The present study was designed to investigate the effects of divergent production activities with math inquiry and think aloud strategy of students with math difficulty. Multiple baseline across behaviors design was replicated across four participants. This research also investigated relationships between the interventions and creativity scores by employing pretest and posttest design as measured by the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT). The results varied with the participants and the interventions. The overall mean in all three treatments increased a mild degree based on descriptive statistics. All four participants showed a drastic variability in math problem solving. T-test results from the TTCT showed that there were significant differences in both fluency and flexibility scores. Elaboration and originality scores appeared unaffected since the instructions were mean in all three treatments increased to a mild degree based on descriptive statistics. All four primarily involved in fluency and flexibility creativity constructs. Originality was excluded as a measure and elaboration was not instructed intensely enough in the program. Conclusively, 5th grade students with math difficulty improved both think aloud and math inquiry scores based on visual/statistical inspection of Mean+Trend difference analysis. It was found that only math inquiry intervention was effective to a mild degree for three out of four participants. Fluency and flexibility scores increased as a result of divergent production activities, however not enough to say that overall creativity is fostered directly by the program. Issues emerged out of the math problem solving in terms of controlling variability and developing content materials for the instruction. Further research is needed to ascertain the effects of multiple interventions on students with math difficulty. Replications are needed to expand the findings to the development of viable instructions. Future study is also needed to use varied math inquiry skills and think aloud strategy in order to improve both problem solving ability and creativity associated with mathematics.

Detta arbete består av designen av ett gränssnitt för webbplatsen whatismykidplaying.com. Designen var tänkt att ge hög användbarhet för målgruppen och testades av användare i ett think-aloud test. De fick testa och utvärdera hur väl gränssnittet fungerar och  deras feedback utvärderades och resultaten låg till grund för förslag på förändringar i gränssnittet, vissa som sedan blev implementerade. Studien har utgått från de olika stegen i en användarcentrerad utvecklingsmodell, analys - design - utvärdering - återkoppling, och en iteration har genomförts. Som utgångspunkt, för att öka användbarheten i webbplatsens gränssnitt, användes diverse regler och riktlinjer för hur användbarhet bäst kan uppnås, när designen gjordes. Hur väl dessa regler och riktlinjer fungerat tillsammans, i detta projekt och design, blev således en del i think-aloud testest utvärdering. Studien presenterar och analyserar hur användarna upplevt resultatet av den första designen av gränssnittet, och vad som fungerat bra och mindre bra ur användbarhetssynpunkt. / This thesis consists of the design of a user interface for the website whatismykidplaying.com. The design of the user interface was meant to increase usability for the target-group, and was tested by users in a think-aloud test. The users evaluated the usability and their feedback was evaluated and the results were used to produce suggestions for improvements in the user interface, some of which were implemented. The basis for the study is the steps in user-centered-design, analysis - design - evaluation - feedback, and one cycle has been carried out. To enhance usability in the user interface, different rules and guidelines regarding how to design for usability were used for the design. How well these rules played together, in this design, was evaluated in the think-aloud test. The thesis presents and analyses how the users experienced the first design of the user interface and which parts had worked well and those that didn't, from the usability point of view.

The present study was designed to investigate the effects of divergent production activities with math inquiry and think aloud strategy of students with math difficulty. Multiple baseline across behaviors design was replicated across four participants. This research also investigated relationships between the interventions and creativity scores by employing pretest and posttest design as measured by the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT). The results varied with the participants and the interventions. The overall mean in all three treatments increased a mild degree based on descriptive statistics. All four participants showed a drastic variability in math problem solving. T-test results from the TTCT showed that there were significant differences in both fluency and flexibility scores. Elaboration and originality scores appeared unaffected since the instructions were mean in all three treatments increased to a mild degree based on descriptive statistics. All four primarily involved in fluency and flexibility creativity constructs. Originality was excluded as a measure and elaboration was not instructed intensely enough in the program. Conclusively, 5th grade students with math difficulty improved both think aloud and math inquiry scores based on visual/statistical inspection of Mean+Trend difference analysis. It was found that only math inquiry intervention was effective to a mild degree for three out of four participants. Fluency and flexibility scores increased as a result of divergent production activities, however not enough to say that overall creativity is fostered directly by the program. Issues emerged out of the math problem solving in terms of controlling variability and developing content materials for the instruction. Further research is needed to ascertain the effects of multiple interventions on students with math difficulty. Replications are needed to expand the findings to the development of viable instructions. Future study is also needed to use varied math inquiry skills and think aloud strategy in order to improve both problem solving ability and creativity associated with mathematics.

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Texte remanié de: Thèse de doctorat--Linguistique contrastive--Paris 7, 2002. Titre de soutenance : Les problèmes que posent les prédicats subjectifs "believe" et "think" dans le passage au français. / Bibliogr. p. 215-226. Index.

Thesis--University of Michigan. / Extra t.p. with thesis statement inserted. Includes bibliographical references (p. 123-124).

It is a widespread belief in western society today that every adolescent is capable of attaining a high school diploma (Pharris-Ciureja, Hirschman, & Willhoft, 2012). In reality, a Statistics Canada (2012) “Labour Force Survey” concluded that only 73.9% of all 18 and 19 year olds have received high school diplomas. Richards (2009) stated that Manitoba’s high school dropout rate is the highest in Canada, and is twice as high as that of British Columbia. Unfortunately, many adolescents have started on the path to dropping out long before they enter high school (Downing & Peckham-Hardin, 2007) due to a combination of sociological, socioeconomic, cultural, developmental, behavioural, and academic factors (Englund, Edgeland, & Collins, 2008; Pharris-Ciureja, Hirschman, & Willhoft, 2012; Richards 2009). To better understand this phenomenon, I used the critical analytical tool of the immanent critique (Skrtic, 1995); and several different critical thinking tools (Levy, 2010). I also reviewed literature concerning sociology and education, Manitoba’s interpretation of inclusion, and the unique nature of high schools and their teachers. The purpose of this study was to invite Manitoba high school classroom teachers into a think tank and ask them what they believe they do to help adolescents stay in school and graduate. I found that the high school classroom teachers who participated in the study creatively strived to connect with students, worked individually and collaboratively with colleagues, and acknowledged the need for legislation, policies, and administration. They also took the time to examine current educational practices and continuously searched for innovative ways to improve their classrooms, schools, and the system-at-large. I concluded that school systems would greatly benefit from seeking out the voices of high school teachers and asking them what they think.

Thesis--University of Michigan. / Extra t.p. with thesis statement inserted. Includes bibliographical references (p. 123-124).

The overall aim of this thesis is to corroborate whether the Situation Awareness (SA) of older drivers is deficient to that of younger driving groups, due to the onset of age-related cognitive decrements. This is important to ascertain due to a presumed linkage between the concept and accident causation. In addition, the research undertaken to date to investigate this linkage has exclusively utilised rather artificial driving simulators and simulations. Thus there is a need for data from more ecologically valid methods. The research studies reported here have sought to preference on-road assessments (of different complexity), and to capture what information was selectively perceived, comprehended and reacted to; rather than, as in previous work, what was recalled. To achieve this, a Think aloud methodology was chosen to produce narratives of a driver s thoughts. This method was advantageously unobtrusiveness, but also flexible - it could additionally be used to compare an individual's SA to a driving performance measure, Hazard Perception. The driving-based studies undertaken found that for a relatively non-taxing route, an older driver group could produce cohesive awareness in parity with a younger driver group. However, the concepts from which that awareness was based upon drew more on general, direction based, concepts, in contrast to the younger group s focus on more specific, action based, concepts, and rearward and safety-related cues. For a more cognitively taxing route, the younger group produced significantly higher (p < 0.024) individual SA-related scores than their older counterparts. But the concepts/cues both groups relied upon remained similar - particularly in regards to the ratio of those indicative of a rearward and/or a safety-related focus. In a video-based study, however, and in contrast, the older driver group s SA scores improved sufficient to outperform a younger group, but, despite this, not for video-based scores indicative of Hazard Perception (HP). In this latter regard, age-related decrements appeared to be more influential, as the older group felt they were under time pressure during a HP test. However, the difficulty this presented appeared to advantageously bring more attention and effort to the task, which were argued as important factors for the uplift in their SA scoring. The thesis also showed that older groups judgement of the actual complexity of a driving task could potentially be deficient to that of younger driver groups. This could cause problems as incorrect perceptions could deflate the relevance and cohesiveness of information being processing. In contrast, the perceived complexity of a task could bring a rise or fall in SA score for both groups. Such results raised questions as to the impact of cognitive decrements, relative to task difficulty and related effort whilst driving. It also provided evidence that Situation Awareness, rather than being uniformly good or bad, could, like any other psychological construct, be prone to change. These aspects were drawn together in a proposed model of driving SA.

Master of Science / Department of Food, Nutrition, Dietetics and Health / Edgar Chambers IV / Cooking is part of almost everyone’s daily life. During cooking, recipes are usually used as a guide for home cooks to help them take decisions and get a tasty and appealing food product. Recipes have a great impact on consumers’ behavior and decision making at the kitchen. However, building a recipe requires understanding of the potential user, including explaining to him/her, in layman’s terms, the best way to prepare the food product. Nevertheless, what is the best way to communicate to consumers through a recipe? A qualitative sensory technique that allows collecting data regarding people’s motivations and actions during cooking is required in order to retrieve this information. The technique needs to allow data collection about the motivations, and the actions inspired by these. Recipes can use these motivations and actions to communicate to recipe users. This research proposes the use of the Think Aloud method, a technique that has not been used on sensory research, as a technique that can meet these goals. The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate different recipe styles for the preparation of doughs by understanding and using people’s descriptions, techniques and preparation terms through the application of the Think Aloud technique. Two qualitative studies were performed with wheat dough preparers (n=43) recruited in Manhattan, KS and corn dough preparers (n=50) recruited in Guadalupe, Costa Rica. During the interviews, participants verbalized the process of preparing the doughs, as well as their decision-making process through the Think Aloud technique. Results showed that participants provided enough data by thinking aloud. It was observed that the use of the Think Aloud method allowed them to be aware of texture characteristics in the dough. The ready doughs were mainly described as not sticky, soft and pliable. The most common techniques used to make the doughs included stirring, pushing/pressing/squeezing, and incorporate all together. Five recipes were written based on these descriptions. Three of the recipes included a step-by-step numbered format with a different amount of detail: not detailed, very detailed, and detailed recipe. The other two formats, both based on the detailed recipe, included a paragraph form recipe and a recipe with images. Wheat and corn recipes were validated in two online surveys (per study, n=300) where respondents evaluated the easiness, likeability, likelihood of using the recipe, helpfulness of the format, and amount of information. Overall, respondents considered the recipe with images easier and more helpful. The very detailed recipe was considered more difficult, less helpful and was liked less than the other recipes. Understanding and identifying the words and techniques people use at the kitchen represent a useful tool that can be used to communicate to other preparers how to make a food product. The Think Aloud technique represents a useful technique to collect information regarding consumers’ actions and motivations. The data collected through the application of the technique allowed building different recipe styles to communicate to consumers how to prepare a food product.