Este trabalho descreve o formalismo das gramáticas livres de contexto adaptativas com verificação de aparência. Esses dispositivos gramaticais possuem como núcleo uma gramática livre de contexto subjacente e, como mecanismo de auto-modificação, uma ou várias funções adaptativas que determinam quais produções são aplicáveis em cada passo de uma derivação. A verificação de aparência se refere a uma forma especial de aplicar algumas produções, escolhidas pelo projetista da gramática, sem alterar a forma sentencial nessa aplicação. É provado que esse formalismo tem poder de máquina de Turing demonstrando, em forma construtiva, sua equivalência com quatro formalismos gramaticais baseados em gramáticas livres de contexto com mecanismos de controle, que tem esse poder. São desenvolvidos dois analisadorers para linguagens dependentes de contexto a partir de um desses outros quatro formalismos. Um deles, que é baseado em autômatos-pilha, opera em forma ascendente; o outro, baseado em autômatos finitos adaptativos, opera em forma descendente. / This work introduces and describes the formalism of the context-free adaptive grammar with appearance checking. Such gramatical devices have as its kernel a subjacent context-free grammar and, as mechanism of self-modification, one or several adaptive functions which determines the productions able to be applied at each step of a derivation. The appearance checking refers to a special way to apply some productions, choosen by the designer of the grammar, without changing the sentential form in this application. It is proved that this formalism has Turing Machine power, proving, by construction, its equivalence with four grammatical formalisms based on context-free grammars and with control mechanisms, with such power. Two parsers have been developed for context-dependent languages from one of these four formalisms. One of them is based on stack-automata, and operates in a bottom-up fashion.

O estudo teve como objetivo investigar, a partir de uma perspectiva de processo adaptativo em aprendizagem motora, o efeito da liberdade na escolha da resposta em diferentes momentos do processo de estabilização. A possibilidade de escolher a ordem dos componentes que compõem uma seqüência de movimentos (liberdade na escolha da resposta) tem se mostrado benéfica à aquisição de habilidades motoras. Contudo, o efeito da liberdade na escolha da resposta pode ser mediado pelo processo de estabilização funcional. Para investigar esta hipótese, 135 voluntários com média de idade de 22 (± 4,1) anos, de ambos os sexos, foram alocados a nove grupos experimentais, derivados da combinação de três condições experimentais (SEM, MED e ALT) e dois momentos da estabilização (antes e após a estabilização inicial do desempenho). A liberdade na escolha da resposta foi operacionalizada neste estudo como a possibilidade de escolher a ordem de uma seqüência de toques em sensores, em uma tarefa complexa de timing coincidente. Os resultados mostraram que não houve efeito da condição experimental do início da prática no desempenho na fase de adaptação, porém condições intermediárias de liberdade de escolha no final da prática não apresentaram queda na consistência frente à modificação da tarefa. Nesse sentido, a liberdade na escolha da resposta não trouxe prejuízos à adaptação / The objective of the study was to investigate, from an adaptive process perspective on motor learning, the effect of freedom in response choice in different moments of the stabilization process. The possibility of choosing the order of the components which generate a movement sequence (freedom in response choice) has been shown as beneficial to motor skills acquisition. However, the effect of freedom in response choice could be mediated by the process of functional stabilization. To investigate the hypothesis, a hundred thirty-five volunteers with mean age of 22 (± 4,1) years were assigned to nine experimental groups, derived from the combination of three experimental conditions (SEM, MED and ALT) and two moments of stabilization (before and after initial performance stabilization). Freedom in response choice was manipulated in this study as the possibility of choosing the order of tapping a sequence of sensors, in a complex anticipation timing task. Results showed there was no effect of experimental condition in the beginning of practice in performance in adaptation phase, although intermediate conditions of freddom of choice didnt show decrease in consistency following task modification. In this sense, freedom in response choice wasnt detrimental to adaptation

For many teenagers, learning to play guitar might only involve themselves and one or more of their peers interacting outside school. Music education research, however, does not reveal the spectrum of ways in which adolescent musicians interact to learn peer-to-peer. The purpose of this study was to examine this process: how adolescents verbally and nonverbally communicated to learn music together and without adult teachers. Two research questions in this study addressed how systems of meanings emerged in adolescent musicians’ processes of talk. The first was: How do participants learning jointly and independently communicate with a peer outside school? The second question was: How do participants assess independent learning along with their peer and joint learning outside school? The participants were six adolescent guitarists from El Paso, Texas. The final candidates included five males with Hispanic backgrounds and one Mexican-American adolescent male. Data were collected in three observations of the guitarists learning in pairs. Data were also collected in interviews, artifacts, and field notes. Discourse analysis involved review of recorded observations, field notes, and transcripts. Data were coded and parsed into categories. Multiple systems of meanings emerged in themes. Quoted material helped to explain the discourse themes. Three sets of findings included main dialectic discourse themes: together–individual, unreserved–reserved, and established–undetermined. Four identity discourses—self-learner, coach, musical artist, and friend—emerged from participants’ dialogues. Three themes indicated how participants individually assessed learning, and two themes showed how joint evaluations emerged peer-to-peer. This study and its results highlight a spectrum of ways adolescent musicians use everyday talk to learn music outside school. Findings in this study might empower music teachers to facilitate their students’ own peer dialogues. Future research can build on the foundation of findings here, which raise questions for exploring how communication outside school might compare with communication in school, how peer-to-peer music learning might be facilitated, as well as implications about why certain types of communication influence music learning.

Esta Dissertação traz uma discussão sobre a necessidade de haver políticas de incentivo à existência de almoxarifado de operação em usinas hidrelétricas que renovaram suas concessões através da Lei 12.783/13 passando a pertencer ao regime de cotas de garantia física, e seus efeitos imediatos para a disponibilidade do sistema gerador e para a segurança de operação do sistema elétrico brasileiro, estabelecendo conexões do ambiente regulatório/econômico com o mundo físico/real. Com base nas teorias de confiabilidade, métodos de gestão de ativos e políticas de operação e manutenção, analisa-se a situação real do parque gerador hidrelétrico com mais de 30 anos de operação, e as consequências do aumento das taxas de falhas e redução de vida útil, explanando a necessidade de se promover uma forma de incentivo que corrija as assimetrias regulatórias estabelecidas, envolvendo as penalidades e os benefícios percebidos tanto pelo lado do agente regulado, quanto pelo lado do consumidor final. No texto deste trabalho, verifica-se uma discrepância entre os custos de O&M reais e regulatórios, induzindo duas análises possíveis: Para o caso em que as remunerações são superiores aos custos reais, a penalização proposta pelo regulador não é suficiente para induzir investimentos em almoxarifados, dado que o retorno não condiz com o custo de oportunidade do capital empregado. Já para o caso em que as remunerações são inferiores aos custos reais, as penalidades podem impor um desequilíbrio econômico-financeiro da gestão dos ativos, anulando os incentivos para manutenção da disponibilidade através da imobilização de ativos sobressalentes. Estes casos demonstram, de forma simples, a existência de uma falha no sinal dado pelo regulador para a manutenção da qualidade do serviço, medido através dos índices de disponibilidade. Ressalta-se que a degradação dos ativos pertencentes às usinas cotistas não só é prejudicial para a busca pela modicidade tarifária, mas também poderá ser crítica para a operação do sistema em um período em que as hidrelétricas existentes terão um papel fundamental o gerenciamento de carga com a entrada de fontes intermitentes no sistema elétrico brasileiro. Para isso, o trabalho está estruturado em sete capítulos: (1) introdução; (2) o modelo regulatório vigente; (3) usinas hidrelétricas e seus sistemas; (4) confiabilidade e taxa de falha; (5) estudo de caso 1 - qualidade do serviço prestado; (6) estudo de caso 2 - avaliação dos impactos sistêmicos e (7) considerações finais. / This Dissertation brings a discussion about the need of creating politics to incentive the existence of operational warehouses in Regulated Hydropower Plants, regarding the immediate effects in the availability and reliability of the Brazilian Electrical System - linking the regulatory environment to the physical world. Based in reliability theories, asset management theories and operational & maintenance polices, the work analyses the real performance of those he Regulated Hydropower Plants that are in operation for more than 30 years of operation, looking at the consequences of the growing of failure rates by going toward the end of the forecasted life-time of the main systems and equipment. By that, it aims to explain the need of promoting incentives that corrects the regulatory asymmetry involving the penalties and bonuses perceived by the regulated agent and the final consumer. Through this work, a discrepancy between the real and the regulatory O&M costs is noted, what leads to two different analysis: On the one hand, for those agents with regulated revenue greater than the real O&M costs, there is no incentive to spent their capital in spare parts due to the opportunity cost of that capital. On the other hand, the for those agent with regulated revenue lower than the real O&M costs, the penalties can easily impose an economic-financial imbalance, also nulling the incentives to immobilize assets in spare parts. Those two examples demonstrate in a simple way the failure in the sign given by the regulator to guarantee the quality of service of those Power Plants. It is divided into seven chapters: (1) introduction; (2) the current regulatory model; (3) hydropower plant and its systems; (4) reliability and failure rate; (5) study case 1 - quality of service; (6) study case 2 - evaluation of systemic impacts and (7) final considerations.

O mercado brasileiro de eletricidade enfrentou nos últimos anos, crises de abastecimento, devido ao maior crescimento da demanda em relação à oferta. Derivado da falta de investimentos em infraestrutura e da concentração da matriz energética em hidroeletricidade, esse cenário pode ser minimizado pela bioeletricidade cogerada a partir do bagaço da cana. Porém, a efetiva exploração de seu potencial, depende das usinas reconhecerem-na como produto viável e lucrativo. Nesse sentido, o objetivo deste estudo foi caracterizar a comercialização de bioeletricidade no ACL e compará-la com o ACR identificando ameaças, oportunidades, pontos fortes e fracos de cada um. Realizou-se entrevistas com gestores: de quatro usinas sucroenergéticas, da distribuidora de energia local e de um consumidor livre. Utilizando-se a análise SWOT e PEST e as técnicas de análise de conteúdo e correspondência os dados foram trabalhados. Os resultados indicaram que a principal vantagem do ACR é a segurança quanto ao preço da energia e a desvantagem é a inflexibilidade do contrato aliado a altas penalidades. O ponto forte relevante do ACL é a flexibilidade na definição de prazo, preço e quantidade e a fraqueza é a volatilidade do preço. Devido a essas características os agentes tendem a atuar nos dois mercados, adotando como estrutura de governança principal o mercado e as formas híbridas em segundo plano. Constatou-se ainda a necessidade da atuação governamental como incentivador de fontes renováveis e provedor de soluções para entraves como a conexão a rede de transmissão, fraqueza dos dois mercados, e a falta de um ambiente adequado de comercialização. / In recent years, the Brazilian electricity market has gone through provision crises, due to the greater increase in demand with regard to supplies. Resulting from the lack of infrastructural investments and the concentration of the energy matrix in hydroelectricity, this scenario can be minimized by the bioelectricity coproduced based on sugar cane pulp. However, the effective exploration of its potential depends on sugar cane mills acknowledging it as a viable and profitable product. This research aimed to characterize bioelectricity commerce in a Free Contracting Environment (ACL) and compare it with a Regulated Contracting Environment (ACR), identifying the threats, opportunities, strong and weak points of each. Interviews were held with managers: of four sugar-electricity mills, the local energy distributor and a free consumer. Data were processed using SWOT and PEST analysis, as well as content and correspondence analysis techniques. The results indicated that the main advantage of ACR is security about energy prices, while the disadvantage is the contracts lack of flexibility, in combination with high penalties. The relevant strong point of ACL is the flexibility to define term, price and quantity, and the weakness is price volatility. Due to these characteristics, agents tend to act in both markets, adopting the market as the main governance structure and hybrid forms at a secondary level. Government action is needed to encourage renewable energy sources and provide solutions to bottlenecks like connection with the transmission network, weakness of both markets and lack of an adequate trading environment.

While there is a consensus among researchers that assessment should and can serve learning, there is less understanding of how it supports learning at a fine-grained level. This thesis uses design-based research to investigate the role of comment-only, holistic peer assessment in writing development. The theory of action synthesises Sadler's accounts of learning through assessment (1989, 2010) with Winne and Hadwin's (1998, 2008) model of self-regulated learning. It is theorised that participating in peer assessment helps students to develop evaluative expertise, which in turn enriches task perceptions, metacognitive standards and ultimately large-scale adaptation: the changes students employ in subsequent essays. Drawing on the theory of action, I designed a series of workshops for first-year English Literature students learning to write examination essays. The thesis reports on the first of two iterations. 21 participants assessed and discussed example essays; criteria were not pre-determined but emerged from discussion of four examples. Students then wrote a timed essay, assessed three peer pieces and received three reviews. A range of data was generated during the workshops, including written comments, reflections and questionnaires. Ten case study writers also took part in pre- and post-workshops writing tasks, think-aloud protocols and interviews. To trace the development of students' evaluative expertise, I coded inductively students' talk and comment about writing. Visualising the connections between emergent codes reveals writing quality as a complex web of criteria, with the essay question at the centre. There was a strong overlap between the official Faculty assessment criteria and the codes emerging from student data. However, students also frequently commented on procedural aspects of writing such as introductions and conclusions, which are left tacit or latent in Faculty criteria. Post-workshops, students' own metacognitive standards became increasingly reader-oriented and question-focussed, and these procedural aspects of writing drove the adaptations they made to their approach. I use rich, in-depth case study data to trace how, why, and when students made such adaptations. I also examine the role of peer feedback, which rather than offering new information, often verified or complemented the judgements students formed of their own writing during the workshops. The thesis thus illuminates processes involved in learning through assessment. It also shows that peer assessment is a practicable way of developing within the discipline both evaluative expertise and writing, which are key to lifelong learning.

Esta Dissertação traz uma discussão sobre a necessidade de haver políticas de incentivo à existência de almoxarifado de operação em usinas hidrelétricas que renovaram suas concessões através da Lei 12.783/13 passando a pertencer ao regime de cotas de garantia física, e seus efeitos imediatos para a disponibilidade do sistema gerador e para a segurança de operação do sistema elétrico brasileiro, estabelecendo conexões do ambiente regulatório/econômico com o mundo físico/real. Com base nas teorias de confiabilidade, métodos de gestão de ativos e políticas de operação e manutenção, analisa-se a situação real do parque gerador hidrelétrico com mais de 30 anos de operação, e as consequências do aumento das taxas de falhas e redução de vida útil, explanando a necessidade de se promover uma forma de incentivo que corrija as assimetrias regulatórias estabelecidas, envolvendo as penalidades e os benefícios percebidos tanto pelo lado do agente regulado, quanto pelo lado do consumidor final. No texto deste trabalho, verifica-se uma discrepância entre os custos de O&M reais e regulatórios, induzindo duas análises possíveis: Para o caso em que as remunerações são superiores aos custos reais, a penalização proposta pelo regulador não é suficiente para induzir investimentos em almoxarifados, dado que o retorno não condiz com o custo de oportunidade do capital empregado. Já para o caso em que as remunerações são inferiores aos custos reais, as penalidades podem impor um desequilíbrio econômico-financeiro da gestão dos ativos, anulando os incentivos para manutenção da disponibilidade através da imobilização de ativos sobressalentes. Estes casos demonstram, de forma simples, a existência de uma falha no sinal dado pelo regulador para a manutenção da qualidade do serviço, medido através dos índices de disponibilidade. Ressalta-se que a degradação dos ativos pertencentes às usinas cotistas não só é prejudicial para a busca pela modicidade tarifária, mas também poderá ser crítica para a operação do sistema em um período em que as hidrelétricas existentes terão um papel fundamental o gerenciamento de carga com a entrada de fontes intermitentes no sistema elétrico brasileiro. Para isso, o trabalho está estruturado em sete capítulos: (1) introdução; (2) o modelo regulatório vigente; (3) usinas hidrelétricas e seus sistemas; (4) confiabilidade e taxa de falha; (5) estudo de caso 1 - qualidade do serviço prestado; (6) estudo de caso 2 - avaliação dos impactos sistêmicos e (7) considerações finais. / This Dissertation brings a discussion about the need of creating politics to incentive the existence of operational warehouses in Regulated Hydropower Plants, regarding the immediate effects in the availability and reliability of the Brazilian Electrical System - linking the regulatory environment to the physical world. Based in reliability theories, asset management theories and operational & maintenance polices, the work analyses the real performance of those he Regulated Hydropower Plants that are in operation for more than 30 years of operation, looking at the consequences of the growing of failure rates by going toward the end of the forecasted life-time of the main systems and equipment. By that, it aims to explain the need of promoting incentives that corrects the regulatory asymmetry involving the penalties and bonuses perceived by the regulated agent and the final consumer. Through this work, a discrepancy between the real and the regulatory O&M costs is noted, what leads to two different analysis: On the one hand, for those agents with regulated revenue greater than the real O&M costs, there is no incentive to spent their capital in spare parts due to the opportunity cost of that capital. On the other hand, the for those agent with regulated revenue lower than the real O&M costs, the penalties can easily impose an economic-financial imbalance, also nulling the incentives to immobilize assets in spare parts. Those two examples demonstrate in a simple way the failure in the sign given by the regulator to guarantee the quality of service of those Power Plants. It is divided into seven chapters: (1) introduction; (2) the current regulatory model; (3) hydropower plant and its systems; (4) reliability and failure rate; (5) study case 1 - quality of service; (6) study case 2 - evaluation of systemic impacts and (7) final considerations.

O sistema visual exerce importante papel para o reconhecimento do ambiente externo e para estabelecer relações entre objetos, tempo e espaço. Além disso, ele está relacionado com o controle e o desempenho motor. O objetivo deste estudo foi verificar se a privação de luz ambiente alteraria o desempenho e as respostas fisiológicas e psicológicas durante dois modelos de exercício, um fechado e um aberto. Onze ciclistas formaram o grupo de exercício fechado (GEF) e completaram um teste de 20 km, enquanto doze indivíduos ativos formaram o grupo de exercício aberto (GEA) e executaram um teste de potência constante até a exaustão (TWC). Após teste incremental máximo, GEF e GEA realizaram exercício na presença (controle) ou privação (experimental) de luz ambiente, em ordem balanceada. Respostas de desempenho, VE, VO2, VCO2 RER, FC, eletromiografia do músculo vato lateral (EMG), percepção subjetiva de esforço (PSE) e pensamento associado ao exercício (PAE) foram obtidas durante, e no ponto final do exercício, em ambas as condições. O tempo total de exercício indicou a resposta de desempenho em GEF e GEA. As respostas das variáveis fisiológicas e psicológicas foram analisadas durante a realização, ou no ponto final do exercício. A média das respostas geradas durante os 20 km no GEF, e as respostas obtidas no mesmo tempo absoluto do TWC no GEA, pareado pelo menor tempo de exaustão atingido no teste, indicaram as respostas durante a execução do exercício. As respostas obtidas nos 5 segundos finais de cada exercício indicaram as respostas do ponto final do GEF e GEA. A taxa de incremento na PSE foi calculada em GEF e GEA, e o erro de predição da distância real percorrida no teste de 20 km foi obtido no GEF. No GEF, não houve efeito da privação de luz sobre o tempo para completar o teste de 20 km, porém a privação de luz gerou menores respostas (P< 0,01) na VE, VO2, VCO2, EMG e PAE, quando comparada ao controle. No ponto final do exercício, nenhuma diferença foi verificada entre as condições. A privação de luz não alterou a taxa de elevação da PSE ou o erro de predição da distância percorrida. No GEA a privação de luz ambiente reduziu o tempo de exaustão (P< 0,05) no TWC e aumentou a resposta do VO2 e EMG (P< 0,05). Entretanto, não foi observado efeito da privação de luz na VE, VCO2 e FC. No ponto final do exercício observou-se menor EMG com a privação de luz (P< 0,03), mas nenhuma diferença nas demais variáveis foi observada. Maior taxa de elevação na PSE foi observada em ambiente privado de luz. Os resultados do presente estudo podem ser interpretados de acordo com a existência de um \"relógio biológico interno\" que calcula a duração tolerável do exercício de acordo com a aproximação ao ponto final do exercício, sugerindo que os efeitos da privação de luz sobre o desempenho possam depender da presença de um ponto final previamente conhecido / The visual system plays an important role for the environment recognition as well as to set objects, time and space relationships. Furthermore, the visual system is related to the motor learning and performance. The aim of this study was to verify if light deprivation environment would alter performance, and physiological and psychological responses to different exercise modes, closed- and open-loop exercises. Eleven cyclists were the closed-loop exercise group (CLE) and performed a 20 km time trial, while twelve active individuals were the open-loop exercise group (OLE) and cycled to exhaustion during a constant workload exercise. After maximal incremental test CLE and OLE groups performed exercise in a control and experimental condition (i.e. under light deprivation), in a counterbalanced fashion. Performance responses and responses of VE, VO2, VCO2 RER, HR, eletromyography of the vastus lateralis muscle (EMG), ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) and associative thoughts to exercise (ATE) were obtained during exercise and at the exercise endpoint in both the conditions. Time of exercise indicated performance responses in CLE and OLE groups. Physiological and psychological responses were analyzed either during or at the exercise endpoint. Mean responses throughout the 20 km cycling time trial and responses obtained at absolute matched time of exercise, corresponding to the shortest time to exhaustion provided responses along the exercise in CLE and OLE groups, respectively. Responses obtained during the last 5 seconds of the exercises provided responses at the exercise endpoint in both CLE and OLE groups. The rate of increase in RPE was calculated in CLE and OLE groups, and the predictive error of the distance was calculated in the CLE group. In CLE group no effect of light deprivation was observed in the time to complete the 20 km, although the lower response (P< 0.01) of VE, VO2, VCO2, EMG e ATE when compared to control condition. Neither difference was observed in variables at the exercise endpoint. Light deprivation had effect in neither rate of increase in RPE or predictive error of distance. Regarding OLE group the light deprivation decreased the time to exhaustion (P< 0.05) and increased VO2 and EMG (P< 0.05) responses. However, there was no light deprivation effect in VE, VCO2 and HR. Lower EMG was observed at the exercise endpoint in light deprivation condition (P< 0.05) than in control, but no difference was observed in the others. Greater rate of increase in RPE was detected (P< 0.05) in the light deprivation condition than in control. Results of the present study were interpreted according to a \"biological internal clock\" that calculates the tolerable exercise duraton based on the exercise endpoint approximation, suggesting that light deprivation effects on performance may depend on the presence of an exercise endpoint previously known

Este trabalho descreve o formalismo das gramáticas livres de contexto adaptativas com verificação de aparência. Esses dispositivos gramaticais possuem como núcleo uma gramática livre de contexto subjacente e, como mecanismo de auto-modificação, uma ou várias funções adaptativas que determinam quais produções são aplicáveis em cada passo de uma derivação. A verificação de aparência se refere a uma forma especial de aplicar algumas produções, escolhidas pelo projetista da gramática, sem alterar a forma sentencial nessa aplicação. É provado que esse formalismo tem poder de máquina de Turing demonstrando, em forma construtiva, sua equivalência com quatro formalismos gramaticais baseados em gramáticas livres de contexto com mecanismos de controle, que tem esse poder. São desenvolvidos dois analisadorers para linguagens dependentes de contexto a partir de um desses outros quatro formalismos. Um deles, que é baseado em autômatos-pilha, opera em forma ascendente; o outro, baseado em autômatos finitos adaptativos, opera em forma descendente. / This work introduces and describes the formalism of the context-free adaptive grammar with appearance checking. Such gramatical devices have as its kernel a subjacent context-free grammar and, as mechanism of self-modification, one or several adaptive functions which determines the productions able to be applied at each step of a derivation. The appearance checking refers to a special way to apply some productions, choosen by the designer of the grammar, without changing the sentential form in this application. It is proved that this formalism has Turing Machine power, proving, by construction, its equivalence with four grammatical formalisms based on context-free grammars and with control mechanisms, with such power. Two parsers have been developed for context-dependent languages from one of these four formalisms. One of them is based on stack-automata, and operates in a bottom-up fashion.

Self-regulated learning skills have been shown to positively impact academic achievement in educational settings. This same set of skills becomes critically important as graduates enter today‟s dynamic work environment. That environment increasingly requires accountants and other professionals to be lifelong learners. This study is a response to the call of the Accounting Education Change Commission (AECC) to make "learning to learn" a priority in the accounting classroom. This study used a quantitative, quasi-experimental design within the context of a beginning accounting course. The course is characterized by high failure rates, highly conceptual content, and a population of novice learners. Study participants were stratified according to ACT level, prior GPA level, and academic major. The control group received instruction based on course content only. The treatment group received an intervention in which instruction focused on the process of learning as well as on regular course content. The purpose of the study was to determine whether academic performance differed between the 2 groups. The study further examined whether differences in the means on exam scores varied as a function of ACT level, prior GPA level, or academic major. A MANOVA indicated a significant difference in exam scores between the control and treatment groups with the treatment group outperforming the control group on 4 of the 5 exams. Follow-up ANOVAS were used to determine on which exams statistical significance was found. Two-way ANOVAS revealed no significant interaction between classroom method and prior GPA or academic major. Although statistical significance was not found in the interaction between classroom method and ACT level, descriptive statistics revealed that the greatest differences (between the mean exam scores of the control and treatment groups) occurred among the high-ACT group. The researcher did not attempt to trace causal paths, or changes in the mediating variables that may have linked changes in the learning environment to changes in academic performance. This study provided evidence that instruction related to the process of learning did not diminish academic performance on content-based exams and for most groups of students who received such instruction performance on exams was enhanced. This study casts doubt on the presence of a "ceiling effect," which is often associated with high-ACT students.