Inquiry pedagogy encompasses many strategies and approaches (e.g., student-centered learning, a participatory role among students and teachers in constructing the curriculum, fostering autonomy) that have been identified to increase intrinsic motivation and mastery goal-oriented approaches to learning. However, little if any investigation has been conducted to investigate the motivation that is experienced among bright and average achieving students when engaged in this learning environment. Csikszentmihalyi's Flow theory is considered an optimal form of intrinsic motivation and has been linked to bright students because they appear to exhibit high motivation when engaged in challenging and interesting material. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether Flow was a good theoretical framework in which to explore the motivation that is experienced among high achieving and average achieving students in inquiry education and traditional settings. Participating students (N = 272, M age = 11.68) were from different instructional settings (i.e., traditional, occasional inquiry, and frequent inquiry classrooms) from upper elementary and early secondary school grades (grades five through eight). Data collection consisted of two administrations of questionnaires that targeted Flow experiences, one in a unit that students had recently completed in their particular instructional environment and the other, being more ideal, explored their experiences in their favorite subjects. Flow was measured using the Flow States Scale - 2; goal orientation and intrinsic motivation were used to further validate the Flow construct and were measured using the Goal Orientation Scale, and the Intrinsic versus Extrinsic Orientation in the Classroom Scale. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with each teacher and eighteen randomly selected students. All students regardless of ability report higher Flow states in inquiry settings than students' experiences from traditional and occasional inquiry classrooms. Additionally, high ability students report the highest Flow states when engaged in their favorite subjects. The quantitative results were corroborated by the interview results.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of participation in a Problem-based learning (PBL) teacher education program at the University of British Columbia. The PBL teacher education program included changes to the program of studies and changes to the practica experiences. First, this study examined changes in the PBL teacher education students' feelings of teacher efficacy, feelings of teacher preparedness, and learning styles arid strategies. The PBL students, showed significant increases in their feelings of personal teaching efficacy and feelings of teacher preparedness. In order to better understand the changes over time in the PBL teacher education students the present study also compared the opinions and attitudes towards inclusion of students with special needs, feelings of satisfaction with their programs, feelings of preparedness, and ratings of self-directed learning using both Likert-scale and short answer responses of the. same PBL students to 40 non-PBL teacher education students. The results indicated that proportionally more PBL than non-PBL teacher education students had increased concerns about inclusion of children with special needs. As well, proportionally more PBL than non-PBL teacher education students felt the time that they had spent in the classroom had the greatest influence on changes in their opinions. The results revealed that proportionally fewer PBL than non-PBL teacher education students felt well prepared. Participation in a PBL curriculum was not found to have an effect on students' feelings of satisfaction with their program or ratings of self-directed learning. To further examine the effects of a PBL curriculum in teacher education, the present study also examined the perceptions of university and school-based personnel who were involved with PBL. The results from this investigation revealed that the majority of the groups involved agreed that a PBL curriculum does have an effect on reasoning, interest, enthusiasm, and satisfaction of faculty and teacher education students. The majority of participant groups also were of the opinion that PBL and non-PBL curriculums provided equal knowledge of basic skills and principles, and professional preparation to the students. Implications of the findings are discussed.

This conversation is an invitation to a research and artistic experience engaging in teaching and learning with sensitivity and consideration, and in the course of doing, revealing insights about the transformative processes of becoming-teacher in art education. Invoking the architecture of the contemporary triptych, this installation involves structural frames of arts research processes, practices and products, and iconographic frames of becoming-teacher as unfolding, unexpectedness and uncertainty. I explore how arts research opens possibilities through the act and art of sharing stories and visuals in a triptych which may be read sequentially, or out of order, as a relational experience, entering at any point across and/or within each panel. In doing arts research, I question: What insights are generated through the arts in a case study concerning the lived and learning experiences of women becoming-teachers? How does arts research inform research processes, practices and products? How do I theorize arts research as customary methodological ecotones? Based on this study, a number of key issues are illuminated concerning teacher education. The reconceptualization of teacher education in terms of health and well-being is critical. Emphasis on geographies of self and the evolution of situated knowledges as a means to negotiate becoming-teacher, along with notions of teacher as researcher and collaborative leadership in teacher education, provide a basis for active reform in teacher education. An emotional journey, complex and complicated, rich in artful expressions, this conversation moves between theoretical and methodological considerations and culminates in a series of realizations about becoming-teacher and arts research, honouring the knowledge creation of research partners, and my discoveries and realizations as an arts researcher, to make this expression of arts research an opportunity to share alternate perspectives within teaching culture.

In recent years there has been increased interest in the development of sensorless switched reluctance machine drives. The proper operation of a switched reluctance machine (SRM) requires knowledge of the position of the rotor of the machine. The inclusion of a physical position sensor compromises the inherent robustness of this type of machine. Thus, there has been a need to develop techniques to estimate the position of the rotor in SRM drives. Switched reluctance machines are able to operate over a large range in speed. A fully loaded SRM is typically designed to saturate the ferromagnetic material that comprises the stator and rotor of the machine whereas a lightly loaded machine does not. Therefore, the model of the machine should be able to handle both a large range in frequency and input excitation levels of the magnetic material in the machine. The development of a new dynamic circuit-based ferromagnetic model is described in this thesis. The investigation of the behaviour of 24 gauge M19 silicon steel led to the conclusion that, for this material, a circuit model that has static parameters is unable to accurately reproduce the behaviour of the actual material over a large range of input frequencies and excitation levels without resorting to retuning the parameters of the model. This thesis provides two new mechanisms that dynamically adjust the resistance values of the flux tubes of the model. Comparisons using a normalized vertical least-squares metric between the newly proposed dynamic model and a model that has static resistance values clearly show the improvement that is gained by using these mechanisms. A practical implementation of the new model is also given. Timing using a general purpose CPU shows that this implementation of the model will most likely be able to be used as part of a multi-phase lumped parameter model for a SRM in realtime.

Background: Examining factors unique to major head injury (HI) etiogenesis can help reduce the burden of injury by identifying factors amenable to prevention. Objectives: To describe the epidemiology of HI in Nova Scotia. Risk and protective factors unique to HI were also examined specific to falls and Motor Vehicle Collision (MVC) injuries. Methods: Descriptive analyses and regression models were used to examine the socio-demographic profile of HI and associated risk factors using data from the Nova Scotia Trauma Registry. Results: Regression analyses for MVC-related injury found age, injury place, vehicle type and lack of safety restraint to be independently associated with an increased risk of HI. For falls-related injuries, age, time of trauma, injury mechanism and place were significant factors for a HI event. Conclusion: While HI share many similar characteristics to other major injuries, prevention programs must be aware of both common and unique risk factors for head injuries.

Although relationships are central to psychological health throughout the lifespan, not all children have caring adults in their lives that can provide nurturing and stable relationships. Mentoring was established as a means of providing these essential adult relationships to at-risk children. Although the history of formal mentoring traces back to the beginning of 20th century America, only recently have systematic investigations of mentoring programs been conducted. Furthermore, a wide range of mentoring programs across North America have been implemented which has outpaced the research community’s ability to provide evidence-based practice guidelines. The goal of this dissertation was to contribute to research and practice in the field of youth mentoring. In the first study I evaluated the effects of participating in a school-based intergenerational mentoring program. Although I did not find benefits of program participation for mentors or mentees, I identified methodological limitations that are important for future studies to take into consideration and determined two key strengths of the program. In the second study, I compared mentee, mentor, and mentoring coordinator perspectives on mentoring relationship quality and examined how two components of mentor-mentee interactions, relationship dimensions and mentor-mentee shared experiences, were associated with these different perspectives. I developed an observational rating scale to examine a new framework of relationships dimensions, identified several elements that characterize high quality mentoring relationships, and provided suggestions for how to apply this knowledge to mentor training. In the last study, I discussed the connection between research and practice in youth mentoring and identified strategies to promote collaborative interactions that empower individuals, build social relationships, and create synergy between researchers and practitioners. Through my investigation of both mentor-mentee and research-practice relationships, I gained insight into the processes of successful relationship formation and characteristics of long-term relationships. I encountered several methodological barriers and used these as opportunities to identify strategies for overcoming challenges inherent in mentoring research. The knowledge gained through this dissertation can be applied by mentoring agencies to develop evidence-based mentor training programs and by researchers and practitioners to form successful research-practice collaborations, which are necessary to continue to further our understanding of youth mentoring. / Thesis (Ph.D, Psychology) -- Queen's University, 2014-01-02 10:12:55.265

Viscoelastic surfactant (VES)-based acid systems have been used successfully in matrix and acid fracturing treatments. However, the existence of Fe (III) as a contaminant in such systems may lead to many problems, due to interactions between VES and Fe (III). Such interactions can reduce the effectiveness of VES-based acid systems and potentially lead to formation damage. In this study, two VES’s were selected and reaction mechanisms between VES and Fe (III) were studied. Rheological properties of these two surfactants were examined with various concentrations of Fe (III). An energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) was used to identify precipitates from reaction products. Inductively coupled plasma (ICP) was applied to measure iron concentrations, and the two-phase titration method was used to determine VES concentrations in all liquid phases of the sample. The effect of several chelating agents on the reaction of VES with Fe (III) was also examined. Experimental results indicate that the apparent viscosity of live VES-based acids (20 wt% HCl, 4 vol% VES) increased from 3 to 131 cp at a shear rate of 100 s-1 at room temperature when the Fe (III) concentration increased from 0 to 2,300 ppm, and started to decrease at higher Fe (III) concentrations. This is because of the electrostatic interactions between negative charged [FeCl4]- groups and positive charged amine groups in VES in live acids. Both surfactants interacted with Fe (III), and precipitates, which are complexes containing iron and VES, were noted at 5,000 ppm and higher concentrations of Fe (III). On the other hand, adding a chelating agent [1:1 mole ratio to Fe (III)] helped in reducing the apparent viscosity of the sample, which means that the chelating agent reacted with Fe (III) and reduced interactions between VES and Fe (III). At the same time, coreflood setup was also used. With a chelating agent, Fe (III) was recovered in 98%, which was much higher than that without any chelating agent (46%). These results provided a clue of the protection effect of a chelating agent on VES-based acid in Fe (III) containing environment. Adding a suitable chelating agent can minimize the impact of Fe (III) on VES-based acids.

The Issue: The integration of evidence into practice is a complex process. Facilitation is a strategy that may assist practitioners with enhancing evidence uptake in nursing practice. However, the concept is not well understood from a front-line nursing perspective. Thesis Objectives: To describe facilitation in moving evidence into nursing practice and determine the nature of the facilitator role and the process of facilitation in theory and from actual experience to develop a conceptual framework to guide practitioners. Methods: A descriptive design utilizing mixed methods was employed: 1) Focused review of the literature that synthesized the current state of knowledge on facilitation as role and process in the implementation of evidence-based practice (EBP) in nursing. 2) Case audit and focus group interview with facilitators of cases involved in adapting guidelines and planning for implementation. A provisional framework was developed based on the literature review which guided the case audit and focus group interview. The data from the literature was integrated with data from those actively involved in facilitation to refine the framework. Results: Focused literature review: A final set of 39 papers were identified. Facilitation is described as supporting and enabling practitioners to improve practice through evidence implementation. Certain aspects of the role and the strategies being employed to promote change are evident. Current literature reveals that facilitation is viewed as an individual role as well as a process involving individuals and groups. Case audit and focus group interview: Forty-six discrete, practical facilitation activities discovered in the literature were in large part found as occurring within the cases. An additional 5 new, distinct activities related to facilitation were found in the case documentation. Findings suggest that facilitation is a multifaceted process and a team effort. Communication and relationship-building are key elements. Conclusion: The transparency and detail displayed in the revised framework may contribute to systematically developing, implementing, and testing facilitation interventions in nursing contexts. Facilitation is clearly an important strategy to advance EBP and the improved understanding of facilitation offered in this thesis provides a guiding framework for future investigations of evidence implementation where facilitation is a key element. / Thesis (Master, Nursing) -- Queen's University, 2009-07-30 15:13:59.116

The purpose of this thesis is to propose an alternative type of interface for mobile software being used while walking or running. Our work addresses the problem of visual user interfaces for mobile software be- ing potentially unsafe for pedestrians, and not being very immersive when used for location-based games. In addition, location-based games and applications can be dif- ficult to develop when directly interfacing with the sensors used to track the user’s location. These problems need to be addressed because portable computing devices are be- coming a popular tool for navigation, playing games, and accessing the internet while walking. This poses a safety problem for mobile users, who may be paying too much attention to their device to notice and react to hazards in their environment. The difficulty of developing location-based games and other location-aware applications may significantly hinder the prevalence of applications that explore new interaction techniques for ubiquitous computing. We created the TREC toolkit to address the issues with tracking sensors while developing location-based games and applications. We have developed functional location-based applications with TREC to demonstrate the amount of work that can be saved by using this toolkit.In order to have a safer and more immersive alternative to visual interfaces, we have developed ambient audio interfaces for use with mobile applications. Ambient audio uses continuous streams of sound over headphones to present information to mobile users without distracting them from walking safely. In order to test the effectiveness of ambient audio, we ran a study to compare ambient audio with handheld visual interfaces in a location-based game. We compared players’ ability to safely navigate the environment, their sense of immersion in the game, and their performance at the in-game tasks. We found that ambient audio was able to significantly increase players’ safety and sense of immersion compared to a visual interface, while players performed signifi- cantly better at the game tasks when using the visual interface. This makes ambient audio a legitimate alternative to visual interfaces for mobile users when safety and immersion are a priority. / Thesis (Master, Computing) -- Queen's University, 2012-01-31 23:35:28.946

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