The dissertation examines the production of knowledge and architecture through the German-sponsored construction of the Ottoman railway network, comprising four discrete projects: the railways of European Turkey, the Anatolian railways, the Baghdad railway and the Hejaz railway and its Palestinian tributaries. The German construction of the Ottoman railway network is an historic event that proffers the opportunity to critically reconsider the epistemological tenets of expertise in broader political, economic and cultural structures distinct from the normative creative processes that dominate the historiography of empires. The dissertation capitalizes on the ambiguous colonial nature of the German role in the architecture, engineering, and urbanism of the late Ottoman empire and situates it as a variegated and occasionally dialogic model of European cultural expansionism by way of a process identified here as ambiguous transmutation.

An electronic advice network provides employees opportunities to tap diverse experts within the organization at an unprecedented speed and scale. It is formed when an advice seeker initiates an online discussion thread joined by members of various communities, each specializing in a specific domain. This dissertation recognizes the substantial gap in our understanding of how to best harness the performance potential of expertise diversity provided through an electronic advice network within a firm. It thus investigates the process by and conditions under which expertise diversity in an electronic advice network promotes the advice seeker’s learning and performance. A field study was conducted via multi-methods including observation, interviews, and survey at a global company running discussion forums spanning internal virtual communities. The unit of analysis was at the discussion thread level. 190 discussion threads comprising 1,200 participants and associated outcomes (rated by their respective advice seekers) were analyzed. Findings suggest that, for the seeker to realize the performance potential of diverse inputs, discussion participants should facilitate the seeker’s learning by engaging in collective elaboration—articulating the differences and relevance of their diverse inputs. The seeker learned and performed the least when discussion participants were highly diverse but did not engage in collective elaboration. Discussion participants engaged in collective elaboration to the extent that they had previously established shared syntactic and semantic understanding of each other’s expertise domains through participation in each other’s communities. This dissertation contributes to the virtual communities literature by unearthing the relationships between expertise diversity and the advice seeker’s learning and performance and explaining when and how the seeker benefits from the diverse knowledge shared through an electronic advice network. The moderating role of collective elaboration explains why prior research may have found no or even a negative relationship between expertise diversity and discussion outcomes. It also contributes to the team literature by offering boundary conditions for the previous findings on expertise diversity and common ground. The collective elaboration construct can be also adopted by team diversity researchers to better understand where a disruption in the chain of group-level information processing may occur in some diverse teams. / text

While the effect of auditor industry specialization is well documented in prior literature, it is unclear under what conditions or for which type of firms an auditor's industry expertise matters. I hypothesize that industry specialist auditors will provide higher quality audits in settings where the likelihood of revenue manipulation is greater. I use a firm's manipulation of revenues to measure audit quality because the revenue account is significant, requires in-depth industry specific knowledge, and is subject to frequent manipulation. The results suggest that the impact of industry specialists is concentrated among firms with complex revenue recognition standards, high growth, and low institutional monitoring. Overall, my findings highlight the importance for regulators, auditors, clients, and investors to consider the circumstances in which industry expertise improves the quality of an audit.

The nursing profession has utilized a variety of terms to describe the work that nurses do, such as observing, monitoring, and critical thinking. Nursing surveillance is a term emerging in the research and clinical environment to describe the care, both seen and unseen, by professional registered nurses. It has been described as a complex, multi-dimensional concept that influences patient outcomes, yet little research has been done to examine the concept, how it is measured, and its role in outcomes.The surveillance process includes ongoing data collection, interpretation, and synthesis for decision making. This research proposes that nursing surveillance is comprised of five dimensions: actions, expertise, early recognition, intuition, and decision making. The purpose of this study is to examine the dimensions of nursing surveillance in the acute care setting.This study used a descriptive design to survey nurses on the dimensions of nursing surveillance. The survey consisted of four existing instruments measuring expertise, early recognition, intuition, and decision making, and one new instrument measuring activities associated with nursing surveillance. A content review panel was used to develop the new Nursing Surveillance Activities Scale. A sample of 158 medical-surgical nurses participated in completing the full Nursing Surveillance Survey.The goal of the analysis was to determine how well the dimensions represented the surveillance variable; however, based on sample size, revisions to the methods were made. Factor analysis was used to analyze each instrument's items and total representation of the variable. The instruments performed adequately in psychometric testing, and modifications were made so composite development could be achieved. The dimensions were factored as a composite variable and four of the five dimensions loaded onto a single variable, while the activities dimensions loaded separately. These results can be explained through a theoretical difference between the dimensions or limitations with the newly created Nursing Surveillance Activities Scale.This study identified a relationship between the four cognitive dimensions of nursing surveillance and their representation of the variable. Future research in nursing surveillance should analyze the role of the nursing surveillance variable, including the relationship to nursing outcomes.

Avhandlingen undersöker tolkningsprocessen och tolkprodukten hos konferenstolkar med olika lång tolkerfarenhet. Detta görs utifrån expertteorin (jmf Ericsson, Charness och Hoffman 2007) tillämpad på tolkning. Enligt expertteorin använder mycket skickliga utövare, oberoende av fält, samma typer av processer och strategier för att nå den absoluta toppen inom sitt gebit. En viktig del av expertteorin är medveten eller avsiktlig övning (deliberate practice), en särskild typ av övning som mycket skickliga utövare använder sig av för att förbättra sin insats. Avhandlingen bygger på fyra olika studier om två olika grupper av deltagare. Deltagarna simultantolkar ett eller två tal från engelska till svenska. Två grupper – en tvärsnittsgrupp med nio deltagare på tre olika tolkerfarenhetsnivåer (ingen erfarenhet, kort erfarenhet och lång erfarenhet) samt en longitudinellgrupp med tre deltagare som spelats in vid två olika tillfällen med 15 års mellanrum – analyserades utifrån både process och produkt data. Tolkprocessen studerades genom att analysera och kategorisera process problem, monitorering och tolkstrategier som tolkarna rapporterat om under retrospektion efter tolkning. Tolkprodukten analyserades genom holistiska bedömningsskalor, en för förståelighet och en för nivån på informationsöverföring. Vidare genomfördes också djupintervjuer med deltagarna i det longitudinella materialet. Syftet var att undersöka hur de uppfattade medveten/avsiktlig övning och hur de såg på sin utveckling och övning av tolkfärdigheten. En viktig del av avhandlingen, förutom resultaten, är utvecklingen av de holistiska bedömningsskalorna (utvecklade från Carroll 1966) och utvecklingen av metoden i djupintervjustudien. Slutsatsen i avhandlingen är att det finns en mätbar skillnad i tolkfärdigheten mellan tolkar med liten eller ingen tolkerfarenhet och tolkar med lång tolkerfarenhet. Denna slutsats fick dock inte stöd i det longitudinella (och intra-individuella) materialet. Skillnaderna mellan grupperna i tvärsnittsmaterialet var också tydliga i processdata. Erfarna tolkar stöter på färre process problem än tolkar med kortare erfarenhet. Det fanns också tydliga skillnader vad gäller förekomsterna av monitorering (alltså kontroll av tolkprocessen och produktionen) mellan erfarna tolkar och övriga deltagare. Monitorering verkar vara en skiljelinje mellan erfarna och oerfarna tolkar, de erfarna tolkarna hade mer process kapacitet tillgänglig för att monitorera sig själva. Detta stöddes också till viss del av djupintervjuerna, där deltagarna rapporterade hur de ständigt utvärderar sig själva i syfte att förbättra sin insats. Ett nyckelantagande som slogs fast i början av projektet – nämligen att erfarna tolkar skulle hävda i djupintervjuerna att de ägnade mycket tid åt att öva färdigheten – fick, till författarens förvåning, inte stöd. Tolkarna rapporterade om många övningslika aktiviteter, men hävdade samtidigt att de inte övade. Avhandlingen avslutas genom ett önskemål om fler studier med fokus på medveten/avsiktlig övning bland tolkar. Dessutom föreslår författaren också att termen “experttolk” eller “expert” ska användas med stor försiktighet i forskningsstudier om just expertkunnande i tolkning. Författaren efterlyser också en bredare diskussion om expertkunnande och medveten/avsiktlig övning. / This dissertation investigates the process and product of interpreters with different levels of experience and explores the expertise approach (cf. Ericsson, Charness and Hoffman 2007) as applied to interpreters. The expertise approach claims that highly skilled performers, regardless of their chosen field, use the same type of strategies in order to reach the top levels of their profession. An important feature of the expertise approach is deliberate practice, a specific type of practice that highly skilled performers engage in so as to improve their performance. The dissertation is based on four different studies featuring two different sets of participants. Two data sets – a cross-sectional material with nine participants on three different levels of interpreting experience (none, short and long), and a long-term material with three interpreters recorded at two different points in time – were analysed in terms of both processing and product data. The interpreting process was studied by retrospectively analysing and categorizing processing problems, monitoring and strategies, while the interpreting product was analysed by using holistic rating scales for intelligibility and level of information transfer of the interpreting product. In-depth interviews were also conducted with the long-term participants in order to investigate their perception of deliberate practice and their own view of their skill development. An important and integral part of the dissertation, apart from the results, was the development of the holistic rating scales (adapted from Carroll 1966), and the development of an in-depth interview study. The conclusions of the dissertation are that there are measurable differences of interpreting skill between performers with little or no interpreting experience and performers with long interpreting experience, but this finding could not be supported by the long-term (intra-individual) study. Differences between the groups in the cross-sectional material could also be observed from the process data. Experienced interpreters 16 encountered fewer processing problems than less experienced interpreters and had more strategies at hand to solve problems. There were also clear differences in terms of instances of monitoring (i.e. controlling the interpreting process and output) between experienced interpreters and other subjects. Monitoring seemed to be a dividing line between experienced and inexperienced interpreters, and experienced interpreters had more processing capacity available to monitor themselves. This was also to a certain extent supported in the in-depth interviews, where the participants reported how they constantly evaluate themselves in terms of improving performance. A key assumption established in the beginning of the project – that experienced interpreters would claim, in the in-depth interviews, that they practise a great deal – was not supported, to our surprise. The interpreters recounted many practice-like activities but stated that they did not actually practise. The dissertation concludes by calling for more studies on deliberate practice in interpreting, suggesting that the term “interpreter expert” should only be used with caution in scientific studies and that the particular features of expertise and deliberate practice in interpreting should be discussed. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defence the folowing papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 3: inPress; Paper 4: Manusckript.</p>

L'extension des limites (boundary extension, Intraub & Richardson, 1989) fait référence à unedistorsion de la mémoire visuo-spatiale survenant suite à la perception de scènes. Celle-ci setraduit par une tendance à surestimer l'étendue de la scène préalablement perçue,l'observateur se remémorant des détails que ne contenait pas la scène originale, mais que lecontexte rend plausible d'inférer. Bien que décrite comme robuste, quelques recherchesmenées ces dernières années en suggèrent la modulation par certaines caractéristiques propresà l'observateur (Mathews & Mackintosh, 2004 ; Munger, Owens, & Conway, 2005).L'ensemble des études présentées ici s'inscrit dans cette lignée, en testant à la fois le rôle desconnaissances préalables - que celles-ci soient relatives à la structure environnante de la scèneperçue, ou qu'il s'agisse de connaissances expertes - et le rôle de la réactivité de l'individu àcertains stimuli de nature émotionnelle. L'ensemble des résultats observés fait état d'unemodulation de l'extension (i.e. réduction, voire annulation) par les facteurs décrits ci-dessus.

Darbe atlikta teorinė pedagogo profesinių kompetencijų, pedagogo profesinio kryptingumo analizė. Anketinės apklausos metodu buvo atliktas tyrimas, kurio tikslas – atskleisti specialiųjų pedagogų kompetencijų ir profesinės motyvacijos ypatumus. Interviu metodu buvo siekiama papildyti gautus tyrimo rezultatus, atskleidžiant mokyklos vadovų požiūrį į specialiųjų pedagogų motyvavimą, jo formas bei svarbiausias profesines kompetencijas, jų tobulinimo galimybes. Tyrime dalyvavo 77 specialieji pedagogai, dirbantys bendrojo lavinimo mokyklose. Taip pat 14 bendrojo lavinimo mokyklų vadovų (pavaduotojų ugdymui). Empirinėje dalyje nagrinėjama specialiųjų pedagogų nuomonė apie jų profesinės veiklos ypatumus ir kompetencijas, profesinės veiklos motyvavimą. Taip pat bendrojo lavinimo mokyklų vadovų nuomonė apie specialiųjų pedagogų profesinės motyvacijos ypatumus ir kompetencijas. Svarbiausios empirinio tyrimo išvados: 1. Tyrimo duomenimis dauguma specialiųjų pedagogų svarbiausiomis profesinėmis kompetencijomis laiko gebėjimą bendrauti ir bendradarbiauti specialistų ir tėvų komandoje, taip pat dalintis žiniomis ir patirtimi. Daugiau nei septintadalis specialiųjų pedagogų teigia, kad svarbiausia yra gebėti parengti individualaus ugdymosi programą, padėti specialiųjų ugdymosi poreikių vaikams mokytis. Tiek pat pedagogų teigė, kad svarbiausia yra suprantamai teikti mokomąją medžiagą bet kurių specialiųjų ugdymosi poreikių turinčiam vaikui. 2. Daugiau nei pusė specialiųjų pedagogų, dirbančių... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Summary In the paper, we have done theoretical analysis of professional expertise and professional single-mindedness of a pedagogue. By the method of questionnaire, there has been done the research, which aim was to reveal peculiarities of expertise and professional motivation of special pedagogues. By the method of interview, we tried to supplement the obtained results of the research by revealing attitude of headmasters towards motivation of special pedagogues, its forms and main professional competencies and possibilities of their development. 77 special pedagogues working in comprehensive schools and also 14 headmasters (assistant managers for education affairs) of comprehensive schools participated in the research. In the empirical part, we analysed the opinion of pedagogues about peculiarities of their professional activity and expertise, and motivation of the professional activity. There is also the analysis of the opinion of headmasters of comprehensive schools about the peculiarities of special pedagogues’ professional motivation and expertise. Main Conclusions of the Empirical Research: 1. Under the research data, the majority of special pedagogues ability to communicate and collaborate in a team of specialists and parents and also to share knowledge and experience consider to be the main professional expertise. More than one seventh part of the special pedagogues state that the most important thing is to be able to prepare a scheme of individual learning, and... [to full text]

L'expertise psychiatrique est requise au tribunal dans plusieurs situations juridiques tant en matière criminelle que civile et elle est soumise aux mêmes règles de preuve que n'importe quelle expertise. Pourtant, la psychiatrie et son objet sont tout à fait particuliers. La relation que peuvent entretenir le juge et l'expert-psychiatre est teintée par plusieurs éléments de nature sociale et professionnelle, mais aussi simplement juridique et procédural. Alors que les juristes parlent de cette relation comme d'une usurpation du rôle du juge par l'expert-psychiatre, les psychiatres, au contraire, croient que leur expertise est totalement pervertie dans le processus judiciaire. Mais la réalité n'est pourtant pas univoque: si l'expertise psychiatrique est de façon générale une preuve parmi les autres, elle peut également occuper une place centrale dans le mécanisme décisionnel. / Psychiatric report is required at the court in several legal statements as weIl in criminal matters as in civic matters and is subject to the same codes of proofs as any other expert report. Still, psychiatry and its object are absolutely peculiar. The relation that may be kept between the judge and the expert psychiatrist is tinged with many elements of social and professional nature but also of judicial and quibbling nature, simply. While lawyers and legal experts quote that relationship of an usurpation of the judge part by the expert psychiatrist , psychiatrists on the other hand reckon that the expert report is completely perverted by the judicial process. Yet, reality is not univocal. If the psychiatric report is globally a proof among many others, it can still have a crucial impact in the ruling machinery. / "Mémoire présenté à la Faculté des études supérieures en vue de l'obtention du grade de maître en droit (LL. M.)". Ce mémoire a été accepté à l'unanimité et classé parmi les 10% des mémoires de la discipline. Commentaires du jury : "Excellent mémoire. Bien construit, bien écrit. Encourageons la candidate à poursuivre au doctorat".

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