Training is essential to the growth and economic well-being of a nation. This need for training pervades all levels of industry, from a national level where a country’s well being is enhanced by training, to each company where productivity is improved, down to the individual whose skills are enhanced and as a result improve their position in the employment marketplace. The Australian Bureau of Statistics report ‘Training and Education Experience –Australia’ (ABS 1993) indicates that training in Australia is undertaken at a significant level with some 86% of employers undertaking some form of training. This is slightly higher in the Finance industry at a little over 89%. On the job training is undertaken by 82% of employers and off the job training is used by 47% of employers. In 80% of the off the job cases these courses were conducted in a conventional manner using an instructor. The remaining 20% of cases were either self paced (14%) or instructor based (6%). These latter cases could involve Computer Based Training (CBT). The report, referred to in the last paragraph, also indicates that a significant aspect of business in Australia is that 95% of businesses have less than 20 staff. This poses significant problems in that the ability to deliver effective training is limited. With businesses as small as these their size does not permit them to carry specialist training personnel so this role falls to the senior staff. These people already have a full workload and their ability to be able to take on training duties is limited. In addition these people were employed for their technical skills, not training. It may be that their ability to fill the role of a trainer is not good and as a result the training may not be very effective. In addition, small business has difficulty in releasing staff for training, The difficulties faced by small business were recognised by the Australian National Training Authority in their 1995 report which indicated that there was a need to develop a ‘training culture’ among small business employers. The authority made a commitment to provide flexible delivery strategies. This includes Computer Based Training (CBT). CBT has existed since the 1970’s. It came on to the scene with a flourish and tended to provide ‘page turning’ programs or ‘drill and practice programs’. In limited areas this form of training became popular but its popularity waned in the 80’s. With the advent of better graphical displays, larger and faster memory, and improved programs in the 1990’s the quality of CBT today is superior to those offered in the 70’s and has greater appeal. Today, still photographs and video clips can be displayed and made interactive. Because of this CBT is making a comeback and starting to have a greater impact. The insurance industry covers a wide range of companies in Australia, these companies vary in size from companies with employees in the thousands to companies with less than five staff. While the needs of the employees of each are similar the ability of these companies to deliver the training varies significantly. Any training can be divided into two parts. Internal or on the job training and external. External training deals with those aspects that concern the industry as a whole whereas internal training affects the individual company. Internal training would deal with matters like company procedures, company products and the like. External training deals with matters such as legislation, products generally, and the like. In the insurance industry the major problem arises with the small companies. Insurance companies would tend to be large in size and able to cover their training costs but the insurance brokers who would make up, numerically, the major number of companies would have a significant number of companies that fall into the 20 staffer less category. In fact many would have a staff of less than 5. While CBT can benefit all companies it is these small companies that could benefit from it the most. This thesis examines: • The place of CBT in training, its cost and effectiveness. • The incidence of CBT in the insurance industry and how the industry determines its effectiveness. • If a program that meets an industry need is able to be produced at a realistic price?

The problem with which this study was concerned is the association between exposure to computer instruction and changes in attitudes toward computers. The study had a two-fold purpose. The first was to determine the attitudes of undergraduate students toward computers. The second was to determine whether exposure to information about computers and their uses is associated with changes in students' attitudes toward computers. A computer literacy test was administered to subjects as a pre-and post-test. The major findings of the study indicate that there were significant, positive attitude changes among students exposed to computer instruction. There were also significant increases in knowledge about computers among participants exposed to computer instruction. The major conclusions are that attitudes are not fixed and develop in the process of need satisfaction. Participants in the study experienced attitude changes, which supports the suggestion that attitudes are developmental. Futhermore, the attitude changes observed in the study occurred in the process of learning about computers, a process assumed to be rooted in the educational and/or career needs of the participants. Attitudes are shaped by the information to which people are exposed. Attitude modification seldom, if ever, occurs in a vacuum. Instead, it most often takes place in the context of information dissemination and exposure. In this study, attitudes toward computers changed positively and significantly as participants were exposed to information about computers.

本研究目的乃在嘗試以建構主義取向的教學理念運用在國小電腦教學上，試圖建構出一套有效的教學模式；1.找出一套整合性的建構式教學模式；2.將這套建構式教學模式應用到兒童電腦課程教學上。 本研究以參加寒假校外電腦營的兒童為研究樣本，分兩組進行教學實驗，探討建構式教學法與傳統教學法的教學效果差異，主要研究結果如下： 1.接受傳統教學法的兒童在電腦素養上顯著優於接受建構式教學法的兒童。 2.接受建構式教學法與接受傳統教學法的兒童在正向電腦態度上沒有顯著的差異 3.接受建構式教學法與接受傳統教學法的兒童在正向人際構通能力上沒有顯著的差異。 根據以上的研究結果，本研究對教育實務與未來研究方向提出以下幾點建議： 一、給學校與推動單位的建議 1.建構式電腦教學需長時間投入與觀察。 2.建構式教學最好以漸進階段進行的方式來實施。 二、給老師與實踐者的建議 1.教師應針對教財內容與學生特性發展出一套自己的建構式教學模式。 2.教市應加強本身的班級經營能力以維持學生主動建構知識的動機。 3.教師應隨時充實自己的專業知能以增進教師為學生搭設解題鷹架的能力。 三給未來相關研究的建議 1.建構式電腦教學宜採用長期的教學實驗處理。 2.教學實驗處理的課程設計需要容許更多的學習彈性。 3.教學效果宜採用多元評量的方式來了解學生建構的知識表徵。

Education is rapidly moving away from the instructional models of the 19th century and educationalists are now asserting that not only do students need to be able to learn by rote but also to be able to think in a more profound and complex manner. Students are required to develop new processes to handle the rapidly changing world that they are expected to take part in as they complete their formal learning. This change is evident in all the developed nations and Australian students are finding that they are being asked to demonstrate a range of higher order thinking skills in all their school subjects. Science courses in Queensland require students to be assessed on both complex reasoning and scientific process skills. Studies have shown that students can develop these skills in a number of ways that include the exposure to appropriate open-ended hands-on tasks. As higher order thinking skills underlie the development of both complex reasoning and scientific process, it is important that science educators take appropriate steps to facilitate the development of this level of thinking. This study examined the use of some higher order thinking skills by students using Information Technology in their science classroom. It investigated the degree to which students used their higher order thinking skills when engaged in a computer simulation of a complex science task. The study involved two pairs of Year 9 students, one pair each from the upper and lower quartiles of the year level, in a private Years 4 to 12 boys' school in an inner Brisbane suburb. All students had been immersed in Information Technology in Years 4 to 8 as part of a technology-across-the-curriculum project for all year levels in the school and at the time of the study were at the end of their second semester in Year 9. Students had worked with a large number of computer applications in all their subjects, averaging about one lesson in the computer room per day across all their subjects for the past year of schooling. The school also had a policy for learning and teaching that revolved around the development in students of critical thinking and, specifically in Science, complex reasoning, and scientific process skills. During this study, students engaged in a computer simulation requiring the application of skills and knowledge already learnt in their science course. The modules of this simulation developed an understanding of the essentials for life and the quantities of a range of items from water to seeds to land areas that would be required for a number of people that would be needed to staff the Lunar Base. Prompts were given on the way, which assisted students in their decision making. Students progressed through the various areas and stages of the development of the Lunar Base until they were satisfied that each area supported the others and that there was no imbalance that needed to be corrected. Once all stages had been completed, students were free to change variables and experiment further as they saw fit in order that they might produce the most self-sufficient Lunar Base possible. There was some evidence that the simulation did encourage the students in the pairs observed to think in greater depth about the materials and to argue their convictions in an improved manner. As well as the students appearing to increase in competency in argument over the period of time, the four students in their final interviews, spoke of feeling satisfied with the results of the lessons. The students also appeared more engrossed in their task and the pedagogy provided in the task was appreciated as it gave meaning to why they were required to learn scientific materials as well also presenting them with ways to find the knowledge for themselves.

Submitted by Fabio Sobreira Campos da Costa (fabio.sobreira@ufpe.br) on 2016-09-21T12:29:43Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) dissertação versão final DIGITAL.pdf: 2240698 bytes, checksum: b488a7b0e68c642253e84c15549a780e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-21T12:29:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) dissertação versão final DIGITAL.pdf: 2240698 bytes, checksum: b488a7b0e68c642253e84c15549a780e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-24 / CNPq / O website educativo sobre aleitamento materno do prematuro, desenvolvido pela Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto, que em parceria com o Programa de Pós-Graduação em Enfermagem da Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (PPGEnf/UFPE), foi aplicado na região Nordeste para verificar a adequabilidade à realidade local. Objetivo: avaliar o efeito do uso do website educativo para a prática do aleitamento materno em mães de prematuros. O artigo de revisão integrativa teve por objetivo identificar as tecnologias em saúde e as contribuições delas para a promoção do aleitamento materno. A amostra incluiu 24 publicações nas bases de dados: LILACS, SCOPUS, MEDLINE e CINAHL; entre 2004 e 2014; nos idiomas português, inglês e espanhol. As 19 tecnologias selecionadas foram classificadas em gerenciais, educacionais e assistenciais. O uso combinado das mesmas apresentou resultados positivos para o processo de aleitar e nove publicações encontraram associação positiva entre o uso de tecnologias com o aumento das taxas de aleitamento materno. O primeiro artigo original avaliou o efeito do uso do website educativo para a prática do aleitamento entre mães de prematuros. Pesquisa quantitativa com delineamento quase-experimental em dois Hospitais Amigos da Criança composta por 63 mães, 31 do grupo intervenção e 32 do controle. Os dados foram coletados de setembro a novembro de 2015 por meio de dois instrumentos: um questionário semiestruturado para caracterização da amostra e uma escala de Likert, referente ao conteúdo e aparência do website. Os dados foram analisados por meio da estatística descritiva, teste do Qui-quadrado e risco relativo. Os achados indicam um aumento significativo de 38% (RR-1,38) da prevalência do aleitamento materno no grupo intervenção após um mês da avaliação inicial. O uso do website foi um dos contribuintes para o aumento do aleitamento entre as mães participantes da intervenção. O segundo artigo original descreveu a avaliação das usuárias sobre aparência e conteúdo do website educativo. Pesquisa transversal e descritiva, realizado com 35 participantes. Para a análise, utilizou-se a estatística descritiva por meio de frequência simples, obteve-se mais de 70% de concordância para todos os itens da escala, sendo adequadamente avaliada pelas usuárias. As mães consideraram que aprenderam sobre aleitamento materno do prematuro e referiram facilidade e satisfação com o uso da tecnologia educativa. / The educational website on maternal premature lactation developed by Ribeirão Preto College of Nursing, which in partnership with the Graduate Program in Nursing at the Federal University of Pernambuco (PPGEnf / UFPE), was applied in the Northeast to check their suitability the local reality. Objective: To evaluate the effect of using the educational website for the practice of breastfeeding in mothers of premature infants. The integrative review article aimed to identify the health technologies and their contributions to the promotion of breastfeeding. The sample included 24 publications in databases: LILACS, SCOPUS, MEDLINE and CINAHL; between 2004 and 2014; in Portuguese, English and Spanish. The 19 selected technologies were classified as management, education and welfare. The combined use of these tested positive for the process suckle nine publications found a positive association between the use of technologies with increasing breastfeeding rates. The first original article evaluated the effect of the use of the educational website for the practice of breastfeeding among mothers of premature infants. Quantitative research with quasi-experimental design in two Baby-Friendly Hospitals composed of 63 mothers, 31 in the intervention group and 32 control. Data were collected from September to November 2015 using two instruments: a semi-structured questionnaire to characterize the sample and a Likert scale, referring to the content and appearance of the website. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square test and relative risk. The findings indicate a significant increase of 38% (RR 1.38) in the prevalence of breastfeeding in the intervention group after one month of the initial evaluation. The use of the website was one of the contributors to the increase in breastfeeding among participating mothers of the intervention. The second original article described the evaluation of users on appearance and content of the educational website. Transversal and descriptive study, conducted with 35 participants. For the analysis we used descriptive statistics by simple frequency, obtaining more than 70% agreement for all items of the scale, it is properly assessed by users. Mothers felt they learned about breastfeeding the premature and mentioned ease and satisfaction with the use of educational technology.

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