Assessment is the single most powerful influence on student learning, and if it is not designed well, it can easily undermine the positive academic benefits of our teaching and learning. It is therefore important to regularly review and reflect on our teaching, learning, and assessment, especially, conventional individualistic conceptions of assessment practices taken for granted in institutions of higher learning. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether involving students in assessment practices in higher education would help them acquire some understanding of how assessment and grading work, thereby influencing their approaches to learning. Self and peer assessment are used in this study as instructional strategies to support student learning, and are integrated into essay-writing, one of the conventional methods of assessment used in an academic course. The objective was to evaluate the impact of self and peer assessment on students’ learning. The study’s rationale was to involve students in the assessment of their own work and work of others in order to improve substantive acquisition of subject knowledge and understanding, thereby improving their academic performance and achievement. Qualitative data were collected using mainly questionnaires and interviews to solicit students’ perceptions about the impact of self and peer assessment. Quantitative data were used to supplement and complement the questionnaire and interviews methods. Results showed that in the initial involvement in assessment practice students demonstrated inexperience, uncertainty, and deficiency in assessing. There was observable overmarking and undermarking in self and peer assessment, respectively. However, the research study indicated that there were some academic benefits if students are involved in assessment practice over time. There was an overall approval and appreciation of self and peer assessment by students. Furthermore, self and peer assessment promoted interactive, collaborative and cooperative learning among students as opposed to competitiveness. Given the small-scale nature of this research study, there was limited improvement in the development of assessment skills, but a marked improvement in writing an essay. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.

Esta tesis presenta el trabajo de investigación cuyo objetivo final fue mejorar la Estrategia Integrada de Medición y Evaluación GOCAME (Goal-Oriented Context-Aware Measurement and Evaluation). La premisa que guió la investigación fue que una estrategia de Medición y Evaluación (M&E) es integrada si posee simultáneamente las siguientes tres capacidades: (1) un marco conceptual con una base conceptual estructurada de M&E; (2) la especificación del proceso; y (3) la especificación de métodos. Bajo esta premisa se realizó un caso de estudio donde dos estrategias integradas fueron evaluadas, a saber: GOCAME y GQM+Strategies (Goal-Question-Metric Plus Strategies), considerando como foco la Calidad de las Capacidades para la categoría de ente «Recurso». Del análisis de los resultados se obtuvo una lista de debilidades y fortalezas de las estrategias evaluadas, con la cual se elaboró un conjunto de recomendaciones de cambio. Luego, se planificaron las acciones de mejora para GOCAME y se efectuaron los cambios -especialmente de aquellos atributos más débiles. Una vez realizadas las mejoras planificadas, se llevó a cabo la reevaluación de GOCAME. A partir de aquí, se efectuó una comparación entre ambas evaluaciones –antes y después de los cambios en GOCAME- lo que brindó evidencia cuantitativa acerca del nivel de impacto de las mejoras incorporadas. En líneas generales, las etapas realizadas en esta investigación fueron: 1) el diseño y ejecución de un estudio comparativo para evaluar estrategias integradas de M&E con el objetivo de comprender y comparar el estado actual de las mismas; 2) la planificación y ejecución de acciones de mejora sobre la estrategia integrada de M&E denominada GOCAME; 3) el análisis de la ganancia de la mejora obtenida luego de los cambios realizados.

DM is a serious and complex public health problem in the U.S. The CDC (2013) estimated that 25.8 million people, or 8.3% of the U.S. population, were suffering from DM in 2011. DM can significantly affect patient’s quality of life. Additionally, DM places a significant economic burden on the U.S. healthcare system. Over the past two decades, DMPs have emerged as a promising intervention to improve health outcomes for patients suffering from chronic conditions, such as DM, and to bend the cost curve. DMP’s aim is to improve communication and follow-up so that patients can better manage their chronic condition(s) to avoid costly hospital stays and emergency room visits (Fireman, Bartlett, & Selby, 2004). The Georgia region of Kaiser Permanente (KPGA) is a fully integrated health system that serves 260,000 members at 28 medical offices along with two specialty offices in the metropolitan Atlanta area. The Center for Care Partnership, the population care division of KPGA, administers a chronic disease management program (DMP), Healthy Solutions (HS). HS exists to improve and maintain the health of chronically ill KPGA members, including patients diagnosed with diabetes mellitus (DM), by providing health coaches via telephone who counsel members on their specific chronic disease and aid members in starting or maintaining a physician approved self-care management plan. In order to determine the impact HS has on KPGA members with DM, an evaluation plan was created to evaluate the impact HS has on members’ glycated hemoglobin (A1C), blood pressure, and emergency department (ED) utilization. This capstone thoroughly details the proposed evaluation plan created for HS by using Robert Milstein and Scott Wetterhall’s six-step framework for program evaluation. Additionally, further evaluation questions are suggested and discussed in order to provide a more complete picture of program performance to stakeholders.

This study emerged from a desire to put to an end the crisis mentality surrounding the status of History as a subject in the secondary school. There appears to be consensus amongst didactitions and practitioners of the subject that the present malaise from which History teaching suffers derives from a number of complex sources. The study, however, takes as its point of departure the problem of the content orientated (product) syllabus which over-emphasises the acquisition of factual information and neglects the conceptual understanding (process) of the subject. Experience is providing the futility of teaching only content (information) to the modern adolescent. Therefore in order to resolve the problem the study focuses, inter alia, on concepts, structures and syllabuses. It is concluded that all subjects are based on conceptual structures which, in turn, have a direct bearing on the authentic education of pupils in general and conceptualization in particular. It is suggested, therefore, that historical content (product) can only have formative value if it is harnessed to facilitate conceptualization (process). Towards this end a History syllabus which embraces both the product and process approaches is advocated for implementation. In essence this means that the content of History is organised around concepts, that is, relevant concepts are chosen as themes around which the syllabus content is structured. Such an approach, it is believed, would not only help to develop universally valid generalizations but also facilitate the conceptualization process necessary for obtaining historical insight. A model, with examples, is presented as a suggestion for implementation in the classroom. Altenative proposals are also mentioned. If historical conceptualization is to be effevively realised in the classroom, then it becomes necessary to obtain a perspective on the learning-psychological processes involved in conceptualization. In this regard, specific theoris are highlighted to guide the History teacher in the classroom. Ti is finally hoped that the new approach suggested would assist teachers, at least to some extent, to resolve the problem of conceptualization in History teaching and thereby help to store the subject to its original position of respect in the school curriculum / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D.Ed. (Didactics)

Submitted by Maria Medeiros (maria.dilva1@ufcg.edu.br) on 2018-06-18T15:28:55Z No. of bitstreams: 1 ANDRÉ PAULO DE BARROS - TESE (PPGRN) 2015.pdf: 2498518 bytes, checksum: ae33b05349b74eb3129d3214742c78b0 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-06-18T15:28:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ANDRÉ PAULO DE BARROS - TESE (PPGRN) 2015.pdf: 2498518 bytes, checksum: ae33b05349b74eb3129d3214742c78b0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-18 / O termo governança vem se tornando um conceito chave a ser entendido e aplicado dentro das práticas de gestão do meio ambiente, em especial nas políticas públicas ambientais. Através da governança, processos de gestão compartilhada são criados e a corresponsabilidade entre os usuários dos recursos naturais é estabelecida através da fixação de regras e de mecanismos voltados à resolução de conflitos. A qualidade da governança interfere diretamente na promoção do desenvolvimento sustentável não só em termos de resultados no sistema socioeconômico e ambiental, mas também na continuidade das políticas estabelecidas. De forma particular, este trabalho discute a governança e sua relação com a sustentabilidade institucional em torno da gestão dos recursos naturais. O pano de fundo para tratamento empírico dessa temática foram as ações de combate à desertificação partindo de uma perspectiva global (instituições e processos globais da UNCCD), passando pela análise nacional (ações no âmbito do governo federal), estadual (Estados que possuem núcleos de desertificação) até se chegar a um diagnóstico regional/local (Núcleo de Desertificação do Seridó/RN). Quatro questões específicas foram levantadas diante dessa problemática: Quais elementos são essenciais para garantir a sustentabilidade institucional das políticas de combate à desertificação no contexto nacional e internacional? Como analisar os elementos institucionais e de governança de uma política pública para inferir sobre sua situação de sustentabilidade institucional? No contexto brasileiro, quais problemas estão na base da não efetividade das políticas de combate à desertificação e quais caminhos devem ser trilhados com vista a sua solução? Objetivo geral da pesquisa foi analisar as relações entre governança e sustentabilidade das ações de combate à desertificação no contexto do Brasil apontando desafios e possíveis soluções para a baixa efetividade das políticas públicas que atuam sobre o tema. Para tanto, foram identificados os elementos institucionais e de governança essenciais para a sustentabilidade institucional de uma política pública; foi proposta, aplicada e validada uma metodologia de avaliação da governança e da sustentabilidade institucional das políticas de combate à desertificação nos âmbitos da UNCCD e do Brasil; e se discutiu os problemas que estão na base da não efetividade das políticas de combate à desertificação no contexto brasileiro apontando possíveis soluções. / The term governance has become a key concept to be understood and applied within the environmental management practices, especially in environmental public policy. Through governance, shared management processes are created and responsibility among users of natural resources is established by setting rules and mechanisms aimed at conflict resolution. Good governance directly affects the promotion of sustainable development not only in terms of results in the socioeconomic and environmental system, but also the continuity of the policies. In particular, this paper discusses the governance and its relation to the institutional sustainability around the management of natural resources. The backdrop for empirical this thematic treatment were to combat desertification actions starting from a global perspective (global institutions and processes of the UNCCD), through national analysis (actions within the federal government), state (States with core desertification) to arrive at a diagnosis regional / local (desertification Core Seridó / RN). Four specific issues were raised on this issue: What elements are essential to ensure institutional sustainability of combating desertification policies at the national and international context? How to analyze the institutional and governance of public policy elements to infer its institutional sustainability situation? In the Brazilian context, what problems are at the basis of non effectiveness of combating desertification policies and which paths must be trodden with a view to their solution? general objective of the research was to analyze the relationship between governance and sustainability of the actions combating desertification in the context of Brazil pointing challenges and possible solutions for the low effectiveness of public policies that act on the issue. Therefore, the institutional elements and essential governance for institutional sustainability of public policy were identified; It was proposed, implemented and validated a methodology for evaluating the governance and institutional sustainability of combating desertification policies in the areas of UNCCD and Brazil; and discussed the problems that underlie the non effectiveness of policies to combat desertification in the Brazilian context pointing out possible solutions

Submitted by Haroudo Xavier Filho (haroudo.xavierfo@ufpe.br) on 2016-03-08T19:13:46Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) TESE FINAL BURNOUT (3)_editada (2).pdf: 2359802 bytes, checksum: d11d25d6c368263f132bccccc5a47204 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-08T19:13:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) TESE FINAL BURNOUT (3)_editada (2).pdf: 2359802 bytes, checksum: d11d25d6c368263f132bccccc5a47204 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-07-24 / Esta pesquisa de doutorado buscou detectar e avaliar aspectos da Síndrome de Burnout em professores que atuam no Ensino Fundamental II (6º ao 9º anos) da Rede Municipal de Educação do Recife e sua relação com a precarização do trabalho docente. Procurou também, analisar a relação entre o adoecimento docente e as variáveis demográficas e profissionais dos professores, bem como a relação entre o adoecimento docente e a metodologia de avaliação da qualidade da educação encampada pelo governo central, especificamente o Índice de Desenvolvimento da Educação Básica no Brasil – IDEB.A hipótese principal desse trabalho é de que os docentes das escolas públicas de educação básica do Recife estão afetados, em alguma medida, pela Síndrome de Burnout. Questão que estaria repercutindo diretamente na qualidade dessa educação e produzindo mal estar no espaço educacional. A pesquisa, de base quali-quantitativa, envolveu uma análise documental, além da realização de entrevistas e aplicação de questionários de medição dos níveis de burnout (MBI) e o sócio-demográfico em 24 professores de língua portuguesa e matemática nas doze escolas do Município do Recife – seis com os resultados mais altos do IDEB e seis com os mais baixos. Além desses professores, foi feito um estudo exploratório com o conjunto total de professores da Rede Municipal de Ensino do Recife que lecionam as disciplinas de Língua Portuguesa e Matemática (187 sujeitos), além da análise das tabelas relativas ao número de atestados médicos e de licenças para tratamento de saúde dos docentes dessa rede de ensino correspondentes ao ano de 2011. De modo geral, os dados revelaram a existência de elevados percentuais de Síndrome de Burnout entre os professores dessa rede de ensino, além de indicativos de processos de instalação dessa síndrome e do estresse entre esses docentes. Constatou-se também que a metodologia de avaliação utilizada – IDEB- colabora para o sentimento de fracasso profissional e, por conseguinte, para a ampliação do adoecimento dos docentes, situação que vem contribuindo para que esse trabalho seja desumano e traga sofrimento para quem o executa. Concluindo-se, a partir de um contexto próprio das exigências neoliberais que têm produzido doenças da profissão, os altos índices de adoecimento por burnout e os sentimentos determinados por essa síndrome entre os professores dessa rede de ensino, têm incidência direta no desempenho escolar de nossos alunos e na qualidade da educação ofertada por esta instituição educacional. / This doctoral research sought to detect and evaluate the aspects of the Burnout Syndrome in teachers of the middle school (years 6 to 9) from the municipal educational network of Recife and their relationship with the degradation of its teaching conditions. It also sought to analyze the sickening in their working field and the demographic and professional variables of the teachers, as well as the relationship between the sickening in the teaching field and the methodology for evaluating the quality of education adopted by the central government, specifically the Index of Development of Basic Education in Brazil - IDEB. The main hypothesis of this work is that the teachers from the public schools of basic education of Recife are affected, to some degree, by the Burnout Syndrome. A matter that would be directly resonating into the quality or the education and producing a malaise in the teaching space. This quali-quantitative research involved a documentary analysis, in addition to interviews and the application of the measurement of burnout levels (MBI) and sociociodemagraphic questionnaires on the 24 Portuguese and mathematics teachers in the twelve municipal schools of Recife – six of them with the top highest IDEB results and the other six with the top lowest. Besides those teachers, an exploratory study was done on another group of teachers from the municipal educational network of Recife that teach Portuguese and mathematics (187 subjects), as well as the analysis of tables on the number of medical certificates and permits for health treatment for teachers of this network corresponding to the year of 2011. Generally speaking, the data revealed the existence of high percentages of Burnout Syndrome among teachers of this teaching network, along with indicatives of processes of installation of this syndrome and stress among these professionals. It was also noted that the evaluation methodology used – IDEB – collaborates for the feeling of professional failure and, therefore, for the expansion of the illness of those teachers, a situation which has contributed to this work become inhumane and bring suffering to whom performs it. In conclusion, from a context of neoliberal requirements which has produced professional diseases, it is understood that the high rates of illness by burnout and the feelings provided by this syndrome among teachers of that teaching network have direct impact on the academic performance of students and the quality of education offered by such educational institution

The corrosion study in actual concrete structures is a subject enough discussed as much in the academic ambience as in the professional one. The subject is relevant due the numberless pathology cases of corrosion in structural concrete that are reported, almost daily, in the technical sphere. Nevertheless, few are the studies on this phenomenon in structural concrete of the first half of the 20th century. Is common sense that these structures were executed in a different way from the actual, and its behavior in front of corrosion may be differentiated, however, little are the studies that analyze the behavior of these structures in front of this pathology. This dissertation, based on bibliographical study and author s experience, look for not only analyze the concrete structure characteristics of the first half of 20th century and its influence on the rebar corrosion, as also propose a methodology for its detection. The proposition of this theme is based in fact that many execution and calculus methods were enough different from the actual concerning the concrete structures. The sodium chloride and calcium chloride addition in concrete, with purpose to accelerate the set and curing of concrete, the use of wooden pins as spacers are some characteristics showed in this work. As conclusion, is proposed an evaluation methodology which permits analyze such structures under the optics of its peculiar characteristics, aiming at the rebar corrosion. / O estudo da corrosão em estruturas de concreto armado atuais é um assunto bastante discutido tanto no meio acadêmico, como no profissional. O tema reveste-se desta importância devido aos inúmeros casos de patologias de corrosão em estruturas de concreto armado que são reportados, quase diariamente, ao meio técnico. No entanto, pouco se tem estudado a respeito desse fenômeno em estruturas de concreto armado da primeira metade do século XX. É senso comum que essas estruturas foram executadas de forma diferente das atuais e que seu comportamento frente à corrosão pode ser diferenciado; no entanto, são poucos os estudos que analisam o comportamento desse tipo de estrutura frente a essa patologia. Este trabalho, tendo por base um estudo bibliográfico e a experiência do autor, busca não só analisar as características das estruturas de concreto armado da primeira metade do século XX e suas influências sobre a corrosão das armaduras, como também propor uma metodologia para sua detecção. A proposição desse tema baseia-se no fato de que muitos métodos de execução e cálculo eram bastante diferentes dos atuais no que concerne a estruturas de concreto armado. A adição de cloreto de sódio e cloreto de cálcio no concreto, com a finalidade de acelerar a pega e a cura do concreto, e o uso de tarugos de madeira como espaçadores são algumas das características mostradas neste trabalho. Como conclusão é proposta uma metodologia de avaliação que permita analisar tais estruturas sob a ótica de suas características particulares, com vistas à corrosão da armadura.

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

The diploma thesis „Assessment of a Company's Information System and Proposal for Modifications” deals with the issue of security and efficiency of the information system. The thesis is divided into three parts. The first theoretical part explains the basic concepts that are subsequently used in the thesis. The second part contains analytical starting points and introduction of the company, its analysis and analysis of the information system. This information is the basis for the last proposal part, where its content is to increase the security of the company's information system. Part of the proposal also includes an economic assessment, where benefits and costs are described. The work is elaborated in order to achieve the assigned goal of the thesis.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Model-based drug development has become an essential element to potentially make drug development more productive by assessing the data using mathematical and statistical approaches to construct and utilize models to increase the understanding of the drug and disease. The modeling and simulation approach not only quantifies the exposure-response relationship, and the level of variability, but also identifies the potential contributors to the variability. I hypothesized that the modeling and simulation approach can: 1) leverage our understanding of pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PK-PD) relationship from pre-clinical system to human; 2) quantitatively capture the drug impact on patients; 3) evaluate clinical trial designs; and 4) identify potential contributors to drug toxicity and efficacy. The major findings for these studies included: 1) a translational PK modeling approach that predicted clozapine and norclozapine central nervous system exposures in humans relating these exposures to receptor binding kinetics at multiple receptors; 2) a population pharmacokinetic analysis of a study of sertraline in depressed elderly patients with Alzheimer’s disease that identified site specific differences in drug exposure contributing to the overall variability in sertraline exposure; 3) the utility of a longitudinal tumor dynamic model developed by the Food and Drug Administration for predicting survival in non-small cell lung cancer patients, including an exploration of the limitations of this approach; 4) a Monte Carlo clinical trial simulation approach that was used to evaluate a pre-defined oncology trial with a sparse drug concentration sampling schedule with the aim to quantify how well individual drug exposures, random variability, and the food effects of abiraterone and nilotinib were determined under these conditions; 5) a time to event analysis that facilitated the identification of candidate genes including polymorphisms associated with vincristine-induced neuropathy from several association analyses in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients; and 6) a LASSO penalized regression model that predicted vincristine-induced neuropathy and relapse in ALL patients and provided the basis for a risk assessment of the population. Overall, results from this dissertation provide an improved understanding of treatment effect in patients with an assessment of PK/PD combined and with a risk evaluation of drug toxicity and efficacy.