Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico. / Made available in DSpace on 2012-10-19T06:29:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0Bitstream added on 2014-09-25T23:07:09Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 177332.pdf: 7123349 bytes, checksum: 2000422376c32bd16fc410db52d1f50f (MD5) / Uma evolução da indústria do software, em relação às ferramentas disponíveis para a programação, deu-se com o surgimento dos ambientes de desenvolvimento visual, que combinam recursos textuais (linguagens) e gráficos (ícones e janelas) para a confecção de software. O problema surge quando o ambiente não oferece condições suficientes para que se promovam extensões à linguagem, apresentando-se como uma estrutura fechada de forma que sua utilização seja ao estilo "caixa preta". Como esses ambientes disponibilizam componentes para a confecção de aplicações, normalmente permite apenas que funcionalidades sejam estendidas em forma de novos componentes. Este trabalho apresente uma proposta de suporte à reflexão computacional para os ambientes visuais e o OPMOP, como uma implementação desta proposta. O suporte, voltado à reflexão comportamental, sugere a criação de quatro componentes: um como responsável pelo processo de reificação; outro encarregado de prover o resultado da reificação em componentes visuais; um terceiro para promover todo o suporte de interpretação de mensagens; e um quarto contendo facilidades na definição de quais métodos serão reflexivos. A implementação OPMOP é um conjunto de componentes, desenvolvidos para o ambiente Delphi, que estende recursos reflexivos à linguagem Object pascal. OPMOP é baseado no suporte proposto com as devidas adaptações ao ambiente.

Prediction markets have recently gained favour with the academic and business communities. Prediction markets have evolved a long way from their basic beginnings as friendly wagers among friends to become large scale markets connecting traders from around the world. They have been adopted into many large and dynamic corporations that require up to the minute information that can keep up with their business. Organisations like Google, HP, Yahoo! and Best Buy have been experimenting with prediction markets for demand forecasting tasks. Governments have also been using markets, although not always as successfully. The U.S. government looked at PAM which became the terrorist futures market in the post 9/11 world. This did not appeal to the American populous and it has since been withdrawn. Through technological advancements the capabilities and availability of prediction markets has grown. With this the interest in how they work and what can be done to improve the accuracy of the markets. This research looked at the inclusion of a deliberative technique to the markets to improve that accuracy of the market. For this research, markets that made use of discussion boards were used. They were compared against traditional markets, which had no means of communication between traders.The research took the form of a quantitative comparison between the two market types. Data was acquired from the Iowa Electronics Market (IEM) and Inkling Public Markets. The findings from this research indicate that there was a significant difference with α=0.012 for the markets at close. This indicated that there was a significant between the traditional (control) and non-traditional (experimental groups) markets from descriptive statistics it was indicated that the traditional markets performed better in the prediction tasks. The conclusions of this research indicate that allowing traders to communicate and see the actions of others creates group biases which impacts on their independence when making trades and thus on the performance of the market.Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The purpose of this study was to explore the practices of multiage instruction with experts who have best practice knowledge or practitioner expertise in the multiage classroom. This investigation provided a foundation of knowledge on multiage instruction regarding strategies and challenges, the pros and cons of multiage instruction, and training and resources needed for the successful implementation of multiage instruction. A Delphi methodology was utilized which consisted of three rounds of surveys. The population comprised two panels of experts, multiage theory experts and multiage practitioner experts, based on required criteria for each panel set. A total of 21 experts completed Round One, which consisted of 55 Likert scale statements. A total of 20 experts completed Round Two, which consisted of 31 statements/questions. A total of 20 experts completed Round Three, which consisted of 29 statements. The panel experts in this study agreed that multiage instruction remains a credible practice today that should be recognized and supported by state boards of education. They also agreed that once oriented to the philosophy and after their child has spent time in the classroom, parents tend to be generally excited about the practice of multiage instruction. The experts further agreed that children of all abilities and needs can be successful in the multiage classroom. In terms of training and preparation, experts agreed that parents, teachers, school boards, principals, and superintendents all should receive training on the philosophy and strategies of multiage instruction in order for it to be a successful practice. They further agreed that it is difficult to find regular training and conferences geared for elementary teachers who work in multiage settings. In this study, panel experts identified strategies that multiage teachers use including how the room is arranged, flexible grouping, theme-based learning, collaborative learning, and peer mentoring. Through open-ended questioning, panelists also identified challenges as well as training and resource needs.

The purpose of this study was to determine the potential contribution of vocational and technical education to the future social-economic development of Albania. To achieve this purpose, a panel of experts was involved in the formulation of statements and the determination of each statement's value as a contributor to future social-economic development. This study was conducted using a Modified Delphi Technique to identify and prioritize statements generated as part of this research methodology. The study was accomplished through solicitation of responses from a 17 member panel of experts. The panel consisted of individuals representing government service, non-government organizations, Albanian educators, and international educators involved in different educational projects in Albania in the last ten years. Each of the experts was asked to identify statements that vocational and technical education can contribute to the future social-economic development of Albania. Responses provided by the panel members and the statements added by the researcher were edited and organized into a list with 71 statements. The panel of experts was asked to rate this list and means and standard deviations were calculated for each statement. The criterion to determine the importance of statements was defined as a mean being equal or higher than 3.5 on a 5-point Likert scale. The criteria employed to determine panel consensus was defined as a standard deviation being equal or less than 1.00. From the list of 71 statements, 68 were concluded to have been important and have reached consensus by the panel. The 68 statements on which the panel of experts reached consensus were rank ordered according to their means.A content analysis of the ranked statements revealed that statements clustered around common themes. These themes included VTE's Planning Procedures and Policy, Program and Institutional Development, Values and Work Ethics, Productivity, Communication and Analytical Skills, and Linkages.From these results, it was concluded that the process for the development of an effective VTE program that will contribute to the social-economic development of Albania will be long and complex. This process will involve many people, agencies, and organizations all working together. Hence, it was recommended that the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs take the lead in this process. / Ph. D.

Educators are faced with the rapid influx of online courses in the K-12 educational setting. The majority of research conducted to date has been in the area of higher education. Research and publications suggest that many factors control the success or failure of students enrolled in online courses. These factors include student characteristics, mentoring, and teacher/student interaction. Other factors affect the implementation of successful online courses and virtual schools. These factors include policies, funding, student support, technology, curriculum, access, equity, staff development, and administration. Currently, the absence of appropriate research suggest the need to identify the necessary components of a staff development program to prepare teachers to teach secondary online classes in a local school system. In the development of a staff development program, measures need to be undertaken to assess and address the individual needs of the teachers. This study was designed to identify the necessary components of a staff development program for the purpose of training teachers to teach secondary online courses in a local school system and collect recommendations for differentiating staff development to meet the individual needs of teachers. Using a three-round Delphi technique, panelists, representing successful secondary public and corporate online schools, developed a common consensus on the necessary components. The panelists identified the components needed for teacher training and ways in which a staff development program could be structured to address the individual needs of teachers. The panelists were provided an opportunity to scale the components as to their degree of importance. By working through the rounds and providing statistical feedback, a consensus was obtained. Each panelist was provided the frequency, mean, and standard deviation for each criterion. The components agreed upon by 80% of the panelists as either very important or important were used to develop an outline of a staff development program that can be used to train teachers to teach secondary online courses. / Ed. D.

The recent and swift changes (at the philosophical, political and economic level) in the health and social care sectors asks for the assessment of the existence of a match between the competencies acquired in the occupational therapy education and those required at the workplace, in order to ensure the quality of graduates. A key challenge for the educators is how to plan efficient educational programmes which calls for the redefinition of curriculum goals relevant to the quality of practice. We looked for new strategies to address these questions in the form of a group-based research with two main objectives: (1) to identify the core competencies required for the occupational therapy practice at different work settings in Portugal; and (2) to identify the contents of an occupational therapy educational program, suitable to attain the core competencies found. Interviews, discussion with two panels of experts, questionnaires and the Delphi technique have been used involving a total of 120 Occupational Therapists working at different settings including at the two Portuguese occupational therapy schools. The research provides the background on how to base the occupational therapy course content in relationship to the needs of the workplace environment. Above all, this study is a contribution in finding methodologies by working with the practitioners’ experts in order to convert their knowledge and professional demands into educational programs.

Technology-based economic development has been a highly sought-after objective for regions in developed and developing countries alike. The wealth created by regional knowledgebased economies like Silicon Valley is an attractive outcome. Without understanding clusterbased economic strategy, the different types of technology-based economic development approaches, the factors that dictate success or failure, and how those factors interrelate within a particular region, then the probability of success is minimal at best. Economic Development is a process and hence lends itself to a Systems Engineering approach, which was chosen as the methodology for analyzing and designing a better model for studying regions around the world to identify Factors that were both common and key to successful regional development. Each region was viewed as a system with inputs and outputs. The challenge in developing a useful system model is the development of the required Factors and Processes to be used. In the development of the model most of the Factors are internal to the system, but many may be affected by external events. The weighting (importance) of these Factors is the topic of much debate. To develop a baseline of Factors the Delphi method was used. Fortunately, a number of world-wide experts agreed to participate in one on one interviews to analyze these Factors, which in itself added a great deal to the body of knowledge of economic development beyond just the Factors. One obvious result was the essentially unanimous opinion of the group that leadership was the most important factor. A less obvious outcome, but one of equal importance was that there are two classes of regional economic development: one for mass job creation and another for the creation of a knowledge-based regional economy. Often regions undertake economic development without understanding this significant difference. While the model developed can be used for either goal it is extremely important that developers know in advance which goal is being pursued, which is also one of the critical outcomes of strong leadership. While all indications are that this model is a major improvement over current approaches, because this is a new approach until this research is followed by additional interviews, and by applying the model to actual regional technology-based economic development environments it's validity remains unproven.

The purpose of this research was to determine the relationship between selected ministry factors and effective youth evangelism in the local church. Youth ministers of churches in the top 100 churches in youth baptisms in the Southern Baptist Convention in 2008 served as the population for the study. This researcher used a three round delphi technique to discover the relationship between essential ministry factors and effective youth evangelism in the local church. The first round of the delphi study involved contacting the youth ministers of the top 100 churches in youth baptisms and inviting them to be a part of a study on youth evangelism. In the first round, the youth ministers were instructed to answer the question, "In your experience, what are the ministry factors you consider to be effective in evangelizing young people?" The answers for all the respondents were then compiled and the unique ministry factors among the answers were used in round 2. A total of 41 youth ministers responded to the rOlmd 1 survey. Round 2 utilized the unique ministry factors from round 1 and asked the youth ministers to score the individual ministry factors in terms of effectiveness from 1 to 4 with 1 being "somewhat effective" and 4 being "extremely effective." The 15 highest scoring ministry factors carried over to round 3. A total of33 participants completed round 2 of the survey. Round 3 presented the respondents with the task of rank-ordering the list of the top 15 ministry factors from round 2. Overall, 31 youth ministers completed all three rounds of the study. Follow-up interviews were also conducted with the youth ministers to add breadth and depth to the insight gained from the list of the top 15 ministry factors. The number one ministry factor in evangelizing young people, according to the respondents in the research project, was "prayer and reliance upon God to work in the hearts of students." A close second was" a youth pastor who is passionate about evangelism as an example to students." One overarching conclusion of the study was that the ministry factors that were most effective were not necessarily specific programs or reproducible activities. Rather, the most effective factors were intangible qualities centered upon a dependence on God and a passion to reach people. The researcher concluded that the most effective ministry factors in reaching young people evangelistically centered upon leadership, drive, passion, and vision. Keywords: Delphi, youth ministry, evangelism, best practices, baptism, student

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on December 13, 2007) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 1983. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 238-251). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center.