Worldwide, rural road networks serve a vital link in the chain leading goods to markets and people to places. The efficiency of rural road network services is influenced by road-related investment and policy decisions. Reaching good decisions, however, is complicated by: interrelationships among policy, investment, road use, road performance, and rural economies; and combinatorial challenges involving the distribution of discrete policy and investment arrangements across networks.</p><p>The main objective of this study is to address this complex problem as it pertains to rural road networks in Saskatchewan. Rural roads in Saskatchewan are suffering under increasing volumes of heavy truck traffic motivated principally by recent changes in the grain handling and transportation system. To address this problem, Saskatchewan Department of Highways and Transportation is considering a range of haul policy and road structure investment options. The question is, what (spatial) arrangement of available policy and investment options best meets this challenge. </p><p>To answer this question, a cost-based standard is incorporated within a network design modeling approach and solved using custom algorithmic strategies. Applied to a case study network, the model determines a demonstrably good arrangement of costly road structure modifications under each considered policy option. Resulting policy-investment combinations are subsequently ranked according to total cost and equivalent net benefit standards. </p><p>A number of important findings emerge from this analysis. Policy and investment decisions are linked; spatial arrangement of road structure modifications is contingent on the haul policy regime in place. Road performance and use characteristics are indeed sensitive to policy and investment decisions. Optimal budget levels computed by the model contradict perceptions that rural road networks in Saskatchewan are grossly under-funded. Despite best intentions, ill-considered policy can actually reduce the net benefits of road provision and use. </p><p> Model application and design limitations suggest promising avenues for future research. These include: model larger networks in Saskatchewan and beyond; determine optimal road budgets under benefit-cost standards reflecting competing economic needs; employ model within regional economic planning investigations to forecast road-related implications; and model policy endogenously to aid design of heavy haul sub-networks and to address questions concerning network expansion or contraction.

The focus of this thesis is to better explore and understand the effects of agent interactions, information feedback, and adaptive learning in a repeated game of bidding in farmland auction markets. This thesis will develop a multi-agent model of farm-land auction markets based on data from the Saskatchewan Dark Brown Soil Zone of the Canadian Prairies. Several auction types will be modeled and data will be gathered on land transactions between farm agents to ascertain which auction type (if any) is best suited for farmland markets. Specifically, the model gathers information for 3 types of sealed-bid auctions, and 1 English auction and compares them on the basis of efficiency, price information revelation, stability, and with respect to repeated bidding and agent learning. The effects of auction choice on macro-level indicators, such as farm exits, retirement, financial stability, average productivity, farm size, and participation were unknown at the outset of this thesis because of the complex dynamic nature of the environment. I find that the chosen learning mechanism employed here affects both price and variance of prices in all auctions. I also find that the second-price-sealed-bid auction generates the most perceived surplus, most equitable share of surplus, and also decreases uncertainty in the common-value element of prices. A priori it was believed that auction choice would have an impact on pricing efficiency, price levels, and shares of surplus generated from auctions as predicted by theoretical works. Surprisingly, auction choice does not influence market structure or evolution.

Firms form marketing and technology alliances to access other firms’ resources, and these alliances act as signals to investors. Investors use these signals to adjust expectations about new venture performance prospects, but our understanding of investor responses is incomplete because limited research examines them as a function of factors other than the alliance announcements. To better understand alliances as signals, we must incorporate factors influencing the resources alliances make available. Thus, my research question is as follows: To what extent do partner firm, focal firm, and alliance characteristics provide signals to investors about the resources alliances make accessible? My theory integrates signaling theory and resource-based theory on strategic alliances, and an event study is used to analyze investor responses to alliances formed by high technology new ventures recently having undergone initial public offerings. The findings provide evidence both in support and in contradiction to signaling theory and resource-based theory on strategic alliances. For example, signaling theory logic suggests both that the visibility and prestige of large partners and that the uncertainty associated with small and young firms enhance the strength of signals associated with alliance announcements. In this study, there is no support for the former hypotheses and limited support for the latter. Moreover, although both perspectives suggest that the new venture’s alliance experience increases investor responses, such effects were not found. There was some evidence to support the signaling theory argument that signal consistency strengthens responses. Specifically, investors respond favorably to marketing alliances when the new ventures’ alliance partners have strong commercial resources (many new products per year). There is also evidence that investors respond to the possibility of resource complementarity, contingent on which firm has the resources that complement the alliance. For instance, investors value marketing alliances when new ventures have strong R&D resources. In technology alliances, investors may respond more favorably when new ventures have strong commercial resources (high advertising intensity), but may respond negatively when partners have such resources. In sum, this study provides some support for signaling theory and resource-based theory on strategic alliances, but also provides null results that are inconsistent with either.

This mixed methods dissertation explores the impact of metacognitive support (reflective journal entries and a think-aloud exercise) in a PBL (problem-based learning) unit. While students are developing a solution for a PBL unit they may become occupied solely in solving the problem or task and not take time to fully consider what and how they have learned. This study examined how a metacognitive reflective component in a problem-based learning curriculum aids the learning process. The problem explored in this dissertation is that though problem-based learning may engage students, it is not known to what extent reflection adds to learners? development and application of critical thinking skills such as problem solving. The participant observer taught a problem-based learning unit concurrently with a poetry unit in three secondary senior-level English/language arts classrooms over a six weeks period. Four data sources were analyzed quantitatively: a pre-test and post-test on poetry terms, students? essay scores, and a survey. To determine differences between groups ANCOVA (Analysis of Covariance) was used to analyze the results of the poetry terms pre-test and post-test of the two experimental groups and the control group. MANCOVA (Multivariate Analysis of Covariance) was used to compare the results of the two experimental groups and the control group on the criteria of the essay. MANCOVA was also conducted to compare survey results between the experimental groups and the control group. The ANCOVA and MANCOVA tests used SPSS software. Additionally, qualitative analysis used a constant comparison method to analyze students? journal entries and a think-aloud exercise to provide insights concerning the research questions. The overall findings of this study fail to lend support for the intervention that was examined. The quantitative analysis results were not statistically significant between the two experimental groups and the control group. While the qualitative data sources provided some insights regarding how students learn, the data did not indicate that this type of metacognitive support greatly impacted student learning over the course of this study.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of two different concept mapping methods - learner-generated and expert-generated concept mapping - in computer-based video learning. The students’ attitudes toward the use of the concept mapping and computer-based instruction in general were also investigated. The study was performed using the entire enrollment of the junior level undergraduate course (n = 65) Developmental Psychology for Educators (EPSY-320) class, the spring semester of 2010 at Texas A & M University. Using experimental research design, the relationship between student achievements and learning tools was observed. The convenience sampling method was used to assign the students randomly to two treatment groups. The study built on previous research findings on the instructional use of video and concept mapping. It focused on the relative influence of expert-generated versus learner-generated concept maps on student achievement during computer-based video instruction. Results indicated that there were no significant differences among achievements of students who used either learner-generated concept maps or expert-generated concept maps in the study. However, the expert-generated concept mapping group spent significantly less time than the learner-generated concept mapping group interacting with the instructional tool. The findings revealed that concept map scores mediated the relationships between the numbers of clicks on the video player control, time spent creating concept maps, and time spent on all interaction and student achievement. Although the variables - the number of clicks on the video player control, time spent creating concept maps, and time spent on all interactions - did not have a direct effect on student achievement, they affected the concept map scores, which in turn affected student achievement. The three variables - perceived usefulness, ease of use, and attitude toward use - were used to define the attitude of the students toward the instructional tool. The results showed that the attitude of the expert-generated group toward the instructional tool was significantly higher than the learner-generated group. Also, on average, the expert-generated concept mapping group expressed neutral feelings on using the instructional tool to improve their learning performance. Alternatively, the learner-generated group did not appreciate the value of this tool. Both groups reported neutral views about the ease of use of the instructional tool. In conclusion, concept mapping might enhance cognitive learning after the basic skills are acquired and the learners become competent concept mappers. During the creation of concept maps, cognitive load might hinder student learning; therefore, students must be well trained before starting to use the learning tool. Moreover, concept map scores might be used as student grades in video-based learning.

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Abstract The tourism industry is currently a well emphasized ¡§industry without chimney¡¨ for all countries around the world. It has significant benefit for the creation of job opportunity and foreign exchange. Since Taitung county is a late developed and ¡§tourism-orientated¡¨ area. For the investigation of the tourism policy, the local government can neither change the unfriendly environment nor avoid its influence. It is, therefore, very important for the best usage of the existing resources and conditions. This study, from the point of view of ¡§resource-based theory¡¨, will investigate the appropriate suggestions for the reference of local government. This research focus mainly on the following topics: (1) the feedback of tourism strategy for the existing plan of Taitung county. (2) the study of tourism resource for Taitung county. (3) the tourism strategy for the utilization of the existing resource of Taitung county. This study found that Taitung area has its diversity in ¡§naturalness¡¨ and ¡§humanity¡¨ with high heterogeneity and incomplete resource movement ability. Taitung local government should make up the shortage of planning, managing, interpreting, and marketing personal. For the lacking of marketing ability, Taitung can¡¦t set up its image while comparing with the neighboring area like Pingtung and Hualien counties. This will make Taitung a pass-through touring point that is a fatal condition for tourism development. If area cooperation, by inter-government or government-civilian, can be built successfully, the competitive advantage can be created through win-win opportunity. Based on the above findings, this study suggest Taitung government the following issues: (1) the resource advantage of competition should maintain. (2) the influence of human resource on competition should be emphasized. (3) the optimization of public interest through the idea of comparative benefit. (4) the dynamic strategy planning is needed.

H.264/AVC is the latest international video coding standard. It was jointly developed by the Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG) of the ITU-T and the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) of ISO/IEC. The goals of this standardization effort were enhanced compression efficiency and network friendly video representation. Because H.264 includes a lot of new characteristics and offers a lot of tools for compression, it can improve the quality of the compressed image greatly. H.264/AVC provides gains in compression efficiency of up to 50\% over a wide range of bit rates and video resolutions compared to previous standards. Object-based coding is the new feature that MPEG-4 supports. The object-based coding can reduce the region of motion estimation; this will increase the speed of coding. The output frame can be combined with the object-based coding sequence and also can be synthesized with the object-based coding sequence. Taking the advantage of the H.264/AVC and Object-based coding, the coding will be faster and the sequence will be smaller. In this thesis, we adopted the H.264/AVC video coding standard to implement the object coding.

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