Digital educational technology is capable of contributing supplementary strategies that can be used to address various educational challenges faced by higher education. Foremost among these challenges is the widespread lack of academic preparedness of students who enter South African higher education institutions. The legacy of Apartheid, teachers' poor domain knowledge and command of the language of instruction, together with a lack of commitment to the cognitive development of learners are some of the reasons why students have not developed the cognitive skills required to engage in meaningful learning. Meaningful learning requires a high level of conceptual engagement and development. To assist in the learning process, educators must focus on student learning rather than on the instructor and the technology used in the instruction. A powerful means of supporting meaningful learning is through a process of model building. Computer technology can effectively be used to facilitate the building of conceptual models. By encouraging students to use computer technology to build models that represent their personal understanding, the students are performing the role of designer and the technology is used as a cognitive tool. Using digital technology as a cognitive tool allows students to engage in critical thinking and higher-order learning. An expert system shell is one way in which technology can be used as a cognitive tool. When students build expert systems they are required to demonstrate the reasoning of an expert and to exhibit an understanding of causal relationships and procedural knowledge. There is very little evidence of research concerning the application of expert systems as a cognitive tool in education. The primary aim of this study is to formulate design principles in the form of conjectures and principles related to a learning environment that uses technology as a cognitive tool in the form of an expert system shell to promote higher-order thinking skills. The second aim of this study is to explore the experiences of students who are exposed to a learning environment based on the conjectures and principles formulated during the design phase of the research. The conjectures and principles formulated during this study are expressed in terms of the characteristics, procedures and arguments associated with a learning environment that uses technology in the form of an expert system shell to facilitate higher-order thinking. These conjectures and principles were separated into seven interrelated clusters that can be summarised as follows: <ul><li> initial exposure;</li><li> guided discovery learning;</li><li> designing the expert system on paper;</li><li> creating domain awareness;</li><li> linking conceptual understanding to a representation of that understanding;</li><li> hands-on development; and</li><li> problem engagement.</il></ul> These conjectures and principles could guide similar endeavours undertaken by lecturers or instructional designers. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / unrestricted

Problem of catalog objectives in digital environment: development and trends in building library catalogs from the bibliographic point of view PhDr. Barbora Drobíková Abstract The aim of the thesis is to explore current trends in building library catalogs from the bibliographic point of view. It focuses on formulation and exploration of trends in bibliography which may influence the library catalogs in near future. The introductory part defines several basic terms. It deals with the catalog objectives and methodological and technological questions in brief. Larger chapters describe the conceptual models FRBR, FRAD and FRSAD and studies which bring these models. These studies show a new view on objectives of bibliographic and authority records, therefore on library catalogs objectives too. This part is closed by an own analysis of these models, their comparison with the object-oriented model FRBRoo including a proposal of FRAD's and FRSAD's implementation into an object-oriented form. Next chapters focus on the relation of bibliography and semantic web and especially on questions connected with a change of bibliographic paradigma and paradigma of the bibliographic control which are to occur with new semantic web technologies. The semantic web can enable new contexts of using of bibliographic data and...

Magister Philosophiae (Integrated Water Resource Management) / Rare-infrequent magnitude floods of shorter duration events are significant natural hazards and play a key role in shaping river channel and island geomorphology. For a given river or channel, there is a relationship between the magnitude of a flood, frequency of a flood and duration of a flood, once a flood exceeds a reach-averaged erosional threshold geomorphic change can begin to occur. Expansion of conceptual models for the response of mixed bedrock alluvial influenced dryland rivers to such floods is of increasing scientific importance. The Vaal River near Parys in the Free State Province is characterised by a variable degree of mixed bedrock-alluvial anabranching channels which divide and re-join around the islands. In this study the historical aerial images and flow data from 1938 to 2016 were used to determine the effects of flood dynamics on island geomorphology in a large mixed bedrock-alluvial anabranching river: Vaal River near Parys. The historical aerial images and flow data reveals some minor island geomorphological changes during flood of rare magnitude, infrequent and shorter duration. The highest flood in the record was the one which was found having a recurrence interval of 20-50 years. The changes observed in the mixed bedrock-alluvial anabranching river in the Vaal River near Parys, indicate some minor decrease in the island bar area during flood of rare magnitudes, infrequent and shorter duration with recurrence interval of 20-50 years. The findings in this study area also reveals that the island bars in the area of study shows some degree of stability, however for the past 78 years the islands bar have not change the position. The impact of flood dynamics on island geomorphology in a large, mixed bedrock-alluvial anabranching river is not yet researched in the area of study (Vaal River), these findings will contribute to enhanced analysis of the Vaal River, relatively the impacts of extreme floods in island and channel geomorphology.

A busca por um modelo conceitual de gestão do equilíbrio em arranjos produtivos é inicialmente justificada pela ausência de metodologias realmente alinhadas aos preceitos sistêmicos de compreensão da realidade. A pesquisa visou à obtenção de um modelo conceitual de análise que indicasse as características que denotariam o equilíbrio entre agentes e manutenção da estrutura de relações de um determinado arranjo econômico de qualquer ordem. Para tal, utilizou-se de recursos da Social Network Analysis e da Teoria dos Jogos, orientados sob uma supra-metodologia de pesquisa derivada da SSM. O resultado final foi a obtenção de um modelo conceitual de gestão do equilíbrio entre agentes econômicos de escopo regional, baseado na análise das características de equilíbrio entre agentes e comportamento da estrutura de relações de um determinado arranjo econômico de qualquer ordem, pautando-se pela obtenção das medidas de relevância interna ponderadas, sendo o indicador de centralidade ponderada de betweenness utilizado para isso, e medidas que indicam o nível de estabilidade dos relacionamentos que compõem a estrutura da rede. Entretanto, para considerar esse modelo realmente aderente às premissas do pensamento sistêmico, foi necessário abstrair que as redes são formadas por múltiplas camadas de relacionamentos de várias naturezas, ou seja, são redes multidimensionais. Para tal, foi necessária a adaptação do ferramental de aferição dos indicadores descritos para a realidade de convergência de múltiplas redes. Nesse intento, foi preciso considerar que cada agente integrante possui pontos de vista diferenciados, ainda que isso possa ser relativizado para efeitos de simulação. Por fim, alinharam-se os indicadores de desvio de relevância interna e estabilidade de rede multidimensional para uma condição que expressasse, em termos relativos a quadrantes, cada uma das típicas possibilidades situacionais da rede, nesta tese enunciada como Classificação Conceitual de Estado de Rede Multidimensional. / The search for a conceptual model of the regional economic agents\' relationships balance management is initially justified by the lack of methodologies that are really aligned to the Systems Thinking premises to comprehend the reality. The research aimed to obtaining a conceptual model that could indicate the characteristics which enable the understanding of the equilibrium between agents and maintenance of the relationships structure for a determined economic arrangement of any order. For that, it were used tools derived from the Social Networks Analysis and the Games Theory, oriented by a derivation of the Soft Systems Methodology as a supra methodology of research. The final result was the creation of a conceptual model which enables the management of the economic agents\' balance in a given economic network, reaching the objective of the research. It was possible by obtaining weighted measures of relevance, considering the betweenness of weighted centrality, and measures that indicate the level of stability of the relationships that make up the network structure. It was also necessary to abstract networks that are formed by multiple layers of varied natures\' relationships seeking to make this model really adhering to the assumptions of systemic thinking. It was equally necessary to adapt the tools for measuring the indicators described for the reality of the converged multiple networks. Finally, this dissertation enunciates the Conceptual Classification of the Multidimensional Networks Status.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / O objetivo principal deste trabalho baseou-se na elaboração e estudo das freqüências de distribuições espaciais das Correntes de Jato próximo do Nordeste Brasileiro (CJNEB) e sistemas sinóticos associados. Esta pesquisa foi realizada devido à necessidade de um maior conhecimento sobre a influência desse sistema na região e a pouca quantidade de artigos relacionados a este tipo de pesquisa. O período escolhido contou com 16 anos de análises entre os anos de 1994 e 2009. Foram utilizados os dados de reanálise do National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) no nível de 200 hPa e imagens de satélite no canal infravermelho do banco de dados do Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) da University of Wisconsin. A partir daí foram encontrados 1.100 casos desta corrente, representando um total de 19% dos dias analisados e 4.740 (81%) casos de ventos com velocidades entre 20 e 30 m/s. Apesar de serem registrados ventos acima de 30 m/s em todas as estações do ano, os meses que contaram com as maiores freqüências e ocorrências deste vento foram os de outono e inverno. O vento máximo registrado para esta corrente de ar em nível superior ocorreu no mês de inverno, alcançando 64 m/s (230 km/h). Em todo período foram notadas variações anuais com ciclos de 4 ou 5 anos de maiores ou menores ocorrências. Os sistemas associados à CJNEB foram os vórtices ciclônicos de altos níveis (VCAN s), cavados (CAV), alta da Bolívia (AB), ciclones do hemisfério norte (CHN) e anticiclones no atlântico sul (AAS) próximo ao equador. As distribuições espaciais encontradas das CJNEB foram referentes às direções de NW-SE, SW-NE, SE-NW, W-E, S-N e N-S. As direções de NW-SE e SW-NE foram os casos mais observadas durante todo o estudo. Foram elaborados modelos conceituais dos três tipos de CJNEB associados com seguintes sistemas sinóticos: I) AB junto com VCAN do tipo clássico perto do NEB no Atlântico e ou cavado; II) Anticiclone do Atlântico junto com VCAN no NEB tipo clássico e ou cavado; III) cavado perto do NEB junto com ciclone do hemisfério norte. Estes tipos de CJNEB tinham seguintes direções: tipo 1 de sul, sudeste e sudoeste; tipo 2 de norte e noroeste; e tipo 3 de leste e sudoeste.

A busca por um modelo conceitual de gestão do equilíbrio em arranjos produtivos é inicialmente justificada pela ausência de metodologias realmente alinhadas aos preceitos sistêmicos de compreensão da realidade. A pesquisa visou à obtenção de um modelo conceitual de análise que indicasse as características que denotariam o equilíbrio entre agentes e manutenção da estrutura de relações de um determinado arranjo econômico de qualquer ordem. Para tal, utilizou-se de recursos da Social Network Analysis e da Teoria dos Jogos, orientados sob uma supra-metodologia de pesquisa derivada da SSM. O resultado final foi a obtenção de um modelo conceitual de gestão do equilíbrio entre agentes econômicos de escopo regional, baseado na análise das características de equilíbrio entre agentes e comportamento da estrutura de relações de um determinado arranjo econômico de qualquer ordem, pautando-se pela obtenção das medidas de relevância interna ponderadas, sendo o indicador de centralidade ponderada de betweenness utilizado para isso, e medidas que indicam o nível de estabilidade dos relacionamentos que compõem a estrutura da rede. Entretanto, para considerar esse modelo realmente aderente às premissas do pensamento sistêmico, foi necessário abstrair que as redes são formadas por múltiplas camadas de relacionamentos de várias naturezas, ou seja, são redes multidimensionais. Para tal, foi necessária a adaptação do ferramental de aferição dos indicadores descritos para a realidade de convergência de múltiplas redes. Nesse intento, foi preciso considerar que cada agente integrante possui pontos de vista diferenciados, ainda que isso possa ser relativizado para efeitos de simulação. Por fim, alinharam-se os indicadores de desvio de relevância interna e estabilidade de rede multidimensional para uma condição que expressasse, em termos relativos a quadrantes, cada uma das típicas possibilidades situacionais da rede, nesta tese enunciada como Classificação Conceitual de Estado de Rede Multidimensional. / The search for a conceptual model of the regional economic agents\' relationships balance management is initially justified by the lack of methodologies that are really aligned to the Systems Thinking premises to comprehend the reality. The research aimed to obtaining a conceptual model that could indicate the characteristics which enable the understanding of the equilibrium between agents and maintenance of the relationships structure for a determined economic arrangement of any order. For that, it were used tools derived from the Social Networks Analysis and the Games Theory, oriented by a derivation of the Soft Systems Methodology as a supra methodology of research. The final result was the creation of a conceptual model which enables the management of the economic agents\' balance in a given economic network, reaching the objective of the research. It was possible by obtaining weighted measures of relevance, considering the betweenness of weighted centrality, and measures that indicate the level of stability of the relationships that make up the network structure. It was also necessary to abstract networks that are formed by multiple layers of varied natures\' relationships seeking to make this model really adhering to the assumptions of systemic thinking. It was equally necessary to adapt the tools for measuring the indicators described for the reality of the converged multiple networks. Finally, this dissertation enunciates the Conceptual Classification of the Multidimensional Networks Status.

The following degree project is written within the department of Information Technology at Uppsala University. The subject studied is the difference between academic user research and such user research performed by professionals at commercially driven companies. Academic’s and professional’s agendas, interests and approaches seem to differ and consequently a gap emerges. To perform a comparison between academically defined and practically defined user research a case study and a literature study were conducted. During the literature study three main academic approaches to perform user research were studied and summarized in a unified view. The case study was performed over 4 months at Spotify in the User Research team to gain insights into how user research is conducted in a commercially driven company. The degree project shows that academics and professionals can benefit from each other. For example, academics can integrate various mix methods to better understand design and concepts and base assumptions on more reliable data. Professionals can benefit from academics by adapting a similar systematic approach to perform user research and have a larger impact on the development.

<p><strong>Introduction:</strong> In Ontario alone, an estimated 6,700 people (3,000 women; 3,700 men) will die of lung cancer in 2011 (Canadian Cancer Society, 2011). A diagnosis of cancer is associated with complex decisions; the array of choices of cancer treatments brings about hope, but also anxiety over which treatment is best suited for the individual patient (Blank, Graves, Sepucha et al., 2006). The overall cancer experience depends on the quality of this decision (Blank et al., 2006). Clinical practice guidelines are knowledge translation tools to facilitate treatment decision-making. In Ontario, guidelines have been developed and disseminated with the purpose to inform clinical decisions, improve evidence based practice, and to reduce unwanted practice variation in the province. But has this been achieved? To study this issue, the purpose of the current study was to gain an in-depth understanding and develop a theoretical framework of how Ontario physicians are making treatment decisions with their non-small cell lung cancer patients. The following research questions guided the study: (a) How do physicians make treatment decisions with their stage II, stage IIIA and stage IIIB non-small cell lung cancer patients in Ontario? (b) How do knowledge translation tools, such as Cancer Care Ontario guidelines, influence the decision-making process?</p> <p><strong>Methods:</strong> A qualitative approach of grounded theory, following a social constructivist paradigm outlined by Kathy Charmaz (2006), was used in this study. 21 semi-structured interviews were conducted; 16 interviews with physicians and 5 with health care administrators. The method of analysis integrated grounded theory philosophy to identify the treatment decision-making process in non-small cell lung cancer, from the physician perspective.</p> <p><strong>Findings:</strong> The theory depicts the treatment decision-making process to involve five key “guides” (or factors) to inform the treatment-decision making process: the unique patient, the unique physician, the family, the clinical team, and the clinical evidence.</p> <p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> Decision-making roles in lung cancer are complex and nuanced. The use of evidence, such as, clinical practice guidelines, is one of many considerations. Information from a large number of sources and a wide array of factors, people, emotions, preferences, clinical expertise, experiences, and clinical evidence informs the dynamic process of treatment decision-making. This theory of the treatment decision-making process (from the physician perspective) has implications relevant to treatment decision-making research, theory development, and guideline development for non-small cell lung cancer.</p> / Master of Science (MSc)

Au cours de la première décennie du XXIe siècle l'Arctique a fait l’objet d’une attention croissante de la part des chercheurs, des politiciens et des multinationales. En effet, les problématiques liées au changement climatique, et le regain d’interêt politique et économique des Etats côtiers et non côtiers, a peu à peu fait apparaître cette région comme un endroit stratégique sur l'échiquier des grandes puissances. Depuis 2001, la Fédération de Russie a entrepris plusieurs actions afin de garantir ses intérêts nationaux dans ce qu'elle considère comme l’Arctique russe, un espace qui comprend environ 22600 kilomètres de littoral avec l'océan Arctique. Or, le changement climatique, les développements socio-économiques et les impératifs stratégiques ont conditionné cette politique pour l’Arctique. Les oblasts de Mourmansk et d’Arkhangelsk jouent, de nos jours, un rôle majeur dans la mise en œuvre de la stratégie russe pour la région arctique. Ce travail évaluera donc les défis majeurs de stratégie et de sécurité nationale russes en Arctique occidental au regard des récents changements du modèle politique et économique russe, du rôle émergent d'acteurs privés et étrangers ainsi que des spécificités des régions arctiques et sous-arctiques. Dans une première partie de notre travail nous essayerons de souligner l’importance stratégique et économique de l’Arctique Occidental pour la Fédération de Russie. Une approche historique nous permettra de mieux comprendre le rôle actuel des oblasts de Mourmansk et d’Arkhangelsk tandis que l’analyse de l’évolution démographique, industrielle et commerciale de ces régions nous fera apprécier son potentiel socio-économique. Enfin, une analyse de l’adaptation des industries énergétiques et du complexe militaro-industriel aux marchés internationaux sera entreprise ainsi qu’une évaluation des risques liés au changement climatique et à la pollution industrielle. Dans une deuxième partie, nous analyserons les principales problématiques rencontrés par les acteurs étatiques et privés en Arctique occidental. Afin d’identifier les principaux enjeux, nous avons transposé des théories des relations internationales à la géopolitique (Waltz, Keohane, Putnam). Tout particulièrement, nous utiliserons pour cette analyse les modèles conceptuels de Graham Allison et son approche sur les intérêts nationaux. / During the first decade of the XXIth century, the Arctic has received growing attention from scholars, policymakers and multinational corporations. Climate change as well as renewed political and economical interests from coastal and non-coastal States had repositioned this region as a prospective theater in the Great powers chessboard. Since 2001, the Russian Federation has taken several international and domestic actions to guarantee its national interest in what it considers as the Russian Arctic, a space that comprises about 22 600 kilometers of national coastline with the Arctic Ocean. But climate change, historical socio-economic developments and strategic imperatives have conditioned this engagement.The Murmansk and Arkhangelsk oblasts plays nowadays a leading role in the implementation of a cross-domain Russian strategy for the Arctic region. This dissertation will then assess the central challenges of Russian National Security and Strategy in the Occidental Arctic taking in consideration recent changes in the Russian Federation political and economical model, the emerging role of private and foreign actors and the specificity of Arctic and sub-Arctic regions.The first part of this dissertation will try to underline the past/current strategic and economical relevance of the Occidental Arctic for the Russian Federation. A historical approach will allow us to better understand the current role of Murmansk and Arkhangelsk oblasts while we will appreciate its socio-economic potential thanks to the analysis of demographic, industrial and commercial developments of these regions. Finally, a study on defense and energy industries adaptation to international markets will be conducted as well as a regional risk-assessment concerning climate change and industrial pollution.In a second part, our main objective is to demonstrate the strategic and economical importance of the Murmansk and Arkhangelsk oblasts for the Russian Arctic policy. This will lead us to analyse core issues in the Occidental Arctic for state and industry actors. The methodology applied to identify the main trends in these issues is a combination of the French school of geopolitics with relevant theories of international relations (Waltz, Keohane, Putnam). Graham Allison’s conceptual models and his approach on national interests will be applied in the analysis.

Dans cette thèse, nous avons abordé plusieurs thématiques liées aux modes de variabilité climatique dans l'Atlantique tropical à l'échelle interannuelle. Les analyses statistiques nous ont permis dans un premier temps de mettre en évidence les deux principaux modes dominants de cette variabilité interannuelle: un mode équatorial et un mode méridien. Le mode équatorial est responsable d'anomalies de température de surface de la mer (SST) principalement dans le Golfe de Guinée et est identifié par des variations de la pente du niveau de la mer dans la bande équatoriale. Il est dû à des rétroactions dynamiques entre le vent, le niveau de la mer et la SST. Quant au mode méridien, il se manifeste par des fluctuations inter-hémisphériques de SST et est contrôlé par des rétroactions dynamiques et thermodynamiques entre le vent, l'évaporation et la SST. L'évaluation du couplage de ces variables clés du mode méridien nous a permis de proposer un modèle conceptuel pour expliquer les principaux mécanismes responsables des oscillations du mode méridien. Le modèle a montré que le mode méridien résulte de la superposition d'un mécanisme auto-entretenu basé sur les rétroactions positives et négatives générant des oscillations régulières de haute fréquence (2-3 ans) et d'un autre mécanisme d'oscillation basse fréquence (4-9 ans) lié à l'influence d'ENSO du Pacifique Est. Comme l'évolution de ces deux modes est fortement liée au déplacement méridien de la zone de convergence intertropicale (ITCZ) qui transporte les pluies, nous avons ensuite identifié la signature de ces modes sur la salinité de la surface de la mer à l'aide observations in situ et d'une simulation numérique régionale. Les processus océaniques et/ou atmosphériques responsables de la signature de chaque mode ont été également identifiés grâce à un bilan de sel dans la couche de mélange du modèle validé. Le bilan de sel a révélé que le forçage atmosphérique, lié à la migration de l'ITCZ, contrôle la région équatoriale tandis que l'advection, due à la modulation des courants, du gradient vertical et le mélange à la base de la couche de mélange, explique les variations de SSS dans les régions sous l'influence des panaches. [...] / In this thesis, we investigate several topics related to the interannual climatic modes in the tropical Atlantic. Statistical analyses allows us to extract the two main dominant modes of interannual variability: an equatorial mode and a meridional mode. The equatorial mode is responsible for Sea Surface Temperature (SST) anomalies mainly found in the Gulf of Guinea and is linked to variations of the sea-level slope in the equatorial band. It is due to dynamic feedbacks between zonal wind, sea level and SST. The meridional mode is characterised by inter-hemispheric SST fluctuations and is controlled by dynamic and thermodynamic feedbacks between the wind, evaporation and SST. After quantifying the coupling between key variables involved in the meridional mode, we develop a conceptual model to explain the main mechanisms responsible for meridional mode oscillations. The model shows that the meridional mode results from the superposition of a self-sustaining mechanism based on positive and negative feedbacks generating regular oscillations of high frequency (2-3 years) and another low frequency oscillation mechanism (4-9 years) related to the influence of ENSO. As the evolution of these two modes is strongly linked to the meridional shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and associated rainfall maximum, we identify the signature of these modes on Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) using in situ observations and a regional numerical simulation. Oceanic and/or atmospheric processes responsible for the signature of each mode are also identified through a mixed-layer salt budget in the validated model. The salt balance reveals that the atmospheric forcing, related to the ITCZ migration, controls the equatorial region while the advection, due to the modulation of current dynamics, the vertical gradient and mixing at the base of the mixed layer, explains SSS variations in regions under the influence of plumes. Finally, we study the Equatorial Kelvin wave characteristics and influences on the density that are involved in the meridional and equatorial mode connection processes, using a very simplified model of gravity wave propagation along the equator. After a brief description of this model, which was initially constructed to study dynamics in the equatorial Pacific, we apply it to the specific case of the equatorial Atlantic by validating its analytical and numerical solutions under adiabatic conditions. [...]