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Research has shown that there are gaps in knowledge between newly hired and experienced professionals and that some of these gaps are related to concepts, such as the concepts of object orientation. This problem, and the fact that most computer science majors want to work in the software industry, leads to questions regarding why these gaps exist and how students can be better prepared for their future careers. Against this background, this thesis addresses two theme-based perspectives that focus on students' views of concepts in Computer Science. The first theme-based perspective investigated the existence of potential Threshold Concepts in Computer Science. Such concepts should be troublesome, transformative, irreversible, and integrative. Qualitative methods have been mainly used and empirical data have been collected through semi-structured interviews, concept maps, and written stories. The results identified two Threshold Concepts, suggested several more, and then described the ways in which these concepts have transformed students. The second theme-based perspective took a phenomenographic approach to find the variation in how students understand concepts related to the software profession. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews. In one study the interviews were held in connection with role-playing where students took on the role of a newly hired programmer. The results show a variety of ways to experience the addressed phenomena in the student collective, ranging from superficial views that often have a practical nature to more sophisticated understandings that reflect a holistic approach, including a professional point of view. Educators can use the results to emphasize concepts that are important from students' perspectives. The phenomenographic outcome spaces can help teachers to reflect upon their own ways of seeing contrasted with student conceptions. I have indicated how variation theory can be applied to open more sophisticated ways of seeing, which in this context stresses the professional aspects to help students prepare for becoming professional software developers.

Introduction Saudi Arabia is the largest country in the Middle East occupying the majority of the Arabia Peninsula. In 1934 the exploration of oil propelled this country from one of the poorest to one of the highest in per capita income. Islamic law forms the basis of Saudi Arabia's constitution, its civil and penal codes and guides the Saudis in their daily and family lifestyles, governing morals, dress, eating habits and business dealings. Between 1970 and 1980, there was a sharp increase in the rate of population. Currently the population is estimated at 20.8 million with a projected increase to 44.8 million by the year 2025, with approximately 49% under the age of 20. This rise in population has implications for the health care industry, of which expatriates make up more that 85% of the country's health care system. Purpose The purpose of the study was to examine the social and cultural experiences associated with living and working as a registered nurse in a major teaching hospital in Saudi Arabia and to identify and understand how to develop critical thinking skills in Saudi nurses during a nursing education/intervention program in Saudi Arabia. Methodology The researcher reviewed the literature on critical thinking, which allowed the construction of a conceptual model (Appendix 1) to guide teaching and evaluation of critical thinking skills and maintained the focus on dialogue to stimulate interaction and participation in order to promote critical thinking abilities in Saudi nurses. This study adopted ethnography as a methodology and utilised Spradley's (1979)ethnographic research cyclical tasks for data collection and analysis, which are explained in the exploratory, descriptive and explanatory phases of the research. The researcher was a participant observer and collected ethnographic data in the social situation. A variety of data collection methods were employed, which included observation of students and clinical instructors, evaluation of clinical instructors teaching techniques in utilising critical thinking strategies, evaluation of students' responses in the use of critical thinking strategies, focus group interviews of students and clinical instructors and informal interviews conducted within the hospital setting with relevant informants. The use of multi-methods provided the opportunity to examine more fully the richness and complexities of the culture, by gathering data from various sources to validate the consistency of information to reflect the multiple realities of this cultural group. Cultural domains were identified after examining field notes and interviews for terms and clues repeatedly verbalised by informants, in particular students. The researcher organised the domains to formulate taxonomies, leading to cultural themes, which are answered within the research questions in Chapter 8. The research questions for this study are as follows: Research questions 1. What are the issues related to the implementation of critical thinking in a Professional Development Program to improve critical thinking in Saudi nurses? 2. What major elements are involved in creating and sustaining the Saudi Arabian nursing profession? 3. How might Saudi culture be used to support the development of professional nursing identity? Implications for the study This study has the potential to make a significant contribution to nursing education in Saudi Arabia in promoting critical thinking in nurses and in curriculum development for the following reasons. First, didactic instruction was replaced with an interactive approach by utilising critical thinking strategies and devices to facilitate the development of critical thinking abilities. Second, working with a conceptual framework or model made it easier to manage complex multifaceted concepts, such as critical thinking. The model maintained the focus on dialogue and experiential learning thereby assisting students and staff to integrate theory and practice. This model was effective for the program and if duplicated by other programs, could create a learning environment that would allow the effective development and evaluation of critical thinking. The model is reflected in Appendix 1. Recommendations for the nursing profession in Saudi Arabia * To establish the Nursing Practice Act which subsequently leads to the formation of a National Nursing Registration Board. * To transfer nursing into the higher education sectors, to be on par with their Western counterparts. To foster career incentives for men to meet the cultural needs of the people, increase Saudi nurses in the workforce and to raise the image of nursing. * To enact Saudiisation policy. * To incorporate Islamic nursing history into diploma nursing and other nursing educational programs and implemented into the workplace, government policy and the media. * To construct separate male and female hospitals to solve the gender issues. * To systematically collect, collate and analyse nursing data. * To develop continuing education programs to meet educational needs of nurses.

The objective of the research was to investigate an improvement in job performance when role-play is used as a training and assessment tool in a sales call centre environment. The research was conducted by means of a competence assessment used at different stages (Quality Assurance Performance Management Questionnaire). The final stage was two weeks after the learners who had qualified to be sales agents had entered a real working environment. At this final stage, calls were retrieved and rated against the Quality Assurance Performance Management Questionnaire (QAPMQ). A sample of 40 novice sales agents (learners) were selected and randomly divided into the control and experimental groups. The research findings indicated that if planned well, role-play can be an effective training and assessment tool. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.Comm. (Industrial & Organisational Psychology)

This thesis expands on previous research and designs of avatar-based child interview training software. The goal of the thesis was to identify requirements, identify technologies and evaluate the likelihood of acceptance of a distribution ready software that would enhance role-play training exercises commonly used for child interview training. After identifying the requirements needed to create this type of application the needed technologies for solving those requirements were identified and one prototype and two production ready applications were developed. The production ready versions were distributed in an official capacity through AvBIT Labs Ab. Each version was evaluated using the technological acceptance model (TAM) in order to determine likelihood of acceptance in relevant industries. The TAM survey, USE survey and correspondence with experts were used to evaluate missing requirements and the likelihood of software acceptance. The research conducted in this thesis directly contributed to the founding of AvBIT Labs AB and the distribution of the AvBIT application to both governmental and non-governmental organizations, seeking to enhance their child interview training, throughout Europe.

Cette thèse s’inscrit dans le contexte de l’Innovation Sociale pour le développement durable et porte sur l’anticipation d’un système sociotechnique citoyen innovant favorable à une gestion écologique et partagée des ressources. Ce type d’innovation implique les idéologies individuelles et collectives (les idées et les valeurs propres à un individu ou à un groupe et qui orientent les actions / discours de cet individu / ce groupe). La recherche s’intéresse spécifiquement à la mobilisation de la dimension idéologique en conception collaborative de ce type d’innovation. La thèse défendue est la suivante : à travers la discussion et le débat sur les solutions de conception, sont co-construites des connaissances « sociotechniques » relatives à l’objet même à concevoir, ainsi que des connaissances « idéologiques » relatives aux valeurs que doit véhiculer cet objet. L’acceptabilité collective du futur système repose sur l’articulation de ces deux dimensions épistémiques, et cette articulation est soutenue par des interactions argumentatives constructives. Nous avons adopté la démarche méthodologique de l’ergonomie prospective et proposons un cycle de conception en trois étapes : 1) L’analyse d’un système sociotechnique de référence, 2) La création de systèmes sociotechniques probables, 3) La simulation d’un système sociotechnique imaginé. Les trois étapes sont des situations de conception collaborative. Elles ont été menées avec des usagers de la société civile. Les résultats constituent un socle pour le développement de méthodes et d’outils réflexifs visant à soutenir la conception collaborative de systèmes sociotechniques qui impliquent fortement la dimension idéologique. / This thesis concerns the context of Social Innovation for sustainable development. The thesis relates to the anticipation of an innovative and citizen sociotechnical system that encourages ecological and shared uses of resources. This type of innovation involves individual and collective ideologies. The notion of ideology is understood here as a system of ideas and values, specific to an individual or a group, and which guide action and/or appear in discourse. Our research focuses on the mobilization of the ideological dimension during the collaborative design of this type of innovation. The defended thesis is: through discourse and debate about design solutions, "sociotechnical" knowledge is co-elaborated (related to the object that is designed) as well as "ideological" knowledge (in relation to the values that have to be conveyed by the object). The common acceptability of the future system is based on the articulation of these two epistemic dimensions; and this articulation is supported by constructive argumentative interactions. We have adopted the methodological approach of the prospective ergonomics and we propose a three-step design cycle: 1) The analysis of an inspiring socio-technical system, 2) The construction of hypothetical socio-technical systems, 3) The simulation of a hypothetical sociotechnical system. All of the three steps are collaborative design situations. They were implemented with citizens. The results of our research are useful for the development of reflexive methods and tools that support the collaborative design of sociotechnical systems that strongly imply an ideological dimension.

The aim of the study was to explore what methods the personnel in five residential care homes in Götaland, Sweden, implement to integrate unaccompanied minors. The study investigated how and what methods are constructed as well as how the social interaction between the unaccompanied minors and the personnel at the homes bring about the learning of the methods. Five face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted and analysed through the perspective of social construction and social learning theory. The result revealed that the methods are not clearly identified by the personnel. The personals are still learning how to work with unaccompanied minors from their experiences. This indicates that the practice is at its infant stage. The study found a wide variety of methods, which were based on the child and where some methods intend to build good relationship, to integrate the children into society and to facilitate the development of strategies and methods. The study also addresses the issue of how the methods and strategies can be affected by the dynamic migratory flow and the question of evidence based practice within this field.

This thesis examines works of theatre and film that explore a refusal of acting. Acting has traditionally been considered as something false or as pretending, in opposition to everyday life, which has been considered as something real and truthful. This has resulted in a desire to refuse acting, evident in the tradition of the anti-theatrical prejudice where acting is considered to be seductive and dangerous. All the works that I examine in this thesis are relatively recent and all of them explore the paradox that in our (postmodern) times a gradual reversal has occurred where everyday life is seen as more and more false or as pretending or simulating (ie. containing acting and theatricality) and conversely, acting in theatre and film has become the place where people have begun searching for reality and truth and where ‘acting’ and pretending in life can be revealed and refused. The result of this paradox - and what I also discuss as a confusion of acting and living - is that the place in which acting can be refused has shifted; the ethical desire to refuse acting (in theatre and in life) is turning up in the aesthetic domain of acting itself. In my first chapter I study works by filmmaker István Szabó and playwright Werner Fritsch, who represent the desire to refuse acting in the context of fascism where theatrical and filmic spectacle was used by the Nazis to seduce the population and where actors during this period also experienced an inability to separate their political and artistic lives. In my second chapter I look at the way Genet’s The Balcony and Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution explore the desire to refuse acting as a result of a confusion of acting and living in the context of sexual (sadomasochistic) role-play. And in my third chapter I examine the way Warhol’s The Chelsea Girls, von Trier’s The Idiots and Affleck’s I’m Still Here represent a refusal of acting and theatricality altogether, responding to the way that ‘acting’ in life may have become an all-pervasive substitute (a simulation) for living. Foundational to the development of this thesis and a major source of material is my analysis of three theatrical productions with Free Theatre Christchurch, directed by Peter Falkenberg, in which I was involved as an actor and in which a refusal of acting was explored.

Diskussioner om användandet av embryonala stamceller är exempel på ett område där naturvetenskapliga teorier möter en diskussion i samhällshällsdebatten. Värderingar med t ex etiska utgångspunkter påverkar hur naturvetenskaplig forskning bedrivs och hur resultaten från denna forskning tillämpas. När sådana frågor, samhällsfrågor med naturvetenskapligt innehåll, SNI (socioscientific issues, SSI), tas upp i undervisningen är det angeläget att belysa att det i samhällsdebatten förekommer en diskussion där företrädare för ståndpunkter för fram olika argument i frågan. Ett sätt att möta detta behov är att designa en undervisningssekvens som innehåller en rollspelsdiskussion kring en dagordning. Ytterligare bidrag till utvecklingen av argument kan användandet av skrivramar ge. I denna undersökning har ett levande rollspel om embryonala stamceller designats, och några av komponenterna i denna undervisningssekvens har undersökts i en designbaserad studie vid fyra gymnasieskolor. Ett analysverktyg har satts samman av befintliga analysverktyg ur forskningslitteraturen med en del med vars hjälp man kan studera argumentstruktur baserat på Toulmins argument patterns (T), en annan del som tar fasta på inslaget av specifika biologiska kunskaper (K) och en tredje del som belyser den epistemiska nivån (E). TKE- analys av argument kan ge ett underlag som kan användas till att belysa betydelsen av hur undervisningen i SSI läggs upp för elevernas möjligheter att utveckla naturvetenskapliga argument av hög kvalitet. Med analysverktyget TKE kan man se hur olika delar av en undervisningssekvens påverkar utvecklingen av argumentens kvalitet. Eftersom de tre delarna av TKE innehåller olika kvalitativt beskrivna och rangordningsbara nivåer så är det möjligt att koda argumentens kvalitet och därefter genomföra en hypotesprövning. Vid en sådan hypotesprövning bör man beakta att de kodade resultaten är parade ordinaldata och att hypotesprövning kan ske med Wilcoxons teckenrangtest. Genom analys av argument med analysverktyget TKE kan man belysa kvaliteter på olika nivåer hos argument. De kvaliteter som syns i TKE-analys av argument är också kvaliteter som ger belägg vid bedömning enligt skolverkets kunskapskrav aspekt fyra för biologikurserna i gymnasieskolan. TKE - analys visar i att argumentens kvalitet är god efter förberedelserna med skrivramarna som stöd. Rollspelsdiskussioner med konsensuskrav verkar påverka argumentens kvalitet i kvalitetsklassen E men i övrigt kan det inte påvisas att rollspelsdiskussionen bidrar till att argumenten av högre kvalitet kan uttryckas. Men argumentens kvalitet kan förbättras signifikant genom aktiviteter efter rollspelsdiskussionen som att man efter denna erbjuder skriftlig återkoppling på skrivna argument. / Discussions about the use of embryonic stem cells is an example of a socioscientific issue (SSI) where the use of scientific progresses meets the social debate where values with for example ethic points of view affect the discussion. When such topics, socioscientific issues, are included in educational instructions, is it important to illustrate that a discussion takes place in the social debate where arguments based on different points of view are presented. One way to meet this need is to design a teaching sequence, which contains a live role play with a discussion, where students are given the opportunity to exchange arguments with scientific grounds and to listen to others. The use of writing frames is a further contribution to the development of argumentation instruction for an SSI. In this study, a live role play is designed on the socioscientific issue embryonic stem cells. Parts of these teaching sequences have been analyzed in a design based study in four upper secondary schools. An analysis tool has been developed based on the didactic literature with one part that shows the structure of arguments based on Toulmin’s argument patterns (T), a second part that focus on the specific biology knowledge (K) and a third part that makes it possible to analyze the epistemic level (E) of the argument. TKE-analysis could be useful when studying the quality of arguments to show the importance of how instructions for teaching in SSI are structured in order to give the students opportunity to develop scientific arguments of high quality.  When analyzing arguments with TKE it is possible to see how different parts of teaching sequences are affecting the development of the quality of arguments with a focus on the structural and conceptual qualities. Since it is possible to rank the quality levels of the three parts of TKE it is possible to test hypotheses. In such a hypothesis-testing it is important to notice that the results from the TKE analysis are paired ordinal data and that hypothesis-testing could be done with Wilcoxon’s sign rank test. By using TKE–analysis it is possible to get information about the quality of arguments of different levels. The qualities of arguments that are illustrated in TKE-analysis are qualities that also are important in assessment with the grade criteria aspect four for the scientific courses from the Swedish national agency for education. TKE-analyses of shows that the qualities of arguments are good after the arguments are prepared supported by the writing frames. The role play discussion affects only the epistemic level of arguments only in the consensus discussion. In the other quality categories, T and K there were no significant increase of the argument quality after the role play discussions. But according to TKE-analysis, the quality of arguments could be increased significantly by offering activities after the role play discussion such as written feed back on written arguments.

The thesis describes fatherhood from the antic age until now. It defines the role play of the father in each historical periods of time and describes sources of influence which formed this role. The study is also focused on the influence in the catholic church and analysis from the church point of view. Subject of the thesis practical part is views of men on their role as fathers in a Prague suburb parish. It attempts to capture their fatherhood experience and to analyse it in relation to the fathers' attitude to the education of their children and material security. It focuses on ways of spending leisure time with their children, their education and comprehension and passing faith on them. It also analyses ways of the fathers' involvement in their households and child care.