VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Diverse Pathways, Common Themes: A Complexity-Informed, Human-Oriented Comparative Case Study of Teacher Candidates' Experiences of French Language Proficiency Development in Concurrent Teacher Preparation in Ontario

This dissertation explores the French-language-proficiency development experiences of diverse teacher candidates (TCs) in two concurrent teacher preparation programs in Ontario, Canada, where French is a minority language and many future teachers of French as a Second Language (FSL) use it as an additional language. To gain insight into TCs’ language proficiency development experiences, a central aspect of their learning as future teachers, this study addresses three main questions: (1) What views do various actors hold on the importance of and the priorities within French language proficiency development in concurrent initial teacher preparation (ITP) ? (2) What French language proficiency development trajectories are teacher candidates experiencing in two concurrent ITP programs? and (3) What thematic similarities and differences emerge from this study among individuals’ experiences and across programs? This study sought thematic, non-evaluative comparisons using a qualitative and collegial approach. Within a complexity-informed, human-oriented conceptual framework, language proficiency includes both how skillfully language is used (Richards Schmidt, 2002), and how it engages individuals emotionally and socially (e.g., Piccardo Aden, 2014). This qualitative study included TCs’ and university Educators’ perspectives collected through a questionnaire, reflective interviews, and TC case studies. In line with its complexity-informed design, attention to change over time was highlighted. Results suggest varied views and experiences among diverse participants, with some prominent themes emerging from the qualitative, iterative data analysis. Among these themes are agreement on the importance of language proficiency development, the centrality of courses as a location for language proficiency development, and the importance of emotion and power relations in understanding TCs’ language proficiency development experiences. Thematic comparisons suggest that individuals’ experiences are unique and influenced by multiple factors, and that similar themes emerged across programs. The findings support a complexity-informed, human-oriented understanding of language proficiency development, providing insights of use to researchers and teacher educators.

Keywords: Complexity theory
French as a second language
French second language teacher education
Language proficiency development
Proficiency development experiences
Teacher candidates
Advisor: GagnĂŠ, Antoinette
Key Ideas In Proof In Undergraduate Mathematics Classrooms

The mathematics education literature reveals an ongoing interest in fostering the ability of students to construct and reconstruct proofs. One promising tool to this end is the concept of “key idea”. Observing groups of undergraduate mathematics students, the study examined in some detail how such students understand the concept of key idea and how well they identify the key ideas in a proof and use them in reconstructing it. The study used a mixed methods design, driven primarily by qualitative methods, while incorporating a complementary quantitative component. Participants in the study were first-year and mixed-year (2nd to 4th) university mathematics students. Data were collected from four sources: (1) an online survey, (2) classroom observations in the form of audio recordings and field notes, (3) semi-structured interviews with students, and (4) students’ work on identifying key ideas in proofs and reconstructing a proof. The study results form a detailed portrayal of students’ perceptions of key ideas as well as the ways they go about identifying and using key ideas in reconstructing a proof. The picture is complex. While most of the students reported that they consciously identified key ideas in proofs they were studying, they varied widely in their understanding of the concept itself. Key ideas were perceived by the students as “important points”, as “blueprints”, as “landmarks and pathways” or as “steps to follow”. When asked to identify key ideas in specific proofs, most of the students were unable to articulate clear responses. Very few students were able to use precise language and point to an idea that helped them both understand the proof and reconstruct it. These findings are a significant addition to our present knowledge of undergraduate mathematics students’ ability to see the important ideas embedded in proofs. They imply that mathematics educators, in their desire to see students enhance their understanding of proof and proving by the use of key ideas, will need to extend considerable support to students by actively intervening to draw their attention to features of proofs that are candidates for key ideas.

Keywords: Key idea
Mathematical proof
Proof reconstruction
Undergraduate mathematics
Advisor: Hanna, Gila
McDougall, Doug
Education in Kurdistan Region at the Intersection of Nationalism and Democracy

This dissertation studies the condition of formal education in Kurdistan Region-Iraq by taking a critical theoretical approach to examine major educational policy documents in both K-12 and higher education. The critical examination of the documents reveals major policy frameworks, which are related to the Kurdish nationalist agenda of establishing a nation-state. These policy frameworks in education are: Kurdish nationalism, democratization and bureaucratization. Analyzing the documents reveals the intricate relationship among these policy frameworks in forming the overall national agenda of state building of Kurdistan Regional Government, as well as their relationship with developing and perpetuating various educational issues in Kurdistan Region. By analyzing the documents through a critical democratic lens, I elaborate on the ways in which Kurdish ethno-nationalism, a titular, rhetorical and institution- and market-friendly notion of democracy, and an overriding, top-down bureaucratization, all within the political context of establishing a Kurdish nation-state for the past 25 years, have rendered a non-democratic, socially unjust and oppressive educational system. The main argument in this dissertation concerns presenting a transformative democratic framework in education as an alternative to the current pervasive nationalist paradigm. Rather than framing education and society within the paradigm of Kurdish ethno-nationalism, which depends on the exercise of power, hegemony, violence and indoctrination within the parameters of a modern nation-state, the transformative democratic framework, which promotes democratic relationships based on substantive moral values, such as equity, inclusion, empathy and human relatedness, can become the basis for establishing a more equitable and just society in Kurdistan Region.

Keywords: Critical Democracy
Formal Education
Kurdistan Region
Nationalism
Social Justice
State Building
Advisor: Portelli, John P.
Cold War Games: Operational Gaming and Interactive Programming in Historical and Contemporary Contexts

With the emergence of STEM-centric educational strategies, particularly those that promote what is called "computational thinking," computer programming is being marketed as a critical skill with a fervour not seen since the 1980s. Products such as the Raspberry Pi computer and Arduino circuit board are very deliberately marketed as DIY computing tools, inheritors of the legacy left by companies such as Commodore and Tandy Corporation. At the same time, new programming languages and systems have emerged that very much target new learners, with MIT's Scratch system being foremost among them. The present study traces the historical roots of DIY computing by focusing on the concept of interactivity, and especially interactive forms of digital gaming. Interactivity may take a variety of forms, but due to certain forces discussed in this study, a particularly limiting type of interactivity was picked up and popularized via the earliest personal computers. This model sharply divides the roles of programmer and user, and reduces the user largely to a supplier of data for pre-existing programs and games. This study will discuss and analyze a variant form of interactive computing that emerged in the late 1970s, and is typically known as the Interactive Programming System (IPS). In an IPS, developers and users occupy the same environment, thus giving users virtually full access to code. The IPS model, moreover, encourages all users to develop code "ecosystems," which may contain variables, functions, objects, and relationships between them all. For various reasons, IPSs only had limited success, but this study will advocate for their continued use by presenting a simple IPS developed by the author of this thesis called Hail-Workshop. Designed as a platform for text-based games, Hail-Workshop allows users to develop such games in piecemeal fashion, and thus treats game players the same as game developers.

Keywords: coding
computers
games
technology
Advisor: Grimes, Sara M.
Materials interface engineering in perovskite photovoltaics

Solar photovoltaics (PV) offer a sustainable solution to the daunting challenge of meeting the global energy demand. Perovskite solar cells, whose high efficiencies are attainable via low-cost and high-throughput solution processing, are an emerging technology that has captivated the PV research community. Further advances in efficiency are limited by the abundant interfaces that make up these polycrystalline devices. Important issues in perovskite device operation, such as instability and hysteresis, arise from perovskitesâ ionic nature, and need to be addressed for this technology to fulfill its potential. In this thesis, I explore interfaces within perovskite devices: grain boundaries, and electron- and hole-extraction junctions. With the aid of density functional theory (DFT) simulations and nano-probe characterization, I provide insight into the origins of defect formation and hysteresis. By leveraging these findings, I demonstrate control of film growth conditions and interface materials chemistry to create new device architectures with improved performance. The DFT-based analysis of defect formation energies identifies the key defects (Pb atom substituted by I, known as antisites) and indicates that films grown under iodine-rich conditions are prone to forming deep electronic traps. This finding motivated my exploration of a new precursor (anhydrate lead acetate) for device-quality films. I then report the first perovskite-PCBM hybrid solid. Here, I find that PCBM, when it infiltrates throughout the grain boundaries and electron-extraction interfaces, suppresses hysteresis in devices. Materials characterization and DFT simulations reveal the PCBM-perovskite interaction: the PCBM passivates the key defects during the perovskite self-assembly. Using conductive AFM, I reveal the memristive properties of perovskite films and identify the major origin of hysteresis as ion, especially halide, migration. I close by developing the first crosslinked hole-extraction top contact with the goal of obviating degradation of the underlying perovskite. A remote-doping strategy introduces the needed hole conductivity. The new top contact produces an insoluble and heat-resistant protecting interlayer that is band-aligned with the perovskite. The resultant family of devices is hysteresis-free, with fill factors exceeding 80% and resilience to thermal stresses that exceed 100Ë C, conditions under which conventionally-contacted devices fail. This top contact methodology also paves the way for building multi-junction devices on top of the perovskite cell. I close this work by offering a roadmap for future improvements in perovskite photovoltaics.

Keywords: interface engineering
materials interface
Perovskite
Photovoltaics
Advisor: Sargent, Edward H
The Three Rs of Online Learning: Interpretive Views of the Social Practices of Reading, Rereading, and Revisiting

As participation in formal online learning continues to be more commonplace in higher education, high schools, and middle schools (Means, Toyama, Murphy, Bakia, Jones, 2010), contextualized explorations of social practices important to learning in discussion-based online learning environments (DBOLEs) are called for. This research combines both online learning and literacy research perspectives by examining quantitative and qualitative data from an interpretive perspective to better understand the less visible, less studied, and typically less instructor-valued practices of reading, rereading, and revisiting (the 3 Rs) in DBOLEs. This study of the behaviours and opinions of 137 students, one instructor, and their 13,754 entries in eight online graduate education courses investigates the social practices of the 3Rs and those practices related to subject titles. Revisiting othersâ word-for-word ideas and creating/selecting information by subject titles are new literacy practices taking place in online learning that ordinarily do not have identical practices in face-to-face classrooms. These practices are essential to online learning and are important to understand. An instructor interview contributed thoughtful perspectives while documenting understandings of how learnersâ social practices can be supported and valued. Through an explanatory sequential mixed methods design, the findings are presented in three sub-study formats. This study finds that participants revisit many entries, sometimes multiple times, to further their understandings or seek clarification, or participate socially in the online learning environment. As well, the findings suggest that creating subject titles is an important practice that influences the learning of both the author and the reader. These findings call for consideration of a pedagogical change in the value placed on these less visible practices, supported by instructional design modifications highlighting, for both instructors and students, the importance of reading and revisiting activities. Finally, it may be valuable to consider more deeply exploring and documenting the social practices taking place in online learning in order to contribute to a potential lowercase theory of new literacies in online learning, under the wings of the evolving uppercase Dual-Level Theory of New Literacies (Leu, Kinzer, Coiro, Castek, Henry, 2013). This research could be considered a contributing body of work.

Keywords: Interpretive
Literacy
New Literacies
Online Learning
Online Teaching
Social Practices
Advisor: Brett, Clare
Male Mating Success in Lemur catta

Dominance rank of males, number of males present during mating and harassment and interruption of mating were each examined to see how they impact male mating success. This study was conducted on four groups of ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) at Berenty Reserve, Madagascar, with data collected over three mating seasons. I observed six complete estrous periods and four incomplete estrous periods, which represents the largest sample size reported on wild L. catta mating behaviour where entire estrous periods were observed. Predictions of the priority-of-access model, the impact of the operational sex ratio (OSR) on mating success, and the relationships between harassment and interruption of mating and mating success were tested. I found that male rank was positively correlated with the number of ejaculations and male mate order. I found no relationship between male dominance rank and number of copulatory partners. My findings do not support the priority-of-access model (that high ranking males will monopolize mating when estrus is asynchronous). My findings show that variation in the OSR during a femaleâ s estrous period impacts male mating success, as presence of a greater number of males inhibits ejaculation. This finding raises questions about the value of group membership for non-alpha males. I found the first evidence for primates that aggression directed towards the mating male directly increases the harassing maleâ s reproductive potential. Occurrence of interruptions decreased the quality of copulations by causing copulatory mounts to be fewer and rates of affiliative behaviour between the mating male and female to be lower. My findings should have implications for reproductive success in L. catta, as occurrence of ejaculations with estrous females were used as a measure of mating success. Understanding the relationship between male mating success and mating season dynamics is of key importance in this species.

Keywords: dominance rank
Harassment
Madagascar
ring-tailed lemur
sexual selection
Advisor: Silcox, Mary T
Advice for the Steady: Decision Theory and the Requirements of Instrumental Rationality

Standard decision theory, or rational choice theory, is often interpreted to be a theory of instrumental rationality. This dissertation argues, however, that the core requirements of orthodox decision theory cannot be defended as general requirements of instrumental rationality. Instead, I argue that these requirements can only be instrumentally justified to agents who have a desire to have choice dispositions that are stable over time and across different choice contexts. Past attempts at making instrumentalist arguments for the core requirements of decision theory fail due to a pervasive assumption in decision theory, namely the assumption that the agent’s preferences over the objects of choice — be it outcomes or uncertain prospects — form the standard of instrumental rationality against which the agent’s actions are evaluated. I argue that we should instead take more basic desires to be the standard of instrumental rationality. But unless agents have a desire to have stable choice dispositions, according to this standard, instrumental rationality turns out to be more permissive than orthodox decision theory.

Keywords: Expected Utility Theory
Instrumental Rationality
Preferences
Temptation
Advisor: Tenenbaum, Sergio
Investigating the Cellular Response to DNA Damaging Agents through High-Resolution Phenotyping in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Genome maintenance is paramount for cell viability. Cells have at their disposal an intricate and versatile set of pathways that repair DNA damage and maintain genome integrity during DNA replication stress. In this thesis I challenge the robustness of these stress response and repair pathways using pairwise drug combinations. I found that synergy is rare and that cells are able to respond to DNA damaging agents with different modes of action. Moreover, synergy was generally reduced when drugs were applied sequentially, supporting the notion that an initial dose of DNA damage primes cells for another. I then investigated the robustness of genome maintenance pathways from the perspective of the proteins that carry out repair and stress response functions. By determining the kinetics of replication stress-induced protein relocalizations previously observed (Tkach et al., 2012), I found that proteins of similar function moved with similar timing, and that relocalization timing is unique for distinct forms of replication stress. A subset of protein relocalizations is regulated by the canonical replication stress signaling cascade. Together, these findings support the notion that robustness of genome maintenance pathways stem from their multifaceted regulation. Finally, I highlight a novel function of the replication stress effector kinase Rad53 in controlling a transcriptional program by regulating Rpn4 localization.

Keywords: DNA Damage
Genome maintenance
Protein relocalization
Replication Stress
Synergy
Advisor: Brown, Grant W
Syntheses and Application of New Chiral Phosphines as Ligands and Catalysts

Chiral phosphines are central to the development of enantioselective organic transformations because they are used extensively as ligands or organocatalysts. The work presented in this thesis describes efforts to develop new phosphine ligands, either through supramolecular self-assembly or through novel synthetic methods. Chapter 1 describes the development of chiral phosphines that self-assemble through reversible covalent iminoboronate linkages. By utilizing a facile condensation process driven by an intramolecular B–N interaction, a 100-ligand library was generated. Incorporation of various 2-formylarylboronic acids, chiral aminophosphines and vicinal diols, resulted in phosphine ligands with great structural diversity. The self-assembled ligands were employed in transition metal-catalyzed enantioselective transformations. Likely coordination modes and ligand decomposition pathways in the presence of transition metals are discussed. Synthesis of chiral beta-aminophosphines possessing different diarylphosphino moieties is presented in Chapter 2. The protocol made use of the nucleophilic ring-opening of sulfamidates derived from serval optically pure amino alcohols. Through the use of phosphine oxides as ‘masked’ phosphine equivalents, purification and isolation of intermediates from otherwise challenging synthetic steps were made possible. P- versus O-alkylation in the reactions of diarylphosphinites with sulfamidates will also be discussed. ii Chapter 3 describes an extension of the synthesis of beta-aminophosphines described in Chapter 2 to P-chiral variants. Treatment of an enantiopure sulfamidate with a racemic unsymmetrical secondary phosphine oxide resulted in diastereomeric intermediates that could be separated either by fractional recrystallization or silica gel chromatography. A BH3-mediated stereospecific phosphine oxide reduction was developed and implemented to convert these adducts to the corresponding diastereomerically enriched beta-aminophosphines. Finally, Chapter 4 describes the application of the thiourea derivatives of these P-chiral aminophosphines as organocatalysts. Evaluation of their catalytic performance in enantioselective Morita-Baylis-Hillman reactions revealed that the P-chiral catalysts afforded superior levels of selectivity compared to the non-P-chiral variant. Additionally, the spatial disposition of the two different P-aryl groups was found to influence catalytic activity as a result of matching/mismatching effects.

Keywords: Aminophosphines
Asymmetric
Bifunctional
Organocatalysts
P-stereogenic
Synthesis
Advisor: Taylor, Mark S.