This qualitative field study investigated cross-site knowledge sharing in a small sample of multinational corporations in three different MNC business contexts (global, multidomestic, transnational). The results disclose heterogeneous "worlds" of MNC knowledge sharing, ultimately raising the question as to whether the whole concept of MNC knowledge sharing covers a sufficiently unitary phenomenon to be meaningful. We derive a non-exhaustive typology of MNC knowledge-sharing practices: self-organizing knowledge sharing, technocratic knowledge sharing, and best practice knowledge sharing. Despite its limitations, this typology helps to elucidate a number of issues, including the latent conflict between two disparate theories of MNC knowledge sharing, namely "sender-receiver" and "social learning" theories (Noorderhaven & Harzing, 2009). More generally, we develop the term "knowledge contextualization" to highlight the way that firm-specific organizational features pre-define which knowledge is considered to be of special relevance for intra-organizational sharing. (authors' abstract)

In this thesis, we focused on two problems in mobile application development: contextualization and large-scale testing. We identified the limitations of current contextualization and testing solutions. On one hand, advanced-remote-computing- based mobilization does not provide context awareness to the mobile applications it mobilized, so we presented contextify to provide context awareness to them without rewriting the applications or changing their source code. Evaluation results and user surveys showed that contextify-contextualized applications reduce users' time and effort to complete tasks. On the other hand, current mobile application testing solutions cannot conduct tests at the UI level and in a large-scale manner simultaneously, so we presented and implemented automated cloud computing (ACT) to achieve this goal. Evaluation results showed that ACT can support a large number of users and it is stable, cost-efficiency as well as time-efficiency.

The cognitive models that research on conceptual change has generated have been the subject of criticism, suggesting that these reflect an unrealistic view of learning as an overly “cold” and isolated process. Accordingly, representatives of this criticism suggest that research on conceptual change should investigate to what extent the cold cognition relates to “warm” affective constructs. In the present thesis, the warmth is not considered as prior to conceptual change, but is inferred from the very process of conceptual change itself. The aim is to investigate and describe how this warmth – in terms of normativity – is expressed in conceptual change and how individuals, in these processes, emerge as subjects in their interchange with the environment. This is done by exploring what students do when they make meaning of gender and nation in interviews and exam papers. The results show that the students mainly relate to two different norm-systems, including six normative aspects of conceptual change. The first system includes the goal to challenge or emancipate, the means to problematize, and engagement in the interviews or exams. Furthermore, it includes critical theory as an ideal, social structures and power as values, and me as a social being and actions as part of a tradition as what to make meaning of. The second system includes the goal to preserve, the means to claim how it “is”, and engagement in the interviews or exams. Furthermore, it includes psychological/biological reductionism as an ideal, essences and a natural order as values, and me as an individual and actions as an outcome of intentions as what to make meaning of. By understanding what the students do as interfering with these normative aspects, it becomes possible to understand them as negotiating norms that are brought to the fore. With this, “coldness” appears to be a misleading epithet of conceptual change. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Submitted. Paper 2: Accepted. Paper 3: Submitted.</p>

Every local church, although part of a greater denomination, finds itself in a unique context with unique ministerial needs. It is of the utmost importance for every local church to be contextual in its ministry, to eventually being effective in its ministry. To make this possible a Scriptural view of the interplay between the unity of the church, the diversity of the church and the fulfilment of the calling of the church, currently not existing, is a key factor. The primary goal of this research is to provide guidelines to churches to assure the contextualization of their calling and ministerial strategy. This is done by motivating the necessity thereof, and by providing Scriptural principles for the interplay between the unity of the church, the diversity of the church and the fulfilment of the calling of the church. The research is done according to the practical-theological methodology of Gerben Heitink (1 999). • The first part of the study consists of a hermeneutical process giving perspective on the current state of affairs in ministerial theory and practice, as well as providing Scriptural principles. Chapter 2 of the hermeneutical investigation wants to determine in what manner the interplay between the unity of the church, the diversity of the church and the fulfilment of the calling of the church is currently being recognized when a local church determines their specific calling and ministerial strategy. Furthermore a brief overview is given regarding the state of affairs in South Africa which has an effect on the climate in which ministry has to take place. This ensures the contextualization of the study. In Chapter 3 Scriptural principles are developed regarding the interplay between the unity of the church, the diversity of the church and the fulfilment of the calling of the church. In Chapter 2 a description is made of the situation that has to change and in Chapter 3 the principles are developed by which the change has to take place. The research in Chapter 3 focuses on the periscope of Acts 21:17-26 and related periscopes. • The second part of the study comprises of an empirical investigation of Afrikaans speaking reformed church members in Eastern Pretoria to determine how they view the interplay between the unity of the church, the diversity of the church and the fulfilment of the calling of the church. • The third part comprises the strategic perspective that integrates the research results of Chapters 2, 3, and 4 to develop a theory of practice. This practical theory provides guidelines to local churches to help them determine their specific calling and ministerial strategy in the light of the interplay between the unity of the church, the diversity of the church and the fulfilment of the calling of the church. The result of this study shows that the interplay between the unity of the church, the diversity of the church and the fulfilment of the calling of the church is a key factor in determining the specific calling and ministerial strategy of a local church to ensure their obedience to Gods calling. Beacons were developed in the light of the Scriptural interplay and presented as guidelines for the local church. The beacons are in short: 1 - Identifying the unique context; 2 - Ascertaining of the current interplay; 3 - Ascertaining of the Scriptural interplay; 4 - Breaking through traditions; 5 - Create balance in the interplay; 6 - Ensure unity in communal interest; 7 – ensure diversity, not in own interest; 8 - Accommodating each other. / Thesis (M.Th. (Practical Theology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Miami University, Dept. of Political Science, 2008. / Title from second page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 141-164).

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This study was conducted in a city whose main economic activity is tobacco farming, which contributes to much of the population is exposed to smoke and pesticides that end up being inhaled during breathing. In this context, the study of the respiratory system should help that individuals may have attitudes that ensure the health. Thus, this study investigated whether the use of contextualized situations and practical activities during the study of the respiratory system contribute to explaining modify profiles of students in relation to the respiratory system. Data collection was conducted through analysis of science textbooks of the early years to build a profile explaining that students of 8 th year could have on the respiratory system and questionnaires before the study of the respiratory system, after a theoretical study with contextualized situations, after practical activities and after six months. It was found that textbooks are improving, but they still have some misconceptions, and others treat the study of the respiratory system superficially. Furthermore, not all goals have proposed teaching strategies for their achievement. Moreover, to reach the 8th year, the explanations of the students are strongly vitalistic and have few details in their explanations. After conducting classes using contextualized situations and practical activities, explanations reached higher levels, with stamp and some mechanistic explanations reach the ultrastructural level. After six months, it was found that although most of the responses have come back to the vitalistic and mechanistic level, continue using concepts of the respiratory movements, composition of air, gas exchange and energy production in their explanations. Thus, it can be stated that the use of contextualized situations and practical activities, and motivate students also contribute to modify the explanatory levels of students in relation to the respiratory system. / Este trabalho foi realizado em um município cuja principal atividade econômica é a fumicultura, o que contribui para a que boa parte da população esteja exposta a fumaça e agrotóxicos, que acabam sendo inaladas durante a respiração. Nesse contexto, o estudo do sistema respiratório deve contribuir para que os indivíduos possam ter atitudes que garantam a saúde. Assim, essa pesquisa investigou se a utilização de situações contextualizadas e atividades práticas durante o estudo do sistema respiratório contribuem para modificar perfis explicativos dos alunos em relação ao sistema respiratório. A coleta de dados foi realizada através de análise de livros didáticos de ciências dos anos iniciais para construir um perfil explicativo que os alunos de 8° ano poderiam ter sobre o sistema respiratório e questionários aplicados antes do estudo do sistema respiratório, após o estudo teórico a partir de situações contextualizadas, após a realização de atividades práticas e após seis meses. Verificou-se que os livros didáticos estão melhorando, mas que alguns ainda apresentam erros conceituais, e outros tratam o estudo do sistema respiratório superficialmente. Além disso, nem todos os objetivos de ensino propostos apresentam estratégias para a sua consecução. Por outro lado, ao chegar ao 8° ano, as explicações dos alunos são fortemente vitalistas e apresentam poucos detalhes em suas explicações. Após a realização das aulas utilização de situações contextualizadas e atividades práticas, as explicações atingiram níveis mais elevados, com cunho mecanicista e algumas explicações atingem o nível ultra-estrutural. Após seis meses, verificou-se que apesar da maior parte das respostas ter voltado ao nível vitalista e mecanicista, continuam utilizando os conceitos relativos aos movimentos respiratórios, composição do ar, trocas gasosas e produção de energia em suas explicações. Dessa forma, pode-se afirmar que a utilização de situações contextualizadas e atividades práticas, além de motivar os alunos também contribuem para modificar os níveis explicativos dos alunos em relação ao sistema respiratório.

Avec comme arrière plan l’histoire du développement de la langue française en Chine dans le système éducatif, notamment dans l’enseignement supérieur depuis les années 2000, la présente étude s’intéresse à une université chinoise où le français est enseigné comme spécialité (étudiants de Benke) avec une méthode ethnosociolinguistique. L’intérêt de ce terrain est que, dès sa naissance, ce département de français a fait le choix d’un enseignement « différent », voire « innovant », notamment en expérimentant une approche didactique canadienne, l’Approche neurolinguistique (ou ANL). Pour ce faire, un travail considérable de « contextualisation » a été accompli en vue de préparer les enseignants et les étudiants à mieux travailler avec cette approche. Pourtant, malgré efforts et investissement, et contrairement ce qu’espéraient les acteurs impliqués, les étudiants ne semblent pas être convaincus par l’enseignement proposé. Inquiets pour leurs résultats, ils ont même développé, en parallèle et par eux-mêmes, un système d’auto-apprentissage, visiblement à l’opposé des principes fondamentaux de l’ANL. Même au sein de l’équipe d’enseignants, des discours et des actions divergentes génèrent tensions et « conflits » entre ceux qui font confiance à l’ANL et ceux qui doutent, entre ceux qui sont impliqués directement et ceux qui ne le sont pas. L’un des points récurrents de tension porte sur le niveau de français des étudiants. Des personnes « clés » ayant encouragé et fortement soutenu la réforme du département de français à son début se trouvent aujourd’hui dans l’embarras, et le résultat de la réforme entreprise par le département ne semble pas satisfaisant. D’un autre côté, l’expérimentation de l’ANL a attiré des regards venant de l’extérieur : des experts et/ou enseignants de français venant d’autres universités s’intéressent à cette expérimentation qu’il serait quasi impossible de réaliser chez eux, tout en (se) posant aussi beaucoup de questions. Toutes ces divergences de position, de vision, de discours et d’actions ont amené à conclure qu’en didactique des langues et des cultures (DDL), la question est loin d’être uniquement entre « langues » ou « cultures », ni simplement entre approches didactiques ou supports pédagogiques. Ainsi, « contextualiser » une approche didactique ne doit pas se limiter à s’adapter aux (dites) cultures éducatives locales, ou bien à se contenter de modifier des supports pédagogiques en changeant certain contenu. Des questions liées à la « contextualisation » restent à creuser. / The background of this doctoral dissertation is the historical development of French language teaching in China, especially at higher education level from the year 2000. Following an ethno-socio-linguistics perspective, this research offers a detailed analysis of a French department in a Chinese university where French language is taught as a major to bachelor-level students (benke). By using a Canadian language teaching approach called NLA, this department has chosen a different way to teach French compared to what can be observed in other Chinese universities. To do so, a great amount of work has been undertaken to contextualize this approach and make both teachers and students more familiar with it. However, despite a large amount of time, energy and effort to make this “contextualization” a success, students do not seem to be convinced this approach is suitable for them, which is, finally, quite disappointing for the actors involved. In addition, largely concerned with the risk of failure at the national exams, they have developed, in parallel, their own method of self-studying, applying principles which are opposed to NLA’s basic theoretical principles. Among teachers, disagreements (at different levels and to different extents), and sometimes conflicts (open or not), have also been observed. Considering that the results of these students on National exams are not satisfactory (depending on the years, at or slightly above or below the national average), those who pushed for the reform at the beginning, especially the leaders, now find themselves in an embarrassing situation. On the other hand, the experiment of NLA has drawn attention from outside the university: several French experts or teachers from other universities show great interest in this approach. Divergent positions, visions, discourses, and actions have brought out the conclusion that in terms of foreign languages teaching, problems are not only related to "language" or" culture", neither to teaching methods or materials. In conclusion, "contextualizing" a teaching method should not be limited to trying to be immersed in local educational culture, or to modifying the teaching methods while changing certain contents.Contextualized analysis of the experimentation of a Canadian didactic approach imported to a Chinese university for teaching French.

318f. / Submitted by Suelen Reis (suziy.ellen@gmail.com) on 2013-04-25T17:42:08Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Edmerson Reisseg.pdf: 1558890 bytes, checksum: d19f2bd3d3c2dd525a47274e570e351e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Rodrigo Meirelles(rodrigomei@ufba.br) on 2013-06-06T19:00:21Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Edmerson Reisseg.pdf: 1558890 bytes, checksum: d19f2bd3d3c2dd525a47274e570e351e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-06-06T19:00:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Edmerson Reisseg.pdf: 1558890 bytes, checksum: d19f2bd3d3c2dd525a47274e570e351e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Discutir a reorientação curricular na perspectiva da contextualização dos conhecimentos trabalhados pela escola e o lugar dedicado ao contexto na experiência educativa da Escola Rural de Massaroca – ERUM, localizada no Distrito Rural de Massaroca, em Juazeiro – BA, campo empírico da pesquisa, foi o que nos propomos neste trabalho. No referencial teórico aprofundamos conceitos fundamentais como contexto, educação contextualizada, currículo, educação do campo entre outros. O enfoque metodológico foi o fenomenológico e optamos pela de pesquisa participante de cunho qualitativo, tendo como técnicas de construção das informações a observação participante, a entrevista semi-estruturada e a análise documental. Os atores e atrizes da pesquisa foram os discentes e docentes, tendo como outras fontes de informação, a proposta pedagógica da ERUM e os Cadernos de Realidade elaborados pelos alunos. Entre as principais conclusões a que chegamos, a mais significativa foi compreender que, tanto na proposta pedagógica de reorientação curricular, quanto nas práticas educativas desenvolvidas na singularidade desta escola, o processo contextualização tem no contexto local, o ponto de partida para o desenvolvimento das ações pedagógicas, sendo que aí, o contexto assume o lugar das possibilidades de ampliação e da articulação dos conhecimentos e saberes locais com os globais, num diálogo permanente de aprendizagem, onde, a educação contextualizada não se reduz nem a perspectiva localista, que aprisiona os sujeitos e conhecimentos ao local, nem a universalista, que termina promovendo o desenraizamento dos contextos em que vivem os sujeitos, mas que efetiva-se numa práticas educativa de sentido e significado, não alienante dos alunos do campo, e que respeita os seus processos de desenvolvimento, as dinâmicas do campo e a relação orgânica entre as condições concretas de existência com o mundo do trabalho e a função social da escola na emancipação desses sujeitos. / Salvador

A compreensão dos processos de aprendizagem de conceitos no campo da estereoquímica e o desenvolvimento de uma estratégia didática que favoreça sua aprendizagem foram os principais objetivos desse trabalho. A compreensão desse campo exige o domínio de uma rede de conceitos abordados nas disciplinas de Química Orgânica básica tanto no Ensino Médio quanto no Ensino Superior nos cursos de química, farmácia, biomedicina, bioquímica dentre outros. O ensino de estereoquímica e seus desafios têm sido discutidos há décadas, sendo que a complexidade na resolução de problemas no espaço tridimensional tem sido considerada como uma das principais fontes de dificuldades de aprendizagem. Assim é clara a necessidade de utilizar estratégias em sala de aula que favoreçam o desenvolvimento das habilidades relativas à visualização tridimensional. Mas existe outra barreira a ser transposta na sala de aula: a motivação do aluno para a aprendizagem. Alguns alunos adquirem certa resistência à Química devido à falta de contextualidade na abordagem dos conteúdos. Assim o problema norteador nessa tese é: como tornar mais eficiente o ensino e a aprendizagem da estereoquímica com foco no Ensino Médio? O aporte teórico desse estudo está alicerçado nas teorias cognitivistas de Vygotsky e Vergnaud em função de que ambas consideram a representação como elemento principal na aquisição de conhecimentos, fato que está diretamente relacionada com a questão da visualização e que essa aquisição é dependente do contexto, ou seja, o estudante aprende o que para ele tem significado. Particularmente a Teoria dos Campos Conceituais de Gerard Vergnaud ocupa-se em entender melhor quais são os problemas de desenvolvimento específicos de um determinado campo de conhecimento e atribui ao professor o papel de promover oportunidades para que os alunos superem suas dificuldades desenvolvendo assim formas mais eficientes de trabalhar os conteúdos. Para responder essa questão investigamos, incialmente, estudantes do nível superior, bem como livros de ensino médio e superior. A partir dos dados coletados elaborou-se uma unidade de ensino baseada em uma estratégia didática baseada na tríade alfabetização tridimensional, histórica e contextual que visa à aprendizagem integrada dos diferentes aspectos. A unidade didática foi avaliada por professores de Química de diferentes níveis de ensino para finalmente, na última etapa de coleta de dados, investigar a compreensão de estudantes de Ensino Médio sobre o campo conceitual para diagnosticar o nível de compreensão conceitual, histórica e contextual e verificar o aprimoramento dessa compreensão após uso da unidade de ensino. As análises realizadas durante a pesquisa nos levam a crer que o uso de uma estratégia baseada na tríade alfabetização tridimensional, histórica e contextual pode tornar mais eficiente o ensino e a aprendizagem da estereoquímica uma vez que promove o aprendizado dos conceitos de forma mais abrangente facilitando o desenvolvimento das habilidades tridimensionais necessárias além de uma enculturação dos estudantes nos aspectos sócio-históricos-culturais que são tão fundamentais ao estudo da estereoquímica, e porque não dizer, da Química como ciência. / Understanding the learning processes of concepts in the field of stereochemistry and the developing a teaching strategy that favors their learning were the main objectives of this work. Understanding this field requires mastery of a concept network taught in basic organic chemistry disciplines both in high school and in higher education in chemistry courses, pharmacy, biomedical, biochemical and others. The teaching of stereochemistry and its challenges have been discussed for decades and the complexity in problem solving in the tridimensional space has been considered as one of the main sources of learning difficulties. Hence, it is clear the need to use teaching strategies in the classroom that encourages the development of tridimensional abilities. But there is another barrier to be overcome in the classroom: student motivation for learning. Some students develop a certain resistance to learning chemistry due to lack of contextualization in the content approach. So the guiding problem in this thesis is: how to make stereochemistry teaching and learning more efficient in high school? The theoretical contribution of this study is grounded in the cognitive theories of Vygotsky and Vergnaud because both authors consider representations as the main element in the acquisition of knowledge. This fact is directly related to the issue of visualization and that this acquisition is dependent on the context, meaning that the students actually learn what is meaningful for him. Particularly Vergnaud's theory of conceptual fields is concerned in understanding better what are the specific development problems of a particular field of knowledge and gives the teacher the role of promoting opportunities for students to overcome their difficulties thus developing more efficient ways of teaching specific contents. To answer this question we investigated, firstly, college students, as well as high school and college didactic books on the subject. Using the analysis of the data collected we prepared a teaching unit based on a teaching strategy based on a triad of three-dimensional, historical and contextual literacy that aims the integrated learning of those different aspects. The teaching unit was evaluated by chemistry teachers from different educational levels and finally, the last data collection stage investigate the understanding of high school students about the conceptual field to assess the level of conceptual, historical and contextual understanding, and to investigate the improvement of this understanding after using the teaching unit. The analyzes carried out during the research lead us to believe that the use of a strategy based on three-dimensional, historical and contextual literacy triad can promote a more efficient teaching and learning of stereochemistry. In our point of view, this happens because the teaching unit promotes the learning of concepts in a broader fashion allowing not only the development of the necessary tridimensional skills as well as a enculturation of students in socio-historical-cultural aspects that are so fundamental to the study of stereochemistry, and possibly, Chemistry as a science.

A presente pesquisa busca evidenciar a experimentação contextualizada e interdisciplinar proposta no livro Dialogando Ciência entre sabores, odores e aromas: contextualizando os alimentos química e biologicamente (DC), no contexto da escola. As questões investigadas são: como os alunos de Ensino Fundamental (9º ano) e Médio percebem e compreendem a proposta da experimentação contextualizada e interdisciplinar e quais as impressões e as implicações possibilitadas em sala de aula por meio da experimentação contextualizada e interdisciplinar por parte dos professores de Química e Biologia? Primeiramente foi realizado um levantamento bibliográfico da temática abordada, ressaltando conceitos fundamentais para o entendimento do objeto de pesquisa, bem como esclarecimentos quanto à interdisciplinaridade e à contextualização. Os sujeitos da pesquisa foram alunos do Ensino Fundamental (9º ano) e Médio, além dos professores de Química e Biologia. Os instrumentos de coleta de dados utilizados com os alunos foram os questionários estruturados, com perguntas fechadas e abertas, respondidas após a realização dos experimentos, para os contextos A, B e C. Também foi realizada uma oficina para professores das áreas de Biologia e Química, com a aplicação de um questionário contendo 10 proposições e uma pergunta aberta. Ainda foram realizadas entrevistas semiestruturadas com três professoras. Como resultados, evidenciou-se que o livro DC apresenta materiais de fácil manuseio e aquisição Os questionamentos propostos valorizam as ideias prévias e o uso da linguagem cotidiana e científico escolar. As leituras do “Aprofunde seus conhecimentos...” instigam a pesquisa e apropriação dos conceitos e a abordagem contextualizada e interdisciplinar que promoveram os entendimentos do fenômeno de forma integral. As impressões e implicações anunciadas pelos professores versavam sobre a simplicidade dos experimentos, o planejamento como aspecto central da experimentação para que se possa pensar no professor como mediador, a interdisciplinaridade como possibilidade de integração dos conhecimentos nos contextos escolares, proporcionada pelo diálogo, permitindo que tanto os professores de Química como de Biologia dialoguem com o mesmo objeto de estudo e a contextualização que permitiu a problematização de situações reais, providas de significados. / The present research aims at evincing the contextualized and interdisciplinary experimentation proposed in the book Dialogando Ciência entre sabores, odores e aromas: contextualizing the foods chemically and biologically (DC), in the context of the school. The questions investigated are: how primary and middle school students perceive and understand the proposal of contextualized and interdisciplinary experimentation and what impressions and implications are made possible in the classroom through contextualized and interdisciplinary experimentation by the chemistry and biology teachers? Firstly, a bibliographical survey of the subject matter was carried out, highlighting fundamental concepts for the understanding of the research object, as well as clarifications regarding interdisciplinary and contextualization. The subjects of the research were primary school (9th grade) and middle school students and chemistry and biology teachers. The data collection instruments from the students were: structured questionnaires, with closed and open questions, answered after the experiments, for contexts A, B and C A workshop for teachers in the areas of Biology and Chemistry was also held, in which a questionnaire containing 10 propositions and one open question was applied. Semistructured interviews with three teachers were also carried out. As results it was evidenced that the book DC presents materials of easy handling and acquisition; the proposed questions value previous ideas and the use of everyday school and scientific language; the readings of: Aprofunde seus conhecimentos ... instigate the research and appropriation of the concepts and the contextualized and interdisciplinary approach that promoted the understandings of the phenomenon in an integral way. The impressions and implications announced by the teachers were about: the simplicity of the experiments; planning as the central aspect of experimentation so that one can think of the teacher as mediator; interdisciplinary as a possibility of integration of knowledge in school contexts, provided by the dialogue, allowing both chemistry and biology teachers to dialogue with the same object of study and contextualization that allowed the problematization of real situations, loaded with meanings.