Needs assessment plays a vital role in the field of instructional design. It is considered essential to determine whether instructional needs exist, and to then specify interventions appropriate for the context examined. This process involves the thoughtful analysis of the learner, the task, and the context. Despite the importance of this process, the literature appears to lack recent publications on needs assessment processes in international settings. Given the limited examination of the implementation of the needs assessment process within the context of different countries and cultures, a need exists for the development of a revised needs assessment model for use within international settings. Witkin and Altschuld (1995) have suggested a three-phase model for conducting needs assessments taking place in large organizational change and development contexts. This study attempts to describe the development and the validation process for the three-phase model that has been developed in the United States so that it may be adopted in an international context (Saudi Arabia). Using developmental research methods, the construction and validation of the model for the Saudi context occurred in three phases including: analysis, validation, and revision (Richeyand Klein, 2008). In phase one, a comprehensive overview of the literature was used as a theoretical foundation for developing the three-phase model. In phase two, formative evaluation of the model was conducted by two expert reviewers followed by an open-ended survey of practitioners and scholars in the instructional design field (N = 15). In phase three, the three-phase model was further revised and modified based on the results of the formative evaluation. Data analysis procedures followed qualitative methodologies. Triangulation of the findings from the literature review, expert review, and open-ended survey provided the validation for the three-phase model. As a result, a culturally-based model considering contextual, social, cultural, and political aspects was developed for the Saudi context. This model is proposed to enable instructional designers and developers in the Instructional Design field to better understand the local contextual and cultural factors prior to actual implementation of the needs assessment into the new country. Recommendations were given to practitioners choosing to use the culturally-based model in the Saudi context, and suggestions for future research were provided / Ph. D.

This study investigated students' perceptions of autonomy support from an instructor in relation to students' motivational beliefs on an ePortfolio project. The motivational beliefs of interest included: Effort/Importance, felt Pressure/Tension, and Value/Usefulness. These relationships were further examined with particular focus on the potential moderating role of students' culturally based learning preferences as outlined in Parrish and Linder-VanBerschot's (2010) Cultural Dimensions of Learning Framework (CDLF). This study was quasi-experimental, survey-based research supported by self-reported data collected from a convenience sample of graduate and undergraduate students. Students enrolled in a variety of courses that assigned an ePortfolio assignment received an email invitation from their instructor and self-selected to participate. Based on the responses of 35 students, the findings from this research showed significant relationships between three culturally based learning preferences and the motivational belief of Value/Usefulness. A summary of findings, limitations, and implications for further research are discussed. / Ph. D.

Scale, proportion, and quantity constitute a “crosscutting concept” in science education – a concept that pervades science and can help students connect their knowledge across topics and disciplines. An understanding of wide ranges of size is a prerequisite for the learning of scale. Students must have a good understanding of size and scale if they are to leverage them to connect their science understanding. In this study, we examine two qualitatively different types of knowledge that may underlie the understanding of size and scale: the evolutionarily-based approximate number sense, and the culturally-based understanding of measurement units. We explore how closely these two types of knowledge are related to size and scale knowledge useful for secondary science classrooms. This study has implications for instruction: evolutionarily-based abilities are biologically primary, are acquired universally, and are motivating, whereas culturally-based abilities are biologically secondary, and depend on instruction, practice, and external motivation. Different educational approaches might be better suited to biologically primary and secondary abilities. The results of an empirical study with 36 seventh grade students are reported.

The thesis focuses on the conceptual area of sleeping (including waking, dreaming etc.) based on the theories and methods of the cognitive-cultural approach to language. The first chapter deals with the human experience of sleeping. The conceptual area is interpreted both in relation to physical experience and as a part of the Central European cultural code. The second chapter concentrates on the concept and the approach of the linguistic picture of the world (e.g. Bartmiński, 2012), the detection and verification of the semantic connotations method (Bartmiński, Panasiuk, 2001), the conceptual metaphor theory (Lakoff, Johnson, 1980/2002), the cognitive conception of metonymy (cf. ibid), and the interaction between metaphor and metonymy (i.e. metaphtonymy, Goosens, 1990, 2002). The third chapter is based on the linguistic data excerpted from various Czech dictionaries and describes the conceptual area. First are introduced derivational nests, then relevant semantic relations and etymology of the selected terms (spát, bdít etc.). The chapter also analyses polysemy of the selected terms in detail, as well as polysemy of their derivatives. This part of the thesis presents the formulation of conceptual transmissions which are manifested in the given linguistic meanings. The fourth chapter is a...

The thesis is a contribution to the study of designations of the human body in the Czech language and is based on contemporary theories and methods of cognitive and cultural approaches to language. It focuses on that part of reality which is called noha / nohy by members of Czech linguistic community. First, two terminological perspectives from which the leg / legs can be seen were comapared: the natural perspective of the linguistic picture of the world and the scientific medical perspective. The medical perspective tends to categorize parts of the body very precisely, it also analyses deep structures of the leg / legs. In contrast the natural perspectives only the surface of the leg / legs and distinguishes those categories which are significant for humans and their existence in the world. In the main chapter we attempt to define the meaning of the Czech noha / nohy and of parts of the leg / legs by analysing definitions in Czech monolingual dictionaries, etymology of words, derived words and compounds, synonyms and especially phraseology. Based on the analysis of these sources we determined the systemic connotations and connected semantic profiles. We set down four semantic profiles: 1) appearance of leg / legs; 2) leg /legs as a part of the human body; 3) leg / legs as a means of movement...