Recently, young children’s educational behavior has become a popular topic for researchers seeking to help develop their skills and abilities in a pleasurable manner. Lately, we have seen the emergence of several communicational units that include powerful and advanced technologies, such as mobile devices. In fact, according to a CISCO report, ‘in 2012 the numbers of mobile-connected devices in circulation are greater than the number of people on earth. By 2016 there will be 1.4 mobile devices per capita, and there will be over 10 billion mobile-connected devices, including (M2M) modules, exceeding the world's population at that time (7.3 billion)’ [1]. In this thesis, we introduce a mobile-based edutainment system called ‘Tap and Learn’ that targets young children and aim to assist them in developing their learning abilities and social communication skills. The Tap and Learn system allows children to learn about new objects and entities in their environments by simply tapping over them with a RFID-mounted smart phone which responds by producing a set of multimedia feedback that aims to foster their learning skills in an entertaining manner. The M-learning system does not require y special tools or environments to be operated and required minimal literacy levels. In addition,, the system enable the parents to participate in their children's learning by allowing them to personalize the learning material and the media content of the games so they suit their children's cognitive level and their learning wants.

Maternal smoking during pregnancy has often been associated with numerous adverse outcomes for the offspring. However, its long-term effects are not well established. Given the high prevalence of maternal smoking during pregnancy, an understanding of these effects is essential. Therefore, the aim of the present dissertation was to shed light on the long-term neurophysiological effects of prenatal nicotine exposure on three different executive functioning processes by assessing participants in young adulthood, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Participants imaged were members of the Ottawa Prenatal Prospective Study, a longitudinal study that collected a unique body of information on participants from infancy to young adulthood, which allowed for the measurement of an unprecedented number of potentially confounding drug exposure variables. The dissertation consists of three separate original manuscripts. In manuscript 1, participants completed a response inhibition task, in manuscript 2 participants completed a verbal working memory task and in manuscript 3 participants completed a visuospatial working memory task. Taken together, results from all three manuscripts showed that prenatal nicotine exposure leads to altered neural functioning during executive functioning processing that continues into young adulthood. These significant results highlight the need for education about the repercussions of women smoking during pregnancy.

Background: The health effects of sheesha smoking are not well addressed. Objective: To assess the association between sheesha tobacco smoking and gene expression pertinent to cancer. Methodology: Three linked studies were carried out: (1) investigation of gene expression in salivary cells before and after exposure to sheesha tobacco smoke in 15 participants; (2) a systematic review of the association between sheesha and cancer; and (3) a pilot survey to collect data on factors potentially relevant to the uptake and cessation of sheesha tobacco smoking. Results: In the short-term, sheesha smoking significantly reduced the expression of both xenobiotic metabolism genes and other genes known to have altered expression in tobacco related cancers in a range between 1.7 times and 55 times. The systematic review showed that sheesha may increase the risk of lung and esophageal cancers. The pilot survey identified misperceptions about safety, in line with other studies, an approach that could be used to investigate the characteristics of sheesha smokers on a larger scale, and specific issues to probe. Conclusion: High quality epidemiological evidence on long-term effects of sheesha smoking on cancer is lacking. However, sheesha smoking has short-term effects on the expression of genes known to be involved in tobacco-related cancers. This is of major concern given widespread misperceptions about the likely safety of sheesha tobacco smoking.

The purpose of this qualitative, grounded theory study was to explore the concept of food literacy as it relates to well-being from the perspective of young Canadian adults who recently transitioned to independent living. Seventeen individual, interviews were conducted with Canadian university students. Results suggest that while young adults value “healthy” eating, they are at risk for leaving their family homes lacking necessary food literacy required to make healthy food choices, sustain healthy food relationships and be well. Results suggest that significant challenges exist with regard to acquiring/utilizing food literacy, which appear to influence food choices, health and well-being. Findings indicate that young adults could benefit from expanding their views on food to encompass cultural and environmental knowledge. This thesis adds value to the existing literature by exploring the components of food literacy and connections to well-being.

This research explores the narratives told by five young adults aged 18 to 25 about their journeys of transitioning out of a large residential treatment facility into less structured settings, in Calgary, Alberta. Participants engaged in in-depth interviews designed to elicit storytelling regarding their time in care. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using a narrative lens, paying particular attention to the way participants told their stories. Three main storylines emerged from participants’ narratives, including; standardized approaches in residential care, multiple interpretations of what “independence” looks like, and life “after care”. The findings in this study raise questions about the over reliance on behaviour management models within residential care, the limited role of young people in planning and decision making, and restrictive indicators of “successful” transitions. These findings suggest the need for multiple treatment strategies and approaches that are responsive to individual needs and circumstances, especially when making the transition out of care. / Graduate

This study employed a cross case analysis research design to explore young elementary students’ task understanding and its relationship to learning. Participants included 13 grade two students. Research was incorporated into the regular activities of a second grade class. Students learned about animal lifecycles and completed an associated activity (task) about the frog lifecycle during five hour-long sessions. The Task Understanding Questionnaire (TUQ), targeting students’ perceptions of explicit (e.g., task requirements) and implicit (e.g., course concepts, task purpose) task features, was administered at the end of each session. Findings indicate young students’ task understanding accuracy varied. Students demonstrated strong, improved, and weak task perceptions. Task understanding was also associated with learning outcomes. For students with limited prior knowledge, accurate task understanding was related to successful learning. / Graduate

This thesis explores the ways in which the young mothers who participated in the online community of Girl-Mom.com were influenced by the dominant website discourses. Young mothers are positioned as deviant throughout time, with specific consequences related to notions of stratified reproduction. Girl-Mom.com exists within social relations of third wave feminism, and in the social context of cyberspace. Within this background, feminist post-structuralism is employed to read discussion forum posts to note how concepts of discourse, power and knowledge, subjectivity and resistance create discursive effects. The Girl-Mom discourse emerges as a major theme. The qualities of the Girl- Mom discourse enlist young mothers in their own emancipation and the creation of self- knowledge while invoking processes of normalization, regulation and discipline between members. In the process, motherhood is valued as a biological act in which women are revered for their reproductive capabilities, with different effects for racialized women. / Graduate / 0452 / leanne.gislason@gmail.com

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My research investigates young people's stories of sexual practice. I focus on the questions: How do young people construct their sexual practices and their use of `safer' sex and, in particular, how important are `conventional' notions of gender and heterosexuality in these constructions? To answer these questions I collected and transcribed in-depth interviews from 25 young people aged between 16 and 19 from schools and youth groups in a London borough. Using a discourse analytic approach (Edley and Wetherell 1997) I draw my analysis directly from the participants' talk and how they construct a sexual story rather than framing the analysis through assumptions of gender inequality. Previous feminist literature, and in particular that of Holland et al. (1998), suggests that sexual experiences are constructed predominantly through a 'traditional' framework of gender. In this literature masculinity is said to be dominant in the heterosexual relationship, whereas femininity is seen as collaborative and submissive. In my thesis I question whether young people construct their intimate experiences through such `conventional' gendered patterns of behaviour and heteronormative values. I suggest an alternative analysis of young people's sex talk through focusing on discursive scripts emerging from the data in three areas: diversity, time/life plan, and trust. I argue that these scripts, for example the time and life plan scripts, are important features of young people's talk about sexual practices and are used as justifications for the use or non-use of 'safer' sex. The participants' talk that I call the 'children-older-with-a-platform' life plan script legitimises the use of condoms and/or pill as a method of protecting their plan. The 'children-now' script is a justification for the non-use of 'safer' sex. My research concludes that there are diverse stories of intimate experiences told in certain contexts by young people that have not previously been noted by researchers.

This is an empirical study which a/ describes and evaluates the role of day centres with regard to young people with physical impairments aged between 16 and 30, b/ describes and evaluates the interactions between users and staff within the day centre environment, c/ outlines and assesses the level of user participation in the centres with reference to activities, the decision making process and control, and d/ suggests a set of policy recommendations which are applicable to both the service studied and day services generally for this user group. Four ideal types of day centre for the younger physically impaired are identified. All are criticised on the basis that they are inherently segregative, emphasize difference and perpetuate stigma. Within this context day centres are perceived as the 'dumping ground' for those people who are excluded, because of physical impairment, from the normal social and economic life of society. Empirical evidence to support this view is provided firstly by the overtly negative features of the general organization and admission policies of the system studied, secondly by the degree of social and economic disadvantage experienced by the users interviewed prior to day centre use, and thirdly by the manner in which they were similarly labelled and 'directed' toward the centres. I argue that day centre use reinforces disadvantage because a/ although helper/helped relations within the system are viewed positively by both users and staff, user participation and control of services is low and, b/ while the system provides a range of facilities which give many users a level of self determination unavailable in the community at large, its capacity to extend those experiences beyond the day centre boundary is limited to only a few. Consequently attendance for the majority will be long term. I list a number of recommendations, including the formulation of a national policy clarifying the role of day services for this user group, which might help to alleviate this problem. I conclude that present policies which successfully disable young people with impairments are no longer simply socially unacceptable. They are economically inept.