l’apparition de défauts perceptibles dans les fichiers. Ces défauts sont appelés des artifices de compression. L’utilisation d’un algorithme de post-traitement sur les fichiers sonores pourrait augmenter la qualité perçue de la musique transmise en corrigeant certains artifices à la réception, sans toutefois consommer davantage de bande passante. Pour rehausser la qualité subjective des fichiers sonores, il est d’abord nécessaire de déterminer quelles caractéristiques dégradent la qualité perceptuelle. Le présent projet a donc pour objectif le développement d’un algorithme capable de localiser et de corriger de façon non intrusive, un artifice provoqué par des discontinuités et des incohérences au niveau des harmoniques qui dégrade la qualité objective dans les signaux sonores compressés à bas débits (8 – 12 kilobits par seconde).

An audio event detection and classification framework (AQUA) is developed for the North Pacific underwater acoustic research community. AQUA has been developed, tested, and verified on Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) hydrophone data. Ocean Networks Canada is an non-governmental organization collecting underwater passive acoustic data. AQUA enables the processing of a large acoustic database that grows at a rate of 5 GB per day. Novel algorithms to overcome challenges such as activity detection in broadband non-Gaussian type noise have achieved accurate and high classification rates. The main AQUA modules are blind activity detector, denoiser and classifier. The AQUA algorithms yield promising classification results with accurate time stamps. / Graduate

Adolescents with behavioral difficulties and emotional and behavior disorders (EBD) or other health impairment (OHI) have demonstrated deficits in reading, and these deficits appear to remain stable or worsen over time. Reading fluency is an essential skill for overall reading achievement, yet relatively few studies have addressed reading fluency intervention for adolescents, particularly adolescents with behavioral difficulties. This study used a multiple baseline across participants design to evaluate the effect of a repeated reading intervention on the reading fluency and comprehension skills of middle school students with reading difficulties and behavioral difficulties and EBD or OHI. The intervention involved repeated reading combined with an audio-recorded model and cues to read for comprehension. Working independently at a classroom computer, participants received six to nine minutes of daily supplemental fluency instruction over a four-week period. Instruction involved listening to an audio recording of a model reading a passage, receiving cues to read for understanding, reading the passage aloud while using the computer to record the reading, listening to the recording, and reading the passage aloud again while recording. Results indicated no functional relation between the intervention and the number of words correct per minute or the percentage of comprehension questions answered correctly. However, on-task behavior did improve during study session when compared with on-task behavior during regular classroom instruction. The findings of the study have implications for addressing the needs of adolescents with behavioral difficulties who have reading difficulties.

In second language (L2) listening assessment, various factors have the potential to impact the validity of listening test items (Brindley & Slatyer, 2002; Buck & Tatsuoka, 1998; Freedle & Kostin, 1999; Nissan, DeVincenzi, & Tang, 1996; Read, 2002; Shohamy & Inbar, 1991). One relatively unexplored area to date is who controls the aural input. In traditional standardized listening tests, an administrator controlled recording is played once or twice. In real world or classroom listening, however, listeners can sometimes request repetition or clarification. Allowing listeners to control the aural input thus has the potential to add test authenticity but requires careful design of the input and expected response as well as an appropriate computer interface. However, if candidates feel less anxious, allowing control of listening input may enhance examinees' experience and still reflect their listening proficiency. Comparing traditional and self paced (i.e., examinees having the opportunity to start, stop, and move the audio position) delivery of multiple choice comprehension items, my research inquiry is whether self paced listening can be a sufficiently reliable and valid measure of examinees' listening ability. Data were gathered from 100 prospective and current university ESL students. They were administered computer based multiple choice listening tests: 10 identical once played items, followed by 33 items in three different conditions: 1) administrator paced input with no audio player visible, 2) self paced with a short time limit, and 3) self paced with a longer time limit. Many facet Rasch (1960/1980) modeling was used to compare the difficulty and discrimination of the items across conditions. Results indicated items on average were similar difficulty overall but discriminated best in self paced conditions. Furthermore, the vast majority of examinees reported they preferred self paced listening. The quantitative results were complemented by follow up stimulated recall interviews with eight participants who took 22 additional test items using screen capture software to explore whether and when they paused and/or repeated the input. Frequency of and reasons for self pacing did not follow any particular pattern by proficiency level. Examinees tended to play more than once but not two full times through, even without limited time. Implications for listening instruction and classroom assessment, as well as standardized testing, are discussed.

It is the purpose of this study to determine if there are any ways and means by which television may be used effectively as an instructional aid in programs of education, and special attention will be given to ways and means of using television in the teaching of industrial arts.

It is the purpose of this study to compare the effectiveness of the film method with the pupil-teacher discussion method for summarizing certain food units.

The problem of the study was the effectiveness of three techniques to teach the instructional unit, "The Air Force Fiscal Account Structure and Codes." The techniques compared were (1) lecture-demonstration procedure supplemented with the eclectic programed textbook, (2) autoinstructional procedure using only the eclectic programed textbook, and (3) the conventional lecture-demonstration procedure.