Let X be a totally ordered set and consider the semigroups of orderdecreasing (increasing) full (partial, partial one-to-one) transformations of X. In this Thesis the study of order-increasing full (partial, partial one-to-one) transformations has been reduced to that of order-decreasing full (partial, partial one-to-one) transformations and the study of order-decreasing partial transformations to that of order-decreasing full transformations for both the finite and infinite cases. For the finite order-decreasing full (partial one-to-one) transformation semigroups, we obtain results analogous to Howie (1971) and Howie and McFadden (1990) concerning products of idempotents (quasi-idempotents), and concerning combinatorial and rank properties. By contrast with the semigroups of order-preserving transformations and the full transformation semigroup, the semigroups of orderdecreasing full (partial one-to-one) transformations and their Rees quotient semigroups are not regular. They are, however, abundant (type A) semigroups in the sense of Fountain (1982,1979). An explicit characterisation of the minimum semilattice congruence on the finite semigroups of order-decreasing transformations and their Rees quotient semigroups is obtained. If X is an infinite chain then the semigroup S of order-decreasing full transformations need not be abundant. A necessary and sufficient condition on X is obtained for S to be abundant. By contrast, for every chain X the semigroup of order-decreasing partial one-to-one transformations is type A. The ranks of the nilpotent subsemigroups of the finite semigroups of orderdecreasing full (partial one-to-one) transformations have been investigated.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of using the system of least prompts and concrete representations to teach students with moderate and severe disabilities (MSD) to solve simple linear equations. A multiple-probe (days) across participants, single case research design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of task analytic instruction along with concrete representation on teaching students with MSD to solve algebraic equations. The results showed the system of least prompts and concrete representations were effective in teaching students with MSD to solve simple linear equations.

This study is a systematic literature review on the role of models and representations in the teaching, learning and understanding of the atom and atomic concepts. The aim of the study is to investigate the role of different visual representations, what models and representations are used in the science classroom, how learners interpret different external representations of the atom, what mental models students construct, and how the representations can be used and designed for meaningful learning and teaching of the atom and atomic concepts.   In this systematic literature review, a combination of different databases was used to search for literature, namely ERIC, Scopus and Google Scholar. Some limiters were used to narrow down the returned results: the articles should be peer-reviewed and be published 1990-01-01 or later. Ten of the returned articles were included for individual analysis in the study.   The results of the study show that students often find concepts of atomic structure difficult and confusing. The abstract microscopic world of atoms cannot be seen with the naked eye, and models are therefore necessary and crucial educational tools for teaching atomic concepts in school. However, when using a model, it is important for the teacher to explain the rules of the model, and the advantages and limitations of the representation must be discussed. Analysis of the included articles revealed three types of representations used to represent atomic phenomena: two-dimensional static diagrams or pictures (e.g. a picture of the atom), three-dimensional videos or simulations (e.g. virtual reality simulations), and visual analogies (e.g. the Bohr planetary model of the atom). The use of simulations and interactive learning environments seem to have a positive effect on students’ learning. One of the studies, described in the articles included for analysis, showed that students appreciated the use of virtual reality simulations, since it made abstract concepts easier to understand when they could be visualized.

Den här undersökningen inom fysikdidaktik utförs enligt ramverket The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). Det didaktiska verktyget som ska utvärderas benämns Pictionary Physics. Studien börjar med en litteraturöversikt av multipla representationer och interaktivt engagemang. Översikten syftar till att utforska hur lärandet kan möjliggöras vid användningen av det didaktiska verktyget. Pictionary Physics användes sedan för att främja en interaktiv användning av multipla representationer i en grupp bestående av fyra studenter. Studenternas agerande studerades och analyserades kvalitativt, följt av en utvärdering av studenternas upplevelser när de använde det didaktiska verktyget. Utvärderingen visar att Pictionary Physics kan gynna konceptuell förståelse för begrepp inom fysik. Utvärderingen visar även att det didaktiska verktyget skulle kunna bidra till förbättrat studieresultat då studenter uppmuntras att använda multipla representationer på ett interaktivt sätt. Fortsatt förädling av Pictionary Physics föreslås. Detta är stommen för SoTL, där tanken är att konsekvent utöka var kunskap om lärandet av fysik. / This physics education research project is carried out following the framework of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). The didactic instrument investigated is termed Pictionary Physics. The study begins with a literature review of research on multiple representation, and interactive engagement. This review is used to evaluate the learning potential of the intended didactic instrument. Pictionary Physics was then used to facilitate the multi-representational interaction of a group of four physics students. The students’ behavior was studied and analyzed qualitatively, followed by an evaluation of the students’ experiences when using this didactic instrument. The investigation shows that Pictionary Physics may promote conceptual understanding of physics phenomena. The investigation also implies that this didactic instrument can contribute to improved learning outcomes when students are encouraged to interact by using multiple representations. Continued refinement of the Pictionary Physics concept is suggested. Such refinement is the essence of SoTL, incrementally expanding our knowledge of the teaching and learning of physics.

Depression is a substantial psychopathology encountered in the dialysis population yet its association with potentially modifiable psychological antecedents are not well known. Of these potential antecedents, individual’s perception of their condition are likely to play an important role in how they adjust to their illness (Leventhal, Brissette, & Leventhal, 2003). The Common Sense Model suggests that illness representations guide the self-regulation of illness (Leventhal, Meyer, & Nerenz, 1980; Leventhal, Nerenz, & Steele, 1984). The model posits that the interpretation of illness (illness perceptions) influence the response and procedures adopted in order to regulate the illness threat. The overarching aim of the work here is to examine whether illness perceptions predict depression and its trajectory in End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) patients, and to establish if depression and illness perceptions are associated with adverse clinical outcomes in these patients. In order to achieve these aims it was first important to establish how best to assess depression and illness representations in the context of ESRD. A pilot study investigated whether the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R) could be administered to haemodialysis patients (HD) while actively on dialysis. Patients completed the BDI and IPQ-R while on-dialysis and again at a time when off-dialysis (n=40). Level of agreement revealed no discernable difference between BDI and IPQ-R scores across the two conditions, although there was a slight bias with regards to scoring on somatic items of the BDI while on-dialysis. Given these data, on-dialysis assessments were employed in the studies reported. Furthermore the BDI was compared against a diagnostic standard for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) in order to define an adjusted BDI cut-off score that would indicate potential depressive cases. The data revealed that a BDI≥16 had optimal sensitivity and specificity for MDD. This cut-off score was employed to define patients with “probable” depression. The factor structure of the BDI was the focus in the following chapter. BDI data from two larger studies (reported later in the thesis) were pooled in order to conduct confirmatory factor analysis, testing several proposed structures of the BDI. The analysis revealed that two and three factor solutions had relatively poor fit to the data. A relatively novel bi-factor model proposed by Ward (2006) had the best fit. In this model there is a general depression factor that loaded onto all of the 21 BDI items, and two smaller orthogonal cognitive and somatic factors. These factors collectively explained 91% of the total variance in BDI-II total scores, suggesting that the BDI provides a good overall measure of global depressive symptoms. The first study to examine the association between illness representations and depression was a cross-sectional study of established HD patients (n=215). Nearly 30% of the sample were depressed (BDI≥16), highlighting the extent of depressive symptoms in this patient group. Significant differences between depressed and non-depressed patients with regards to illness perceptions were evident. In logistic regression illness coherence, perceived consequences and treatment control perceptions predicted depression. Interestingly clinical variables including co-morbidity were unrelated to depression. This suggests that it is not disease severity or extra-renal co-morbidity per se that are vulnerabilities for depression, rather it is the interpretation of the disease that appears to be important. The proceeding chapter extended this cross-sectional investigation by examining the trajectory of depression (i.e. change in depression) over the first year of dialysis therapy in relation to illness representations. An incident cohort of dialysis patients (n=160) were seen at a point soon after dialysis initiation and followed up 6 and 12 months thereafter. In particular, differences between patients who start dialysis via planned route (i.e. those with progressive renal failure who had been “worked-up” to dialysis) vs. those who started dialysis suddenly (unplanned starters) were sought. Unplanned starters were more depressed than the planned patients and held different illness perceptions. Structural equation modelling of the baseline data revealed that illness perceptions predicted depression, and that path to dialysis had an indirect effect on depression as mediated through illness perceptions. Over time, depression and illness perceptions appeared to remain relatively stable although there was some evidence of a non-linear decline in depression scores over the follow-up period. In addition, illness identity decreased over time, while illness coherence (understanding) increased. Clinical and demographic factors were not associated with the trajectory of depression as assessed using Latent Growth Models. However several illness perceptions were associated with a change in depression over time, suggesting that patient’s illness representations assist in the regulation (or under-regulation) of mood. The first of two clinical oriented chapters examined the utility of illness representations in explaining fluid non-adherent behaviour. HD patients were categorised as either fluid adherent or non-adherent based upon Inter-dialytic Weight Gain (IDWG). Patients in the upper quartile of percent weight gain were defined as non-adherent (IDWG≥3.21% dry weight). The data revealed that non-adherent patients had lower timeline perceptions as compared to adherent patients. Logistic regression models were evaluated in order to identify predictors of fluid non-adherence. After several demographic and clinical variables had been controlled, lower consequence perceptions predicted non-adherence. This data points to the utility of understanding dialysis patient’s personal illness representations in relation to maladaptive health care behaviour. Finally, the potential association between depression, illness representations and short term survival in incident dialysis patients was evaluated. Patients were followed up for a mean of 545 (±271) days in which there were 27 deaths (16.9%). Patients were censored if they were lost to follow-up, transplanted or recovered renal function. In Cox survival models after controlling for several co-variates including co-morbidity, depression significantly predicted mortality. Furthermore, survival models including illness perceptions revealed that treatment control perceptions were also predictive of mortality. These results suggest that depression and beliefs surrounding treatment control contribute to the survival of dialysis patients. Possible explanations regarding these associations are presented. In conclusion the empirical investigations offered here support the thesis that illness perceptions predict depression in dialysis patients. Moreover there is evidence that illness representations are associated with maladaptive health behaviour (non-adherence) in dialysis patients. Depression and illness representations also predict short-term survival in incident patients after adjusting for important co-variates. Recent studies have shown that altering maladaptive illness perceptions via psychological intervention can have a positive influence upon outcomes (Petrie, Cameron, Ellis, Buick, & Weinman, 2002). Given the evidence presented in this thesis, testing interventions that target maladaptive illness representations in order to improve clinical and psychological outcomes seem highly relevant in this setting.

The study explores gender representations in English literature texts used in Tanzanian secondary schools. The aim of this research is to raise awareness of, and contribute to, the general discussion regarding gender equality, and about the meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The goals have been adopted by the government of Tanzania since 2000. The third goal (MDG 3) seeks to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women in all levels of education by 2015. The aim of this thesis was to examine the discourses underpinning the teaching of literature in Tanzanian schools in order to examine the extent to which gender representations within the texts, and as mediated by teachers, supports this discourse of equality. The inquiry is explored through a textual analysis of the texts which were used in secondary schools in Tanzania during observation, using postcolonial and feminist perspectives. The study further involved interviewing literature teachers and students, policy makers and curriculum planners and obtained their views about the representations of gender. Data were collected in six schools in three regions of Tanzania, namely Mwanza, Dodoma and Dar es Salaam. Analytical induction has been used to analyse the data collected from interviews and observation. Findings from textual analysis show that some of the texts selected for study do convey strong messages in favour of demarcation between women’s and men’s traits, roles, and occupations, but others do not. Most of this latter group criticise traditional constructions of masculinity and femininity portraying women as subordinate to men and victims of domestic violence, and traditional African practices such as arranged marriage, female genital mutilation and the denial of educational rights. Findings from observations revealed that the texts were tackled relatively uncritically. Teachers rarely encouraged pupils to engage critically with gender issues arising in the texts. Findings from interviews and observation revealed that teachers are not trained to include the goal in their teaching. The thesis concludes that although some of the literary texts have emancipatory aims as revealed in the textual analysis, the gender equality goal is unlikely to be achieved unless the implicit understandings of gender relations in teachers’ classroom practices are addressed. Recommendations are made on how to promote a more critical engagement with gender issues through the teaching of literature in the Tanzanian context.

Comment la période nazie et la Shoah ont-elles été présentées dans les manuels d’histoire de fin de premier cycle de l’enseignement secondaire, publiés de 1950 à nos jours, en Allemagne, au Royaume-Uni, en Belgique francophone et en France ? Une étude comparative de leur contenu sera proposée, en accordant une place centrale à l’évolution de celui-ci et à l’apport, tant de la recherche historique que des différents événements ayant composé l’actualité de ces sujets depuis plus de cinquante ans. Alors que l’opinion publique européenne évoque fréquemment le profond mutisme sur la période nazie et la Shoah jusqu’à la fin des années quatre-vingts, les manuels d’histoire offrent, dès les années cinquante, un ensemble d’informations aux élèves de 14 à 16 ans, en Allemagne en particulier. Ces éléments de connaissance, certes lacunaires et imparfaits au départ, apparurent donc très tôt, rompant le silence, avant d’être considérablement augmentés et précisés à la fin du vingtième siècle. À l’échelle de notre étude, une nette différence quantitative et qualitative se dessine entre le solide contenu des manuels allemands et français, à un degré moindre toutefois, et les ouvrages britanniques, nettement plus limités sur notre sujet, les publications scolaires wallonnes ayant été très rares durant le dernier quart du vingtième siècle. / We can wonder how the nazi period and the Shoah have been presented in the history textbooks for secondary schools which have been published since 1950 in Germany, in the United Kingdom, in French-speaking Belgium and in France.We will compare their contents, by underlining the evolution of this content and the influence of the historic researches as well as the various events which have been topical over the last fifty years. Whilst the European public opinion often mentions the deep silence about this nazi period and the Shoah up to the late nineties, German textbooks provided pupils, aged 14 to 16, with important information, from the fifties. Although incomplete and imperfect at the beginning, this knowledge was quickly offered and broke the silence before being dramatically increased and more precise at the turn of the century. As far as quantity and quality are concerned, there is a sharp contrast between the German and French textbooks and the British ones which deal much less with this topic. As for Walloon textbooks, they were scarce from the seventies to 2000.

La réflexion proposée concerne les grandes lignes des politiques linguistiques et éducatives dans le contexte tatarstanais. Après un parcours des différents aspects de la configuration sociolinguistique ( les médias, l’enseignement, l’édition et la production littéraire) dans une perspective transdisciplinaire incluant les approches historiques et sociolinguistiques, on aborde un sujet particulier de l’aménagement linguistique – la sélection d’un système graphique. La deuxième partie s’attache à l’analyse de discours épilinguistiques médiatiques et ordinaires : en prenant appui sur un corpus d’entretiens et de questionnaires on explore le fonctionnement des représentations et des stéréotypes sociolinguistiques dans le contexte du bilinguisme officiel. / This work goes along the principal lines of language and educational policy in the context of Tatarstan. After a survey of various aspects of the given sociolinguistic situation ( including the media, educational system, literary activities) we’ll analyse a specific area of language planning – that of writing system options – from an interdisciplinary perspective associating historical and sociolinguistic approaches. The second part is dedicated to discourse analysis based on the body of interviews and questionnaires; it explores the sociolinguistic representations and stereotypes functioning in the officially bilingual context.

Le système scolaire du Mali, l’un des pays les plus pauvres du monde, connaît de graves difficultés (d’origine économique, socioculturelle, politique…) auxquelles le gouvernement tente de faire face pour relancer le développement. Dans ce pays, la situation de la fille et de la femme est problématique et préoccupante. La sous-scolarisation des filles, une des caractéristiques de l’éducation en Afrique, tend à se réduire mais les inégalités persistent entre les filles et les garçons. Dans les études réalisées en France, l’école apparaît comme le lieu de reproduction de structures idéologiques figées mettant les femmes et les filles dans une position d’infériorité. Les rapports sociaux de sexe qui sont en jeu dans la société façonnent les interactions en classe et réciproquement. Notre étude a comme fondement les sciences du langage, elle s’inspire également de travaux en sciences de l’éducation. Elle a pour objet de décrire, d’une part, les représentations sociales des enseignants et des filles et, d’autre part, les phénomènes langagiers et interactionnels qui se produisent dans la classe. Nous chercherons à déterminer si le fonctionnement de la classe reflète celui de la société, en ce qui concerne le rôle et la place de la fille et de la femme au Mali. Nous nous appuierons sur un corpus, collecté au Mali et comportant des entretiens réalisés avec des enseignants et des filles de 4e et de 9e année, ainsi que des vidéos de classe, filmées dans deux villes du Mali : N’Kourala, village rural, et Bamako, la capitale. / The education system in Mali, one of the poorest countries in the world, suffers from severe difficulties (stemming from socioeconomic, socio-cultural and political problems) which the government has been trying to address to foster economic development. In this country, the situation of girls and women is problematic and a cause of concern. Although female under-education, a characteristic of Africa, tends to decrease, gender inequalities prevail. Research conducted in France has shown that school appears as the place where fossilized ideological structures placing girls and women in an inferior position are reproduced. In that sense, gender interactions at stake in society shape interactions in the classroom and vice versa. The present study is rooted in linguistics and also relies on research in education. Its aim is to describe on the one hand the girls’ and teachers’ social representations, and on the other hand the linguistic and interactional phenomena that occur in the classroom. The purpose of this research is to determine whether the way the classroom works reflects society, as regards the role and place of girls and women in Mali. This study relies on a corpus collected in Mali, which includes interviews with teachers and 4th-year and 9th-year girls, as well as videos filmed in class in two Malian towns – N’Kourala, a rural village, and Bamako, the capital city of Mali.

There have been many studies on media (mis)representations of the Middle East and Iran. However, the experts and analysts who serve as major sources for those representations (and for government policy making) have not been systematically studied. This project studies discourses and networks of widely published Iran experts during the first year of the presidency of Iran’s Hassan Rouhani (2013-2014), the period during which unprecedented direct U.S.-Iran diplomacy paved the way for the historic nuclear agreement with Iran. Norman Fairclough’s three dimensional critical discourse analysis method and Peter Haas’s Epistemic Community approach are employed to study discursive as well as non-discursive (networked) characteristics of the most widely published U.S. Iran experts during this time period. Results identify five major epistemic communities that, altogether, represent the spectrum of U.S. Iran experts: neoconservatism, liberal interventionism, containment (tactical engagement), strategic engagement, and rapprochement. These five epistemic communities are described in detail throughout the five results chapters. Findings show that these experts influence the terms of media representations as well as the foreign policy making process. Findings also show that experts operate in a web of discursive as well as networked affiliations (i.e., epistemic communities) in order to be able to develop and circulate their discourses. It is however important to recognize that epistemic communities are not uniform in terms of formation stage, cohesion and level.