VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Two Teachers’ Changing Views and Practices through Implementation of Writer’s Workshop
Keywords: case study
professional learning communities
teacher development
writer's workshop
writing pedagogy

Researchers continue to examine strategies on delivering effective writing programs for students (Graham, MacArthur, Fitzgerald, 2007). The writer’s workshop has gained significant attention, due to its emphasis on process-oriented and authentic writing (Atwell, 1998). This study involved two elementary teachers initiating writer’s workshop in their classes. While one teacher had never used this approach, the other had only started using it recently. In order to support teachers in their implementation, the researcher facilitated Professional Learning Communities, which provided participants a venue to discuss articles related to writer’s workshop, as well as critically reflect on their teaching. The purpose of this study was to examine how teachers’ thoughts on writing, and views of their roles as writing teachers changed over the research period. Additionally, the researcher aimed to determine the factors which influenced these changes, including the unique school context in which the study took place. The study employed a qualitative case study design, and data was collected over a five month period through observations of teachers, weekly seminars, monthly PLC sessions, as well as from teachers’ conferences with students. The researcher found that over the research period, teachers’ views of writing and roles as writing teachers became more closely aligned with the writer’s workshop approach. Four factors influenced these changing views, including teachers’ willingness to make changes in their teaching, the notion of collaboration, the success of writer’s workshop, and the school context. The study is beneficial to the field of writing because it provides insight into the experiences of new writer’s workshop teachers. Additionally, the study has important implications for leaders who wish to carry out change initiatives in their schools, as it provides them with information on the factors that may support or negate their efforts.
High-performance Nonlinear Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting in Compressive Mode
Keywords: Energy harvesting
Force amplification
Low-power circuits
Nonlinear vibration
Piezoelectric
Smart material

With the rapid development of low-power electronic devices such as wireless sensor networks, wearable devices and medical implants, the need for long-lifespan and high-efficiency power sources has become more and more pressing. The commonly used electrochemical batteries cannot meet the demand due to their limited capacity, low energy density, and maintenance and disposal requirements, which has spurred interest in the vibration energy harvesting technique. Over the past decade, many endeavors have been undertaken to improve the performance of energy harvesters, especially those using piezoelectric materials. Piezoelectric energy harvesters (PEHs) however, are still in the laboratory stage and cannot be widely deployed in practice. The main blocking factors stem from their low power output and poor environmental adaptability. This thesis aims to explore new methods to improve energy harvester performance in terms of power output, frequency bandwidth and directional sensitivity. Specifically, by taking advantage of the nonlinear dynamics of thin beams and the compressive mode of piezoceramics, a high-performance compressive-mode piezoelectric energy harvester (HC-PEH) is proposed. A multi-stage force amplification mechanism is embedded into the coupling system, which significantly increases the voltage responses. Finite element analysis and analytical modeling are conducted to analyze the stress state, the force amplification effect and the nonlinear characteristics of the system. Prototypes are fabricated and tested . The experimental data, closely matched with the analytical estimations, demonstrates great performance enhancement. The bandwidth is effectively extended by the strong nonlinear responses. A maximum power 54.7 mW is generated under an acceleration of 4.9 m/s^2, which is about one order of magnitude higher than the state of the art. Furthermore, this study proposes a simple method to enhance the tailorability of energy harvesters by shifting the dynamic responses between the hardening and softening nonlinearity. To deal with the unidirectional sensitivity issue, a multi-directional compressive-mode piezoelectric energy harvester (MC-PEH) is developed. Theoretical and experimental studies demonstrate that the MC-PEH is capable of isotropically harnessing vibration energy from multiple directions. Apart from the structural aspect, new piezoelectric materials (PMN-PT PZN-PT) and interface circuits (SSHI) have also been investigated to improve the efficiency of whole energy harvesting systems.
Measuring Student Engagement Using Learning Management Systems
Keywords: academic analytics
learning analytics
learning management systems
LMS
online
student engagement

In less than two decades, learning management systems (LMS) have gone from being a rarity to having near-ubiquitous presence on Canadian college campuses. This wide-spread adoption of LMS technology has fundamentally changed the learning environment for today’s campus-based college student, yet there is a lack of research that investigates how students engage with the learning environments created by the prevalent use of these systems. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between campus-based students’ perceived level of engagement in LMS an online learning environment and their online behaviour as measured by log data for various LMS activities. Additionally, this study examined faculty members’ use of an LMS and the impact of that use on students’ engagement and students’ use of the LMS. The results of the analysis reveal no correlation between students’ online engagement as measured by the Student Engagement Questionnaire (SEQ) and frequency counts of LMS activities. Small correlations were found between students’ estimates of their LMS activity in discussion forums and their overall SEQ score. There was no difference in the mean SEQ score between groups of survey respondents based on faculty use of the LMS, but some differences in student estimates of their activity in discussion forums were found between student respondents grouped by age and gender.
Duties as Assigned: How Principals' Leadership Practices Influence their Vice-principals' Leadership Self-efficacy
Keywords: Leadership Practices
Principal
Self-efficacy
Vice-principal

This study examines the potentially critical role elementary school principals play in the leadership development of their vice-principals. A growing body of research supports the important role principals might assume in the leadership development of vice-principals. Reports from the field, however, indicate that the vice-principalship does not adequately prepare vice-principals to become school principals. This research attempts to resolve this apparent tension by asking: “How do principals’ leadership practices influence the leadership self-efficacy of elementary vice-principals?” Using self-efficacy as an indicator of vice-principals’ leadership development, this research examines the effects of specific leadership practices by elementary school principals (aligned with the four sources of self-efficacy: enactive mastery, vicarious experience, verbal feedback, and physiological states) on vice-principals’ leadership development in three domains: management, instructional leadership, and moral leadership. This study adopts a mixed methods, sequential explanatory, approach. An online survey of vice-principals in English school districts in Ontario was conducted. Then, 15 interviews of purposively selected participants (from the online survey) were completed based on the results of the initial phase of the research. The findings of the study illustrate a small but significant effect of principals’ leadership practices on vice-principals’ leadership self-efficacy. A strong relationship between principals’ leadership practices and vice-principals’ opportunities to lead within their schools suggests that principals’ leadership practices may also capture a certain style of leadership that is conducive to vice-principals’ leadership development. The qualitative phase of this research suggests that these elements are: autonomy, trust, collaboration, and respect. How these elements influence the working environment and relationship of vice-principals should be considered in future research. This research supports the importance of self-efficacy when considering leadership development in Ontario schools, both as a potential measure of leadership effectiveness and as a means of improving leadership performance in schools, particularly as formal school leadership influences school performance and student achievement.
The Internet and Childhood Immunizations in Canada
Keywords: Canadian parents
Immunization
Social media
Vaccine hesitancy

The Internet has been identified as a potential determinant in parental fears of immunization and subsequent sub-optimal immunization coverage. Facebook is the most popular social media (SM) platform in Canada, and as more people abandon landlines, this platform presents an opportunity for novel recruiting of vaccine hesitant (VH) parents. In this thesis, I investigate Facebook as a tool to recruit VH Canadian parents and examine the determinants of vaccine hesitancy among Canadian parents, including the influence of the Internet. The aims are to describe the methods in studying health behaviours via SM; investigate Facebook as a tool to recruit VH parents compared to Random digit dialing (RDD) methods and describe their determinants of vaccine hesitancy; quantify the association between seeking vaccination information online and parental perception of risk on childhood immunization; and assess the vaccination sentiments and themes in an unsolicited online debate on immunization. My systematic review revealed limited research using SM to study health behaviours and limitations in terms of representativeness and validity. Notwithstanding, SM was shown to be a useful tool in gathering data from targeted populations. I recruited Canadian parents by Facebook advertisements linked to an online survey on childhood immunization, and compared methodological parameters, key demographics, and vaccine hesitancy indicators to a population-based RDD sample of Canadian parents. Facebook recruitment yielded a large sample size within a short time period and at lower costs compared to RDD recruitment, and was superior in reaching VH mothers with young children. Lack of knowledge/awareness and misperceptions on the risk of immunization were the most reported determinants of vaccine hesitancy. Multivariate ordinal regression on both datasets revealed the odds of perceiving vaccines as less safe were significantly higher for parents who seek vaccination information online compared to parents who do not, after adjusting for income, Internet reliability, parental age and region. Analysis of online user-driven comments revealed the main themes in the anti-vaccination comments were inaccurate information and misperceptions on the risks of immunization. The majority of the pro-vaccination comments communicated the risks of not vaccinating, and judgments on the knowledge level of non-vaccinators. The results provide evidence to inform the development of targeted interventions on immunization.
What's Good for the Goose? Examining the Impact of Gender-neutral and Gender-specific Factors in the Assessment and Treatment of Female and Male Justice-involved Youth
Keywords: Gender-Specific
Justice-Involved Youth
Risk Need Responsivity
Trauma
Young Offenders

In response to female youths’ increased visibility in the legal system, more attention has been paid to understanding girls’ pathways to justice system involvement, risk for re-offending, and rehabilitative needs. Widely-used risk assessment and case management tools based on the Risk Need Responsivity (RNR) framework are largely gender neutral. Gender-responsive scholars have long advocated for the importance of additional gender-specific factors in guiding the assessment and treatment of female justice-involved youth. The dissertation is comprised of two papers which examine the contribution of proposed gender-specific factors alongside well established RNR factors in the prediction of recidivism, and how service provision aimed at intervening with these factors impacts recidivism for both male and female justice-involved youth. Paper 1 explores the relationship between trauma, criminogenic needs and recidivism. I first sought to define the distinct constructs often referred to under the umbrella term ‘trauma’: PTSD symptomology, maltreatment, and childhood adversity. The relationships between these factors, well-established criminogenic needs, and recidivism were examined and compared in a matched sample of 50 female and 50 male justice-involved youth. Females were significantly more likely than males to have experienced multiple forms of maltreatment. Several maltreatment and childhood adversity factors were significantly and positively related to criminogenic needs. PTSD symptomology and childhood adversity were not significant predictors of recidivism; however, maltreatment was the strongest predictor of recidivism for both males and females in a model that included well established risk factors. Gender was not found to be moderating the relationship between maltreatment and recidivism. Implications of the findings for theory and practice are discussed. Paper 2 examines the contribution of both criminogenic needs and several additional proposed ‘female’ gender-specific factors to risk assessment and rehabilitative treatment. Female youth were more likely than male youth to have proposed ‘female’ gender-specific needs but these needs alone did not predict recidivism. Successfully matching services to youths’ criminogenic needs predicted reduced recidivism for both male and female youth. For youth who had ‘female’ gender-specific needs, successful matching of services to these needs also predicted reduced recidivism for both genders. Theoretical and practice implications of these results are discussed.
Resolution Complexity of Random Constraint Satisfaction Problems
Keywords: Proof Complexity
Random CSP
Resolution

The resolution complexity of random constraint satisfaction problems is a widely studied topic. This line of research started with a seminal paper by Chvátal and Szemeréd. They showed that for any 𝑘 ≥ 3, w.h.p. an unsatisfiable random 𝑘-SAT instance has exponentially high resolution complexity when the clause density is a constant. The result was later extended to settings with super-constant clause density. The random (𝑑, 𝑘, 𝑡)-CSP model is another well-studied random CSP model. It is a natural generalization of the random 𝑘-SAT model by allowing a more general domain of 𝑑 ≥ 2 variable values instead of {TRUE, FALSE}, and allowing 𝑡 ≥ 1 restrictions in each constraint (clause) instead of only one. Earlier results give the whole picture for the resolution complexity of random (𝑑, 𝑘, 𝑡)-CSP instances for every constant triple of (𝑑, 𝑘, 𝑡) and every constant constraint density Δ. However, very little is known for the resolution complexity when the constraint density grows beyond constant. In this thesis, we generalize the resolution complexity results for random (𝑑, 𝑘, 𝑡)-CSP to settings with super-constant constraint density, just like the later studies extended the 𝑘-SAT result of Chvátal and Szemeréd to settings with super-constant clause density. We introduce a general approach for studying the resolution and tree resolution complexity of random (𝑑, 𝑘, 𝑡)-CSP with super-constant constraint density. We are particularly interested in the ranges of constraint density where the resolution and tree resolution complexity drop from superpolynomial to polynomial. By applying our approach, we obtain new lower and upper bounds on these constraint density ranges. In particular, the bounds for the tree resolution complexity are tight up to a 𝑜(1) term in the exponent. The settings we consider include two generalizations of the random 𝑘-SAT model, and the bounds we obtain almost match the best known bounds for the random 𝑘-SAT model. Therefore, our results can be regarded as generalizations of the resolution complexity results for random 𝑘-SAT. Finally, it seems possible to apply our approach to other models of random CSPs as well.
Economic Integration or Segregation? Immigrant Women's Labor Market Entrance and Their Support Service Utilization in South Korea
Keywords: Economic integration
Employment gap
Immigrant support service
Immigrant women
Labor market discrimination
South Korea

This dissertation is comprised of three independent yet interconnected studies. The main objective of the three chapters was to examine the economic integration/segregation of immigrant wives in South Korea, with a particular focus placed on their entrance into the labor market and their utilization of immigrant support services. Possible reasons for immigrant wives’ relatively low position within the labor market compared to their native counterparts were examined based on a framework that encompasses human capital theory, dual labor market theory and statistical discrimination theory. Specifically, the first study identified underlying forces that contribute to the different employment outcomes between Korean and immigrant wives. Data from the National Survey on Multicultural Families and the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study, both conducted in 2009, were used to obtain information on immigrant and native Korean wives. A decomposition technique was used to assess the extent to which the gap between the two groups was attributable to discrimination. Focusing on the heavy concentration of immigrant wives in the informal-sector labor market, the second study documented some possible mechanisms assigning this group to such a bottom segment of the labor market. Specifically, the study paid attention to identifying the causes of different qualities of career positions between immigrant and native Korean women in the labor market. Finally, by utilizing Gelberg-Anersen’s behavioral model, the third study examined factors that determined immigrant wives’ support services use. A structural equation modeling method was used to examine possible differences in service utilization patterns depending on immigrant their employment status situations. Overall, the findings from the three studies suggest that immigrant wives have been incorporated into the Korean labor market in a segregated way. Immigrant wives appear to be employed predominantly in precarious jobs where their human capital credentials are not fully recognized. In line with statistical discrimination theory, employers’ preference to native Korean workers over immigrant wives seems to persist in the formal sector. Further, regarding immigrant support services, the cleavages that exist between the intended purposes and the actual usage patterns raise questions about the effectiveness of the services. This dissertation hopes to augment the relatively thin research on the economic integration of immigrant women in newly emerging immigrant destination countries, especially in the context of East Asia.
Interrogating Inclusion: Critical Research with Disabled Youth who use Augmentative and Alternative Communication
Keywords: children's rehabilitation
communication impairment
critical social theory
disability
inclusion
youth

This dissertation provides a critical exploration of the notion of inclusion, applied to the ‘case’ of disabled youth who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Oriented by Bourdieu’s theory of practice, this study examined the lives and practices of youth who use AAC to better understand how they make ‘practical sense’ of inclusion and locate their place in the world. The objective was to illuminate the extent to which the constraints of social arrangements and conditions delimited the social interactions of youth who use AAC and shaped their understandings of inclusion. Using a novel critical dialogical methodology developed for the study, data were generated with 13 Canadian youth who use AAC by combining participant-generated photographs and a graphic elicitation technique termed Belonging Circles with interviews and observations. The study results make three substantive contributions to existing research on disabled children’s lives and children’s rehabilitation. First, the participants’ narratives reflected habitus - socially constituted sets of dispositions - that predisposed them to accommodate the devalued social positions and constricted conditions of existence imposed on them. From the points of view made possible to them, the youths’ practices represent logical and practical strategies for claiming inclusion that, paradoxically, reproduce and resist the systems of categorization that constrain them. Second, by illuminating the life circumstances and delimited life trajectories of youth in the study, the research vividly demonstrates that some forms of ‘inclusion’ perpetuate symbolic violence by keeping disabled youth ‘in their place’ through the oppressive effects of misrecognised social norms, beliefs and values that privilege ‘normal’ bodies. All study participants claimed inclusion but under constricted conditions of possibility that were not of their choosing. Finally, while the youths’ practices primarily reproduced the status quo, they also worked at the margins to curate locally produced forms of inclusion that attempted to transform the ‘rules of the game’. These results make visible the mechanisms involved in reproducing significant social inequities which constrain youth who use AAC. The research suggests a need for systemic shifts past reified notions of inclusion toward fostering social spaces where alternative ways of being in the world are positively valued.