Will student attitudes towards science change when they are given a chance to explore an area of science in which they have indicated an interest? This action research thesis investigated this question over a period of nine weeks. The subjects of this study included twelve students enrolled in the same seventh grade physical science class. The school was located in a suburban setting in the Southeast United States. Data for this study was collected with anecdotal notes, participation grid, science attitude survey, student interviews, and student journals. This study found that when students are given the opportunity to pursue an area of science in which they demonstrate an interest, they are more likely to participate in their regular curriculum and increase positive attitudes' towards science. As a result of this increased engagement and improved attitudes' towards science, students academic performance in science also improved.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(経済学) / 甲第24163号 / 経博第657号 / 新制||経||302(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院経済学研究科経済学専攻 / (主査)教授 COLPAN Meziyet Asli, 准教授 WANG Tao, 教授 関口 倫紀 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Economics / Kyoto University / DGAM

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Museums are rich and complex learning experiences, using a variety of interactive approaches to engage their audiences. However, the largely unstructured nature of free-choice learning calls for alternative approaches that can effectively engage groups of school age students with diverse cultural backgrounds. In these informal learning spaces employing digital content, classroom-size student groups do not get adequate exposure to content and if they do, it is either through individual interactions with digital exhibits or in a passive style instruction offered by a museum docent to the whole group. This research aims to identify which elements of collocated group collaboration, virtual environments, and serious games can be leveraged for an enhanced learning experience for small and large groups of middle school students. We created a conceptual framework based on the Contextual Model of Learning in museums (John H. Falk and Dierking, 2000) and the most effective educational elements of Virtual Environments (VEs) and Serious Games, in order to increase engagement and social presence and facilitate learning. We then developed C-OLiVE (Collaborative Orchestrated Learning in Virtual Environments), an interactive virtual learning environment supporting group collaboration, which we used as a testbed to respond to our research questions. Our overall hypothesis is that synchronous, collocated, group collaboration will afford greater learning and an improved game experience compared to the conventional approaches used in these spaces so far. We ran three experiments and a case study with 790 students in private and public middle schools, summer camps, and museums both in the US and in Greece. Findings partly supported our hypothesis, mainly during our small group interaction experiments, in which simultaneous interaction of students was found to be associated with increased learning. Guidance of a passive experience was effective in facilitating the more cognitively challenged group of students in a Greek museum. Our audience interaction studies revealed increased retention of information two days after the game. Agency was found to significantly predict learning in all our studies. Engagement and social presence were mostly correlated with higher levels of involvement and agency in the game. / Ph. D.

There are contradictory thoughts associated with ruins. Mainly when we hear the word ruin, it reminds us of glorious ancient structures that evoked an aesthetic pleasure and inspired artists and philosophers throughout the history. But it also has a negative feeling, it means to destroy to turn into decay. The former is the way that we feel about ancient ruins but our way of thinking about the ruins of modern times is different. There are different reasons for this duality and this thesis firstly attempts to explore the reasons behind this ambivalent attitude. Secondly to answer why ruins of our own time are considered invaluable, why they deserve our attention, how their qualities can offer different ways of remembrance and challenge the common perception of history and how their existence can arouse the topic of otherness in the urban context and provide a physical space for alternative cultural activities. The design project focuses on an early twentieth century ruin in Baltimore, Maryland. The former theater building had a relatively short period of splendor followed by several alterations and decades of abandonment and decay. Through an architectural intervention, the project aims to understand and appreciate the history and qualities of the ruined theater and integrate these qualities into the atmosphere of the new space, binding the old and the new together and at the same time, retaining the incomplete character of the ruin. / Master of Architecture / Mainly when we hear the word ruin, we think of famous ancient ruin sites like the Colosseum, Acropolis or Angkor Wat. It reminds us of glorious ancient structures that evoked an aesthetic pleasure and inspired artists. But the word ruin is also associated with negative feelings. It means to disintegrate, to reduce to a state of decay, to collapse. The way we feel about the ruins of our own time is mostly associated with the latter. Modern ruins are mostly seen as unpleasant. Places that provide a space for undesirable activities and are linked to crime and, thus, threatening the safety of the residents in that area. As a result of this attitude, they become an ignored and marginalized part of the cities. Although ruins have some of the mentioned negative possibilities, they also contain positive qualities and potentials that I explore in this thesis. There are different reasons for these ambivalent feelings about ancient and modern ruins and this thesis studies the reasons behind it. This thesis provides answers to questions of why ruins of our own time are considered invaluable, why they deserve our attention and how their existence can arouse the topic of otherness in the urban context and provide a physical space for alternative cultural activities. The design project focuses on an early twentieth century ruin in Baltimore, Maryland. The former theater building had a relatively short period of splendor followed by several alterations and decades of abandonment and decay. Through an architectural intervention, the project aims to understand and appreciate the history and qualities of the ruined theater and integrate these qualities into the atmosphere of the new space, binding the old and the new together and at the same time, retaining the incomplete character of the ruin.

Yes / We examine the role of generalized social trust in substituting for employment protection legislation. Using foreign direct investment from the US to a sample of OECD countries, we find that trust diminishes the importance of formal employment regulations in investment attractiveness.

Master of Arts / Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work / Robert K. Schaeffer / Informal markets are prevalent all over the globe. The work done in such markets is often for the purposes of supplementary or subsistence income and it is done by men, women, and children. The purpose of my research was to understand how micro-informal markets are created by informal workers in Manhattan, Kansas. This was done through examining how informal workers used their social networks to find customers and how customers used their social networks to find informal goods and services produced by such workers, or more specifically, how micro-informal markets were created. This builds on the economic theory of embeddedness, which states social relations are an important part of the exchange process even in today's capitalistic market economy. In addition, my research also looked at why customers consumed from informal workers, why informal workers decided to go into business for themselves, how the city of Manhattan, Kansas viewed informal workers and whether city officials and affiliates encouraged informal businesses or not.

Este estudo teve como ponto de partida o reconhecimento da realidade heterogênea do trabalho. O chamado trabalho informal é uma forma econômica que sempre coexistiu com as outras modalidades em países latino-americanos, o qual adverte que como atividade econômico-produtiva existia muito antes dos discursos sobre a perda significativa de vagas de emprego. A questão básica da pesquisa propôs analisar a construção das trajetórias de trabalho dos vendedores informais das ruas do centro de Cali, Colômbia; considerando um enfoque nos trabalhadores e suas experiências no trabalho informal, ou seja, naqueles trabalhos que não estão regulamentados pelo Estado ou dos quais não se recolhem impostos nem contam com proteção social (saúde e aposentadoria). Compreendendo as trajetórias de trabalho como o particular traço ou percurso que faz o indivíduo no espaço sociolaboral, que descreve as sucessivas posições que tem ocupado ao longo do tempo, desde sua inserção no mercado laboral (Orejuela & Correa, 2007, p.64); embora este percurso vá além de uma reconstrução das distintas atividades de trabalho e permita analisar elementos como as motivações e escolhas pessoais, os fatores macro e micro sociais, além da temporalidade. A pesquisa abordou um método qualitativo com perspectiva etnográfica que permitiu identificar as construções das trajetórias de trabalho em vendedores informais de rua do centro de Cali e junto com o trabalho de campo, um retrato sobre o trabalho informal nesse espaço. Participaram oito vendedores informais dos quais se obtiveram depoimentos orais, por meio de entrevista e conversa. As informações obtidas foram estudadas à luz da Análise Temática proposta na teoria das histórias de vida de Queiroz (1988). Foram estudadas individualmente as trajetórias para, em seguida, identificaram-se alguns elementos comuns. Considera-se através das narrativas dos vendedores, que as trajetórias de trabalho, organizam-se a partir de aquilo que as pessoas têm conseguido criar para, além de sobreviver, obter um sentido para a vida segundo o que fazem, construindo redes que lhes permitem movimentar o caminho segundo seus projetos e os valores atribuídos ao trabalho. A partir daí, definiram-se os temas que organizam as histórias de vida, tais como as transições, as redes, os projetos e os sentidos do trabalho, os quais se configuraram numa totalidade de vivências que dão sentido ao caminho no mundo laboral. Finalmente, identificou-se a complexidade das construções das trajetórias de trabalho, marcadas por elementos como os familiares, culturais e sociais, os 6 quais extrapolam o universo laboral, além de demonstrar que os contatos que as pessoas estabelecem durante o percurso, especificamente no centro da cidade, gera uma rede de solidariedade que os sustenta no trabalho informal. Outro aspecto importante nas considerações é a dificuldade de qualificar estes trabalhadores que continuamente encontram-se entre fronteiras permeáveis entre formas de trabalho formal-informal / This research takes into account the heterogeneous reality of work considering that informal jobs have been always part of the Latin American economic system, and have coexisted with other working arrangements. This suggests that informal activities have existed before the speeches on restructuring labor markets and unemployment. As research question I propose to analyze the work trajectories of informal street vendors in downtown Cali, Colombia; that is to say, those jobs that are not regulated by the State. Work trajectories are defined as \"the direct line or route that is followed by an individual in the social-space, which describes the successive positions he has held over time\" (Orejuela & Correa, 2007, p.64). However, this analysis is not just focused on the reconstruction of the various work activities since I also analyze other factors such as personal motivations, personal choices and macro-and micro social facts. I tackled this research from a qualitative method, which involves an ethnographic perspective that allowed me to identify the trajectories of informal street vendors. I selected eight vendors with whom interviews and discussions were conducted. The data obtained were analyzed based on the Thematic Analysis of life histories (Queiroz, 1988). Initially, the trajectories were studied individually, and then common elements were identified. From the venders´ narratives I found that the trajectories are organized not just as a way to survive but also as a way to have a purpose in life. They build networks that allow them to move toward their projects and give value to their works. Keeping this in mind I classified the trajectories by themes such as transitions, networks, projects, and sense of work, which are configured in a totality of experiences that give coherence to their jobs. Finally, I identified the complexity of developing those trajectories, which is affected by familiar, cultural and social contexts