Thesis advisor: Katherine L. McNeill / Reform movements in science education have repeatedly called for more dialogic and student-centered discussions during science lessons. The approach secondary science teachers take towards talk during whole-class discussions continues to be predominantly teacher-centered even when curriculum materials are designed to support a shift in discourse. This dissertation explores what factors may be influencing the approach that both teachers and students take towards whole-class discussions in order to understand why the type of talk that occurs in high school science lessons is not changing. In order to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of this issue, this dissertation made use of mixed methodology. To explore secondary science teachers' beliefs in general, responses to a statewide survey of science teachers (N=185) were analyzed statistically to investigate factors that were related to their efficacy beliefs about whole-class discussions, as well as their beliefs about the effectiveness of dialogic and authoritative approaches to bring about learning in students. Acknowledging that discursive interactions are context dependent, a case study of a high school chemistry teacher and her students (N=45) was also included which examined both the teacher's and her students' beliefs as well as how those beliefs manifested themselves during instruction. Findings suggest that although teachers believe that a dialogic approach to whole-class discussions is more important for student learning than an authoritative approach, lower self-efficacy for engaging in dialogic talk is related to limited opportunities teachers have to learn and recognize alternative strategies that can be used to shift talk during whole-class discussions. Furthermore, school and student characteristics may play a role in teachers' beliefs about the effectiveness of dialogic talk as an approach to learning science. The teachers' role is only one part of the interaction, however. This dissertation also shows that secondary students have beliefs and expectations about whole-class discussions that also influence the type of discourse that can occur. Changing the type of talk that occurs in high school science classes will require not only professional development about talk strategies for teachers, but also a shift in how students frame their role in discussions and the purpose of talk in learning science. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2012. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

‘Partnership’ has become a buzzword in development circles. The term is used to describe almost any relationship that pools the resources of different actors to address societal challenges and concerns. Because it encompasses such a broad range of perspectives, the contention of this thesis is that partnership can only be fully understood in relation to practice. A critical assessment of a selection of my research publications is used to explore how partnership is interpreted in different contexts, why and by whom, and to what extent it might offer possibilities for achieving social progress. This review finds that partnership can be construed as both a structure and a process, and as a means to an end and an end in itself. Attention thus needs to be given to its instrumental value as a development tool and to its intrinsic worth in cementing social capital. Consideration is given to connections between these different forms of partnership and other development ‘solutions’; the complex interplay between external, organisational and individual drivers for multi-stakeholder collaboration, and evidence for the benefits of working in this way. This analysis reveals that it is hard to judge the effectiveness of partnership due to the complexity of different levels of interaction; lack of clarity on goals and motivations for partnering; and, because process-related results generally emerge in the long term, attribution is a challenge. It is thus suggested that assessments of partnership might more usefully focus on methodologies that enhance its potential to generate individual and societal value. The attributes of such ‘transformational’ arrangements, and how these compare with other collaborative connections, are examined using a typology that builds upon a transactional-transformational partnership continuum. Further investigation into the nature of stakeholder participation, and related power dynamics, indicates that partnership can both promote and embody social progress when participation is carefully facilitated by ‘partnership brokers’; embedded in sociohistoric contexts, and based upon open-ended dialogue processes that seek to comprehend different points of view rather than change them. In order to explore this potential more fully, as well as continued research into particular partnership experiences and possible alternatives, more imaginative exchanges of knowledge about working in this way are recommended.

The design of medical devices has failed to satisfy the needs of resource-limited settings (RLSs). Whether purposefully designed for RSLs or transferred from a high-income country, the resulting devices often misalign with the characteristics of the context and the real needs of users. The challenges of contextualising medical devices in RLSs are widely acknowledged, but research to overcome these issues in practice is lacking. This study focuses on examining and defining the context for medical devices in RLSs. Two perspectives were employed for the study of context of medical devices in RLSs. The first approach, using design expert interviews and a systematic literature review, resulted in a contextual framework with factors relevant for the design, use and deployment of medical devices in RLSs. These factors were categorised in eight groups: public health, industrial, technological, institutional, financial, socio-cultural, geographical or environmental and economic. This approach, however, falls short in understanding the complexities behind these contextual factors. In order to tackle these limitations, the second approach used generative techniques for network mapping and mixed-methods for network analysis. This network approach resulted in the identification of networks surrounding MDs in RLSs, and the roles played by medical devices in these networks. These roles were categorised by type of interaction in six types: wellbeing, affiliation, organisational, clinical practice, cognitive and technical. Three assemblies of entities were also identified that were responsible for ensuring that MDs stay in the network and are available, used, maintained, and ultimately replaced when they fail. From this perspective, the investigation focused on how devices move in the network, change roles and are supported by other actors. In other words, the elements that assemble and allow medical devices to exist and subsist in the networks of care. Complexity and non-reducibility are at the core of this approach. The results from the exercise show that the approach sheds light on interesting and unexpected aspects of the use, adoption or deployment of medical devices in RLSs. However, the approach is abstract and overwhelmingly difficult to grasp in practical research. The approaches are compared and contrasted using an example of a MDs designed for RLSs. The approaches are not seen as competing but as complementary views of context. Their advantages and disadvantages are described, and recommendations are made for their application and improvement. The conclusions from this study contribute to new approaches to exploring the context of use for products in Design research by using, on the one hand, the concept of the collectives---as proposed by the actor-network theory---and, on the other hand, the idea of a holistic contextual framework for product design and development. For the field of global health, this research contributes to improving the design of much-needed technologies as solutions to global challenges.

La haute performance ainsi que la basse consommation d’énergie offertes par lesField-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) contribuent à leur popularité en tant queaccélérateurs matériels. Cet argument a été soutenu par les intégrations récentes des FPGAs dans des systèmes cloud et centre de données. Toutefois, le potentiel d’une architecture reconfigurable peut être encore optimisé en traitant les FPGAs comme une ressource virtualisée et en les offrant une capacité de multitâche. La solution pour interrompre une tâche sur FPGAs à pour objectif d’effectuer un changement de contexte matériel (hardware context switch) a été un sujet de recherche depuis des nombreuses années. Les travaux précédents ont principalement proposé une stratégie pour extraire le contexte d’une tâche en cours de son exécution d’un FPGA pour offrir la possibilité de sa reprise plus tard. Cependant, la communication tout au long du processus n’a pas reçu autant d’attention.Dans cette thèse, nous étudions la gestion de communication d’une tâche matérielle durant son changement de contexte. Cette gestion de communicationest nécessaire pour garantir la cohérence de la communication d’une tâche dans un système reconfigurable avec la capacité de changement de contexte. Autrement, un changement de contexte matériel est seulement autorisé sous des contraintes restrictifs; il est possible après que les flux de communication soient fini et que toutes les données d’entrées/de sorties sont déjà consommées. De plus, certaines techniques demandent l’homogénéité au sein de la plate-forme pour qu’un changement de contexte matériel puisse se réaliser.Nous présentons içi un mécanisme qui conserve la cohérence de communication durant un changement de contexte matériel dans une architecture reconfigurable. Les données de communication sont gérées avec le contexte de tâche pour assurer leur intégrité. La gestion du contexte et les données de communication suivent un protocole spécifique pour des architectures hétérogènes reconfigurables. Ce protocole permet donc un changement de contexte matériel pendant que la tâche a encore des flux de communication. À partir des expérimentations, nous découvrons que le surcoût de la gestion de communication devient négligeable car notre mécanisme fournit une grande réactivité nécessaire pour l’allocation de tâche de façon préemptive - outre que sa consistance de communication. Enfin, les applications de solution proposée sont présentées dans un prototypage de tâche migration et dans un système utilisant un hyperviseur. / Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) have been gaining popularity as hardware accelerators in heterogeneous architectures thanks to their high performance and low energy consumption. This argument has been supported by the recent integration of FPGA devices in cloud services and data centers. The potential offered by the reconfigurable architectures can still be optimized by treating FPGAs as virtualizable resources and offering them multitasking capability. The solution to preempt a hardware task on an FPGA with the objective of context switching it has been in research for many years. The previous works mainly proposed the strategy to extract the context of a running task from the FPGA to provide the possibility of its resumption at a later time. The communication during the process, on the contrary, has not been receiving much attention.In this work, we study the communication management of a hardware task whileit is being context switched. This communication management is necessary to ensure the consistency in the communication of a task with context switch capability in a reconfigurable system. Otherwise, a hardware context switch can only be allowed under restrictive constraints which may lead to a considerable penalty in performance; context switching a task is possible after the communication flows finish and the input/output data have been consumed. Furthermore, certain techniques demand homogeneity in the platform for a hardware context switch can take place.We present a mechanism which preserves the communication consistency during ahardware context switch in a reconfigurable architecture. The input/output communication data are managed together with the task context to ensure their integrity. The overall management of the hardware task context and communication data follows a dedicated protocol developed for heterogeneous reconfigurable architectures. This protocol thus allows a hardware context switch to take place while the task still has ongoing communication flows on Reconfigurable System-on-Chips (RSoCs). From the experiments, we discover that the overhead due to managing the communication data becomes negligible since our mechanism provides the necessary high responsiveness for preemptive scheduling, besides the consistency in communication. Finally, the applications of the proposed solution are presented in a task migration prototyping and in a hypervisor-based system.

Photocopy of typescript. / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

While it is well established that expert performers can pick up and utilise postural cues to anticipate more effectively than less-skilled counterparts, the role of contextual information in expert anticipation has received relatively little research attention. The aims of this thesis were to highlight the importance of contextual information in anticipation, identify specific sources of contextual information that impact anticipation, and examine how this information is used. In five studies, skilled and less-skilled tennis players were presented with videos or animations of the same open play rallies. The animations omitted postural information, constraining participants to anticipate based on contextual information alone. First, participants anticipated more accurately than chance in both display conditions. Skilled participants were more accurate than less-skilled participants, with the difference being greater in the video condition. Second, gaze data and retrospective verbal reports were collected when viewing the animations. Skilled participants displayed different gaze behaviour and more thoroughly evaluated the presented information than less-skilled participants. Third, animations were manipulated to depict or omit potential sources of contextual information. The preceding shot sequence was shown to be a useful source of contextual information, particularly for skilled participants. Additionally, player positioning could be used to anticipate highly accurately in absence of any other information. Finally, the option generation strategies underpinning expert anticipation were examined. Participants generated fewer options when postural cues were available compared with when constrained to the use of contextual information alone. Moreover, skilled participants generated more task-relevant and fewer task-irrelevant options than less-skilled participants. Collectively, these findings increase understanding of the role of contextual information in expert anticipation and further highlight the complex nature of perceptual-cognitive expertise.

Secure Information Systems (SIS) design paradigms have evolved in generations to adapt to IS security needs. However, modern IS are still vulnerable and are far from secure. The development of an underlying IS cannot be reduced to “technological fixes” neither is the design of SIS. Technical security cannot ensure IS security. Generations of SIS design paradigms have evolved, all with their own sets of shortcomings. A SIS design paradigm must meet well-defined requirements, yet contemporary paradigms do not meet all these requirements. Current SIS design paradigms are not easily applicable to IS. They lack a comprehensive modeling support and ignore the socio-technical organizational role of IS security. This research introduced the use of action research in design science research. Design science paradigm was leveraged to introduce a meta-design artifact explaining how IS requirements including security requirements can be incorporated in the design of SIS. The introduced artifact CSIS provided design comprehensiveness to emergent and changing requirements to IS from a socio-technical perspective. The CSIS artifact meets secure system meta-design requirements. This study presented a secure IS design principle that ensures IS security.

An international program in a public K to 12 school district in British Columbia is responsible for international students, their education, and life in BC. An international program leader (IPL) is employed by the school district to lead these programs. The IPL has an influence on the lives of students, parents, school district staff, home-stay families, and study-abroad agents. International program leadership is an emerging area of study in educational leadership, with limited research. The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of leadership in public K to 12 international programs in BC and to reflect on theoretical foundations that may influence practice. In-depth interviews with six IPLs using a multiple-case-study approach (Stake, 2006) uncovered perspectives on leading international programs in a BC context. In the cross-case analysis, three themes emerged: (a) the phenomenon of international program leadership is contextual, (b) professional (human) relationships and networks are key elements of international program leadership, and (c) managing and resolving conflicts over values and culture are key elements of international program leadership. The implications of these findings include: (a) the background of the IPL influences leadership, (b) the context of an international program in a BC school district influences IPL leadership practice, (c) human relationships with five key stakeholders are important for leaders, and (d) the role of the IPL as a mediator of conflicts in three key areas: philosophical disagreements regarding international programs from colleagues in a school district, the management of mental health issues for students, and inappropriate living conditions for students. / Graduate

It is commonly accepted that instrumental responses that have been extinguished can return. For example, in a phenomenon known as the renewal effect, extinguished behaviors return upon removal from the extinction context. Another well-accepted notion is that instrumental behaviors can be thought of as goal-directed actions, which form over the course of moderate amounts of practice or training, and habits, which form after extended practice. Despite years of research on both topics, what happens to actions and habits following extinction is poorly understood. The present experiments examined the renewal of actions and habits following retroactive interference paradigms such as extinction and additional training. Experiment 1 examined renewal of an action following its extinction in a separate context, and demonstrated that the extinguished behavior renewed as an action upon return to the acquisition context. Experiment 2 asked the same question about habits, and found that the behavior renewed as a habit after extinction upon return to the acquisition context. Experiment 3 examined renewal of goal-directed responding in one context following extensive training and conversion into habit in another context. It demonstrated that a single response could manifest as a habit in one context, and renew as an action in the original training context. Experiment 4 asked if this effect depends on returning to the acquisition context, or simply removal from the habit training context. The results suggest that mere removal from the habit training context is sufficient to renew the goal-directed properties of a behavior. Together, the results suggest that actions and habits can be inhibited in a context-specific manner by extinction, and that instrumental behaviors can have both action and habit properties that can each renew under the proper circumstances. The results also expand on the notion that habits are especially context specific, while actions can transfer across contexts.

This report discusses a study undertaken to develop, pilot, and tentatively validate a self- regulated learning (SRL) inventory for L2 contexts. This inventory was specifically designed to measure learners' ability to self-regulate their learning. Although there have been a few SRL inventories developed to measure this ability, they do not conform to the six-dimensional SRL model proposed by educational psychologists and backed by extensive research. This warranted the development of a new SRL inventory. The primary focus of this study was that of taking initial steps to develop such an inventory. These steps involved writing and refining items conforming to a six-dimensional SRL model. After selecting 30 items from the initial item pool, the SRL inventory was piloted. Both qualitative and quantitative measures were then employed to provide an initial indication of the inventory's trustworthiness, reliability, and validity.