title: Text Augmentation: Inserting markup into natural language text with PPM Models

authors: Yeates, Stuart Andrew

subjects: Markup

abstract: This thesis describes a new optimisation and new heuristics for automatically marking up XML documents. These are implemented in CEM, using PPMmodels. CEM is significantly more general than previous systems, marking up large numbers of hierarchical tags, using n-gram models for large n and a variety of escape methods.

Four corpora are discussed, including the bibliography corpus of 14682 bibliographies laid out in seven standard styles using the BIBTEX system and markedup in XML with every field from the original BIBTEX. Other corpora include the ROCLING Chinese text segmentation corpus, the Computists’ Communique corpus and the Reuters’ corpus. A detailed examination is presented of the methods of evaluating mark up algorithms, including computation complexity measures and correctness measures from the fields of information retrieval, string processing, machine learning and information theory.

A new taxonomy of markup complexities is established and the properties of each taxon are examined in relation to the complexity of marked-up documents. The performance of the new heuristics and optimisation is examined using the four corpora.

text: Text Augmentation: Inserting markup into natural language text with PPM Models This thesis describes a new optimisation and new heuristics for automatically marking up XML documents. These are implemented in CEM, using PPMmodels. CEM is significantly more general than previous systems, marking up large numbers of hierarchical tags, using n-gram models for large n and a variety of escape methods.

Four corpora are discussed, including the bibliography corpus of 14682 bibliographies laid out in seven standard styles using the BIBTEX system and markedup in XML with every field from the original BIBTEX. Other corpora include the ROCLING Chinese text segmentation corpus, the Computists’ Communique corpus and the Reuters’ corpus. A detailed examination is presented of the methods of evaluating mark up algorithms, including computation complexity measures and correctness measures from the fields of information retrieval, string processing, machine learning and information theory.

A new taxonomy of markup complexities is established and the properties of each taxon are examined in relation to the complexity of marked-up documents. The performance of the new heuristics and optimisation is examined using the four corpora.

year: 2006

title: Student Teacher and Lecturer Perceptions of the Use of Asynchronous Discussion Forums, Quizzes and Uploaded Resources for Promoting Critical Thinking

authors: Mwalongo, Alcuin Ivor

subjects: Student and Lecturer Perceptions

abstract: This study examined student teacher and lecturer perceptions of the use of asynchronous discussion forums, quizzes and uploaded resources for promoting critical thinking within a pre-service teacher education programme in Tanzania. Critical thinking is necessary both in life in general, and in education in particular. Critical thinking skills and thinking dispositions help people solve their problems, make rational decisions, evaluate information, guide their beliefs and actions, and improve their reasoning skills. While critical thinking skills influence the ability to carry out a thinking task, thinking dispositions may determine which actions should be carried out, the manner in which they should be carried out, and when they should be carried out. This means that critical thinking is influenced by contextual factors such as time, place, intentions, motivations of the thinker, and subject matter under discussion. However, most of the previous studies have tended to measure the two components of critical thinking separately and use different instruments. This way of measuring critical thinking is incompatible with the current conceptualisation of critical thinking, where critical thinking is understood as a set of related cognitive skills and dispositions. Since critical thinking varies over time and in different places, to get a clearer picture of an individual’s critical thinking, both critical thinking skills and thinking dispositions need to be measured simultaneously using the same instrument in order to offset the influence of contextual factors. 
Learning management systems (LMS) have tools such as asynchronous discussion forums, and quizzes that can promote critical thinking, especially when conscious planning is considered. Since, these tools have the potential for promoting critical thinking, measuring the evidence of critical thinking manifested in those tools is important. Current instruments measuring critical thinking in tasks related to asynchronous discussion forums do not relate thinking skills such as recall, and comprehension, and dispositional factors to critical thinking. Recall, comprehension and dispositional factors need to be measured in asynchronous discussion forums because they influence critical thinking. 
This study used sociocultural theory as its theoretical framework. Employing a case study approach, 54 students and 15 lecturers from three public universities in Tanzania participated in a survey. Using sample integration, eight students and six lecturers were selected for focus group discussions and one-to-one interviews. Mixed methods research was used to collect and generate data through surveys, focus group discussions, documentary review, and researcher’s reflective journal. While quantitative data were analysed through SPSS 21, qualitative data were analysed through NVivo 10.
Results revealed similarities and differences in critical thinking between students and lecturers, pre-service and in-service student teachers, male and female students, and between younger and older lecturers. The study contributes to knowledge by developing a combined instrument for capturing critical thinking skills and thinking dispositions simultaneously. Another instrument, the RCS-CAIS model is an attempt to show the relationship between critical thinking skills and dispositional factors in tasks related to asynchronous discussion forums. The study contributes to theory by demonstrating that thinking skills are not hierarchical, but are rather overlapping, iterative and multi-directional depending on prevailing circumstances at the time of engaging in a thinking task. Pedagogical and institutional implications of the findings have been discussed. Finally, areas for further research have been suggested.

text: Student Teacher and Lecturer Perceptions of the Use of Asynchronous Discussion Forums, Quizzes and Uploaded Resources for Promoting Critical Thinking This study examined student teacher and lecturer perceptions of the use of asynchronous discussion forums, quizzes and uploaded resources for promoting critical thinking within a pre-service teacher education programme in Tanzania. Critical thinking is necessary both in life in general, and in education in particular. Critical thinking skills and thinking dispositions help people solve their problems, make rational decisions, evaluate information, guide their beliefs and actions, and improve their reasoning skills. While critical thinking skills influence the ability to carry out a thinking task, thinking dispositions may determine which actions should be carried out, the manner in which they should be carried out, and when they should be carried out. This means that critical thinking is influenced by contextual factors such as time, place, intentions, motivations of the thinker, and subject matter under discussion. However, most of the previous studies have tended to measure the two components of critical thinking separately and use different instruments. This way of measuring critical thinking is incompatible with the current conceptualisation of critical thinking, where critical thinking is understood as a set of related cognitive skills and dispositions. Since critical thinking varies over time and in different places, to get a clearer picture of an individual’s critical thinking, both critical thinking skills and thinking dispositions need to be measured simultaneously using the same instrument in order to offset the influence of contextual factors. 
Learning management systems (LMS) have tools such as asynchronous discussion forums, and quizzes that can promote critical thinking, especially when conscious planning is considered. Since, these tools have the potential for promoting critical thinking, measuring the evidence of critical thinking manifested in those tools is important. Current instruments measuring critical thinking in tasks related to asynchronous discussion forums do not relate thinking skills such as recall, and comprehension, and dispositional factors to critical thinking. Recall, comprehension and dispositional factors need to be measured in asynchronous discussion forums because they influence critical thinking. 
This study used sociocultural theory as its theoretical framework. Employing a case study approach, 54 students and 15 lecturers from three public universities in Tanzania participated in a survey. Using sample integration, eight students and six lecturers were selected for focus group discussions and one-to-one interviews. Mixed methods research was used to collect and generate data through surveys, focus group discussions, documentary review, and researcher’s reflective journal. While quantitative data were analysed through SPSS 21, qualitative data were analysed through NVivo 10.
Results revealed similarities and differences in critical thinking between students and lecturers, pre-service and in-service student teachers, male and female students, and between younger and older lecturers. The study contributes to knowledge by developing a combined instrument for capturing critical thinking skills and thinking dispositions simultaneously. Another instrument, the RCS-CAIS model is an attempt to show the relationship between critical thinking skills and dispositional factors in tasks related to asynchronous discussion forums. The study contributes to theory by demonstrating that thinking skills are not hierarchical, but are rather overlapping, iterative and multi-directional depending on prevailing circumstances at the time of engaging in a thinking task. Pedagogical and institutional implications of the findings have been discussed. Finally, areas for further research have been suggested.

year: 2014

title: A critical interruption in the governance of a New Zealand state high school

authors: L'Huillier, Barbara Marie

subjects: governance

abstract: The governance of contemporary Western education aspires to serve the intertwining values of human emancipation and social inclusiveness in both the organisational form of educational institutions and their pedagogical direction. In New Zealand (NZ), what is understood as ‘good’ governance of education has varied over time according to economic conditions and political interests. The fourth Labour government (1984-1990), which undertook a widespread, rapid commitment to neo-liberal principles, reorganised the provision and governance of education along quasi public-private sector lines, explicitly using a business approach to guide practice, yet retaining hegemonic characteristics. This commitment to neo-liberal principles has been continued by all subsequent NZ governments. The intended transformation of the education system from a centrally-governed bureaucracy to a community-governed process has not been easy. Underpinning the new governance regime is an implied notion that school communities share a common understanding of what is meant by education, processes of representation, and of ‘good’ governance. However, due to the different aspirations members of school communities’ can hold for their respective schools this commonality of meaning can be a false dichotomy resulting in schools being governed in a state of tension. This tension serves to highlight contradictions and disconnections between the espoused aims of devolved governance and a State-mandated process that works to exclude certain factions of a school community. Increasing numbers of NZ school Boards of Trustees are experiencing these tensions and contradictions resulting in an interruption in school governance. The interruption I am interested in takes the form of the commodification of education that has been taking place in NZ since the mid 1980s. I argue this to be an interruption with profound effects on both the flourishing of individuals and the cohesion of communities and usefully serves to draw attention to the disconnection between the broad ideals of education, as articulated by the early promoters of a State-funded education system, and the neo-liberal re-visioning of State education. Fairfield College is a NZ State high school where the tensions and contradictions surrounding the meaning of education, processes of representation, and of good governance have generated a crisis resulting in a critical interruption in school governance. The school’s Board of Trustees received considerable media coverage between 2008 and 2009 regarding a critical interruption to their governance. This interruption presented a unique research opportunity to explore how the words used to frame the problems facing the Board of Trustees, the words used to explain and justify State intervention in the governance of the school, and the words used to propose solutions to perceived problems were invested with meaning. With my interest in connotative meaning, I illustrate how these words were used to encourage and endorse actions that comply with prevailing public policy. In this case study I examined how the school’s direction has been reconfigured according to the principles of corporate governance using a companion lexicon of business. Directives have been devised by various NZ governments to align education with the neo-liberal principles that have prevailed in the governance of this country since 1984. The multiple meanings attributed to ‘governance’ and ‘corporate governance’ in the relevant literatures, and the various implications for applied governance processes and dynamics, influenced my decision to adopt the dual orientation of social constructionism and critical theory to underpin this research. Social constructionists focus on how individuals and groups produce, disseminate, and validate their perceptions of reality. Critical theorists aim to create awareness of constraints to emancipatory potential and inclusiveness. They seek to expose the contradictions between espoused aims of justice and the flourishing of individuals and that which is practised, with the intention to contribute to changes that would enhance justice and the flourishing of individuals. One such contribution is to give voice to those who feel their voices are not being heard. Both theoretical schools regard the use of language as pivotal in the construction of social processes in which meaning is continually negotiated and re-negotiated by the stakeholders. In this research I engaged in audio-recorded semi-structured interviews with members from four stakeholder groups involved in the governance of Fairfield College: the Whānau Support Group (a predominantly Māori special interest group), parents and caregivers, teachers, and those previously or currently charged with governance responsibilities for the school. These narratives were then analysed using thematic analysis to provide important insights into how ‘governance’ of the school was interpreted, challenged, and/or endorsed. My research at Fairfield College indicates that the different constructions of ‘governance’ are associated with identifiable overlapping issues arranged in a hierarchy. The foundational tier represents the outcome of various NZ governments’ preference for market-generated principles of organisation at a macro State level, namely the commodification of public services – in this instance education. The middle tier addresses concerns raised by some stakeholders regarding their notion of inclusiveness and the vulnerability of the democratic process as experienced at community level. The top tier encompasses the twin issues of communication and consultation processes at a management level that appear to demonstrate a conflict between the State’s espoused principles of good governance and their application at Fairfield College. As a result of examining the critical interruption to the governance of Fairfield College I conclude that when viewed through the lens of a social constructionist orientation informed by critical theory, ‘governance’ in the education sector can be interpreted as a process supporting neo-liberal preferences for market-orientated approaches to education. Such preferences overshadow any other ideals held by members of the school’s community and, according to a critical understanding of neo-liberalism, weaken the principles of emancipation and inclusiveness. The insights generated from this research provide a basis for further research into the governance of other organisations with emancipatory and inclusive aspirations.

text: A critical interruption in the governance of a New Zealand state high school The governance of contemporary Western education aspires to serve the intertwining values of human emancipation and social inclusiveness in both the organisational form of educational institutions and their pedagogical direction. In New Zealand (NZ), what is understood as ‘good’ governance of education has varied over time according to economic conditions and political interests. The fourth Labour government (1984-1990), which undertook a widespread, rapid commitment to neo-liberal principles, reorganised the provision and governance of education along quasi public-private sector lines, explicitly using a business approach to guide practice, yet retaining hegemonic characteristics. This commitment to neo-liberal principles has been continued by all subsequent NZ governments. The intended transformation of the education system from a centrally-governed bureaucracy to a community-governed process has not been easy. Underpinning the new governance regime is an implied notion that school communities share a common understanding of what is meant by education, processes of representation, and of ‘good’ governance. However, due to the different aspirations members of school communities’ can hold for their respective schools this commonality of meaning can be a false dichotomy resulting in schools being governed in a state of tension. This tension serves to highlight contradictions and disconnections between the espoused aims of devolved governance and a State-mandated process that works to exclude certain factions of a school community. Increasing numbers of NZ school Boards of Trustees are experiencing these tensions and contradictions resulting in an interruption in school governance. The interruption I am interested in takes the form of the commodification of education that has been taking place in NZ since the mid 1980s. I argue this to be an interruption with profound effects on both the flourishing of individuals and the cohesion of communities and usefully serves to draw attention to the disconnection between the broad ideals of education, as articulated by the early promoters of a State-funded education system, and the neo-liberal re-visioning of State education. Fairfield College is a NZ State high school where the tensions and contradictions surrounding the meaning of education, processes of representation, and of good governance have generated a crisis resulting in a critical interruption in school governance. The school’s Board of Trustees received considerable media coverage between 2008 and 2009 regarding a critical interruption to their governance. This interruption presented a unique research opportunity to explore how the words used to frame the problems facing the Board of Trustees, the words used to explain and justify State intervention in the governance of the school, and the words used to propose solutions to perceived problems were invested with meaning. With my interest in connotative meaning, I illustrate how these words were used to encourage and endorse actions that comply with prevailing public policy. In this case study I examined how the school’s direction has been reconfigured according to the principles of corporate governance using a companion lexicon of business. Directives have been devised by various NZ governments to align education with the neo-liberal principles that have prevailed in the governance of this country since 1984. The multiple meanings attributed to ‘governance’ and ‘corporate governance’ in the relevant literatures, and the various implications for applied governance processes and dynamics, influenced my decision to adopt the dual orientation of social constructionism and critical theory to underpin this research. Social constructionists focus on how individuals and groups produce, disseminate, and validate their perceptions of reality. Critical theorists aim to create awareness of constraints to emancipatory potential and inclusiveness. They seek to expose the contradictions between espoused aims of justice and the flourishing of individuals and that which is practised, with the intention to contribute to changes that would enhance justice and the flourishing of individuals. One such contribution is to give voice to those who feel their voices are not being heard. Both theoretical schools regard the use of language as pivotal in the construction of social processes in which meaning is continually negotiated and re-negotiated by the stakeholders. In this research I engaged in audio-recorded semi-structured interviews with members from four stakeholder groups involved in the governance of Fairfield College: the Whānau Support Group (a predominantly Māori special interest group), parents and caregivers, teachers, and those previously or currently charged with governance responsibilities for the school. These narratives were then analysed using thematic analysis to provide important insights into how ‘governance’ of the school was interpreted, challenged, and/or endorsed. My research at Fairfield College indicates that the different constructions of ‘governance’ are associated with identifiable overlapping issues arranged in a hierarchy. The foundational tier represents the outcome of various NZ governments’ preference for market-generated principles of organisation at a macro State level, namely the commodification of public services – in this instance education. The middle tier addresses concerns raised by some stakeholders regarding their notion of inclusiveness and the vulnerability of the democratic process as experienced at community level. The top tier encompasses the twin issues of communication and consultation processes at a management level that appear to demonstrate a conflict between the State’s espoused principles of good governance and their application at Fairfield College. As a result of examining the critical interruption to the governance of Fairfield College I conclude that when viewed through the lens of a social constructionist orientation informed by critical theory, ‘governance’ in the education sector can be interpreted as a process supporting neo-liberal preferences for market-orientated approaches to education. Such preferences overshadow any other ideals held by members of the school’s community and, according to a critical understanding of neo-liberalism, weaken the principles of emancipation and inclusiveness. The insights generated from this research provide a basis for further research into the governance of other organisations with emancipatory and inclusive aspirations.

year: 2011