Abstract not available

For future generations to maximise their capability to operate within technologically driven economies, it is critical to foster computer abilities at every level of the schooling process. Teachers are central to this process. Yet, for many teachers, the need to integrate computer use in their teaching is threatening and overwhelming. This thesis argues that, given the rapid rate of technological change, skills-based approaches to computer education inadequately prepare teachers for a career of continued technological change. Effective computer education for teachers requires more than skills training. It involves changes in attitudes, values and beliefs that provide confidence for ongoing learning. Furthermore, it involves learning to adapt to change, to be flexible, intuitive and above all persistent. It requires the fostering of teachers who know how to be self-directed and independent in their computer learning, rather than those dependent on structured routines or guidelines. This thesis is the ‘story’ of an action research initiative underpinned by a belief in the importance of approaches to computer education which foster lifelong computer learning. It traces the journey of a reflexive process of change and iterative development in the teaching of an educational information technology (computer) unit to pre-service teacher education students. Over a period of three years (1999-2001) I pursued a central research question, namely: How can I develop my teaching practice to better facilitate the development of capable computer users? The research explores the distinction between a ‘competent’ and a ‘capable’ computer user and trials a range of teaching and learning approaches that aim to facilitate the development of capable computer users.From this constructivist research and teaching process a multidimensional approach to computer education emerged, founded on metacognition and reflection. This approach is demonstrated to offer many advantages over a skills-focused approach. This thesis maps the complexity of the computer learning and teaching context, arguing that simplistic approaches to teaching will produce narrow and limited learning outcomes. Rather, a holistic approach is proposed, one that moves beyond the development of computer competency toward a longer term vision of facilitating computer capability. It is argued that the role of the computer ‘teacher’ is to foster reflective awareness and develop a learning environment that can assist computer learners to become comfortable existing on the ‘edge of chaos’.This research supports previous studies which indicate the important role of computer self efficacy and the influence of factors such as perceived usefulness, anxiety, support and frequency and duration of use. However, the research also documents the unpredictable influence of these factors on individuals’ resultant approach to computers and challenges dichotomous interpretations of such factors. Appropriate attribution is also shown to be a major influence on computer capability, as are factors such as help-seeking, motivation and goal-setting, although again, these influences are non-linear. It is argued that computer capability cannot be ‘taught’ but, rather, computer educators should look to creating environments where its emergence can be facilitated. The metacognitive computer learning context developed and explored through this research is one such approach.

The dissertation contends that an instrument developed through using a model of complex adaptive systems as a generative metaphor will assist members of an organisation to better understand their organisation. Using an action research methodology, six Air Force Management Services Teams were exposed to six overlapping attributes of complex adaptive systems through focus group workshops with an aim to determine whether they, as experienced management consulting practitioners, saw value to themselves and their Air Force clients of using aspects of complex adaptive systems for organisational understanding. The overlapping attributes of complex adaptive systems were distilled from the literature reviewed. Whereas the focus group workshop participants found the attributes valuable in understanding the dynamics of organisational behaviour, they found the new way of thinking challenging on a number of different perspectives. Some aspects of the Air Force organisation, like its high levels of organisational experience, will make the introduction to and use of complex adaptive systems thinking simpler, while other aspects of the Air Force organisation, like its sensitivity to complex adaptive systems terminology, will make the introduction and use of complex adaptive systems more challenging. Notwithstanding the challenges, both the complex adaptive systems model, and the use of action research were found to be useful ways of introducing organisations to complex adaptive systems thinking.

The purpose of accident investigation is the discovery of causal factors, so that they may be remedied, in order to avert the recurrence of accidents (ICAO, 1994). However, experience has shown that the present intuitive methods of analysis do not always achieve this aim. Investigation failure may come about because of failure to discover causal factors, or to devise effective remedies, or to persuade those in a position to act of the need to do so. Each of these types of failure can be made less likely by the use of formal analytical methods which can show whether information gathering has been incomplete, and point to the sources of additional information that may be needed. A formal analysis can be examined by formal logical tests. Also, the use of formal change mechanisms can not only devise changes likely to be effective, but can present these changes in such a way that the case for them is compelling. Formal methods currently available are concerned with what happened, and why it happened. To produce generic remedies which might avert future accidents of similar type, some formal change mechanism is needed. The Theory of Constraints has become widely adopted in business as a way of replacing undesirable effects with desired outcomes. The Theory of Constraints has not previously been used for safety investigation, and a principal object of this thesis is to see whether it can usefully be employed in this area. It is demonstrated that the use of formal methodology can bring to light factors which were overlooked during an official accident investigation, and can ‘tell the story’ in a more coherent manner than is possible with present methods. The recommendations derived from the formal analysis are shown to be generic in nature, rather than particular to the airline involved and the accident studied, and so could have a wider effect in improving safety.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / The overarching objective of this thesis is to investigate and examine several contemporary IC theories and how they are utilised in practice so that understandings of the IC concept can be developed, in order to answer in part the main research question of “How does IC in action influence organisations?” The content of the thesis is based on a review of IC from both a theory and practice perspective and four empirical papers that examines IC theory as it is implemented in practice. In combining these papers into a coherent piece of work, a critical research perspective, as outlined by Alvesson and Deetz (2000), has been utilised as the theoretical framework. The term ‘critical’ is used in this thesis not to find fault with contemporary theory and practice of IC but rather to examine and question the application of IC theory into practice. The end result of doing so is the narrowing of an identified gap between IC theory and practice. A ‘critical’ analysis of IC in action is justified because the development of the concept of IC parallels that of ‘critical’ theory in that both have evolved from changing conditions in society as technology and the proliferation of knowledge that have fundamentally altered the conditions under which organisations operate. The overarching findings of the thesis are based on three outcomes of critical research being insight, critique and transformative re-definitions. Insight into IC is developed by examining contemporary IC frameworks as they have been applied. Critique is developed by putting to the test the implications for organisations as a result of implementing these contemporary IC frameworks. Last, transformative re-definition is achieved by opening a discourse on the impact of implementing IC practices so that academics and practitioners can develop critical, relevant and practical understandings that begins the process of change and develops practical managerial skills. More importantly this thesis identifies how the development of tools to reduce ‘causal ambiguity’ about how intangible resource help create (or destroy) value has the potential to raise the profile of IC as a strategic management technology. But from the wider view of the critical perspective, it is not the intention of this thesis to prescribe specific formulae for the measuring, management and reporting of IC, nor does it intend to further develop theory. So while the individual papers may proffer that certain avenues proved productive in developing insights, critique and transformative re-definition, these avenues are not offered as the preferred way of investigating IC. More specifically the goal of a critical perspective is to open a discourse. The opprurtinity for academics and practitioners to engage in discourse is enabled by the thesis’ focus on the issues identified by highlighting the gap between IC theory and practice. Furthermore, each of the included papers offers the opportunity for further discourse by way of the opportunities that remain for future research. Additionally, the thesis achieves exemplifies a number of different approaches to conducting research into IC practice that puts to the test particular aspects of IC theory in order to develop insights and understandings of IC in practice. As the empirical material only examines a fraction of contemporary IC theory there is scope for further research and thus discourse into the implementation of IC theory into IC practice. This future research should not be constrained by a particular method of research as exemplified in the variety of methods employed to gather the empirical material for the papers which stretches along the continuum of qualitative and quantitative research. This too provides an avenue of for future discourse.

The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is a unit that manages the most critically ill, complex and unstable patients in the hospital. As a result, the ICU is characterised by a high degree of clinical and organisational unpredictability and uncertainty. In Western discourse, uncertainty is often portrayed as problematic, and as something to be controlled and reduced. This research challenges this discourse by examining the productive relationship between certainty and uncertainty in the work practices of ICU clinicians, and subsequently, how intensive care clinicians utilise uncertainty to construct order in a highly unpredictable work environment. To understand how order can coexist with ICU’s unremitting unpredictability, complexity theory is used to frame this investigation. This research engaged an emergent, interventionist methodology, deploying multiple methods. Using ethnography, video-ethnography, and video-reflexivity, this research relied on clinicians’ participation in the construction and analysis of video data of the ICU clinicians’ work practices. This resulted in clinician-led practice change in the ICU. This research suggests that methods need to be deployed adaptively in order to deal with the complexity of ICU, in addition to the moment-to-moment emergence of events that require the researcher’s own work plans to be revisited. Moreover, in order to gain traction with, and understand highly complex and changeable environments, the researcher needs to also enter and experience uncertainty herself. Using complexity theory as its analytical tool, this research shows an inseparability of uncertainty and certainty in the ICU which is labeled ‘un/certainty’. Three main conclusions emerge from this research. First, un/certainty predominates in intensive care, and due to this, ordering is a process rather than a final state. Un/certainty is at the heart of the adaptive practices that clinicians enact. These adaptive practices are highly interconnected to the changes that the ICU environment may require, and thus produce a dynamic order in the unit. Second, the researcher herself, in order to come to terms with the complexity and un/certainty of the ICU environment must also enter un/certainty in order to gain traction with the ICU environment: unpredictability and complexity cannot be studied from a neat and disengaged distance. Third, the presence of un/certainty in the ICU can be significant and enabling rather than disabling for clinicians in their ongoing pursuit of dynamically ordering practice. The contribution of un/certainty to frontline practice is as a central driver to managing change and complexity. Therefore it should be positively revalued by health services researchers, policy makers and clinicians alike.

Abstract Background: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, (CBT) is well established as an effective treatment for depression. Its applicability in routine public mental health practice is however unknown, as most published studies excluded participants with suicide risk or if co-morbid with other disorders such as schizophrenia or bipolar affective disorder. Clients of public mental health services are characterised by symptom severity, chronic course of illness, treatment resistance and / or co-morbidity. In order to determine whether CBT has utility in routine public mental health practice, it is important to find out whether symptoms of depression (and anxiety) in this client population will respond to a course of CBT provided as part of standard care. Aims and Hypotheses: This effectiveness study aimed to ascertain if CBT is effective in treating depressed and/or anxious symptoms when such symptoms exist within the clinically more complex population found within Community Mental Health Services / Settings, (CMHSs). It was hypothesised that clients receiving CBT would show reliable and clinically significant improvement in symptoms of depression and anxiety but that the amount of improvement would be less than that reported in efficacy studies with less complex client groups. Method: This was a repeated measures, uncontrolled intervention study with results benchmarked against published data. Forty six adult clients of the Inner North Brisbane Mental Health Service (INBMHS) with diagnoses of Depression and / or Anxiety, in isolation or in conjunction with Schizophrenia, Bipolar affective disorder, or a Personality Disorder were treated with an eight (8) session manualised CBT program as part of routine clinical care. Standardised measures of depression, anxiety and stress were taken at time of referral, time of the commencement of treatment, time of treatment completion and at six-month post completion of treatment. Results: Participants showed reliable and statistically significant improvement in self reported symptoms from commencement to completion of treatment. Gains were retained at follow-up. Effect sizes were in the moderate to large range and improvements were clinically significant for approximately one third of the participants. Conclusions: CBT seems to be an effective treatment for depression and anxiety where such symptoms exist within a mental health population. Further research addressing the limitations of this study would add strength to the argument that the mental health population could benefit from the broad availability of such treatment.

Dans cette thèse, nous cherchons à comparer la complexité booléenne classique et la complexité algébrique, en étudiant des problèmes sur les polynômes. Nous considérons les modèles de calcul algébriques de Valiant et de Blum, Shub et Smale (BSS). Pour étudier les classes de complexité algébriques, il est naturel de partir des résultats et des questions ouvertes dans le cas booléen, et de regarder ce qu'il en est dans le contexte algébrique. La comparaison des résultats obtenus dans ces deux domaines permet ainsi d'enrichir notre compréhension des deux théories. La première partie suit cette approche. En considérant un polynôme canoniquement associé à toute formule booléenne, nous obtenons un lien entre les questions de complexité booléenne sur la formule booléenne et les questions de complexité algébrique sur le polynôme. Nous avons étudié la complexité du calcul de ce polynôme dans le modèle de Valiant en fonction de la complexité de la formule booléenne, et avons obtenu des analogues algébriques à certains résultats booléens. Nous avons aussi pu utiliser des méthodes algébriques pour améliorer certains résultats booléens, en particulier de meilleures réductions de comptage. Une autre motivation aux modèles de calcul algébriques est d'offrir un cadre pour l'analyse d'algorithmes continus. La seconde partie suit cette approche. Nous sommes partis d'algorithmes nouveaux pour la recherche de zéros approchés d'un système de n polynômes complexes à n inconnues. Jusqu'à présent il s'agissait d'algorithmes pour le modèle BSS. Nous avons étudié l'implémentabilité de ces algorithmes sur un ordinateur booléen et proposons un algorithme booléen.

<p>Landscape effects on species performance currently receives much attention. Habitat loss and fragmentation are considered major threats to species diversity. Deciduous forests in southern Sweden are previous wooded pastures that have become species-rich communities appearing as islands in agricultural landscapes, varying in species composition. <i>Actaea spicata</i> is a long-lived plant occurring in these forests. In 150 populations in a 10-km² area, I studied pre-dispersal seed predation, seed dispersal and pollination. I investigated spatio-temporal dynamics of a tritrophic system including<i> Actaea</i>, a specialist seed predator, <i>Eupithecia immundata</i>, and its parasitoids. In addition, effects of biotic context on rodent fruit dispersal and effects of flowering time and flower number on seed set, seed predation and parasitization were studied. Insect incidences of both trophic levels were related to resource population size and small <i>Eupithecia</i> populations were maintained by the rescue effect. There was a unimodal relationship between seed predation and plant population size. Seed predator populations frequently went extinct in small plant populations, resulting in low average seed predation. Parasitoids were present in large plant populations but did not affect seed predator density. Seed predators aggregated at edges, relaxing seed predation in patch interiors. Flowering phenology was unrelated to seed set and insect incidence. A higher flower number did not influence seed predation but was associated with higher seed set and a tendency for a higher parasitization rate. In the study on fruit dispersal more fruits were removed inside than outside populations. Within plant populations more fruits were removed from large aggregations. Overall, this thesis underlines the importance of plant-animal interactions during different phases of the life cycle. The spatial configuration of host plants plays an important role for the outcome of plant-animal interactions and trophic cascades.</p>

<p>The dissertation Reading Texts or ”Reality” investigate teachers use of interpretive communities in teaching literature in secondary school. It discusses how different learning outcomes generates from three interpretory frames for reading. Teachers can be looked upon as critics when they show unexperienced readers why and how they read an interprete literary texts. In their teaching,they don´t relate only to their students but also to thier own conception of subject matter and to a broader discourse in society that deals with questions of why and how we read literature. Following voices of the discourse are included in the study: eight teachers, curriculum texts, a journal for the profession and a journal för scholors.</p><p>Teachers combine several aims in their teaching of literature. They use literature to discuss life, gender and problems related to young people, text as faction. But, they also try to teach their students about narrathology and how to understand and interpretate fictional texts, text as fiction and a world of signs. The curriculum, however, means that literature is read only to gain knowledge about the world,oneself and other people. A contradiction is that one of the criterias for assement includes knowledge of texts and methodology from the academic subject. One of the other voices in the discourse, a journal for scholors, talk about the literary texts but very seldom about teaching the texts. Another voice, a journal for teachers in Swedish, follows the curriculum closely and discusses reading literature as a way to get knowledge of the world.</p><p>Research in subject matter didactics can investigate teaching, relate different aims to different outcomes and show possibilities for teaching literature and reading comprehension. If we choose only one interpretive community, we get one kind of reading comprehension.If we combine two in a complex teaching strategy, we extend learning and reading comprehension of our students.</p>