Structure strategy use in children\u27s comprehension of expository texts

This study reviewed a body of literature largely written between the mid 1970s and 1990s that was concerned with the rhetorical structure of written expository text and its relationship to memory and comprehension. This dissertation follows from an argument that the earlier research often confused memory and comprehension and that it was limited in its attempt to clarify the relationship between text structure and reading comprehension. The current study sought to provide a fuller description of the manner in which schoolchildren of different ages and abilities employ rhetorical structure in the comprehension process. In contrast to the earlier research this study makes a distinction between the top-level structure of a text and the structure of the reader’s meaning. It sought to discover what, if any, was the relationship between the structure of the reader’s comprehension and the top-level structure of the text, the educational stage of the reader, and the reading comprehension ability of the reader. A sample of 229 schoolchildren from Years 5, 7, and 9, and further subdivided by reading ability, was given a task of reading three passages and carrying out an underlining task to identify the seven sentences in each passage that best captured the its overall meaning. The three passages employed were natural passages of text, each approximately 700 words in length, and each with a different top-level structure. Minor adjustments were made in respect of vocabulary and sentence length to match the different age groups within the sample. Each participant’s sentence selections were analysed for a collective structure in an effort to discover any structure employed by the reader in constructing the meaning of the respective text. The effectiveness of structure usage was measured by the degree of coherence captured by the sentence selections. As might be expected, good readers and older children generally performed the task more successfully and effectively than poorer and younger readers. The results indicated, contrary to a common assumption of the earlier research, that the structures employed by the participants reflected two different and distinct categories: content structures which selected information based on association and rhetorical structures based on logical argument. It was subsequently considered that semantic information might be relatively more influential in using content structure whereas syntax might play the more significant role in the use of rhetorical structure. The more able readers generally maximised coherence by combining rhetorical and content structures in the construction of meaning except where a passage was limited to description only. There was a complex relationship between the structure of the text and the structure of the reader’s meaning that reflected a constructivist explanation of reading comprehension. It was found that whilst many children of all ages and ability had a capacity to recognise the various content and rhetorical structures regardless of their relative complexity, that effective use was related to practice. Other factors that might complicate structure strategy use in reading comprehension were identified

The perceptual qualities of concrete : a change in paradigm

La recherche porte sur la perception de qualité des artefacts en béton, et ce depuis la perspective disciplinaire du design industriel. Afin de documenter et examiner les applications et perceptions contemporaines de ce matériau, nous nous attardons à l’évolution des technologies du béton en termes de recettes, techniques de mise en forme, usages, ainsi que ses différentes appréciations. Une revue de littérature a permis de formuler la problématique et d’organiser les données recueillies afin de répondre à nos questions de recherche. Ainsi, nous avons identifié certains événements marquants ayant provoqué des développements importants dans l’évolution du béton. De plus, nous avons regroupé plusieurs témoignages illustrant différentes perceptions du matériau dans des contextes d’usages variés. Les résultats de la recherche ont été interprétés en mettant de l’avant une méthodologie qualitative de recherche. Nous avons également étudié une sélection d’artéfacts en béton à travers des observations empiriques non participatives ainsi que deux cas sélectionnés. Cependant, ce type de recherche à la première personne est influencé par l’auteure, ses expériences vécues, son bagage culturel ainsi que son regard disciplinaire. Ainsi, il était important de valider ces observations teintées par l’appréciation de l’auteure, et ce en triangulant les données avec celles regroupées de documents historiques, scientifiques, techniques et médiatiques. Plusieurs méthodes et outils analytiques ont été mobilisés afin d’organiser les résultats de la recherche. Des cartes chronologiques nous ont permis d’isoler et d’illustrer les étapes déterminantes ayant affecté l’histoire du béton (i.e. la découverte du ciment Portland, etc.). À des catégorisations, nous avons pu classer et comparer certaines données plus spécifiques aux recettes et applications du matériau (i.e. les bétons primitifs – modernes, les bétons structuraux – non-structuraux, etc.). Des cartographiques sémantiques nous ont permis d’interpréter les témoignages compilés des différentes perceptions du béton et ce en se basant sur une échelle sémantique bipolaire (i.e. le béton est laid – beau, le béton est froid – chaud, etc.). Enfin, nous nous sommes basés sur le cadre d’expériences de produits et matériaux (product and material experiences framework) proposé par Desmet et Hekkert (2007) afin d’interpréter les appréciations des artéfacts en béton recueillis à travers la revue de littérature ainsi que les observations empiriques à la première personne. La recherche montre que la perception de qualité du béton fait face à un dualisme qui oppose ses avantages techno-économiques avec son impact environnemental ainsi que la détérioration prématurée de sa surface. Malgré l’appréciation générale de sa versatilité, accessibilité et performance technique, une prise de conscience collective semble rendre les acteurs plus conscients de l’empreinte écologique résultant du cycle de vie du béton. De plus, la recherche démontre que les idéologies sont en train d’évoluer vers des pratiques et modes de vies plus durables malgré les habitudes de surconsommation de la société moderne. En mettant moins l’emphase sur la perfection superficielle, les designers sont de plus en plus motivés à trouver inspiration dans des pratiques plus sensibles et résilientes afin de trouver des solutions durables face aux enjeux urbains. Les dernières tendances révèlent l’émergence d’alternatives plus éco-responsables et innovantes comparées au béton traditionnel. Ainsi, nous trouvons des recettes de béton plus écologiques (i.e. substitution du ciment Portland avec des produits dérivés d’autres industries, etc.) ou des techniques de mise en forme plus optimisées afin de réduire les pertes en offrant un langage esthétique surprenant (i.e. impression 3D, etc.). Ces technologies donnent naissance à de nouvelles applications du béton dans différents domaines inattendus en dehors de l’architecture et de l’ingénierie (i.e. design de produits, art, cinématographie, etc.). La recherche met en lumière changement de paradigme quant à la perception de qualité du béton qui semble être entrainé par la migration des idéologies sociétales vers un modèle qui trouve de la valeur et de la beauté dans les imperfections. Ainsi, des acteurs semblent de plus en plus apprécier le béton avec ses imperfections naturelles, et ont tendance à plus vouloir préserver les artéfacts vieillissants.The research investigates the quality perceptions of concrete artifacts from an industrial design standpoint. In order to document and examine how the material is being used and perceived nowadays, the study looks into the evolution of concrete technologies including its recipes, manufacturing techniques, and uses, as well as its appraisals. A literature review helped us understand the problem field and organize the data amassed in order to find answers to our research questions. We were thus able to identify the critical milestones that triggered change throughout concrete’s historical evolution, as well as gather different testimonies of its perceptions within various contexts. Qualitative research methods were used to interpret our findings. We validated the data based on selected cases as well as non-participatory empirical observations of urban concrete artifacts from a first-person view. This method is influenced by the author’s lived experiences, cultural background, and disciplinary gaze. Therefore, it was necessary to complement the author’s interpretation by triangulating the data retrieved with information gathered from historical, scientific, technical, and mediatic literature. The results were organized and analyzed using various analytical tools and methods. Timeline mappings were used to isolate and illustrate critical milestones triggering change and important developments (e.g. the discovery of Portland Cement, etc.). Categorizations helped us clarify and compare the data gathered to provide a more specific overview of concrete recipes and uses (e.g. primitive – modern concretes, structural – non-structural recipes, etc.). Semantic mappings allowed us to interpret the complied testimonies on how concrete artifacts are perceived in addition to helping us isolate semantic qualities within a bipolar semantic space (e.g. concrete is ugly – beautiful, concrete is cold – warm, etc.). Lastly, a product and material experiences framework (Desmet & Hekkert, 2007) was used to interpret concrete artifacts’ appraisals as found within the testimonies retrieved, in addition to the first-person empirical observations. The research revealed that concrete’s quality perception is facing a dualism which draws attention to its ecological footprint as well as its surface’s premature deterioration with time. Although many seem to appreciate the material’s versatility, accessibility, and structural performance, the dualism can be partially attributed to the evolving collective consciousness which makes actors more aware of concrete’s environmental impacts across its lifecycle. The study thus showed that, despite modern society’s production and consumption habits which focus on the superficial perfection of the material world, ideologies are seen to be evolving and are increasingly interested in more sustainable practices and lifestyles. This can help motivate designers to seek inspiration from emotionally-durable and resilient principles, thus allowing them to better address urban challenges. The latest trends revealed new concrete mixes (e.g. substitution of Portland Cement with by-products of other industries, etc.) and manufacturing techniques (e.g. 3D-printing, etc.) which can offer eco-friendly and innovative alternatives to traditional concrete productions. These emerging solutions are seen to pave the way for unexpected applications in various fields (e.g., product design, art, cinematography, etc.), thus attracting other disciplines beyond engineering and architecture. The changing paradigm in the perception of concrete artifacts shows that value and beauty are not always associated with superficial perfection. In fact, more and more actors are found to reject premature obsolescence by embracing materials’ natural and imperfect behavior as they age with time

Control, Communication, and the Voice of the Leader. A Control-Character Analysis of the 2016 US Presidential Debate

In the current research, we showed the strongest parts and the clouds of the speeches of the 2016 presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. A communication control analysis of this type could reveal the role control-characters play in assessing the performance of the actors of political communication. We also concluded that people want to be controlled in an easy but still total way. To make people think that there is a man who is able to do this: it was Donald Trump’s greatest asset. He was able to utter up to 37% more assertions than his opponent, clearly stressed the boundaries between ‘Us’ and ‘They’, and showed greater integrative complexity and objective control. As the result of our peculiar and detailed linguistic analyses, control direction and thematic role tests show that Trump was a man of ‘know’, ‘say’ and ‘take’, while Clinton was full of ‘think’ and ‘want.

The Great Discrepancy: Political Action, Sustainable Development and Ecological Communication

The term ‘sustainable development’ was coined to denote a political goal some 40 years ago; debates about sustainability date back considerably further. These debates reflect the growing awareness of the destructive effects of human activities on the natural foundations of life. Numerous initiatives have been launched to trigger a turnaround, with the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs being the latest attempt. However, substantial progress has been rather limited thus far. This discrepancy is the subject of the article. Starting from a historical overview of sustainability politics, the argument develops in three steps. First, it is shown that conventional conceptions to promote environmental change fall short in depicting the broader societal context. To provide a comprehensive picture of the challenges related to transformation processes, a theory of the functional differentiation of societies is presented in a second step. A systems theory perspective offers a convincing theoretical explication of the problem. Third, this approach is scrutinized with regard to the political system and the politics of sustainability. The key finding is that the specific functional logics of the different social subsystems must be taken into account when analysing sustainable development and the discrepancy between the aims and ambitions of (global) environmental policy and the visible consequences. On the one hand, the functional differentiation of modern society guarantees its high degree of effectiveness and flexibility. On the other hand, implementing fundamental change, such as a transition towards sustainability, is not simply a question of strategy or of political willingness and steering. Rather, there is a need for more elaborate explanatory instruments. As a result, we argue for a linking of theories of sustainable development and advanced social theory

Feat: A Facebook Extraction And Analysis Toolkit

Social media usage has become mainstream. According to a recent study done by Edison Research in 2016, 78% of the U.S. population has a social media profile [8]. The number of active Facebook users is over one billion. In addition, 71% of adults use Facebook, which is the target of this thesis. Because Facebook is so widely used, it is also a popular medium for those wanting to promote their products and ideas, including presidential candidates. Many researchers have extracted data from social media sites, including Facebook, to predict the outcome of elections, to predict election turnout by political party, and to determine voter opinions. This thesis will discuss the development and use of a suite of tools for gathering and analyzing data collected from the social media site, Facebook. Although the suite of tools can be used to collect data from any public Facebook site, this thesis will specifically focus on using the tools to extract data from the pages of presidential candidates. In addition to extracting Facebook data and storing the data in a database, tools in the suite can be used to analyze and visualize the collected data

Contemplating climate change: Changing the culture of climate

Contemplating Climate Change is a proposed physical exhibit that intends to achieve the following goal: by exposing the public to the history surrounding air and water toxicity events, in addition to the history of greenhouse gas emissions, the exhibit will inspire people to believe in the reality of climate change and spur them to action. The information will be presented in the special exhibit space of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) beginning the first week in January of 2021. The physical exhibit is intended to run for two years. Utilizing the digitization and mapping technology already in possession of the NMNH, Contemplating Climate Change will also be available online as a virtual tour. All images and artifacts included in this proposal have either been approved for use via the institution, paid for with subscription, or fall under the Fair Use doctrine of the United States which allows the use of copyrighted material for the intent of educational progress in nonprofit institutions such as Southern New Hampshire University and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. Newspapers.com makes newspapers available for the purpose of historical research, which is the intention of their inclusion within this paper. According to Getty images, their work can be included in this project stating, “Through the use of images, you can illustrate a concept, prove a point or inspire others to make their own works. Copyright law allows for creative expression in the classroom, and understanding that law can make it easier to share your ideas.” (Author abstract)Clay, H. (2019). Contemplating climate change: Changing the culture of climate. Retrieved from http://academicarchive.snhu.eduMaster ArtsHistoryCollege of Online and Continuing Educatio