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ABSTRACT In educational psychology and first language writing, many studies have established a link between self-regulation, key motivational factors associated with self-regulation, and academic achievement, but only a handful of research has examined this relationship in the context of L2 first-year writing. Using a sample of 170 non-native English speakers enrolled in different sections of two levels of first-year writing courses at an American university in Japan, the present study tested a hypothesized model of L2 first-year writing achievement using Structural Equation modeling. The model examined the impact of SRL strategy use, Academic Writing Self-Efficacy, Goal Orientation, Writing Attitude—key motivational factors associated with self-regulated learning—and general English proficiency, as measured by TOEFL iBT, on the writing achievement of students’ final essays, measured by their essay grades. The impact of gender on the hypothesized model of writing achievement was also investigated by conducting two separate Structural Equation modeling analyses on the hypothesized model for males and females. The study also examined the impact of SRL Strategy Use and Academic Writing Self-Efficacy on four levels of Writing Achievement, as well as the impact of four levels of Writing Experience on SRL Strategy Use and Academic Writing Self-Efficacy. The results of the study indicated that the hypothesized model had adequate fit to the data, and was, therefore, interpreted as being representative of the sample population examined in the current study. Statistically significant relationships in the model were found among the following variables: (a) English Proficiency and Essay Grade, (b) Academic Writing Self-Efficacy and Essay Grade, (c) Writing Attitude and Academic Writing Self-Efficacy, (d) Mastery Goal Orientation and SRL Strategy Use. These results corroborate findings in first-language and second-language writing research, which have reported statistically significant positive relationships among these variables, and lend support to the notion emphasized in socio-cognitive models of SRL that self-efficacy is a strong predictor of writing achievement. However, statistically significant relationships were not found among: (a) SRL Strategy Use and Essay Grade, (b) Writing Attitude and SRL Strategy Use, (c) Academic Writing Self-Efficacy and SRL Strategy Use, (d) Academic Writing Self-Efficacy and Goal Orientation. Possible explanations for the lack of statistically significant findings among the relationships between SRL and the other variables were attributed to the small sample size, and methods used to assess the use of SRL strategies. While the importance that the participants’ attribute to earning credits for the courses, as opposed to mastering writing skills, was considered a reason for the lack of a statistically significant relationship between Academic Writing Self-Efficacy and Goal Orientation. The examination of the influence of Gender on the hypothesized model of writing achievement indicated that the model for females had more adequate fit to the data than the model for males, suggesting that the model was more representative of the female participants. Differences in the models were found in the relationships between English Proficiency and SRL Strategy Use and the relationship between Academic Writing Self-Efficacy and Essay Grade. The results were in line with previous findings that have reported that female students use more SRL strategies and hold higher self-efficacy beliefs than male students. With regards to the influence of SRL Strategy Use and Academic Writing Self Efficacy on levels of Writing Achievement that ranged from Poor to Excellent, statistically significant differences were only found between the mean scores of the Poor and Excellent groups with regards to Writing Self-Efficacy. SRL Strategy Use did not exert a statistically significant difference on the mean scores of the groups. The results were in line with previous findings that reported the predictive influence of self-efficacy on writing achievement, but the results did not corroborate previous findings in relation to the predictive strength of SRL Strategy Use. The methodology used to assess the use of SRL strategies in the present study was considered a possible explanation for the lack of statistically significant results. In relation to the influence of Writing Experience on SRL Strategy Use and Academic Writing Self-Efficacy, the results also yielded non-significant differences between four groups with different levels of Writing Experience and SRL Strategy Use. This result was attributed to the broad nature of the method used to assess Writing Experience in the current study. Statistically significant differences were found between Academic Writing Self-Efficacy and Writing Experience, and the results supported previous findings in first language writing research, which have shown that learners with less experience often report higher levels of efficacy due to perhaps to overestimation of their skills. Overall, in the current study SRL did not predict the participants’ essay grades, and did not mediate the influence of other variables on essay grade. However, Academic Writing Self-Efficacy emerged as a powerful predictor of Essay Grades, and writing achievement. Therefore, while the current study supported social cognitive views about the predictive nature of self-efficacy on writing achievement, it did not corroborate theoretical assumptions about the relationship between the use of SRL strategies and writing achievement. / Teaching & Learning

This study examined how learners construct textbase and situation model knowledge in hypertext computer-based learning environments (CBLEs) and documented the influence of specific self-regulated learning (SRL) tactics, prior knowledge, and characteristics of the learner on posttest knowledge scores from exposure to a hypertext. A sample of 160 undergraduate education majors completed measures of prior knowledge, goal orientation, intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy to self-regulate learning, and a demographic survey. They were trained in the use of nStudy, a learning environment designed to facilitate self-regulated learning from web-based media including hypertext and to trace learners' actions while they learned online. Learners completed a 20-minute study session learning about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and a posttest to assess changes in knowledge scores. Results indicate that employment of individual SRL tactics including tendency to highlight was found to be associated with increased posttest knowledge scores across learners. Goal orientation and prior knowledge also significantly predicted posttest knowledge scores in regression models. These findings can be used to inform the design and use of hypertext in order to individualize computer-based instruction and maximize knowledge acquisition for students, based upon their individual characteristics. / Educational Psychology

In this case study, I investigate the development of first-year Japanese students’ self-regulated learning skills and the role of language learning advising in their transition to college. A great deal of research on the first-year experience has focused on a sense of belonging and the quality of friendships, but few researchers have investigated how learning habits influence first-year students’ successful adjustment to college life. Meanwhile, research on language learning advising has largely focused on learner strategies, a framework that has been met with increasing criticism (e.g., Dörnyei, 2005). Accordingly, for this study I adopt Zimmerman’s self-regulated learning (SRL) framework to examine the participants’ ability to transition to independent learning during their first year at a junior college in Japan. Furthermore, I aim to investigate the relation between SRL and foreign language learning and explore how advising in language learning can help learners to self-regulate their learning. The participants are 15 first-year students enrolled in a women’s junior college in Japan. The data were collected by conducting interviews, recording advising sessions, and obtaining documents. A series of four semi-structured interviews were conducted with each participant over the course of eight months in their first year. Advising sessions with seven participants were also recorded. Each advising session lasted for half an hour and the number of advising sessions varied from one to eight times depending on the participant. Documents related to the college and materials relevant to the participants’ self-study were also collected. In addition, key administrators and faculty members were interviewed. The data were analyzed using three coding methods in two cycles: Eclectic Coding, Hypothesis Coding, and Axial Coding (Saldaña, 2013). Following this analysis, single-case and cross-case analyses were conducted (Yin, 2014). The findings suggest that there was a great variance in the level of SRL skill development among the participants. Some learners had already developed some SRL skills prior to entering college and built on their skills in their first year in college. Others experimented with strategies and eventually developed skills based on their mistakes. However, there were many participants who were able to observe and emulate their peers’ learning skills, but failed to utilize these skills independently in other contexts. These behaviors were observed more among the lower proficiency learners. It was also shown that the students who utilized effective SRL skills were good at managing their language studies. Several factors affected their SRL skill development. Emerging demands due to novel academic assignments, new living environments, and additional social obligations proved particularly challenging. Students with less developed self-regulated skills found themselves in a riskier position because in many cases it was difficult for them to understand the demands that new tasks presented. Consequently, they tended to take on more tasks beyond their abilities. The cases of two participants who visited the advisor repeatedly suggested that giving advice only on language learning strategies was insufficient, and pointed to the need for more SRL training. The rich description of the multiple cases in this study contributes to our understanding of the many challenges that students face in their transition to college, and the various strategies, some successful and some less so, that they use in their attempts to address these challenges. This study also provides insight into the processes of SRL development in the Japanese context. In particular, this study elucidates the difficulties that lower proficiency students have in adjusting to college life and developing SRL skills. The importance of understanding the context is re-emphasized and more flexibility on the part of advisors is recommended in order to support the varying degrees of preparedness for self-regulated learning with which first year students come to college. / Teaching & Learning

Inspired by the roles of hair cells in nature, this study aims to develop and characterize two new sets of novel flow sensors. One set of sensors developed and studied in this work are flow sensors fabricated using carbon nanomaterials. These sensors are made by embedding carbon nanotubes (CNT) and carbon nanohorns (CNH) into a polymeric substrate and then tested by flowing a conductive aqueous solution over the surface of the exposed CNT and CNH. In response, a flow-dependent voltage is generated. The surface coverage and the electrical relationship between the sensor and water is investigated and the voltage measurements of sensors with different levels of resistance were tested in varying fluid velocities. In response to these fluid velocities, the least resistive sensor showed small, but detectable changes in voltages, while higher resistance sensors showed less response. In addition, plasma treatment of the carbon nanomaterial/PDMS films were conducted in order to render the PDMS on the surface hydrophilic and in turn to pull more fluid towards the carbon material. This showed to improve the sensitivity of the flow sensors. This work also builds on previous research by investigating the flow dependent electrical response of a "skin"-encapsulated artificial hair cell in an aqueous flow. An artificial cell membrane is housed in a flexible polyurethane substrate and serves as the transduction element for the artificial hair cell. Flow experiments are conducted by placing the bio-inspired sensor in a flow chamber and subjecting it to pulse-like flows. This study demonstrates that the encapsulated artificial hair cell flow sensor is capable of sensing changes in flow through a mechanoelectrical response and that its sensing capabilities may be altered by varying its surface morphology. Furthermore, the sensor's response and dynamics as a function of its surface morphology and structural properties are investigated through synchronized motion tracking of the hair with a laser vibrometer and current measurements across the artificial cell membrane. / Master of Science

Trypanosoma brucei species are vector-borne protozoan parasites that cause Human African typanosomiasis (HAT) and nagana in cattle. In humans, the diseases caused by these parasites are fatal if left untreated. Treatments for these diseases are complicated because the approved drugs for treatment are ineffective against the parasites and have many toxic side effects associated with their use. There is a clear need to identify new therapeutics that are less toxic and more effective against T. brucei. Our approach for identifying new therapies is to identify novel targets in the parasite that can be modulated by small molecules. The mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) pathway is a three-tiered signaling cascade that regulates cell responses to stimuli and are involved in essential processes. MAPKs can regulate differentiation, virulence, apoptosis, cell cycle and gene expression, which makes MAPKs interesting drug targets in T. brucei. The extracellular-signal regulated kinase 8 homolog in T. brucei (TbERK8) is essential for survival in bloodstream form T. brucei. The work in this dissertation involves characterizing this T. brucei MAPK to better understand its biological function and identify small molecules that can inhibit its activity to kill the parasite. Here, we report that TbERK8 is an atypical MAPK kinase that is able to autophosphorylate and no upstream kinases that activate TbERK8 have been identified. We have demonstrated that TbERK8 is able to phosphorylate the proliferating cell nuclear antigen homolog in T. brucei (TbPCNA). This is in contrast to the reported function the human ERK8 and PCNA homologs that form a stable complex in normal breast cells which does not result in PCNA phosphorylation. We also report here that TbPCNA is phosphorylated on three residues localized to a unique insertion loop by TbERK8. TbPCNA is tightly regulated in the parasites such that either upregulating or downregulating its expression arrests T. brucei proliferation. Although, this mechanism of phosphorylation is unique to TbPCNA, the role that such phosphorylation has in regulating TbPCNA is not known. Finally, we have identified small molecules that can selectively inhibit either TbERK8 or HsERK8, demonstrating that TbERK8 can be selectively inhibited to kill the parasite. The unique properties of TbERK8 can be exploited by small molecules that can be developed into new parasite-specific therapies that kill T. brucei with fewer side effects to the patients. / Ph. D.

In the Mediterranean area water is a scarce natural resource and periods of drought are frequent. It is then important to increase water use efficiency of irrigated crops. In order to achieve this, one promising option is regulated deficit irrigation (RDI). RDI consists in reducing water application during stages of crop development when yield and fruit quality have low sensitivity to water stress. Full irrigation is provided during the rest of the season to maintain production and fruit quality at adequate levels (Behboudian and Mills, 1997). In citrus, flowering and fruit set are sensitive periods to water restrictions, because water stress during this period increases fruit drop (Ginestar and Castel 1996). The more appropriate phenological period for applying water restrictions seems to be the summer period providing that water applications returned at full dosage sufficiently before harvest in order to allow for compensation in fruit growth (Cohen and Goell 1988). Previous work by González-Altozano and Castel (1999) showed the feasibility of applying RDI in 'Clementina de Nules' and identified threshold values of plant water stress that allowed water savings of about 10-20% without any detrimental effect on yield or fruit size. It would be desirable now to study the extrapolation of these results to commercial orchards of citrus and assess the use of RDI in different citrus cultivars. Two RDI strategies (RDI-1, irrigated at 50% of crop evapotranspiration (ETc) during summer and; RDI-2, irrigated at 35% ETc during the same period to RDI-1) will be compared with a control treatment irrigated at full requirements. As the level of water stress reached by trees is the important factor when RDI strategies are applied, the study of accurate water stress indicators for citrus is also needed. Thus, during the period of water restrictions the use of sap flow and canopy temperature measurements, obtained by thermal imaging or by means of fixed infrared thermometer sensors, will be assessed and compared to classical methods like stem water potential and stomatal conductance. / Ballester Lurbe, C. (2013). Regulated deficit irrigation in citrus: agronomic response and water stress indicators [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/28582 / Premios Extraordinarios de tesis doctorales

The main research question was What are the relationships between parenting style, self-regulated learning (SRL) and the academic achievement of selected (upper) primary school students in Ethiopia? The following specific research questions were formulated: • What are the views of the students on the parenting styles, and on parental acceptance and control, the cognitive strategies they use, and their self-regulated learning? • What is the relationship between parenting style and SRL? • What is the relationship between parenting style and academic achievement? • What is the relationship between SRL and academic achievement? • Does SRL moderate the relationship between parenting style and academic achievement? In this study a correlational design was used, but it was also exploratory and descriptive. Data were collected by means of a self-report questionnaire, while the academic achievements of the students were derived from official records. The questionnaire was completed by 477 randomly selected students from two classes in each of five schools in Hawasa, Ethiopia. The analysis of the data was done by means of descriptive, correlation, and ANOVA tests. The major findings included the following: Most of the children experienced acceptance by their parents, in particular from their female parents/guardians. The best levels of acceptance were, for example, “When I get a poor grade at school, my parents encourage me to try harder”, or “I can count on my parents to help me if I have some kind of a problem”, and “My parents keep pushing me to do my best in whatever I do”. However, it was found that the parents seldom spent time merely talking to their children. The female parents/guardians seemed to control their children more than the male parents/guardians, and were more involved with their children. The children, though, also believed that their parents/guardians did not really know how they spent their leisure time. More often the children perceived their parents as being neglectful. Regarding their cognitive strategies, the students particularly made use of memorization. The cognitive strategies of the children whose parents were authoritative were significantly better than those of the other children. When a student’s self-regulation increased, his/her cognitive strategies also increased, and when the cognitive strategies improved, so did the average achievement. The parents’ parenting styles were also significantly related to their children’s achievement, and were moderated by cognitive strategies as co-variants. / Psychology of Education / D. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

How can one create online educational material that support and motivate students in guiding their own learning and make meaningful instructional decisions? One of the main focuses on designing e-learning is about creating an environment where learners can actively assume control and take responsibility for their own learning with little or no guidance from the tutors. This research aims to discover a new way to design learning that would cater to individual choices and preferences. The idea goes beyond learner-centred design; it is about learner control and direction. As an option, learners should be able to choose to be in the driver’s seat, to direct their own learning journey. As a starting point, this research explores the use of two educational theories - Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) and Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) theory as the underpinning instructional design for a Learner-Directed Model to support students’ online learning in both domain knowledge and meta knowledge in the subject of computer programming. One unit material from an online Introduction to Java Programming course has been redesigned based on the proposed Learner-Directed Model for the experimental design study. The study involved a total of 35 participants divided randomly into one Experimental Group and one Control Group. They were assigned to either a Learner-Directed Model (Experimental Group) or a linear model (Control Group). Pre/post tests, survey, follow-up interview as well as log file analysis were instruments used for assessing students’ domain knowledge, meta knowledge and their attitudes for their overall learning experience. Learning experience is further broken down into perceived ease of use and user satisfaction; system usability; learner experience; and perceived controllability. The results of the study have revealed that there is statistically significant difference between the survey results for the Experimental Group and the Control Group. The Experimental Group reported a higher level of overall learning experience and better attitudes in general. However, there was no statistically significant difference existing between the two groups on the domain and meta level knowledge improvement. Based on these results, I have proposed further research directions and put forward a number of recommendations and suggestions on learner-directed e-learning design.