Este trabalho analisa algumas das atividades desenvolvidas no âmbito da disciplina Química Integrada III, oferecida no segundo semestre de 2008 a alunos que então cursavam o sexto semestre dos cursos do IQ-USP do período noturno. As atividades desenvolvidas na disciplina tiveram como finalidade promover a reflexão dos alunos a respeito de suas concepções sobre a natureza e a organização da Química como ciência, e da natureza das relações existentes entre os conceitos (conteúdos) aprendidos nas diferentes disciplinas do curso de graduação. Com o intuito de promover tal reflexão, a disciplina em questão utilizou como ferramenta a elaboração em grupos de dois mapas conceituais. O primeiro mapa conceitual tinha como objetivo que os alunos mostrassem explicitamente as principais relações existentes entre os conceitos estudados em seu curso. Já o segundo mapa conceitual tinha como objetivo representar a visão dos estudantes a respeito da organização estrutural da Química. A análise dos conceitos utilizados e da relação expressa entre os mesmos permitiu observar que as disciplinas do curso e as cinco áreas tradicionais da Química estão presentes como elementos estruturantes da mesma. São também consideradas estruturantes as áreas de atuação profissional destes alunos (Química Ambiental e Ensino de Química). A Bioquímica é geralmente vista como dependente de outras áreas. A Química Analítica é considerada como uma \"ferramenta\" a serviço das demais. O mesmo ocorre com outras áreas do conhecimento (Matemática e Física). / This work analyzes some of the activities developed within the subject of Integrated Chemical III, offered in 2008 to sixth semester students of IQ-USP\'s undergraduate courses. The activities developed in the discipline intended to promote reflections of the students about their conceptions about the nature and organization of the chemistry science, and the nature of the relationship between the concepts (content) learned in the many classes of their undergraduate course. With the goal to promote such reflection, the students have used the conceptual maps as a tool to make two kinds it. The objective of the first kind of conceptual map has been showed by the students that exposed the main existing relations among the concepts studied in graduation\'s course. The second objective of the conceptual map intended to represent the concern of students about the structural organization of chemistry. The analysis of the used concepts and of the relationship among them, expressed by conceptual maps, shows that the course subjects and the five traditional areas of Chemistry are present as structural elements of this science. The specialization areas in the professional context (Environmental Chemistry and Teaching Training) are also considered structural elements. Biochemistry is generally seen as dependent of the other areas, like Organic Chemistry. Analytical Chemistry is considered a \"tool\" for the service of other areas. The same situation happens in other areas of knowledge (Mathematics and Physics).

Since the establishment of the wireless sector, design has been playing a wide range of roles. Specialized literature has been extensively reporting the use of this discipline associated with NPD, focusing on hardware and software development in the mobile communications. On the other hand, evidences of its use to support forecasting are scarce and generic. Finally, formal publications addressing future forecasting from a design perspective in the context of mobile communications have never been reported, leading to a knowledge gap that needs to be addressed. This research investigates the strategic roles, applications and contributions of design and designers for future forecasting in the wireless telecom sector. As a comprehensive discipline, it is used to examine and identify a number of factors that might influence/impact in the development of visionary solutions supporting the design team of traditional handset manufacturers to make better decisions in order to ‘shape’ the future in the wireless industry. Considering these ideas, the aim of this research is to create a ‘design-led future forecasting model for mobile communications’ to assist and support traditional manufacturers’ design team. This PhD study relies on a qualitative methodology comprising a number of data collection and analysis tools (e.g. literature review, case studies analysis, in-depth experts’ interviews, workshops and Grounded Theory). To create the intended framework, extensive secondary and primary data; theoretical and practical inputs were brought together, analysed and combined. The proposed model was evaluated through two rounds of experts’ interviews complemented by two workshops with potential users (e.g. design students) to check and explore its practicalities when applied to design for the future. Finally, this study bridges future forecasting and the wireless telecom through the use of design to address the literature gap. The richness of the developed model provides practical assistance to traditional manufacturer’s design team informing about a broad spectrum of aspects that should be considered when designing for the future in the mobile telecom industry, supporting strategic decision making in different stages of the future-led design process.

Abstract Research into memory processes has progressed in recent years through the combined efforts of neuroscientists and cognitive scientists. This is especially aided by modern scientific research methods of the brain such as positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging. The learner, through interaction with his environment, must actively create individual cognition; the brain is a dynamic adaptable organ. This research will limit the discussion of authentic learning and e-learning to an introductory chemistry laboratory course. The most popular, and yet the most heavily criticized style of laboratory instruction is the traditional (also termed verification or expository) style with a "cookbook" nature. On the basis of pilot action research, the goal of this study has been the use of e-learning for the purpose of placing more emphasis on the contemplation of chemistry's theoretical topics for effecting the quality of conceptual understanding. With systems thinking as a background, the qualitative research method was primarily used, but statistics of the external influences in the e-learning process were also improved. In an e-learning environment, the individually supported development of a learner's conceptual understanding was analyzed by SOLO-taxonomy by comparing the learner's own outcomes. The results show that e-learning with traditional laboratory activities has the effect of forming chemistry concepts, and results in meaningful learning. The SOLO-taxonomy would be a powerful tool for faculty for analyzing points of difficulty or confusion in students' understanding of chemistry concepts. To better understand the effectiveness of e-learning, studies have to be directed toward higher-order cognition by collaborative learning in addition to conceptual understanding of individuals.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Physics / Nobel S. Rebello / Research that investigates the dynamics of knowledge construction by students as they model phenomena at the microscopic level has not been extensively conducted in physics and science education in general. This research wherein I investigated the dynamics of knowledge construction of students in the context of microscopic friction is an attempt to do so. The study commenced with an investigation of the variations in the existing models of students about microscopic friction (phase I of the study). Clinical interviews were conducted with introductory physics students in order to elicit their models. A phenomenographic approach of data analysis was employed to establish the variations in students’ models. Results show that students’ mental models of friction at the atomic level are dominated by their macroscopic experiences. Friction at the atomic level according to most students is due to mechanical interactions (interlocking or rubbing of atoms). Can we build on these macroscopic ideas of students in order to help them construct more scientific explanations of friction at the atomic level? The second phase of the research was an investigation of the dynamics of knowledge construction of students as they constructed models of friction at the atomic level while building on their prior ideas. Individual as well as group teaching interviews were conducted with introductory physics students in order to investigate students learning trajectories and the processes they undergo as they created new models of friction at the atomic level. Results show that the span, zone of proximal development and the epistemological orientations of the students greatly influenced the extent to which they utilize scaffolding afforded to them during the model-building process. Moreover, results show that students undergo the process of incorporation and displacement during their model construction and reconstruction. In the third phase, an instructional material geared towards helping students develop more scientific explanations of microscopic friction was developed and pilot-tested. Overall, the results of the study have significant implications for further research, in improving instruction, and curriculum material development.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The adoption of information technology as an aid to organisational efficiency and effectiveness has a long history in business and public administration, but its application to the processes of teaching and learning in education has been relatively limited. At the dawn of the new millennium this began to change, as educational institutions around the world began to experiment with new ideas for the use of information technology. This happened at the same time that commercial organisations began to realise that they themselves could - because of the availability of IT based systems - invest in educational services focused on their own needs. It was against this background that this research project set out to study how South African higher education has incorporated new learning technologies in the delivery of programmes. The study began by exploring the emerging patterns of the use of e-learning in South African higher education. This was to establish a broad understanding of how e-learning was incorporated into the core business of universities. As the study progressed interviews with both teaching and support staff provided course descriptions which were used to expose the kind of considerations that were made in designing, developing and delivering those courses. The main purpose of the study was to answer the question: what pedagogical considerations are necessary for successful course design when using e-learning? By placing the course descriptions on a continuum developed as a part of the conceptual framework in the study it was possible to analyse the course design features that emerged. The framework and its differentiated learning designs (LD1/2/3) can be used for both design and evaluation of courses and can facilitate the use of technology in enhancing teaching and learning. / South Africa

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / After suffering almost total collapse. Rwanda has made impressive post-genocide progress. Many children of school going age are now attending school, but regrettably, only half complete primary school. High numbers of orphans, disabled children and a growing number of children from child-headed households still suffer the consequences of the poverty inherited from the past. Health problems include HIV/Aids, STIs, malaria, tuberculosis, enteric diseases, mental health problems, hunger and malnutrition. Use of drugs and substance abuse, unwanted pregnancies, lack of support services, unavailability of teaching and learning materials, inflexible curricula and poor teaching methodologies also contribute to learning breakdown. It is against this background that this thesis was conducted to investigate the development of a health-promoting schools model to provide an appropriate strategy to address barriers to learning and to promote healthy development of school children in Rwanda. Two research questions were the focus of this research, first, how does a health-promoting schools model provide an appropriate strategy to address barriers to learning and to promote healthy development of school-aged children in Rwanda and second, what are the participants’ views on and understanding of the model and its potential use in their schools? A mixed methods research design that employed both qualitative and quantitative approaches was used. The study followed sequential implementation: Phase 1 was concerned with the identification of the components for the model. It was a case study of four schools, two rural schools and two urban schools in Kigali City. The sample included 60 teachers, pupils, principals and parents from schools and nine key informants who were policymakers from the Ministries of Education and Health and Social Welfare, line institutions and the UNICEF. Data collection strategies included focus group discussions, semi-structured, in-depth individual interviews, a transect walk and observations. Data analysis was through content analysis. Eight themes emerged out of the data: school leadership and management; school health policies; pupil wellbeing; school partnership with parents, families and local communities; school health services; factors affecting teaching and learning for all children; teacher wellbeing; and a healthy physical school environment. These themes became the components that informed the development of a health-promoting schools model. In Phase 2, the degree of understanding of this proposed model and its components were investigated in each school community.

Many of those artefacts with which we are so familiar – including, for example, works of music, photographs, novels, essays, films, television adverts, and graphic designs – share a common ontological nature. I argue in this thesis that they are all repeatable, and set out to provide an ontological account of these entities that explains the phenomenon of repeatability. In a fruitful meeting of aesthetics and metaphysics, a great deal has been written recently on the ontological nature of musical works. More encompassing enquiries have sought to understand the ontology of artworks in general. I will be responding to and engaging with this body of literature insofar as it also offers accounts of the entities I describe as repeatable. However, my approach gives metaphysical concerns and the phenomenon of repeatability primacy over aesthetic concerns.Here I argue that repeatable artefacts fall into the ontological category of kinds. I develop an account of repeatable artefacts as kinds that has two key components. Firstly, on my view kinds are physical rather than abstract. Secondly, I argue that repeatable artefacts, as kinds, have essences that are purely relational and historical. The thesis begins with a discussion of method. The methodological issue has grown in prominence in recent years, as theorists have sought some higher level arbitration on the expanding number of theories and approaches being offered in response to ontological puzzles. Drawing on the work of Amie Thomasson, I defend a methodology according to which we should develop an ontological account using careful conceptual analysis that assesses our intuitions about the application of referring terms. This commitment to conceptual analysis is then defended from misunderstandings and objections. I apply this method in giving an ontological explanation for the phenomenon of repeatability. I argue that repeatable artefacts are kinds. Kinds are strongly individuated by their essences, which are the conditions that must be satisfied for the kind to be instanced. I then develop an account of kinds as physical multiply located entities, that exist when and where they have instances. This stands in contrast to the prevailing view according to which kinds are abstract. I then set out to give an account of the essences of paradigmatic repeatable artefacts. I argue that this can be done if we are willing to reject the default view according to which essences are at least partly structural, and replace it with an account of purely relational and historical essences. The essences of many paradigmatic repeatable artefacts, I claim, involve causal historical processes of copying.

Doctor en Ciencias de la Ingeniería, Mención Modelación Matemática / This thesis studies a human cognitive phenomenon called Conceptual Metaphor in the context of mathematics learning and reasoning. Metaphor enables the understanding of an abstract concept called target, e.g. numbers, in terms of a more concrete concept called source, e.g. piles of can-dies. Often, inferences from the source are carried to the target and applied there yielding some conclusions about the target. This is known as reasoning by analogy. Empirical evidence indicates that metaphor enhances learning. Converging evidence is pro-vided by working scientists who report the use of analogies while developing their theories. On the other hand, some people advise against its usage in education. They argue that politicians and communicators often lead people into erroneous conclusions by using metaphor, and then, analo-gies undermine objective reasoning. This discussion highlights the need for research to shed light into the learning mechanics underlying metaphor in order to understand its scope and limitations. This work presents a formal model of metaphor which can be used as a framework to study learning by analogy. Since the model is abstract, we use Chapter 1 to make ideas more concrete: we use our formalism for analize deeply a well known example. Along these lines, Chapter 5 presents formalizations of other metaphors frequently encountered in mathematics teaching. The model is built in Chapter 4 where the source and the target of a metaphor are formalized by a key concept named domain. Some results of this chapter are accompanied by cognitive in-terpretations, as for example, Theorems 40, 41, 42, and Proposition 26 can be seen as descriptions of how an analogy carries reasonings from its source to its target. Also, Theorems 30 and 31 sug-gest models for the process of learning by analogy. Finally, Chapter 4 presents some theoretical constructions such as products and coproducts of domains. Our metaphor model relates two domains, each one defined as a mixture of language and semantics. Most results of Chapter 4 need the premise that the two involved languages are compatible . Mathematically, they need a map able to preserve the structure determined by a syntactical operation called substitution. This compatibility notion is characterized for the case of language terms in Chapter 2 by applying unification theory and graph theory. And in Chapter 3, this compatibilitynotion is characterized for the case of the language formulas by adapting the methods of Chapter 2. Finally, one Appendix (Relational Spaces) presents another approach to study metaphor. There, domains are defined with semantics only, leaving language aside. Most of the results emphasized above are lost or at least weakened suggesting that the abstract information provided by symbols and the recursion provided by the grammar of the language are necessary to mimic metaphor s behavior. This observation, together with other results of this thesis, might point to a relation between the recursion property of human languages1 and the ability of learning by analogy. 1 The linguist Noam Chomsky claims that recursion is the only human component of the faculty of language [49].

Art definitions and movements are changing just as the social paradigms they spring from. This exploration looked at paradigms in art of the past that have become the foundation for movements today. Currently the transformative powers art has to offer have been recognized. Colleges are beginning to train a major and a career. The literature review explored what role transformative art has played in artists' lives and looked at its uses in education. Conceptual art goes beyond the aesthetics of art and touches the mind and heart. I began to explore this kind of art in the nearby galleries. I found a theme I could be passionate about and began to develop it visually. For my project, I developed transformative art. Often students can master a media and create an image with it. But, unless they are told what to create, their craftsmanship skills lie mute. They need guidance to realize their visual voices. As I researched the subject matter of my show, I challenged my students in my high school art classes to look past technique and create some conceptual art of their own.

Low levels of learner performance in Mathematics in the Senior Phase (Grades 7-9) in South Africa is often attributed to insufficient mathematics content knowledge among teachers. Although this view might be justifiable, it is often incorrect to assume that content knowledge alone will solve the problem of low performance in mathematics. This study, therefore, argues that understanding learner misconceptions and/or errors and their underlying intricacies could provide the basis for instructional decision making, subsequently improved performance in mathematics. The purpose of the study was to explore the implications of teachers’ understanding of learner errors for mathematics learning. The study was guided by qualitative methods using a case study design which involved data collection from two schools, followed by in-depth data analysis. Two theoretical lenses, namely, Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) and Constructivist theory were used to explore the main research question: What are the implications of the teachers’ understanding of learner errors on the learning of school mathematics in the Senior Phase (specifically Grade 9)? Data was collected through lesson observations, analysis of learners’ test responses and interviews. The findings revealed that teachers’ understanding of learner errors from written responses differed notably from intricacies of same errors emanating from interviewing the learners as well as the same errors analysed by the researcher. The implications of these findings suggest the likelihood of a mismatch between teachers’ instructional decision making and learner misconception/errors and this may hamper effective learning of mathematics. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / MEd / Unrestricted