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Teacher autonomy in college English classrooms in China: teachers' attitudes and practices
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 284-303.Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Literature review and research questions -- Chapter 3. Methodology -- Chapter 4. Context of teaching -- Chapter 5. Teacher attitudes -- Chapter 6. Group one : less autonomous teachers -- Chapter 7. Group two : moderately autonomous teachers -- Chapter 8. Group three : more autonomous teachers -- Chapter 9. Discussion -- Chapter 10. Conclusions and implications -- References -- Appendices.Autonomy is widely acknowledged as a necessary capability of the language learner and a prominent goal for successful language teaching (Benson, 2011; Holec, 1981; Lee, 1998; Little, 1999; Smith, 2008). Little (1995) claims explicitly that learner autonomy depends on teacher autonomy. Benson and Huang (2008) also observe that research on autonomy is in a transition from a focus on foreign language learning to foreign language teaching. However, most previous studies on teacher autonomy were from a theoretical perspective, so they lacked empirical evidence from practice in language classrooms. In China, College English is a compulsory course in most of the public universities, and its teaching is under strict control of accountability and national policy. This context provides an excellent lens to observe how teacher autonomy functions in such classrooms. Therefore, this study took a Chinese public university as a case to investigate teacher autonomy in College English classrooms. The case study focused on the following four research questions: 1) What are Chinese College English teachers' attitudes toward learner and teacher autonomy in their work? ; 2) What are CE teachers' practices in their classrooms? ; 3) Do their teaching practices align with their attitudes toward autonomy? ; 4) What does teacher autonomy mean in the context of CE teaching in China?To address these research questions, semi-structured interviews were utilised to understand teachers' attitudes toward autonomy. In addition, classroom observation was conducted to investigate participants' teaching practices, and stimulated recall protocols were adopted to interpret teachers' understanding of their practice. Fourteen College English teachers in the case university participated in this two-month study. Interviews, selected video clips of classroom observations and stimulated recall interviews were transcribed and analysed qualitatively. As a result, three themes emerged: context of teaching, teachers' attitudes toward autonomy, and their classroom practices.Three main findings were as follows. Firstly, the fourteen participants could be categorized into three groups based on their varied attitudes toward teacher and learner autonomy in their work. They were the less autonomous group, moderately autonomous group, and more autonomous group. Second, the comparisons of classroom observation and semi-structured interviews revealed that participants' teaching practices were consistent with their attitudes toward autonomy. Thirdly, a learner-centred pedagogy with improvisational teaching practices and rich learner-supportive interactions was the main demonstration of teacher autonomy in language classrooms in which the institutional, instructional, and physical contexts were not so autonomy-friendly.In conclusion, the findings contribute empirical evidence to supporting the theory of teacher autonomy. In addition, the findings also suggest that the more autonomous teachers should be role models for other teachers to pursue a more flexible and positive attitude toward autonomy, a more improvisational teaching method for learner-supportive purposes, and a more learner-centred pedagogy in EFL education even under contextual constraints. Finally, the study calls for more systematic and individualized professional education or development programs for EFL teachers in China to promote their autonomy.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (xiv, 347 pages) diagrams, table
We were not designed to ask questions: the owned female body in posthuman young adult literature
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 67-70.Introduction -- Toward an integrated theoretical framework -- The owned body -- Performativity as resistance, performativity as survival -- Reclaiming the own body -- Conclusion.This thesis investigates how the subjective agency of posthuman female characters within young adult fiction is influenced by the knowledge that they are owned by someone or something else. It focuses on five young adult novels with posthuman themes: Eva by Peter Dickinson, Cinder by Marissa Meyer, The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna, Starters by Lissa Price, and Only Ever Yours by Louise O'Neill. This thesis employs a theoretical framework that draws on posthumanism, feminism, children's literature criticism and girlhood studies. It investigates the ways in which these owned young women utilise their subjugated bodies as forms of rebellion, by employing performativity and in the act of escape. It also suggests that the repression of these young women foreshadows a new kind of exploitation in which thinking and feeling posthumans are denied the right to agency and identity. Ultimately, this thesis concludes that these texts fail to uphold the feminist outlooks they purport to endorse. Instead, they perpetuate patriarchal power structures that exist in the real world. Given young adult fiction's socialising ideological agenda, this thesis suggests that these texts ultimately reinforce dominant social power dynamics and reinscribe patriarchal power structures that teenage readers experience in their own lives1 online resource (70 pages
Developing a predictive framework for structure fire through an activity theory lens
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 52-59Chapter 1 - Introduction -- Chapter 2 - Literature Review -- Chapter 3 - Methodology -- Chapter 4 - Analysis, Results and Findings -- Chapter 5 - Discussion -- Chapter 6 - Conclusion, Reflection and Future Direction.When a house fire occurs it does not discriminate, it consumes all in its path taking life, injuring,destroying property and damaging the environment which is why firefighters throughout the world are on standby ready to respond.But what if we could identify where a fire was more likely to occur and do something about it before it happened?After a review of current literature, I have identified a research gap in this domain and after undertaking an analysis of sample data I am proposing a concept of Dynamic Predictive Analytics where real time inputs into an Information System could model fire risks which can then be used to inform resource deployment decisions.The direct contribution of this research aims to use predictive analytics to decrease the response time to fire-fighting to reduce its devastating impact on its victims. The indirect contribution is to enable the identification of at risk communities for the delivery of fire safety education through which risks, loss of life and economic costs could be minimised.1 online resource (x,64 pages) illustration
Stimulating online consumer engagement for social marketing messages within social media networks
No full textThesis by publication.Includes bibliographical references.Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Stimulating electronic word-of-mouth for social marketing messages on social media : a conceptual framework -- Chapter 3. Do incentives encourage or discourage consumer engagement behaviour on social media -- Chapter 4. How consumers' characteristics, personality traits and involvement affect consumer engagement behaviour and intention on social media -- Chapter 5. Thesis conclusion -- Appendices.Using social media as an interactive platform to communicate with and engage consumers about product and brand-related information is one of the most effective promotional strategies employed by today's successful organisations (Ashley & Tuten, 2015; Yang et al., 2016). Governments, commercial organisations and NGOs working in the areas of public health and social marketing are taking advantage of the benefits social media marketing offers. Exponential diffusion across geographical borders, time and cost-effectiveness, customised messaging and effective audience targeting are among many of social media advantages (Dobele, Toleman, & Beverland, 2005; Woerndl et al., 2008). Organisations that positively engage consumers online benefit from the power of consumers as independent sources co-creating value by generating electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) and reacting to content by liking, commenting, tagging and sharing messages (Barger, Peltier & Schultz, 2016; Wolny & Mueller 2013).Despite growing attention, few studies look into the factors driving consumers to engage in social media, especially with regards to social marketing messages promoting behaviour change. Exploring what prompts consumers to react and engage with social marketing messages is even more crucial, as social marketing offerings typically promote challenging social, behavioural and lifestyle changes, which are usually intangible, invisible and considered as unappealing or unpleasant by many consumers. To stimulate consumer online engagement and to encourage e-WOM for social marketing messages, social marketers need to employ effective strategies by designing appealing and valuable offerings, crafting persuasive messages, and using appropriate incentives which enhance individuals' extrinsic motivations and do not come into conflict with their intrinsic motivations.This thesis contains three papers written for publication and investigates key factors stimulating online consumer engagement for social marketing messages within social media networks. Among the marketing factors examined, the three papers focus on how different types of incentives interact with consumers' extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Based on existing literature (e.g. Dubé, Xueming & Zheng, 2017; Gneezy, Meier & Rey-Biel, 2011; Jin & Huang 2014), the current thesis argues and empirically demonstrates that offering incentives, especially monetary rewards, negatively affects consumer motivation and reduces consumer engagement. Paper 1 proposes a conceptual framework identifying product type and message content as independent factors, incentives and the online context as moderators, with consumer motivation as a mediator influencing e-WOM. Paper 2, through a series of laboratory and field experiments on Facebook, empirically examines the effects of different types of incentives (monetary and non-monetary) and message appeals (fear, informative, promotion-focused and prevention-focused) on online consumer engagement behaviour for health-related social marketing messages (smoking and alcohol consumption). Paper 3 extends the empirical research and investigates the role of individual factors such as regulatory focus, personality and involvement on both consumer engagement behaviour and intention for health messages.Thesis results indicate that fear advertisements outperform informative advertisements and promotion-focused advertisements outperform those that are prevention-focused. With some exceptions, where incentives encourage some types of Facebook activities, overall results show that publicly offered incentives demotivate and reduce total consumer engagement behaviour for health-related social marketing messages. This research finds significant main effects for both incentives and message appeals, as well as significant interaction effects between incentives and message appeals for almost all types of engagement (i.e. likes, comments, shares, total engagement) in the two field experiments. Taking into account individuals' personality traits, extroverts are significantly more likely to engage given a non-monetary incentive while introverts engage more offered a monetary incentive. Results suggest promotion-focus and extroversion as significant drivers of online engagement and e-WOM intention. With regards to the positive impacts of high product involvement on consumer engagement suggested in existing literature, this research shows that product type matters. Although regular smokers are significantly more likely to engage with the smoking ads, individuals who classify themselves as heavy drinkers are not more likely to engage with the alcohol ads.By shedding light on key factors facilitating online consumer engagement, the findings enable social marketers and activists in health industries to better engage consumers, raise public awareness and promote behaviour change. This research also proposes some significant insights into the influence of individual characteristics, namely regulatory focus, personality and involvement, assisting in more effective audience segmentation, and selection, tailored messaging and thus more successful targeting.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (284 pages) colour illustration
Deportations: an inquest into the mass-movements of conquered peoples in the Neo-Assyrian Empire
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 78-82.1. Introduction -- 2. The catagorisation of forced migrations -- 3. Deportations and the Assyrian imperial motivations -- 4. The conquered and the conqueror -- 5. ConclusionThe Assyrian textual and iconographic sources, including the Bible, depict the deportations undertaken by the Assyrian kings during the Neo-Assyrian period (900-612 BCE), and their violent nature in moving and displacing the conquered peoples. The Assyrian Royal Inscriptions and the palace wall reliefs point to the uprooting of mass quantities of people from their homeland followed by settling them against their will in new lands. Evidence in other textual sources such as the letters of the Assyrian bureaucracy, known as the Administrative Letters, indicate a different treatment towards 'deportees', which appears to have been more friendly, favourable and sympathetic, where the 'conqueror' demonstrates consideration and concern for the wellbeing and fate of the deportees. The lenient treatment towards deportees may have been because of a need for the migration of people to places requiring development and enhancement. The deportation policy practised by the Assyrian Empire can also be considered under contemporary definitions of forced migration. A comparison against recent forced migrations and the displacement of people may indicate similar motivations and intentions.This research will investigate and discuss the imperial motivations which possibly caused the mass-deportations as well as the exchange of population in the Neo-Assyrian Empire. These motivations are likely to have played a significant role behind the rationale for the treatment of the deportees during the different stages of the deportation process.1 online resource (82 pages) illustrations, map
Charcoal preservation and fire history in floodplain wetlands: problems and prospects
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: page 52-61.Chapter 1 Thesis introduction -- Chapter 2 Review of fire history and environmental research in wetlands -- Chapter 3 Using charcoal and environmental proxies to understand fire history and wetland conditions in the Macquarie Marshes -- Chapter 4 Conclusion.Fire plays an important role in floodplain wetlands, and wetland ecosystems respond dynamically in space and time to flooding, fire and geomorphological processes. Fire-climate-hydrology-vegetation interactions are complex and a multifaceted approach is required to understand and interpret fire history. This study investigated the use of macro-charcoal to interpret palaeo-fire regimes in the Macquarie Marshes. Sentinel Hotspot satellite data showed that Buckiinguy Swamp experienced 33 ignition points from 2002-2016, whereas Willancorah Swamp experienced 6 ignition points in this period. Macro-charcoal in contemporary sediment from Buckiinguy was used to estimate fluvial charcoal supply from upstream (13.5±3.2no. cm-3). Despite taking account of fluvial inputs, macro-charcoal in sediment profiles from both wetlands was highly variable. Buckiinguy had macro-charcoal up to 90 no. cm-3 in the upper 40 cm (mean charcoal accumulation rate; CHAR 0.55 cm-2a-1), and Willancorah had up to 450 no. cm-3 in the upper 60 cm (CHAR 3.75 cm-2a-1). Sedimentology, geochemistry, and carbon stable isotopes (δ13C range -15 to -25 ‰) were similar in both wetlands and quite uniform with depth. When combined with charcoal records, these proxies cannot be used with confidence to reconstruct local fire regimes.Water and wetland management could benefit from future palaeo-fire research if sufficient spatial and temporal assessment of fire and wetland conditions can be achieved.1 online resource (vi, 70 pages) illustration
Discovery of proteins and pathways contributing to TDP-43-mediated neurodegeneration in a novel transgenic mouse model of disease
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 225-236.1. Introduction -- 2. Study topic and claims -- 3. Methods and materials -- 4. Results -- 5. Discussion.Motor neuron disease (MND)/amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is an incurable and fatal neurodegenerative disease caused by progressive loss of motor neurons controlling movement. The main pathology exhibited by 97% of ALS cases is the aggregation of the RNA/DNA-binding protein TDP-43 within the cytoplasm of affected neurons. Although ALS pathology is characterised by TDP-43 accumulation, it is not understood how this dysfunction causes disease, meaning that it has not been possible to design disease-modifying therapeutics. To combat this issue, a new transgenic mouse model was created to develop the disease as presented in humans which exhibits both pathology as well as a disease phenotype very similar to human ALS. Using the new transgenic mouse model, a large-scale advanced quantitative mass spectrometry (SWATH-MS) study was performed to discover the protein changes involved in TDP-43-mediated pathogenesis. Mass spectrometry results were analysed using several methods ranging from singular protein analysis (Uniprot), to comprehensive analyses (Ingenuity Pathway Analysis). Quantitative immunoblotting and immunofluorescence was used to validate mass spectrometry results. Identified the proteins and pathways which changed during disease course within NLS TDP-43 mice model of ALS. Two key proteins, COQ9 and IMA3, which are involved in known mechanisms of ALS pathogenesis were validated using immunoblotting. In addition, the canonical pathways, upstream regulators and biological function involved in rNLS TDP-43 pathology were comprehensively identified. This study provides important insights into TDP-43-mediated ALS neurodegeneration.1 online resource (265 pages
How do professionals collaborate in the face of uncertainty?: An investigation into the complexities of mental health care
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 86-94.Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Uncertain about uncertainty: a scoping review -- Chapter 3. Methods: study one -- Chapter 4. Uncertainties reported and explored -- Chapter 5. How do mental health care professionals collaborate when they are uncertain? a systematic review -- Chapter 6. Methods: study 2 - a social network approach -- Chapter 7. Findings: social network analysis -- Chapter 8. Conclusions and reflections: collaboration, uncertainty and mental health care.Professional uncertainty is ubiquitous across health care settings, yet it may be managed by the sharing of information through effective interprofessional collaboration. Professional uncertainty is particularly prominent in mental health care; however, the literature lacks a consistent categorisation of the types of uncertainty in this context.The aim of this thesis was to identify the types of uncertainty experienced by professionals working in mental health, and evaluate how professionals collaborate in these situations. The research was conducted in two youth mental health 'headspace' centres in Australia. Two literature reviews and an exploratory two-stage mixed-methods design were employed. Study 1 used semi-structured interviews and Study 2, a social network survey. Statistical, thematic and social network analyses were employed to analyse the data. Findings revealed distinct types of professional uncertainty in mental health care related to: decisions, professional role, and external factors. In the face of these uncertainties, health care professionals collaborated across professional bounds, however, the degree of connectedness and who colleagues sought for support varied depending on the type of uncertainty. Specifically, collaboration during professional role uncertainty was sparse, indicating that the mere co-location of professionals may not always lead to cohesive interprofessional working. This suggests the need to do more to engender professional collaboration (rather than just co-location). Research must continue to identify situations of sparse collaborative patterns, such as role uncertainty, in order to develop interventions to improve interprofessional teams in navigating these complex situations. The findings of this research are directly applicable to headspace centres, and can be extrapolated to other services that aim for integrated, collaborative care.1 online resource (xiii, 132 pages
Determining the self-diffusion coefficient of iron under mantle conditions
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 45-47.1. Introduction -- 2. Experimental methods -- 3. Results -- 4. Discussion -- 5. Concludions.Diffusion is one of the key processes that allows material to move around, it is a controlling factor both of planetary formation and of deformation. This study focuses on self - diffusion of fcc phase iron . Here a laser heated diamond anvil cells were used to generate the high pressures and temperatures, simulating mantle conditions. Iron self - diffusion was measured at 43.6 GPa at both 2100 K and 2000 K, giving diffusion coefficient measurements of 1.46x10 - 14 m 2 /s - 1 at 2100 K and 9.92x10 - 14 m 2 /s - 1 at 2000 K. These diffusion coefficients were then plotted along with existing data at lower pressures against three different diffusion models, to see whether the models include reasonable assumptions and are accurate at predicting the diffusion of iron at high temperatures. All three of the models consistently underestimated the diffusion coefficient at higher pressures by at least two orders of magnitude . One of the models was recalculated using new values for activation volume (1.43 cm 3 /mol) and activation energy (431 kJ/mol), the model now reliably predicts the diffusion coefficient of iron at high pressures.1 online resource (vii, 47 pages) illustration
Social foraging and exploitative behaviour in group-living crab spiders
No full textCotutule thesis in conjuction with the Faculty of Mathematics, Informatics and Natural Science, Department of Biology, Universität Hamburg.Thesis by publication.Includes bibliographical references.1. General introduction -- 2. Extended maternal care and offspring interactions in the subsocial Australian crab spider Xysticus bimaculatus -- 3. Advantages of social foraging in crab spiders: groups capture more and larger prey despite the absence of a web -- 4. Producers and scroungers: feeding-type composition changes with group size in a socially foraging spider -- 5. Stable cooperation among social predators: female defectors are outplayed by male providers -- 6. General discussion -- Appendix 1. Social network structure in group-feeding spiders.When animals live and forage in groups, the food discoveries made by a few are usually shared among many individuals. Food sharing can improve the per-capita foraging success of group members, but competition over food resources may adversely reduce the payoff return. Moreover, in the absence of mechanisms that reinforce the cooperative nature of group foraging, some group members (scroungers) may exploit the efforts of food-procuring individuals (producers), leading to unequal reward distributions on the individual level. By investigating the cooperative and exploitative ways in which individuals interact when foraging in groups, studies on social foraging assess the interplay between advantages and disadvantages to group foraging - but the existing research mostly concerns non-predatory species. However, the costs that predators avoid by scrounging from the prey laboriously subdued by others, and thus the payoffs reaped from this defective tactic, should be particularly substantial. In consequence, the evolution and maintenance of group foraging - and more generally of group living - in social predators will be severely challenged by the rise of exploitative foraging behaviour. In this thesis, I study social foraging and exploitative behaviour using Australia's group-living, subsocial crab spiders as a predatory model system, in particular the species Australomisidia ergandros and furthermore Australomisidia socialis and Xysticus bimaculatus. Since these crab spiders do not build capture webs, but nonetheless attack and feed communally in offspring groups, insights gained from this study system may be projected on many other social carnivorous species. I conducted an array of laboratory foraging experiments to investigate the common pros and cons of foraging as a group at the level of species, the effects of group size and group composition on exploitative foraging behaviour at the level of groups within species, and the existence and determinants of individual specialisation in social foraging tactic at the level of individuals within groups. On the level of species, my results indicate that group formation and group retention in subsocial crab spiders are driven by competition-reducing advantages associated with maternal provisioning beyond the nutritional independence of young - and later, in offspring groups, by enhanced predatory success in groups as compared to solitary individuals. I thus disprove the presumption that non-webbuilding spiders which live in groups do not enjoy foraging benefits of grouping owing to the absence of a large communal capture web. Further, this suggests that group foraging in crab spiders is based on the same principles that promote social living as cooperatively hunting vertebrates. On group level, I provide novel empirical support for a relevant prediction of social foraging models: in A. ergandros, I demonstrate that the extent of scrounging increases with group size, mediated via shifts in the ratio of tactic-specialised producers to scroungers. Given tactic specialisation, negative frequency dependent selection is thought to limit the spread of the scrounger type, because that tactic only promises high rewards as long as producers are common. Accordingly, I show that A. ergandros scroungers adhere to their defective strategy by not sharing food in groups of their own, consequently suffering negative fitness payoffs. The tactic of producers, on the other hand, seems to be remarkably adaptive to group composition. In this respect, inherent producers are here shown to receive food shares from other producers. On individual level, I finally reveal that the evidently cooperative tendency to procure and share food is sex-dependent in A. ergandros, with males acting as providers. Based on my findings, I suggest an explanatory framework for the evolution and maintenance of group living and cooperative group foraging in social predators despite the temptation to exploit.1 online resource (92 pages : illustrations, maps