Life Sign-A

Mixed Media on Mylar 75 x 36"

Märchen aus Kamerun : erzählt von Djo Dibone

ges. und aufgeschrieben von Elli Meinhof

Sphaerella callistea; Dothideaceae

Sphaerella callistea Syd.

Changing times, changing stories: generational differences in climate change perspectives from four remote indigenous communities in Subarctic Alaska

Indigenous Arctic and Subarctic communities currently are facing a myriad of social and environmental changes. In response to these changes, studies concerning indigenous knowledge (IK) and climate change vulnerability, resiliency, and adaptation have increased dramatically in recent years. Risks to lives and livelihoods are often the focus of adaptation research; however, the cultural dimensions of climate change are equally important because cultural dimensions inform perceptions of risk. Furthermore, many Arctic and Subarctic IK climate change studies document observations of change and knowledge of the elders and older generations in a community, but few include the perspectives of the younger population. These observations by elders and older generations form a historical baseline record of weather and climate observations in these regions. However, many indigenous Arctic and Subarctic communities are composed of primarily younger residents. We focused on the differences in the cultural dimensions of climate change found between young adults and elders. We outlined the findings from interviews conducted in four indigenous communities in Subarctic Alaska. The findings revealed that (1) intergenerational observations of change were common among interview participants in all four communities, (2) older generations observed more overall change than younger generations interviewed by us, and (3) how change was perceived varied between generations. We defined “observations” as the specific examples of environmental and weather change that were described, whereas “perceptions” referred to the manner in which these observations of change were understood and contextualized by the interview participants. Understanding the differences in generational observations and perceptions of change are key issues in the development of climate change adaptation strategies.

Sphingidae de El Salvador: (Resultado del viaje de exploración Dr. Adolf Zilch 1951 en El Salvador Nº2)

Entre los miles de lepidópteros coleccionados por el Dr. Adolf Zilch durante su estancia en El Salvador se hallaban 204 sphingidae de 33 especies donde no se anota diferentemente los animales proceden de San Salvador. Todos fueron coleccionados mediante captura por luz, por ofrecerse precisamente buena ocasión para aquel método en el Instituto Tropical de Investigaciones Científicas de El Salvador. Los faroles colocados alrededor del Instituto atraían con su luz resplandeciente masas de insectos noche tras noche y el Dr. Zilch los coleccionaba cada tres o cuatro horas en la pared iluminada del edificio. En los anales del Instituto de Biología de 1942, Carlos especificó para México 154 especies de sphingidae.

To Succeed Is to Believe: Comparison of Self-Efficacy Beliefs in Language Learning between Learner Groups of English and Swedish in Finland

In this thesis, I studied self-efficacy in the learning of English and Swedish in Finland. The theory of self-efficacy, which was created by Albert Bandura, suggests that the beliefs a person has of his or her capabilities in a certain task affect the person’s performance in the task. My aim was to study whether there are differences in self-efficacy beliefs between the learners of English and Swedish, and whether these beliefs correlate with the performance in the language in question. My hypotheses were that the learners of English have higher self-efficacy beliefs than the learners of Swedish and that self-efficacy beliefs correlate with language performance. The study was quantitative, and it consisted of a self-efficacy questionnaire and a language test which were distributed to students of English and Swedish in an upper secondary school in Rovaniemi. The study was answered by 137 students, of whom 93 were learners of English and 44 were learners of Swedish. The results indicated that the learners of English had a higher sense of efficacy than the learners of Swedish. The analysis proved that there was a significant correlation between English students’ self-efficacy and their performance in the language measured by the test and the grades. In addition, a significant correlation existed between Swedish students’ self-efficacy and their grades. However, there was no correlation between the Swedish students’ self-efficacy and their test results. The difference in the self-efficacy beliefs of the two language groups indicates that people in Finland are more confident in using English than Swedish, which also implies that English is more valued in Finnish society than Swedish. It is important to acknowledge the lower self-efficacy beliefs in Swedish because various studies have proven that self-efficacy affects academic achievement. As a suggestion for further research, the self-efficacy beliefs of different language groups could be compared in a qualitative study in order to understand the development of self-efficacy more profoundly.

Sports sponsorship as a channel for brand engagement on social media

The purpose of this Mater’s Thesis was to examine how sports sponsorship can be used as a channel for brand engagement on social media. All these three concepts have been researched previously, however, up until now they have been studied separately. Therefore, the aim was also to investigate the interrelations between these three concepts, as there is a lack of academic base on the matter. The theory of the research was based on existing academic researches of social media, brand engagement and sports sponsorship. The empirical part of the research was conducted by utilizing quantitative research method. An online questionnaire was published on Facebook pages of two Liiga ice hockey teams. In the end the total sample consisted of 322 viable respondents. The collected data was analyzed by using statistical analysis software, SPSS. The findings of the empirical research reveal that information, enjoyment, personal identity, social interaction and compensation motivate consumers to engage with brands on social media. However, the behavior of consumers is more passive than active brand engagement. Personal identity and compensation serve as motivational reasons for brand engagement on both active and passive level, while the rest are only passive brand engagement. Besides motivation there are other variables that affect consumers. Support for the team reflects to brand engagement, which is passive brand engagement. The visibility of the brand during the event is linked to both active and passive brand engagement. Prior information of sports team and event and frequency of attendance can be linked only to active brand engagement. On the other hand, congruence between the team and brand reflects only to passive brand engagement.