8 research outputs found
Meaning-making as a critical process in educational reform implementation: insights from the development of standards-based student growth objectives
No full textThis case study focused on the process through which educators make meaning of the purpose of developing student growth objectives (SGOs) as measures of teaching effectiveness in the first year (2013-2014) of the statewide rollout of the policy in New Jersey. During the same year, two other components of the comprehensive educational reform were launched - the teacher evaluation initiative (part of which is the development of SGOs) and the statewide implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). As educational reform implementation depends on educators’ meaning-making process, the study used a cognitive approach to the study of reform implementation, based on work by Spillane and colleagues (2000, 2002), and explored assumptions of a proposed theory of change, built around the policy’s officially stated outcomes. Data were collected in three separate rounds of interviews with seven 3rd grade teachers and three administrators. Questions addressed multiple aspects of the policy’s mandates, including the nature of collaborative practices, selection of appropriate assessments, and perceptions of the policy’s adequacy in providing valid measures to be used for teacher evaluation purposes. The findings show that teachers and administrators developed distinctly different implementation goals based on their interpretation of the policy’s purpose. Teachers approached the implementation process with the goal of showcasing their teaching talent and obtain high evaluation ratings. Administrators saw the SGO policy as means to boost students’ overall academic performance, and more specifically to improve outcomes on the state’s year-end test. Consistent with findings in other studies of policy implementation, educators adopted mostly form-based interpretations (Spillane and Callahan, 2000, Coburn, 2004) of needed changes. Although teachers and administrators used common language to describe implementation, the meanings they derived differed significantly. Educators also developed rudimentary function-based understandings of the policy’s intent which were suppressed by strong regulatory pressuresPh.D.Includes bibliographical referencesby Dessislava Gradinarova-Kirov
Adaptive E-learning Content Design and Delivery Based on Learning Styles and Knowledge Level
Get PDFACM Computing Classification System (1998): K.3.1, K.3.2.The possibility of adaptive learning content delivery in e-learning systems is one of the important factors for highly improving their
quality. Therefore, the application field of adaptive e-learning is relevant and significant. This article presents the main results of a PhD thesis examining various aspects of this area. The aim of the dissertation is to propose a model and a platform architecture of an adaptive e-learning system and a corresponding prototype to be designed, implemented and tested in experimental conditions. On one hand, the developed prototype will assist a learner in accessing and using learning resources which are adapted according to his/her personal characteristics (in this case his/her learning style and level of knowledge). On the other hand, it will facilitate the author of the learning content and course instructor in the creation of appropriate learning objects and applying them to the suitable pedagogical strategies.The work reported in this paper is supported by the ADOPTA project funded by the
Bulgarian National Science Fund under agreement no. D002/155
Weak commutativity and finiteness properties of groups
No full textWe consider the group X(G) obtained from G*G by forcing each element g in the first free factor to commute with the copy of g in the second free factor. Deceptively complicated finitely presented groups arise from this construction: X(G) is finitely presented if and only if G is finitely presented, but if F is a non-abelian free group of finite rank then X(F) has a subgroup of finite index whose third homology is not finitely generated511168180CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESP303350/2013-02016/05678-3The first author was supported in part by a Wolfson Research Merit Award from the Royal Society. The second author was supported in part by regular grant 2016/05678‐3 from FAPESP and ‘bolsa de produtividade em pesquisa’ 303350/2013‐0 CNPq, Brazi
Zeit für Gefühle. : Eine linguistische Analyse zur Emotionsthematisierung in deutschen Schlagern
No full textTime for Feelings. Linguistic analyses of emotional thematization in German pop musicThrough feelings, we are able to orient and adjust ourselves to the world around us. Expressing and discussing feelings thus becomes an inseparable component of our daily life. As a result, every cultural community has a complex of social rules for the emotions present in our inner life as well as those outwardly displayed and observable; emotions of both types are seen in texts and conversations.The present work adopts this psychological, sociological, philosophical and ethnological standpoint in its attempt to reveal the world of emotions via a linguistic approach. The material to be examined consists of German pop songs from the last three decades. These texts reflect various ways of verbalizing emotions, but may also assume the function of culturally molded ideals and patterns which subsequent emotional thematizations can conform to. The goal of the research is an analysis of the discursive means employed, as we seek to discover the principles by which emotions in a given text type are conceptualized, given the assumption that during verbalization certain aspects will be emphasized and others downtoned or even ignored.In pop songs, the situational context and the relevant text type invariably have a clear link to recurrent cultural knowledge. By presenting the situational scenario, and employing non-verbal indications of feeling and textual sequences that describe symptoms, and then linking them to formal language units such as emotional words, phrases and other trigger words, we can clearly observe the role of language as a medium for storing cultural knowledge, while simultaneously providing a means for interpreting and retaining personal experiences.It can further be noted that in these text types we find a selection of codified and conventionalized means of expression which admittedly must obey the traditional text patterns of pop, but which also permit it to adapt to the spirit of the times and allow the author a certain degree of freedom. Thus, tradition and the innovations of the times are combined, a fusion which calls into question the widespread belief in the sentimentality and banality of German pop music.</p
Regulation of differentiation-specific genes by the Drosophila RB, E2F, and Myb-interacting proteins complex (dREAM)
No full textRB and E2F proteins play important roles in the regulation of cell division, cell death and development, by controlling the expression of genes involved in these processes. The mechanisms of repression by pRB have been extensively studied at cell cycle regulated promoters. However, little is known about developmentally regulated E2F/RB genes. Here I have taken advantage of the simplicity of the E2F/RB pathway in flies, and inspected the regulation of differentiation-specific target genes. These genes are repressed by dE2F2/RBF and a recently identified RB-containing complex, dREAM, in a cell type- and cell cycle-independent manner. Two different types of activities are involved in their regulation. First, I find that dREAM employs histone deacetylase (HDAC) activities at promoter regions and that HDACs are required to maintain repression. Second, I find that the Polycomb Group (PcG) protein, Enhancer of zeste - E(Z), is involved in silencing of these genes through the di-methylation of histone H3 Lys27 at nucleosomes located downstream of the transcription start sites (TSS). While HDAC activity is also involved in the regulation of cell cycle dependent E2F transcription, E(Z) functions at differentiation-specific target genes only, indicating that the two groups of genes are regulated in a distinct manner. The differentiation-specific genes are also regulated differently from cell cycle-related E2F targets, in a way that they do not depend on E2F-activation. E2F/RB repression is maintained throughout the cell cycle. I demonstrated that the dREAM complex is required for dE2F2 binding at differentiation-specific, but not cell cycle-regulated E2F/RB target gene promoters. Especially, dREAM complex is necessary for dE2F2/RBF binding in S-phase. Taking together, my results demonstrate that dREAM plays a dual role in the regulation of differentiation-specific genes. dREAM complex is required for the stability of dE2F2/RBF complexes at these promoters during S-phase, and also for the repression mechanisms employed at these genes.Ph. D.Includes bibliographical referencesIncludes vitaby Hangnoh Le
Dialektelemente in deutscher und schwedischer Literatur und ihre Übersetzung [Elektronisk resurs] : von <em>Schelch</em> zu <em>eka</em>, von <em>ilsnedu</em> zu <em>bösartig</em>
No full textThe present study investigates the translation of dialectal elements in literary texts from the German and Swedish linguistical and cultural areas. Translation theory generally advises against the translation of dialectal elements in standard language texts thereby implicitly questioning their creative and communicative function. The aim of the study is to investigate to what extent the dialectal elements in the source text are translated by corresponding dialectal elements in the target text thereby promoting a "cultural transfer" or whether a translation method based on translation theory is used. The linguistic material from the novels Die Räuberbande by the German author Leonhard Frank, Tjärdalen by the Swedish author Sara Lidman and Kapten Nemos bibliotek by the Swedish author Per Olov Enquist is microanalyzed. In doing so, the phonetical-phonological, morphological and syntactical dialectal features in the three source texts are treated methodically and are exemplarily and systematically presented together with their translation variants in the target language. The study focuses mainly on the translations of dialectal lexicology, which is investigated according to its contrastive function regarding the translations of standard language, thereby examining its adequacy. By including all the dialectal lexemes appearing in the works and their translations empirical dates have been compiled as a result of the translation methods. The study´s analyses demonstrate that dialectal elements are mainly translated into standard language, that a large part of dialectisms is paraphrased and that a small part is rendered by spoken language without regional limits. A tendency towards increasing use of dialectal elements through the times can be detected as well as a propensity to adapt the translation to the stylistical preferences in the receiving country. Thus, "cultural transfer" is not promoted.</p
A multidisciplinary approach for post-COVID-19 disease prevention of the staff of the Medical University of Varna
Get PDFIntroduction: The changes in the working conditions of higher education staff during the pandemic caused difficulties in organizing the study process, which impacted both their physical and mental health.Aim: The dual aim of this article was to apply a set of multidisciplinary interventions targeting disease prevention and evaluate the effectiveness of the multidisciplinary approach for post-COVID-19 disease prevention of the staff the Medical University of Varna (MU-Varna).Materials and Methods: The surveyed group included all members of staff of MU-Varna (approx. 1500 people). Personalized survey questionnaires and standardized questionnaires were used. The applied methods were: descriptive statistics, non-parametric hypothesis tests, correlation analysis, etc.Results: The majority of the surveyed subjects (63.9%) used a computer for more than six hours a day for five working days. Those who did sports twice or three times a week were 39.8%.Moderate to severe anxiety was registered in 12.1% of the participants. More than half of the staff demonstrated a high degree of emotional exhaustion according to the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI).A total of 40 employees received occlusal splints for treating their bruxism. They reported reduced episodes of affect, anxiety, and fatigue.During eye examinations, the predominant eye conditions were presbyopia (62%) and dry eye syndrome (74%).Cosmetic therapies causing controlled micro trauma on the skin had a faster and broader spectrum impact on the so-called mascne.Conclusion: The project activities proved the effectiveness of the multidisciplinary approach for disease prevention and better quality of life of MU-Varna employees
