93 research outputs found
Integrating new assessment strategies into mathematics classrooms: an exploratory study in Singapore primary and secondary schools
No full textEducational researchers and practitioners have in recent years paid mounting attention to the importance of new assessment (or the so-called alternative assessment) strategies in Mathematics instruction to better reflect the new desired educational goals and shifted values in education. However, research is wanting in this area, particularly in Singapore's educational setting. This project seeks to investigate the influence of using new assessment strategies in Mathematics teaching and learning on students' achievements, in both the cognitive and affective domains, in our local school settings. A quasi-experimental study with about 15-20 teachers at primary and lower secondary levels will be carried out to assess the impact of using a variety of strategies (e.g., projects, journal writing, oral presentation, performance tasks, student self-assessment, classroom observation and interview, etc.) for three school semesters on students' learning. The project will also look into issues concerning how to use new assessment strategies effectively in classrooms in local schools. For this purpose, data will be collected from classroom observation, interviews with teachers and students, and questionnaire surveys. It is hoped that the project will provide research-based evidence and practical suggestions for promoting the effective use of alternative assessment in Singapore Mathematics classrooms. <br/
Self-improvement books: A genre analysis
No full textThe aim of the thesis is to explore the characteristics of self-improvement books as a genre. Although self-improvement books are a widely read genre, particularly in the Western world, none to my knowledge has examined the linguistic features of this genre in detail.
The thesis draws on the three main schools of genre theory: English for Specific Purposes, Systemic Functional Linguistics, and the New Rhetoric, and begins by investigating the sections (e.g., acknowledgement, introduction chapter) in self-improvement books and the typicality of the sections. Focusing on three sections: introduction chapters, body chapters, and about the author sections, the thesis examines how authors structure the sections by analysing the moves and steps. This study also examines the stories in self-improvement books by analysing the purpose of the stories and their structure. Stories were chosen because they seemed to be a feature of self-improvement books based on my observation and as suggested by interview data. To analyse self-improvement books at a register level, the thesis examines the most unambiguous aspects of engagement: personal pronouns focusing on you, imperative clauses, and questions. It also examines the lexicogrammatical features of self-improvement book titles and compares them to the titles of historical biographies, showing that imperative clauses and ing-clause are found only in self-improvement book titles. Drawing on interview data and literature on the American Dream, American individualism, Neoliberalism, and New Age beliefs, the thesis explains how the linguistic characteristics of the genre of self-improvement books reflect these ideologies.
The dataset for the study is 40 self-improvement books, selected on the basis of a set of criteria that I developed. Subsets were selected from the main dataset for specific analyses. The text analysis part of the study is supplemented by interview data from specialist informants, who come from three categories: readers of the genre, non-readers of the genre, and authors of the genre.
Move analysis identifies obligatory rhetorical moves and indicates that the main purposes of introduction chapters and about the author sections are persuading readers to read the book, and establishing credibility, respectively. Authors always persuade readers to read their books by listing reasons to read them. To demonstrate authors’ credibility, they refer to their areas of expertise. Unlike the introduction chapters and about the author sections, the body chapters have more than one obligatory rhetorical move. The body chapters present the problem that readers potentially experience, present the authors’ message, recommend practical applications, and encourage readers to apply them. From a genre perspective, the purpose of all the stories in my analysis is to illustrate the authors’ message.
Register analysis, and drawing on interview data, suggests that authors use the personal pronoun you, imperative clauses, and questions to engage readers. The abundance of the personal pronoun you suggests that self-improvement books are a reader-oriented genre. The analysis of the imperative clauses using Halliday’s process types suggests that the main way to improve our lives, the authors recommend, is to change how we think.
Finally, my thesis shows that the social purpose of self-improvement books is to help potential readers improve their lives, and the approach of improving one’s life has an individualistic orientation
Cognitive preferences and achievement in mathematics
No full textThis thesis was scanned from the print manuscript for digital preservation and is copyright the author.
Researchers can access this thesis by asking their local university, institution or public library to
make a request on their behalf. Monash staff and postgraduate students can use the link in the References field
Volatility asymmetry in exchange rate returns
No full textThis thesis was scanned from the print manuscript for digital preservation and is copyright the author.
Researchers can access this thesis by asking their local university, institution or public library to
make a request on their behalf. Monash staff and postgraduate students can use the link in the References field
Reading difficulties of primary one pupils in a neighbourhood school
No full textThis study examined the reading difficulties of Primary One pupils in a neighbourhood school in Singapore. Only one Primary class (N=37) in a neighbourhood school was used because the author was only given access to that class.Master of Arts (Applied Psychology
Distinct region of the granulocyte colony-stimulating factor receptor mediates proliferative signaling through activation of Janus kinase 2 and p44/42 mitogen-activated protein kinase
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A comparative study of slope failure prediction using logistic regression, support vector machine and least square support vector machine models
No full textDesign, synthesis and evaluation of C-terminal heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) modulators as anticancer agents
No full textThis thesis describes C-terminal heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) modulators as
potential anticancer agents. The McAlpine lab developed two molecules SM145 and
SM122, which both bind between the N and middle domain of Hsp90 and allosterically
modulate the C-terminus. SM145 and SM122 disrupt Hsp90's protein folding function as
well as the interactions between co-chaperones and the C-terminus of Hsp90. Unlike
current Hsp90 inhibitors, these molecules also inhibit Hsp90 without inducing the
problematic cell rescue response.
Chapter 2 describes the synthesis and structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies
of SM145. Two new Hsp90 inhibitors were identified during these studies: 12 and 23,
where both of these compounds contained a single thiazolyl side chain. The author
designed and synthesized these molecules, and they were made using a method that allowed
them to be produced in significantly improved yields over SM145. They also had much
greater solubility, and approximately 2-fold greater potency than SM145. Mechanistic
studies of these derivatives have validated Hsp90 as a potential target. Both 12 and 23
effectively suppressed Hsp90's function by disrupting the C-terminus chaperone function
without inducing the cell rescue response.
Chapter 3 describes the synthesis of five derivatives where an N-methylation scan
was performed at a different position around the 23 backbone. Backbone N-methylation
was also undertaken on seven other derivatives that also incorporated two thiazolyl
moieties, versus 23, which only has one thiazolyl moiety. N-methylation introduced a
conformational impact on cyclic peptides, and impacted cytotoxicity.
Chapter 4 describes the tumor selectivity between two classes of Hsp90 inhibitors,
N-terminal inhibitor (AUY922) and C-terminal modulators (12 and 23) in cancer versus
normal cells. Comparison of both inhibitor classes revealed that 12 and 23 bound
preferentially to Hsp90 from tumor cells, selectively induce apoptosis and client protein
degradation that are associated with Hsp90 inhibition in cancer cells versus normal cells,
while AUY922 failed to demonstrate differential selectivity for cancer over normal cells.
Chapter 5 describes the synthesis and Hsp90 inhibitory effect of SM-based dimeric
inhibitors of Hsp90. The results revealed that the dimerized molecules are more effective
than the monomeric inhibitor for inhibiting the binding interactions between Hsp90 and it s
co-chaperones
Characterization of electrodeposited nanocrystalline cobalt-iron coating with different iron content
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