Rural development efforts in Third World countries often fail to meet the needs of the most disadvantaged members of society. The priviledged continue to get a disproportionate share of the fruits of development. This is so in spite of the fact that development thinking has changed from the days when the poor were expected to benefit from development through the "trickle down" effect. It is now widely recognised that development should be focused on people in their local communities (human development) and not on the economy per se. To achieve this type of development requires an appropriate strategy of development, and people's/community participation is such a strategy. People's participation in development takes place through community based organisations. The organisations faciiitate the development of the human potential of members. This study investigates the conditions under which rural community participation takes place in lesotho. The Thabana-Morena Integrated Rural Development Project is used as a case study. The first objective is to determine the appropriateness of the organisations through which community participation was promoted in the project. The second objective is to isolate the political and administrative factors which affected participation in the project. Thirdly, the study tries to identify factors at the village level which influenced participation in the project. Fourthly, the study evaluates the effectiveness of the project in experimenting with participatory approaches, given that development projects are basically mechanisms for testing the appropriateness of national policies before applying them on a wide scale. Finally, a set of principles is developed on the basis of which participatory development can be facilitated. / Development Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Development Administration)

本研究探討長期投資人之最適資產配置問題，並著重於通貨膨脹風險之分析。第一部份討論確定提撥退休金制度下，機構投資人或高所得自然人如何擬定投資策略規避通貨膨脹風險，達到極大化期末財富效用期望值。此研究擴展Battocchio與Menoncin (2004)所建構資產模型，不僅探討市場風險，亦考量通貨膨脹不確定性與基金費用誘因、下方風險保護兩機制，研究對資產配置行為之影響，並依動態規劃方法求得投資策略公式解。第二部份則強調下方風險之重要性，檢視在最低保證收益下，長期投資人跨期資產配置之財富管理議題，並回顧Deelstra et al.(2003)之模型架構，依平賭方法求得投資策略公式解，研究結果顯示基金投資策略可表示為最適CRRA(γ,T)型態共同基金與最低收益避險之組合。另一方面，如何估計通貨膨脹風險亦為本文強調之重點。Campbell和Viceira (2001)首次納入通貨膨脹風險並探討跨期投資議題，結論市場缺乏通貨膨脹連動投資標的時，投資人將減碼長期債持有比例。Brennan和Xia (2002)假設通貨膨脹率服從Ornstein-Uhlenbeck過程，結論投資人之避險需求隨持有債券到期日與投資期限改變。但以上結論未將通貨膨脹學習機制納入模型，因此，在第三部份提出依學習機制修正之投資策略可顯著增加財富效用，並分析在不同參數設定下，學習機制對於期末財富效用之影響。 / In this study, we study three essays of asset allocation problem for long term investors, which means that in this discourse we emphasis the importance of inflation risk. In the first topic, we derive the dynamic optimal investment strategy of the defined contribution pension schemes which include two mechanisms of partial floor protection and incentive fees and their benchmarks. We find investors should hold high proportion of stock index fund to hedge the inflation risk; moreover, the ratio of incentive fees to the setting of benchmark will change the optimal investment trend of underlying assets. In the second topic, we introduce the optimal investment portfolio with minimum guarantees and show that the fund manager should adjust the optimal weights of underlying assets with the ratio of the guarantee fund's value to the value of fund. Finally, this work focuses on how to precisely predict the dynamics of inflation rate. We apply learning method to adjust the prediction of inflation process and we use numerical analysis to study the effect of learning mechanism under different parameter setting.

This thesis deals with the issue of teaching continuing beginners in adult EFL classes. It focuses on the description of factors that may influence the learning stagnation among these learners, and it attempts to ascertain the extent to which these factors take effect. Consequently, the thesis aims to characterize Czech continuing beginners as an independent group of learners and to provide scientific evidence which could clarify the assumptions, underlying the continuing-beginner concept. Lastly, but importantly, the thesis also intends to instigate further research in the field. The subject was investigated from the perspective of available pedagogical, andragogcial and psychological literature. Accordingly, four major factors, which may be at the root of continuing-beginner phenomenon, were identified: a mismatch between learning and teaching styles, insufficient study motivation, hindrances to learning and learning disabilities. These four areas were further focused on in a questionnaire survey, using rating scales to determine the importance of the individual areas. The study worked with three hypotheses. Firstly, continuing beginners were expected to report difficulties in at least two of the established areas. Secondly, it was presupposed that the rate of learning disabilities would be somewhat...

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T18:23:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Maria de Fatima Fonseca Guilherme de Castro.pdf: 2329266 bytes, checksum: a4f3a369e591ec2210d10120c3162505 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-08-08 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This thesis was developed in an inter/transdisciplinary approach that involves Applied Linguistics (AL), French Discourse Analysis (DA) and Dialogical Discourse Analysis (DDA). It was designed to investigate the constitutive representations of oral-enunciative competence (OEC) in English constructed by some subjects when occupying distinct discursive places undergraduates (first synchrony) and graduates (second synchrony) majoring in Foreign Languages. Regarding the first synchrony (1997), I studied how eighteen (18) subjects represent their OEC in English and that of their classmates in the context of university conversation classes of English, how these representations are translated into their learning experiences and in which discursive formations (DFs) their discursive practices are circumscribed. With relation to the second synchrony (2005), I studied how eleven (11) of these same subjects represent their OEC in English and that of their interlocutors in the several contexts experienced after graduation, how these representations are translated into the English teaching experiences in the different educational contexts and in which DFs their discursive practices are circumscribed when answering the AREDA Questionnaire. A study of the existing relations between the two synchronies was also carried out. Some findings of the study indicate that, in the first synchrony, the participants relation concerning their OEC in English is ruled by three representations: i) the OEC in English as lack; ii) the OEC in English as projection; iii) the OEC in English as exclusion. Such representations are interpenetrated and interconstituted and the discursive practices are circumscribed in some DFs that I classified as: DF of Lack (Lack of Linguistic Accuracy, Lack of Pertaining and Lack of Identification), Projective-Attributive DF (by Difference, Subjective and Interpellant) and DF of Exclusion (by Difference, by Denegation and by Resistance). In the second synchrony, the participants relation concerning their OEC in English is ruled by four representations: i) the OEC in English as lack; ii) the OEC in English as projection; iii) the OEC in English as reference; iv) resisting to the lack of OEC in English. These representations are interpenetrated and interconstituted and the discursive practices are circumscribed in some DFs that I described as: DF of Lack (Remaining and Constitutive), Projective- Attributive DF (by Difference, Subjective and Interpellant), DF of Orality Supremacy (Legitimating Praxis and Practice) and Heterotopic DF (by Event and by Desire). The discursive formations, in both synchronies, are in constant alterity, are interpenetrated in the continuum of the subjects discursive inscription and, for this reason, it cannot be said that one overlaps the other. By examining the dialogical relations among the two synchronies DFs, it was possible to observe that they are established by: i) resonance; ii) consonance; iii) dissonance; iv) dissension. In the social formation from where they enunciate, in each synchrony, the participants construct representations about OEC in English in a way that they inscribe themselves in DFs that coexist by dialogical and polyphonic relations that reveal their polyphonic referentiality. This referentiality is constructed from the discursive places, from the subjectforms and from the social places they occupy. It is also constituted by the DFs in which their discursive practices are inscribed. Such DFs coexist circumscribed in dialogic-polyphonic relations that, in the meaning dispersion, are similar, close, repetitive, contradictory, depart, dislocated. The subjects, in the different discursive places occupied in the two synchronies are in constant and continuing interpellation. The resistance to OEC in English occurs through the discontinuity of the act of becoming subject to face this resistance and to inscribe in many and different places that support such a resistance. Thus, the discourse of OEC in English , in this thesis, constitutes an effect of discursive places dislocation undergraduates and graduates; learners and teachers; users of the language in the ethos of both synchronies that permitted the diachronic analysis. From the polyphonic referentiality and from the diachrony established between the two synchronies, it is possible to say that there is, consequently, a discourse of oral-enunciative competence in English and that this discourse is an effect of dislocation of the discursive places occupied by the participants in the ethos in which they enunciate their utterances / Esta tese foi desenvolvida em uma abordagem inter/transdisciplinar que abrange a Lingüística Aplicada (LA), a Análise do Discurso de linha francesa (AD) e a Análise Dialógica do Discurso (ADD). Foi delineada com o objetivo de se investigar as representações constitutivas da competência oral-enunciativa em língua inglesa (COE em LI), construídas por alguns sujeitos quando ocupam os distintos lugares discursivos licenciandos (primeira sincronia) e licenciados (segunda sincronia) em Letras. Em relação à primeira sincronia (1997), estudei como dezoito (18) sujeitos representam a sua COE em LI e a de seus colegas no contexto de sala de aula de Conversação em LI na universidade, como essas representações se traduzem em suas experiências de aprendizagem e em quais formações discursivas (FDs) se circunscrevem as práticas discursivas presentes em seus dizeres. Em relação à segunda sincronia (2005), estudei como onze (11) desses mesmos sujeitos representam a sua COE em LI e a de seus interlocutores nos diversos contextos por eles vivenciados após a licenciatura, como se traduzem essas representações nas experiências de ensino de língua inglesa em diferentes contextos educacionais e em quais FDs se circunscrevem as práticas discursivas presentes nos dizeres enunciados nos depoimentos AREDA. Um estudo sobre as relações existentes entre as duas sincronias foi também realizado. Como resultado, foi possível depreender que, na primeira sincronia, a relação dos participantes da pesquisa, em relação à COE em LI é regida por três representações: i) a COE em LI enquanto falta; ii) a COE enquanto projeção; iii) a COE enquanto exclusão. Essas representações se interpenetram e se interconstituem, sendo que as práticas discursivas presentes nos dizeres dos enunciadores encontram-se circunscritas em algumas FDs que denominei: FD da Falta (de Acuidade Lingüística, de Pertencimento e de Identificação), FD Projetivo-Atributiva (pela Diferença, Sujeitudinal e Interpelativa) e FD da Exclusão (por Diferença, por Denegação e por Resistência). Na segunda sincronia, a relação dos participantes é regida por quatro representações: i) a COE em LI enquanto falta; ii) a COE em LI enquanto projeção; iii) a COE em LI enquanto referencialidade; iv) resistindo à falta de COE em LI. Essas representações, como na primeira sincronia, se interpenetram e se interconstituem, sendo que as práticas discursivas presentes nos dizeres dos enunciadores encontram-se circunscritas em algumas FDs que denominei: FD da Falta (Remanescente e Constitutiva), FD Projetivo-Atributiva (pela Diferença, Sujeitudinal e Interpelativa), FD da Soberania da Oralidade (Legitimadora da Práxis e da Prática) e FD Heterotópica (pelo Acontecimento e pelo Desejo). As FDs, em ambas as sincronias, encontram-se em constante alteridade, se interpenetram no continuum da inscrição discursiva dos sujeitos em enunciação e, por isso, não se pode dizer que alguma delas se sobreponha às outras. Ao examinar as relações dialógico-polifônicas entre as FDs das duas sincronias, foi possível observar que elas se dão por: i) ressonância; ii) consonância; iii) dissonância; iv) dissensão. Na formação social de onde enunciam, em cada sincronia, os participantes da pesquisa constroem representações sobre a COE em LI de forma a se inscreverem em FDs que coexistem permeadas por relações dialógico-polifônicas que, por sua vez, deixam vir à tona sua referencialidade polifônica. Essa referencialidade é construída a partir de lugares discursivos, das formas-sujeito e dos lugares sociais que ocupam, e é constituída, também, das FDs nas quais inscrevem as práticas discursivas de seus dizeres, sendo que essas FDs coexistem circunscritas em relações dialógico-polifônicas que, na dispersão dos sentidos, se assemelham, se aproximam, se repetem, se contradizem, se afastam, se deslocam. Os participantes da pesquisa, nos diferentes lugares discursivos ocupados nas duas sincronias, encontram-se em constante e contínua interpelação. A resistência à COE em LI se dá pela descontinuidade do ato de tornar-se sujeito para enfrentar essa resistência e se inscrever em vários e diferentes lugares que dão respaldo a essa resistência. Dessa forma, o discurso da COE em LI , nesta tese, se constitui um efeito de deslocamento de lugares discursivos licenciandos e licenciados; aprendentes e ensinantes; usuários no ethos das duas sincronias colocadas sob investigação que, por sua vez, permitiram uma análise da diacronia que aqui se instaurou. A partir da referencialidade polifônica e da diacronia instaurada entre as duas sincronias, pode-se dizer que há, assim, a constituição de um discurso da COE em LI , sendo esse discurso um efeito de deslocamento dos lugares discursivos ocupados pelos participantes da pesquisa, no ethos em que proferem seus dizeres

Esta tese propõe conceitos, processos e uma arquitetura de sistemas para Monitoração e Acompanhamento da Aprendizagem Eletrônica (MAAE). A arquitetura é definida pelo seu modelo conceitual, pela interação com os serviços externos e pela representação XML dos conceitos e dos serviços. Ela independe de abordagem pedagógica específica. O Ponto de Observação é inserido em vários locais do Conteúdo da Aprendizagem Eletrônica. Um Elemento de Observação é associado ao Ponto de Observação, e é o responsável pela captura das interações do Processo de Aprendizagem Eletrônica. O Agenciador de Observação (Agenciador de Monitoração e Acompanhamento da Aprendizagem Eletrônica) recebe os eventos e solicitações dos Elementos de Observação e interage com os serviços externos. Os eventos são gravados no Repositório de Observação. A definição dos Processos de Aprendizagem Eletrônica é útil para a definição da estratégia de monitoração (Modelagem do Processo da Aprendizagem Eletrônica). Através da inserção dos mecanismos de observação nas Atividades de Aprendizagem (Processo da Produção do Conteúdo de Aprendizagem Eletrônica) é feita a monitoração do aprendiz (Processo da Aprendizagem Eletrônica) e se obtém as informações para análise (Avaliação e Análise da Aprendizagem Eletrônica). / This thesis proposes concepts, processes and a system architecture for Monitoring and Tracking E-Learning. The architecture is defined by a conceptual model, the interaction with external services and representation XML of the concepts and the services. It does not depend on any specific pedagogical boarding. The Monitoring Point is inserted in some places of the E-Learning Content. A Monitoring Element is associated to the Monitoring Point and it is for responsible of one of the interactions of the E-Learning Process. The Monitoring Service (E-Learning Monitoring and Following Service) receives the events and requests from the Monitoring Elements and it interacts with the external services. The events are recorded in the Monitoring Repository. The E-Learning Processes definition is useful to modeling the monitoring strategy (Learning Process Modeling), and insert to the monitoring mechanisms in the E-Learning Activities (Learning Content Production Process). The learner interaction monitoring occurs by getting the information according to the previous planning (Learning Process), and the generated information (Learning Analysis and Evaluation Process) is used in the analysis of learning tracking.

Esta tese propõe conceitos, processos e uma arquitetura de sistemas para Monitoração e Acompanhamento da Aprendizagem Eletrônica (MAAE). A arquitetura é definida pelo seu modelo conceitual, pela interação com os serviços externos e pela representação XML dos conceitos e dos serviços. Ela independe de abordagem pedagógica específica. O Ponto de Observação é inserido em vários locais do Conteúdo da Aprendizagem Eletrônica. Um Elemento de Observação é associado ao Ponto de Observação, e é o responsável pela captura das interações do Processo de Aprendizagem Eletrônica. O Agenciador de Observação (Agenciador de Monitoração e Acompanhamento da Aprendizagem Eletrônica) recebe os eventos e solicitações dos Elementos de Observação e interage com os serviços externos. Os eventos são gravados no Repositório de Observação. A definição dos Processos de Aprendizagem Eletrônica é útil para a definição da estratégia de monitoração (Modelagem do Processo da Aprendizagem Eletrônica). Através da inserção dos mecanismos de observação nas Atividades de Aprendizagem (Processo da Produção do Conteúdo de Aprendizagem Eletrônica) é feita a monitoração do aprendiz (Processo da Aprendizagem Eletrônica) e se obtém as informações para análise (Avaliação e Análise da Aprendizagem Eletrônica). / This thesis proposes concepts, processes and a system architecture for Monitoring and Tracking E-Learning. The architecture is defined by a conceptual model, the interaction with external services and representation XML of the concepts and the services. It does not depend on any specific pedagogical boarding. The Monitoring Point is inserted in some places of the E-Learning Content. A Monitoring Element is associated to the Monitoring Point and it is for responsible of one of the interactions of the E-Learning Process. The Monitoring Service (E-Learning Monitoring and Following Service) receives the events and requests from the Monitoring Elements and it interacts with the external services. The events are recorded in the Monitoring Repository. The E-Learning Processes definition is useful to modeling the monitoring strategy (Learning Process Modeling), and insert to the monitoring mechanisms in the E-Learning Activities (Learning Content Production Process). The learner interaction monitoring occurs by getting the information according to the previous planning (Learning Process), and the generated information (Learning Analysis and Evaluation Process) is used in the analysis of learning tracking.

en català:Un camp de recerca important dins del paradigma del Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) és la importància en la gestió eficaç de la informació d'esdeveniments generada durant l'activitat de l'aprenentatge col·laboratiu virtual, per a proporcionar coneixement sobre el comportament dels membres del grup. Aquesta visió és especialment pertinent en l'escenari educatiu actual que passa d'un paradigma tradicional - centrat en la figura d'un instructor magistral - a un paradigma emergent que considera els estudiants com actors centrals en el seu procés d'aprenentatge. En aquest nou escenari, els estudiants aprenen, amb l'ajuda de professors, la tecnologia i els altres estudiants, el que potencialment necessitaran per a desenvolupar les seves activitats acadèmiques o professionals futures.Els principals aspectes a tenir en compte en aquest context són, primer de tot, com dissenyar una plataforma sota el paradigma del CSCL, que es pugui utilitzar en situacions reals d'aprenentatge col·laboratiu complexe i a llarg termini, basades en el model d'aprenentatge de resolució de problemes. I que permet al professor una anàlisi del grup més eficaç així com donar el suport adequat als estudiants quan sigui necessari. En segon lloc, com extreure coneixement pertinent de la col·laboració per donar consciència i retorn als estudiants a nivell individual i de rendiment del grup, així com per a propòsits d'avaluació. L'assoliment d'aquests objectius impliquen el disseny d'un model conceptual d'interacció durant l'aprenentatge col·laboratiu que estructuri i classifiqui la informació generada en una aplicació col·laborativa en diferents nivells de descripció. A partir d'aquesta aproximació conceptual, els models computacionals hi donen resposta per a proporcionar una extracció eficaç del coneixement produït per l'individu i per l'activitat del grup, així com la possibilitat d'explotar aquest coneixement com una eina metacognitiva pel suport en temps real i regulat del procés d'aprenentatge col·laboratiu.A més a més, les necessitats dels entorns CSCL han evolucionat en gran mesura durant els darrers anys d'acord amb uns requisits pedagògics i tecnològics cada cop més exigents. Els entorns d'aprenentatge col·laboratius virtuals ara ja no depenen de grups d'estudiants homogenis, continguts i recursos d'aprenentatge estàtics, ni pedagogies úniques, sinó que exigeixen una forta personalització i un alt grau de flexibilitat. En aquest nou escenari, les organitzacions educatives actuals necessiten estendre's i moure's cap a paradigmes d'ensenyament altament personalitzats, amb immediatesa i constantment, on cada paradigma incorpora el seu propi model pedagògic, el seu propi objectiu d'aprenentatge i incorpora els seus propis recursos educatius específics. Les demandes de les organitzacions actuals també inclouen la integració efectiva, en termes de cost i temps, de sistemes d'aprenentatge llegats i externs, que pertanyen a altres institucions, departaments i cursos. Aquests sistemes llegats es troben implementats en llenguatges diferents, suportats per plataformes heterogènies i distribuïdes arreu, per anomenar alguns dels problemes més habituals. Tots aquests problemes representen certament un gran repte per la comunitat de recerca actual i futura. Per tant, els propers esforços han d'anar encarats a ajudar a desenvolupadors, recercaires, tecnòlegs i pedagogs a superar aquests exigents requeriments que es troben actualment en el domini del CSCL, així com proporcionar a les organitzacions educatives solucions ràpides i flexibles per a potenciar i millorar el rendiment i resultats de l'aprenentatge col·laboratiu. Aquesta tesi proposa un primer pas per aconseguir aquests objectius. / An important research topic in Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) is to explore the importance of efficient management of event information generated from group activity in collaborative learning practices for its further use in extracting and providing knowledge on interaction behavior. The essential issue here is first how to design a CSCL platform that can be used for real, long-term, complex collaborative problem solving situations and which enables the instructor to both analyze group interaction effectively and provide an adequate support when needed. Secondly, how to extract relevant knowledge from collaboration in order to provide learners with efficient awareness and feedback as regards individual and group performance and assessment. The achievement of these tasks involve the design of a conceptual framework of collaborative learning interaction that structures and classifies the information generated in a collaborative application at several levels of description. Computational models are then to realize this conceptual approach for an efficient management of the knowledge produced by the individual and group activity as well as the possibility of exploiting this knowledge further as a metacognitive tool for real-time coaching and regulating the collaborative learning process.In addition, CSCL needs have been evolving over the last years accordingly with more and more demanding pedagogical and technological requirements. On-line collaborative learning environments no longer depend on homogeneous groups, static content and resources, and single pedagogies, but high customization and flexibility are a must in this context. As a result, current educational organizations' needs involve extending and moving to highly customized learning and teaching forms in timely fashion, each incorporating its own pedagogical approach, each targeting a specific learning goal, and each incorporating its specific resources. These entire issues certainly represent a great challenge for current and future research in this field. Therefore, further efforts need to be made that help developers, technologists and pedagogists overcome the demanding requirements currently found in the CSCL domain as well as provide modern educational organizations with fast, flexible and effective solutions for the enhancement and improvement of the collaborative learning performance and outcomes. This thesis proposes a first step toward these goals.Índex foliat:The main contribution in this thesis is the exploration of the importance of an efficient management of information generated from group activity in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) practices for its further use in extracting and providing knowledge on interaction behavior. To this end, the first step is to investigate a conceptual model for data analysis and management so as to identify the many kinds of indicators that describe collaboration and learning and classify them into high-level potential categories of effective collaboration. Indeed, there are more evident key discourse elements and aspects than those shown by the literature, which play an important role both for promoting student participation and enhancing group and individual performance, such as, the impact and effectiveness of students' contributions, among others, that are explored in this work. By making these elements explicit, the discussion model proposed accomplishes high students' participation rates and contribution quality in a more natural and effective way. This approach goes beyond a mere interaction analysis of asynchronous discussion in the sense that it builds a multi-functional model that fosters knowledge sharing and construction, develops a strong sense of community among students, provides tutors with a powerful tool for students' monitoring, discussion regulation, while it allows for peer facilitation through self, peer and group awareness and assessment.The results of the research described so far motivates the development of a computational system as the translation from the conceptual model into a computer system that implements the management of the information and knowledge acquired from the group activity, so as to be efficiently fed back to the collaboration. The achievement of a generic, robust, flexible, interoperable, reusable computational model that meets the fundamental functional needs shared by any collaborative learning experience is largely investigated in this thesis. The systematic reuse of this computational model permits a fast adaptation to new learning and teaching requirements, such as learning by discussion, by relying on the most advanced software engineering processes and methodologies from the field of software reuse, and thus important benefits are expected in terms of productivity, quality, and cost.Therefore, another important contribution is to explore and extend suitable software reuse techniques, such as Generic Programming, so as to allow the computational model to be successfully particularized in as many as situations as possible without losing efficiency in the process. In particular, based on domain analysis techniques, a high-level computational description and formalization of the CSCL domain are identified and modeled. Then, different specific-platform developments that realize the conceptual description are provided. It is also explored a certain level of automation by means of advanced techniques based on Service-Oriented Architectures and Web-services while passing from the conceptual specification to the desired realization, which greatly facilitates the development of CSCL applications using this computational model.Based on the outcomes of these investigations, this thesis contributes with computational collaborative learning systems, which are capable of managing both qualitative and quantitative information and transforming it into useful knowledge for all the implicated parties in an efficient and clear way. This is achieved by both the specific assessment of each contribution by the tutor who supervises the discussion and by rich statistical information about student's participation. This statistical data is automatically provided by the system; for instance, statistical data sheds light on the students' engagement in the discussion forum or how much interest drew the student's intervention in the form of participation impact, level of passivity, proactivity, reactivity, and so on. The aim is to provide both a deeper understanding of the actual discussion process and a more objective assessment of individual and group activity.This information is then processed and analyzed by means of a multivariate statistical model in order to extract useful knowledge about the collaboration. The knowledge acquired is communicated back to the members of the learning group and their tutor in appropriate formats, thus providing valuable awareness and feedback of group interaction and performance as well as may help identify and assess the real skills and intentions of participants. The most important benefit expected from the conceptual model for interaction data analysis and management is a great improvement and enhancement of the learning and teaching collaborative experiences.Finally, the possibilities of using distributed and Grid technology to support real CSCL environments are also extensively explored in this thesis. The results of this investigation lead to conclude that the features provided by these technologies form an ideal context for supporting and meeting demanding requirements of collaborative learning applications. This approach is taken one step further for enhancing the possibilities of the computational model in the CSCL domain and it is successfully adopted on an empirical and application basis. From the results achieved, it is proved the feasibility of distributed technologies to considerably enhance and improve the collaborative learning experience. In particular, the use of Grid computing is successfully applied for the specific purpose of increasing the efficiency of processing a large amount of information from group activity log files.

The general view of educators at all levels of education as well as trainers in industry, that learners do not have the ability to use their knowledge inter-curricular and holistically in their lives prompted the study. A very superficial study that was done in 2000, regarding the same problem, acted as the starting point for this study. The main purpose of the study was to determine the reasons for the general perception by educators that learners do not use their embedded knowledge in an inter-curricular manner. It also aimed to determine the most effective facilitating styles and methods that would help the learners to develop the skills to learn with the main aim to achieve learning that lasts and not just learning to pass. The use of deconstruction as a learning activity forms the biggest part of this qualitative action research project which was based on the main principles of the hermeneutic approach namely, communication followed by interpretation in order to reach understanding. The principles of narrative therapy were also used in the project. The hermeneutic approach followed in this study also allows the reader to walk the road with the participants as a narrative, first person reporting style provides rich background information regarding all the participants of the study as well as the contexts in which the actions took place. The reader will also be able to feel the closeness that existed between the educator and the learners who were part of this study. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Didactics)

Rural development efforts in Third World countries often fail to meet the needs of the most disadvantaged members of society. The priviledged continue to get a disproportionate share of the fruits of development. This is so in spite of the fact that development thinking has changed from the days when the poor were expected to benefit from development through the "trickle down" effect. It is now widely recognised that development should be focused on people in their local communities (human development) and not on the economy per se. To achieve this type of development requires an appropriate strategy of development, and people's/community participation is such a strategy. People's participation in development takes place through community based organisations. The organisations faciiitate the development of the human potential of members. This study investigates the conditions under which rural community participation takes place in lesotho. The Thabana-Morena Integrated Rural Development Project is used as a case study. The first objective is to determine the appropriateness of the organisations through which community participation was promoted in the project. The second objective is to isolate the political and administrative factors which affected participation in the project. Thirdly, the study tries to identify factors at the village level which influenced participation in the project. Fourthly, the study evaluates the effectiveness of the project in experimenting with participatory approaches, given that development projects are basically mechanisms for testing the appropriateness of national policies before applying them on a wide scale. Finally, a set of principles is developed on the basis of which participatory development can be facilitated. / Development Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Development Administration)

Esta dissertação foi elaborada a partir de uma abordagem inter/transdisciplinar que compreende a Linguística Aplicada (LA), a Análise Dialógica do Discurso (ADD) e a Análise do Discurso de linha francesa (AD). A pesquisa desenvolvida teve como objetivo analisar como a experiência no exterior e a participação no Programa de Mobilidade Internacional (PMI) são discursivamente representadas pelos sujeitos quando ocupam o lugar discursivo de (futuros) professores de Língua Estrangeira (LE). Isso significa que buscamos investigar como a experiência vivenciada por esses sujeitos no exterior pode incidir em sua formação acadêmica e em sua prática profissional. Em relação aos participantes da pesquisa, analisamos como quatro (04) professores pré-serviço ou em-serviço de LEs (inglês e francês), que participaram do programa, representam o PMI, o contato com a LE no exterior e o processo de ensino/aprendizagem de LE. Depoimentos desses quatro professores foram coletados por meio da Proposta AREDA (Análise de Ressonâncias Discursivas em Depoimentos Abertos) (SERRANI-INFANTE, 1998). Como resultado, foi possível perceber que a relação dos participantes da pesquisa em relação à experiência vivenciada no PMI encontra-se balizada por três representações, assim denominadas: i) representando o PMI; ii) representando o contato com a LE no exterior; iii) representando o processo de ensino-aprendizagem de LE. Essas representações se interpenetram e se interconstituem, sendo que a discursividade construída nos dizeres dos enunciadores acena para algumas inscrições discursivas, a saber: i) a inscrição no PMI enquanto referencialidade para a formação do professor de LE e a inscrição na (ilusão) de completude (representando o PMI); ii) a inscrição no discurso da excelência e na completude do outro (representando o contato com a LE no exterior); iii) a inscrição no PMI enquanto referencialidade para o aprendizado e para o ensino (representando o processo de ensino-aprendizagem de LE). Assim, para enunciar sobre o lugar do PMI em sua formação acadêmica e em sua prática profissional, os professores se inscrevem discursivamente de forma a representar o PMI a partir do lugar sócio-histórico-ideológico-discursivo que ocupam. A dialogicidade instaurada entre as inscrições discursivas deixa vir á tona a tomada de posição desses sujeitos que constroem um lugar imaginário para o PMI, de forma a representá-lo discursivamente como essencial/fundamental para o ensino-aprendizagem da LE e para a formação e a prática do professor de LE, ou seja, há a inscrição no discurso da supremacia do PMI para a constituição do sujeito-professor de LE. / This thesis was elaborated from an inter/transdisciplinary approach that includes Applied Linguistics (AL), Dialogical Discourse Analysis (DDA) and French Line Discourse Analysis (DA). The developed research had as purpose to analyze how abroad experience and International Mobility Program (IMP) participation are discursively represented by the individuals when they occupy the discursive place of (future) Foreign Languages (FL) teachers. This means that we aim to investigate how the abroad experience faced by these individuals can influence their academic education and their professional practice. Regarding the research participants, we analyzed how four (04) pre-service or in-service FLs teachers (English and French) who participated in the program, representing IMP, contact with FL abroad and FL learning teaching process. These four teachers testimonials were collected through the AREDA Proposal (Analysis of Discursive Resonances in Open Testimonials) (SERRANI-INFANTE, 1998). As a result, it was possible to realize that the relation of the research participants in concerning to the experience faced in the IMP is marked by three representations, which are: i) representing IMP; ii) representing the contact with abroad FL; iii) representing FL teaching-learning process. These representations interpenetrate and interconstitute themselves, and the built discursiveness in some of enunciators sayings beckons for some discursive inscriptions, namely: i) the IMP inscription as reference for FL teacher formation and the inscription in the (illusion) of completeness (IMP representing); ii) excellence speech inscription and completeness of the other (representing the contact with the FL abroad); iii) enrollment in PMI as a reference for learning and teaching (representing the teaching-learning process of FL). Therefore, in order to place IPM influence in its academic education and in its professional practice, the teachers discursively register themselves in order to represent the IMP from the socio-historical-ideological-discursive place they occupy. The dialogue established by the discursive inscriptions reveals the positioning of those individuals who build an imaginary place for IMP, in order to represent it discursively as essential/fundamental for FL teaching and learning and for FL teacher formation and practice, in other words, there is an inscription in the IMP's supremacy discourse for FL teacher’s constitution. / Dissertação (Mestrado)