Esta pesquisa analisou o 2º oferecimento (2011-2012) do curso on-line de Especialização em Ensino de Ciências (EEC), realizado pela Faculdade de Educação da Universidade de São Paulo (FEUSP), em parceria com a Secretaria da Educação do Estado de São Paulo (SEE-SP), intitulado Rede São Paulo de Formação Docente (REDEFOR). Nesta pesquisa, verificou-se como interagem os participantes de fóruns de discussão em um Ambiente Virtual de Aprendizagem (AVA) para formação continuada de professores. Mais especificamente, conciliaram-se técnicas de análise qualitativa e quantitativa para interpretar a interação dos participantes desses fóruns. Inicialmente, empregaram-se análises estatísticas para descrever os principais conjuntos de dados: cada uma das disciplinas e seus respectivos oferecimentos de fóruns de discussão; número de participantes por fórum de discussão; número de mensagens por fórum de discussão. A partir dos estudos de estatística descritiva, foram selecionados os principais casos para estudos de Análise de Redes Sociais (ARS) que, por sua vez, foi empregada para mapear e depois caracterizar as redes de interações dos fóruns de discussão por meio da: a) verificação da frequência e das tipologias de interações que se estabeleceram entre os professores-cursistas com os seus respectivos pares e desses com os seus tutores; b) obtenção de indicadores sociométricos para caracterização dos participantes dos grupos estudados. Em decorrência do grande volume de análises e de informações, optou-se por detalhar as centralidades entre os integrantes de um grupo de discussão ao longo da disciplina EC08 Vida e Educação em Ciências. Finalmente, a abordagem qualitativa promoveu as análises das interações discursivas nos debates realizados na disciplina EC08 Vida e Educação em Ciências por meio da aplicação do quadro analítico Rainbow. O quadro analítico Rainbow demonstrou ser eficaz para a obtenção e exemplificação das relações dialógicas estabelecidas entre as professoras-cursistas do Grupo 9B durante os debates em três fóruns de discussão da EC08 vida e Educação em Ciências. Também foi possível constatar que, conforme as participantes ampliavam a sua aderência na realização da tarefa para alcançar o objetivo pedagógico estabelecido pelas professoras-autoras, mais mensagens foram classificadas entre as categorias de cunho argumentativo (5-7), em detrimento das outras categorias que apresentam um caráter de cunho social (2 -3). No último fórum de discussão (Semana #5), houve um maior pronunciamento da tutora em relação à orientação da tarefa (4), juntamente com outras duas professoras-cursistas (IMF e CASZ), possibilitando aferir que, quando há um engajamento da tutoria na atividade, há uma tendência de a discussão focar nas últimas categorias (5-7). Finalmente, foi possível constatar que abordagem mista (ora quantitativa ora qualitativa) foi útil para categorizar e entender por que o grupo 9B, considerado como um outlier, se destacou dos outros grupos em publicações de mensagens. / This research analyzed the 2nd offer (2011-2012) of the Specialization in Science Teaching Course (SST), conducted by the Faculty of Education of the University of São Paulo (FEUSP), in partnership with the Department Education of the State of São Paulo (DE-SP), entitled Rede São Paulo de Formação Docente (REDEFOR). In this research, we verified how the participants interact in a discussion forum in a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) for in-service teachers. More specifically, techniques of qualitative and quantitative analysis were employed to interpret the interaction of the participants in these forums. Initially, statistical descriptive analyzes were used to describe the main data sets: each of the disciplines and their respective offerings of discussion forums; number of participants per discussion forum; number of messages per discussion forum. From the descriptive analyzes, we selected the main cases for Social Network Analysis (SNA), which, in turn, were concerned with mapping and then characterizing the interaction networks of the discussion forums by: a) verifying the frequency and the typologies of interactions that have been established between the teacher-trainees with their respective peers and those with their tutors; b) obtaining sociometric indicators to characterize the participants of the selected groups. Due to the large volume of analysis and information, it was decided to detail the centralities among the members of a discussion group along the course ST08 - Life and Education in Sciences. Finally, the qualitative approach promoted the analysis of the discursive interactions in the debates carried out in the discipline ST08 - Life and Education in Sciences through the application of the framework Rainbow. The framework Rainbow proved to be effective in obtaining and exemplifying the dialogical relations established between the participants in group 9B during the debates in three discussion forums of ST08 - Life and Science Education. It was also possible to verify that, as the participants broadened their adherence in the accomplishment of the task to reach the pedagogical goal established by the teachers, more messages were classified among the argumentative categories (5-7), to the detriment of the other categories that have a social character (2-3). In the last discussion forum (Week # 5), there was a greater pronouncement by the tutor regarding the orientation of the task (4), together with two other participants (IMF and CASZ), making it possible to ascertain that when there is an engagement of mentoring in activity, there is a tendency for the discussion to focus on the latter categories (5-7). Finally, it was possible to verify that a mixed approach (sometimes quantitative or qualitative) was useful to categorize and understand why group 9B, considered as an outlier, stood out from the other groups in message publications.

Bakgrund: Hypotermi är ett vanligt förekommande problem inom operationssjukvården som kan leda till allvarliga följder för patienten och ökade kostnader för samhället. Förebyggande åtgärder i det preoperativa skedet har visat sig viktiga för att minska risken att hypotermi utvecklas. Syfte: Syftet var att undersöka patienters kärn- och perifera temperatur under de preoperativa förberedelserna vid dagkirurgi. Hypotesen var att patienters kärn- och perifera temperatur sjönk under de preoperativa förberedelserna. Metod: Totalt 50 patienter på en dagkirurgisk avdelning på ett mellanstort sjukhus i Sverige gav sitt muntliga samtycke att medverka i studien. Kroppstemperaturen mättes vid två tillfällen; när de precis bytt om till patientskjorta samt när de placerats på operationsbordet. Kärntemperaturen mättes med en axillartermometer, och den perifera temperaturen mättes på fyra punkter med en infraröd termometer. Datan var normalfördelad och statistisk signifikans beräknades med parat t-test. Resultat: Resultatet visar att det inte sker någon signifikant förändring av patienternas kärntemperatur men att den perifera temperaturen förändras. Riktningen är dock inte entydig då resultatet visar att mätpunkterna på överkroppen sjunker medan mätpunkterna på underkroppen stiger. Slutsats: Kärntemperaturen kan vara oförändrad genom de preoperativa förberedelserna, men det innebär inte att temperaturen ligger inom rekommendationerna för preoperativ kärntemperatur. Mer forskning krävs för att studera patientens kroppstemperatur genom hela den perioperativa processen, dvs. pre- intra, och postoperativt. / Background: Hypothermia is a common problem within the surgical context and can lead to serious consequences for the patient and increased costs for society. Efforts to prevent hypothermia in the preoperative phase have proven important to minimize the risk of developing hypothermia. Aim: The aim was to examine core- and peripheral temperature of surgical outpatients, during the preoperative phase. The hypothesis was that the temperature would decrease during the preoperative preparation. Method: 50 patients, at a medium-sized hospital in Sweden, participated. The temperature was measured twice; when the patient had changed into surgical attire, and when placed on the operating table. The core temperature was measured using an axillary thermometer, and the peripheral temperature was measured at four locations using an infrared thermometer. The data was normally distributed and paired t-test was used for statistical analysis. Result: The results show that there was no significant change in core temperature, whereas a change occurred in the peripheral temperature. The direction of change was incoherent, where the points of measurements on the upper body decreased in temperature, while the points of measurement on the lower extremities increased. Conclusion: The core temperature can remain unchanged during the preoperative period. This does not imply that the temperature is within preoperative temperature recommendations. More research, studying the temperature throughout the perioperative process, is necessary to attain knowledge regarding the development of the temperature of the patient undergoing surgery.

The thesis focuses on development and use of information and communication technologies and their final impact on tourist behaviour in the sector of tourism. First part is dedicated to the theory od tourism in general, it states the main participants, it defines more specifically tourist behaviour from the point of view of consumer, it describes the development of modern technologies that directly or indirectly influence the sector of tourism industry. The target of the practical part of the thesis, using the quantitative research, is to point out on the influence that brings the concrete technology as Internet and its services to his users and in the same time consumers in tourism.

As a way to gain greater insight into the operation of Library and Information Science (LIS) e-learning communities, the presented work applies automated text mining techniques to text-based communication to identify, describe and evaluate underlying social networks within such communities. The main thrust of the study is to find a way to use computers to automatically discover social ties that form between students just from their threaded discussions. Currently, one of the most common but time consuming methods for discovering social ties between people is to ask questions about their perceived social ties via a survey. However, such a survey is difficult to collect due to the high cost associated with data collection and the sensitive nature of the types of questions that must be asked. To overcome these limitations, the paper presents a new, content-based method for automated discovery of social networks from threaded discussions dubbed name networks. When fully developed, name networks can be used as a real time diagnostic tool for educators to evaluate and improve teaching models and to identify students who might need additional help or students who may provide such help to others.

Accepted for publication in Physics World (January 2007) / With the vast majority of scientific papers now available online, this paper (accepted for publication in Physics World) describes how the Web is allowing physicists and information providers to measure more accurately the impact of these papers and their authors. Provides a historical background of citation analysis, impact factor, new citation data sources (e.g., Google Scholar, Scopus, NASA's Astrophysics Data System Abstract Service, MathSciNet, ScienceDirect, SciFinder Scholar, Scitation/SPIN, and SPIRES-HEP), as well as h-index, g-index, and a-index.

This study explored the extent to which using online communication tools helped NAIT (the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology) denturist students on third-year practica maintain laboratory and clinical standards of treatment. The inquiry was framed by the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework, and was conducted from a collaborative constructivist approach with quantitative data used to enhance and support a mainly qualitative design. Results showed that all elements of a CoI were present in the online environment and that participants voluntarily used WebCT communications tools for academic and social interaction. Standards of treatment on practical projects completed by the study group were no different than those of cohorts that did not use communications tools. Modifications to instructional practices made comparison of standards achieved on patient cases unfeasible. Study results informed immediate changes made to the online practicum site, and suggestions for long-term pedagogical changes to denturist practica were made.

This study focuses on the teaching of RE in Zambian multireligious secondary schools. The problem faced in secondary schools is that currently RE is being taught with a single religious approach by the RE teachers instead of using a multireligious perspective as directed by the Ministry of Education (MoE). The aim of this study, therefore, was to find out why RE teachers tend to be reluctant to respond to the MoE directive in applying a multireligious approach to the subject. In order to achieve this aim, an empirical investigation was necessary. A quantitative and qualitative survey through self-administered questionnaires and in-depth interviews were undertaken by the 194 teachers teaching RE in selected secondary schools in the Copperbelt Province. The research reveals that the RE teachers' reluctance to respond to the Ministry's directive is a result of their different perceptions which are mostly influenced by their religious affiliations and the syllabuses they use. For example, the majority of the RE teachers involved in the teaching of RE in secondary schools are Christians, therefore, they are reluctant to teach RE that also includes non-Christian religions because they feel it would compromise their consciences and their own faiths. As a result, they prefer to teach the subject from a Christian standpoint. This approach differs from the MoE directive to teach RE from a multireligious perspective. In the light of the different perceptions concerning the problem of teaching RE in Zambian multireligious secondary schools, the following recommendations have been made: (i) Since the Zambian secondary schools have become multireligious, RE teaching should take a multireligious perspective if it is to be relevant to the needs of pupils of diverse religious backgrounds; (ii) The current RE syllabuses (2044 and 2046) require a critical evaluation and revision in order to ensure that they adapt to a multireligious tradition. Finally, the results of this study concludes that the teaching of RE should be firmly placed in an educational context by making no assumptions or preconditions from the personal commitment of RE teachers. The role of RE teachers is that of educators. / Educational Studies / D.Ed. (Didactics)

The diploma thesis deals with electronic commerce. The theoretical part of this work is focused on basic aspects of consumer's protection, consumer organisations and institutions providing advice and information and the rights and obligations of consumers and sellers. It describes the history and current situation of e-commerce, advantages and disadvantages, circumvention of the law when buying over the internet and specific casework. The diploma thesis also briefly informs of marketing research. In the practical part there is a questionnaire survey applied, examining the issue of electronic commerce, experiences of buying over the internet and knowledge of consumer rights. The aim of the research is to summarize collected information that is complemented by measures designed to reduce the negative impacts.

This diploma thesis follows my bachelor thesis in which the mother slang was described. This diploma thesis is aimed at the performance of the mother speech research, i.e. the use of specific expressions and language resources used by mothers of small children in Internet discussions in relevant forums or web pages. The diploma thesis aims at creating a questionnaire and establishing five hypotheses. The first part of the thesis describes the methodology of this research, in the following part there are presented the data obtained by the questionnaire survey. The hypotheses are verified in the following section, and the hypothesis testing procedure is described here. The appendix includes the questionnaire and a table of critical values that specifies the data that are needed for verifying hypotheses.

This study explored the relationship between leadership styles and organisational climate by means of quantitative research. Data from an organisational climate survey was used during the analysis. The results indicate that there was a positive correlation (0,749 at the 0,01 level) between leadership styles and organisational climate, thus supporting the research hypothesis. A standard multiple regression analysis was conducted and three leadership styles were found to predict 55,6% of the variance in organisational climate. The Authoritative leadership style made the largest unique contribution to the variance in organisational climate. The interaction between biographical and organisational variables and leadership styles and organisational climate was studied by means of t-tests and ANOVAs. Although statistically significant differences were found, these terms were of little practical significance and the effect sizes were generally small. The study concludes with recommendations for Industrial and Organisational Psychology practices and further research. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)