Analogiskt tänkande är en central kognitiv förmåga som vi använder i vardagslivet, såväl som i mer formella sammanhang, såsom i forskning och undervisning. Föreliggande avhandling behandlar hur analogier och analogiskt tänkande, uppmärksamhet på semantik och förståelse för vetenskaplig modellering kan användas för att hantera utmaningar i naturvetenskapsundervisningen, särskilt inom området termodynamik. Dessutom presenteras ett teoretiskt ramverk över hur analogiskt tänkande förhåller sig till semantik och vetenskaplig modellering, tre ämnesområden som alla utgår ifrån att finna motsvarigheter mellan två olika domäner. Mot denna bakgrund fokuserar avhandlingen på följande forskningsfrågor: I vilken utsträckning används analogier för att koppla olika representationer av ett fenomen till varandra och till det representerade fenomenet? Hur relaterar självgenerade analogier till vetenskaplig modellering? Avhandlingen består av fyra publicerade tidskriftsartiklar och en kappa. Den första artikeln är en semantisk utredning av ordet ’entropi’, den andra artikeln är en empirisk undersökning av synen på vetenskaplig modellering i olika kunskapstraditioner, och de tredje och fjärde artiklarna är empiriska undersökningar av fysiklärarstudenters respektive förstaklassares självgenererade analogier för termiska fenomen. Från ett metodperspektiv utfördes de empiriska studierna i en huvudsakligen kvalitativ tradition, där centrala resonemang exemplifieras genom analys av dialogutdrag. I de två studierna av självgenererade analogier fick deltagarna olika former av stöttning i form av social interaktion med varandra, gemensam erfarenhet av naturfenomen och diskussion kring deras representationer av fenomenen. I kappan utvecklas det teoretiska ramverket och mot den bakgrunden görs en omanalys av artiklarnas resultat. En central ståndpunkt i avhandlingen är att varje fenomen kan representeras på många olika sätt, som alla kan vara lämpliga och användbara i olika sammanhang med tyngdpunkt på olika aspekter av fenomenet. Rörande analogiskt tänkande anförs att elever och studenter kan skapa flera egna analogier för att få en rikare, kompletterande bild av ett fenomen, snarare än att undervisas utifrån en enda förment bästa analogi. Med utgångspunkt från vetenskaplig modellering kan olika representationer eller modeller lyfta fram olika aspekter av ett fenomen, med olika grad av idealisering och inom olika kunskapstraditioner. Slutligen, från ett semantiskt perspektiv kan ett ord svara mot flera, distinkta, men relaterade betydelser – fenomenet polysemi. Dessa tre perspektiv kan erbjuda konstruktivistiska ansatser till begreppsförståelse inom naturvetenskapsundervisningen, genom att elever och studenter uppmuntras att i dialog knyta till sin vardagsföreställning av de begrepp och fenomen de möts av, snarare än att byta ut den mot ett enda, förmodat korrekt vetenskapligt begrepp. Dessutom hävdas att den naturvetenskapsdidaktiska forskningen kan komma långt med ett strukturellt fokus på analogiskt tänkande och vetenskaplig modellering, där man försöker finna motsvarigheter mellan domäners beståndsdelar och deras relationer och helst isomorfism, en perfekt  överensstämmelse, men att beaktande av andra dimensioner, såsom en insikt i kognitionens förankring i kroppen och varseblivningen, de pragmatiska, kontextuella sammanhangen mot vilken bakgrund tänkande sker och språkets särskilda karaktär, krävs för en mer heltäckande bild. / Analogical reasoning is a central cognitive ability that is used in our everyday lives, as well as in formal settings, such as in research and teaching. This dissertation concerns how analogies and analogical reasoning, attention to semantics and insight into scientific modelling may be recruited in order to come to terms with challenges in science education, in particular within the field of thermodynamics. In addition, it provides a theoretical framework of how analogy relates to semantics and the practice of scientific modelling, three fields of study which all strive to map correspondences between two different domains. In particular, the dissertation addresses the following research questions: To what degree is analogy involved in connecting different representations of a phenomenon to each other and to the represented phenomenon? How do students’ selfgenerated analogies relate to the practice of scientific modelling? The dissertation comprises four published journal articles and a cover story. The first article is a semantic investigation of the word ‘entropy’, the second article is an empirical study of the view on scientific modelling in different traditions of knowledge, and the third and fourth articles are empirical studies of self-generated analogies for thermal phenomena among preservice physics teachers and first-graders, respectively. From a methodological point of view, the empirical studies were conducted in a primarily qualitative tradition, where central lines of reasoning are exemplified by analysis of dialogue excerpts. The two studies on self-generated analogies provided the participants with extensive scaffolding in the form of social interaction among peers, interaction with physical phenomena and discussion of their representations of the phenomena. The theoretical framework is developed in the cover story, which provides a background to the individual studies and reanalyses of the findings. A key claim of the dissertation is that any phenomenon can be represented in many different ways, all potentially adequate and useful in different contexts, emphasising different aspects of the phenomenon. Applied to the field of analogical reasoning, it is argued that students can generate several analogies themselves in order to get a richer, complementary view of a phenomenon, as opposed to be provided with a presumed best analogy. As for scientific models, many different representations or models may bring across different aspects of a phenomenon at varying degrees of idealisation and within different traditions of knowledge. Finally, in semantics, one word may correspond to several distinct, yet related, meanings: the phenomenon of polysemy. These three perspectives may provide constructivist approaches to conceptual development in science teaching, in which students are encouraged to connect to and enrich their everyday understanding of encountered concepts and phenomena in dialogue, rather than merely abandoning them for one single, supposedly correct, scientific concept. In addition, science education research can come quite far with structural approaches to analysing analogical reasoning and scientific modelling, establishing correspondences between entities in different domains, ultimately striving for isomorphism, perfect matches, but other dimensions, such as the perceptual, embodied nature of our cognition, the pragmatic, contextual circumstances in which any act of reasoning is performed, and the specificities of language, should also be taken into account for a fuller view.

Le trafic routier devenant de plus en plus dense, la sécurité active des véhicules doit être sans cesse améliorée. Ceci nécessite notamment une amélioration de la dynamique des véhicules. La majeure partie des efforts transmis par la chaussée au véhicule passant par les pneumatiques, une connaissance précise de l’interface pneu-sol est primordiale. Ceci passe notamment par le développement de modèles de pneumatiques et leur identification, à partir de mesures spécifiques, lors des phases de conception et de mise au point d’un véhicule. Le projet de thèse a pour objectif principal de contribuer à une meilleure détermination du point de fonctionnement dynamique de l’ensemble pneumatique/roue. Plus précisément, il s’agit d’améliorer la détermination de l’angle de dérive du pneumatique, dont la précision est encore aujourd’hui insuffisante pour une analyse des performances des pneumatiques à partir d’essais sur piste. Cette détermination est réalisée simultanément à la détermination des autres grandeurs nécessaires à l’étude de l’interface roue-sol : glissement longitudinal du pneumatique, angle de carrossage de la roue et torseur des efforts roue-sol. Ce projet s’est appuyé sur la collaboration entre la Direction de la Recherche de Renault et le laboratoire MIPS de l’Université de Haute-Alsace. Des études préliminaires menées par Renault et par le MIPS sur ce sujet ont servi de support à ce projet.Une étude menée en début de thèse a permis de rédiger un cahier des charges exhaustif, en termes de performances de mesure de l’angle de dérive du pneumatique, permettant d’étudier avec suffisamment de précision la dynamique du véhicule, en se basant sur indicateurs de performance. Afin de répondre au cahier des charges, une solution de mesure novatrice de l’angle de dérive du pneu a été conçue et développée au cours de la thèse. Celle-ci se base sur l’intégration de mesures inertielles et GPS au niveau du plan de jante, à l’aide d’un filtre de Kalman étendu (EKF). Par la suite, un capteur de mesure (INS/GPS) dédié a été conçu, développé et enfin intégré à un véhicule d’essais. Les performances de mesure du nouveau capteur INS/GPS ont été validées vis-à-vis du cahier des charges, en suivant une procédure de caractérisation mise au point spécifiquement durant la thèse. L’angle de dérive pneu est ainsi mesuré avec une précision de 0,1° (à 3o) sur une plage de 360°, tout en étant insensible à la texture et à la granularité de la chaussée ; contrairement aux solutions industrielles existantes. Lorsque ce moyen de mesure novateur est couplé à d’autres mesures standard de la dynamique du véhicule, le mouvement complet du plan de jante est alors déterminé également avec la précision requise. Ceci en ajoutant uniquement un capteur au niveau du plan de jante, ce qui permet de limiter l’inertie ajoutée à la roue, en comparaison aux moyens de mesures existants.Pour valider le nouveau moyen de mesure développé et montrer tout son intérêt, une méthodologie d’identification d’un modèle de pneumatique (Magic Formula 5.2) a été proposée et validée expérimentalement. Un algorithme d’optimisation Simplex a été développé afin de pouvoir identifier un modèle de pneu, aussi bien à partir de mesures (sur piste ou sur banc de test) qu’à partir de données de simulation. Ainsi, les paramètres du modèle de pneumatique peuvent être optimisés durant la phase de conception d’un véhicule, afin de répondre à des indicateurs de performance du véhicule bien définis. Aujourd’hui, les mesures précises du capteur INS/GPS, conjuguées à l’algorithme d’optimisation développé, sont notamment utilisées pour identifier des modèles de pneu à partir de mesure sur piste, et pour définir les paramètres du modèle de pneu nécessaires, en phase de conception de véhicule. […] / The road traffic becomes more and more dense so that the active safety of road vehicles must continuously improved. This especially requires the improvement of the vehicle dynamics. The major part of the forces applied by the road to the vehicle are issued of the tyres. So, an accurate knowledge of the tyre-road interaction is primordial. This especially requires the development of the modelling and the identification of tyre models in the phases of design and tuning of a vehicle. The main goal of the thesis project is the contribution to a better determination of the dynamic functioning point of the system tyre/wheel. More accurately, is aims at improving the tyre slip angle determination accuracy, which is still insufficient for the analysis of tyre performance from vehicle-on-track tests. This determination is performed simultaneously to the determination of the other variables required in study of the tyre-road interface: longitudinal slip ratio, camber angle, tyre forces and moments. This project has been made in collaboration with the Research Department of Renault and the MIPS laboratory of the University of Haute-Alsace. Preliminary studies carried out by Renault and MIPS on this topic have served as a support to this project. A study carried out at the beginning of the thesis has helped to the determination of exhaustive requirements, in terms of tyre slip angle measurement performance, allowing the study of the vehicle dynamics with a sufficient accuracy, using performance indicators. A novel tyre slip angle measurement means has been developed in the thesis, in order to fit these requirements. It is based on the combination of inertial and GPS data near the wheel rim edge plane, using a extended Kalman filter (EKF). A dedicated measurement sensor (INS/GPS) has then be designed, developed and embedded in a test vehicle. The measurement performance of the novel INS/GPS has been validated according to the requirements, following a characterization procedure which has been specifically designed in the thesis. The tyre slip angle is then measured with an accuracy of 0.1° (at 3σ) in a range of 360°, with a insensitivity to the texture and the granularity of the road, contrary to the existing industrial solutions. When this novel measurement means is coupled with other standard measurements in vehicle dynamics, the whole motion of the wheel rim is then also determined with the required accuracy. This is made possible by mounting only one sensor at the level of the wheel rim edge plan, which helps to limit the inertia added to the wheel, in comparison with the existing measuring systems.A strategy of identification of a tyre model (Magic Formula 5.2) has been proposed and validated experimentally, in order to validate the novel measurement means developed. A Simplex optimization algorithm has been developed for the identification of a tyre model, from measurements (on a track or on a test rig) and/or simulation data. So, the tyre model parameters can be optimized in the phase of vehicle design, in order to fit well know vehicle performance indicators. The accurate INS/GPS measurements, combined with the optimization algorithm, are now especially used for the identification of tyre models from vehicle-on-track measurements and for the determination of the tyre model parameters required in the design phase. The novel INS/GPS is also considered as a reference for the tyre slip angle measurement, whatever the road grip (dry, wet, snow covered, ice covered ...). A number of research collaborations, especially with a worldwide tyre manufacturer, are been launched following the thesis results, especially for the study of the correlation between the physical tyre properties and the vehicle dynamics.

The philosophy of linguistics is a rich philosophical domain which encompasses various disciplines. One of the aims of this thesis is to unite theoretical linguistics, the philosophy of language, the philosophy of science (particularly mathematics and modelling) and the ontology of language. Each part of the research presented here targets separate but related goals with the unified aim of bringing greater clarity to the foundations of linguistics from a philosophical perspective. Part I is devoted to the methodology of linguistics in terms of scientific modelling. I argue against both the Conceptualist and Platonist (as well as Pluralist) interpretations of linguistic theory by means of three grades of mathematical involvement for linguistic grammars. Part II explores the specific models of syntactic and semantics by an analogy with the harder sciences. In Part III, I develop a novel account of linguistic ontology and in the process comment on the type-token distinction, the role and connection with mathematics and the nature of linguistic objects. In this research, I offer a structural realist interpretation of linguistic methodology with a nuanced structuralist picture for its ontology. This proposal is informed by historical and current work in theoretical linguistics as well as philosophical views on ontology, scientific modelling and mathematics.