Opportunity has emerged as a focal point in the field of entrepreneurship and recognizing potential opportunities is the first step of new venture creation. A number of studies acknowledge the contributions of prior knowledge and social networks in explaining opportunity recognition. However, previous research ignored the importance of cognitive process. Thus, the purpose of this study is filling the research gap of the mediation mechanism in this process. Through the entrepreneurial cognitions view lens, this research goes a step further by asking:¡¨how do individuals conclude that an opportunity from their prior knowledge and information?¡¨ Entrepreneurial alertness, first used by Kirzner (1973) has been identified as a major factor in the process of opportunity recognition. We equate this cognitive ability with entrepreneurial alertness, proposing that this bridges the gap between knowledge/information and the innovativeness/number of opportunities. There are 3 studies in this research; first, Study 1 developed a scale of entrepreneurial alertness. Secondly, Study 2 conducted an experimental design research to test the relationships between prior knowledge, entrepreneurial alertness, and the number of opportunities. Thirdly, Study 3 collected large numbers sample to test the full model. Results indicate that prior knowledge and social networks had positive effects on entrepreneurial alertness. Moreover, entrepreneurial alertness was positively associated with the innovativeness and number of opportunities. In the mediating effect, interpretation ability was partially mediated the relationship between prior knowledge of markets, professional networks and opportunity recognition. This study contributed theoretical and practical implications. Future directions for research are described, and its practical implications for entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurs are examined.

Consumer behavior has long suggested the importance of prior knowledge in understanding behavior. In spite of the vast amount of research in this area, there is a vacuum regarding to what extent an individual applies his/her knowledge in decision-making situations (a concept from economic psychology). An individual may have the knowledge but might not use it or apply it when making decisions. This is of great importance, especially within a health context where decisions may result in life or death situations. In addition, operationalizations of dimensions of prior knowledge within the consumer behavior field have been inconsistent. To eliminate these gaps in prior research and extend the consumer behavior literature this dissertation draws upon the consumer behavior and economic-psychology literatures to investigate the impact of six dimensions of prior knowledge on health information-seeking and disease prevention behaviors. The case of HPV is used here to examine the theoretical relationships. This dissertation is also of particular interest to better understanding direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising. DTC advertising usually provides information to consumers through the listing of sources consumers can go to, other than providing disease prevention information within the message itself. Hence, examining how prior knowledge impacts information-seeking and prevention behaviors can help guide the development of more effective DTC messages. Results show that information-seeking intentions are predicted by how much consumers think they know and how much of their knowledge they apply in decision-making situations. Also, consumers who have high confidence in using their knowledge are more likely to use external (as opposed to internal) sources of information. In addition, prevention behaviors are predicted by how much consumers know about the disease, how much they think they know and their experience with the disease. This investigation helps guide the development of future DTC campaigns, in terms of motivating consumers to seek additional information, and take the recommended preventative actions; based on consumers’ prior knowledge set. In conclusion, this dissertation extends the literature on the role of prior knowledge in consumer decision-making on multiple levels and provides interesting findings for future research. / text

The emergence of new trends sometimes carries the risk that established, well-proven concepts rooted in other disciplines are not properly integrated into new approaches. As Learning Analytics seems to be evolving into a highly multidisciplinary field, we would like to demonstrate the importance of embedding classic theories and concepts into a Learning Analytics, system-data-driven setting. Our results confirm that classical factors that are operationalized with the help of system-generated data outperform more recent survey-based models. Therefore, we want to stress the point that system-generated data should not be left behind in the quickly evolving field of Learning Analytics.

Establishing relationships between a learner's prior knowledge and any new concepts he or she will be expected to learn is an important instructional activity. Learning objects are often devoid of such activities in an attempt to maintain their conciseness and reusability in a variety of instructional contexts. The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of using questioning as a prior knowledge activation strategy in learning objects. Previous research on the use prior knowledge activation strategies supports their effectiveness in helping to improve learner retention. Approaches such as questioning, advance organizers, and group discussions are examples of techniques used in previous studies. Participants enrolled in a Navy engineering curriculum were randomly assigned to two groups (experimental and comparison). The experimental group was exposed to a prior knowledge activation component at the start of session I, while the comparison group received no treatment. Participants in both groups were tested at three different times during the course of the study- the pretest, at the start of session 1, posttest I, at the conclusion of session1, and posttest II, during session 2. The findings indicate that the prior knowledge activation strategy did not result in statistically significant differences between the levels of retention gained by the experimental and comparison groups. Due to administrative constraints experienced during the course of the study, statistical power was not achieved due to an insufficiently sized sample. Potential limitations and implications for future research directions are described.

Problems with students’ performance in Mathematics at tertiary level are common in South Africa − as it is worldwide. Pass rates at the university of technology where the researcher is a lecturer, are only about 50%. At many universities it has become common practice to refer students who do not have a reasonable chance to succeed at university level, for additional support to try to rectify this situation. However, the question is which students need such support? Because the Grade 12 marks are often not perceived as dependable, it has become common practice at universities to re-test students by way of an entrance exam or the "National Benchmark Test"- project. The question arises whether such re-testing is necessary, since it costs time and money and practical issues make it difficult to complete timeously. Many factors have an influence on performance in Mathematics. School-level factors include articulation of the curriculum at different levels, insufficiently qualified teachers, not enough teaching time and language problems. However, these factors also affect performance in most other subjects, but it is Mathematics and other subjects based on Mathematics that are generally more problematic. Therefore this study focused on the unique properties of the subject Mathematics. The determining role of prior knowledge, the step-by-step development of mathematical thinking, and conative factors such as motivation and perseverance were explored. Based on the belief that these factors would already have been reflected sufficiently in the Grade 12 marks, the correlation between the marks for Mathematics in Grade 12 and the Mathematics marks at tertiary level was investigated to assess whether it was strong enough for the marks in Grade 12 Mathematics to be used as a reliable predictor of success or failure at university level. It was found that the correlation between the marks for Mathematics Grade 12 and Mathematics I especially, was strong (r = 0,61). The Mathematics marks for Grade 12 and those for Mathematics II produced a correlation coefficient of rs = 0,52. It also became apparent that failure in particular could be predicted fairly accurately on the basis of the Grade 12 marks for Mathematics. No student with a Grade 12 Mathematics mark below 60% succeeded in completing Mathematics I and II in the prescribed two semesters, and only about 11% successfully completed it after one repetition. The conclusion was that the reliability of the prediction based on the marks for Grade 12 Mathematics was sufficient to refer students with a mark of less than 60% to receive some form of additional support. / MEd, Learning and Teaching, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2011

There has been an increasing focus on web-based instruction (WBI) systems which accommodate individual differences in educational environments. Many of those studies have focused on the investigation of learners’ behaviour to understand their preferences, performance and perception using hypermedia systems. In this thesis, existing studies focus extensively on performance measurement attributes such as time spent using the system by a user, gained score and number of pages visited in the system. However, there is a dearth of studies which explore the relationship between such attributes in measuring performance level. Statistical analysis and data mining techniques were used in this study. We built a WBI program based on existing designs which accommodated learner’s preferences. We evaluated the proposed system by comparing its results with related studies. Then, we investigated the impact of related individual differences on learners’ preferences, performance and perception after interacting with our WBI program. We found that some individual differences and their combination had an impact on learners' preferences when choosing navigation tools. Consequently, it was clear that the related individual differences altered a learner’s preferences. Thus, we did further investigation to understand how multiple individual differences (Multi-ID) could affect learners’ preferences, performance and perception. We found that the Multi-ID clearly altered the learner’s preferences and performance. Thus, designers of WBI applications need to consider the combination of individual differences rather than these differences individually. Our findings also showed that attributes relationships had an impact on measuring learners’ performance level on learners with Multi-ID. The key contribution of this study lies in the following three aspects: firstly, investigating the impact of our proposed system, using three system features in the design, on a learner’s behavior, secondly, exploring the influence of Multi-ID on a learner’s preferences, performance and perception, thirdly, combining the three measurement attributes to understand the performance level using these measuring attributes.

As melhorias alcançadas na Educação através do uso das tecnologias de informação e comunicação são inegáveis. Entretanto, os avanços em direção a um ensino personalizado e direcionado às preferências, ao nivelamento (saneamento das dificuldades e pré-requisitos de conteúdo) e aos interesses dos estudantes são pequenos. Desta forma, através da identificação dos conhecimentos prévios dos alunos, bem como dos conteúdos (conceituais) buscou-se aprimorar o processo de ensino para que cada aluno alcance, a seu modo (de forma personalizada) o aprendizado e possa avançar na disciplina/ano em questão. Como é humanamente impossível um professor conhecer as características e dificuldades de conteúdo de todos os seus alunos, é interessante que o ambiente virtual que apoia o professor possa auxiliar para um atendimento mais personalizado, permitindo que o aluno interaja no seu próprio ritmo de estudo, acesse os conteúdos necessários ou aprofunde-se em algum conteúdo que ele já domine. Esta tese propõe um método de uso das ferramentas disponíveis de ambientes virtuais, principalmente do MOODLE, para alcançar a personalização do ensino e conduzir o aluno em sua própria trajetória individual rumo ao aprendizado significativo, sanando dificuldades de conteúdo. Seguindo o objetivo de melhorar a qualidade do ensino sem necessidade de grade investimento de desenvolvimento de ambiente nem aporte financeiro. Para validar o método foi realizado um projeto piloto mais dois experimentos, todos no Colégio Militar de Porto Alegre que totalizaram a participação de 256 alunos. Os resultados demonstraram a viabilidade do método, medido através da melhora nas notas (análise quantitativa) e da análise qualitativa dos dados e dos questionários (respondidos pelos alunos e professores). Destaca-se como vantagem educacional o desenvolvimento do método que pode ser aplicado a qualquer disciplina ou modelo de ensino e como vantagem computacional o uso do MOODLE para personalizar o ensino. / The use of information and communication technologies made undeniable advances in education. However, advances towards personalized learning and directed to the preferences, the leveling (improvement of difficulties and prerequisites) and to the interests of students are small yet. Thus, it is intended, by identifying the students' prior knowledge and content (conceptual) to improve the process so that each student reach, at their mode (personalized) the learning and make progress in discipline/year in question. We know that is humanly impossible for a teacher to know the characteristics and difficulties of content of all his students. So, the virtual environment that supports the teacher should have the flexibility to customize interactions with each student, which allows the student to interact at his/her own study pace, access the necessary content or deepen in some content that he/she has mastered. This thesis proposes a method for using the available virtual environments tools, especially the MOODLE, to achieve the personalization of teaching and to lead the student in his own individual trajectory toward meaningful learning, healing content difficulties. Following the objective of improving the quality of education without the need for large investment in environmental development or financial contribution. To validate the method was carried out a pilot project plus two experiments, all occurred at Military College of Porto Alegre, with a total of 256 students. The results showed the viability of the method, measured by the improvement in grades (quantitative analysis) and the qualitative analysis of data and questionnaires (answered by students and teachers). It is highlighted as an educational advantage, the development of the method that can be applied to any discipline or teaching model and as computational advantage, the use of MOODLE to customize teaching.

Thesis ( M.A. (English Studies) --University of Limpopo, 2014 / Research shows that successful readers make use of prior knowledge. This is supported by schemata theory (Herczog & Porter, 2012; Xigo-hui, Jun & Wei-hua, 2007; Zhang 1993). In this study, the researcher intended to increase the schema of the selected sample and test the theorem. Two groups were selected as samples comprising an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group had the advantage of being exposed to a topic over a month and on the day of the test the two groups were combined and the results from the test were analysed. The outcomes showed that the experimental group out-performed the control group proving that prior knowledge increases chances of comprehension. In the initial test both groups had performed poorly. Many learners in the experimental group would have performed better if they could comprehend the English language. The students who used their schema on the experimental group did better than those who did not. / the National Research Foundation

Researchers and educators have always strived for creating appropriate instructional tools and resources that help students to acquire knowledge. Animated pedagogical agents (APAs) embedded within multimedia learning settings are one of the emerging technologies that provide a powerful and supportive learning environment. According to previous studies, APAs can effectively promote learning and support social interaction with learners (Johnson & Lester, 2016; Lane, 2016). However, APAs also may cause cognitive load without providing motivational benefits in some cases and distract learners during the learning process. In other words, the results of previous studies on APAs do not provide enough evidence to argue that APA may be able to decrease cognitive load, promote motivational effects, or facilitate meaningful learning. The lack of enough evidence in the research findings seems to be variable depending upon the APA’s features, the learners, and the difficulty of the learning materials (Schroeder & Adesope, 2014). By focusing on these factors, this study provided new considerations related to embedding an APA’s role that facilitates “Word Parts” for adult students who speak English as a Second Language (ESL) with concentrating on their cognition, motivation, and vocabulary acquisition. Presenting two APA’s roles (expert model and peer model) differently influenced ESL learners’ motivation, specifically their satisfaction feelings. In addition, ESL learners’ prior knowledge affected their intrinsic and extraneous cognitive load, motivation, and vocabulary acquisition. The two different APA’s roles and their effects on ESL learners’ perceptions and learning outcomes serve as a media comparison research. Further, examining APA as a model to teach ESL students vocabulary acquisition skills serves a Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) research.

資料發掘研究重點在於幫助使用者於眾多現存資料中發掘出隱含於其內而先前未知的可能有用資料。目前有三大主要研究派別：(1)類神經網路(2)歸納學習方法論(3)統計方法。由於本研究之研究目的在於加入先前知識於資料發掘過程中，因此選用歸納學習方法論。歸納學習方法其內又可分為樹狀分類法，關聯分析法及概念樹導向歸納學習法，由於採概念樹導向歸納學習法所能處理的資料發掘問題種類較完整，其它二種歸納學習方法均著重於某一特定種類的資料發掘問題處理，因此，本研究針對概念樹導向歸納學習法做研究基礎，探討先前知識的種類及其運用方式，以期能增加資料發掘後的意義性。 　　首先從文獻中了解目前資料發掘領域的研究現況，從而由擴充先前知識的角度切入，利用企業法則、實體層次之一般化、集合化、聚集化等抽象化觀念、延伸之資料字典及經驗法則等先前知識得出更合適的資料以供資料發掘，並對於概念樹導向歸納學習法做適當的修改，提出研究架構。再以假想的學校資料庫，發展出一套雛形系統，驗証本架構的可行性。最後提出進一步的研究建議，以供後續研究參考。 / The research objective of data mining is to help users find previous unknown and maybe usable information from database. There are three ways to do this:(l)neutral network (2)inductive learning (3)statistics. Inductive Learning has three different ways: learning by decision trees, association rules and using concept trees. 　　Because concept trees approach to inductive learning can solve more kinds of problem, the other two ways just can solve one kind of problem, we choose using concept trees to be our foundation of this research. At the same time, we explore and discuss serveral kinds of prior knowledge and their applications. We hope that it can increase the semantics of mining results. 　　This thesis, first surveys previous research in data mining and discuss the prior knowledge that they included. Then, we propose our idea of extending and using prior knowledge including data abstractions (generalization, association and aggregation) in the extended entity-relationship model, bussiness rule, extended data dictionary and heuristics, in order to assist the process of data mining. A prototype is reported to prove our research architecture. Finally, some sugestion are given to future research.