Through interrelating the Acoustic Communication concepts of soundscape with contemporary collective memory studies, this research project explores the relationship between commuters and the London Underground (LU) soundscape in order to create an interactive sonic environment on the Internet. The methodology combines fieldwork and artistic work, focusing on commuters’ perceptions of time and space, and on their sonic memories, as elements through which to interpret the space. The objective of the fieldwork is to investigate commuters’ aural memories of the LU soundscape, including the feelings and sensations that it stimulates. The artistic objective is to facilitate the interaction between the soundscape and its users through an interface that allows a creative combination of sounds to assemble aural memories into a sound-driven multimedia experience. Twenty-four commuters participated in the ethnographic study during the three phases of the research; they followed the researcher’s model, which combines the processes of listening and remembering. The researcher thus developed an interactive sonic environment where commuters can experience a non-linear virtual journey through the soundscape of LU, then apply this as a means of reflecting on the original commuting experience. The interactive nature of the process makes it possible for individual memories to be linked in a creative shared experience; it fosters the development of on-line sound-driven narratives.

Infertility is a frequently occurring chronic health condition, which often persists throughout the reproductive years. Heightened anxiety symptoms often are comorbid with infertility diagnoses. Women experiencing infertility, and particularly those with anxiety symptoms, characterize an emerging population that deserves special attention. However, women experiencing infertility have identified barriers to seeking psychotherapy (e.g., fears of being dismissed from fertility treatment and/or stigmatized). Consequently, women diagnosed with infertility need a psychotherapy that not only can reduce these symptoms, but can also be private and convenient. The current study translated an empirically tested in-person mind/body protocol into an internet-based intervention to suit the needs of this population. Seventy-one women were randomly assigned to the intervention or a wait-list control. At the close of the study, only three participants had completed the intervention. At mid-assessment, relative to the wait-list group, the intervention group had a lower level of depressive symptoms and, for those with elevated anxiety symptoms at baseline, a lower level of anxiety symptoms. The findings suggest that even a partially completed internet-based intervention can reduce the anxiety and depressive symptoms of women with a diagnosis of infertility.

Thesis advisor: Michael Cermak / Invasive invertebrates are common in the United States and their effects on local ecosystems can have detrimental consequences extending beyond biological processes to economics and other social arenas. Over anthropogenic time, human value systems were woven into the perspectives of nature to form a social constructionist perspective on the natural world. We strive toward a certain closeness with nature, and, in effect, attempt to understand it. Through comparison of the discussion of invasive species in online public media and scientific journal articles, this paper examines how nature is socially constructed in different contexts. The study demonstrated that journalists used anthropomorphism 70% more often than researchers, and wrote about social value categories, including economics, aesthetics, and ecological effects 85% more often than scientists, on average. In general, online news journalists used language that was considered negative or suggestive 78% more often than scientists. Environmental issues do not occur in a bubble, so it is imperative to realize that the interactions between all living things, including humans, drive both biological and sociological processes. These findings can help guide how we understand media production about invasive species. / Thesis (BS) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: College Honors Program. / Discipline: Sociology.

Involving parents in school-based learning can be difficult for both schools and parents, and more innovative approaches to involving parents are needed. Internet-based programs have the potential to address barriers to parent participation, but more research is needed to determine the effectiveness and social validity of such programs. This study explored the social validity of WhyTry for Parents, an internet-based program for parents of students enrolled in WhyTry, a school-based social and emotional learning program for students in grades K through 12. Eleven elementary, middle, and high schools across the United States participated in the study by inviting parents of WhyTry students to use the WhyTry for Parents curriculum. Whether or not parents utilized the curriculum, they were invited to take a survey about the importance they placed on the program's goals, procedures, and effects, and to give reasons for their level of participation in the program. A total of 836 parents were invited to take part in the study, and 14 parents made up the final sample. Coordinators (n = 10) of the WhyTry program at each school were invited to participate in interviews focused on their perspectives of parent participation rates and the WhyTry for Parents program. Regardless of whether parents utilized the curriculum, they found a high degree of social validity in WhyTry for Parents; however, they suggested that the curriculum be simplified and made more accessible. WhyTry coordinators suggested that low participation rates were due to parent resistance, and that helping parents to understand WhyTry might help overcome this resistance. Parents and coordinators suggested that the curriculum be available by app to improve accessibility. Future research should explore the social validity of WhyTry for Parents from the perspective of educators, who implement the program at the school level. Studying the costs associated with internet-based parent programs for both schools and parents may also be prudent.

In some classrooms, teaching methods have evolved little over the years. Enrolments in subjects like science have progressively declined and the persistent use of traditional teaching methods has often been held responsible for this. In less than a decade, the Internet has emerged as a potential tool to vary classroom routines, however, its use in high school science classrooms is still in its infancy. In this study, Getsmart, a website was developed and implemented in junior science and senior physics classrooms in a blended learning environment in a Queensland State High School. The study had three main objectives amongst others. The first aim was to study the impact of such an environment on students' perceptions. Secondly, the impact of such an environment on students' attitudes towards physics and junior science was studied. Finally, the research sought to investigate the effect of such an environment on their learning outcomes. Getsmart was developed on the principles of cognitive apprenticeship teaching model (Collins, Brown, & Newman, 1989). During the research phase, the website was accessed by students once a week during class time. They also had the option to login in their own time at school (e.g., morning tea, lunchtime, before and after school) and at home. The research was conducted as a case study over two years and during this time, 406 students in junior science and physics participated. Students' perceptions of their learning environment were ascertained through quantitative and qualitative methods. Quantitative data were collected by using a modified version of the Web-based Learning Environment Instrument (WEBLEI) (Chang & Fisher, 2003). / Qualitative data on student's attitudes were gathered through emails and Written surveys. An Attitude to Science survey was developed to determine students' attitudes towards their subjects. Qualitative data were also gathered through written surveys. The impact of such an environment on students' learning outcomes was determined through the analysis of their exam results achieved before and after experiencing web-based learning. Their results were also compared with the results of similar cohorts in previous years. Amongst other findings, it was found that the modified version of the WEBLEI was a valid and reliable instrument for use in junior science and physics classes. The study also established that students had positive perceptions of a blended web-based learning environment and that such an approach had a positive influence on students' attitudes towards their subjects. The study also found that web-based learning improved their performance across various performance domains of junior science and senior physics assessments.

<p>This paper analyzes the two test forms used by TOEFL: IBT and PBT. The analysiswill focus on the reading comprehension section, its design features, content, andscoring results. The aim is to assess the reliability of the two test forms as well as toidentify factors influencing candidate performance in the reading comprehension test.Three factors are identified: test setting, test difficulty and scoring methods and results.The latter two will be focused on because test difficulty consistency directly decides thetest result consistency. And as the goal of the candidate is to achieve as high a score aspossible, and success is measured in terms of numbers, score reliability is a primaryconcern for both candidate and examining body alike.</p>

Encryption Key Search is a compute-intensive operation that consists of a brute-force search of a particular key in a given key space. Sequential execution time for a 56-bit encryption key search is approximately 200,000 years and therefore it is ideal to execute such operation in a grid environment. ALiCE (Adaptive and scaLable internet-based Computing Engine) is a grid middleware that offers a portable software technology for developing and deploying grid applications and systems. This paper discusses the development of the Encryption Key Search application on ALiCE and also presents the performance evaluation of ALiCE using this application. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

This dissertation is devoted to a perspective from which IT-based information systems are conceived as information technological artefacts intended for business action and communication. The perspective has been made concrete through the concept of information systems actability, which is the main concept under scrutiny. The research contributions of the dissertation exist at various levels of abstration. First of all, the dissertation contributes to the understanding of information systems from a social action perspective. Based on identified weaknesses in contemporary conceptualizations of information systems, the concept of information systems actability is developed. This contribution consists of a reconciliation of various views on information system usage quality with its roots in a linguistic tradition including elements from organizational semiotics and the language/action perspective. At a more concrete level, this understanding, and the concept as such, have consequences for the development and evaluation of information systems. Such consequences have been the foundation for a proposed information systems design method, which thus constitutes a further contribution. Another contribution is the outlining of an information systems actability. As a further means of obtaining empirical experience of working with this concept, a descriptive analytic framework has been developed, which constitutes yet another contribution. These three operationalizations, the design method, the evaluation method and the analytic framework, have been developed and empirically grounded through a qualitative case study appproach involving four cases of information systems requirements specification, four evaluations of existing information systems, and two cases of description and characterization of information systems related phenomena from the perspective of actability. The latter two cases imply how further contributions at an even more concrete level, constituted by characterizations of Internet-based information systems and the local electronic marketplace, seen in the light of information systems actability.

Små reklambyråer har, i skuggan av den ekonomiska krisen, fått konkurrens om sina kunder av större reklambyråer och tryckerier. En lösning kan vara att skapa relationer till företag utanför närområdet. Internetbaserade verktyg för distanskommunikation skulle i sådana fall kunna erbjuda ett bra komplement till det fysiska mötet. Distanskommunikation är effektivt eftersom det bland annat ger minskad tidsåtgång för möten och minskade resekostnader. Denna typ av kommunikation kan dock innebära större risk för missförstånd, och färre tillfällen att bygga en personlig relation till kunden. Användningen av internetbaserade verktyg för att kommunicera på distans förväntas dock bli allt vanligare i framtiden, i takt med att utbudet av kommunikationsverktyg ökar. Huvudmålet med denna studie har därför varit att undersöka förutsättningarna för distanskommunikation mellan reklambyrå och kund. Syftet har varit att ta reda på hur för- och nackdelar med distanskommunikation värderas av respektive parter, samt vilket kommunikationssätt som de anser lämpar sig bäst vid olika arbetssteg. Detta undersöktes genom enkätundersökning till utvalda företag samt intervjuer med fyra mindre reklambyråer i Dalarna. Studiens resultat, visade tydligt att det personliga mötet är mycket viktigt, och att det inte kan ersättas av någon form av distanskommunikation. Däremot ansåg både företag och reklambyråer att verktyg för distanskommunikation kan användas vid arbetsmöten. / Small advertising agencies have in recent years lost clients due to competition from larger agencies. A solution could be to create a relationship to clients outside the nearby area, Internet based communication tools might here be a good complement to physical meetings. Telecommunication is effective because it is less time consuming and it decreases travel costs. It could however result in misunderstandings and less opportunities to develop a close relationship with the client. The use of internet based communication tools is expected to increase in the future, along with the development of telecommunication tools. The aim of this study has been to examine the possibilities for small agencies to use telecommunication with their clients. Our purpose has been to determine the effects of telecommunication for both agencies and clients. The study also aims to recommend tools for each production step in the creative process. Results of this study clearly indicates that the personal meeting is very important, and it can not be substituted with telecommunication. Both agencies and clients considered telecommunication as an option for work meetings.

The use of unproctored internet-based testing for employee selection is widespread. Although this mode of testing has advantages over onsite testing, researchers and practitioners continue to be concerned about potential malfeasance (e.g., cheating and response distortion) under high-stakes conditions. Therefore, the primary objective of the present study was to investigate potential malfeasance effects on the scores of an unproctored internet-based cognitive ability, and a personality test. This was accomplished by implementing a within-subjects design in which test takers first completed the tests as job applicants (high-stakes) or incumbents (low-stakes) then as research participants (low-stakes). The pattern of cognitive ability test score differences was more consonant with a psychometric practice effect than a malfeasance explanation. Thus, the results suggest that, if present, there was no evidence to indicate that wide- scale or systematic malfeasance unduly affected the test scores. This may have been due to the speeded nature of the test, which was used to preempt the potential for widespread cheating. Additionally, the unproctored personality administration resulted in similar mean shifts and similar proportions of test takers being suspected of distorting their responses as that reported in the extant literature for proctored tests. In their totality, these results suggest that an unproctored internet-based administration does not uniquely threaten personality measures in terms of elevated levels of response distortion compared to proctored measures.