22,839 research outputs found
Meaningfulness, the unsaid and translatability. Instead of an introduction
The present paper opens this topical issue on translation techniques by drawing a theoretical basis for the discussion of translational issues in a linguistic perspective. In order to forward an audience- oriented definition of translation, I will describe different forms of linguistic variability, highlighting how they present different difficulties to translators, with an emphasis on the semantic and communicative complexity that a source text can exhibit. The problem is then further discussed through a comparison between Quine's radically holistic position and the translatability principle supported by such semanticists as Katz. General translatability — at the expense of additional complexity — is eventually proposed as a possible synthesis of this debate. In describing the meaningfulness levels of source texts through Hjelmslevian semiotics, and his semiotic hierarchy in particular, the paper attempts to go beyond denotative semiotic, and reframe some translational issues in a connotative semiotic and metasemiotic perspective
A Substruction Approach to Assessing the Theoretical Validity of Measures
Background
Validity is about the logic, meaningfulness, and evidence used to defend inferences made when interpreting results. Substruction is a heuristic or process that visually represent the hierarchical structure between theory and measures. Purpose
To describe substruction as a method for assessing the toretical validity of research measures. Methods
Using Fawcett\u27s Conceptual-Theoretical-Empirical Structure. an exemplar is presented of substruction from the Individual and Family Self-Management Theory to the Striving to be strong study concepts and empirical measures. Results
Substruction tables display evidence supporting theoretical validity of the instruments used in the study. Conclusion
A high degree of congruence between theory and measure is critical to support the validity of the theory and to support attributions made about moderating, mediating, causal relationships, and intervention effects
Investigating the relationship between social support and durable return to work
The aim of the current study was to investigate the relationship between social support and durable return to work (RTW) post occupational injury. A total of 1,179 questionnaires were posted to clients previously receiving vocational rehabilitation services from the Return to Work Assist program in Queensland, Australia. Participants were asked to indicate their current RTW status, in addition to completing questionnaires measuring their relationship with their superior, relationships with colleagues, and social support external to the workplace. The statistical analysis included 110 participants. An ANOVA indicated that participants in the RTW group reported significantly better relationships with their superiors and colleagues than participants in the non-durable RTW group. No significant differences were observed between the RTW, non-durable RTW and no RTW groups on a measure of social support external to the workplace. Although the findings were limited by the low response rate, an evaluation of demographics indicated the respondents were representative of the original target sample. The findings suggested that providing support in the workplace is an important area for intervention and may be a means of increasing durable RTW outcomes.</jats:p
Reframing Literacy in Adult ESL Programs: Making the case for the inclusion of identity
Adult ESL programs in the Australian context are heavily influenced by neo-liberal notions of functional literacy and numeracy. This paper argues that such notions, designed to enable the learner to function within the workplace or community can fail to acknowledge the complexity of ESL program participation for adult learners. This may be considered especially so for pre-literate learners from refugee backgrounds who have low or minimal levels of literacy in their own language and are hence negotiating a new skill set, a new culture and arguably a new sense of identity. This paper is based on research which points to the need to position the learning of literacy and numeracy in the ESL context as a social and educational journey made meaningful by a learner's sense of (emerging) identity. In this context a holistic, socially orientated understanding of their learning and their progress is preferable to an approach which views and evaluates learners against preconceived functional literacy skills. The participants in this study were people of refugee background from Africa with minimal literacy skills
Teachers’ opinions on quality criteria for Competency Assessment Programs
Quality control policies towards Dutch vocational schools have changed dramatically because the government questioned examination quality. Schools must now demonstrate assessment quality to a new Examination Quality Center. Since teachers often design assessments, they must be involved in quality issues. This study therefore explores teachers’ opinions on assessment quality evaluation criteria. Pre-vocational and vocational teachers (N=211) responded to a questionnaire. Contrary to expectations, results show that teachers deem classical and competency-based quality criteria equally important. Vocational teachers gave higher importance scores than pre-vocational teachers, possibly due to the pressure they experience to improve the quality of their assessments
Development of an Assessment of Student Conception of the Nature of Science
This article describes a study in which a series of general education and introductory science courses were assessed using a Likert-scale instrument. As universities across the country have begun to make changes in their science curricula, especially with regards to non-science majors, assessment of courses and curricula has lagged behind implementation. The Likert-scale instrument, Attitudes and Conceptions in Science (ACS), provides a means by which faculty can determine the partial effectiveness of introductory and general education science courses. The established validity and reliability of this test suggests that its use in a variety of courses could allow identification of specific teaching methods, content, or other course characteristics that promote scientific literacy. Educational levels: Graduate or professional
The automation design advisor tool (ADAT): Development and validation of a model‐based tool to support flight deck automation design for nextgen operations
NextGen aviation will require an even greater reliance on automation than current‐day operations. Therefore, systems with problems in human–automation interaction must be identified and resolved early, well before they are introduced into operation. This paper describes a research and software development effort to build a prototype automation design advisor tool (ADAT) for flight deck automation. This tool uses models of human performance to identify perceptual, cognitive, and action‐related inefficiencies in the design of flight management systems. Aviation designers can use the tool to evaluate and compare potential flight deck automation designs and to identify potential human–automation interaction concerns. Designers can compare different flight management systems in terms of specific features and their ability to support pilot performance. ADAT provides specific, research‐based guidance for resolving problematic design issues. It was specifically designed to be flexible enough for both current‐day technologies and revolutionary NextGen designs. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/92456/1/20389_ftp.pd
Facticity as the amount of self-descriptive information in a data set
Using the theory of Kolmogorov complexity the notion of facticity {\phi}(x)
of a string is defined as the amount of self-descriptive information it
contains. It is proved that (under reasonable assumptions: the existence of an
empty machine and the availability of a faithful index) facticity is definite,
i.e. random strings have facticity 0 and for compressible strings 0 < {\phi}(x)
< 1/2 |x| + O(1). Consequently facticity measures the tension in a data set
between structural and ad-hoc information objectively. For binary strings there
is a so-called facticity threshold that is dependent on their entropy. Strings
with facticty above this threshold have no optimal stochastic model and are
essentially computational. The shape of the facticty versus entropy plot
coincides with the well-known sawtooth curves observed in complex systems. The
notion of factic processes is discussed. This approach overcomes problems with
earlier proposals to use two-part code to define the meaningfulness or
usefulness of a data set.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure
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