Les outils de simulation sont des moyens pour faciliter la mise en place d'une production sur les Machines Outil à Commande Numérique, ces outils sont devenus très courants dans l'industrie et, par conséquent, dans l'éducation. Plusieurs problèmes importants émergent, telles que des questions d’ordre pédagogique, des aspects liés à l’ergonomie des interfaces, le coût d'acquisition de l'équipement et d'adaptabilité des étudiants aux multitudes de logiciels de fabrication assistée par ordinateur, de ce fait le problème de la sélection du logiciel est soulevé dans l'éducation afin d'assurer une efficacité des processus d'enseignement et d'apprentissage des étudiants.Cette thèse est conduite dans l’objectif d’étudier une méthodologie pour sélectionner un logiciel de FAO qui pourrait être efficace en tant que support d’apprentissage de la FAO en premier cycle des universités techniques, des écoles d’ingénieurs et autres établissements similaires. Les facteurs déterminants l’efficacité des étudiants utilisant un logiciel dans leurs apprentissages de la FAO ont été déduits du cadre théorique de la thèse qui s’est basé sur la théorie de l’activité. Cette théorie prend en considération le contexte global de cette activité d’enseignement-apprentissage de la FAO à savoir l’étudiant, l’artefact, le professeur, l’établissement et la communauté des éditeurs de logiciels.Le traitement statistique des données recueillies à travers les réponses d’un échantillon de 50 étudiants ont été élaboré dans le but de confirmer nos hypothèses sur les principaux critères d'évaluation de logiciel de simulation en éducation. / Simulation tools as means to facilitate setting up a production have become very common in industry and, therefore, in education. Among several significant problems, like pedagogical issues, the cost of equipment acquisition and the adaptability of students to the multitude of Computer-Aided Manufacturing, it is raise in education the problem of selecting software in order to ensure maximum effectiveness of teaching process and students learning.This research study was designed to investigate a methodology to select CAM software that could be effective as a support of CAM learning in university, taking into account different features of CAM learning. We determine the student effectiveness in learning factors of CAM software and further, determine the relationship between the different main factors. The research was conducted using a questionnaire submitted to 50 students attending the second academic year of Mechanical Design and Production. The study provides results from empirical test of these relationships and provides criteria for evaluation simulation of software in education.

The issue of this dissertation is the relationship between Vocational Education and Training (VET) in general and VET for building and construction in particular, as well as implications of the fact that Swedish VET is carried out both in school and in working life. Vocational construction education includes a three year Construction Programme at upper secondary school followed by two to three years of on-the-job training in the construction industry. In this case study of an upper secondary Construction Programme, the school based daily instruction as well as work based training, is explored and documented. These constitute a base for descriptions and analysis of education as a whole from the perspective of Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT). The aim of the analysis is to identify the main motives for vocational construction education. The case study results are further based on descriptions and CHAT-analyses of the historical development of construction work as well as of Swedish VET in general and of vocational construction area in particular. The case study illustrates that two activities form vocational construction education; the dominating activity being construction production, and school-activity. The terms of construction industry seem to greatly determine the realisation of the school based construction production activity.  E.g. teamwork is emphasised in both activities. The school activity is marked by the implementation of infusion of core subjects by vocational subjects, aimed at preparing the students for continued professional development in the trade. The conclusion drawn here is that the new Swedish apprenticeship seems to contribute to a narrow professional knowledge base, whereas the use of infused core subjects seems to contribute to a broader professional knowledge base.

Denna avhandling inom interaktionsdesign handlar om användarmedverkan vid design av digitala edutainmentspel. Arbetet omfattar en aktionsorienterad forskningsansats där barns och ungdomars medverkan har främjats i tre tillämpade designprojekt. Genom observationer och intervjuer har utmaningar och strategier för användarmedverkan dokumenterats. Därtill även de bidrag som barnens och ungdomarnas medverkan innebar för design av edutainmentspel. Avhandlingen visar på två tydliga resultat. För det första, genom de utmaningar för användarmedverkan som designprocessen innebar och hanterandet av dessa utmaningar, så påvisas hur motiv till användarmedverkan kan förändras hos designteamet. Denna förändring är en pågående process som sker före, under och efter ett designprojekt. Motiv till användarmedverkan förändras med stöd av en förmedlare. En förmedlare bibringar synpunkter och designförslag mellan användare och designers. Förmedlaren anpassar även användarmedverkan till det sammanhang inom vilket designprojektet genomförs. Genom att delge designteamet dokument om och resultat av användarsessioner, så omvandlas förmedlarens kunskap om och erfarenhet av användarmedverkan till designteamets egen. Kunskap och erfarenhet vilka därefter förändrar motiv till design av fördel för användarmedverkan. För det andra så dokumenteras i avhandlingen betydelsen av att barn och ungdomar medverkar vid design av edutainmentspel. Dessa spel har under en längre tid utmanats av att finna balans mellan lärande och underhållning. Genom sin erfarenhet av målgruppens förväntningar på tekniken, samt av att bidra inom områden för design så som; koncept och innehåll, interaktionslösningar, samt utseende och känsla, så medförde barnens och ungdomarnas medverkan ett stöd för designteamet i att finna balans mellan lärande och underhållning. I resultaten framkommer att barnen och ungdomarna deltog i projekten i egenskap av informanter. Eftersom de inte hade ansvar för den utvecklade produktionen betraktades de inte heller som medlemmar i designteamet. Med sina resultat medverkar avhandlingen i diskursen om hur traditionella designperspektiv kan tillämpas vid design av digitala edutainmentproduktioner.

The thesis´ aim is to deepen the understanding about what shapes and characterises the purchase process for management advice services. Such externally, acquired services have increased substantially, and in relation to the services´ impact on management decisions the theoretical and practical understanding of the purchase process is lagging behind. The thesis´ analyses, interpretations and conclusions are founded on empirical data collected by use of focus groups, and based on activity theory. The findings show that the purchase process is influenced by many actors who see themselves as subject in the process. They have similar but also conflicting objects that they want to fulfil. The outcome of the purchase process is influenced by contradictory opinions among the actors about how to organize and supervise the process. The main contradictions are influenced by the actors´ different objects and how they interpret the context of the purchase process. The context is shaped by such as leadership style, social rules regarding management of change and opinions about division of labour in the purchase process. The impression of the purchase process´s character is that commonly used supply chain models do not work as a characterization. The purchase process´s phases do not follow on each other and the glue that links the phases is not a rational procedure following one, firm route. The findings show that procurement, integration and follow-up phases overlap, are concurrent and integrated in each other. The purchase process reproduces the execution of polyphonic music in which different voices, each with its own melody, create a rich texture of sounds. In a similar way the purchase process is coined by actors who bring their own objects and competence into the process. It produces dissonance, as in polyphonic music. It mirrors the services character of competence development and shapes the purchase process as polyphonic rather than a rational, step by step process.

In the 21st Century and beyond, it is clear that science and technology will be a catalyst in strengthening economic competitiveness and fostering social cohesion. However, some minoritized students are not engaged in science or related careers in science such as medicine. This study addresses the systemic issue of equitable and accessible science education as a requisite for career acquisition such as medicine. Mentoring is presented as a sociocultural participatory activity for engaging students in science learning. The purpose of this study is to assess the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine Summer Mentorship Program (SMP) and to use the data to theorize on the mentoring phenomenon. In 1994, the SMP was established as a means of ameliorating the traditionally low participation of Aboriginal and Black students in medicine and other health sciences. For the first 10 years (1994 – 2004), 250 participants enrolled in the program. Recently, ten past mentees of the program matriculated into various medical schools (5 in the Class of 2008 at the University of Toronto, this is significant, as the norm is usually 0 or at most 2). The study utilized a qualitative approach, requiring the collection of semi-structured one-on-one interview data and an interpretive phenomenological methodology to evaluate the data. There was an increased level of school and community involvement when students returned to high school and an increased awareness of the academic and career choices available to protégés. Mentees indicated that the influence of the SMP followed them much further than the end of the summer and considered it to be an important and defining moment in their educational journey. Communication could be improved so that mentors get a sense of their own impact and for professional development. Recommendations include conducting a study more focused on the impact of the SMP on Aboriginal students who completed the program. Finally, from a theoretical perspective, further work is recommended in order to fine-tune the proposed Mentoring Oriented Teaching and Learning Strategy (MOTALS) framework that incorporates students as natives in a welcoming community of science practice rather than immigrants in a strange land of non-contextual science knowledge.

In the 21st Century and beyond, it is clear that science and technology will be a catalyst in strengthening economic competitiveness and fostering social cohesion. However, some minoritized students are not engaged in science or related careers in science such as medicine. This study addresses the systemic issue of equitable and accessible science education as a requisite for career acquisition such as medicine. Mentoring is presented as a sociocultural participatory activity for engaging students in science learning. The purpose of this study is to assess the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine Summer Mentorship Program (SMP) and to use the data to theorize on the mentoring phenomenon. In 1994, the SMP was established as a means of ameliorating the traditionally low participation of Aboriginal and Black students in medicine and other health sciences. For the first 10 years (1994 – 2004), 250 participants enrolled in the program. Recently, ten past mentees of the program matriculated into various medical schools (5 in the Class of 2008 at the University of Toronto, this is significant, as the norm is usually 0 or at most 2). The study utilized a qualitative approach, requiring the collection of semi-structured one-on-one interview data and an interpretive phenomenological methodology to evaluate the data. There was an increased level of school and community involvement when students returned to high school and an increased awareness of the academic and career choices available to protégés. Mentees indicated that the influence of the SMP followed them much further than the end of the summer and considered it to be an important and defining moment in their educational journey. Communication could be improved so that mentors get a sense of their own impact and for professional development. Recommendations include conducting a study more focused on the impact of the SMP on Aboriginal students who completed the program. Finally, from a theoretical perspective, further work is recommended in order to fine-tune the proposed Mentoring Oriented Teaching and Learning Strategy (MOTALS) framework that incorporates students as natives in a welcoming community of science practice rather than immigrants in a strange land of non-contextual science knowledge.

Very few studies focus on how English as a second language (ESL) students' agency and their unique histories as an integral part of the social cultural environment influence his or her participation in computer-mediated peer response tasks, particularly in a multimedia-based synchronous communication environment. Considering each ESL student as an active agency with unique historical bearings, the dissertation investigated ESL students' participation in computer-mediated peer response (CMPR) tasks that used instant messenger (IM) as the communication technology between students from the cultural historical activity theoretical (CHAT) perspective, which views all human interaction as a dynamic developmental process. A case study approach was adopted to collect qualitative data from five ESL students enrolled in a level-4 academic writing class in summer, 2006. The entire study spanned from May to August. Each of the five participants participated in three CMPR tasks throughout the semester. Data were collected from multiple sources including a demographic survey, IM chat transcripts, the researcher's participative observations, participants' on-screen and off-screen behaviors, their first and second writing drafts, interviews, the researcher's reflective journals as well as documents collected in each instructional modules. Both within-case and cross-case analysis were used to identify emergent themes. Specific methods included constant comparison method, content analysis, revision analysis, and CHAT analysis. The findings showed that ESL students had multiple and heterogeneous motives and goals within and across CMPR tasks. Some motives were learning-oriented while others were non-learning-oriented or even entertainment-oriented. The use of IM not only triggered each student's motive and goal formation and shift, but also transformed his or her particular behaviors and the relationship established during each CMPR session. ESL students' online contributions were strongly influenced by the pair's IM communication styles and competences rather than the task types or their motives. Students also developed new perceptions about CMPR tasks, which shaped and were dialectically shaped by their participatory behaviors in each task. Conflicts and tensions existed within and between both contemporary and historical activity systems in which each student was involved. Those who actively sought solutions to the conflicts developed new knowledge and skills such as writing an exploratory essay and competences of conducting CMPR tasks. Those who ignored the conflicts experienced scarce expected development.

Studiens syfte är att belysa klientens bedömning om boendestödets relevans i vardagen. Studien stöds av teoretiska perspektiv som besvarar frågan om hur klienten upplever vardagliga aktiviteter, meningsfull sysselsättning. I motsättning till klientens bedömning beskriver boendestödjarna deras syn på meningsfull sysselsättning och vardagliga aktiviteter. Syftet för studien uppnås genom en kvalitativ studie och baseras på intervjuer om hur klienten och boendestödjarens upplever boendestödets relevans i vardagen. I studien har fyra olika klienter och två boendestödjare (i åldrarna 29-60 år) intervjuats. Klienterna har psykiska och fysiska sjukdomar och har haft boendestöd i minst 3 år. Vid analys av intervjumaterialet har vi använt oss av verksamhetsteorin. Det perspektivet är samhällsvetenskapligt inriktat och studerar hur människan på olika sätt är beroende av verksamheter för att kunna hantera vardagen.   För att stärka vår teori har vi använt oss av ett teoretiskt perspektiv KASAM (känsla av sammanhang. Därefter har vi valt att stärka empirin och våra teoretiska perspektiv med två avhandlingar i den tidigare forskningen. Genom tidigare forskning kan förklaring ges till hur olika faktorer påverkar människor med psykiska funktionsnedsättningar, likväl som en förståelse för hur klienten upplever meningsfull sysselsättning, aktivitet och boendestöd som relevant för deras vardag.   För att kunna analysera intervjumaterialet valdes två strategier, meningskategorisering och meningstolkning. Utifrån dessa två strategier omformades sex teman till tre som sedan presenteras i resultatet. Analysen visar att boendestödet har en stor betydelse för att klienterna ska uppnå meningsfull sysselsättning, arbete och aktivitet i vardagen. Samtliga klienter har bra kontakt med sina boendestödjare och känner en trygghet samt gemenskap till dem.

Senior university students taking an internationally distributed project course in computer systems find themselves in a complex learning situation. To understand how they experience computer systems and act in their learning situation, the what, the why, the how and the where of their learning have been studied from the students’ perspective. The what aspect concerns the students’ understanding of concepts within computer systems: network protocols. The why aspect concerns the students’ objectives to learn computer systems. The how aspect concerns how the students go about learning. The where aspect concerns the students’ experience of their learning environment. These metaphorical entities are then synthesised to form a whole. The emphasis on the students’ experience of their learning motivates a phenomenographic research approach as the core of a study that is extended with elements of activity theory. The methodological framework that is developed from these research approaches enables the researcher to retain focus on learning, and specifically the learning of computer systems, throughout. By applying the framework, the complexity in the learning is unpacked and conclusions are drawn on the students’ learning of computer systems. The results are structural, qualitative, and empirically derived from interview data. They depict the students’ experience of their learning of computer systems in their experienced learning situation and highlight factors that facilitate learning. The results comprise sets of qualitatively different categories that describe how the students relate to their learning in their experienced learning environment. The sets of categories, grouped after the four components (what, why, how and where), are synthesised to describe the whole of the students’ experience of learning computer systems. This study advances the discussion about learning computer systems and demonstrates how theoretically anchored research contributes to teaching and learning in the field. Its multi-faceted, multi-disciplinary character invites further debate, and thus, advances the field.

本研究旨在以活動理論為分析架構，探究家長參與研究者自編「家長手作方案」課程的過程中，學習社群的變化以及產生矛盾現象之原因，最後提供解決方式，做為日後親職教育課程之參考。 本研究以台灣北部某私立幼兒園四位家長為研究對象，採行動研究方法。歷經三個月共九次課程之實驗。根據活動理論中的七個組成要素，包含主體（subject）、目標（object）、社群（community）、工具（tools）、規則（rules）、分工（division of labor）以及結果展現（outcome），分析「幼兒親職教育方案」在活動系統中展現與實施之歷程，以及過程中所遇到之矛盾現象。 本研究資料蒐集透過課程觀察記錄、實際課程運作情況、LINE網路社群對話紀錄以及訪談資料，並採用MAXQDA軟體進行分析，透過持續進行資料與概念的比較，找出核心概念，最後總結出研究的結果。經過資料蒐集、分析與詮釋，研究發現如下: 一、「家長手作方案」活動系統各要素環環相扣、相互交織，能系統性解 決活動進行中的矛盾現象，讓課程得以順利進行、有效落實親職教 育。 二、「家長手作方案」對家長學習之影響，包含家長手作特性、親子互動 模式以及家長在學習過程中自我的轉變等變化，透過本方案有效改變 家長落實親職教育之態度。 三、親職教育的新角度-以學習社群介入親職教育，不僅增加成員間的凝 聚力與認同感，更有效提升成員的學習成效。 四、透過網路學習社群的輔助，與教學虛實合一，能促進家長的交流與課 外聯繫，提升家長的學習效能。 透過活動理論發現，以學習社群方式進行親職教育，有助於提升家長親職效能、情緒抒發與經驗分享；運用網路學習社群的輔助，建立成員間更深厚的凝聚力與認同感，彼此鼓勵與支持，在教育孩子路上攜手結伴同行。 / Using activity theory as a structure, the purpose of this study was to investigate the change and the reasons of conflicts occur during the parents engaged in the “hands-on project” curriculums developed by researcher. The solutions were provided as references for future parental education curriculum development. Participants are four parents of a private kindergarten in northern Taiwan. This research is an action research. Within three months, there are total nine times of courses. According to activity theory, there are seven elements including subject, object, community, tools, rules, division of labor and outcome. Using these elements, this study analyze the presentation, process and problems showed during “early childhood parental education program”. The data included observation of the classroom when the courses were given, the conversation record on an instant messenger called “Line”, and the record of interview. With MAXQDA as an analysis tool, the data were compared over and over until the main concepts were clear enough. The results showed that: 1.The elements in “early childhood parental education program” were linked with others so that it could solve the contradiction during the activities systematically. 2.The influences of “early childhood parental education program” included the change of parents’ handwork habits, the model parents interact with their child and the self-development during the learning process. Through this project, the attitudes of parents toward childhood parental education have been changed. 3.This new way –learning community in parental education— not only gains the members’ sense of identification to the group but helps them learn more efficiently. 4.With the web-based learning community after school can promote the interaction between parents, also facilitate the learning efficiency of parents. Overall, through activity theory and using learning community in parental education could raise parents’ parental efficiency, release their emotion and share experiences with each other in the group. With web-based learning community can gather the group members and construct their sense of recognition to the group. Thus, the group members can help with each other and conquer difficulty in the process of education.