The purpose of this study was to determine if beauty was important to elementary age children when exploring and making aesthetic judgements about works of art and to determine the criteria elementary students used in judging beauty in works of art. This study also explored beauty as a concept that could be used as an organizing idea for designing a thematic unit with the purpose of introducing elementary students to postmodern art and issues. One hundred and sixty first grade and fourth grade students looked at 20 pairs of art reproductions and picked the artwork they considered the most beautiful. The criteria elementary students use for determining beauty in artworks was found to be color, realism, subject matter and physical appearance of the subject of the work of art.

This study is a thematic analysis of written plan-descriptions associated to valid detail-plans in the city of Umeå. These plan-descriptions are used as gateways to how planners and architects have reasoned when it comes to planning decisions. The thematic analysis is conducted on 24 selected detail-plans in the city of Umeå and has the starting point of the three themes of Mobility, Green space and Safety. The themes are identified as important to study in the light of the sustainable development concept where new modes of transportation, better knowledge about how nature affects us and a safe environment for everyone are propagated. By making better use of the fine source of information and insights that are the detail-plans students, researchers and practitioners can more effectively steer their efforts towards areas that really are in need of change. There is also something to be learned about the connection between process and outcome in physical planning. The results of this study show first of all that the scope and the thoroughness of detail-planning have changed over time. During the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s the plans generally covered larger areas and the descriptions where short and concise. In present time the plans generally cover smaller areas but are very exhausting in their investigative preparing work and associated documents. Other findings are that the goal of a safe environment in the detail-plans mostly is connected to traffic-safety.

Social stigma against gender diverse people continues to exist (Rieger & Savin-Williams, 2012), and this extends to gender nonconforming youth (D’Augelli, Grossman, & Starks, 2006). Expression and exploration of fluid gender identity and gender roles are part of typical human development (Institute of Medicine, 2011). Childhood gender nonconformity is defined as variation from norms in gender role behavior (Adelson & The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2012). Recommendations for research with gender nonconforming youth include gaining a clearer understanding of safe relationships, which currently lacks in the counseling literature (Institute of Medicine, 2011). Safety occurs when an individual takes psychological and interpersonal risks without fearing negative consequences (Edmondson, 1999). This study explores safety among gender nonconforming youth through the theoretical perspective of constructivism (Lincoln, Lynham, & Guba, 2011) and queer theory (Plummer, 2011) and will utilize the qualitative methods of photo-elicitation (Harper, 2002) and thematic analysis (Boyatiz, 1998). Implications for counseling practitioners, counselor educators, and future research will be discussed.

Magister Artium (Psychology) - MA(Psych) / Divorce and self-efficacy are areas that have been studied quite widely and extensively in recent decades. Going through a divorce has an effect on how parents actually parent their children, which in turn has an effect on the behavioral, emotional, social and academic outcomes of the child. Divorce is considered a significant factor in determining emotional and social problems that children begin to exhibit. However, few research has been conducted on the relationship of divorce with parental self-efficacy and perception of parenting among divorced parents in South Africa. Therefore, this study used qualitative interviews to explore the impact of divorce on parental self-efficacy and perceptions of parenting among ten divorced parents from working to middle class community in Cape Town, South Africa. . The interviews were analyzed by making use of thematic analysis. Results showed that, although participants experienced an initial period of extreme emotional distress and feeling overwhelmed at being a single parent, their confidence in their parenting increased over time as they began to adjust to their new lives and received adequate and regular support. This was accomplished through various techniques and coping mechanisms employed by the participants, and with their social support structure playing a significant role on their parental self-efficacy. This study contributes to the research that has been conducted on parental self-efficacy, specifically, the research that has been conducted in a South African context, which has been generally lacking in terms of previous research.

With the commitment of a nineteenth century objectivist scientist, I established a rigorous methodology in my studio practice through drawing, cutting and sorting that asserts meticulous attention to and recording of detail. This resulted in an overwhelming accumulation of components - pieces of information that no longer functioned to create the "whole." Interested in how information adds up to meaning, I am preoccupied with sorting out meaning from my accumulations. With each work, I create a map that works less to mark a destination than to structure a journey. No longer "lost" in the details, these accumulated works effect a "whole" where the inflection of my hand in each discreet decision I made adds up to marking my place. This offers the viewer the possibility that asserting one's place is meaning enough. / by Jillian Taylor. / Thesis (M.F.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2011. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2011. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Land-cover identification and mapping are an integral part of natural resource planning and management. Satellite imagery provides a way to obtain land cover information, particularly for large tracts of land such as those administered by federal and state agencies. This study assesses the usefulness of the Brightness/Greenness Transformation of Landsat Thematic Mapper data for differentiating conifer forest types in northern Utah. Satellite data for the Logan Ranger District of the Wasatch-Cache National Forest were classified into 27 vegetation classes. Of these, nine were determined to be conifer classes and were used in subsequent analyses. Ten sites of each conifer class type were field checked and vegetation and physical site characteristics recorded. The Brightness/Greenness Transformation was able to distinguish conifer areas from other vegetation types. High-density conifer classes were classified at 94 percent accuracy. Low-density conifer classes were classified correctly 65 percent of the time. The Brightness/Greenness Transformation alone met with limited success in distinguish ing between conifer species. Each class showed great variability with respect to major overstory species. Analysis of variance indicated that none of the site factors measured consistently corresponded with the spectrally designated classes. While several factors differed significantly among classes, no factor was significantly different for all c l ass-pair combinations. Correlation analysis revealed that brightness, greenness, and wetness values related more to environmental values than to conifer species. Brightness was highly correlated with percent of exposed soil on the site. Greenness was highly correlated to the presence of deciduous and herbaceous vegetation. Wetness was highly correlated to total tree and conifer cover values. Adding slope and aspect data to the Brightness/Greenness Transformation classes with the highest percentages of canopy cover did allow separation of lodgepole pine and Douglas fir. High percentagecanopy cover sites on slopes less than 35 percent were classified as lodgepole pine with 89 percent accuracy. On slopes greater than or equal to 35 percent, Douglas fir was found with 79 percent accuracy.

The 1990's saw a rapid growth in the use of Enterprise Systems by organisations to undertake quick and strategic decisions. Significant to the use of Enterprise systems, is their implementation in the organisation. The increased use of paper documents in government organisations and the augmented implementation rate of Electronic Document Management Systems within government organisations in New Zealand, is what triggered this research and subsequently the framing of the research objectives and thereby the research question. This research encompasses the factors which affect the implementation process of an Enterprise Document Management System and thereby render it a success or a failure. The study used an ethnographic approach in order to introduce rigour in the research. The data was collected by conducting eight semi-structured interviews at the client organisation. The interviews were transcribed and later coded using an open - coding methodology. A thematic analysis based schema was developed to later analyse the coded data.The research found that, factors such as change management, behaviour management / emotions, communication, implementation process approach and system functionality had profound effects on the implementation success of the Electronic Document Management System in the research organisation. The thesis has been mostly written in the first person to represent the author's interpretation of the implementation process and its related factors.

Latin-Americans have become major contributors in Major League Baseball, but face many challenges acculturating to living and playing in the United States. This research examined the acculturative support provided to Latin-American players by teams in the South Atlantic League of Minor League Baseball and whether or not people involved think that support was effective. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with front-office members and Latin-American former players, and transcriptions were analyzed for emerging themes using QDA Miner content analysis software. Three main themes emerged from the interviews: the language barrier, interaction between Latin-American and Anglo-American teammates, and the youth of Latin-American prospects. These themes were identified both as presenting the biggest challenges to the acculturation of players and also areas where assistance should be focused in order to be of the most benefit. All interview subjects believed the support currently provided for Latin-American players was effective, but that there are still areas where improvements can be made. Future research should explore acculturation from current players‟ perspectives, instead of taking a front-office approach, and would not only provide information on the player‟s opinions of current acculturative practices, but also their attitudes and beliefs about acculturation and whether they view it as a positive or negative experience.

This report describes an action research instruction that was designed to determine the effect of using thematic classical music in the music appreciation class of 5th Graders. Through the assistance of Information Technology and the performance of musical drama¡Athe researcher tried to breakthrough the traditions and innovate a action project of music instruction. This research aims to construct an instructional material and teaching mode integrated information technology of thematic classical music appreciation instruction in elementary school. It was also to appraise the effect on learning motivation and classical music appreciation competence. The subjects consisted of two classes 5th grader students selected from the researcher¡¦s elementary school. The classical music appreciation instruction program included three pieces of classical music for appreciation and musical drama. At the research period of eight weeks, the data will collected through teacher observation records, research journals, interviews, pictures, digital video, pre-questionnaire, thematic worksheets, and questionnaire of learning effect. The results indicated¡]1¡^In affective aspect, students¡¦ learning motivations ,fondness for classical music, and classical music appreciation competence can be improved in the thematic classical music appreciation instruction.¡]2¡^In skill aspect, there is a better linkage between the stage property, action designed by students and the characteristics of classical music. Also in the musical drama, students perform how they feel about music.¡]3¡^In cognition aspect, it is an significant improvement on students¡¦ recognizable competence of quick-slow rhythm and musical instruments tone, but not including oboe and clarinet. Due to the time is limited, recognizable competence of pitch changing is not completed.¡]4¡^In teacher¡¦s professional competence aspect, the researcher has progress on information technology applications, curriculum design, critical reflection, ¡® music instruction. In conclusion, thematic classical music appreciation instruction mode can be easily implemented for teachers.

The Relationship Among Thematic Integrated Instruction, Classroom Climate, Grade, Parental Socioeconomic Status and Pupil¡¦s Technological Creativity Yi-shuan Wu Abstract The main objectives of this study were to explore (a) the effects of grade and parental socioeconomic status (SES) on pupil¡¦s technological creativity; and (b) the relationships among thematic integrated instruction, classroom climate, and pupil¡¦s technological creativity. The participants included 635 third and fourth graders from four elementary schools in Taipei and Kaohsiung City. The employed instruments were The Test of Technological Creativity, The Questionnaire of Thematic Integrated instruction, two subscales from The Inventory of School Factors to the Development of Technological Creativity, and Two-factor Index of Socioeconomic Status. The employed analysis methods were Descriptives, MANOVA, Canonical Correlation, and Multiple Stepwise Regression. The main findings in this study were as follows: 1. The fourth graders outperformed the third graders on the test of technological creativity. 2. Parental socioeconomic status had positive influences on their children¡¦s performance of technological creativity. 3. The degree of teachers¡¦ implement of thematic integrated instruction had significant effects on their pupils¡¦ technological creativity. 4. A constructive classroom climate pertaining to the improvement of creativity had significant effects on pupils¡¦ technological creativity. 5. The degree of implementing thematic integrated instruction did not have significant effects on the building of constructive classroom climate pertaining to pupils¡¦ improvement of technological creativity. 6. Grade, parental SES, thematic integrated instruction, and constructive classroom climate could effectively predict pupils¡¦ technological creativity. Finally, the author proposed some suggestions for educational authorities, teachers, and future research.