The research reported on in this thesis forms part of the foundation of a bigger research project in which an attempt is made to provide better, faster and more efficient feedback on student writing. The introduction presents the localised and international context of the study, and discusses some of the problems experienced with feedback practice in general. The introduction also gives a preview of the intended practical implementation of the research reported on in this thesis. From there on, the thesis is presented in article form with each article investigating and answering a part of two main guiding questions. These questions are: 1. Does feedback on student writing work? 2. How can feedback on student writing be implemented as effectively as possible? The abstracts for the five individual articles are as follows: Article 1 Article 1 presents a rubric for the evaluation of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) software based on international recommendations for effective CALL. The rubric is presented after a brief overview of the pedagogical and implementation fundamentals of CALL, and a discussion of what needs to be included in a needs analysis for CALL evaluation. It is then illustrated how the evaluation criteria in the rubric can be used in the design of a new CALL system. Article 2 Providing feedback on student writing is a much-debated topic. One group of researchers argues that it is ineffective and another group remains convinced that it is effective, while at ground level teachers and lecturers simply carry on “marking” texts. The author of this article contends that both arguments have valid contributions to make and uses the arguments both for and against feedback to create a checklist for effective feedback practice. Adhering to this checklist should counter most of the arguments against feedback while supporting and improving the positive arguments in favour of feedback. Article 3 This article reports on an experiment which tested how effectively standardised feedback could be used when marking L2 student writing. The experiment was conducted using a custom-programmed software tool and a set of standardised feedback comments. The results of the experiment prove that standardised feedback can be used consistently and effectively to a degree, even though some refinements are still needed. Using standardised feedback in a standard marking environment can assist markers in raising their awareness of errors and in more accurately identifying where students lack knowledge. With some refinements, it may also be possible to speed up the marking process. Article 4 This article describes an experiment in which Boolean feedback (a kind of checklist) was used to provide feedback on the paragraph structures of first-year students in an academic literacy course. The major problems with feedback on L2 writing are introduced and it is established why a focus on paragraph structures in particular is of importance. The experiment conducted was a two-draft assignment in which three different kinds of feedback (technique A: handwritten comments; technique B: consciousness raising through generalised Boolean feedback; and technique C: specific Boolean feedback) were presented to three different groups of students. The results indicate that specific Boolean feedback is more effective than the other two techniques, partly because a higher proportion of the instances of negative feedback on the first draft were corrected in the second draft (improvements), but more importantly because in the revision a much lower number of changes to the text resulted in negative feedback on the second draft (regressions). For non-specific feedback, almost as many regressions occurred as improvements. In combination with automatic analytical techniques made possible with software, the results from this study make a case for using such checklists to give feedback on student writing. Article 5 This article describes an experiment in which a series of statements, answerable simply with yes or no (labelled Boolean feedback), were used to provide feedback on the introductions, conclusions and paragraph structures of student texts. A write-rewrite assignment (the same structure as in article 4) was used and the quality of the student revisions was evaluated. The results indicate that the students who received Boolean feedback showed greater improvement and fewer regressions than students who received feedback using the traditional method. The conclusion provides a brief summary as well as a preview of the immense future research possibilities made possible by this project. / Thesis (Ph.D. (English))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

The investigation of a species’ repertoire and the contexts in which different calls are used is central to understanding vocal communication among animals. Beluga whale, Delphinapterus leucas, calls were classified and described in association with behaviours, from recordings collected in the Churchill River, Manitoba, during the summers of 2006-2008. Calls were subjectively classified based on sound and visual analysis into whistles (64.2% of total calls; 22 call types), pulsed or noisy calls (25.9%; 15 call types), and combined calls (9.9%; seven types). A hierarchical cluster analysis, using six call measurements as variables, separated whistles into 12 groups and results were compared to subjective classification. Beluga calls associated with social interactions, travelling, feeding, and interactions with the boat were described. Call type percentages, relative proportions of different whistle contours (shapes), average frequency, and call duration varied with behaviour. Generally, higher percentages of whistles, more broadband pulsed and noisy calls, and shorter calls (<0.49s) were produced during behaviours associated with higher levels of activity and/or apparent arousal. Information on call types, call characteristics, and behavioural context of calls can be used for automated detection and classification methods and in future studies on call meaning and function.

Thesis (M.Comm. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

The research reported on in this thesis forms part of the foundation of a bigger research project in which an attempt is made to provide better, faster and more efficient feedback on student writing. The introduction presents the localised and international context of the study, and discusses some of the problems experienced with feedback practice in general. The introduction also gives a preview of the intended practical implementation of the research reported on in this thesis. From there on, the thesis is presented in article form with each article investigating and answering a part of two main guiding questions. These questions are: 1. Does feedback on student writing work? 2. How can feedback on student writing be implemented as effectively as possible? The abstracts for the five individual articles are as follows: Article 1 Article 1 presents a rubric for the evaluation of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) software based on international recommendations for effective CALL. The rubric is presented after a brief overview of the pedagogical and implementation fundamentals of CALL, and a discussion of what needs to be included in a needs analysis for CALL evaluation. It is then illustrated how the evaluation criteria in the rubric can be used in the design of a new CALL system. Article 2 Providing feedback on student writing is a much-debated topic. One group of researchers argues that it is ineffective and another group remains convinced that it is effective, while at ground level teachers and lecturers simply carry on “marking” texts. The author of this article contends that both arguments have valid contributions to make and uses the arguments both for and against feedback to create a checklist for effective feedback practice. Adhering to this checklist should counter most of the arguments against feedback while supporting and improving the positive arguments in favour of feedback. Article 3 This article reports on an experiment which tested how effectively standardised feedback could be used when marking L2 student writing. The experiment was conducted using a custom-programmed software tool and a set of standardised feedback comments. The results of the experiment prove that standardised feedback can be used consistently and effectively to a degree, even though some refinements are still needed. Using standardised feedback in a standard marking environment can assist markers in raising their awareness of errors and in more accurately identifying where students lack knowledge. With some refinements, it may also be possible to speed up the marking process. Article 4 This article describes an experiment in which Boolean feedback (a kind of checklist) was used to provide feedback on the paragraph structures of first-year students in an academic literacy course. The major problems with feedback on L2 writing are introduced and it is established why a focus on paragraph structures in particular is of importance. The experiment conducted was a two-draft assignment in which three different kinds of feedback (technique A: handwritten comments; technique B: consciousness raising through generalised Boolean feedback; and technique C: specific Boolean feedback) were presented to three different groups of students. The results indicate that specific Boolean feedback is more effective than the other two techniques, partly because a higher proportion of the instances of negative feedback on the first draft were corrected in the second draft (improvements), but more importantly because in the revision a much lower number of changes to the text resulted in negative feedback on the second draft (regressions). For non-specific feedback, almost as many regressions occurred as improvements. In combination with automatic analytical techniques made possible with software, the results from this study make a case for using such checklists to give feedback on student writing. Article 5 This article describes an experiment in which a series of statements, answerable simply with yes or no (labelled Boolean feedback), were used to provide feedback on the introductions, conclusions and paragraph structures of student texts. A write-rewrite assignment (the same structure as in article 4) was used and the quality of the student revisions was evaluated. The results indicate that the students who received Boolean feedback showed greater improvement and fewer regressions than students who received feedback using the traditional method. The conclusion provides a brief summary as well as a preview of the immense future research possibilities made possible by this project. / Thesis (Ph.D. (English))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Scientific projects, businesses, and individual devices such as smart phones, tablets and embedded devices are collecting and retaining unparalleled and growing amounts of data. Initially, spatial locality of the data (collocation of data and application) cannot be assumed and local resource constraints impact monolithic legacy applications. Resource restrictions and less feasible approaches such as moving large data sets within these paradigms are not feasible for certain legacy applications. As such we have taken a renewed look at Remote Procedure Call mechanisms and designed, built and evaluated a RPC mechanism called Automated Legacy system Remote Procedure Call generator (ALRPC). ALRPC allows us to convert monolithic applications into distributed systems by selectively and semi-automatically moving individual functions to different process spaces. This improves spatial locality and resource constraints of critical functions in legacy applications. Empirical results from our initial experiments show that our mechanism’s level of automation outperforms existing industry strength tools and its performance is competitive within the scope of this work. / Graduate / 0984

To understand the communicative functions of any vocalization it is important to first classify, describe, and measure the elements of that vocalization. Mexican (Poecile sclateri) and boreal (P. hudsonica) chickadees both produce a name-sake chick-a-dee call. Here, the note types present in samples of Mexican and boreal chick-a-dee calls are identified and described. Frequency and temporal measures of each note type are analyzed and show that frequency measures may be useful for note-type and individual discrimination. Call syntax is also analyzed and shows that both Mexican and boreal chickadees produce the notes within their chick-a-dee calls in a fixed order with the potential for any note type to be repeated or omitted within the sequence. This work provides a foundation for future studies aimed at understanding the communicative significance of this call within these species, as well as for comparative work on the chick-a-dee call among all chickadee species.

Den ökade tillgången till internet i svenska hem betyder att vem som helst har tillgång till olika typer av information. Samtidigt ökar omsättningen hos den svenska detaljhandeln, både i butiker och för den svenska e-handeln. Därför ställs det högre krav på webbtexter, så att alla kan förstå dem. Den här studien handlar om hur webbtexter, i form av artiklar, bör skrivas på Elgigantens svenska webbplats. På uppdrag åt Elgiganten har det befintliga materialet analyserats för att ge feedback på vad som är positivt och negativt. Det ska leda fram till vad som kan förbättras för att skapa effektiva och funktionella webbtexter som riktar sig till en bred målgrupp. Begrepp hämtade från informationsdesign, klarspråk och användbarhet på webben ligger till grund för de kvalitativa metoder som har använts i den här studien. Olika typer av analyser har utförts på det befintliga materialet på Elgigantens webbplats och målgruppen har intervjuats. Resultatet från metoderna visar att artiklarna inte är tillräckligt funktionella och bör effektiviseras. Utifrån resultatet har nya artiklar arbetats fram. De nya artiklarna är anpassade för en bred målgrupp med olika typer av läsare med skiftande läsförmåga. Slutsatsen av denna studie är resultatet av hur webbtexter bör skrivas baserat på följande punkter: 1. Ta reda på målgruppen 2. Anpassa för läsaren 3. Call to action (skapa en handling hos läsaren) 4. Konsekvens i artiklar 5. Artiklar ska vara sökbara Dessa principer ligger därför till grund för hur alla webbtexter bör anpassas på Elgigantens svenska webbplats, oavsett information och målgrupp.

The persistent demand for increased accountability and value for money in the public sector from both the public and governments raises the issue of quality of service in advice-giving by governmental agencies. The goal of this study is to develop a model to validate frameworks able to contribute to improved advice-giving through the application of knowledge management principles. Zack's (2001) Four Knowledge Problem Model, Brogowicz, Delene, and Lyth's (1990) Synthesised Service Quality Model, and Markus's (2001) Theory of Knowledge Reuse are used to examine knowledge strategies in advice-giving through the application of a case study methodology. Two Queensland public-sector call centres are investigated. This study confirms that although the studied call centres operate under differing business drivers, agents have developed strategies generally consistent with those suggested by Zack (2001) to deal with uncertain, complex, and ambiguous problem types. No equivocal problems were encountered in the study. The solution of the former problem pair of uncertainty and complexity relies on knowledge that is codified and stored in databases, while the latter equivocality and ambiguity, seeks out experts who apply both technical and functional knowledge to the problem resolution. Roles performed by call-centre agents predominantly align with those described by Markus (2001), with the opportunity to enhance performance through contribution by shared-work producers to knowledge repositories. The problem-solving strategies employed by agents and the technical capabilities of the call centres combine to deliver a level of service quality which, although meeting client expectations, has been able to be improved through the application of knowledge strategies targeting efficient problem resolution through knowledge reuse.

Emergency on-call duties have been highlighted as a key stress factor in newly qualified physiotherapists whose job performance may be affected. The concept of stress relating to on-call work, the general lack of interest or confidence in the respiratory on-call field, and subsequent difficulties with recruitment and retention, pose a difficult problem for managers of services responsible for the maintenance of a competent workforce and a high standard of service provision. Differences in novice and expert physiotherapists’ patient management and clinical reasoning strategies have been previously examined in orthopaedic, neurology, domiciliary and cardiorespiratory fields. However, no such investigations have been undertaken in the field of emergency on-call. The purpose of this study was to determine if differences existed between novice and expert physiotherapists who had by definition differing levels of context-related experience within the emergency on-call environment. This study also aimed to consider what factors may influence their physiotherapy intervention for an acute cardiorespiratory patient. A purpose-designed vignette-based postal questionnaire was administered to 26 emergency on-call providers in New Zealand. The questionnaire sought demographic data, investigated participants’ attitudes towards emergency on-call service provision and presented a vignette-based clinical scenario which asked questions throughout an evolving clinical case scenario. Analysis was performed using the computer software package for social sciences, SPSS for Windows (version 14), results were analysed using descriptive statistics, and significance testing was performed using non-parametric methods. A good response rate was achieved (78.8%; n = 56). Statistically significant differences between novices and experts were determined in scores for confidence, stress, and support required, also in the factors affecting stress levels. Novices are less confident (p = < .0001), more stressed (p = < .001) and require more support than experts (p = < .001). Factors which influenced both novice, and to a lesser extent, expert stress levels when working as emergency on-call physiotherapists, were established. A relationship was determined between confidence and level of support required (r = -.65; p = < .001); confidence and amount of stress felt (r = -.58; p = < .001); and support required and stress felt (r = .47; p = < .001). Some differences were demonstrated between novice and expert physiotherapists in their answers to a clinical case scenario. Although these were not statistically significant, a trend was noted which may reflect the different clinical reasoning strategies of these physiotherapists. There is a need for novices to gain the type of experience which includes independent problem solving and guided reflection; the use of vignette-based case studies may be one method which could be further exploited. The profession is responsible for the provision of better ways to meet the needs of our future emergency on-call workforce. If this is not achieved, other professional groups will be required to fill the gaps and physiotherapy; particularly cardiorespiratory physiotherapy will lose out.

Thesis (M.Ind.Rel.)--University of Wollongong, 2005. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references: leaf 132-143.