La present tesi proposa una metodologia de disseny conceptual d'estacions depuradores d'aigües residuals (EDAR) mitjançant la combinació del procés de decisió jeràrquic i l'anàlisi de decisions multicriteri. El document s'inicia amb una breu introducció als principals camps abordats pel treball: el disseny dels processos químics en general, el disseny de les estacions depuradores d'aigües residuals en particular, i l'anàlisi de decisions multicriteri aplicada a la gestió ambiental. Seguidament, es fixen els objectius del treball i es descriuen tant la metodologia com el material de suport informàtic utilitzats. Per validar i contrastar la metodologia de disseny presentada, es desenvolupa un cas d'estudi on es porta a terme el disseny conceptual d'una EDAR que presenta els mateixos requeriments que l'EDAR que opera actualment al municipi de Granollers. Inicialment es presenta la informació de partida i tot seguit es defineixen els objectius de disseny, així com el conjunt de criteris que s'utilitzaran per avaluar en quina mesura es compleixen aquests objectius. Els objectius de disseny són de diferents tipus: ambientals, tècnics, socials i econòmics, i el conjunt de criteris utilitzats, concretament 33, també es classifica segons aquestes quatre categories. Cadascun dels criteris presenta un determinat pes d'importància relativa en la presa de decisions. Finalment, es desenvolupa tot el procés de decisió fins a obtenir el disseny complet de l'EDAR. El procés de decisió s'ha dividit en dues parts diferenciades però que alhora s'entrellacen: la línia d'aigua i la línia de fang. El procés de decisió presenta un total de divuit qüestions amb un màxim de quatre alternatives per pregunta (dotze qüestions corresponen a la línia d'aigua, i sis a la línia de fangs). Per solucionar cadascuna d'aquestes qüestions, s'avaluen les alternatives proposades respecte a un conjunt de criteris triats de la llista inicial. Aplicant el procés de decisió multicriteri anomenat SMART (simple multiattribute rating technique), es combinen els resultats de les alternatives respecte a cada criteri, tenint en compte la importància de cada criteri per obtenir un sol valor per alternativa. Per quantificar els criteris referents a l'operació del procés i les de tipus econòmic s'han utilitzat els programes GPS-X i CapdetWorks respectivament. Pel que fa als criteris no quantificats mitjançant aquests programes, s'han resolt de manera qualitativa i mitjançant manuals de disseny i també tenint en compte l'opinió d'experts en aquest camp. L'alternativa que obté un pes més elevat és la recomanada per al procés de decisió. El cas d'estudi finalitza un cop s'obté el disseny complet de l'EDAR. Per integrar tots aquests elements que hem esmentat i donar suport al desenvolupament del procés de decisió s'ha utilitzat el programa DRAMA (Design Rationale Management). A continuació, es fa una anàlisi comparativa entre l'EDAR que hi ha actualment al municipi de Granollers i l'EDAR resultat del cas d'estudi. Es descriu el diagrama de flux que conforma l'EDAR de Granollers i el diagrama de flux de l'EDAR resultat de l'estudi, se'n fa una anàlisi comparativa justificant cadascuna de les decisions preses en el cas d'estudi i, finalment, es fa una discussió de resultats on es reflecteixen els avantatges associats d'aplicar la metodologia de disseny conceptual proposada. Finalment, es presenten les conclusions de la tesi. Els principals resultats de la tesi es van publicar el 2002 a la revista internacional Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research (N. Vidal, R. Bañares-Alcántara, I. Rodríguez-Roda i M. Poch: "Design of wastewater treatment plants using a conceptual design methodology", Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research, 41 (20), pàg. 4993-5005) i la continuació de la línia de recerca al Laboratori d'Enginyeria Química i Ambiental de la UdG ha comportat la presentació del treball de recerca de Xavi Flores "Procés de decisió jeràrquic combinat amb anàlisi multicriteri per al suport al disseny conceptual de sistemes de fangs actius d'una estació depuradora d'aigües residuals" i la presentació dels resultats parcials al congrés internacional de la 9th IWA Conference on Design, Operation and Economics of Large Wastewater Treatment, que va tenir lloc el setembre passat a Praga ("Combining hierarchical decision process with multi-criteria analysis for conceptual design of WWTP", X. Flores, N. Vidal, A. Bonmatí, J. B. Copp i I. Rodríguez-Roda). / This thesis proposes a methodology for the conceptual design of wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) via a combination of a hierarchical decision process and multicriteria decision analysis. We begin with a brief introduction into the main fields of study involved in this work: the design of chemical processes in general; the design of wastewater treatment plants in particular and multicriteria decision analysis as applied to environmental management. We go on to outline the objectives of the study and then describe our methodology as well as the computer-based support tools used. In order to evaluate and contrast our design methodology, we present a study case in which a conceptual design is developed for a WWTP which has the same requirements as the actual WWTP currently in operation in the town of Granollers. First, we present the initial information and then define the design objectives, as well as the set of criteria that will be used in order to evaluate the degree to which the objectives have been met.The design objectives are of different types: environmental, technical, social and economical; the set of criteria, of which there are 33 in all, are also classified into these four categories. Each of the criteria has a specific weighting in terms of their importance in taking decisions. Next, we go through the whole decision process leading to the completion of the design of the WWTP. The decision process has been divided into two parts which are differentiated but at the same time, interconnected: the water line and the sludge line. The decision process involves a total of eighteen questions (twelve for the water line and six for the sludge line) with a maximum of four alternatives per question. In order to answer each question, the proposed alternatives are evaluated in relation to a set of criteria chosen from the initial list. Applying the multicriteria decision process known as SMART (simple multiattribute rating technique), the results for the alternatives with respect to each criteria are combined, bearing in mind the importance of each criteria, in order to get a single value for each alternative. To get the results for those alternatives relating to the operation of the process and those to do with economical factors, we used the GPS-X and CapdetWorks programmes, respectively. The criteria not quantified by means of these programmes were resolved by qualitative means and through the use of design manuals, in addition to taking expert opinion into account. The alternative that obtains the highest weighting is the one which is recommended by the decision process. The study case is completed once a complete design of the WWTP is obtained. In order to integrate all the elements we have mentioned, and to assist the development of the decision process, we employed the programme known as DRAMA (Design Rationale Management). We then go on to give a comparative analysis between the real WWTP in Granollers and the WWTP resulting from our study case. We describe and compare the flow diagrams in both cases, providing justification for each of the decisions taken in the study case and then discuss the results, reflecting on the advantages to be gained from using the methodology of conceptual design we propose. Finally, we present the conclusions of our thesis.The main results of this thesis were published, in 2002, in the international magazine, Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research (N. Vidal, R. Bañares-Alcántara, I. Rodríguez-Roda and M. Poch: "Design of wastewater treatment plants using a conceptual design methodology", Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research, 41 (20), pages 4993-5005). Continuing work in this line of research at the Laboratori d'Enginyeria Química i Ambiental at the University of Girona has led to the research work by Xavi Flores, Procés de decisió jeràrquic combinat amb anàlisi multicriteri per al suport al disseny conceptual de sistemes de fangs actius d'una estació depuradora d'aigües residuals (A hierarchical decision process combined with multicriteria analysis to assist conceptual design of active sludge systems in a wastewater treatment plant) and the presentation of the preliminary results at the 9th IWA Conference on Design, Operation and Economics of Large Wastewater Treatment, which took place in September, 2003, in Prague ("Combining hierarchical decision process with multi-criteria analysis for conceptual design of WWTP", X. Flores, Núria Vidal, August Bonmatí, J. B. Copp and Ignasi Rodríguez-Roda).

La complexification des produits manufacturés notamment mécatroniques requiert la mise en place d’outils et méthodes pour la gestion de leur processus de conception. Ce processus va du cahier des charges à l’obtention de prototypes satisfaisant les exigences structurelles, fonctionnelles et comportementales. Pour développer des produits performants, sûrs de fonctionnement et à moindre coût tout en respectant les délais ce processus doit être maitrisé. Les travaux menés durant cette thèse ont pour objectif de proposer une démarche générique de conception et de modélisation de produits mécatroniques tout en permettant l’évaluation de leurs performances comportementales. La démarche proposée couvre tout le processus allant de la spécification des besoins à l’identification et l’élaboration de prototypes numériques des produits répondant à ces exigences. Elle est basée essentiellement sur trois étapes successives que sont la conception sémantique conceptuelle (CSC), la modélisation sémantique conceptuelle (MSC) et l’ingénierie de performances comportementales (IPC). Ces contributions théoriques sont ensuite implémentées dans un logiciel nommé Product-BPAS et développé dans cette thèse. / The increasing complexity of manufactured product such mechatronics products requires tools and methods to manage their design process. This process covers the steps going from the requirements specification to the definition of the digital mockup that fulfils the structural, functional and behavioral requirements. To develop high quality products with good performance and low cost while respecting delay this process must be optimized and mastered. The research conducted during this thesis is directed to propose a generic approach for mechatronics products design and behavioural performance assessment. This approach covers the process going from the specification of the requirements to the identification and the design of the digital mockups of the products that meet those requirements. This approach is essentially based on three successive steps that are conceptual semantic design (CSD), conceptual semantic modeling (CSM) and behavioral performance engineering (BPE). These theoretical contributions have been implemented in the Product- BPAS software for test and illustrate purposes.

National Programme on Micro and Smart Materials and Systems (NPMASS) / A computer-aided technique is developed in this thesis to systematically generate concepts for sensors of a wide variety. A database of building blocks, based on physical laws and effects that capture the transduction rules underlying the working principles of sensors, has been developed to synthesize concepts. The proposed method uses the database to first create a concept-space graph and then selects concepts that correspond to paths in the graph. This is in contrast to and more efficient than existing methods, such as, compositional synthesis and graph-grammar synthesis, where solution paths are laid out first and then a concept-space graph is generated. The research also explores an approach for synthesis of concepts for closed-loop sensors, where a quantity is sensed indirectly after nullifying its effect by using negative feedback. These sensors use negative feedback to increase the dynamic range of operation without compromising the sensitivity and resolution. According to the literature, generation of un-interesting solutions is a major drawback of the building block-based synthesis approaches. In the proposed approach, this shortcoming is mitigated substantially by using some rules. For a number of the concepts generated, in the sensor problems attempted, we found that those concepts were already implemented in existing patents; thus emphasising the usefulness of the concepts produced. The synthesis approach proposed new, feasible sensor concepts, thereby indicating its potential as a stimulator for enhancing creativity of designers. Another important problem is to improve the robustness of designs. Robustness can be achieved by minimizing the side effects. Side effects are defined as unwanted effects that affect the intended working of the sensor. The research presents an algorithm that (a) predicts the potential side effects for the synthesized concepts of sensors; (b) aids in quantifying the magnitude of the side effects, thus helping the designer to predict the significant side effects; and (c) suggests ways to improve the robustness of the design.

The purpose of this research is to conduct a concept analysis and conceptual historical analysis as well as to develop a conceptual cartography of the concept of Human Rights Education (HRE) with reference to human rights in education. HRE has evolved into a burgeoning pedagogical formation that sources its currency from the perceived consensus on human rights universals. However, the proliferation of HRE is paradoxically not matched by a sustained and meaningful theoretical analysis of HRE though it has far-reaching implications for educational systems worldwide. This study provides a comprehensive theoretical analysis of HRE by examining the meanings that organise and construct the conceptual structure of HRE. The origins of the concept of HRE and its changing meanings are traced over time and paradigmatically analysed across a variety of theoretical orientations. This study also shows that HRE is a concept that is subjected to an unexplored and unexplained conceptual eclecticism that hampers its pedagogical potential as a counter-measure to human rights violations and human suffering. Amongst all the conceptual possibilities that could have been developed as an analytical interplay between the conceptual cartography, models, approaches and typologies of HRE, this study demonstrates that the dominant conceptual structure of HRE has grown into a declarationist, conservative, positivistic, uncritical, compliance-driven framework that is in the main informed by a political literacy approach. Consequently, this study develops alternative conceptual principles buttressed by a non-declarationist conception of HRE that stands in a critical and anti-deterministic relationship with human rights universals. / Thesis (PhD (Education Management and Policy Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / Students frequently leave first-year physical science classes with a dual set of physical laws in mind- the equations to be applied to qualitative problems and the entrenched set of concepts, many erroneous, to be applied to qualitative, descriptive, or explanatory problems. It is in this sense that the emphasis of this study is on ‘change’ rather than acquisition. Thus, a blend of theoretical framework was considered according to the aim of the study. Of immediate relevance in this regard within the “constructivist paradigm” are: Posner, Strike, Hewson and Gertzog’s (1982) conceptual change theory and the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy. Moreover, the very shift or restructuring of existing knowledge, concepts or schemata is what distinguishes conceptual change from other types of learning, and provides students with a more fruitful conceptual framework to solve problems, explain phenomena, and function in the world (Biemans & Simons, 1999; Davis, 2011). A quasi-experimental design was adopted to explore pre-service teachers’ conceptual and procedural difficulties in solving mathematical problems in physical science. Sixteen second and third year pre-service teachers in one of the historically black universities in the Western Cape, South Africa, participated in the study. Two inseparable concepts of basic mechanics, work-energy concepts were taught and used for data collection. Data were collected using questionnaires, Physical Science Achievement Test (PSAT), Multiple Reflective Questions (MRQ) and an interview. An explicit problem solving strategy (IDEAL strategy versus maths-in-science instructional model) was taught in the intervention sessions for duration of three weeks to the experimental group (E-group). IDEAL strategy placed emphasis on drill and practice heuristics that helped the pre-service teachers’ (E-group) understanding of problem-solving. Reinforcing heuristics of this IDEAL strategy include breaking a complex problem into sub-problems. Defining and representing problem (e.g. devising a plan-using Free-Body-Diagram) was part of the exploring possible strategies of the IDEAL. More details on IDEAL strategy are discussed in Chapter 3. The same work-energy concepts were taught to the control group (C-group) using lecture-demonstration method. A technique (i.e. revised taxonomy table for knowledge and cognitive process dimension) was used to categorize and analyse the level of difficulties for each item tested (e.g. D1 = minor difficulty, D2 = major difficulty, and D3 = atypical difficulty

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / Students frequently leave first-year physical science classes with a dual set of physical laws in mind- the equations to be applied to qualitative problems and the entrenched set of concepts, many erroneous, to be applied to qualitative, descriptive, or explanatory problems. It is in this sense that the emphasis of this study is on ‘change’ rather than acquisition. Thus, a blend of theoretical framework was considered according to the aim of the study. Of immediate relevance in this regard within the “constructivist paradigm” are: Posner, Strike, Hewson and Gertzog’s (1982) conceptual change theory and the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy. Moreover, the very shift or restructuring of existing knowledge, concepts or schemata is what distinguishes conceptual change from other types of learning, and provides students with a more fruitful conceptual framework to solve problems, explain phenomena, and function in the world (Biemans & Simons, 1999; Davis, 2011). A quasi-experimental design was adopted to explore pre-service teachers’ conceptual and procedural difficulties in solving mathematical problems in physical science. Sixteen second and third year pre-service teachers in one of the historically black universities in the Western Cape, South Africa, participated in the study. Two inseparable concepts of basic mechanics, work-energy concepts were taught and used for data collection. Data were collected using questionnaires, Physical Science Achievement Test (PSAT), Multiple Reflective Questions (MRQ) and an interview. An explicit problem solving strategy (IDEAL strategy versus maths-in-science instructional model) was taught in the intervention sessions for duration of three weeks to the experimental group (E-group). IDEAL strategy placed emphasis on drill and practice heuristics that helped the pre-service teachers’ (E-group) understanding of problem-solving. Reinforcing heuristics of this IDEAL strategy include breaking a complex problem into sub-problems. Defining and representing problem (e.g. devising a plan-using Free-Body-Diagram) was part of the exploring possible strategies of the IDEAL. More details on IDEAL strategy are discussed in Chapter 3. The same work-energy concepts were taught to the control group (C-group) using lecture-demonstration method

This study is a two part research project that describes and evaluates the efforts of the researcher to bring change in Cyprus' educational system, in the field of simple electric circuits. The objective of the first part was the assessment and evaluation of Cypriot STVE students' perceptions about simple electric circuits. The objective of the second part was to measure the effectiveness that conceptual change model-based instructional activities designed by the researcher had on changing students' misconceptions about simple electric circuits towards scientifically accepted ideas. Transformative mixed methods research design was used consisting mainly from an one-group pre-test post-test design with Determining and Interpreting Resistive Electric Circuits Concepts Test 1.2 as a research instrument, while interviews and field notes were used for triangulation. The findings showed that there was a significant improvement in students' understanding of simple electric circuit concepts that were taught using conceptual change model-based instructional activities. / Science and Technology Education / M. Sc. (Mathematics, Science and Technology Education)

Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Author's name: Bc. Zuzana Biľová School: Charles University, Prague Ústav pro dějiny umění Celetná 20, 110 00 Praha 1 Program: Masters program Title: Institutional acceptance of concept art across Europe Consultant: PhDr. Márie Klimešová, Ph.D. Number of pages: 96 + appendix Number of attachments: 4 Year: 2011 Key words: conceptual art, Harald Szeemann, Documenta 5, When attitudes become form, conceptual art in former CSSR This thesis refers to the problems that arise from the definition of conceptual art and the sole development of this term. Through two main exhibitions that were in the beginning and in the end of the conceptual art, I am trying to look closer at the institutional acceptance of this movement in Europe. I have reconstructed a complex description of the preparation, evolution and the process of the so-called exhibition "When attitudes become form", that is seen as the first conceptual art display on the European continent. The exhibition was held in Bern in 1969 and it had served as a main concept for its curator, Harald Szeemann, for the organization of international exhibition called "Documenty 5" that confirmed the domination of conceptual art but marked the beginning of its ideological downturn. My work closely analyses this second project, however, it mostly deals with the...