Title: Volunteer's Assumptions for Work with Youth At Risk at Project Lata. Abstract: The thesis is focused on one-to-one peer volunteering in programs for children, youth and young adults at risk, with a focus on Project Lata. It is dedicated especially to aspects which may influence the client-volunteer relationship, with a particular focus on helping volunteers and discovering the conditions of volunteers working with target groups. The research part examines the volunteers' characteristics, personality attributes, abilities, skills and experience beyond the current entry criteria, to identify qualities which facilitate or impede the creation of a functioning relationship with the client in Project Lata. Key words: volunteering, volunteer, mentoring, youth at risk, professional relationship, Project Lata, "one-to-one" project, volunteer's assumptions

In our experience of teaching Calculus to engineering undergraduates we have had to grapple with many different problems. A major hurdle has been students’ inability to appreciate the importance of the theory. In their view the theoretical part of mathematics is separate from the computing part. In general, students also believe that they can pass their exams even though they do not have a real understanding of the theory behind the problems they are required to solve. In an effort to surmount these difficulties we tried to find ways to make students better understand the theoretical part of Calculus. This paper describes our experience of teaching Calculus. It reports on the continuation of our previous research.

Environmental risk assessment of chemical substances in the European Union is based on a harmonised scheme. The required models and parameters are laid down in the Technical Guidance Document (TGD) and are implemented in the EUSES software. An evaluation study of the TGD exposure models was carried out. In particular, the models for estimating chemical intake by humans were investigated. The objective of this study was two-fold: firstly, to develop an evaluation methodology, since no appropriate approach is available in the scientific literature. Secondly, to elaborate applicability and limitations of the models and to provide proposals for their improvement. The principles of model evaluation in terms of quality assurance, model validation and software evaluation were elaborated and a suitable evaluation protocol for chemical risk assessment models was developed. Quality assurance of a model includes internal (e.g. an investigation of the underlying theory) and external (e.g. a comparison of the results with experimental data) validation, and addresses the evaluation of the respective software. It should focus not only on the predictive capability of a model, but also on the strength of the theoretical underpinnings, evidence supporting the model?s conceptualisation, the database and the software. The external validation was performed using a set of reference substances with different physico-chemical properties and use patterns. Additionally, sensitivity and uncertainty analyses were carried out, and alternative models were discussed. Recommendations for improvements and maintenance of the risk assessment methodology were presented. To perform the software evaluation quality criteria for risk assessment software were developed. From a theoretical point of view, it was shown that the models strongly depend on the lipophilicity of the substance, that the underlying assumptions drastically limit the applicability, and that realistic concentrations may seldom be expected. If the models are applied without adjustment, high uncertainties must inevitably be expected. However, many cases were found in which the models deliver highly valuable results. The overall system was classified as a good compromise between complexity and practicability. But several chemicals and classes of chemicals, respectively, with several restrictions were revealed: The investigated models used to assess indirect exposure to humans are in parts currently not applicable for dissociating compounds, very polar compounds, very lipophilic compounds, ions, some surfactants, and compounds in which metabolites provide the problems and mixtures. In a strict sense, the method is only applicable for persistent, non-dissociating chemicals of intermediate lipophilicity. Further limitations may exist. Regarding the software, it was found that EUSES basically fulfils the postulated criteria but is highly complex and non-transparent. To overcome the inadequacies a more modular design is proposed.

No description available.

Set-pieces such as free-kicks and corners have been thoroughly examined in studies related to football analytics in recent years. However, little focus has been put on the most frequently occurring set-piece: the throw-in. This project aims to investigate how football teams can optimize their throw-in tactics in order to improve the chance of taking a successful throw-in. Two different definitions of what constitutes a successful throw-in are considered, firstly if the ball is kept in possession and secondly if a goal chance is created after the throw-in. The analysis is conducted using logistic regression, as this model comes with high interpretability, making it easier for players and coaches to gain direct insights from the results. A substantial focus is put on the investigation of the logistic regression assumptions, with the greatest emphasis being put on the linearity assumption. The results suggest that long throws directed towards the opposition’s goal are the most effective for creating goal-scoring opportunities from throw-ins taken in the attacking third of the pitch. However, if the throw-in is taken in the middle or defensive regions of the pitch, the results interestingly indicate that throwing the ball backwards leads to increased chance of scoring. When it comes to retaining the ball possession, the results suggest that throwing the ball backwards is an effective strategy regardless of the pitch position. Moreover, the project outlines how feature transformations can be used to improve the fitting of the logistic regression model. However, it turns out that the most significant improvement in accuracy of logistic regression occurs when incorporating additional relevant features into the model. In such case, the logistic regression model achieves a predictive power comparable to more advanced machine learning methods. / Fasta situationer såsom frisparkar och hörnor har varit välstuderade i studier rörande fotbollsanalys de senaste åren. Lite fokus har emellertid lagts på den vanligast förekommande fasta situationen: inkastet. Detta projekt syftar till att undersöka hur fotbollslag kan optimera sin inkasttaktik för att förbättra möjligheterna till att genomföra ett lyckat inkast. Två olika definitioner av vad som utgör ett lyckat inkast beaktas, dels om bollinnehavet behålls och dels om en målchans skapas efter inkastet. Analysen görs med logistisk regression eftersom denna modell har hög tolkningsbarhet, vilket gör det lättare för spelare och tränare att få direkta insikter från resultaten. Stort fokus läggs på undersökning av de logistiska regressionsantagandena, där störst vikt läggs på antagandet gällande linjäritet. Resultaten tyder på att långa inkast riktade mot motståndarnas mål är de mest gynnsamma för att skapa en målchans från inkast tagna i den offensiva tredjedelen av planen. Om inkastet istället tas från de mellersta eller defensiva delarna av planen tyder resultaten intressant nog på att inkast riktade bakåt leder till ökad chans till att göra mål. När det kommer till att behålla bollinnehavet visar resultaten att kast bakåt är en gynnsam strategi, oavsett var på planen inkasten tas ifrån. Vidare visar projektet hur variabeltransformationer kan användas för att förbättra modellanpassningen för logistisk regression. Det visar sig dock att den tydligaste förbättringen fås då fler relevanta variabler läggs till i modellen. I sådant fall, får logistisk regression en prediktiv förmåga som är jämförbar med mer avancerade maskininlärningsmetoder.

No description available.

Digital transformation has the potential to fundamentally change society. Digitalisation, through new technological solutions and advances, is expected to play a central role in ensuring future prosperity. Although the role of digitisation in society has been recognised, the public sector in Sweden is experiencing problems in realising the identified benefits, with the result that a large proportion of the projects being implemented exceed the set framework, constraints, and resources. The aim of this work has been to evaluate a digitisation project in the public sector through a qualitative case study and a goal-oriented framework. The case study has investigated which assumptions emerge in a digitisation project and how the realisation of benefits is affected by these. The evaluation carried out has shown that two different types of assumptions have occurred in the project, these have been formal and informal assumptions. The study has shown that assumptions create legitimacy and conditions for realisation within a digitisation project, while at the same time they create tensions within the project. The tensions show both enabling and constraining dimensions that have affected the project's implementation and benefit realisation positively and negatively. This study has identified a need to extend the work on assumptions in the LFA and has therefore proposed a model that illustrates the relationship of the two types to each other and to the project and its benefit realisation. The evaluation of the digitisation project has shown that the project team prioritised ensuring relevance and sustainability over feasibility, which created tensions in project implementation that negatively affected the realisation of benefits within the project. This study has shown that assumptions are often a "necessary evil" in relation to a project's impact capture, but are facilitated by good structure and clear leadership. / Digital transformation har potential att förändra samhället i grunden. Digitalisering genom nya tekniska lösningar och framsteg, spås besitta en central roll när framtidens välfärd ska säkras. Trots att digitaliseringens roll i samhället är konstaterad, upplever offentlig sektor i Sverige problem med att realisera de identifierade nyttorna. Detta har medfört att en stor del av projekten som genomförs, överskrider uppsatta ramar, begränsningar och resurser. Syftet med detta arbete har varit att genom en kvalitativ fallstudie, via intervjuer, dokumentinsamling samt ett mål-orienterat ramverk, utvärdera ett digitaliseringsprojekt inom offentlig sektor. Fallstudien har utrett vilka antaganden som framträder i ett digitaliseringsprojekt och hur nyttorealiseringen påverkats av dessa. Utvärderingen som utförts har visat att två olika typer av antaganden förekommit inom projektet, dessa har varit formella- och informella antaganden. Studien har visat att antaganden skapar legitimering av- samt förutsättningar för realisering inom ett digitaliseringsprojekt, samtidigt som de skapar spänningar inom projektet. Spänningarna visar på både möjliggörande och begränsande dimensioner vilka påverkat projektets genomförande och nyttorealisering positivt samt negativt. Denna undersökning har identifierat ett behov, att i LFA utöka arbetet med antaganden och har därför föreslagit en modell vilken illustrerar de två typernas relation till varandra samt till projektet och dess nyttorealisering. Utvärderingen av digitaliseringsprojektet har visat att projektgruppen prioriterat säkring av relevans och varaktighet framför genomförbarhet, vilket skapat spänningar i projektgenomförandet som påverkat nyttorealiseringen inom projektet negativt. Denna studie har visat att antaganden ofta kan ses som ett ”nödvändigt ont” i relation till ett projekts effekthemtagning/nyttorealisering, men som underlättas av bra struktur och tydligt ledarskap.

Modern vehicles have electrical architectures whose complexity grows year after year due to feature growth corresponding to customer expectations. The latest of the expectations, automation of the dynamic driving task however, is poised to bring about some of the largest changes seen so far. In one fell swoop, not only does required functionality for automated driving drastically increase the system complexity, it also removes the fall-back of the human driver who is usually relied upon to handle unanticipated failures after the fact. The need to architect thus requires a greater rigour than ever before, to maintain the level of safety that has been associated with the automotive industry. The work that is part of this thesis has been conducted, in close collaboration with our industrial partner Scania CV AB, within the Vinnova FFI funded project ARCHER. This thesis aims to provide a methodology for architecting during the concept phase of development, using industrial practices and principles including those from safety standards such as ISO 26262. The main contributions of the thesis are in two areas. The first area i.e. Part A contributes, (i) an analysis of the challenges of architecting automated driving, and serves as a motivation for the approach taken in the rest of this thesis, i.e. Part B where the contributions include, (ii) a definition of a viewpoint for functional safety according to the definitions of ISO 42010, (iii) a method to systematically extract information from legacy components and (iv) a process to use legacy information and architect in the presence of uncertainty to provide a work product, the Preliminary Architectural Assumptions (PAA), as required by ISO 26262. The contributions of Part B together comprise a methodology to architect the PAA.   A significant challenge in working with the industry is finding the right fit between idealized principles and practical utility. The methodology in Part B has been judged fit for purpose by different parts of the organization at Scania and multiple case studies have been conducted to assess its usefulness in collaboration with senior architects. The methodology was found to be conducive in both, generating the PAA of a quality that was deemed suitable to the organization and, to find inadequacies in the architecture that had not been found earlier using the previous non-systematic methods. The benefits have led to a commissioning of a prototype tool to support the methodology that has begun to be used in projects related to automation at Scania. The methodology will be refined as the projects progress towards completion using the experiences gained. A further impact of the work is seen in two patent filings that have originated from work on the case studies in Part B. Emanating from needs discovered during the application of the methods, these filed patents (with no prior publications) outline the future directions of research into reference architectures augmented with safety policies, that are safe in the presence of detectable faults and failures. To aid verification of these ideas, work has begun on identifying critical scenarios and their elements in automated driving, and a flexible simulation platform is being designed and developed at KTH to test the chosen critical scenarios. / Efterfrågan på nya funktioner leder till en ständigt ökande komplexitet i moderna fordon, speciellt i de inbyggda datorsystemen. Införande av autonoma fordon utgör inte bara det mest aktuella exemplet på detta, utan medför också en av de största förändringar som fordonsbranschen sett. Föraren, som ”back-up” för att hantera oväntade situationer och fel, finns inte längre där vid höggradig automation, och motsvarande funktioner måste realiseras i de inbyggda system vilket ger en drastisk komplexitetsökning. Detta ställer systemarkitekter för stora utmaningar för att se till att nuvarande nivå av funktionssäkerhet bibehålls. Detta forskningsarbete har utförts i nära samarbete med Scania CV AB i det Vinnova (FFI)-finansierade projektet ARCHER. Denna licentiatavhandling har som mål att ta fram en metodik för konceptutveckling av arkitekturer, förankrat i industriell praxis och principer, omfattande bl.a. de som beskrivs i funktionssäkerhetsstandards som ISO 26262. Avhandlingen presenterar resultat inom två områden. Det första området, del A, redovisar, (i) en analys av utmaningar inom arkitekturutveckling för autonoma fordon, vilket också ger en motivering för resterande del av avhandlingen. Det andra området, del B, redovisar, (ii) en definition av en ”perspektivmodell” (en s.k. ”viewpoint” enligt ISO 42010) för funktionssäkerhet, (iii) en metod för att systematiskt utvinna information från existerande komponenter, och (iv) en process som tar fram en arbetsprodukt för ISO 26262 – Preliminära Arkitektur-Antaganden (PAA). Denna process använder sig av information från existerande komponenter – resultat (iii) och förenklar hantering av avsaknad/osäker information under arkitekturarbetet. Resultaten från del B utgör tillsammans en metodik för att ta fram en PAA. En utmaning i forskning är att finna en balans mellan idealisering och praktisk tillämpbarhet. Metodiken i del B har utvärderats i flertalet industriella fallstudier på Scania i samverkan med seniora arkitekter från industrin, och har av dessa bedömts som relevant och praktiskt tillämpningsbar. Erfarenheterna visar att metodiken stödjer framtagandet av PAA’s av   lämplig kvalitet och ger ett systematiskt sätt att hantera osäkerhet under arkitekturutvecklingen. Specifikt så gjorde metoden det möjligt att identifiera komponent-felmoder där arkitekturen inte var tillräcklig för åstadkomma önskad riskreducering, begränsningar som inte hade upptäckts med tidigare metoder. Ett prototypverktyg för att stödja metodiken har utvecklats och börjat användas på Scania i projekt relaterade till autonoma fordon. Metodiken kommer sannolikt att kunna förfinas ytterligare när dessa projekt går mot sitt slut och mer erfarenheter finns tillgängliga. Arbetet i del B har vidare lett till två patentansökningar avseende koncept som framkommit genom fallstudierna. Dessa koncept relaterar till referensarkitekturer som utökats med policies för personsäkerhet (Eng. ”safety”) för att hantera detekterbara felfall, och pekar ut en riktning för framtida forskning. För att stödja verifiering av dessa koncept har arbete inletts för att identifiera kritiska scenarios för autonom körning. En flexibel simuleringsplattform håller också på att designas för att kunna testa kritiska scenarios. / Vinnova-FFI funded Project ARCHER

Researchers perform multivariate techniques MANOVA, discriminant analysis and factor analysis. The most common applications in social science are to identify and test the effects from the analysis. The use of this multivariate technique is uncommon in investigating the effects of power usage and Province in South Africa on the amounts of the five power modes. This dissertation discusses this issue, the methodology and practical problems of the three multivariate techniques. The author examines the applications of each technique in social public research and comparisons are made between the three multivariate techniques. This dissertation concludes with a discussion of both the concepts of the present multivariate techniques and the results found on the use of the three multivariate techniques in the energy household consumption. The author recommends focusing on the hypotheses of the study or typical questions surrounding of each technique to guide the researcher in choosing the appropriate analysis in the social research, as each technique has some strengths and limitations. / Statistics / M. Sc. (Statistics)

The people in the organisation are the key to quality and effective change and improvement in schools. A new paradigm in school leadership, namely teacher leadership, grounded in distributed leadership theory and supported by enabling policies, provides a platform for school wide capacity building where more and more people recognise the potential of other team members, promote it and thus give stimulus for significant change. The purpose of the research was to determine the perspectives, perceptions and readiness of educators in the Eden and Central Karoo Education District for teacher leadership, as well as educators’ perceptions regarding the school culture required for teacher leadership to be nurtured and sustained. A total number of 283 educators participated in this study, including principals, members of school management teams, veteran, middle, novice educators and district officials. A series of instruments were used to determine educators’ perspectives, perceptions and readiness for teacher leadership, including the Teacher Leadership Readiness Instrument (TLRI) and the Teacher Leadership School Survey (TLSS). Data revealed that educators held positive assumptions about teacher leadership; that educators were collectively ready for teacher leadership; and that they perceived their school cultures as healthy for teacher leadership practices. Educators used language of leadership which can be associated with the organisational and transformational leadership theory; indicated that they experienced barriers to teacher leadership; and that there is a need for professional development in relation to teacher leadership. A significant difference was found between the preliminary leadership and barriers to teacher leadership perceptions held by district officials and other educators (principal, member of school management team, veteran, middle and novice). A significant difference was also found between members of school management teams and other educators (middle and novice) in relation to their readiness for teacher leadership. Significant relationships were found between educators’ preliminary leadership and readiness for teacher leadership perceptions, as well as between their readiness for teacher leadership and their perceptions about a healthy school culture for teacher leadership. These findings have significant implications for leadership practices, collaboration, capacity-building and improvement in schools, educators’ self-esteem, motivation and productivity, as well as student outcomes. / Educational Studies / Thesis (D. Ed. Education Management))