Each year, the United States Army recruits and trains thousands of new soldiers to fill vacancies in Army organizations created by promotion, transfer, or termination of service. Installations responsible for training new recruits is conducted in two phases: Basic Combat Training followed by Advanced Individual Training. Proper management of the Army's initial entry training program is a very complex, practical military logistics problem that demands timely scheduling of a broad range of reusable training resources, such as, training companies. Currently, manual heuristic methods are used to schedule training companies throughout the planning horizon to support initial entry training, where training company scheduling also involves deciding how many recruits to assign to training companies each week. These methods have evolved over a number of years when there were few changes to the training base, and recruiting levels remained relatively stationary. Unfortunately, there are several severe shortcomings with these methods. For example, determining the number of recruits assigned per training company and the number of weeks a training company remains busy training recruits is a manual trial-and-error process. Second, it is possible for different analysts to generate different solutions for the same recruitment scenario. Third, no methods exist for conducting comparative analyses to appraise the quality of competing feasible training schedules. Finally, the temporal interdependence of decisions makes decision variables in the future periods depend on current decision variables. This complicates resource scheduling and makes the manual generation of week-by-week training schedules a tedious, time-consuming task. This dissertation: (1) formulates a mathematical dynamic model of the Basic Combat Training phase of initial entry training; (2) formulates a decision model for optimally scheduling training resources based on dynamic programming; (3) formulates an improved heuristic procedure for scheduling training resources; (4) incorporates a "training quality" performance measure into the formulation of the objective function making it possible to compare competing feasible training schedules obtained by various methods; and (5) designs, develops and implements a fully operational computer-based decision support system (DSS) for scheduling basic training resources. The computational experiments reveal that the heuristic procedures developed are indeed computationally efficient and provide "good" solutions in terms of training "quality," resources utilization, and training cost.

This study explored how a teacher-training course helped secondary art student teachers in Taiwan to develop their perceptions and practice of creativity and creative pedagogy [CPed]. A series of CPed workshop sessions, based on the Western theoretical framework of possibility thinking [PT] and its pedagogy [PTCPed], were designed to introduce to the twelve secondary art teacher training students in an arts university in Taiwan. Through adopting an action-based case study approach, qualitative data were collected from the participants’ interviews together with the reflective documents of the participants and the researcher, and any possible visual materials. Observations were also video-recorded. The analytical methods focused on both inductive and deductive approaches to explore how student teachers developed their perceptions of creativity and CPed and the possible influences in practice. Adopting the idea of “contextualising” one set of cultural values in another, a new landmark of PTCPed emerged. This study confirmed most features of PT, but found question-posing and question-responding to be intriguingly absent in the participants’ definitions of creativity (PT) and their practice of CPed; and it also, significantly, identified several emerging PT characteristics and attitudes: originality, confidence, no limitations, and problem-solving. These features were fostered by teacher’s creative teaching [CT] and learners’ creative learning [CL] in an enabling and effective context in which teachers offered the learners’ opportunities (including time, space and challenges) to develop ideas and confidence to play with the materials, prioritised learners’ agency (including individual and group activities), and stood back to offer freedom, and at the same time moved step forward to observe the learners’ engagement and check when to offer help. Finally, this study also highlighted the implications for the practice in the Taiwanese initial art teacher education [IATE], in which teacher educators are suggested to appreciate this complexity, and to understand and allow student teachers to interact with different perspectives or approaches when interpreting their pedagogy through reflective practice.

Thesis (MTech. Degree. Knowledge management ) / Organisational performance is a manifestation of knowledge sharing, which has an effect on the overall competitiveness of an organisation. Knowledge shapes individual actions and behaviours, which sometimes conflict with the norms, structures and systems of the organisation. A knowledge gap was identified amongst employees at higher institutions of learning in South Africa. It enables some employees to perform their jobs more effectively than others. Knowledgeable employees are expected to share their knowledge with others to increase productivity and efficiency within their environment. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Generally, employees may behave differently within an organisation due to their diverse background or according to their skills and stock of knowledge. Two case studies were conducted to investigate the impact of knowledge sharing on organisational performance. Factors affecting knowledge sharing were identified from the findings of both case studies. A framework was developed to encourage the flow of knowledge sharing that will enhance overall performance in organisations, particularly at higher institutions of learning. Contingency theory was employed in the analysis of the data.

This research has developed a novel method which uses an easy to deploy single dry electrode wireless electroencephalogram (EEG) collection device as an input to an automated system that measures indicators of a participant’s attentiveness while they are watching a short training video. The results are promising, including 85% or better accuracy in identifying whether a participant is watching a segment of video from a boring scene or lecture, versus a segment of video from an attentiveness inducing active lesson or memory quiz. In addition, the final system produces an ensemble average of attentiveness across many participants, pinpointing areas in the training videos that induce peak attentiveness. Qualitative analysis of the results of this research is also very promising. The system produces attentiveness graphs for individual participants and these triangulate well with the thoughts and feelings those participants had during different parts of the videos, as described in their own words. As distance learning and computer based training become more popular, it is of great interest to measure if students are attentive to recorded lessons and short training videos. This research was motivated by this interest, as well as recent advances in electronic and computer engineering’s use of biometric signal analysis for the detection of affective (emotional) response. Signal processing of EEG has proven useful in measuring alertness, emotional state, and even towards very specific applications such as whether or not participants will recall television commercials days after they have seen them. This research extended these advances by creating an automated system which measures attentiveness towards short training videos. The bulk of the research was focused on electrical and computer engineering, specifically the optimization of signal processing algorithms for this particular application. A review of existing methods of EEG signal processing and feature extraction methods shows that there is a common subdivision of the steps that are used in different EEG applications. These steps include hardware sensing filtering and digitizing, noise removal, chopping the continuous EEG data into windows for processing, normalization, transformation to extract frequency or scale information, treatment of phase or shift information, and additional post-transformation noise reduction techniques. A large degree of variation exists in most of these steps within the currently documented state of the art. This research connected these varied methods into a single holistic model that allows for comparison and selection of optimal algorithms for this application. The research described herein provided for such a structured and orderly comparison of individual signal analysis and feature extraction methods. This study created a concise algorithmic approach in examining all the aforementioned steps. In doing so, the study provided the framework for a systematic approach which followed a rigorous participant cross validation so that options could be tested, compared and optimized. Novel signal analysis methods were also developed, using new techniques to choose parameters, which greatly improved performance. The research also utilizes machine learning to automatically categorize extracted features into measures of attentiveness. The research improved existing machine learning with novel methods, including a method of using per-participant baselines with kNN machine learning. This provided an optimal solution to extend current EEG signal analysis methods that were used in other applications, and refined them for use in the measurement of attentiveness towards short training videos. These algorithms are proven to be best via selection of optimal signal analysis and optimal machine learning steps identified through both n-fold and participant cross validation. The creation of this new system which uses signal processing of EEG for the detection of attentiveness towards short training videos has created a significant advance in the field of attentiveness measuring towards short training videos.

Submitted by Rosina Valeria Lanzellotti Mattiussi Teixeira (rosina.teixeira@unisantos.br) on 2015-04-24T14:42:09Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Sheila Gomes de Melo.pdf: 11324240 bytes, checksum: dd5f460349de6068f5b5bec93d6b7345 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-24T14:42:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Sheila Gomes de Melo.pdf: 11324240 bytes, checksum: dd5f460349de6068f5b5bec93d6b7345 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-02-28 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / This study has as a goal to clarify the social presentation of the Science teachers about the challenges of continuing training for Environment Education (EE). Considering that the question reaches aspects related to challenges of a continuing training for EE, since those challenges linked to formative public politics as far as the challenges of the own professional practices of being a Science teacher. It is used some key concepts of social presentations theory (SPT); basically lound in Moscovici (1978, 2010). Authors as Dias (2002), Sato (2003), Tristão (2004) e Carvalho (2008) and more ground the questions related to Environmental Education and Continuing Training, it seeks some elements in Nóvoa (1992), Alarcão (1998), Abdalla (2006, 2008), among others. Starting from a qualitative approach, notified by authors as Lüdke e André (1986), seeks to uncover the SP of the teachers about continuing training for EE beginning of the challenges proposed by Science teachers which work in public schools of the city of São Vicente/São Paulo. The questions of research were developed in two parts. In the first part, the questionnaire was composed by closed and opened questions to a group of 24 people involve into the research, it was possible to trace the profiles: personal, educational and professional. In the second part, five (5) teachers, three (3) of them belong to the first group, participated in semi-structured interviews and answered a projective text, in which we obtained additional data. A chart of categories was structured in two dimensions of analysis: First dimension: challenges institutional /organization; and the second dimensions: challenges personal/professional. In the face of those dimensions e theories researched, the information collected enable to understand the SP of the Science teachers about continuing training to EE. Thereby, the teachers have, as representations, challenges that resultants of the lack of initial training, because in this training it does not happen to link between theory and practice in relation of environmental issues. Teachers say, in initial training, the EE is still less approached, although it has been changed in a very good perspective in the last years. Other challenge to be transposed it is continuing training courses for EE. In the representations of our subjects, the offering these courses is far from meeting the demand required, although legislation is abundant and ensure such training. Added to these challenges, the current precarious situation of the teaching profession, for the lack of time and financial resources are two complicating aspects to the teachers participation in continuing training. However, front of these challenges, the posture of the school about the training teachers courses is revealed, as it is supportive of ongoing training of their teachers, nor is configured as formative space. / Este estudo tem como objetivo elucidar as representações sociais de professores de Ciências acerca dos desafios da formação continuada para a Educação Ambiental (EA). Considera-se que a questão abrange aspectos relacionados aos desafios de uma formação continuada para a EA, desde aqueles desafios ligados às políticas públicas formativas até os desafios do próprio exercício profissional do professor de Ciências. Tomam-se alguns conceitos-chave da teoria das representações sociais (TRS), fundamentalmente encontrados em Moscovici (1978, 2010). E ainda, autores como Dias (2003), Sato (2003), Tristão (2004) e Carvalho (2008), entre outros, fundamentam as questões relativas à Educação Ambiental e, para a Formação Continuada, buscam-se elementos em Nóvoa (1992), Alarcão (1998), Tardif (2002), Abdalla (2006, 2008), entre outros. A partir de uma abordagem qualitativa, anunciada por autores como Lüdke e André (1986), procurou-se desvelar as RS dos professores sobre a formação continuada para a EA a partir dos desafios enunciados por professores de Ciências do quadro de magistério público do município de São Vicente/SP. A coleta de dados foi desenvolvida em duas etapas. Na primeira, por meio de um Questionário com questões fechadas e abertas para um grupo de (24) sujeitos da pesquisa, foi possível traçarmos os perfis: pessoal, formativo e profissional. Na segunda etapa, cinco (5) professores, sendo três (3) pertencentes ao primeiro grupo, participaram de entrevistas semiestruturadas e responderam a um texto projetivo, em que obtivemos dados complementares. Um Quadro de categorias foi estruturado em duas dimensões de análise: 1ª dimensão: desafios institucionais/organizacionais; e 2ª dimensão: desafios pessoais/profissionais. Diante dessas dimensões e dos aportes teóricos pesquisados, os dados possibilitaram compreender as RS dos professores de Ciências sobre os desafios da formação continuada para a EA. Assim, os professores têm, como representações, que esses desafios são resultantes das lacunas da formação inicial, pois nesta formação não ocorreram aproximações entre teoria e prática quanto às questões ambientais. Os professores apontam que na formação inicial a EA ainda é pouco abordada, embora esse cenário venha se modificando nos últimos anos. Outro desafio, a ser transposto, é a oferta de cursos de formação continuada para a EA. Nas representações de nossos sujeitos, o oferecimento desses cursos está longe de atender à demanda requerida, embora a legislação seja abundante e assegure esse tipo de formação. Somam-se a esses desafios, a atual situação de precarização da profissão docente, pois a escassez de tempo e a de recursos financeiros são dois aspectos complicadores para a participação dos professores em uma formação continuada. Contudo, diante desses desafios elencados, a posição da escola frente à formação docente é revelada, à medida que não é incentivadora da formação continuada dos seus professores, nem tão pouco se configura enquanto espaço formativo.

Submitted by admin tede (tede@pucgoias.edu.br) on 2018-10-09T19:02:34Z No. of bitstreams: 1 FLÁVIA CRISTIANE PIRES E SILVA.pdf: 1813866 bytes, checksum: db1b1c38e0970a68e7a34873107d6df6 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-10-09T19:02:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 FLÁVIA CRISTIANE PIRES E SILVA.pdf: 1813866 bytes, checksum: db1b1c38e0970a68e7a34873107d6df6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-08-06 / This work presents as the theme "The conditions of offer of the undergraduate course in physics: The case of the Federal Institute of Goiás" and aims to study the conditions of offers of the course of physics. It will be developed by qualitative research, being used to collect concrete data on the subject studied, to analyze and conclude methodologically the object of study. The research aims to obtain concrete data on the course, about when the course was founded, if there was market demand, how many classes have formed, how many students enter by semester and how many conclude the course to evasion and how is worked this evasion and repetition. What is the purpose of the course for training teachers or researchers? Back to bachelor or bachelor degree? Finally, the purpose of this research and to know the actual conditions of the course offered, to evaluate the joints between higher education in physics, technologies, teaching methodologies, teacher training, course laboratories. For the development of this work, we prioritized the Documentary Research in template base In semi interview -structured with the coordinator of the course of physics of the IFG, but also were made bibliographical research, using books, magazines, internet and institutional documents. This research has as its main theoretical-pedagogical reference the historical-cultural perspective and has as main author: Libâneo (2013). The research tool used was a closed questionnaire composed of questions that inquired about the actual conditions of the course offer. The result of the survey detected that the high rate of evasion and repetition due to several factors, more specific the misconceptions of the teachers of the course of physics. / Este trabalho apresenta como tema, “As condições de oferta do curso de licenciatura em Física: O caso do Instituto Federal de Goiás’’. Possui como objetivo, investigar alguns aspectos relevantes para a formação do professor de física, como a articulação entre a parte epistemológica e a parte didática, evasão e repetência. O trabalho foi desenvolvido mediante a pesquisa qualitativa, utilizada para coletar dados concretos sobre o tema estudado, para analisar e concluir metodologicamente o objeto de estudo. A pesquisa visou obter dados concretos sobre o curso e sobre a sua fundação, se ocorreu a procura de mercado, quantas turmas já formaram, quantos alunos entram por semestre e quantos concluem o curso, se existe a evasão e como é trabalhada essa evasão e repetência? Qual o objetivo do curso para a formação de professores ou pesquisadores? Voltado para bacharel ou licenciatura? O intuito da pesquisa foi conhecer as reais condições de oferta do curso, avaliar as articulações entre ensino superior em física, tecnologias, metodologias de ensino, formação de docentes e laboratórios do curso. Para o desenvolvimento deste trabalho, priorizou-se a pesquisa documental em campo, com base em entrevista semiestruturada com o coordenador do curso de física do IFG; além disto, foram produzidas pesquisas bibliográficas, utilizando-se de livros, revistas, internet e documentos institucionais. Esta pesquisa tem como sua principal referência teórica-pedagógica, a perspectiva histórico-cultural e com principal autor: Libâneo (2013). O instrumento de pesquisa utilizado foi um questionário fechado, composto por questões que indagavam sobre as reais condições da oferta do curso. O resultado da pesquisa, detectou que o alto índice de evasão e repetência é devido a vários fatores, especificamente às concepções equivocadas do docentes do curso de física; entre esses motivos, a investigação concluiu que, a articulação entre a parte epistemológica do conhecimento de física e da didática, não acontece no interior do curso, durante a formação do professor de física, o que irá refletir de forma circundante e enfática na monografia de final de curso. A pesquisa revelou que em todas as monografias de final de curso, nenhuma delas tratam de temas ligados ao ensino aprendizagem de física, mas sim a conhecimentos específicos de física.

Psychologists now use and interact with a mélange of technology for client care, including (but not limited to) email (Delsignore et al., 2016; Eysenbach, 2000), text messaging (Bradley & Hendricks, 2009; Elhai & Frueh, 2016), electronic medical records (Harrison & Palacio, 2006; Steinfeld & Keyes, 2011), telemental health/televideo (Richardson, Frueh, Grubaugh, Egede, & Elhai, 2012), and digital assessments (Jellins, 2015; Pearson Education Inc., 2015b). Amidst this technological revolution, threats to ethical obligations and regulations exist that might hinder effective client care (Elhai & Hall, 2016b; Lustgarten, 2015; Lustgarten & Colbow, 2017). Literature suggests that individuals, organizations, companies, and government actors have targeted individuals and nations for their data (Elhai & Hall, 2016b; Greenwald, 2014; Lustgarten, 2015). Despite concerns for protecting client information, little is known about the education and training opportunities present in APA-accredited clinical and/or counseling psychology doctoral programs around technology competence. Researchers have recommended trainees receive technology training for use within psychotherapy (Colbow, 2013; Lustgarten & Colbow, 2017; Mallen, Vogel, & Rochlen, 2005). This study interviewed 9 doctoral trainees about their experiences, decision making, thought processes, responsibilities for stakeholders, and additional needs from training programs, organizations, and practicum sites when using technology. Results suggested that participants had limited opportunities for education, but interacted with and were expected to use various forms of technology (e.g., email, text messaging, and electronic medical records). Additionally, participants tended to request increased organizational involvement on this topic in the form of formal conversations, workshops, and continuing education. More research is recommended to highlight disparities between expectations and education within doctoral training programs.

High quality mental health services do not reach the youth who need them, leading to efforts to implement effective treatments more broadly. One focus of these efforts concerns training the mental health workforce, of which master’s-level social workers represent a large proportion. However, the curricula of master’s in social work (MSW) programs do not often emphasize evidence-based approaches. One possible solution is Managing and Adapting Practice (MAP; PracticeWise, LLC), a system that allows clinicians to (1) identify clinically indicated evidence-based programs by searching a growing evidence-base of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and (2) build individualized evidence-informed treatment plans by focusing on common practice elements. MAP may also address the concerns about manual-based programs (e.g., inflexibility). Although some MSW programs have integrated MAP, the benefits of MAP training within MSW education have not yet been evaluated. This project evaluated multiple mechanisms of training in a semester-long MSW-focused MAP course relative to curriculum-as-usual control at a large public university. Participants were advanced MSW students (mean age = 27, SD = 5.8; 92.3% women; 59% white) either enrolled in the MAP course (n = 17) or enrolled in curriculum-as-usual (n = 22). The MAP course was co-taught by an expert MAP trainer and a MAP-trained social worker. Pre- and post-semester, participants completed a battery that included: (1) role-plays with standardized patients that were videotaped and coded using the Therapy Observational Coding System of Child Psychotherapy – Revised Strategies scale; (2) a written task that was subsequently coded to assess participants’ clinical decision-making skills during different phases of a standardized case; and (3) attitudinal factors that may be predictive of future MAP usage, such as attitudes toward evidence-based practice and the acceptability and feasibility of MAP. Results indicate significant uptake of cognitive and behavioral therapeutic strategies in the MAP condition. Overall, participants endorsed positive attitudes toward evidence-based practice broadly and MAP specifically. Findings may be used to inform the development of more effective evidence-informed curriculum for master’s-level clinical programs and future workforce training initiatives. Methodological considerations may inform advances in instrumentation to measure multidimensional training outcomes

While there have been enormous changes in the South African system of education since 1994, the legacy of apartheid and the different education of Black teachers is still evident in township schools. This study examined the practices of mathematics teaching in three township secondary schools by conducting a detailed investigation of eight teachers in three schools. Classroom observations and video recordings of teachers of Grades 10 to 12 served as the main data collection method. A sample of 12 lessons was analysed using the Secondary Teaching Analysis Matrix-Mathematics (STAM-Mathematics) (Gallagher & Parker, 1995) instrument. The researcher used STAM to categorise teachers' classroom practices along a three pronged continuum, namely didactic, transitional and conceptual teaching for the purpose of answering research questions about the content, the teaching, the assessment practices, the interactions between the teacher and the student, and the resource availability. Analysis of the data collected using the 22 STAM descriptors showed that the practices of teaching mathematics in township secondary schools was primarily didactic, with only minimal characteristics of transitional teaching and fewer attributes of conceptual teaching. Identifying the gaps between the teachers' practice and the descriptors for transitional and conceptual teaching with respect to the content, the teaching, the approaches to assessment, interactions between teacher and students, and resources availability has provided insight and a baseline for teacher inservice. Consequently, this study has provided research-based evidence for appropriate intervention to improve mathematics teaching and learning as prioritised by the Department of Education since the creation of the democratic government in 1994. / It is recommended that mathematics teachers in township schools use the STAM instrument in pairs or groups to observe and analyse each other's lessons with particular focus on the 22 descriptors and to use this framework as a guideline for daily lesson preparations and to help guide the teachers from teacher-centred instruction to conceptual instruction. Further, the STAM could be incorporated into teacher education and professional development programs and thereby lead to more conceptual forms of teaching that could contribute towards a greater understanding of mathematics and ultimately raise the pass rate of learners in external examinations at Grade 12.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 103-108). Also available in print.