Doctorat d'Etat : Sciences appliquées : Metz : 1988. / 1988METZ010S. 126 réf.

Thesis (M.S.)--Middle East Technical University, 2003. / Keywords: Online assessment, online exam, computer assisted exam, web based testing.

Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio state University. / Ohio state university studies. Bibliography: p. 41-43.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 147-159). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of La Verne, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 184-198).

Thesis (M.S.)--Central Connecticut State University, 2003. / Thesis advisor: Elizabeth Aaronsohn. " ... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Elementary Education." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 126-129). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--York University, 1999. Graduate Programme in Psychology. / Typescript. Title on certificate page: Response effects in World-Wide- Web and paper-and-pencil personality questionnaires. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 186-193). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pNQ39301.

Classroom assessment can be a powerful means of enhancing student learning, but there has been insufficient examination of how this potential can be realized, especially in the Chinese educational context. The student role in assessment is repeatedly emphasized in articles about learning and teaching, but surprisingly few studies have systematically investigated how to activate it in classroom practice. This study explores classroom-based assessment activities and learner roles in two tertiary institutions in mainland China. A qualitative multiple-case design was adopted, involving four teachers and thirty-one students from four classes. Data were collected primarily through classroom observation and semi-structured interviews. Quantitative analysis was conducted to identify major patterns in assessment practices. Qualitative analysis was also conducted in order to reveal the participants’ perceptions. The findings showed that a variety of assessment activities, from formal tests to informal teacher observation, were implemented in the four classes to varying extents. Teacher questioning and peer assessment were two prominent methods used. The learner role in teacher questioning was reported at three stages of the questioning process. At the initiation stage, convergent questions dominated and learners were placed in a passive position of knowledge reception. At the response stage, choral and individual answers were most common; the former possibly disguising learner difficulties and the latter acknowledging the student role through encouragement of independent thinking. At the evaluation stage, meaningful interventions were rarely composed to activate the learner role and move learning forward. The learner role in peer assessment was found to be associated with the participants’ conceptions of this practice. The adherents viewed learners as active participants playing the central role in assessment; those supporting peer assessment but with reservations regarded learners as immature assessors capable of providing valuable comments but in need of teacher support; the opponents saw students as incompetent assessors and considered teachers to be the leaders in assessment. Various factors were found to have interacted to shape the learner role in classroom-based assessment activities. These included teacher and student factors at the individual level, such as teacher beliefs and student academic competence; contextual factors at the classroom and institutional level, such as institutional culture; and contextual factors at the wider socio-cultural level, such as Confucian-influenced thinking. The study enriches our knowledge about classroom-based assessment in the Chinese context and offers critical insights into the student role in this process. It contributes to the understanding of the role of teacher questioning in classroom interaction, as well as factors influencing the learner role in classroom-based assessment. Further, the study offers insights into peer assessment implementation in ordinary English courses and has implications for effective implementation of peer assessment in the Chinese context. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

The field plate test has been used to derive elastic stiffness and undrained strength parameters of clay soils. Generally the interpretations are based on the measurements of the plate load and settlement, though occasionally additional measurements have been made in an attempt to improve the interpretation. The interpretations of soil parameters from the test rely on simplified assumptions of the soil behaviour. In particular the soil-is often assumed to be linear elastic perfectly-plastic. The complexity of the stress and strain paths induced within the soil by a field plate load test belies the simplicity of the interpretations. This Thesis examines the use of the field plate load test as a method of deriving in-situ parameters of clay soils, using the finite element method to conduct a parametric study of the test. The results of these studies have been used to assess the validity of the parameters determined from the test and also to examine how the interpretation may be improved. The Thesis concludes that the interpretation of the plate test can be improved to yield non-linear elastic parameters of soil at small strain. In addition the results from a plate test can, theoretically, be used to predict the elastic load settlement response of full scale foundations. The test can also be used to measure consolidation and undrained strength characteristics of a clay soil appropriate to the analysis/design of full scale foundations of similar geometry and load direction.

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