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Current military criteria for characterizing soils and unbound pavement structural layers rely on either California bearing ratio (CBR) values or elastic moduli as backcalculated from the falling weight deflectometer (FWD). The primary objective of this investigation was to assess the ability of portable devices such as the GeoGauge, portable falling weight deflectometer (PFWD), and dynamic cone penetrometer (DCP) to accurately characterize subgrade and granular base materials in 16 test areas in terms of CBR or moduli values at Waterways Experiment Station (WES) in Vicksburg, MS, which serves as the headquarters for the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC). Comparisons of these measurements to those obtained using standard evaluation equipment such as the FWD and field CBR tests were used to rank the usefulness of each device. The rankings were based on statistical analyses through the characterization of repeatability and development of relationships between the portable devices and traditional devices. As a result, the DCP was recommended for soil strength estimation (CBR) for fine-grained materials while the GeoGauge and PFWD are recommended for estimation of the moduli values in coarse-grained materials.

This thesis explored the credibility and usefulness of beef cattle magazine articles with and without photographs perceived by students at a Southern land-grant institution. The thesis also explored the use of alternate forms of repeated measure to determine if a relationship existed in instrumentation when a photograph was presented first or presented second. The study found that credibility was perceived to be greater when photographs were present in an article. The study found that usefulness was perceived to be greater when photographs were not present in an article. The study found a relationship between credibility and usefulness when presented with and without photographs. The study found that perceived credibility was greater when an article presented with a photograph was presented first. The study also found that perceived usefulness was greater when an article without photograph was presented first. The findings of this study indicated that magazines should take these factors into account when a desired outcome is to increase editorial credibility and increase the effectiveness of the message.

The aim of this study was to investigate one slice of the multifaceted contribution of Andrew Fuller, namely, his ordination sermons to determine what key theological priorities shaped his understanding of pastoral ministry and what was his exact influence on this Baptist community as it relates to pastoral theology. And to put the theology of his ordination sermons in context, the study examined them in relation to other available Particular Baptist ordination sermons of the era. The study revealed that Fuller’s pastoral priorities as expressed in his ordination sermons concerning the character, qualifications, and duties of a pastor, which represented the chief subject matter of the ordination charge, shows a great deal of continuity with his Particular Baptists theological tradition. There is no doubt that Andrew Fuller is at the heart of a renewal of Particular Baptists in the late eighteenth century which impacted one key element of the pastoral office in offering Christ to all and sundry. But this did not entail a complete revamping of the Particular Baptist perspective on pastoral ministry. The continuity/discontinuity in pastoral theology between Fuller and his brethren of the earlier part of the century especially in connection with the defining characteristic of Fuller’s pastoral theology of eminent spirituality and eminent usefulness, revealed that there was really little change in the sermons prior to when the evangelical revival was thought to have significantly affected the Particular Baptists in 1770. They shared a similar concern as Fuller to communicate that eminent spirituality results in eminent usefulness. This close connection does not argue in favour of a radical redefinition of pastoral theology transformed by the so-called rise of evangelicalism. The main difference in terms of renewal centered on a return to biblical precedent of offering the gospel freely to all. The diversion of this emphasis was connected to the rise of high Calvinist dogma precipitated by a defence of the orthodoxy from the attacks of rationalist age. Still Baptist preaching was consistently plain in style, evangelical in content and affectionate in application. Therefore rather than a radical redefinition forged by the mysterious and powerful forces of Enlightenment thought, these men were influenced, perhaps more so, by a static theological commitment rooted in biblical authority. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Church History and Church Polity / unrestricted

Production of turkeys in Utah has had a rapid growth since its beginning a few decades ago. In 1929 there were only 226,000 birds sold by Utah producers and in 1960 there were 2,798,000 birds sold. Over this 31 year period of time production has increased 12 times.

Students often ask "when is this ever going to be useful?", "why are we doing this?", etc. when speaking about mathematics. If we take this as a question about 'meaningfulness', how can instructors respond and how do they even understand the terms 'meaningful' and 'meaning'? My dissertation looked at how college instructors see their instruction as meaningful or not. Drawing on social and cognitive perspectives of learning, I define four ways to think of what's 'meaningful' about mathematics. From a cognitive perspective, instructors can understand 'meaningful' as mathematical understanding versus understanding the significance of mathematics. From a social perspective where meaning is taken as the experiences of everyday life within communities, teachers can understand 'meaningful' as anything that engages students in practices the mathematics community engage in versus practices non-mathematics communities engage in (e.g. pushing computation or critical thinking as a means for maintaining social hierarchies). Using these four conceptions to categorize instructors' goals, this work focuses on how four undergraduate mathematics instructors thought of their instruction as meaningful and contextual and background factors that influenced those views. / Doctor of Philosophy / Students often ask "when is this ever going to be useful?" when speaking about mathematics. If we interpret this as seeking the meaning or purpose of their education, how can teachers respond and how do they even understand the terms 'meaningful' and 'meaning'? I wanted to look at how college instructors thought of this and how they addressed such a question in their classrooms. Drawing on different theories of learning, I outlined four ways to think of what's 'meaningful' about mathematics and then used these four ways to categorize how instructors think of their instruction as meaningful. To meet this end, I looked at some accounts of instructors' goals. My data came from college instructors of different mathematics classes: math for elementary education, math for liberal arts, statistics, and calculus. One important thing I found was that experiences with underserved communities or of not being 'a math person' corresponded with instructors' ability to attend to different kinds of 'meaningful' goals. What this might suggest is that educators may not feel prepared to respond to students' pursuit of meaning in diverse ways unless they have also personally struggled with it growing up or have personally experienced the consequences of disenfranchisement.

Although methodology use generally leads to fewer software defects and reductions in development time, the introduction of a formalized systems development methodology is often met with substantial resistance. Motivated by the purported benefits of methodology use, yet resistance to the introduction of a methodology, this study explains developer attitude toward using a formalized commercial methodology. An important variable for explaining attitude is perceived usefulness, defined as the degree to which using a methodology will enhance a developer's job performance. If, however, a benefit of using a methodology is different than increased job performance, then limiting the definition of perceived usefulness to beliefs surrounding job performance may provide an incomplete representation of what makes a methodology useful to developers. A methodology may be perceived as a rational process, used to achieve objectives such as increasing job performance or as a political process used to achieve objectives particular to one person or group. In order to determine what makes a methodology useful to developers, the perceived usefulness construct was expanded to include benefits of methodology use related toward achieving political objectives. In addition to broadening the perceived usefulness construct, this research also broke down perceived usefulness into its referent dimensions. Decomposing perceived usefulness provided a deeper understanding of what makes a methodology useful to developers and revealed the relative importance of each dimension of perceived usefulness. The study surveyed 120 developers. Partial least squares regression was used to test the antecedents of developer attitude as well as the hypothesized structure of perceived usefulness. Results indicate that developers will have more favorable attitudes toward methodologies they perceive as useful, easy to use, and consistent with the way they like to develop systems. Additionally, findings suggest that developers may find methodologies not only useful for achieving rational goals such as increasing system quality, raising productivity, and enhancing communication, but also useful for achieving political goals such as increasing career opportunities, showing others that professional development practices are being used, reducing anxiety, and defending against unreasonable user demands. / Ph. D.

A lack of knowledge about the usefulness of a field experience component within the associate principal preparation program for assistant principals drove this study. The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the beliefs of system leaders and past participants regarding the usefulness of the field experience component and to examine archival end-of-course survey data from past participants. Constructivism and adult learning theory constituted the conceptual framework. Twelve leaders who were participants or administrators of the program within a large mid-Atlantic school district in the United States were participants. Qualitative data sources included interviews and archival data from the associate principal preparation program. A combination of descriptive and in vivo coding was used to support interpretive analysis. Results indicated the most useful components of the principal preparation program were the experiential nature of the program, opportunity for reflective thinking for participants, benefits of mentoring throughout the field experience, and empowerment felt by participants as they practiced skills learned during the field experience in their first year as principals. Recommendations based on these findings included a lengthened field experience and greater focus on the criteria used to match aspiring principals with mentor principals. Participants also noted fiscal and human capital resources were needed. A related recommendation could be to extend the field experience over 2 years to provide opportunities for associate principals to participate in experiences in the beginning and end of the school year in addition to the middle of the school year experiences provided. This research could provide support for districts interested in assessing the usefulness of their principal preparation programs.

The ever-evolving information technology gives users more opportunities, but also put higher demands on them. The digital agenda of the state and society clarifies the objectives and effects academic libraries’ development. E-books influence the development of organizational, economic, legal and political perspectives.   At the University Library in Gävle work is ongoing. The process is controlled by the acquisition policy which makes it clear that e-books should be purchased if possible. By offering e-books including textbooks it expands the availability for student demands. It is one of University Libraries fundamental tasks.   The curiosity about how this work is received by students is the purpose of this thesis and addresses the questions concerning what affects students' acceptance, perception, attitude and usage of e-books in studies at the University of Gävle?   Through an online questionnaire based on a theoretical foundation developed to be used in tests of new information technology, Technology Acceptance Model, students' perceptions of e-books is mapped. Important variables are perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use which influence the attitude, the intention to use and actual use.   The thesis concluded that students accept e-books as a supplement to printed books. The factor students’ value as most important is availability and that it is easy to find. The main goal of students' reading is to gain access to required literature of the course and perceived usefulness of e-books is primarily to its being available which affects studying and learning.

Debugging is a very time-consuming activity for programmers. Although the number of proposed debugging tools is large, the number of tools that are actually adopted by practitioners and used during development of software is less than one may expect. Many believe that one reason for the situation is that it is hard to estimate whether the implementation efforts of proposed debugging tools or approaches are worth the gain. The first goal of this thesis is to propose a methodology for the evaluation of usefulness of debugging tools. To provide an exemplary usage of the methodology, a study of usefulness of typical debugging tools for development of operating systems is conducted. Secondly, the thesis also explores and documents further aspects of how programmers debug software. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)