VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Listening, Learning and Relationships: An Investigation of How Principals Facilitate Student Voice

The idea that students should play a greater role in their educational experience has emerged with fervor over the past twenty years. The importance of consulting students about their views of school and learning is not only progressively more accepted, it is becoming inscribed within policies and directives. Student voice is defined as pedagogies in which youth have the opportunity to influence decisions that will shape their lives and those of their peers inside and outside of school settings. The research shows an abundance of benefits that consulting students offers to both the students themselves and to schools. Lacking in the literature is research specifically examining the role of the school administrator in student voice initiatives. This qualitative study sought to investigate the experiences of elementary administrators who were committed to student voice. Twelve administrators from a variety of school boards in Ontario were interviewed about their experiences facilitating student voice. It was found that participants used similar strategies, and experienced comparable supports and constraints. When examining the external constraints, a richer picture emerged, which led to the examination of the student experience using a spectrum of student voice proposed by Toshalis and Nakkula (2012). Based on this, four participants were examined in further detail because they were the only administrators who experienced student voice within the classroom domain. The importance of bringing student voice into the classroom domain is discussed. The role relationships play in student voice was highlighted; parents, teachers, administrators, and of course students all impact student voice initiatives. In order for partnerships to happen, various stakeholders need to play a role, and thus suggestions are offered. Recommendations have been made for teaching the necessary skills to students, professional development for staff, parent involvement, suggestions for boards and Ministry and the necessity for developing the climate of the school. When relationships are at their best, it is more likely that student voice will meaningfully occur in both the school and the classroom domains.

Keywords: Principal Leadership
Relationships in Education
Student Empowerment
Student Engagement
Student Voice
Advisor: Flessa, Joseph
Multiple UAV Cooperation For Wildfire Monitoring

Wildfires have been a major factor in the development and management of the world's forest. An accurate assessment of wildfire status is imperative for fire management. This thesis is dedicated to the topic of utilizing multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to cooperatively monitor a large-scale wildfire. This is achieved through wildfire spreading situation estimation based on on-line measurements and wise cooperation strategy to ensure efficiency. First, based on the understanding of the physical characteristics of the wildfire propagation behavior, a wildfire model and a Kalman filter-based method are proposed to estimate the wildfire rate of spread and the fire front contour profile. With the enormous on-line measurements from on-board sensors of UAVs, the proposed method allows a wildfire monitoring mission to benefit from on-line information updating, increased flexibility, and accurate estimation. An independent wildfire simulator is utilized to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. Second, based on the filter analysis, wildfire spreading situation and vehicle dynamics, the influence of different cooperation strategies of UAVs to the overall mission performance is studied. The multi-UAV cooperation problem is formulated in a distributed network. A consensus-based method is proposed to help address the problem. The optimal cooperation strategy of UAVs is obtained through mathematical analysis. The derived optimal cooperation strategy is then verified in an independent fire simulation environment to verify its effectiveness.

Advisor: Liu, Hugh H.T.
Mining for the Future: Dynamics of Artisanal Gold Mining Practice and Governance in the Balan-Bakama (Mande, Mali)

This dissertation examines the social organization of artisanal gold mining in the Balan-Bakama, a zone of the Mande area of southern Mali (West-Africa). Based on fieldwork conducted primarily in 2010-11 I show how villagers and specifically their male and female mining authorities govern mining sites in the territory of their village. Unlike many artisanal mines that are described in the literature as enclaves disconnected from surrounding communities, Balan-Bakama artisanal mines are part of a locally placed extractive economy. Most inhabitants of the Balan-Bakama are both subsistence farmers and artisanal gold miners (at home or as seasonal migrants). These livelihood activities had traditionally been bound to the rainy season and dry season respectively. With a steadily rising gold price, women miners were increasingly engaged in rainy season surface mining while men mined using the new hard-rock mining technique. With placer mining, these techniques form the set of three artisanal mining techniques applied in the Balan-Bakama. In Mande, gold is categorized as owned by bush spirits who control the uncivilized space beyond villagersâ fields. In order to be able to mine safely and successfully, communities and individual miners are obliged to convince bush spirits to share their gold with humans and to refrain from causing accidents. People are able to gain access to gold through sacrifices, by following the rules of mining sites and by avoiding conflict. If local miners are successful, they will be joined by seasonal migrant miners. In an area characterized by high rural-urban migration but some rural-rural migration, village communities try manipulate migration patterns by stimulating mining to retain young men. Hoping to expand the village in order to achieve a locally defined modernity and form a closer connection to regional centers villagers work to attract informal miners and industrial mining corporations.

Keywords: Africa
Extractive Industries
Gold
Mali
Mining
Modernity
Advisor: Lambek, Michael
Musical and Ontological Possibilities of Mugham Creativity in pre-Soviet, Soviet, and post-Soviet Azerbaijan

The different angles from which the phenomenon of mugham creativity can be approached all point to the significance of sung ghazal poetry. Even in instrumental renditions of mugham, the overriding presence of sung texts manifests itself through the musical structure, pace, technique and, most importantly, an imaginative and interpretive engagement with meanings that musicians undergo. In this dissertation, the link between music and poetry and its role in mugham creativity are investigated from both diachronic and synchronic perspectives. First, pre-Soviet, Soviet and post-Soviet contexts are examined to reveal how changes in musical and textual parameters influenced creativity and shaped its historical trajectory in Azerbaijan. Second, native terminology, musical examples, characteristics and experiences of creativity are explored using hermeneutic phenomenology in order to shed light on the creative process in the moment of performance. It is my contention that interpretation based on meanings in ghazal poetry that are rooted in Islamic sciences opens up both musical and ontological possibilities for musicians embarked on the mugham journey. This creates a state that is often difficult to express discursively as musicians themselves resort to phrases such as “revelation”, “explosion of thinking”, and “the self is taken from the self” that show only the limits of language to explain what goes on. The dissertation concludes with questions about how scholarship can further our understanding of the enigmatic flashes of musical discovery that are essential to Azerbaijani mugham and to musical traditions across cultures.

Keywords: Azerbaijani mugham
creativity
ghazal poetry
Islamic aesthetics
Soviet and post-Soviet studies
tar
Advisor: Kippen, James R
Hemmasi, Farzaneh
Grouping for Literacy Instruction in Kindergarten and Grade One: The Ecology of Teacher Perceptions and Classroom Practices

Grouping students based on ability has been a longstanding approach to addressing the challenges of instructing diverse student populations; nevertheless, ability grouping has remained a controversial practice, fueling decades-long debate among educational researchers and practitioners alike. Despite the lack of empirical consensus, a common theme emerging across literature is that the broader context of the instructional setting and processes may have more impact on student achievement than ability grouping per se. In light of the mounting research that highlights the importance of literacy learning opportunities afforded to students in the early grades, this study sought to examine the practice of grouping for literacy instruction as an integral element of the encompassing classroom ecology, through in-depth mixed-methods analyses of thirteen primary classrooms across the Greater Toronto Area. The seven Kindergarten and six Grade One participating classrooms were viewed as multi-layered settings that impact studentsâ early literacy learning through a number of interacting micro-level factors (unique to each setting) shaped by overarching macrosystem influences (province-wide government-mandated policies and programs). Situating teachers as the primary actors within the classroom microsystem, data on perceptions and practices were collected and anchored from the lens of the participating teachers. To observe and understand teachersâ implementation of student grouping structures, classroom data were collected using both qualitative and quantitative tools, and organized into three dynamic levels: structural/physical constructs; social/behavioural perceptions; and instructional/pedagogical practices. Results, presented both as individual classroom case descriptions and as general group findings across classrooms, illustrate the variability of classroom-level practices in relation to relevant province-wide government policies. Using this methodology, this study highlights the importance of cautious extrapolations from large-scale studies across different classroom contexts and provides further support for using classroom case study in elucidating the importance of local elements and processes in our understanding of how government-mandated programs and policies are structured and implemented.

Keywords: Ability Grouping
Literacy Instruction
Teachers' Classroom Practices
Advisor: Corter, Carl
Risks, Needs and Reality Checks: Community Work with Multiply Disadvantaged Justice Involved Individuals

This study examines community practitioners who work with multiply-disadvantaged, justice-involved individuals often referred to as ‘complex-need clients’. It has become increasingly popular to talk about the need to support people bouncing between jail, courts and other emergency services. This population does not neatly ‘fit’ the mandate of any single organization, and stakeholders (i.e., case managers, mental health, court support, shelter staff, probation) are required to respond holistically, working across organizational and disciplinary boundaries, thus, facilitating conversations about risk, unprecedented information sharing and the development of instruments, technologies, and management systems regulating people via service and supervision structures. Despite policy and academic recognition of the practical and humanitarian issues at hand, sociological research rarely considers how the ‘complex-need client ' is framed or how this leads to new organizational configurations and hybrid responses. My dissertation addresses conceptual and empirical voids, examining how complex legal, social and medical problems are framed and managed. This study uses 105 interviews and two years of fieldwork focusing on the governance of ‘complex-need’ clients who are criminalized and depend on services offered by practitioners in and out of the justice system. I show that the production, sharing and use of risk knowledges helps community practitioners address a variety of objectives and interests, including fulfilling mandates to recognize threats to safety; managing reputational risk and conforming to managerial logics; instituting ‘effective’ evidence based practices for interventions; and addressing issues of liability. I argue that knowledge produced to inform coordinated responses to complex-needs is simultaneously used to protect practitioners and to advocate for clients and push other stakeholders towards penal, judicial and social change. I argue that community practitioners contribute to penal surveillance and risk management – even serving as de facto sureties – while also generating resistance and illustrating the value of evidence from outside criminal justice fields.

Keywords: assessment
community corrections
discretion
governance
risk
social services
Advisor: Hannah-Moffat, Kelly
Development and Evaluation of Photocatalytic Linear Engineered Titanium Dioxide Nanomaterials for the Removal of Disinfection Byproduct Precursors from Drinking Water

Photocatalysis has long been touted as a potential drinking water treatment technology but has proven difficult to implement at full scale. This project aimed to address two of the perennial challenges preventing the use of photocatalysis for drinking water treatment: the need to safely remove the photocatalyst from the water after treatment and the danger that incomplete mineralization of contaminants will lead to the formation of intermediate compounds that are more reactive or toxic than their parent compounds. A suite of titanium dioxide-based linear engineered nanomaterials (LENs) was synthesized and compared to standard commercial titanium dioxide nanoparticles in terms of filterability, settleability, surface characteristics, crystal phase structure, available surface area, photonic efficiency, and propensity to form hydroxyl radicals. The LENs were also evaluated in terms of their ability to remove disinfection byproduct (DBP) precursors from two natural surface water matrices via adsorption and photocatalysis. DBPs, which form when naturally occurring organic precursor compounds interact with chemical disinfectants used in drinking water treatment, are suspected carcinogens and are widely regulated throughout the world. In this study, photocatalysis increased the DBP formation potential of both water matrices at short irradiation times. Longer treatment times resulted in decreased in DBP formation potential. Adsorption removed DBP precursors from the water without transforming them. The surface area and crystal phase structure of the nanomaterials were identified as important drivers of photocatalytic treatment effectiveness and regenerability. Adsorption efficacy was mainly impacted by surface area, agglomeration, and charge interactions. The effects of both adsorption and photocatalysis on DBP formation potential were strongly influenced by the composition of the water matrix being treated. The results of this project have informed the conceptual design of two titanium dioxide-based water treatment processes for DBP precursor removal: a single step photocatalytic system and a two-step adsorption and regeneration system.

Keywords: Adsorption
Disinfection Byproducts
Nanomaterials
Photocatalysis
Titanium Dioxide
Water Treatment
Advisor: Andrews, Susan A
Home and Community-Based Service Utilization Patterns for Seniors with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias

Background: Half a million Canadians are living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Approximately half these individuals live in the community, supported by informal caregivers. In this population, utilization of formal services is low and patterns of utilization are not well understood. Previous studies examining predictors of service use have examined services in isolation however, often multiple services are utilized, with little coordination between services. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to provide a better understanding of the community-based services utilized concurrently by seniors with dementia and their caregivers. Methods: Administrative data were utilized to conduct a secondary analysis. Using latent class analysis, cases were categorized into patterns of home and community-based health and support service use. Multinomial logistic regression was employed to identify predictors of identified service use patterns. Results: A broad range of services were utilized by seniors with dementia in this sample. Services supporting patients’ functional needs were utilized most frequently, while services addressing patients’ medical needs, rehabilitation and caregiver relief were used less often. Utilization of all services, except nursing and occupational therapy, varied by level of cognitive impairment. Seven unique patterns of home and community-based service use were identified. Key patient and caregiver characteristics impacting service use patterns included living arrangement, functional impairment, location of care, cognitive impairment, age, continence, and caregiver relationship. Conclusions: The majority of community-based seniors with dementia did not access formal services. For those who did access formal services, availability of informal caregivers, living arrangement, caregiver relationship and location of care impacted the pattern of service use. A proactive approach to supporting caregivers and reducing the impact of functional limitations is recommended. Further research is needed to understand caregivers’ decision-making processes affecting service utilization and to assess the impact of patterns of service utilization on both patient and caregiver outcomes.

Keywords: Dementia
Home Care
Informal Care
Latent Class Analysis
Multinomial Logistic Regression
Service Utilization
Advisor: Tourangeau, Ann E
Towards Autonomy and Mobility for a Tethered Robot Exploring Extremely Steep Terrain

Mobile robots are well suited to explore environments considered too costly, time consuming, and hazardous for human inspection. However, a recent push to explore increasingly extreme environments has required the development of robust mobile platforms that can navigate steep, cluttered terrain, operate for extended periods, and relay information to a remote operator. Applications of these systems include terrestrial and planetary geologic survey and infrastructure inspection, where remote observation is not a viable option. This thesis chronicles the design, development, and testing of the physical platform and autonomy functions for the Tethered Robotic eXplorer (TReX), a novel mapping robot capable of navigating near-vertical terrain while supported by an attached electromechanical tether; the tether provides continuous power and communication to and from the robot, but also constrains motion due to its finite length and susceptibility to entanglement in cluttered environments. A tethered robot can avoid entanglement by (i) mapping intermediate anchors (locations of obstacle-to-tether contacts), and (ii) autonomously retracing its outgoing path to sequentially unwrap the tether from obstacles. We approach (i) by formulating incremental and batch solutions to a new TSLAM problem using tether measurements to aid odometry and map anchors, and handle (ii) using visual route following in conjunction with autonomous tether control to manage tension and assist the robot to repeat previously driven paths on steep terrain. This work concludes with a geologic surveying mission, where TReX is teleoperated to explore and map a steep, tree-covered rock outcrop in an outdoor mine.

Keywords: Climbing Robot
Extreme Environment
Mapping
Robotics
SLAM
Tethered Robot
Advisor: Barfoot, Timothy D
La trajectoire vers soi (et vers les autres) : rapports entre le texte et les images photographiques dans les récits autobiographiques d’Anny Duperey et Annie Ernaux

L’écriture autobiographique a une longue tradition, car ses origines remontent au XVIIIe siècle. Cependant, au cours des années, l’écriture de soi a beaucoup évolué et à l’époque contemporaine, elle se joint souvent à la photographie. Ce type de création littéraire est relativement peu exploré par les critiques. La présente thèse a pour but d’étudier les relations entre le texte et les images photographiques dans quelques récits autobiographiques de deux auteures : Anny Duperey (Le Voile noir, Je vous écris…) et Annie Ernaux (L’usage de la photo, Les années, « photojournal » d’Écrire la vie). Ces deux artistes contemporaines sont bien connues au public français ; la renommée d’Anny Duperey est due à sa longue carrière de comédienne alors qu’Annie Ernaux est une écrivaine prolifique, présente sur la scène littéraire française depuis presque quatre décennies. Dans leurs textes, les deux auteures présentent divers choix esthétiques ainsi que des approches différentes envers l’écriture. Anny Duperey se sert des photographies et de l’écriture autobiographique dans son travail de deuil, dans sa quête identitaire ainsi que dans sa chasse aux souvenirs disparus. Les rapports texte/images mis en œuvre dans Le Voile noir appartiennent donc plutôt au mode de collaboration. Cependant, dans les trois textes d’Annie Ernaux étudiés dans la présente thèse, les interactions entre l’écrit et le visuel sont plus complexes et difficiles à définir. Dans L’usage de la photo nous observons une certaine collision entre les photographies et le texte. La juxtaposition de ces deux modes de représentation donne une nouvelle dimension, voire une nouvelle signification à son récit. Dans Les années, l’écriture éclipse les photographies, car elles apparaissent uniquement sous forme d’ekphrasis et, par conséquent, elles perdent en partie leur dimension référentielle. En revanche, dans le « photojournal », les images photographiques et les fragments des journaux qui les accompagnent semblent garder une certaine indépendance. La présente thèse se compose de trois chapitres dont le premier fournit le cadre théorique nécessaire à l’étude de notre corpus littéraire. Les chapitres 2 et 3 sont consacrés respectivement à une analyse critique des textes de Duperey et Ernaux. Le caractère hybride des récits privilégiés dans cette thèse exige une approche interdisciplinaire, c’est pourquoi nous avons puisé dans plusieurs domaines de recherches : la mémoire, l’écriture autobiographique, la photographie, l’ekphrasis et même la psychologie.

Keywords: autobiographie
texte/image
Advisor: LeBlanc, Julie