Poor mathematics performance in South African schools is of national concern. An attempt to gain insight into the problem prompted a study into the possibility of a relationship between visual perceptual skill and mathematic ability. A theoretical review revealed that inherent limitations of traditional psychological theories hinder an adequate explanation for the possible existence of such a relationship. The theory of situated cognition seems to be better suited as an explanatory model, and simultaneously clarifies the nature of both visual perception and mathematics. A small exploratory study, with a sample of 70 Grade 6 learners, provided empirical evidence towards the plausibility of the relationship. Specifically, it proved the hypothesis that visual perceptual skill positively correlates with scholastic mathematics achievement. The results of the study, interpreted within the situated cognitive framework, suggest that a conceptual emphasis in mathematics education – as opposed to a factual emphasis – might improve mathematic ability, which may credibly reflect in scholastic performance. / Psychology / M. Sc. (Psychology)

本篇論文重組並重現一個合作敘事探究的生命經驗。在這集體的生命故事中，研究者與四位女性英語實習教師，透過一個全校性的英語同儕輔導計畫，一同探究學習如何教英語。本研究包含兩個研究重點：（一）探索英語實習教師在教學實習過程中對英語教學的概念覺知與教學發展;（二）檢視機構與社會情境與英語實習教師之教學發展的互動關係。本研究提出三個研究問題核心，協助對於現象的分析與詮釋：（一）英語實習教師在實境教學中教學發展之轉化歷程;（二）驅動英語實習教師之教學發展轉化的支配力類型;（三）英語實習教師對於實境教學之生命經驗的理解與覺知。 本研究發現，英語實習教師的教學發展，呈現前進式的結構模式。教學行動系統中的內、外部矛盾，引發一連串的衝突與失序，直接衝擊英語實習教師的教學發展轉化。在問題解決的轉化過程中，有三種主要的驅動能量，對教學發展轉化形成支配：情境支配力、策略支配力、情意支配力。在故事的尾聲，英語實習教師對於英語教學有新的覺知：對於教學行為及身為英語教師本體的覺知、對於英語學習者的認知、對於英語學習的本質的理解。 本研究回應相關文獻，提出三點新發現。首先，學習如何教的過程，包含持續性的觀察、分析、評量和反思。其次，英語實習教師的教學發展，透過跨層次行動系統的比對與分析，發現並理解可能存在的失序、衝突與解決方案，進而從事教學改變與教學發展轉化。最後，本研究提出，有關教師學習、學習如何教的相關研究，應該採用一種全方位的研究方法、一種廣泛理解的觀點，用以分析詮釋實作教學中既存的知識斷層。 / This collaborative narrative inquiry reconfigures and represents the lived experiences of four female prospective TESOL teachers’ learning to teach through a campus-based tutoring program. The research foci of this inquiry-based study are twofold. Firstly, the research aims at exploring how prospective TESOL teachers learn to teach through practical teaching experiences, as they examine the definition of learning to teach itself and the understanding of the what and how of the learning process evolves. Secondly, the research investigates the role of the social and institutional context in prospective TESOL teachers’ learning to teach, in examining how activity setting shapes the process of learning to teach. Drawing on the research approach of narrative inquiry, prospective TESOL teachers’ stories are told in their own voices while the school’s stories, and the stories about the school are told by the supervisor of the structured program in this research, the researcher, for purpose of providing a context to the prospective TESOL teachers’ stories. Following such respects, research questions are generated with special emphasis on (a) the transformational process of the prospective TESOL teachers’ learning to teach in situ; (b) the driving forces for the transformation to take place; (c) how the prospective TESOL teachers make sense of the lived experiences of learning to teach. The prospective teachers’ collective story appeared to be a progressive mode of development. The transformational process was overwhelmingly influenced by the dissonance and conflicts emerging from the contradictions within and across the collective activity system of teaching, namely primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary contradictions. In order to solve the problems resulting from the contradictions, the prospective teachers undertook changes and transformation in their teaching. Three types of driving force appeared to be significant for the transformation in the process of the prospective teachers’ learning to teach, including contextual force, strategic force, and attitudinal force. During the process of engaging in the socially situated activity of teaching, the prospective teachers formulated new conceptualizations of teaching, inclusive of the understanding of their teaching and of themselves as English teachers, of the students as English learners, and of the nature of English learning. The findings of the research suggest that a campus-based tutoring EFL program could be an alternative form of practicum teaching. Corresponding to previous research into teachers’ learning and learning to teach in second and foreign languages, three notions are provided. Firstly, the process of learning to teach prospective teachers includes continuous observation, analysis, evaluation and reflection on the entirety of the teaching activity embedded within a specific context, rather than shifting their focus from one entity to another entity, such as focusing on themselves at early stage and then shifting their focus to either on students or instructional techniques. Secondly, the process of prospective teachers’ learning to teach includes changes and transformation following iterative analysis and interpretations of cross-level activity systems to determine possible dissonance and solutions with the help of structured resources. Thirdly, research into teachers’ learning should employ a holistic research approach with a comprehensive perspective in analyzing and interpreting existing gaps in teaching practice.

Poor mathematics performance in South African schools is of national concern. An attempt to gain insight into the problem prompted a study into the possibility of a relationship between visual perceptual skill and mathematic ability. A theoretical review revealed that inherent limitations of traditional psychological theories hinder an adequate explanation for the possible existence of such a relationship. The theory of situated cognition seems to be better suited as an explanatory model, and simultaneously clarifies the nature of both visual perception and mathematics. A small exploratory study, with a sample of 70 Grade 6 learners, provided empirical evidence towards the plausibility of the relationship. Specifically, it proved the hypothesis that visual perceptual skill positively correlates with scholastic mathematics achievement. The results of the study, interpreted within the situated cognitive framework, suggest that a conceptual emphasis in mathematics education – as opposed to a factual emphasis – might improve mathematic ability, which may credibly reflect in scholastic performance. / Psychology / M. Sc. (Psychology)

A literatura filosófica sobre a Psicologia do Senso Comum se estende desde a década de 1970, e abrange diversas questões sobre nosso entendimento interpessoal cotidiano, nossa capacidade de interação e coordenação de atividades, o arcabouço conceitual intuitivo que relaciona estados mentais e atitudes proposicionais a comportamentos, e os mecanismos cognitivos de leitura mental que nos permitem atribuir estados mentais a outras pessoas. Nesta dissertação eu examino o desenvolvimento histórico desta literatura, identificando dois debates distintos, o primeiro (principalmente entre Paul Churchland e Jerry Fodor dos anos 70 aos anos 90) tendo como foco a relação entre a teoria da Psicologia do Senso Comum e teorias científicas (da neurociência e das ciências cognitivas), e o segundo (o debate contemporâneo) tendo como foco os mecanismos cognitivos de leitura mental e o papel das atribuições de estados mentais e atitudes proposicionais nas teorias da cognição corporificada, situada e estendida. Além do exame histórico do que argumento serem dois debates distintos e da transição conceitual entre ambos, também apresento aqui minha crítica à abordagem eliminativista contemporânea de Matthew Ratcliffe e, como alternativa, articulo os princípios de uma abordagem pluralista que combina leitura mental e interpretação contextual situada como fundamentais para a cognição social / The philosophical literature on Folk Psychology began in the 1970s, and encompasses various questions about our everyday interpersonal understanding, our ability to interact and coordinate activities, the intuitive conceptual framework that relates mental states and propositional attitudes to behaviors, and the cognitive mechanisms of mindreading that allow us to attribute mental states to other people. In this thesis I examine the historical development of this literature, identifying two distinct debates, the first (mainly between Paul Churchland and Jerry Fodor from the 70s to the 90s) focusing on the relationship between the theory of Folk Psychology and scientific theories (in neuroscience and cognitive science), and the second (the contemporary debate) focusing on the cognitive mechanisms of mindreading and the role played by attributions of mental states and propositional attitudes in theories of embodied, situated and extended cognition. In addition to the historical examination of what I argue are two distinct debates as well as of the conceptual transition between them, here I present my criticism of Matthew Ratcliffe\'s contemporary eliminativist approach and, as an alternative to it, I articulate the principles of a pluralistic approach that combines both mindreading and situated contextual interpretation as fundamental for social cognition

A literatura filosófica sobre a Psicologia do Senso Comum se estende desde a década de 1970, e abrange diversas questões sobre nosso entendimento interpessoal cotidiano, nossa capacidade de interação e coordenação de atividades, o arcabouço conceitual intuitivo que relaciona estados mentais e atitudes proposicionais a comportamentos, e os mecanismos cognitivos de leitura mental que nos permitem atribuir estados mentais a outras pessoas. Nesta dissertação eu examino o desenvolvimento histórico desta literatura, identificando dois debates distintos, o primeiro (principalmente entre Paul Churchland e Jerry Fodor dos anos 70 aos anos 90) tendo como foco a relação entre a teoria da Psicologia do Senso Comum e teorias científicas (da neurociência e das ciências cognitivas), e o segundo (o debate contemporâneo) tendo como foco os mecanismos cognitivos de leitura mental e o papel das atribuições de estados mentais e atitudes proposicionais nas teorias da cognição corporificada, situada e estendida. Além do exame histórico do que argumento serem dois debates distintos e da transição conceitual entre ambos, também apresento aqui minha crítica à abordagem eliminativista contemporânea de Matthew Ratcliffe e, como alternativa, articulo os princípios de uma abordagem pluralista que combina leitura mental e interpretação contextual situada como fundamentais para a cognição social / The philosophical literature on Folk Psychology began in the 1970s, and encompasses various questions about our everyday interpersonal understanding, our ability to interact and coordinate activities, the intuitive conceptual framework that relates mental states and propositional attitudes to behaviors, and the cognitive mechanisms of mindreading that allow us to attribute mental states to other people. In this thesis I examine the historical development of this literature, identifying two distinct debates, the first (mainly between Paul Churchland and Jerry Fodor from the 70s to the 90s) focusing on the relationship between the theory of Folk Psychology and scientific theories (in neuroscience and cognitive science), and the second (the contemporary debate) focusing on the cognitive mechanisms of mindreading and the role played by attributions of mental states and propositional attitudes in theories of embodied, situated and extended cognition. In addition to the historical examination of what I argue are two distinct debates as well as of the conceptual transition between them, here I present my criticism of Matthew Ratcliffe\'s contemporary eliminativist approach and, as an alternative to it, I articulate the principles of a pluralistic approach that combines both mindreading and situated contextual interpretation as fundamental for social cognition

Cette thèse s’inscrit dans une approche incarnée et située de la cognition humaine et de l’ergonomie des interfaces Homme-Machine (IHM). En rupture avec les théories computo-symboliques, cette approche considère que la cognition a pour seule vocation l’action dans le but de s’adapter au monde. Appliquée à l’ergonomie des IHM, elle met l’accent sur la perception, l’action et le contexte comme éléments clés de l’interaction Homme-Machine. Cette vision de l’ergonomie est ici mise au service de la conception de stations sol de drones militaires, sur lesquelles le manque de sollicitations perceptivo-motrices et le caractère isolé des opérateurs contribuent à une accidentologie symptomatique. L’objet de cette thèse est donc de montrer en quoi l’approche incarnée et située permet de guider une démarche ergonomique et, en particulier, la conception de deux stations sol de drones militaires développés par Airbus Defence and Space. Dans un premier temps, une analyse centrée sur les aspects moteurs, perceptifs et contextuels de l’activité des opérateurs de drones est réalisée. La seconde étape est dédiée à la définition d’une organisation matériel-logiciel standardisée pour tous types de drones. Cette organisation repose sur l’exploitation de processus perceptivo-moteurs, notamment au moyen du paradigme Stimulus-Response Compatibility (SRC). En troisième lieu, est présentée la conception matérielle et logicielle de deux stations sol de drones adaptées à leurs contextes respectifs d’utilisation. Des moyens de vérification (e.g. tests utilisateurs) sont mis en œuvre pour valider les solutions proposées. Les résultats obtenus montrent que la démarche adoptée permet d’améliorer significativement certains aspects de l’activité des opérateurs de drones, en particulier en termes de performances et de charge mentale. D’autre part, ces travaux soulignent l’intérêt de l’approche incarnée et située, et sa forte valeur applicative tant au sein de la démarche ergonomique que dans un cycle de conception industrielle. / Cette thèse s’inscrit dans une approche incarnée et située de la cognition humaine et de l’ergonomie des interfaces Homme-Machine (IHM). En rupture avec les théories computo-symboliques, cette approche considère que la cognition a pour seule vocation l’action dans le but de s’adapter au monde. Appliquée à l’ergonomie des IHM, elle met l’accent sur la perception, l’action et le contexte comme éléments clés de l’interaction Homme-Machine. Cette vision de l’ergonomie est ici mise au service de la conception de stations sol de drones militaires, sur lesquelles le manque de sollicitations perceptivo-motrices et le caractère isolé des opérateurs contribuent à une accidentologie symptomatique. L’objet de cette thèse est donc de montrer en quoi l’approche incarnée et située permet de guider une démarche ergonomique et, en particulier, la conception de deux stations sol de drones militaires développés par Airbus Defence and Space. Dans un premier temps, une analyse centrée sur les aspects moteurs, perceptifs et contextuels de l’activité des opérateurs de drones est réalisée. La seconde étape est dédiée à la définition d’une organisation matériel-logiciel standardisée pour tous types de drones. Cette organisation repose sur l’exploitation de processus perceptivo-moteurs, notamment au moyen du paradigme Stimulus-Response Compatibility (SRC). En troisième lieu, est présentée la conception matérielle et logicielle de deux stations sol de drones adaptées à leurs contextes respectifs d’utilisation. Des moyens de vérification (e.g. tests utilisateurs) sont mis en œuvre pour valider les solutions proposées. Les résultats obtenus montrent que la démarche adoptée permet d’améliorer significativement certains aspects de l’activité des opérateurs de drones, en particulier en termes de performances et de charge mentale. D’autre part, ces travaux soulignent l’intérêt de l’approche incarnée et située, et sa forte valeur applicative tant au sein de la démarche ergonomique que dans un cycle de conception industrielle.

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[pt] Os games (jogos digitais) estabelecem relação com linguagens de outras mídias e têm a propriedade de manifestar aspectos da vida humana. Constituem um fenômeno da cultura digital que vem se sofisticando cada vez mais e multiplicam o desenvolvimento de inúmeros estilos de design de jogo, produzindo experiências diversificadas através de seus inovadores sistemas de jogabilidade. Logo, os games possuem plasticidade para incorporar diversos fins e, como objeto cultural, atraem diferentes segmentos sociais para explorá-lo, tais como gamers (jogadores), desenvolvedores (indústria) e pesquisadores (acadêmicos). Esta dissertação parte de uma conceituação baseada em elementos compartilhados pelo campo cultural dos games e se apropria da análise crítica sobre a gamificação para investigar se um game do estilo de design mundo aberto possibilita mediação de princípios de aprendizagem à luz da abordagem da cognição situada. A pesquisa se fundamenta em evidências obtidas de gamers em processo de interação com o mundo virtual do game. A experimentação lançou mão da captura e análise qualitativa de gameplays. Os procedimentos metodológicos elaborados para análise qualitativa desta investigação resultaram em um roteiro de observação direta em formato de tabela de rubricas, e isso talvez seja a principal contribuição desta dissertação, cujo status epistemológico permite que a construção teórico-metodológica para análise de imagens em movimento desta pesquisa seja útil para investigar se outros estilos de design de game comportam a mediação de princípios de aprendizagem. / [en] Games relate to languages in other media and have the property of manifesting aspects of human life. They are a phenomenon of digital culture that has become increasingly sophisticated and multiply the development of innumerable styles of game design, producing diversified experiences through its innovative gameplay systems. Thus, games have plasticity to incorporate various purposes and, as a cultural object, attract different social segments to exploit it, such as gamers, developers and researchers. This dissertation starts from a conceptualization based on elements shared by the cultural field of the games and appropriates the critical analysis on the gamification to investigate if a game of the open world design style allows mediation of learning principles according to the approach of situated cognition. The research is based on evidence obtained from gamers in the process of interacting with the virtual world of the game. The experimentation used capture and qualitative analysis of gameplays. The methodological procedures developed for the qualitative analysis of this research resulted in a direct observation script in a table format, and this is perhaps the main contribution of this dissertation, whose epistemological status allows the theoretical-methodological construction for video analysis of this research to be useful for investigate whether other game design styles mediate learning principles.

This thesis evolves perception as a hypothesis to reframe architectural praxis negotiated through agent-situation interaction. The research questions the geometric principles of architectural ordination to originate the ‘felt_space infrastructure’, a relational system of measurement concerned with the role of perception in mediating sensory space and the cognised environment. The methodological model for this research fuses perception and environmental stimuli, into a consistent generative process that penetrates the inner essence of space, to reveal the visceral parameter. These concepts are applied to develop a ‘coefficient of affordance’ typology, ‘hypervigilant’ tool set, and ‘cognitive_tope’ design methodology. Thus, by extending the architectural platform to consider perception as a design parameter, the thesis interprets the ‘inference schema’ as an instructional model to coordinate the acquisition of spatial reality through tensional and counter-tensional feedback dynamics. Three site-responsive case studies are used to advance the thesis. The first case study is descriptive and develops a typology of situated cognition to extend the ‘granularity’ of perceptual sensitisation (i.e. a fine-grained means of perceiving space). The second project is relational and questions how mapping can coordinate perceptual, cognitive and associative attention, as a ‘multi-webbed vector field’ comprised of attractors and deformations within a viewer-centred gravitational space. The third case study is causal, and demonstrates how a transactional-biased schema can generate, amplify and attenuate perceptual misalignment, thus triggering a visceral niche. The significance of the research is that it progresses generative perception as an additional variable for spatial practice, and promotes transactional methodologies to gain enhanced modes of spatial acuity to extend the repertoire of architectural practice.

Die vorliegende Arbeit verfolgt das Ziel, ein Modell interkultureller Qualifizierung im Rahmen des Hochschulstudiums in Deutschland zu generieren. Im theoretischen Teil wird der Qualifizie-rungsbegriff in Bezug zum Qualifizierungsziel interkulturelle Kompetenz und zum Anwen-dungskontext Hochschulstudium in Deutschland erörtert sowie das Thema innerhalb der Erzie-hungswissenschaften verortet. Auf die Themen interkulturelle Kompetenz und interkulturelles Lernen wird gesondert eingegangen. Darauf aufbauend werden im empirischen Tiel die zwei durchgeführten Studien beschrieben und abschließend die Ergebnisse interpretiert. Aus einer qualitativ-explorativen Interviewbefragung von 18 ehemaligen Teilnehmenden am Zusatzstudi-um Internationale Handlungskompetenz der Regensburger Hochschulen und einer quantitativ-explanativen Fragebogenstudie mit 129 damals aktuellen Teilnehmenden am Ende des Zusatz-studiums konnten relevante Eingangsbedingungen, Lernprozesse und Wirkungen sowie Kon-trollvariablen interkultureller Qualifizierungsmaßnahmen identifiziert werden. Die identifizierten Variablen werden zu den fünf Nutzungsprofilen interkultureller Qualifizierung 1) Sensibilisie-rung, 2) kognitive Anwendung, 3) Aktivierung, 4) aktionale Anwendung und 5) Potenzierung zusammengefasst. In einem Transfermodell werden die Nutzungsprofile schießlich in Bezug auf Wissenstransfer und Handlungstransfer verortet und in einem Input-Prozess-Output-Modell auf-steigend angeordnet. Das Ergebnis der Arbeit besteht somit in einem theoretisch fundierten und empirisch geprüften lern- und handlungstheoretischen Modell interkultureller Qualifizierung, das exemplarisch Bedingungen, Prozessverläufe und Wirkungen interkultureller Qualifizie-rungsmaßnahmen an deutschen Hochschulen beschreibt und dadurch Anwendungswissen für Konzeption, Implementation und Evaluation weiterer bestehender und geplanter interkultureller Qualifizierungsmaßnahmen bietet. / This study aims at generating an input-process-output model of intercultural qualification in the context of academic education in Germany. The theoretical framework consists of defining in-tercultural qualification and localizing the topic within educational sciences. The topics intercul-tural competence and intercultural learning are discussed separately. There were two empirical studies: 1) 18 former participants of the Extracurricular Study Program for Intercultural Compe-tence at the Regensburg universities have been interviewed about the program’s learning pro-cesses and learning outcomes. Resulting data were analysed using qualitative methods, yielding a set of hypotheses on relations between preconditions, processes and outcomes of intercultural qualification. 2) At the end of the program, 129 participants completed a questionnaire con-structed on the results of the interview study producing quantitative data. Relevant input, pro-cess and output variables could be identified and were integrated into five user profiles: 1) sensi-tisation, 2) cognitive application, 3) activation, 4) behavioral application, and 5) potentialisation. These profiles were finally arranged in relation to knowledge transfer and behavioral transfer, thus yielding a transfer model of intercultural qualification, and were put in ascending order in an input-process-output model. This theoretically founded and empirically tested model de-scribes exemplarily preconditions, learning processes, learning outcomes, and control variables of intercultural qualification in the context of academic education in Germany. It can be used as a theoretical framework for further research or conceptualisation, implementation, and evalua-tion of intercultural qualification programs.