Thesis (Ph. D.)--Stanford University, 1987. / "June 1987." "Also numbered Classic-87-03"--Cover. "This research was supported by NASA Ames Consortium Agreement NASA NCA2-150 and Office of Naval Research Contracts N00014-86-K-0565, N00014-82-K-0335, N00014-75-C-1132"--P. vi. Includes bibliographical references (p. 125-129).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 42-43).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Carleton University, 1992. / Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2010. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on July 8, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p.169-183).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2008. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 136-139). Also available on the World Wide Web.

by Eliezer M. Gafni. / Bibliography: leaf 37. / Research supported by NSF Grant ENG-79-06332.

Drawing on the European Social Survey the main objective of this essay is to assess whether there are differences in income convergence between immigrants and natives depending on whether one has a university education or not. This approach contrasts that of most other studies on income assimilation, as they typically only use education as a control variable. The results indicate that immigrants with lower education experience a larger negative income gap at arrival, but that their convergence rates are faster than those with higher education. Furthermore, the results imply that studying income convergence is very sensitive to having the proper kind of data. Using cross-sectional data, the study appears to suffer from various sources of bias.

No cenário atual, as indústrias que desejarem manter-se competitivas deverão investir em inovação além dos produtos tangíveis, investindo também em serviços e experiências para os usuários. Para isto, tais empresas deverão aprimorar seus processos de desenvolvimento, fazendo uso de ferramentas e métodos orientados à inovação, transformando-a em um processo sistemático. Entretanto, existe ainda uma divergência entre as metodologias ensinadas na academia e a prática industrial, tornando o desenvolvimento estruturado a partir de métodos uma atividade pouco utilizada dentro das empresas. Neste contexto, esta pesquisa buscou estabelecer fatores de convergência entre a teoria e a prática na implementação de métodos de design voltados à inovação. O estudo faz parte de um projeto que visa propor diretrizes para aumentar a competitividade da indústria por meio da inovação em design, desenvolvido dentro de empresas brasileiras desenvolvedoras de produtos. A estratégia da pesquisa consistiu na implementação de métodos nos setores relacionados ao desenvolvimento de produto a partir de diretrizes propostas na literatura, bem como na sua posterior avaliação, a fim de estudar os fatores que propiciam a incorporação de uma rotina de desenvolvimento estruturado nas empresas. Além da implementação, foram realizadas pesquisas bibliográficas, entrevistas, questionários e grupos focais para a consecução dos objetivos propostos. Ao fim da pesquisa apresentou-se um conjunto de fatores para facilitar a utilização de métodos de design que favoreçam a criação de sistema-produtos inovadores. / In the present scenario, the industries that wish to remain competitive must invest in innovation beyond the tangible products also investing in services and user experiences. To achieve this, these companies should improve their development processes, using tools and methods oriented to innovation, transforming it into a systematic process. However, there is still a discrepancy between the methodologies taught in academia and industry practice, making the development structured by methods a uncommon use within companies. In this context, this research sought to establish convergence factors between theory and practice in the implementation of design methods focused on innovation. The study is part of a project to propose guidelines for increasing the competitiveness of industry through innovation in design, developed in product developers Brazilian companies. The research strategy consisted in the implementation of design methods based on guidelines proposed in the literature in the sectors related to product development, as well as their subsequent evaluation in order to study the factors that favor the incorporation of a structured routine development in companies. In addition to implementation, were conducted literature searches, interviews, questionnaires and focus groups to achieve the proposed objectives. At the end of the research were presented a set of factors used to facilitate the design methods which favor the creation of innovative system-products.

The question of economic growth is one of the most fascinating concepts the development economics department is experiencing. It has been proven that some theories of economic growth can explain the course of development at an accumulated degree in this paper I’m going to investigate if the countries technical progress contributes to its economic growth. Another interesting thing to look at is how growth emerges in different places at different times. This big change in GDP first started to appear in Britain and then in the United States. In countries like Brazil and Japan the standards of living started to rise in the past century and in China GDP growth started just a few decades ago.  GDP have exploded in the most recent two or three centuries. Standard of living has been very low thru most of history. This thesis investigates the relationship between economic growth and the level of technology, and how ever the countries are converging or diverging away from each other. With the help of secondary collected data and a cross country regression model. The results showed similar results according to previous studies, that technical progress contribute to economic growth, some evidence indicating economic convergence were also found.

Entendidos como mais do que acesso, processos de inclusão digital pressupõem uma apropriação crítica e social das tecnologias digitais de rede, reconhecendo seu potencial participativo, criativo e comunicacional. Admitida a importância desses movimentos no cenário educativo contemporâneo, pensamos ser urgente refletir sobre a formação inicial de educadores, preparados para atuar em processos educativos condizentes com esse espaço e tempo em que se vive. Elegemos a formação a distância em função do intenso agenciamento das políticas governamentais para essa modalidade, e também por acreditarmos que este tipo de formação inicial pode promover processos efetivos de inclusão digital. Nosso objetivo principal foi analisar a compreensão e a prática da inclusão digital na formação inicial de educadores na modalidade a distância das Universidades Abertas do Brasil e de Portugal. Foram realizadas pesquisas em teses e dissertações para a criação de um estado da arte sobre o conceito de inclusão digital no Brasil e em Portugal, bem como uma pesquisa de campo nos cursos de Licenciatura em Educação (Universidade Aberta de Portugal) e Pedagogia a Distância (Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina). Por meio de um estudo multicaso, temos o intuito de desvelar o conceito de inclusão digital adotado nos cursos, identificar as disciplinas que possuem interface com as tecnologias educacionais, detalhar as atividades e propostas pedagógicas das disciplinas, compreender a concepção de inclusão digital pela equipe docente e elucidar as relações que se estabelecem entre inclusão digital e educação a distância. Constatou-se que os projetos pedagógicos de ambos os cursos não possuem, explicitamente, um conceito de inclusão digital, mas em suas essências compreendem que a formação dos educadores precisa desenvolver competências no âmbito das tecnologias aplicadas a contextos educativos. Identificamos cinco disciplinas no curso de Licenciatura em Educação e quatro no curso de Pedagogia que possuem interface com a área da inclusão digital. Observamos que algumas atividades e práticas pedagógicas realizadas nessas unidades curriculares são convergentes e que é variada a utilização dos recursos do Moodle e de ferramentas da internet na composição das atividades formativas e avaliativas. Os docentes que atuam nessas disciplinas compreendem que o conceito de inclusão digital supera o acesso às tecnologias e está relacionado ao empoderamento do sujeito para a transformação da sua realidade, e acreditam que educação a distância tem o potencial de oportunizar aos seus educandos a apropriação das tecnologias digitais de rede e, por conseguinte, a vivência de processos de inclusão digital. / The processes of digital inclusion, being understood as more than mere access, require a social and critical appropriation of networked digital technologies, recognising their participative, creative and communicational potential. By acknowledging the relevance of such movements in the contemporary educational setting, it is urgent to reflect upon the early training of educators who are prepared to act in educational processes in consonance with the space and time we live in. Distance learning was chosen due to the intensive agency of governmental policies over this modality, and also because this kind of early training can foster effective processes of digital inclusion. My aim was to analyse the understanding and practice of digital inclusion in the early training of e-educators on distance learning at the Open Universities of Brazil and Portugal. Theses and dissertations were studied for the development of a state of the art for the concept of digital inclusion in Brazil and Portugal, and field research was carried out in the courses of Degree in Education (Portuguese Open University) and Distance Pedagogy (Santa Catarina State University). By means of a multicase study, I intend to unfold the concept of digital inclusion adopted by the courses, identify the course subjects that have an interface with educational technologies, describe in detail the pedagogical proposals and activities of the course subjects, understand the teachers’ conception of digital inclusion and explain the relations established between digital inclusion and distance learning. It was found that the pedagogical projects of either courses do not have an explicit concept of digital inclusion, but in essence they realise that the training of educators must develop competencies regarding technologies applied to educational contexts. I have identified five subjects in the course of Degree in Education and four in the Pedagogy course having an interface with the area of digital inclusion. I have noticed that some pedagogical practices and activities carried out in such institutions are convergent and the way Moodle resources and internet tools are used in the composition of formative and evaluative activities is varied. Teachers working with such course subjects understand that the concept of digital inclusion goes beyond the access to technologies and is related to the empowerment of the subject to change his/her reality, and believe that distance learning has a potential to offer their learners the appropriation of networked digital technologies and, therefore, the experience with processes of digital inclusion.