NCube/papyrus huggingface dataset:
Innovations pédagogiques et culture disciplinaire en enseignement supérieur

This qualitative research focuses on educational innovations utilized at the University of Montreal in the context of disciplinary cultures. The research aimed to study the pedagogical innovation, understood as teaching in ways that are different from the  traditional practice of lecture course, proposed by teachers in a university strongly committed to research. It seemed useful to supplement existing knowledge in this not much explored area, especially when we know that educational innovations have not yet been studied at the University of Montreal from the perspective of the disciplinary culture. From a social point of view, the relevance of this research lies in the framework of the valorization of higher education as required as much by the politics, institutions, society and teachers and, beyond, it invites the rebalancing of the two essential pillars of the universities focused on research that suggest a marked dichotomous relationship between teaching and research.  Two methods of data gathering were privileged: semi-structured individual interviews and a group interview among thirty-two faculty laureates of the award of Excellence in Teaching from the University of Montreal. For this research we used grounded theory as a method of analysis of data collected by other approaches. In other words, we wanted to use grounded theory as a data analysis "process" (Paillé, 1994, p. 149) with the aim to deepen the object of our search beyond the simple descriptive analysis without professing for an advanced theory.  Firstly, our results allowed us to inventory pedagogical innovations utilized at the University of Montreal and draw an updated portrait of their innovators. We have also explored the reasons which bring the faculty to innovate, described the necessary process to pedagogical innovation and explained the restraints opposing it. Secondly, our results enumerate the differences in terms of teaching matter, field research and emphasize the relationship of the discipline to innovation as the criterion for its involvement. Lastly, our results reveal the existence of a shared pedagogical expertise at the University of Montreal which helps breaking the solitude of faculty members through peer support and promotes transferability of educational innovations from a culture of discipline to another.  Finally, we present an updated theory of the parameters constituting a pedagogical innovation and detail the new parameters that influence the construction of a pedagogical innovation. We conclude this thesis with recommendations and avenues of research.

Keyphrases: SoTL, Pedagogical innovation, Culture of discipline, Higher education
Construction et validation de filtres de recherche bibliographique pour soutenir la prise de décisions basée sur les évidences : le cas de la sécurité des patients

Optimized bibliographic search filters are designed to facilitate information retrieval in bibliographic databases, which are almost always the most abundant source of scientific evidence. The purpose of such filters is to support evidence-based decision making. Many of the filters available in the literature are methodological search filters. To reach their full potential they need to be combined with subject filters that identify studies covering a particular topic. In the field of patient safety, it has been demonstrated that deficiencies in the information retrieval process can lead to tragic consequences. Optimized bibliographic search filters covering the field could thus be very useful.  This study is intended to provide subject bibliographic search filters optimized for the field of patient safety, assess their validity, and offer a guide for developing optimized bibliographic search filters.  We propose high-performing bibliographic search filters to retrieve papers dealing with patient safety in health care organizations, that have been explicitly defined as relevant to the patient safety field by their authors, in Medline, Embase and CINAHL. The main generalization issue lies in defining the boundaries of the patient safety field.

Keyphrases: Medline, Embase, CINAHL, Validation, Bibliographic databases, Search filters, Information storage and retrieval, Literature review, Evidence-based medicine, Medline, Embase, CINAHL, Validity, Patient safety
Latéralisation hémisphérique et lecture : l’utilisation de l’information visuelle disponible en
reconnaissance de mots par chaque hémisphère cérébral

In this thesis, we investigate the cerebral hemispheres’ ability to use the available visual information for word recognition in lateral periphery. It is generally acknowledged that the left hemisphere (LH) is more able at reading than the right (RH). Accordingly, the visuoperceptual mechanisms of the brain for word recognition are primarily localized in the LH (Cohen, Martinaud, Lemer et al., 2003). As normal readers use medium spatial frequencies (about 2,5 – 3 cycles per degree of visual angle) to recognize words, it is possible that the LH is better tuned for processing these spatial frequencies than the RH (Fiset, Gosselin, Blais et Arguin, 2006). Furthermore, studies concerned with reading abilities in the cerebral hemispheres commonly present words in visual periphery. However, the effect of visual eccentricity on word recognition is thought to be unequal between hemifields, notably because the first letter in a word usually carries the most information for its accurate identification. It is also the most eccentric letter when a word is presented in the LVF, which may cause a negative bias for the identification of words presented to the LVF regardless of the actual reading capacities of the RH. The main objective of the first study is to determine the spatial frequency tuning functions of the LH and RH for word recognition. The goal of our second study is to explore letter identification biases for words presented to the left and right visual fields as a function of eccentricity by varying the information value of letter positions. Firstly, we discover that the spatial frequency tuning of both hemispheres is globally similar, even though the LH requires less visual information than the RH to reach the same level of performance. Surprisingly however, the RH requires higher spatial frequencies to identify longer words. Secondly, we find that for LVF displays, the first letter, i.e. the most eccentric, is among the most accurately identified, even when it has a greater information value. This argues against the hypothesis that letter eccentricity exerts a negative bias for words presented to the LVF.  Interestingly, our findings also suggest a lexical-specific processing strategy.

Keyphrases: reading, word recognition, spatial frequencies, information value, visual eccentricity, hemispheric lateralization, hemispheric specialization, lexical processing
L’orientation mentale maternelle : relation avec le développement du langage et de la théorie de l’esprit chez les enfants de 2 à 4 ans

Studies on mind-mindedness (MM), which is an indication of parents’ inclination to conceive and treat their child as an independent individual with an autonomous and active mental life (Meins, 1997), have grown in interest because of the associations found with children’s developmental areas, such as with 20-month-olds’ acquisition of linguistic style and with preschoolers’ theory of mind development (ToM) (e.g., Meins & Fernyhough, 1999). Despite these results, studies on expressive vocabulary and earlier ToM stages were neglected in this literature.  This thesis is composed of three empirical articles and aims to fill the gaps in the current literature. The first paper aims to examine the longitudinal links between maternal MM and children’s expressive vocabulary at 2 years of age. The second and third articles aim to evaluate the prospective relations between maternal MM, children’s attachment security and 2-year-olds’ first articulations of ToM understanding, and 2 years later, with 4-year-olds’ ToM understanding.   The data of the three articles was collected from five home visits made with 84 mother-infant dyads. At 12 months, maternal MM was measured during mother-child free plays with Meins et al. (2001) coding scheme. At 15 months, children’s attachment security was measured with the Attachment Q-Sort (Waters & Deane, 1985) by a research assistant. At 2 years of age, mothers were asked to complete the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory (Dionne, Tremblay, Boivin, Laplante, & Pérusse, 2003) to measure their child’s expressive vocabulary. Finally, children’s ToM was assessed with different experimental tasks at 2 and 4 years of age (Carlson, Mandell, & Williams, 2004). Results of the first paper suggested that maternal MM is related to children’s expressive language at 2 years of age. Results of the second and third papers proposed that 2- and 4-year-olds’ understanding on ToM tasks is associated with maternal MM. Furthermore, results from these two articles showed that more securely attached boys, but not girls, performed better on a task requiring comprehension of their mothers’ visual perspective at 2 years of age and of a stranger’s visual perspective at 4 years of age. In conclusion, results of this thesis suggest that mothers more inclined to use mental comments at 12 months have children that acquire more words in their expressive vocabulary at 2 years of age and who show a better understanding on ToM tasks at 2 and 4 years of age.

Keyphrases: Maternal mind-mindedness, Attachment security, Expressive language development, Theory of mind
La relation d’activation père-enfant, les problèmes intériorisés et l’anxiété chez les enfants d’âge préscolaire

The father-child activation relationship is a new theorization of a child’s attachment to the father, which emphasizes the «exploration» pole. This relation begins during the second year of life and especially develops through physical play. The activation relationship primarily focuses on the child’s openness to the world, and enables the father to respond specifically to the child’s need to be stimulated and to overcome personal limits, in turn satisfying the child’s need for emotional security. The main goal of this thesis is to study the links between the activation to the father and the socio-affective development of the child at preschool age, more specifically in terms of internalising disorders (IDs) and anxiety. This thesis is made up of two empirical articles. The first one used a convenience sample of 51 father-child dyads. Analyses demonstrated the existence of the anticipated link between underactivation and IDs: underactivated children had significantly more IDs than activated children. Furthermore, the association between activation scores and IDs was significant after controlling for variables such as the child’s gender and temperament, as well as parental behaviour. The more positively activated children were in their relationship with their father, the fewer internalising disorders they displayed. The exploration of links between the activation relationship and ID subscales revealed a unique connection to anxiety. The second article was based on a sample of 49 families from a clinical population (i.e. child psychiatry department). This study is the first to explore the relationship between activation to the father, attachment to the mother and child anxiety at preschool age. Analyses confirmed the results already established in the literature about attachment to the mother and anxiety; insecure children, more specifically insecure-ambivalent and insecure-disorganized-controlling caregiving, present with more anxiety. Hypotheses about the links between anxiety and activation were not confirmed. Finally, a moderation effect of the father-child activation relationship on the association between attachment to the mother and child anxiety is demonstrated; the activation relationship can be considered a protective or risk factor. Results of the present thesis are discussed in terms of attachment theory, using two etiological models of anxiety (i.e. developmental psychopathology and evolutionist models). This thesis can lead to the development of prevention and intervention programs, which would take into account both parental figures.

Keyphrases: Activation relationship, Attachment relationship, Preschool, Anxiety, Internalizing disorders, Moderation, Father
La multiculturalité de la société des peuples : éthique et géopolitique d'une utopie réaliste : le cas de l'Afrique

The publishing of A Theory of Justice by John Rawls in 1971 brought a new impetus to political philosophy. Several comments and critical analyses of this book have thus provided food for thought on the issue of social justice in its application on a world scale. In this book, the author has demonstrated, among other things, that liberal democracy allows citizens with different conceptions of good – whether religious, philosophical or moral – often incompatible and irreconcilable, to have, otherwise, a political conception of moral rectitude and justice as the foundation of the basic structure of their society. This allows to support the political and social unity of this basic structure on a rational and reasonable basis. Subsequently, in his book The Law of Peoples, Rawls presented another project, that of extending that concept to the “Society of Peoples” which, for him, is an idealization of the regrouping of those people who respect the ideals and principles of the Law of peoples in their mutual relations, the “Law of peoples” being, for him, a particular political conception of moral rectitude and justice that is applicable to principles and standards of international law and customs. This project, as Rawls called it himself, is a realistic utopia.  Based on the latter as an excuse, our study is in keeping with a particular field of research in political philosophy – namely, the ethics of international relations. It is intended as a contribution to the development of a normative reflection on the fundamental principles of justice in the international order as it is found in the institutions that still embody it nowadays – such as the United Nations Organization – and on the consequences of that order in the integration of the countries of the African region of the Great Lakes. This raises questions such as: What changes does the rawlsian utopia bring to the current world order? Are its principles the basis for an ethic susceptible of improving international relations? What would be the role of African countries, particularly those of the Great Lakes, in the world order inherent in this project?  The answers to these questions determine what could be considered the ethics of global democratic governance and the structures which embody it.

Keyphrases: John Rawls, Society of Peoples, Law of Peoples, Ethics of International relationes, African Countries of Great Lakes, Africa, Global democratic governance
Key Agreement Against Quantum Adversaries

Key agreement is a cryptographic scenario between two legitimate parties, who need to establish a common secret key over a public authenticated channel, and an eavesdropper who intercepts all their messages in order to learn the secret.  We consider query complexity in which we count only the number of evaluations (queries) of a given black-box function, and classical communication channels.  Ralph Merkle provided the first unclassified scheme for secure communications over insecure channels. When legitimate parties are willing to ask O(N) queries for some parameter N, any classical eavesdropper needs Omega(N^2) queries before being able to learn their secret, which is is optimal. However, a quantum eavesdropper can break this scheme in O(N) queries. Furthermore, it was conjectured that any scheme, in which legitimate parties are classical, could be broken in O(N) quantum queries.  In this thesis, we introduce protocols à la Merkle that fall into two categories. When legitimate parties are restricted to use classical computers, we offer the first secure classical scheme. It requires Omega(N^{13/12}) queries of a quantum eavesdropper to learn the secret.  We give another protocol having security of Omega(N^{7/6}) queries.  Furthermore, for any k>= 2, we introduce a classical protocol in which legitimate parties establish a secret in O(N) queries while the optimal quantum eavesdropping strategy requires Theta(N^{1/2+k/{k+1}}) queries, approaching Theta(N^{3/2}) when k increases.  When legitimate parties are provided with quantum computers, we present two quantum protocols improving on the best known scheme before this work. Furthermore, for any k>= 2, we give a quantum protocol in which legitimate parties establish a secret in O(N) queries while the optimal quantum eavesdropping strategy requires Theta(N^{1+{k}/{k+1}})} queries, approaching Theta(N^{2}) when k increases.

Keyphrases: Bornes, Oracle, Cryptography, Quantum, Algorithms, Lower, Bound
La production et la diffusion des céramiques utilitaires de style à bandes à Argilos et dans le nord de l'Égée aux périodes archaïque et classique

This research aims to shed light on the production and diffusion of the Waveline pottery made in the Northern Aegean during the Archaic and Classical periods. It is based on the study of unpublished finds recovered from seven Greek colonies established between the Strymon River and the Gulf of Maronea, and six sites of the Thracian hinterland. More specifically, it seeks to gather information regarding workshops, trading networks, and consumption habits through typo-stylistical, distribution, and archaeometric analyses. The primary goal of this study is the detailed analysis of the finds according to their stratigraphic contexts in order to define the range of shapes, stylistic patterns, and clay fabrics of the ceramic series, and to establish diffusion patterns and chronology. A second objective, based on laboratory analysis, is to characterize the geochemical composition of 200 of the 540 identified vessels in order to determine their provenance (using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry). The corpus contains samples from Argilos, Thasos, Berge, and Phagres, four of the main sites covered by this study. The novelty of this research lies in the opportunity it provides for archaeologists to date and identify more precisely the origin of the North-Aegean waveline pottery, leading to direct impact on discussions related to workshops, trading networks, and inter-relationships between the studied sites. Considered from the perspective of circulation and exchange, the study of the Waveline pottery contributes to advancing knowledge on the economic, cultural, and social history of the Northern Aegean between the 7th and 4th centuries B.C.

Keyphrases: Argilos, Archaeology, Greece, Macedonia, Argilos, Archaic Period, Waveline pottery, Pottery craft, Trade, Provenance study, X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF)
Impact de l'art de la guerre napoléonien dans la seconde moitié du XIXe siècle

On June 18, 1815, Napoleon was defeated at the battle of Waterloo, but his revolutionary warfare survived long after he was gone, and it was put into application in many instances. Inspired by some of the most famous theoreticians of the XVIIIth century, he had favored the strategy of annihilation in the conduct of his military operations, and thus ranked among those strategists who were seeking decisive battles in order to destroy all enemy forces. Based on the strategy and tactics that the Emperor used in his most famous campaigns, this thesis will attempt to highlight the extent to which they were applied during the second half of the XIXth century. The conflicts analysed during this period of time will be the Crimean War (1853-1856), the Italian Campaign (1859), the american Civil War (1861-1865), the Austro-prussian War (1866) and the Franco-prussian War (1870-1871). This study will consider the impact of the advances of technology in the fields of weaponry, and means of transportation and communication, as well as the economic, financial, political and military contexts of the warring nations at that time. In the XIXth century, two military thinkers, Clausewitz and Jomini, emerged as the most notorious interpreters of napoleonic warfare. In the course of our analysis of Napoleon's methods in the above-mentionned conflicts, we will also try to determine the extent to which Jomini's vision of Bonaparte's campaigns differed from that of Clausewitz. We will then analyse Napoleon's infleunce in the administration, organisation and marches of the armies involved in the selected wars, and will pay particular attention to the impact of his warfare on specific aspects of the battles themselves. The final analysis will outline the lessons that the military in the long run drew from Napoleon's campaigns.

Keyphrases: Napoleon I, Annihilation strategy, Offensive tactics, Russia, France, England, IItaly, United-States, Austria, Prussia
L'image entre réflexion et représentation. Aby Warburg et Walter Benjamin

After a long history of using the image as a basis for knowledge, the human mind began to examine its possibility as a critical tool. Thus, the multifaceted concept of image brings into focus two decisive theoretical positions developed at the end of 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th. Walter Benjamin’s critical essays and Aby Warburg’s studies on the history of art are considered to be the most influential academic works on the image as a concept. They take the form of series of diverse reflections on image as thought (Denkbild), afterlife (Nachleben), thought- space (Denkraum), and the representation of history (Geschichtsdarstellung). The following thesis explores the possibility of analyzing these notions both in terms of image proper and with regard to the multiple meanings that emerge from the “specter” of the image. In a historical sense, both Benjamin and Warburg were the first who attempted to define the image in a new perspective situating the image as a critical space where the history becomes visible. While Benjamin works with the paradigm of “thinking” in order to position the image (Denkbild), Warburg suggests an esthetical link between history and image (Denkraum and Nachleben). Inasmuch as the image simultaneously entails the act of imaging, representation, and history, the very primary impetus of the image is historical thought. The transposition of the German Bild into the Latin imago leads to a mystery zone where temporality itself becomes an issue; in this context, the benjaminian concept of “constellation” describes the alchemy of representation as a historical (in)stance conveying a vision of the world. In conclusion, in taking into consideration the multiple nature of image, this thesis examines the role of the imaginary in the contemporary world in conjunction with human historical meaning.

Keyphrases: thought-image, history, survival, Bild, Denkbild, Denkraum, Nachleben