Emancipating and developing learning activity: Systemic intervention and re-instrumentation in higher education.

The central theme of this thesis is the emancipation and further development of learning activity in higher education in the context of the ongoing digital transformation of our societies. It was developed in response to the highly problematic mainstream approach to digital re-instrumentation of teaching and studying practises in contemporary higher education. The mainstream approach is largely based on centralisation, standardisation, commoditisation, and commercialisation, while re-producing the general patterns of control, responsibility, and dependence that are characteristic for activity systems of schooling. Whereas much of educational research and development focuses on the optimisation and fine-tuning of schooling, the overall inquiry that is underlying this thesis has been carried out from an explicitly critical position and within a framework of action science. It thus conceptualises learning activity in higher education not only as an object of inquiry but also as an object to engage with and to intervene into from a perspective of intentional change. The knowledge-constituting interest of this type of inquiry can be tentatively described as a combination of heuristic-instrumental (guidelines for contextualised action and intervention), practical-phronetic (deliberation of value-rational aspects of means and ends), and developmental-emancipatory (deliberation of issues of power, self-determination, and growth) aspects. Its goal is the production of orientation knowledge for educational practise. The thesis provides an analysis, argumentation, and normative claim on why the development of learning activity should be turned into an object of individual|collective inquiry and intentional change in higher education, and why the current state of affairs in higher education actually impedes such a development. It argues for a decisive shift of attention to the intentional emancipation and further development of learning activity as an important cultural instrument for human (self-)production within the digital transformation. The thesis also attempts an in-depth exploration of what type of methodological rationale can actually be applied to an object of inquiry (developing learning activity) that is at the same time conceptualised as an object of intentional change within the ongoing digital transformation. The result of this retrospective reflection is the formulation of “optimally incomplete” guidelines for educational R&D practise that shares the practicalphronetic (value related) and developmental-emancipatory (power related) orientations that had been driving the overall inquiry. In addition, the thesis formulates the instrumental-heuristic knowledge claim that the conceptual instruments that were adapted and validated in the context of a series of intervention studies provide means to effectively intervene into existing practise in higher education to support the necessary development of (increasingly emancipated) networked learning activity. It suggests that digital networked instruments (tools and services) generally should be considered and treated as transient elements within critical systemic intervention research in higher education. It further argues for the predominant use of loosely-coupled, digital networked instruments that allow for individual|collective ownership, control, (co-)production, and re-use in other contexts and for other purposes. Since the range of digital instrumentation options is continuously expanding and currently shows no signs of an imminent slow-down or consolidation, individual and collective exploration and experimentation of this realm needs to be systematically incorporated into higher education practise.

Design of an amplifier and an instrumentation setup for a harsh environment heat flux measurement application – case axial flux electric machine

Measurement is a tool for researching. Therefore, it is important that the measuring process is carried out correctly, without distorting the signal or the measured event. Researches of thermoelectric phenomena have been focused more on transverse thermoelectric phenomena during recent decades. Transverse Seebeck effect enables to produce thinner and faster heat flux sensor than before. Studies about transverse Seebeck effect have so far focused on materials, so in this Master’s Thesis instrumentation of transverse Seebeck effect based heat flux sensor is studied, This Master’s Thesis examines an equivalent circuit of transverse Seebeck effect heat flux sensors, their connectivity to electronics and choosing and design a right type amplifier. The research is carried out with a case study which is Gradient Heat Flux Sensors and an electrical motor. In this work, a general equivalent circuit was presented for the transverse Seebeck effect-based heat flux sensor. An amplifier was designed for the sensor of the case study, and the solution was produced for the measurement of the local heat flux of the electric motor to improve the electromagnetic compatibility.

Design of Resistivity Instrumentation for a He3 Cryostat and its Application to the Charge Density Wave Superconductor CuxTiSe2

Fermi patches in quasi-two dimensional charge density waves (CDW) have not described the connection to superconductivity (SC) according to theory adequately at this point in time. The connection between CDW and SC in the quasi-two dimensional material CuxTiSe2 is an interesting one which might reveal mechanisms in unconventional superconductors. A previous Brock graduate student grew crystals of CuxTiSe2. The precise doping of the samples was not known. In order to determine the doping parameter x in CuxTiSe2, a sensitive resistivity measurement system was necessary. A new resistivity measurement system was designed and implemented utilizing an Infrared Labs HDL-10 He3 cryostat. By comparing with data from the literature, doping of two samples was investigated using the new measurement system and a Quantum Design Magnetic Property Measurement System (MPMS). Methods for determining the doping revealed that the old resistivity system would not be able to determine the CDW transition temperature of highly doped samples or doping for elongated samples due to electronic noise. Doping in one sample was found to be between x=0.06 and x=0.065. Values of doping in the second sample had a discrepancy but could be explained by incorrect sample orientation.

Du bien-être psychologique au travail : fondements théoriques, conceptualisation et instrumentation du construit

Malgré la préoccupation croissante des chercheurs et praticiens pour la santé psychologique au travail, le concept de bien-être vécu au travail est encore mal compris de la communauté scientifique. En effet, peu d’efforts ont été consacrés à ce jour pour développer des connaissances sur le bien-être psychologique au travail arrimées à la réalité des employés. Cette thèse a donc pour objectif de développer une conceptualisation du bien-être psychologique au travail et une instrumentation psychométriquement fiable lui étant rattachée. Pour ce faire, deux études ont été réalisées. La première, de nature qualitative et exploratoire, fut menée auprès de 20 travailleurs canadiens francophones afin de répertorier, à partir d’incidents critiques vécus par ceux-ci, des manifestations de bien-être psychologique au travail. Celles-ci ont pu être classifiées selon un modèle en 2 axes, soit la sphère de référence dans laquelle le bien-être psychologique au travail se vit et la directionnalité selon laquelle il se développe. Ce modèle a ensuite été comparé aux conceptualisations génériques du bien-être psychologique existantes, et cette analyse a permis d’étayer la validité convergente et divergente du modèle. Dans un deuxième temps, l’Indice de bien-être psychologique au travail (IBEPT) a été créé sur la base des manifestations relevées lors de l’étude qualitative, afin d’en assurer la validité de contenu. Une version expérimentale de l’instrument a ensuite été soumise à une expérimentation auprès de 1080 travailleurs québécois. Les analyses factorielles exploratoires révèlent une structure interne en 25 items reflétant 5 dimensions, représentant elles-mêmes un construit de second ordre. La validité de construit de cette conceptualisation a ensuite été étudiée par l’analyse des intercorrélations avec une série de mesures du bien-être et de la détresse psychologique génériques. Les résultats appuient la validité convergente de l’instrument, et démontrent également sa validité divergente. Enfin, l’instrument affiche une cohérence interne satisfaisante. Au terme de cette recherche doctorale, les résultats des deux études sont interprétés en fonction de l’état actuel des connaissances sur le bien-être psychologique, les limites des études sont énoncées, et des pistes de recherche future sont avancées.

La santé psychologique au travail : conceptualisation, instrumentation et facteurs organisationnels de développement

Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

A layered JavaScript virtual machine supporting dynamic instrumentation

L’observation de l’exécution d’applications JavaScript est habituellement réalisée en instrumentant une machine virtuelle (MV) industrielle ou en effectuant une traduction source-à-source ad hoc et complexe. Ce mémoire présente une alternative basée sur la superposition de machines virtuelles. Notre approche consiste à faire une traduction source-à-source d’un programme pendant son exécution pour exposer ses opérations de bas niveau au travers d’un modèle objet flexible. Ces opérations de bas niveau peuvent ensuite être redéfinies pendant l’exécution pour pouvoir en faire l’observation. Pour limiter la pénalité en performance introduite, notre approche exploite les opérations rapides originales de la MV sous-jacente, lorsque cela est possible, et applique les techniques de compilation à-la-volée dans la MV superposée. Notre implémentation, Photon, est en moyenne 19% plus rapide qu’un interprète moderne, et entre 19× et 56× plus lente en moyenne que les compilateurs à-la-volée utilisés dans les navigateurs web populaires. Ce mémoire montre donc que la superposition de machines virtuelles est une technique alternative compétitive à la modification d’un interprète moderne pour JavaScript lorsqu’appliqué à l’observation à l’exécution des opérations sur les objets et des appels de fonction.

Design and Development of Instrumentation Systems to determine the Dry Rubber Content in Natural Rubber Latex

Hevea latex is a natural biological liquid of very complex composition .Besides rubber hydrocarbons,it contains many proteinous and resinous substances,carbohydrates,inorganic matter,water,and others.The Dry Rubber Content (DRC) of latex varies according to season, tapping system,weather,soil conditions ,clone,age of the tree etc. The true DRC of the latex must be determined to ensure fair prices for the latex during commercial exchange.The DRC of Hevea latex is a very familiar term to all in the rubber industry.It has been the basis for incentive payments to tappers who bring in more than the daily agreed poundage of latex.It is an important parameter for rubber and latex processing industries for automation and verious decesion making processes.This thesis embodies the efforts made by me to determine the DRC of rubber latex following different analytical tools such as MIR absorption,thermal analysis.dielectric spectroscopy and NIR reflectance.The rubber industry is still Looking for a compact instrument that is accurate economical,easy to use and environment friendly.I hope the results presented in this thesis will help to realise this goal in the near future.

Laser Spectroscopy: TDLAS instrumentation and NIR analysis of some organic materials

Near-infrared spectroscopy can be a workhorse technique for materials analysis in industries such as agriculture, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and polymers. A near-infrared spectrum represents combination bands and overtone bands that are harmonics of absorption frequencies in the mid-infrared. Near-infrared absorption includes a combination-band region immediately adjacent to the mid-infrared and three overtone regions. All four near-infrared regions contain "echoes" of the fundamental mid-infrared absorptions. For example, vibrations in the mid-infrared due to the C-H stretches will produce four distinct bands in each of the overtone and combination regions. As the bands become more removed from the fundamental frequencies they become more widely separated from their neighbors, more broadened and are dramatically reduced in intensity. Because near-infrared bands are much less intense, more of the sample can be used to produce a spectra and with near-infrared, sample preparation activities are greatly reduced or eliminated so more of the sample can be utilized. In addition, long path lengths and the ability to sample through glass in the near-infrared allows samples to be measured in common media such as culture tubes, cuvettes and reaction bottles. This is unlike mid-infrared where very small amounts of a sample produce a strong spectrum; thus sample preparation techniques must be employed to limit the amount of the sample that interacts with the beam. In the present work we describe the successful the fabrication and calibration of a linear high resolution linear spectrometer using tunable diode laser and a 36 m path length cell and meuurement of a highly resolved structure of OH group in methanol in the transition region A v =3. We then analyse the NIR spectrum of certain aromatic molecules and study the substituent effects using local mode theory

Project for instrumentation in education

This paper describes an audio/visual project resulting in a public relations slide slow about Central Institute for the Deaf and its facilities and activities.

Mid-infrared filters for astronomical and remote sensing instrumentation

As improvements to the optical design of spectrometer and radiometer instruments evolve with advances in detector sensitivity, use of focal plane detector arrays and innovations in adaptive optics for large high altitude telescopes, interest in mid-infrared astronomy and remote sensing applications have been areas of progressive research in recent years. This research has promoted a number of developments in infrared coating performance, particularly by placing increased demands on the spectral imaging requirements of filters to precisely isolate radiation between discrete wavebands and improve photometric accuracy. The spectral design and construction of multilayer filters to accommodate these developments has subsequently been an area of challenging thin-film research, to achieve high spectral positioning accuracy, environmental durability and aging stability at cryogenic temperatures, whilst maximizing the far-infrared performance. In this paper we examine the design and fabrication of interference filters in instruments that utilize the mid-infrared N-band (6-15 µm) and Q-band (16-28 µm) atmospheric windows, together with a rationale for the selection of materials, deposition process, spectral measurements and assessment of environmental durability performance.