A spatial-temporal model is developed for modelling the impacts of simulated coastal zone storm surge and flooding using a combined spatial mapping and system dynamics approach. By coupling geographic information systems (GIS) and system dynamics, the interconnecting components of the spatial-temporal model are used with limited historical data to evaluate storm damage. Overlapping cumulative effects layers in GIS (ArcMap) are used for describing the coastal community’s profile, and a system dynamics feedback model (STELLA) is developed to define the interconnecting component relationships of the community. The component-wise changes to the physical environment, community infrastructure, and socioeconomic resources from the storm surge and seal level rise are examined. These changes are used to assess the impacts of the community system as a whole. For the purpose of illustrating this model, the research is applied specifically to the case of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, a vulnerable coastal city subject to considerable impacts from pending sea level rise and more frequent severe storm surge attributed to the changing climate in the coastal zone.

Educational institutions have remained remarkably unchanged throughout the last century, even when the political, cultural and social environments have undergone very significant transformation (cf. Duderstadt, 2005; Fullan, 2007; Rowan & Miskel, 1999). Because of the noted similarity among educational institutions and the institutions perceived inability to change, I wanted to identify a significant change at an educational institution, and examine the context and policy process that promoted this change. The focus of this study was the process of policy development within one type of educational institution, the university.<p> In this case study, I examined the policy process involved in establishing a joint, interdisciplinary school, the School of Policy and Research. Data were gathered from three sources: interviews, documents, and policies. I conducted semi-structured interviews with thirteen participants who had some connection to the School, and analyzed the data by coding emergent themes. These were not discrete themes, but rather were interconnected and reflected the complexity of the policy development process. From the findings, the concept of policy windows, as suggested by Kingdon (2003), was evident in the policy origin stage. The policy stream, the political stream, and the problem stream came together at a critical juncture as a confluence of forces that allowed the initiative of the joint interdisciplinary policy School to move forward into adoption and implementation. Due to this presence of a policy window, the initiative moved through the adoption stage relatively smoothly, at least initially. The policy actors were essentially the same at both universities; there was a core group of grassroots level faculty members who were involved in policy work and believed in the potential of the interdisciplinary policy School. They were supported by senior administrative personnel who saw this initiative as one way to address perceived problems confronting the institutions. However, the implementation stage at both universities was messy and difficult as the proponents of the School encountered many tensions, including issues around securing resources, program development, the proposal approval process, and several sources of resistance to change. The discipline-driven culture of the universities appeared to be an impediment to innovative practices that bridge disciplinary boundaries. Although the timing of this study obviated full consideration of the evaluation stage, the participants did speculate upon several intended impacts of the School, and they proposed possible collateral impacts. Implications of this investigation for practice included a need for individual organizations to conduct a thorough examination of situation-specific organizational practices that promote or inhibit innovation, including reviews of current practice for determining what programs need to be discontinued, for articulating how to monitor progress in achieving outcomes, and for identifying how to promote a more collaborative culture. In terms of implications for research, further exploration of the implementation stage of successful policy development was seen to have some potential. In change theory, further research could address the stark absence of the voice of resistors to change. Two elements of neoinstitutional theory that merit further research are the roles of agents in initiating change, and the role of isomorphic processes (coercive, normative, and mimetic) in inhibiting change in organizations. One theoretical implication of this study was the relevance of certain lenses (political, temporal, organizational, and cultural) in examining change. Additionally, the theoretical dichotomy of incremental and transformative change merits further examination in relation to the dynamics of the policy process.

Our interest about interdisciplinary teaching has grown during our time at Högskolan Dalarna and especially during the subject physical education. It became clear that people learn in different ways. The theoretical education in school benefits the visual and auditory strong learners but the kinesthetic strong learners find it more difficult to absorb the information. We argue that integrating subjects is a good way to mix theory and practice and thus gives more students an opportunity to learn the content of the subject. The intention of this examination paper is to investigate the relationship between the attitudes of the teachers regarding interdisciplinary teaching, the practical restrains, possibilities and the presence of interdisciplinary teaching at three different schools. Semi-structured interviews with six physical educators and three principals have been performed. An ad-hoc method has been used, with categorizing (teachers), and narrative (principals). Teachers and principal’s definitions of, the pros and cons for, and the actual presence of interdisciplinary teaching have been investigated. The main results of our studies are: 1) That teachers and principals define interdisciplinary teaching as thematic work. 2) Teachers experience lack of time for collective planning due to others duties. 3) Teachers and principals understanding of physical education makes it difficult to integrate physical education with other subjects. Some of the conclusions from this study are that interdisciplinary teaching must be voluntary. Conditions to practice interdisciplinary teaching must be sufficient, e.g regarding collective planning time. An increased presence of interdisciplinary teaching that includes physical education requires a new understanding of physical education.

<p>I denna uppsats undersöks diskursartikulationer kring narkotikamissbruk för att ta reda på hur de konstrueras i medietexter, vilka som får komma till tal samt vilka roller dessa artikulationer tar och deras förhållande till varandra. Teorin som använts är Faircloughs kritiska diskursanalys och som komplement till den har Laclau & Mouffes kritiska diskursteori använts. I studien synliggörs tre olika artikulationstrender beroende på vilken ideologisk utgångspunkt skribenten kunde antas ha baserat på sin position. Dessa positioner diskuteras sedan med hänsyn till drogernas historiskt kulturella kontext.</p>

<p>A study of how pseudoscience is used in modern science as a method for dividing people into groups depending on their extraction with focus on the book The Bell Curve written by Charles Murray and Richard J. Herrstein.</p> / <p>En studie av hur man fortfarande idag legitimerar uppdelningen av människor med hjälp av pseudovetenskap med fokus på boken The Bell Curve av Charles Murray och Richard J. Herrnstein.</p>

<p>This case study aims at showing how longer field studies can influence the design process. The design case is a redesign of the GUI of software for cell phone network simulation. The study explores the potential of a long field study, presenting it in a way that makes it possible for the reader to follow every step of the process and thus evaluate the merits of this long fieldstudy, and of longer field studies, in general.</p><p>Data for the study was collected and an initial analysis performed during a four weeks field study. Participant observation was the primary method, but other methods were also used. After the field study was completed, further analysis led to the formation of a design rationale, sorted according to three identified usage groups and one general category.</p><p>This study argues that a long field study, with design measurements, informs the design significantly. Week one was needed for creating the necessary rapport with the users/informants, while new information decreased during week four. This confirms the argument of earlier studies that the time span of field studies for focused design cases may be shorter than for more wide-aiming social research. However, one main finding is that the most significant data for the design rationale was unevenly collected, mainly in weeks two and three. Thus, the study argues that design cases may benefit from longer fieldstudies than is the standard within the design community of today.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2000. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 166-175). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2008. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2000. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 166-175). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 171-178). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.