This mixed-method study investigated the impact of graphing calculator use on high school calculus students' reasoning skills through calculus problems when applying to concepts of the definite integral and its applications. The study provides an investigation of the effects on reasoning when graphing calculators are used, since it is proposed that, through reasoning, conceptual understanding can be achieved. Three research questions were used to guide the study: (1) Does the use of the graphing calculator improve high school calculus students' reasoning ability in calculus problems applying the definite integral? (2) In what specific areas of reasoning does use of the graphing calculator seem to be most and least effective? and (3) To what extent can students who have used the graphing calculator demonstrate ability to solve problems using pencil and paper methods? The study included a quantitative, quasi-experimental component and a qualitative component. Results of the quantitative and qualitative analysis indicate that (1) graphing calculators had a positive impact upon students' reasoning skills (2) graphing calculators were most effective in the areas of initiating a strategy and monitoring progress (3) students' reasoning skills were most improved when graphing calculators were used together with the analytic approach during both instruction and testing and (4) students who used the graphing calculator performed equally as well in all elements of reasoning as those who used pencil and paper to solve problems.

The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to examine the cognitive, metacognitive, affective and instructional constructs that influence students’ problem solving development in a community college Introductory Algebra course. The study addressed the lack of success that developmental mathematics students in a community college have in the Introductory Algebra course and in subsequent curriculum mathematics courses. Research suggests that the prevalent procedural-oriented instructional methodology used in most mathematics classrooms may be contributing to the lack of student success. The community college students (N = 140) in this study were enrolled in an Introductory Algebra course. The study investigated the relationships among the constructs self-regulation, students’ problem solving development, and instructional methods used in the Introductory Algebra course. A correlational design established the quantitative relationships among the constructs. The aim of this study was to heighten the awareness of both the cognitive and non-cognitive aspects of adult student learning, as well as, the importance of attending to the students’ conceptual understanding of mathematics.

Perception greatly affects the way we experience and understand the world. Using self-reflective research processes and data collection, I explore how art can subjectively re-present data and what this means for research and knowledge. The artworks through which I discuss these notions are Self Checkout 2013, Bibliography of Virtual Consciousness: Uniform Resource Locator Volumes 1-12 (BOVC:URL 1-12), and Observation Box. Self Checkout 2013 is composed of all of my receipts from 2013. They not only record my transactions, but also re-present data from which one can make inferences regarding my life—my consumer identity, my needs, my desires, etc. BOVC:URL 1-12 re-presents my web history and suggests a reflection on the relationships between physical realities, virtual realities, and the consciousness that mediates experience between them. These forms of data are analyzed by me and through audience participation in Observation Box in an attempt to construct multi-perspectival knowledges from art.

[pt] Sistemas de informação, desenvolvidos para diversos setores econômicos, necessitam com maior freqüência capacidade de rastreabilidade dos dados. Para habilitar tal capacidade, é necessário modelar a proveniência dos dados. Proveniência permite testar conformidade com a legislação, repetição de experimentos, controle de qualidade, entre outros. Habilita também a identificação de agentes (pessoas, organizações ou agentes de software) e pode ser utilizada para estabelecer níveis de confiança para as transformações dos dados. Esta dissertação propõe um modelo genérico de proveniência criado com base no alinhamento de recortes de ontologias de alto nível, padrões internacionais e propostas de padrões que tratam direta ou indiretamente de conceitos relacionados à proveniência. As contribuições da dissertação são portanto em duas direções: um modelo conceitual para proveniência - bem fundamentado - e a aplicação da estratégia de projeto conceitual baseada em alinhamento de ontologias. / [en] Information systems, developed for several economic segments, increasingly demand data traceability functionality. To endow information systems with such capacity, we depend on data provenance modeling. Provenance enables legal compliance, experiment validation, and quality control, among others . Provenance also helps identifying participants (determinants or immanents) like people, organizations, software agents among others, as well as their association with activities, events or processes. It can also be used to establish levels of trust for data transformations. This dissertation proposes a generic conceptual model for provenance, designed by aligning fragments of upper ontologies, international standards and broadly recognized projects. The contributions are in two directions: a provenance conceptual model - extensively documented - that facilitates interoperability and the application of a design methodology based on ontology alignment.

Smartphones são dispositivos móveis ricos em recursos de interação que permitem a usuários realizar inúmeras tarefas. À medida que são adotados por grande parte da população, eles se tornam ferramentas para que profissionais ou pesquisadores realizem intervenções junto a seus usuários-alvo, inclusive remotamente, por exemplo por meio de coleta de dados em ambiente natural. No entanto, para conduzir pesquisas com aplicativos móveis, profissionais de áreas como Saúde e Educação usualmente dependem de ferramentas que demandam adaptação severa de seus planejamentos, ou dependem de desenvolvedores de software para criar aplicativos de acordo com suas necessidades. Trabalhos relacionados contribuem com soluções fundamentadas em métodos como o Método de Amostragem de Experiências (Experience Sampling Method, ESM), o qual foi proposto para coleta de dados no ambiente natural dos usuários-alvo. Entretanto, intervenções demandam, além da coleta de dados, a programação individualizada de tarefas a serem realizadas pelos usuários e acompanhadas pelos especialistas. Uma solução para esse problema demanda mecanismos explícitos para o planejamento e a aplicação de intervenções individualizadas, como proposto na literatura, por exemplo, por meio da Instrução Programada (Programmed Instruction, PI). Considerando a ausência de modelos que integrem métodos para coleta de dados e para programação de intervenções, este trabalho tem por objetivo definir um método que permita a programação de intervenções aplicadas em ambiente natural, método esse denominado Experience Sampling and Programmed Intervention Method (ESPIM). O ESPIM é formalizado por um modelo computacional descrito por meio de diagramas recomendados para a sua representação. O modelo propõe um padrão para o desenvolvimento de sistemas e para o intercâmbio de informações de programas de intervenção. A partir do modelo, foram desenvolvidas provas de conceito para autoria e reprodução de intervenções e para visualização de seus resultados, as quais compõem o sistema ESPIM. O sistema foi utilizado empiricamente por oito especialistas que acompanharam cerca de 340 usuários-alvo em nove estudos de caso reais nas áreas da Saúde e da Educação. Essas experiências foram analisadas a fim de avaliar qualitativamente o modelo em sua capacidade de representação dos estudos de caso. Foi possível concluir que, para os especialistas entrevistados, o modelo e o sistema correspondente capacitaram o planejamento dos estudos sem limitar seus delineamentos originais. / Smartphones are mobile devices with rich interaction features that allow users to accomplish myriad tasks. As these devices are adopted by a large part of population, they become tools for professionals or researchers to carry out interventions with their target users, including remotely, through data collection in natural settings for instance. This being said, to conduct research making use of mobile apps, professionals in areas such as Health and Education usually rely on available apps that require severe adaptations of their design or depend on software developers to build apps according to their needs. Related works provide solutions based on methods such as the Experience Sampling Method (ESM), which was proposed for data collection in the natural settings of the subjects. However, in addition to data collection, interventions require the individualized programming of tasks to be carried out by the users and tracked by the specialists. A solution to this problem demands employing explicit mechanisms for planning and applying individualized interventions, as proposed in the literature, for example, through Programmed Instruction (PI). Given the absence of models that integrate methods for data collection and for programming interventions, this work aims to define a method that allows the programming of interventions implemented in natural settings, entitled Experience Sampling and Programmed Intervention Method (ESPIM). The ESPIM method is formalized by a computational model described by means of diagrams recommended for its representation. The model proposes a standard for the development of systems and for the exchange of data of intervention programs. From the model, we developed tools as a proof of concept for authoring and reproducing intervention programs and for visualizing its results, which compose the ESPIM system. The system was empirically used by eight specialists who accompanied about 340 target users in nine case studies in the areas of Health and Education. These experiments were analyzed in order to qualitatively evaluate the model in its capacity to represent the case studies. It was possible to conclude that, for these interviewed specialists, the model and its corresponding system enabled the planning of the studies without limiting their original designs.

Systems Engineering is catching pace in many segments of product manufacturing industries. Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) is the formalized application of modeling to perform systems engineering activities. In order to effectively utilize the complete potential of MBSE, a methodology consisting of appropriate processes, methods and tools is a key necessity. In the last decade, several MBSE projects have been implemented in industries varying from aerospace and defense to automotive, healthcare and transportation. The Systems Modeling Language (SysML) standard has been a key enabler of these projects at many companies. Although SysML is capable of providing a rich representation of any system through various viewpoints, the journey towards adopting SysML to realize the true potential of MBSE has been a challenge. Among all, one of the common roadblocks faced by systems engineers across industries has been the software engineering-based nature of SysML which leads to difficulties in grasping the modeling concepts for people that do not possess a software engineering background. As a consequence, developing a system (or a system of systems) architecture model using SysML has been a challenging task for many engineers even after a decade of its inception and multiple successive iterations of the language specification. Being a modeling language, SysML is method-agnostic, but its associated limitations outweigh the advantages. ARCADIA (Architecture Analysis and Design Integrated Approach) is a systems and software architecture engineering method based on architecture-centric and model-based engineering activities. If applied properly, ARCADIA allows for a very effective way to model the architecture of multi-domain systems, and overcome many of the limitations faced in traditional SysML implementation. This thesis evaluates the architecture development capabilities of ARCADIA/Capella versus SysML following the Object-Oriented Systems Engineering Method (OOSEM). The study focuses on the key equivalences and differences between the two MBSE solutions from a model development perspective and provides several criteria to evaluate their effectiveness for architecture development using a conceptual case of Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC). The evaluation is based on three perspectives namely, architecture quality, ability to support key process deliverables, and the overall methodology. Towards this end, an industry-wide survey of MBSE practitioners and thought leaders was conducted to identify several concerns in using models but also to validate the results of the study. The case study demonstrates how the ARCADIA/Capella approach addresses several challenges that are currently faced in SysML implementation. From a process point of view, ARCADIA/Capella and SysML equally support the provision of the key deliverable artifacts required in the systems engineering process. However, the candidate architectures developed using the two approaches show a considerable difference in various aspects such as the mapping of the form to function, creating functional architectures, etc. The ARCADIA/Capella approach allows to develop a ‘good’ system architecture representation efficiently and intuitively. The study also provides answers to several useful criteria pertaining to the overall candidate methodologies while serving as a practitioner’s reference in selecting the most suitable approach.

Text in English / This work is organised around two main objectives: a) the formulation of a new conceptual framework as the basis for a new scientific aesthetic; and (b) an attempt to explain the possibilities and current limitations of neuroscience in aesthetics. The first part of the work is devoted to the conceptual foundations of aesthetics. In the first chapter, I analyse the philosophical assumptions reflected in neuroaesthetics. In particular, I would like to show that the concept of art on which neuroaesthetics is based is both conceptually and empirically untenable. In the second chapter, I propose a new conceptual framework for a theory of aesthetics; in particular, I present new definitions of key concepts in aesthetics, such as 'art', 'artistic system', 'artistic movement', 'artwork', and so forth. Furthermore, in the second chapter, I advance the view that—even though the neurosciences are an essential part of aesthetics—not every aesthetic problem requires a neuroscientific solution. In other words, there are aesthetic problems that cannot be answered satisfactorily by neuroscience using only its special concepts and terminology. Some questions may require additional sociological, physical and/or semiotic concepts, and explanatory devices. The second part of this thesis deals with the experimental aspects of the neuroscience of artistic appreciation. First, I argue that the conceptual foundations underlying much of the current approaches to neuroaesthetics are still problematic and that the experimental approach cannot be applied in any straightforward manner to conduct neuroaesthetic research. I then review some of the most important results of experimental aesthetics and cognitive neurosciences with regard to the mechanisms of aesthetic appreciation before proposing a new neurocognitive model of artistic appreciation based on the notion of an artistic 'task-set' Finally, I end the second part with a theoretical postulate and a neurocognitive framework pertaining to the interactions between mental images and emotions and their possible role in the process of appreciating literary artworks. In the third and final part of the work, I briefly discuss the central ontological preconditions of the neurocognitive studies of art, namely, the neural hypothesis of identity, ‘mind = brain’, and compare it to other approaches of the mind-brain relationship. I also offer a hierarchical model of mental functions based on both the anatomical and the functional aspects of the brain. / Psychology / Ph. D. (Psychology)

ABSTRACT In this Masters Research Report, I argue that different conceptual frameworks play a central role in influencing whether and why independent funders in South Africa choose to engage in either social justice philanthropy or traditional philanthropy. Based on documentary analysis and in-depth interviews with a sample population of independent funders and experts in the philanthropic field in South Africa, this research first puts forward a different understanding of social justice philanthropy, from a South African perspective. Based on this understanding, the research then reflects that the way in which independent funders conceptualise and operationalize the reasons why they do the work they do and their roles in relation to other development role players are the central elements that influence the nature and scope of the funding approaches, priorities and strategies that they adopt.

Selvan Naidoo, Student no: 0215998E. MSc Education, Faculty of Science, 2006. / This study used concept mapping to explore South African Grade 11 learners’ understanding of the function concept. Learners’ understanding of the function concept was investigated by examining the relationships learners made between the function concept and other mathematical concepts. The study falls within a social constructivist framework and is underpinned by the key educational notion of understanding. The research method employed was a case study. Data for the study was collected through a concept mapping task, a task on functions and individual learner interviews. In the analysis four key issues are identified and discussed. They are concerned with (a) learners who make most connections; (b) issues related to learners’ omission and addition of concepts; (c) learners’ use of examples in concept mapping and (d) the nature of connections learners made. The study concludes that concept mapping is an effective tool to explore learners’ understanding of the function concept. The report concludes with recommendations for classroom practice, teacher education and further research, particularly given the context of school mathematics practice in the South African curriculum where concept mapping (i.e. use of metacogs) has recently been incorporated as an assessment tool.

This study investigated Lesotho junior secondary science teachers’ perceptions and use of laboratory work in teaching. Teaching is described as engagement in a relationship between a person called a teacher and another person called a student with the purpose of facilitating the student’s acquisition of content which the student previously lacked (Fenstermacher, 1986). Using the constructs of scientific inquiry and inquiry-based instruction and constructivism as theoretical lenses the study empirically explored the Junior School Science teachers’ perceptions of the aims of laboratory work and how the teachers used laboratory work in their teaching. At the centre, the investigation sought to understand whether there was any relationship between teachers’ perceptions of the aims of laboratory work and their use of laboratory work. The sample of the study consisted of fifty science teachers (n=50) conveniently selected from 12 schools in the Butha-Buthe district of Lesotho. Data were collected through closed and open ended questionnaires (n=50), semi-structured interviews (n=5), and laboratory lesson observations (n=2). Data were analyzed quantitatively using descriptive statistics and qualitatively using a combination of typological and interpretational analysis. The results show that as a group the sampled teachers held the view that the most important aim of laboratory work was to promote conceptual understanding. In their teaching, most of the sampled teachers use laboratory work to verify theory through largely verificationist, expository and non-inquiry laboratory instructional practices and strategies. The following barriers were reported by the teachers as limiting their use of inquiry oriented and student centered teaching strategies: limitations of resources; time constraints; large classes; pressure to complete the prescribed curriculum; safety issues; and preparations for external examinations. The results also suggest that the teachers’ seeing laboratory work as important for developing conceptual understanding is associated with their use of verificationistic teaching approaches. It is recommended that; Lesotho science curriculum be reviewed, and that teachers should participate in curriculum development to enhance successful implementation of inquiry instruction, professional development programmes be established, and the enactment of inquiry instruction be systematically monitored and evaluated. It is recommended that curriculum developers facilitate teachers’ transformation from expository to inquiry instruction.