This study provides the most updated stratigraphic, depositional and diagenetic histories of the Early Cretaceous Biyadh and Shu'aiba formations. Carbon isotope data were integrated with core descriptions and well logs to define the age model beyond the resolution of biostratigraphy; they were also used as a geochronology tool for correlating between wells and across platform to basin transitions. The Biyadh Formation consists of one 3rd-order sequence of four high-frequency sequences (S1-S4). S1 and S2 are the TST, composed of deep chalky limestone facies. S3 and S4 are the HST composed of skeletal rudist grainstone deposited in shallow water environments. The Biyadh sequence is capped by a regional subaerial boundary (SB1) corresponding to a global sea level fall. The Shu'aiba Formation consists of one 2nd-order sequence of four 3rd-order sequences and ten HFS's (S1-S10). S1 records the initial TST, followed by the regional MFS (K70) of S2. S3 is the late TST and is dominated by Lithocodium aggregatum/coral facies. S4 to S6 formed the early HST and are dominated by rudist buildups that transitioned basinward into fore-bank, slope and basinal settings with pronounced clinoform geometries. S7 and S8 are composed of shallow lagoonal milliolid packstone, representing the late HST. S9 and S10 are new identified Upper Aptian prograding sequences that formed during forced regression on the northern-block within platform edge and slope settings. The correlation between the Arabian Plate stratigraphic record and the standard Tethys isotope record and eustatic sea-level suggests a direct influence of the 3rd-order sea-level fluctuations on the Biyadh and Shu'aiba formations. This correlation also suggests that the Aptian were mainly controlled by glacio-eustatic fluctuations associated with eccentricity cycles. The Barremian records low magnitude sea-level changes and thinner sequences likely reflecting obliquity cycles. The Shu'aiba Formation records major subaerial hiatus reflecting glacial intervals, interrupted by flooding units reflecting global warming intervals. Trace elements, microprobe analysis, Cathodoluminescence (CL) and stable isotope data were used to define the diagenetic history of the Shu'aiba Formation within the sequence stratigraphic framework. The Shu'aiba Formation was mainly affected by meteoric diagenesis associated with the major unconformity at top of Shu'aiba.

This dissertation explores the socio-cultural implications of content and context in Vygotsky's theory of the private speech of young children (Vygotsky, 1986). While private speech has long been thought to hold a snapshot of the child in cognitive transition, the content and context of the private speech has rarely been investigated. It is within the context of a larger social group that a child produces the utterances defined as private speech, and as such the context and content of the utterances must be evaluated in order to gain a comprehensive picture of the child as an active co-creator of culture in a social group.This ethnographic inquiry tells the story of one early childhood classroom, nested within a specific cultural context, as the children explore their surroundings through conversations with adults and peers. Children are observed to be engaged in the "leading work of childhood" through dramatic play, drawing, block building and music (Vygotsky, 1986). The spontaneous utterances of private speech occurred within and between the flow of these daily activities.Through the use of naturalistic observations, field notes, audio recordings, photographs and research journal, five vignettes were created of the private speech of individual children. These vignettes highlight the social nature of private speech by interjecting the content and context of the utterances through the lens of the heteroglossia of social life in the classroom (Bakhtin, 1986). This inquiry suggests that the question of the developmental purpose of private speech may well move from "Are the children engaging in "private speech?" to the more socially situated question of "To what are children referring in the content of their "private speech?" Results suggest that children are not only actively listening to the private speech of their peers, but are also producing it as social knowledge for the benefit of their peersThis inquiry adds to a larger body of research on Vygotsky's theory of private speech and sociocultural learning through the refocus of private speech as socially deployed "verbal mortar" between children rather than merely a tool for self-regulation used by individuals. The implications of this rather modest change of perspective may require teachers and researchers to consider the social life of the group, including the content of any private speech, as an integral part of a classroom curriculum, rather than a happenstance of proximity. Results also highlight the rich social life of a classroom and the important interpersonal relationships developed between a group of preschool peers. / Cette dissertation explore les implications socio-culturelles du contenu et du contexte de la théorie de Vygotsky sur le "langage égocentrique" des jeunes enfants. Alors qu'on a longtemps pensé que le "langage égocentrique" était un cliché instantanné de l'enfant en transition cognitive, le contenu et le contexte du "langage égocentrique" a rarement été investigué. C'est dans le contexte d'un groupe social plus étendu que l'enfant produit les expressions définies comme étant le "langage égocentrique" et, en tant que tel, le contexte et le contenu de ces expressions doivent être évaluées de façon à acquérir une vision adéquate de l'enfant en tant que co-créateur actif de la culture d'un groupe social. Cette enquête ethnographique raconte l'histoire d'une salle de classe dans une école, issue d'un contexte culturel spécifique, tandis que les enfants explorent leur environnement à travers des conversations avec des adultes et des semblables. Des enfants impliqués dans "le travail constructif de l'enfance" par le biais du jeu théâtral, du dessin, des jeux de construction et de la musique (Vygotsky, 1986). Les expressions spontanées du "langage égocentrique" se sont produites à l'intérieur, et entre, le flot de ces activités.À travers l'utilisation de notes prises sur le terrain, d'enregistrements audio, de photographies et d'un cahier de notes de recherche, cinq vignettes ont été créées sur le langage égocentrique d'enfants individuels. Ces vignettes font ressortir la nature sociale du "langage égocentrique" en cernant le contenu et le contexte des expressions à travers la lentille du flot continu de la vie sociale dans la salle de classe. Cette enquête suggère que la question de la raison d'être du "langage égocentrique", par rapport à un but de développement, ne devrait pas être "Est-ce que les enfants utilisent le "langage égocentrique"?", mais plutôt "À quoi les enfants font-ils référence dans le contenu de leur "langage égocentrique"?" Les résultats suggèrent que les enfants ne font pas qu'écouter de façon active le "langage égocentrique" de leurs semblables, mais qu'ils l'expriment aussi au profit de leurs semblables.Cette enquête s'ajoute à une quantité de recherches sur la théorie de Vygotsky à propos du "langage égocentrique", et de l'apprentissage socio-culturel, à travers une réévaluation du "langage égocentrique" en tant que ciment entre les enfants, plutôt qu'un outil d'auto-régulation utilisé par les individus. Les implications de ce changement de perspective relativement modeste pourraient amener les enseignants à considérer la vie sociale du groupe, incluant le contenu du "langage égocentrique", en tant que part intégrale du programme d'études de la classe plutôt qu'un fruit du hasard de la proximité. Les résultats font aussi ressortir la richesse de la vie sociale d'une salle de classe et les relations interpersonnelles qui se développent entre les semblables d'un groupe préscolaire.

<p> The purpose of this study is to identify the frequency and type of math and spatial talk by family child care providers and assistants who speak Spanish to Latino children in the Northern California Bay Area. Two Spanish-speaking family child care providers and assistants were selected to participate in this study. Their language was audio recorded. The audio recorded data were transcribed, translated, and coded based on math and spatial categories. The findings show a greater frequency of spatial talk than math talk, specifically in the spatial categories of deictic terms and spatial location and direction. In the area of math talk, a higher frequency of math talk was found in the categories of cardinality, number symbol, counting, and conventional nominatives mirroring other studies. This study contributes to the research on Spanish-speaking family child care providers and assistants by identifying the frequency and specific categories of math and spatial talk provided in these family child care programs.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to examine the sustained impact of participation in the Tools of the Mind preschool program on language arts, mathematics, reading and writing achievement in middle school, the specific impact of participation on racial subgroups and socioeconomically disadvantaged students, and the effects of student mobility on academic achievement. Using a nonexperimental, quantitative, longitudinal design, the achievement of the original cohort of students who participated in the program was examined over 2 consecutive years. The results of the study suggest that participation in the Tools of the Mind program increases the overall achievement of socioeconomically disadvantaged students and the writing performance of African American students. Analysis of student mobility data revealed that a high rate of student mobility has a negative impact on student achievement. These study results are consistent with decades of research into the impact of participation in a high-quality preschool program. Caution should be taken in interpreting the results because promotion of the development of self-regulation and executive function, aspects that set the Tools of the Mind program apart from other preschool programs, is not measured by the NJASK, and thus the impact of the program may have been underestimated.</p>

AbstractThrough the course of our history, Indigenous cultural and spiritual knowledge remains, in many places as faint as the smoke rising from the embers of last nights fire; in other places, with enough flame to ignite another log. In spite of the genocidal acts portrayed through colonialism's experimentation through religious doctrine, residential school, legislation, treaties broken and unbroken, reservations, and spiritual disregard, we the Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island remain living, breathing and believing that our history is alive through the oral stories of our beginnings and endings.Indigenous education can only be defined through the culture of the people themselves. Building or rebuilding culturally relevant curriculum familiar to the children and teachers can only increase the value of student knowledge and in turn fulfilling a proud identity and natural relationship to the universe. The majority of on reserve education systems are based on provincial guidelines and standardized testing. Historical Indigenous education was transferred orally for thousands of years with very little disruption or inconsistencies; therefore distinct meanings and connections were continuously addressed throughout ones lifetime through the wisdom of elder's legends and stories. My investigation on the role of legends and storytelling in an early childhood setting in Kahnawa:ke, Quebec is portrayed through a combination of personal narrative interwoven with research literature, classroom observations and personal interviews as portraiture, and a discussion based on data collected. The main finding was that cultural legends and stories familiar to historical, ceremonial and spiritual practices are vital to the cultural foundation of the Haudenosaunee (peoples of the longhouse or the Iroquois) and Kahnawake'hró:non (people of Kahnawa:ke). / RésuméÀ travers le chemin de notre histoire, les connaissances culturelles et spirituelles du monde Indigène restent, en beacoup de places si faible comme la fumée qui lève de la braise du feu de la veille; en autres places avec assez de flamme pour allumer une autre bûche. Malgré les actes de genocide démontré par l`expérimentation de doctrine religieuse, les écoles résidentielles, la législation, les traités brisés et non brisés, les réserves, et le mépris spirituelle de colonisation, nous le peuple Indigène de l'Île de la Tortue, vivons, respirons, et croyons que notre histoire vie dans les contes oraux de nos débuts et fins.L'éducation Inidgène peut seulement être défini par la culture du peuple elle même. Construire ou réconstuire un programme culturellement pertinent familier pour les enfants et enseignants peut seulement augmenter la valeur de les connaissances des élèves ou ils réaliseront une identité fière et une relation naturelle avec l'univers. La majorité des systèmes d'éducation sur les réserves sont basés sur des directives provinciales et des épreuves standarisées. L'éducaton d'histoire Indigène était transmis orallement pendant des milliers d'années avec très peu d'interruption ou d'inconsistance; donc significations et connections distinctes étaient continuellement adressées à travers la sagesse des légendes et contes des ainées. Ma investigation sur le rôle de légendes et contes dans un milieu d'éducation de la petite enfance à Kahnawa:ke, Québec est démontrée par la combinaison de narratifs personnels entrelacées avec de la recherche de la littérature, des observations dans la classe, des entrevues personelles et de la discussion basé sur la collection de données. Le résultat principal est que les légendes et contes culturelles familiers aux practiques historiques, cérémoniaux et spirituelles sont essentiels pour la fondation des Haudenosaunee (peuples de la maison longue ou Iroquois) et des Kahnawake'hró:non (peuple de Kahnawa:ke).

No description available.

Educators have discovered that adolescents commonly hold misconceptions in science which interfere with future learning and are difficult to eradicate. However, although early informal learning experiences have been suggested as the source of these ideas, the process by which young children develop both sound knowledge and misconceptions in science has not been elucidated. This research, which is exploratory in nature, is a study of the development of just one concept in young children in the hope that some apparently contradictory evidence can be reconciled. The empirical enquiry was conducted in two parts: 1. A cross-sectional design was employed with thirty children at each age of four, six, and eight. Semi-structured individual interviews probed children's knowledge of food-related factual items and their understanding that people depend upon plants either directly or indirectly for their food.2. A qualitative enquiry was engaged to discover the experiences of young children, both inside and outside school, which might contribute to their knowledge about the origin of food. Children’s responses indicate an increase in factual knowledge with age. Although this can be linked primarily to their practical experiences, video film and adult explanation rather than books played their part as well. The children themselves frequently mentioned family-based experiences as the source of their knowledge. There was no significant correlation between factual knowledge and understanding, indicating the possible existence of an intervening process linking the two. On many occasions the younger children made statements which could inadvertently mislead the questioner to underestimate the extent of their knowledge. However, early signs of a scientific misconception which is known to cause problems for adolescent learners were found. This was not the result of faulty information provided by adults and could easily be overlooked. Insight from recent developments in cognitive science can help both to explain these findings and also in the design of improved pedagogic strategies.

The observational trend that disky elliptical galaxies exhibit younger luminosity- weighted ages than boxy ellipticals is investigated. The presence of a possible young stellar disk embedded in these galaxies is explored by comparing kinematics derived from the near-infrared Calcium II triplet (around 8600 Å) and Hβ (4863 Å) Balmer line, thought to be sensitive to older and younger stars respectively. Using synthetic stellar population spectra of these two wavelength regions, it is found that a young disk component produces observable differences in the kinematics derived from the two wavelength regions. Specifically, very young disks produce differences in the Gauss-Hermite coefficients, h(_3) and h(_4). Disks with an intermediate age produce offsets in the rotation velocities. Older disks produce clear two-component structure in the derived LOSVDs. Thus, diagnostic indicators are established which can be applied to observations. A comparison is presented of the major- and minor-axis kinematics derived from the Calcium II triplet and Hβ absorption features for a small sample of disky elliptical galaxies with enhanced Hβ absorption strength, indicative of a young component. For two galaxies in the sample, NGC 584 and NGC 821, Hβ gives a rotation velocity higher than that from the Calcium II triplet. These offsets are not consistent with the spectral models, since the offsets in velocity are not accompanied by the expected offsets in the other LOSVD parameters. This implies that the disks have either formed over time with a modest star- formation rate; or that the young stars in these systems are present in both the disk and spheroid components. From dynamical modelling of ground-based integral-field spectroscopy combined with HST STIS data, the disky elliptical NGC 821 is found to have a mass-to-light ratio of 4.12± 0.06 in I-band solar units, and harbours a central black hole of mass (3.41 ± 0.68) x 10(^7) M(_ʘ). This black hole mass is consistent with Gebhardt et al. (2002), who use the same STIS data with their independent modelling code. The phase-space distribution of the orbits in the model shows evidence for a two-component structure, which corresponds to a slowly rotating spheroidal component superimposed with a flattened, strongly rotating component. This second component, which has properties similar to a disk, accounts for 15% of the total system mass. Applying the two-component stellar population models, a disk of this mass would have formed 6 Gyr ago to produce the observed Hβ absorption. Such a disk is not consistent with the long-slit observations, as no offset was found between the Calcium II triplet and Hβ velocity dispersions. However, this cannot be strongly excluded due to the effects of metallicity and disk velocity dispersion on the spectral modelling.

This thesis examines the theory behind workshops, including craft specialisation, and presents a catalogue of workshops and activity areas in the Aegean from the Neolithic to the end of the Protopalatial period. No systematic procedure for analysing and classifying workshops has been used or proposed previously. The main aim of this thesis is to develop a method by which loci suggested to be workshops may be analysed, with a view to ascertaining whether this identification is correct. Following on from this, a further objective is to formulate a means of classifying the information to determine the type of working area and the degree of certainty with which it may be called a workshop or activity area. This method will be used in the compilation of the catalogue. For a comprehensive study of workshops, two main theoretical issues are considered in Volume I. Firstly, the theory of craft specialisation, integral to the study and definition of workshops, is examined. Its definition, features, associated aspects and connection with workshops are researched. Secondly, a theoretical study of the possible varieties of workshops and their likely locations, products, and consumers provides a basis for the following examination of actual loci within the Aegean. In Volume II a catalogue of working areas in the Aegean is presented, which also includes other craft-related loci: craftsman's graves, hoards and mines. The method for analysis is employed extensively throughout the catalogue to reinterpret areas previously suggested to be workshops or activity areas. New classifications are suggested for many loci. It is concluded that the proposed method is successful in achieving the aims for which it was developed.

No description available.