This study was designed to identify students’ perceptions of learning activities, assessment formats, and content on their understanding of the nature of science (NOS) by comparing and examining constructs created by Canadian and Korean students. Participants were 217 Canadian and 319 Korean Grade 8 students that filled out questionnaires; additionally, 9 students volunteered for semi-structured interviews. Descriptive statistics, multivariate analysis of variance and partial least squares were used to examine the quantitative data. A conceptually clustered matrix was used for the qualitative analyses. Results indicated that students from both countries perceived 1) their learning activities were teacher-directed, 2) class presentations and discussions occurred least frequently, 3) paper-and-pencil tests determined science scores, 4) science tests relied heavily on knowledge of science while knowledge about science was least likely to be assessed, and 5) generally students held relativistic views on science. The effect for country on NOS concepts was statistically significant across all of their perceptions except for the concepts of culturally embedded science and the perceptions of short-answer test formats. Specifically, Canadian students perceived that they had relatively more student-directed activities while Korean students perceived that they had more teacher-directed science lab activities. Further, Canadian students were inclined to hold more relativistic views across the NOS concepts. It was also noted that Korean students provided more political examples while Canadian students provided stem cell research or environmental issues. An examination of associations revealed that students’ learning activities, assessment formats, and content are good predictors of NOS understanding since these constructs explain variances from 19.7% for Empirical NOS to 63% for Scientific Methods. Results from students’ open-ended responses to the NOS concepts and the semi-structured interviews were consistent with the quantitative analyses. Most interviewees agreed that what, and how, they learned science-- and how their learning was assessed--affected their views of science since school science education was the important factor in developing their scientific knowledge. These results imply that diverse learning activities and assessments could prove to be a better approach to enhancing students’ understanding of NOS than teacher-directed learning activities and test formats requiring a single correct answer.

Thesis--University of Oklahoma. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 52-53).

As one of the most distinctive characteristics of English insurance law, the duty of utmost good faith is essentially stated in sections 17-20 of the Marine Insurance Act 1906. According to the statutory rules, both of the insurance parties must observe utmost good faith before the conclusion of an insurance contract. After one century of its application, both the judiciary and academics expressed their concerns in terms of its legislative defects and complexity in practice. Some developments have been made in recent judicial decisions and in statutory reform, e.g. the English Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012, and Recommendations, Statutes and Explanations on the Amendments of Chinese Maritime Code of the People’s Republic of China. Therefore, debatable issues and law reform programs in both English and Chinese law are considered in the main body of this thesis. The examination is essentially based upon, (1) the materiality test of the concealed/misrepresented circumstances which can empower the injured party to rescind the insurance abinitio; (2) the duration of utmost good faith and specific issues; (3) the protective measures related to innocent misconduct; (4) the legal status of good faith and its application to fraudulent behaviour; and (5) whether the classic English utmost good faith doctrine can be extended to Chinese law. Therefore, the main objective of this thesis is to provide a comprehensive study of the current status and developments of the duty of utmost good faith in both English and Chinese law, which is of fundamental importance, not only at the negotiation stage, but also throughout the performance and at the claiming stage of an insurance contract. After identifying and analysing these crucial issues, this thesis concludes with some possible solutions.

Background: Dementia leads to progressive cognitive and functional decline. Population aging is a concern, and the healthcare system must refocus its limited resources to keep up with service demands. Three cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs) – donepezil, galantamine and rivastigmine – have been approved for the treatment of dementia and are covered under Ontario’s formulary plan, but there has been little research regarding their economic impact. Methods: The purpose of this study was to describe the patterns of use of ChEIs, and to assess associated health resource utilization and costs to Ontario’s healthcare system. Anonymized patient-level data from seven provincial administrative databases were linked at the Institute for Clinical and Evaluative Sciences at Queen’s University. First-time users of ChEIs aged 66 years and older were identified between April 1st, 2004 and March 31st, 2009, and were followed until treatment discontinuation or up to one year following their index date. Health resource use was classified into six care categories: prescription drugs, physicians, long-term care, home care nursing, emergency department, and hospitalizations. Chi-square, Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA and linear regression were employed to compare resource use between users of the three ChEIs. Results: In the cohort (N=40,057), the majority were prescribed donepezil (n=24,347), were female (60.5%) and had at least one other co-morbid disease. The odds of discontinuation were 1.47 (1.36, 1.60) and 1.26 (1.17, 136), higher for rivastigmine users than galantamine and donepezil users, respectively. Between 2005 and 2008, overall healthcare costs increased from $95.2 million to $106.1 million. Prescription drugs comprised 33% of all healthcare costs. ChEIs accounted for half of all prescription drug costs. Overall mean annual healthcare system cost per patient was $12,679.47 ($12,510.86, $12,848.08). Predictors of overall healthcare costs included long-term care, co-morbidity status, hospitalization and hip fractures. Conclusions: Prescription drugs account for a substantial proportion of healthcare costs for patients with dementia, and the amount attributable to ChEIs alone is significant. Knowing the health service utilization patterns for dementia patients can help healthcare professionals and decision-makers plan patient care and timely resource allocation. The results stress the utility of administrative databases and the need for further research for this disease. / Thesis (Master, Community Health & Epidemiology) -- Queen's University, 2011-11-01 15:49:58.417

No description available.

This study was designed to identify students’ perceptions of learning activities, assessment formats, and content on their understanding of the nature of science (NOS) by comparing and examining constructs created by Canadian and Korean students. Participants were 217 Canadian and 319 Korean Grade 8 students that filled out questionnaires; additionally, 9 students volunteered for semi-structured interviews. Descriptive statistics, multivariate analysis of variance and partial least squares were used to examine the quantitative data. A conceptually clustered matrix was used for the qualitative analyses. Results indicated that students from both countries perceived 1) their learning activities were teacher-directed, 2) class presentations and discussions occurred least frequently, 3) paper-and-pencil tests determined science scores, 4) science tests relied heavily on knowledge of science while knowledge about science was least likely to be assessed, and 5) generally students held relativistic views on science. The effect for country on NOS concepts was statistically significant across all of their perceptions except for the concepts of culturally embedded science and the perceptions of short-answer test formats. Specifically, Canadian students perceived that they had relatively more student-directed activities while Korean students perceived that they had more teacher-directed science lab activities. Further, Canadian students were inclined to hold more relativistic views across the NOS concepts. It was also noted that Korean students provided more political examples while Canadian students provided stem cell research or environmental issues. An examination of associations revealed that students’ learning activities, assessment formats, and content are good predictors of NOS understanding since these constructs explain variances from 19.7% for Empirical NOS to 63% for Scientific Methods. Results from students’ open-ended responses to the NOS concepts and the semi-structured interviews were consistent with the quantitative analyses. Most interviewees agreed that what, and how, they learned science-- and how their learning was assessed--affected their views of science since school science education was the important factor in developing their scientific knowledge. These results imply that diverse learning activities and assessments could prove to be a better approach to enhancing students’ understanding of NOS than teacher-directed learning activities and test formats requiring a single correct answer.

In many jurisdictions, policies aimed at improving educational processes and outcomes have focused on teacher professional learning. Yet, there is a gap in research concerning teachers’ understandings of their own professional learning as it is influenced by school improvement policies. Using an interpretivist approach, this case study of two schools in Alberta and England explored teachers’ understandings of their professional learning and the ways in which policy context interacted with these understandings. The findings suggested there is significant variability in the ways that teachers construct: 1) the notion of collaboration in working with others; 2) conceptualizations of teacher knowledge; and 3) the relationship of student learning to teacher professional learning. Additionally, findings indicated that teachers actively meditated their understandings of policy in their teaching practice, suggesting that policy context is one factor needing consideration in teacher professional learning research and policy development. / Educational Administration and Leadership

The subject of this essay in archaeology is the economy at the mining village of Saladuringthe 16th and early 17th century. The silvermine in Sala was once the foremost producer of silver in Sweden, and the mine as well as the mining village had had a long and rich history. This history can be seen in historical documents as well as in archaeological findings. The lure of silver attracted many different people to the mining village. This in turn madetrade an important part of the mining village. The trade made it possible for coins to circulatefreely and this made it possible for a monetary based economy to be established in the miningvillage. The focus of this essay is mainly on coin finds, but also on other archaeological items foundduring excavations of the mining village. These other archaeological finds can shed some light on the type of economy that existed in the mining village. Included is a comparison of coin finds in two other locations, namely the chapel ruins of St. Ursula in Västerås and Vårfrukyrkan in Enköping. Each of the churches is located near Sala and were used contemporary with the mining village. The purpose of including them into this study is to see whether these churches used the same stock of coin as they did in the mining village.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Linköping : Univ., 2003. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1984. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 66-67).