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Engaging the student's prior knowledge is considered by educational researchers to be an important part of constructing a strong foundation for new learning. Diagrams are one technique used in the classroom. Jill Larkin and Herbert Simon described the computational advantages of diagrams over text when used to communicate information in their 1987 article entitled 'Why a Diagram is (Sometimes) Worth Ten Thousand Words.' This case study describes a novel abstract diagramming technique facilitated in four separate university classroom settings. Using paper and crayons, the students created three diagrams that represented the externalization of their unconscious perceptions of their own prior knowledge. The study illustrates how differences in prior knowledge can be visualized using diagrams with greater speed in less time than the traditional use of text-based descriptions. The use of the abstract diagramming technique led to an unexpected finding. The student diagrams were shown to contain a hidden conceptual topology, one that is described by Egenhofer in his 1991 article entitled 'Reasoning About Binary Topological Relations.' This topology is recommended as a framework for structuring and facilitating student collaboration and sharing of prior knowledge and new learning. The present study recommends the diagramming technique as the basis for the establishment of a standard diagram research framework that can be used across multiple research disciplines and subject domains. This dissertation describes a domain-general abstract diagram technique that can be adapted for domain-specific subjects and made operational using basic materials (paper and crayons). The study also describes the instructors' responses to questions about the diagram technique used in their classes. The case study offers recommendations for future diagram research. / Ph. D.

With the abundance of biological data, computational prediction of gene regulatory networks (GRNs) from gene expression data has become more feasible. Although incorporating other prior knowledge (PK), along with gene expression, greatly improves prediction accuracy, the accuracy remains low. PK in GRN inference can be categorized into noisy and curated. Several algorithms were proposed to incorporate noisy PK, but none address curated PK. Another challenge is that much of the PK is not stored in databases or not in a unified structured format to be accessible by inference algorithms. Moreover, no GRN inference method exists that supports post-prediction PK. This thesis addresses those limitations with three solutions: PEAK algorithm for integrating both curated and noisy PK, Online-PEAK for post-prediction interactive feedback, and DeTangle for visualization and navigation of GRNs. PEAK integrates both curated as well as noisy PK in GRN inference. We introduce a novel method for GRN inference, CurInf, to effectively integrate curated PK, and we use the previous method, Modified Elastic Net, for noisy PK, and we call it NoisInf. Using 100% curated PK, CurInf improves the AUPR accuracy score over NoisInf by 27.3% in synthetic data, 86.5% in E. coli data, and 31.1% in S. cerevisiae data. Moreover, we developed an online algorithm, online-PEAK, that enables the biologist to interact with the inference algorithm, PEAK, through a visual interface to add their domain experience about the structure of the GRN as a feedback to the system. We experimentally verified the ability of online-PEAK to achieve incremental accuracy when PK is added by the user, including true and false PK. Even when the noise in PK is 10 times more than true PK, online-PEAK performs better than inference without any PK. Finally, we present DeTangle, a Web server for interactive GRN prediction and visualization. DeTangle provides a seamless analysis of GRN starting from uploading gene expression, GRN inference, post-prediction feedback using online-PEAK, and visualization and navigation of the predicted GRN. More accurate prediction of GRN can facilitate studying complex molecular interactions, understanding diseases, and aiding drug design. / Ph. D.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka vad tidigare forskning säger om hur lärare kan organisera fysikundervisningen för att stödja elever, i årskurs 4 – 9, till meningsskapande samtal om fysikens begrepp. I denna systematiska litteraturstudie presenteras resultat utifrån litteratur som noggrant valts ut genom en systematisk sökningsprocess i databaserna Summon, ERIC, Nordina och avhandlingar.se där all litteratur har genomgått peer review. Studiens resultat visar att elever tillsammans bidrar till meningsskapande samtal genom att tillföra egna erfarenheter och förkunskaper om fysikens begrepp. Studien visar hur eleverna kan diskutera fritt så länge de har något att diskutera utifrån, exempelvis praktiska experiment, bilder, artefakter eller texter. Lärarens roll är sedan att stödja eleverna till att använda och förstå de korrekta vetenskapliga begreppen. Studien visar att läraren kan göra detta genom att koppla till vardagliga objekt och företeelser, ställa utmanande frågor, synliggöra nyckelbegrepp och elevers förförståelse samt återkoppla till elevers lärande. Med dessa olika metoder agerar läraren som en riktningsgivare som guidar eleven i en kunskapsutvecklande riktning. Genom att utgå från samt synliggöra elevernas förförståelse får både elever och lärare kunskap om eventuella missuppfattningar. Detta bidrar i sin tur till meningsskapande samtal då eleverna börjar ifrågasätta samt förändra och utveckla sin förståelse för fysiken begrepp.

Rechercher de l’information sur Internet avec un moteur de recherche est une activité complexe qui exige des utilisateurs un grand nombre de traitements. Les travaux de recherche sur les effets du vieillissement en RI ont montré que les utilisateurs âgés ont de moins bonnes performances, passent plus de temps à évaluer les pages de résultats du moteur de recherche et reformulent moins que les jeunes. Ces difficultés seraient dues au déclin des habiletés cognitives fluides comme la flexibilité cognitive, la vitesse de traitement ou le rafraichissement en mémoire de travail. Pour comprendre comment le vieillissement cognitif affecte l’activité de RI, nos travaux ont investigué les stratégies de recherche élaborées par les utilisateurs jeunes et âgés ainsi que les processus cognitifs impliqués. La première partie de ce travail s’est attaché à étudier, au travers de 2 expérimentations, comment les connaissances antérieures peuvent soutenir l’activité de recherche des utilisateurs plus âgés et les aider à répondre aux exigences de la RI selon le niveau de complexité des tâches de recherche. La deuxième partie du travail de recherche a investigué le rôle de deux dispositifs d’aide à la RI : l’un maximisant les effets bénéfiques des connaissances antérieures par un dispositif de pré-activation (étude 3), et l’autre soutenant le maintien du but en mémoire de travail (étude 4). Nos résultats ont montré que les utilisateurs plus âgés ont davantage de difficultés que les jeunes à évaluer les pages de résultats du moteur de recherche et à reformuler leurs requêtes (ils produisent moins de nouveaux mots clés et utilisent plus de mots clés issus des problèmes de recherche). En outre, la phase initiale de l’activité de recherche s’est avérée être plus critique pour les adultes âgés qui produisent des requêtes initiales moins élaborées et passent plus de temps sur la première page de résultats du moteur de recherche. Les connaissances antérieures sur le domaine peuvent toutefois soutenir le niveau d’élaboration des requêtes des utilisateurs plus âgés et améliorer les stratégies de recherche. Par ailleurs, pré-activer les connaissances antérieures peut soutenir l’élaboration de stratégies de recherche descendantes et améliorer le contenu sémantique des requêtes des âgés (particulièrement dans un domaine pour lequel ils ont de faibles connaissances antérieures). Enfin, l’outil d’aide soutenant le maintien du but en mémoire de travail favorise des stratégies de recherche plus flexibles en améliorant la reformulation des requêtes (temps de reformulation plus courts) et en aidant l’exploration en début d’activité. Ces travaux de recherche posent les bases d’un nouveau modèle cognitif de l’activité des RI pour les utilisateurs plus âgés. / Searching for information with a search engine is a complex activity that requires users to perform a series of cognitive processes. Prior works showed that older users can have lower search performance, they spent more time on the search engine result pages and they produce fewer queries than young ones. Older users’ difficulties are mainly caused by the age-related decline of fluid abilities such as cognitive flexibility, processing speed or update in working memory. To understand the effects of aging on information search with a search engine, we studied the search strategies elaborated and the cognitive processes involved by young and older adults. The first part of the present work investigated how prior knowledge about the search topic can support older users’ on-line search behavior and help them deal with the search task complexity (2 experiments). The second part of our work analyzed the role of two information search support tools. One tool aimed at optimizing the benefits of domain knowledge by pre-activating prior knowledge (experiment 3) whereas the other aimed at supporting search goal refreshing in working memory (experiment 4). Results showed that older users had more difficulties evaluating the search engine results pages and reformulating than young ones (i.e. they produced fewer new keywords and used more keywords extracted from the search problem statement in their queries). The initial stage of the search represented a challenge for older users who formulated initial queries that were less elaborate and spent longer dwell time on the first search engine page than young ones. Prior knowledge can improve older users’ reformulation and support more elaborate search strategies. In addition, pre-activating prior knowledge can foster top-down search strategies and improve the semantic content of the queries produced by older users (especially in a domain for which they have low prior knowledge). The support tool helping search goal refreshing in working memory fostered more flexible search strategies and improved reformulation (i.e. reduced the time needed by older users to reformulate). Eventually, our research work led us to elaborate a new cognitive model of information search with a search engine that takes into account the role of aging.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T19:33:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Rosangela Maria de Carvalho.pdf: 813092 bytes, checksum: b0e0d78b9c31782d4c4dfbe9bba441bd (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-11-07 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This work is in the line of research Reading, Writing, and Teaching and is themed on the teaching of reading in the Education of Youth and Adults (EJA), in the city of Floriano (PI). We show, by means of observation of 20 Portuguese classes and analysis of a questionnaire applied to five educators, as is the teaching of reading in the EJA in the city of Floriano. The aim of this work is to contribute to the improvement of teaching reading in Youth and Adults (EJA) in the state of Piauí. The specific objectives are: to analyze how teaching reading in the fourth stage of Youth and Adults (EJA) the municipal education in the city of Floriano; reading propose guidelines that may contribute to the development of reading the Education of Young and Adults (EJA) the municipal education of said city. To achieve the objectives of this research, embasamo us in studies on teaching reading considering two approaches: the first refers to the treatment given to reading the Textual Linguistics, based on the studies of Adam (2011), Beaugrande (1997), Koch (2009), Koch & Elias (2010), Koch & Travaglia (2011), Marcuschi (2008), Van Dijk (2004, 2012) and by studies of cognition, based on Kleiman (1993, 2011), Kato (1998, 1999) and Smith (1999), the second refers to the reflection on the teaching of reading based on studies of Cintra (2008 ), Cintra and Passarelli (2012 ), Koch (2002 , 2009), Koch & Elias (2010), Lopes, Cobucci & Machado (2012), Marcuschi (2001) , Marquesi (2004, 2007), Solé (1998). The results show the need to work reading taking into account, on the one hand, the mediating action of the educator, the other, the prior knowledge of the reader. Therefore, we present guidelines for reading that can lead learners to develop reading comprehension and thus contribute to a new approach to teaching reading / Esta dissertação situa-se na linha de pesquisa Leitura, Escrita e Ensino e tem como tema o ensino de leitura na Educação de Jovens e Adultos (EJA), na cidade de Floriano (PI). Evidenciamos, por meio da observação de 20 aulas de Língua Portuguesa e da análise de questionário aplicado a cinco educadores, como é o ensino de leitura na EJA na cidade de Floriano. O objetivo geral deste trabalho é contribuir para o aprimoramento do ensino de leitura na Educação de Jovens e Adultos (EJA) no estado do Piauí. Os objetivos específicos são: analisar como é o ensino de leitura na quarta etapa da Educação de Jovens e Adultos (EJA) da rede municipal de educação do município de Floriano; propor orientações de leitura que possam contribuir para o desenvolvimento da leitura na Educação de Jovens e Adultos (EJA) na rede municipal de educação da referida cidade. Para atingirmos os objetivos desta pesquisa, embasamo-nos em estudos sobre o ensino da leitura considerando dois enfoques: o primeiro refere-se ao tratamento dado à leitura pela Linguística Textual, baseado nos estudos de Adam (2011), Beaugrande (1997), Koch (2009), Koch & Elias (2010), Koch & Travaglia (2011), Marcuschi (2008), Van Dijk (2004, 2012) e pelos os estudos da cognição, baseado em Kleiman (1993, 2011), Kato (1998, 1999) e Smith (1999); o segundo refere-se à reflexão sobre o ensino da leitura com base nos estudos de Cintra (2008), Cintra & Passarelli (2012), Koch (2002, 2009), Koch & Elias (2010), Lopes, Cobucci & Machado (2012), Marcuschi (2001), Marquesi (2004, 2007) e Solé (1998). Os resultados obtidos evidenciam a necessidade de trabalharmos a leitura levando em conta, de um lado, a ação mediadora do educador, de outro, o conhecimento prévio do leitor. Diante disso, apresentamos orientações de leitura que podem levar os educandos ao desenvolvimento da compreensão leitora e, dessa forma, contribuir para uma nova abordagem de ensino da leitura

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-21T20:56:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Joao Luiz Schirlo.pdf: 3001788 bytes, checksum: ebeb16c14bb33d71895859d68fba5750 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-08-18 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Mathematics is part of everyone's life both on facts of everyday life, as in the act of telling and operate on quantities, as for complex facts, as in the formulation and derivation of relations of a theory that requires the use of mathematical rigor. In this context, namely solving the four fundamental operations of arithmetic - addition, subtraction, multiplication and division - is essential for the student to learn to solve basic situations of your everyday life as well as to solve the school problem situations. Given this fact, in this research devised to the conclusion of the Professional Master's Program in Mathematics in National Network, there was a exploratory research in order to answer the following question: What prior knowledge on the four fundamental operations of arithmetic, students from two state public schools of the city of Ponta Grossa, presented at the beginning of the 1st year of high school?, aiming to probe the prior knowledge on the four fundamental operations of arithmetic. To do so, we applied an activity with addition, subtraction, multiplication and division operations in order to obtain information about the prior knowledge that the subjects - 203 students, aged between 13 and 20 years, from seven classes in the 1st year of high school, in the morning, afternoon and night - this research presented on these operations. It is noteworthy that the analysis of the data was raised a qualitative study and showed that several students had prior knowledge to develop operations that do not require regrouping carry and do not involve decimals. In particular, the multiplication operations, few students have had prior knowledge of multiplication tables, mainly from the 6 times table. And in division operations, which require prior knowledge related subtraction and multiplication, only a minority of students have presented these knowledge to solve them. Thus, knowing these data can contribute to effective learning of students and teachers' reflections about their methodological practices to be used in the classroom. For example, to fill the gap of the previous knowledge that the subjects of this research have presented, it is suggested the use of Table Value Place because this material is a feature that enhances the meaning of the decimal positional representation that can help them domain have the fundamental principle of the decimal number system, thus, understanding the function of groups and trade. Then it is understood that probe the prior knowledge that the subjects of this research presented on the four fundamental operations of arithmetic is necessary to respect the structure of a cumulative discipline such as Mathematics. Furthermore, we note that prior knowledge plays a key role in the discipline of mathematics activity because only adds to unify concepts and lines of reasoning and adapting known methods and new content results. / A Matemática faz parte da vida de todos tanto em fatos do dia a dia, como no ato de contar e operar sobre quantidades, quanto em fatos complexos, como na formulação e derivação de relações de uma teoria que exige o uso do rigor matemático. Nesse contexto, saber resolver as quatro operações fundamentais da aritmética – adição, subtração, multiplicação e divisão – é fundamental para que o aluno saiba resolver situações elementares da sua vida cotidiana, assim como para resolver as situações-problemas escolares. Diante desse fato, nessa pesquisa idealizada para a conclusão do Mestrado Profissional em Matemática em Rede Nacional, realizou-se uma pesquisa de natureza exploratória, visando responder ao seguinte questionamento: Quais conhecimentos prévios, sobre as quatro operações fundamentais da aritmética, os alunos de dois colégios da rede pública estadual do município de Ponta Grossa, apresentaram no início do 1º Ano do Ensino Médio?, com o objetivo de sondar os conhecimentos prévios, sobre as quatro operações fundamentais da aritmética. Para tanto, aplicou-se uma atividade com operações de adição, subtração, multiplicação e divisão, de forma a se obter informações sobre os conhecimentos prévios que os sujeitos – 203 alunos, com idade entre 13 e 20 anos, oriundos de sete turmas do 1º ano do Ensino Médio, nos períodos matutino, vespertino e noturno – dessa pesquisa apresentaram sobre essas operações. Ressalta-se que a análise dos dados angariados foi de cunho qualitativo e revelaram que vários alunos apresentaram conhecimento prévio para desenvolver as operações que não exigem realizar reagrupamento e não envolvem números decimais. Em particular, nas operações de multiplicação, poucos alunos apresentaram ter conhecimento prévio das tabuadas, principalmente a partir da tabuada do 6. E, nas operações de divisão, que exigem conhecimentos prévios relacionados a subtração e multiplicação, apenas a minoria dos alunos apresentaram ter esses conhecimentos para resolver as mesmas. Assim, conhecer esses dados pode contribuir para um aprendizado efetivo dos alunos e para reflexões dos professores quanto as suas práticas metodológicas a serem utilizadas em sala de aula. Por exemplo, para suprir a lacuna dos conhecimentos prévios que os sujeitos dessa pesquisa apresentaram ter, sugere-se o uso do Quadro Valor de Lugar, pois esse material é um recurso que reforça o significado da representação posicional decimal, que pode auxiliá-los a terem domínio do princípio fundamental do sistema de numeração decimal, para assim, entenderem a função dos agrupamentos e das trocas. Entende-se, então, que sondar os conhecimentos prévios que os sujeitos dessa pesquisa apresentaram sobre as quatro operações fundamentais da aritmética se faz necessário, para respeitar a própria estrutura de uma disciplina cumulativa como a Matemática. Além disso, nota-se que os conhecimentos prévios desempenham um papel fundamental na atividade da disciplina de Matemática, pois permitem agregar, unificar conceitos e linhas de raciocínio, e adaptar métodos e resultados conhecidos a novos conteúdos.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T16:57:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Flavio Cabral de Souza.pdf: 3290710 bytes, checksum: 0fca20522f91a2be80f46598226cf404 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-08-04 / The aim of this paper was to assess how students at sixth grade of elementary school in Brazil, who have never had any formal contact with integers numbers and operations, use their prior knowledge to solve situations involving this mathematical object and how they develop their knowledge autonomously. To achieve this goal, a review of the literature was made in order to check how researchers have treated the integers numbers and which strategies for the approach of integers numbers and their operations were used in the past. This review was crucial to develop activities that allowed the students to engage with problem solving and to bring out their prior knowledge. The series of activities developed for this project included visual resources with the aid of technology, problem situation and objective questions. During the development of the activities, it was possible to identify, through the records and conversations in the classroom, the singularities related to the understanding of integers numbers and their operations by the students. Therefore, this research has identified the scope of the students prior knowledge in the understanding of integers numbers and their operations, and the obstacles they faced when addressing this content. The results of this project can help us to rethink how integers numbers and their operations can be addressed in the teaching practice / Este trabalho tem como objetivo verificar como os alunos do 6º ano do ensino fundamental, que não tiveram contato formal com os números inteiros e suas operações, mobilizam seus conhecimentos prévios para resolver situações que envolvam esse objeto matemático e se os mesmos poderiam se desenvolver de forma autônoma para a sua compreensão. Para atingir esse objetivo foi feita uma revisão da literatura a fim de verificar como os pesquisadores têm tratado os números inteiros, procurando identificar quais estratégias para a abordagem dos números inteiros e suas operações foram utilizadas. Na sequência de atividades construída para esse trabalho são apresentadas situações nas quais foram explorados recursos visuais, com o auxílio de tecnologia, situações-problema e questões objetivas. A sequência de atividades procurou enfatizar o objeto matemático a partir de situações concretas, possibilitando que o aluno abstraia e generalize o conhecimento construído. Durante o desenvolvimento das atividades foram identificadas, nos registros e nos diálogos dos alunos, situações que permitiram inferir as singularidades referentes à compreensão que os alunos podem obter sobre os números inteiros e suas operações. Assim, essa pesquisa permitiu identificar o alcance dos conhecimentos prévios dos alunos para compreender os números inteiros e suas operações, e também os obstáculos que os mesmos enfrentaram para o desenvolvimento desse conteúdo. Os resultados obtidos revelam informações que nos permitem repensar sobre como os números inteiros e suas operações podem ser abordados na prática docente

O comportamento de busca de informação é conhecido por anteceder decisões não triviais e também por ocorre após a tomada de decisão, entretanto poucos estudos focam na busca por informação nesse estágio do processo. Pesquisadores têm investigado o conhecimento prévio tido pelo indivíduo como um importante preditor da busca por informação antes da tomada de decisão. No entanto, após a decisão, a influência do conhecimento prévio na busca por informação tem sido negligenciada. Considerando que o conhecimento sobre o produto é um importante componente do processo decisório do consumidor, e tal conhecimento permanece na memória do indivíduo mesmo após ele ter feito, por exemplo, uma compra, investigar o efeito do conhecimento prévio, antes da decisão, na quantidade de informação buscada pelo consumidor após a tomada de decisão endereça uma importante lacuna na literatura sobre o comportamento de busca de informação do consumidor. Esse é o principal motivador para o presente trabalho. Adicionalmente, essa pesquisa investiga a tendência à maximização como um possível moderador da relação entre conhecimento prévio e a busca de informação após a tomada de decisão. Assim, três estudos são reportados (um experimento e duas surveys). Ao longo desses estudos, o efeito simples proposto é investigado em dois estágios da experiência pós-decisão: pre- e pós-uso. Em essência, os resultados indicam que o conhecimento do consumidor (antes da tomada de decisão) aumenta a busca de informação após a decisão. Esse efeito é potencializado para consumidores com mais tendência à maximização. O papel da dissonância cognitiva também foi explorado na relação entre conhecimento prévio e busca de informação após a decisão. Por fim, a incerteza com a escolha foi apresentada como uma possível variável supressora do efeito de conhecimento prévio na varável dependente investigada. / Information search behavior is known to antecede non-trivial decisions, but it may also occur in the post-decision timespan. Researchers have studied individuals’ prior knowledge as a predictor of information sought prior to the decision. Only a few studies have focused on post-decision information seeking, and these studies did not explore the influence of prior knowledge (i.e., decision-related knowledge accumulate prior to the event of the final decision). Because product knowledge is an important component in consumers’ decision-processes and it remains within individuals’ long-term memory after they made the purchase decision, investigating the effect of pre-decision product knowledge on post-decision amounts of information sought might fill an important gap in consumer information-search-behavior literature. This was the main motivation for the current research. Additionally, this work proposes that maximizing tendencies may moderate the relationship between knowledge and post-decision information search. The thesis reports three studies varying in their data collection approach (experimental and survey). Across these studies, the proposed effect was investigated as occurring in two stages of consumers’ post-decision experience: pre-use and post-use. In essence, results indicate that the consumers’ knowledge increases information search during the post-purchase timespan. This effect is stronger among consumers with high maximizing tendencies (individuals that feel the need to maximize their decisions). I also explored the role of cognitive dissonance as a bridging factor to the relationship between prior knowledge and information seeking. Lastly, choice-uncertainty was found to suppress effects of prior knowledge.