We propose a novel real-time joint-Transform correlation (JTC) technique for optical pattern recognition. To replace the film recording aspect of performing optical correlation, conventional real-time joint-Transform correlation (JTC) optical systems make use of a spatial light modulator (SLM) located in the Fourier plane to record the interference intensity to achieve real-time processing. However, the use of a SLM in the Fourier plane, is a major drawback in these systems since SLMs are limited in resolution, phase uniformity and contrast ratio. Thus, they are not desirable for robust applications. In this thesis, we developed a hybrid (optical/electronic) processing technique to achieve real-time joint-Transform correlation (JTC). The technique employs acousto-optic heterodyning scanning. The proposed real-time JTC system does not require a SLM in the Fourier plane as in conventional real-time JTC systems. This departure from the conventional scheme is extremely important, as the proposed approach does not depend on SLM issues. We have developed the theory of the technique and substantiated it with optical experimental as well as computer simulation results. / Master of Science

This thesis is the study of experiences of a group of mainstream secondary pupils identified as having additional support needs within the terms of the Education (Additional Support For Learning ) (Scotland) Act (2004). This means that they have been categorised as having entitlements to whatever support they require to ensure that they can attain good educational outcomes. Prior to the 2004 legislation, practices were based on categorisation of such pupils into separate, often segregated, provision which reflected assumptions about their restricted potential. The 2004 legislation is part of a policy agenda concerned with social justice and equity of educational provision for all pupils. It requires that all barriers to learning are removed for each individual pupil. Such a policy shift, and the move towards an inclusive person-centred approach, seem consistent with Scottish education as it is widely regarded, that is, with a strong tradition of, and a commitment to, egalitarianism. However, there is research which also suggests that Scottish education has been, and continues to be, meritocratic and with a strong focus on academic attainment, and that the belief in the tradition of egalitarianism, which is now regarded as a myth, can still influence perception and policy. It has also been argued that the neo-liberal reforms of the public services since the 1980s have narrowed teachers‟ work, led to a focus on its measurable aspects and led to less time being available for other areas of work, including supporting non-academic learning and attainment. In this thesis I discuss how the influence of the „myth‟, a tradition of meritocracy, and a performativity focus on attainment, shape teachers understandings and practices as they are required to reconcile them with a concurrent policy agenda which has a focus on social inclusion and equity of educational opportunity. To enable the voices of pupils and their teachers to be heard, I use semi-structured interviews and an interpretivist approach to study the experiences and attitudes of 8 teachers and 17 pupils in 2 comprehensive schools in a Scottish local authority. Through doing this I identify factors which might prevent teachers from developing inclusive approaches and support for learning practices which are helpful and acceptable to pupils. I also consider any apparent tensions between a person-centred inclusive policy agenda and a tradition of meritocracy. I found that pupils were generally positive about their experience of learning and identified practices they thought would be both helpful and acceptable to them: peer working; teachers mediating learning through discussion/questioning; work which was interesting to them and/or relevant to life beyond school. There was also a degree of consensus that difficulties associated with the reading/writing tasks they were required to do could be barriers to fully accessing the curriculum. The study also found that the teachers interviewed showed a commitment to provide support to pupils with additional support needs and that they provided a range of in-class arrangements to achieve this. However, they seemed also to be influenced by academic traditions/assumptions and felt that what they were able to do was limited by the agenda created by national examination requirements and it was that which drove the curriculum. The study concludes that the practices and power relations in schools are influenced by the conservative thinking which characterises Scottish education, that these practices and power relations can be oppressive and disempowering to teachers and pupils and that pupils are still labelled, sometimes segregated and treated differently from their peers. It also emerged that while there are no real opportunities for pupils to express their views and challenge the identities ascribed to them, when they are given that opportunity they can have well formed views about their education and what changes to existing practice would better help them to improve their attainment and develop useful skills. Not all of the pupils did express such views, and this may link to effect of the power relations in schools. Of those who did express views about what they would like to see change, the changes they identified seem to be generally possible within the pedagogical and curriculum framework changes as suggested in Curriculum for Excellence documents. However, given the findings of this study about power relations and the persistence of academic traditions and assumptions, it is relevant to note that these changes in themselves will require alterations to existing in-school power relations, working arrangements and conceptualisations of what constitutes educational success and how it is measured.

No description available.

The present study purposes to determine whether or not teacher-pupil relationships bring about improvement in the social adjustment of homemaking students in a small rural high school. It further purposes to determine the nature and extent of any measurable improvement.

Eating habits of junior and senior school students Abstract AJ The Work summarizes the result of the testing of 204 pupils at two primary schools in Prague and Brno at both levels - junior and senior. 128 girls and 76 boys were tested. The junior level was represented by pupils attending 4th and 5th year of the school (39% of all pupils) and the second level was represented by 124 pupils (61% of the sample) The aim of the study was to find out the nutrition habits of pupils and its development during the school attendance. The results of my survey show us some positives in eating habits and lifestyle. Girls from both, Prague and Brno, are most often eating 5 times a day, at the junior level of the primary school. Boys from Brno also eat 5 times a day, the boys from Prague indicate eating 4 times a day. Most children are breakfasting, children at the junior level more than the children at the senior level. For breakfast they eat mostly cereals or bagel, almost everyone's having a snack and usually wears a paneled savory pastries from home. Children go to lunch in the school canteen, eat dairy products. They also daily, two to four times, consume fruits and vegetables and eat fish. The children do most often drink water, and play some sport or training. On the other hand, the results point to some negatives...

The aim of my thesis Dietary habits of students of 1st and 2nd grade elementary school was to determine:  What factors influence the eating habits of students. Examined factors were mainly students sex, age and location of residence.  Whether the menu in school canteens reflects recommendations for compilation of the menu and consumption basket, and how large percentage of children eat in the cafeteria  what foods offers the school buffet to children and what do the kids in the cafeteria frequently buy; whether the sortiment of the school buffet influences the students eating and to what extent. The Work was made using questionnaires distributed among 330 pupils at three primary schools in Prague, Brno and Sedlcany at both levels - junior and senior. On individual schools there were further analyzed the menus of school canteens in the period in which the questionnaires were distributed in schools. The buffet assortment was sent and communicated with leaders of school canteens. A study shows that children's eating habits are influenced by monitored factors mainly by gender, age, location of residence and dining options represented by cafeterias and school lunches offers. All three surveyed schools offer their pupils a choice of several lunches, in one case, with the additional option of diets. From three...

In Mainland China, a national education policy called ‘Learning in Regular Classrooms’ (LRC) has been implemented for over 25 years to support the inclusion of disabled children in regular schools. Although the LRC policy framework has been gradually adapted in response to the global movement for inclusive education, little is known about what is happening in classrooms and schools. In particular, disabled children’s views and experiences of their school lives remain unknown. Drawing on perspectives from inclusive education, pupil voice, disability studies and childhood studies, this research is driven by a theoretical stance that positions disabled children as active and competent social actors whose voices should be valued and heard. This exploratory inquiry adopted an ethnographic approach. I conducted the fieldwork in 4 state primary schools in Shanghai, with 11 disabled children (designated as LRC pupils and labelled as having Learning Difficulties), 10 class teachers and 3 resource teachers. The Framework for Participation (Florian & Black-Hawkins, 2011) was used to inform data collection and analysis. Multiple methods were utilised including participant observation, interviews and participatory activities. Rich, in-depth and contextual data were collected and thematically analysed. This research highlights several key findings. First, the necessity of listening to pupil voice is reaffirmed. Children’s views of schooling revealed hidden knowledge that had been unknown to teachers. The child participants were sensitive, observant and reflective, exercising their agency to negotiate the circumstances in which they were living. They offered informative comments on school practice and shared aspirations for improvement. Second, it was found that the meaning of inclusive education failed to be addressed in everyday schooling process, although there had been rhetorical change in LRC policy, and its implementation helped to secure disabled children’s access to regular schools. Disabled children were still facing forms of marginalisation and exclusion, such as limited participation in decision-making, restricted opportunities to access extra-curricular activities and spaces, lack of support for academic learning, and negative experiences of bullying from peers. The existing special educational provision such as the ‘resource classroom’ was found to interrupt children’s sense of togetherness and generate negative labelling effects for them. Third, facilitators of and barriers to disabled children’s learning and participation were identified. The exclusionary process affecting disabled children was strongly fortified by the introduction of special educational thinking and practice, which not only marked out these children as incompetent and in need of protection, but also underrated the existing inclusive practice in regular classrooms. The process was further reinforced by the charitable model of disability in Confucian society and the prevailing competitive and performative school culture. Nevertheless, teachers could play important roles in negotiating all pupils’ learning and participation. Among the insights gained into teachers’ practice, a connection between teachers’ attentiveness to children’s worlds and their demonstration of inclusive practice was noticed, on the basis of which I discussed the implications of pupil voice for developing inclusive practice, and explored a working model for moving towards inclusive education in China with pupil voice as a core starting point. In China, there is still a long way to go before realising all children’s learning and participation. This research calls for a paradigm shift within the country to encourage new ways of thinking and researching, in which children must be seen as essential partners in the process of transforming and imagining possibilities for inclusive education.

The purpose of this research is to probe into the differences of pupil-teacher interaction behaviors between award teachers and general teachers, and to examine the effect of the teaching behavior towards the student¡¦s science knowledge, creativity and problem solving abilities. The objectives of this research are 1) To compare the differences between pupil-teacher interactions in teachers with experiences in different science exhibition competitions, 2) To compare students with various levels of awareness towards the behavior of teachers who have experiences in different science exhibition competitions, 3) To compare the levels of science knowledge in students taught by teachers who have experiences in different science exhibition competitions, 4) To compare the differences of students¡¦ creativity taught by teachers who have experiences in different science exhibition competitions, and 5) To compare the difference in students¡¦ problem solving. The samples selected in this research included 6 teachers chosen from Grade 5 Level in schools in the suburbs of Kaohsiung City. Three of these teachers, referred to as Award teachers, had participated in the National Science Competition in Taiwan on multiple occasions and won at least 3 times each. The remaining 3 teachers, referred to as General teachers, had never participated in this competition. Subjects in this research were a total of 205 students of the selected teachers. The tools used in this research, with regard to the teachers, were the processes of class observation and interview using the Flanders pupil-teacher interaction analysis system and process triangulation using the Student Inspection Creativity Fostering Teacher Index. For analysis of the students, we collected the students¡¦ results and tested them using a Creativity Thinking Test and Creative Problem Solving-Form B, and analyzed the data by using a t-test, a one-way ANOVA and a one-way MANOVA. The results indicated that: 1.The award teachers are better than the general teachers in regard to the quality of pupil-teacher interactions. The award teachers encouraged the asking of questions and students¡¦ active participation more than general teachers did. 2.The teaching style of the award teachers is generally better than that of the general teacher. Award teachers tend to excel in their question strategy, class management and cooperative learning skills. They challenge their students and offer diverse stimulation, while harnessing the students¡¦ spirit towards science. 3.The students from the award teachers¡¦ class generally agree that the award teachers¡¦ performance is better than that of the general teachers. The students in the award teachers¡¦ class tend to achieve more than those under general teachers in independent learning, cooperative learning, basic knowledge, delay judgment, flexible thinking, students¡¦ self evaluation, students¡¦ questions, learning opportunity and setback experience. 4.The level of creativity of students in the award teachers¡¦ class is generally higher than that of the students in general teachers¡¦ class. The students in the award teachers¡¦ class generally have higher levels of fluency, flexibility and originality of verbal and figurative creativity than those in general teachers¡¦ class. 5.The students in the award teacher¡¦s class are better than those in the general teachers¡¦ class in the abilities of problem observation, problem analysis and problem solving.

published_or_final_version / Medical Sciences / Master / Master of Medical Sciences

Changes in the teacher's direction of a set of standardized class lessons were simulated by a single teacher who had been trained so that he was able to alter his frequency of use of specific teaching moves while holding constant his use of other kinds of moves. The effects of these predetermined changes in teaching behaviour during the course of the lessons were measured in terms of the level of retention and comprehension of 'target pupils' of the concepts and principles which the lessons were designed to teach. Target pupils were defined, and selected to act as experimental subjects, on the basis of their pre-experimental performance on three tests: a test of prerequisite skills, a test of prior knowledge of the topic, and the IPAT Culture Fair non-verbal intelligence test. Each experimental lesson treatment was reproduced and its effects on retention measured in at least three different classrooms. This thesis describes the results of a coordinated series of nine experiments, the last six of which were designed to measure the effects on student retention of predetermined changes in the frequency of use of specific classes of teaching moves during the oral lesson tactic. The results of these experiments indicated that student retention following the highly effective, standard lesson, treatments was dependent in part upon the number of primary questions asked (relative to the number of informing moves used), the number of reaction moves provided following pupil answers, the level of response control provided by primary questions, the level of response control provided by secondary questions, and the number of secondary response opportunities provided by the teacher (relative to the number of terminal informing moves employed). The experimental procedures employed during the investigations differed from those used during most previous studies of teaching behaviour in a number of ways. The studies made use of a single teacher specially trained to simulate the lesson behaviours typically employed by teachers and to manipulate these behaviours in predetermined ways. They made use of a lesson recording and lesson analysis procedure which enabled the characteristics of each lesson treatment to be described and reported. They made use of procedures which permitted the same lesson content to be reproduced in each experimental lesson treatment and they made use of two 'standard lesson' treatments from which all experimental treatments were derived and against which all lesson treatments could be evaluated. The studies specified in advance the population of target pupils for whom the standard lessons were designed and measured treatment effects in terms of the level of retention achieved by samples from this target population. They also provided for the replication, in several different classrooms, of each experimental lesson treatment and made use of the within replications variance, rather than the within subjects variance, as the error term in evaluating the reliability of obtained treatment effects.