The aim of this investigation has been to examine four students, in a second grade class in Stockholm, understanding of the addition algorithm. A small field study has been carried out including both interviews and classroom studies. Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory and more specifically the concepts of mediation and cultural tools have been applied. Vygotsky asserts that our contact with the world is mediated by cultural tools. The addition algorithm is in this thesis seen as a cultural tool that the students are to appropriate. The results show a variation of the student’s understanding of the addition algorithm. Most importantly it shows that it is possible for students to “say more than they know” with the use of the algorithm. It is difficult to see how much a student really understand of a mathematical concept and easier to see if they do not understand it or are using it in an inappropriate way. Therefore it is necessary for teachers to form a dialogue with the students and ask them why they do as they do while using different mathematical concepts, such as addition algorithms, to acquire a perception of their mathematical understanding.

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / Este trabalho teve como principal objetivo analisar o processo de transiÃÃo entre duas funÃÃes possÃveis que um grupo assume: espaÃo de interaÃÃo simbÃlica para seus membros (1) e ferramenta cultural de mediaÃÃo (2). No caso desta segunda conformaÃÃo grupal, a sua dinÃmica assume o papel de instrumento mediador para os participantes do grupo. Para alcanÃar o objetivo acima foi feita uma pesquisa de cunho etnogrÃfico, a partir da inserÃÃo em uma disciplina optativa do curso de Psicologia da Universidade Federal do CearÃ, com observaÃÃo participante no decorrer de todo o semestre letivo e realizaÃÃo de videogravaÃÃes de quatro aulas especÃficas, relativas à atividade prÃtica de facilitaÃÃo grupal. A principal abordagem teÃrica utilizada foi a Psicologia HistÃrico-Cultural. Participaram da disciplina dezenove estudantes jovens adultos, de ambos os sexos, que se constituÃram tambÃm os participantes da pesquisa. Nos encontros videogravados, facilitados pelos prÃprios estudantes, foram realizadas dinÃmicas de grupo com temas diversos, como comunicaÃÃo, competiÃÃo e motivaÃÃo. O exame das videogravaÃÃes foi feito por meio de uma anÃlise interpretativa com foco no funcionamento grupal e nas caracterÃsticas que sugeriam indÃcios da transiÃÃo entre as duas funÃÃes assumidas pelo grupo como instÃncia coletiva. As categorias teÃricas de anÃlise foram os conceitos de grupo e de mediaÃÃo e as categorias empÃricas identificadas nas observaÃÃes das filmagens foram a relaÃÃo entre competiÃÃo e a cooperaÃÃo, bem como a consciÃncia do processo grupal, observando-se os momentos em que houve a transiÃÃo do grupo funcionando como espaÃo de interaÃÃo para aquele em que assumiu a funÃÃo de ferramenta mediadora. A tal fenÃmeno foi dado o nome de transiÃÃo F1 â F2. Os resultados obtidos indicam que a competiÃÃo aliada à cooperaÃÃo em um contexto grupal favorece a transiÃÃo F1 â F2. Outro fator que pode potencializar essa transiÃÃo decorre da reflexÃo e consciÃncia de todas as etapas do processo grupal. / This study aimed to analyze the process of transition between two possible functions that a group assumes: an interactional symbolic space for its members (1) and a meditational cultural tool (2). In the case of this second group conformation, their dynamics assumes the role of mediator instrument to the participants of the group. To achieve the goal above, the research used was influenced by the ethnography and took place in a Psychology class in the Federal University of Cearà (UFC), with participant observation during the entire semester and the video recording of four specific classes which were facilitated by the students themselves. The main theory used was the Historical-Cultural Psychology. Nineteen young adults of both genders students were both the discipline and research participants. In videotaped meetings, group dynamics were performed with various topics such as communication, competition and motivation. The examination of the video recordings were made through an interpretative analysis focusing on group functioning and characteristics that suggest evidence of the transition between the two functions assumed by the group. Theoretical analysis categories were the concepts of group and mediation. The empirical categories identified in the observation of the recordings was the relationship between competition and cooperation, and the awareness of the group process, observing the times when there was a transition between the group space interaction function to the mediating tool function. To this phenomenon was given the name of transition F1 - F2. The results indicate that the competition together with the cooperation in a group context favors the transition F1 - F2. Another factor that can leverage this transition arises from reflection and awareness of all the stages of group process.

CLARINDO, Janailson Monteiro. O grupo: de espaço interacional à ferramenta de mediação. 2015. 85f. – Dissertação (Mestrado) – Universidade Federal do Ceará, Programa de Pós-graduação em Psicologia, Fortaleza (CE), 2015. / Submitted by Márcia Araújo (marcia_m_bezerra@yahoo.com.br) on 2015-06-23T11:26:41Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2015_dis_jmclarindo.pdf: 666397 bytes, checksum: b648f6eb65d66a8cbbb0774b7bf1960a (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Márcia Araújo(marcia_m_bezerra@yahoo.com.br) on 2015-06-23T12:33:34Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2015_dis_jmclarindo.pdf: 666397 bytes, checksum: b648f6eb65d66a8cbbb0774b7bf1960a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-06-23T12:33:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2015_dis_jmclarindo.pdf: 666397 bytes, checksum: b648f6eb65d66a8cbbb0774b7bf1960a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015 / This study aimed to analyze the process of transition between two possible functions that a group assumes: an interactional symbolic space for its members and a meditational cultural tool. In the case of this second group conformation, their dynamics assumes the role of mediator instrument to the participants of the group. To achieve the goal above, the research used was influenced by the ethnography and took place in a Psychology class in the Federal University of Ceará (UFC), with participant observation during the entire semester and the video recording of four specific classes which were facilitated by the students themselves. The main theory used was the Historical-Cultural Psychology. Nineteen young adults of both genders students were both the discipline and research participants. In videotaped meetings, group dynamics were performed with various topics such as communication, competition and motivation. The examination of the video recordings were made through an interpretative analysis focusing on group functioning and characteristics that suggest evidence of the transition between the two functions assumed by the group. Theoretical analysis categories were the concepts of group and mediation. The empirical categories identified in the observation of the recordings was the relationship between competition and cooperation, and the awareness of the group process, observing the times when there was a transition between the group space interaction function to the mediating tool function. To this phenomenon was given the name of transition F1 - F2. The results indicate that the competition together with the cooperation in a group context favors the transition F1 - F2. Another factor that can leverage this transition arises from reflection and awareness of all the stages of group process. / Este trabalho teve como principal objetivo analisar o processo de transição entre duas funções possíveis que um grupo assume: espaço de interação simbólica para seus membros e ferramenta cultural de mediação. No caso desta segunda conformação grupal, a sua dinâmica assume o papel de instrumento mediador para os participantes do grupo. Para alcançar o objetivo acima foi feita uma pesquisa de cunho etnográfico, a partir da inserção em uma disciplina optativa do curso de Psicologia da Universidade Federal do Ceará, com observação participante no decorrer de todo o semestre letivo e realização de videogravações de quatro aulas específicas, relativas à atividade prática de facilitação grupal. A principal abordagem teórica utilizada foi a Psicologia Histórico-Cultural. Participaram da disciplina dezenove estudantes jovens adultos, de ambos os sexos, que se constituíram também os participantes da pesquisa. Nos encontros videogravados, facilitados pelos próprios estudantes, foram realizadas dinâmicas de grupo com temas diversos, como comunicação, competição e motivação. O exame das videogravações foi feito por meio de uma análise interpretativa com foco no funcionamento grupal e nas características que sugeriam indícios da transição entre as duas funções assumidas pelo grupo como instância coletiva. As categorias teóricas de análise foram os conceitos de grupo e de mediação e as categorias empíricas identificadas nas observações das filmagens foram a relação entre competição e a cooperação, bem como a consciência do processo grupal, observando-se os momentos em que houve a transição do grupo funcionando como espaço de interação para aquele em que assumiu a função de ferramenta mediadora. A tal fenômeno foi dado o nome de transição F1 – F2. Os resultados obtidos indicam que a competição aliada à cooperação em um contexto grupal favorece a transição F1 – F2. Outro fator que pode potencializar essa transição decorre da reflexão e consciência de todas as etapas do processo grupal.

The subject of this study is engineers’ activities, writing and texts in their profession and education. Fieldwork for the study was conducted in three professional workplaces and a major technical university (called Tekniska Institutet in the study). The aim of the study is to explore what kind of writing the engineers are supposed to handle and practice, situated in their professional environment, and to compare this with the writing practices and texts engineering students are prepared for in their higher education. The theoretical framework is a sociocultural approach inspired by Lave & Wenger (1991), Wenger (1998), Wertsch (1998) and Engeström (1987). The theoretical concepts of activity systems, mediational means or cultural tools and trajectory of practice are applied, partly on a linguistic level, to the writing and the work that engineers carry out in their professional community and the university. The engineers in the study write every day in their profession, in different roles, something they are not quite prepared for in their higher education. The study examines whether there are cultural tools that are typical for engineers and their work. One central construction is the list, which can be seen as a cultural tool on both a cognitive and a social or communicative level: the study shows that the list is used both to structure or construct content and to instruct readers, for example, or show them how a soft ware system or a computer programme is structured. The list is also used within the education community, in teachers’ instructions and course material as well as in the students’ texts, such as lab reports and different types of essays.

The subject of this study is student writing in its institutional setting, examining students’ texts, professional discourse and educational practices. Fieldwork for the study was conducted at the departments of History and Economics of Stockholm University. The general aim of the study is to increase our understanding of the relationships between student writing, educational settings and professional discourse. The theoretical framework is the sociocultural approach as outlined by Wertsch from Bakhtin and Vygotsky, and applied on writing research by above all Dysthe. The theoretical-methodological attempts are an operationalisation of the concept of dialogicity in different aspects and an application of the concept of mediational means at the linguistic level of text type or speech act. The type of dialogicity and epistemology of a setting is shown to have major influences on students’ writing. The epistemology of economics is defined as rationalistic, and that of history as critical-pluralistic. In economics, linear logical reasoning with clear-cut solutions is a key mediational means, while reasoning with a multitude of perspectives is given precedence in history. Students adjust their texts to the kind of dialogicity in the setting. However, in interviews, some students, mainly in economics, exhibit a resistance to the epistemology and mediational means of their discipline. This resistance seems not to influence their texts, but in all probability the depth of their learning. In addition, the socialisation seems to be a more prolonged process in economics. The reasons may be that the mediational means have a weak connection to students’ previous knowledge and that they are not collectively applied in economics to the same extent as in history. Thus, a pedagogical conclusion is that the important mediational means of a discipline should be collectively applied during study. Moreover, student writing should be considered in relation to students’ previous knowledge, their course of study and their future professional activity.

Network and cultural bridge theories predict the source and durability of cultural boundaries, including how cultural boundaries are overcome in order for differing groups to have meaningful exchanges. Ethnographic interview data with three research subjects in Northern Mexico reveals the strengths and weaknesses of each theory. Minita Bustillos, Juan Daniel Villalobos, and Horacio Echeverrí­a contribute to bridging ties between the closed indigenous community of the Tarahumara and outside Mexican and American groups. Their positions elucidate the veracity of theoretical propositions found in network and cultural bridge theories. Findings suggest that though useful in understanding several aspects of network structure and bridging, network theory does not fully explain how a person becomes part of a network bridge or what social capabilities may be useful for someone in that position. Cultural bridge theories extend the explanation by showing the importance of relationship building in bridging, but rely too heavily on the notion that a single individual can provide the cultural capital and resources necessary to be a cross-cultural bridge in and of themselves. The additional concepts of habitus and cultural tool-kits supplement these perspectives by explaining how respondents acquired cultural and social knowledge that allows them to make connections in multiple distinct networks and how the respondents can so naturally say and do things to garner trust from members of both groups. This research shows how the theoretical concepts can be used in application to a specific social context. It also provides support for the possible use of the concepts of habitus, network bridging, and tool-kits for training members of grass roots organizations attempting to bridge between distinct, and even opposing, social groups.

本研究源自於McLuhan「媒介就是訊息」的說法。研究者認為，關於媒介與人類心靈間的互動關係，如果真如麥氏所說，不同的媒介使用會造成不同思維及傳播方式的話，那麼或許我們可以反過來進一步提問，未受過文字教育，不使用「文字」做為思維溝通工具的文盲，怎麼思考及口語表達？他們的思考方式又和受過文字教育的人有什麼不同？ 事實上，本文的主要研究問題與目的，並非只在說明文盲的口語表達行為，更重要的是，研究者試圖以媒介使用差異為切入點，建立一套解釋人類口語表達行為的初步架構，而這個解釋架構的完成，則需透過文盲口語表達行為的觀察與說明而來。 在本文中，研究者特別強調報導人所處整體「媒介文化」情境對其思維與行為的影響性，並透過文獻檢閱及十五位報導人田野觀察的過程，研究者將媒介定義為一種「文化工具箱」，研究者並進一步以這兩個概念，延伸McLuhan「媒介就是訊息」的概念，提出本研究的解釋架構： 非單一媒介，而是人們所處的整體「媒介文化」影響人們的口語表達行為。不同的媒介文化會形塑不同的文化工具箱，在日常生活的口語表達行為中，人們即是利用這些文化工具箱，來解決問題及達成目的；但反過來說，這些文化工具箱也會限制和影響人們所思所為。 在此，「媒介文化」一詞，指的是以思維溝通工具為首，所創造出的文化環境，與傳統傳播學中指涉的媒體內部文化意義並不相同。「文化工具箱」指的則是那些經由所處文化形塑而來的各式有形及無形的成套工具。在本文中，研究者調特別強調，文化工具箱是以多重成套的方式共存。亦即，在解決某一問題時，我們腦中同時可能存有多個甚至相互衝突的文化工具箱，人們即是利用這些共存的多重文化工具箱，選擇出適當的問題解決工具。故而我們可以說，在解決問題的過程，人們仍具有相當程度的自主性。 另外，必須強調的是，本文在媒介文化中所提的口語/文字/電子文化分類，並非是個截然二分的概念，而是一種「偏向」。因為現存文化中，大半同時包含了口語、文字和電子文化的作用，只不過不同的媒介文化，在其中所造成的作用力有其大小罷了。故而本文以口語和文字/電子偏向文化稱之，旨在說明口語/文字/電子文化的連續和混合特性。 同樣的，在本文中，文化工具箱也是種「偏向」概念，亦即，文化工具箱的形成與使用，並非處於一種截然二分的狀態，而是種習慣的傾向，故而某些文化工具箱，也許較常在口語文化偏向或口語人身上使用，但並不意謂著文字/電子文化偏向或文字/電子人，就不使用這些文化工具箱，只不過相對上來說，使用的技能和頻次可能少了些。 至於這個文化工具箱使用的選擇偏向，主要與我們的生活/生長環境有關，生活/生長於某媒介文化中人，因為從小到大就身處在一個使用該文化所形塑的文化工具箱的環境中，所以會偏向選用該文化所形塑之工具箱，且使用技能較佳。 / This study tries to establish a media theory to explain the oral expression of people. In this study we propose some ideas through the filed observation of 15 illiterate’s oral expression and the literature review. First, not media only factor but the whole media culture affects people’s thinking way and oral expression. Second, all media are cultural product, so we call them cultural tool-kit. And when people use a media to solve some problems, they must be affected by the culture. Third, sometimes we choose the different cultural tool-kit to solve the same problem, so tool-kit’s use is a kind of people’s actively choice process. Fourth, the choice process of cultural toolkits is a kind of bias behavior. The people growing in a oral media culture bias to use oral media cultural toolkits to solve problems. Fifth, although we actively use cultural toolkit to solve problems in our everyday, but these cultural toolkits also affect our thinking way and oral expression.