By agreeing to The Responsibility to Protect doctrine (R2P) at the United Nations World Summit in 2005, and later adopting a resolution reaffirming the support, the Russian federation accepted a responsibility of the international community to protect populations of other states, if the state itself manifestly fails to protect its own populations. However, Russia has acted in an inconsistent way by exercising its commitment to the R2P principle occasionally. The purpose of this study is to give an answer to the question of why Russia has acted in an inconsistent way to The Responsibility to Protect doctrine. Analyzing the inconsistency puzzle through the realist, liberal and constructivist lens, questioning why Russia has accepted an R2P intervention regarding Libya to halt ongoing mass atrocities, but repeatedly has vetoed against R2P interventions regarding Syria and recently regarding Venezuela, the study concludes that a combination of the three approaches is needed to explain and understand Russia’s inconsistent reaction. Second, it concludes that Russia acted inconsistently because President Medvedev was affected by, and agreeing with, international norms, thereby accepting an R2P into Libya, while President Putin was affected by, and wanted to hold on to the Russian identity. By rejecting R2P interventions in the Syria and Venezuela cases, Putin thereby secured Russian national interests, using a liberal narrative as a pretext for the actions.

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

Konzeptuelle Modelle sind zur Gestaltung und Steuerung von Informationssystemen ein akzeptiertes und weit verbreitetes Instrument. Sie werden sowohl zur Gestaltung der Organisationsstruktur als auch zur Entwicklung der unterstützenden IT-Systeme verwendet. Für diesen Aufgabenbereich existiert eine hohe Nachfrage nach externer Unterstützung, da spezifische Fachkenntnisse und Erfahrungen notwendig sind. In diesem Zusammenhang werden seit Jahrzehnten Ansätze zur Wiederverwendung in Wissenschaft und Praxis diskutiert. Die Akzeptanz und Verbreitung von explizit zur Wiederverwendung konstruierten Modellen (Referenzmodelle) bleiben jedoch deutlich hinter den Erwartungen zurück. Die vorliegende Arbeit trägt zur Untersuchung möglicher Ursachen für den ausbleibenden Erfolg von Referenzmodellen bei. Der Forschung liegt die Vermutung zugrunde, dass die Potentiale von Referenzmodellen nicht zufriedenstellend ausgeschöpft werden können, weil die existierenden bzw. verwendeten Modellierungsmethoden die theoretischen Anforderungen an die Wiederverwendung von modellhaft dargestellten Lösungen zur Unternehmensgestaltung nicht erfüllen. Die vorliegende Arbeit fasst neun Einzelpublikationen zum Themenbereich Evolutionäre Referenzmodelle zu einer kumulativen Dissertation zusammen. Es werden in einem argumentativdeduktiven Verfahren konstruktivistische Theorien zur systematischen Weiterentwicklung und Wiederverwendung konzeptueller Unternehmensmodelle untersucht. Die auf dieseWeise resultierende Erweiterung der allgemeinen Modelltheorie wurde ihrerseits argumentativ-konzeptionell mit Hilfe von semiformalen Argumentationsmodellen aufbereitet. Im Ergebnis werden ein theoretisches Rahmenwerk zur evolutionären Referenzmodellierung präsentiert und 23 konzeptionelle Anforderungen definiert, die eine gezielte Methodenentwicklung für die evolutionäre Referenzmodellierung steuern sollen.

5 ABSTRACT: The present thesis deals with history textbook usage in lower secondary school classes. It focuses on the work methods in French history books and their possible application within the Czech system while taking the pupils' perspective into consideration. The theoretical part introduces history instruction in France and work methods used in their textbooks. The focal point of the thesis is its practical part, a case study of two study units that were prepared based on French textbooks; "Townsmen, trade and slavery" and "Women and feminism in 19 th century". These were taught in two year-eight history classes. The results and discussion consist mainly of the analysis of work outputs and pupils' feedback on the used materials. The conclusion outlines possible means of inspiration for Czech schools by the French methods analysed in the case studies. KEY WORDS: Secondary school history History textbook History didactics French textbooks Inquiry-based learning Constructivist teaching

Machine learning methods have been used very successfully for quite some time to recognize patterns, model correlations and generate hypotheses. However, the possibilities for weighing and evaluating the resulting models and hypotheses, and the search for alternatives and contradictions are still predominantly reserved for humans. For this purpose, the novel concept of constructivist machine learning (conML) formalizes limitations of model validity and employs constructivist learning theory to enable doubting of new and existing models with the possibility of integrating, discarding, combining, and abstracting knowledge. The present work identifies issues that impede the systems capability to abstract knowledge from generated models for tasks that lie in the domain of procedural knowledge, and proposes and implements identified solutions. To this end, the conML framework has been reimplemented in the Julia programming language and subsequently been extended. Using a synthetic dataset of impedance spectra of modeled epithelia that has previously been analyzed with an existing implementation of conML, existing and new implementations are tested for consistency and proposed algorithmic changes are evaluated with respect to changes in model generation and abstraction ability when exploring unknown data. Recommendations for specific settings and suggestions for further research are derived from the results. In terms of performance, flexibility and extensibility, the new implementation of conML in Julia provides a good starting point for further research and application of the system.:Contents Abstract . . . . . III Zusammenfassung . . . . . IV Danksagung . . . . . V Selbstständigkeitserklärung . . . . . V 1. Introduction 1.1. Research Questions . . . . . 2 2. Related Work 2.1. Hybrid AI Systems . . . . . 5 2.2. Constructivist Machine Learning (conML) . . . . . 6 2.3. Implemented Methods . . . . . 9 2.3.1. Unsupervised Machine Learning . . . . . 9 2.3.2. Supervised Machine Learning . . . . . 11 2.3.3. Supervised Feature Selection . . . . . 13 2.3.4. Unsupervised Feature Selection . . . . . 17 3. Methods and Implementation 3.1. Notable Algorithmic Changes . . . . . 19 3.1.1. Rescaling of Target Values . . . . . 19 3.1.2. ExtendedWinner Selection . . . . . 21 3.2. Package Structure . . . . . 23 3.3. Interfaces and Implementation of Specific Methods . . . . . 29 3.4. Datasets . . . . . 41 4. Results 4.1. Validation Against the conML Prototype . . . . . 43 4.2. Change in Abstraction Capability . . . . . 49 4.2.1. Influence of Target Scaling . . . . . 49 4.2.2. Influence of the Parameter kappa_p . . . . . 55 4.2.3. Influence of the Winner Selection Procedure . . . . . 61 5. Discussion 5.1. Reproduction Results . . . . . 67 5.2. Rescaling of Constructed Targets . . . . . 69 5.3. kappa_p and the Selection of Winner Models . . . . . 71 6. Conclusions 6.1. Contributions of this Work . . . . . 77 6.2. Future Work . . . . . 78 A. Julia Language Reference . . . . . 81 B. Additional Code Listings . . . . . 91 C. Available Parameters . . . . . 99 C.1. Block Processing . . . . . 105 D. Configurations Reference . . . . . 107 D.1. Unsupervised Methods . . . . . 107 D.2. Supervised Methods . . . . . 108 D.3. Feature Selection . . . . . 109 D.4. Winner Selection . . . . . 110 D.5. General Settings . . . . . 110 E. Supplemental Figures . . . . . 113 E.1. Replacing MAPE with RMSE for Z-Transform Target Scaling . . . . . 113 E.2. Combining Target Rescaling, Winner Selection and High kappa_p . . . . . 119 Bibliography . . . . . 123 List of Figures . . . . . 129 List of Listings . . . . . 133 List of Tables . . . . . 135 / Maschinelle Lernverfahren werden seit geraumer Zeit sehr erfolgreich zum Erkennen von Mustern, Abbilden von Zusammenhängen und Generieren von Hypothesen eingesetzt. Die Möglichkeiten zum Abwägen und Bewerten der entstandenen Modelle und Hypothesen, und die Suche nach Alternativen und Widersprüchen sind jedoch noch überwiegend dem Menschen vorbehalten. Das neuartige Konzept des konstruktivistischen maschinellen Lernens (conML) formalisiert dazu die Grenzen der Gültigkeit von Modellen und ermöglicht mittels konstruktivistischer Lerntheorie ein Zweifeln über neue und bestehende Modelle mit der Möglichkeit zum Integrieren, Verwerfen, Kombinieren und Abstrahieren von Wissen. Die vorliegende Arbeit identifiziert Probleme, die die Abstraktionsfähigkeit des Systems bei Aufgabenstellungen in der Prozeduralen Wissensdomäne einschränken, bietet Lösungsvorschläge und beschreibt deren Umsetzung. Das algorithmische Framework conML ist dazu in der Programmiersprache Julia reimplementiert und anschließend erweitert worden. Anhand eines synthetischen Datensatzes von Impedanzspektren modellierter Epithelien, der bereits mit einem Prototypen des conML Systems analysiert worden ist, werden bestehende und neue Implementierung auf Konsistenz geprüft und die vorgeschlagenen algorithmischen Änderungen im Hinblick auf Veränderungen beim Erzeugen von Modellen und der Abstraktionsfähigkeit bei der Exploration unbekannter Daten untersucht. Aus den Ergebnissen werden Empfehlungen zu konkreten Einstellungen sowie Vorschläge für weitere Untersuchungen abgeleitet. Die neue Implementierung von conML in Julia bietet im Hinblick auf Performanz, Flexibilität und Erweiterbarkeit einen guten Ausgangspunkt für weitere Forschung und Anwendung des Systems.:Contents Abstract . . . . . III Zusammenfassung . . . . . IV Danksagung . . . . . V Selbstständigkeitserklärung . . . . . V 1. Introduction 1.1. Research Questions . . . . . 2 2. Related Work 2.1. Hybrid AI Systems . . . . . 5 2.2. Constructivist Machine Learning (conML) . . . . . 6 2.3. Implemented Methods . . . . . 9 2.3.1. Unsupervised Machine Learning . . . . . 9 2.3.2. Supervised Machine Learning . . . . . 11 2.3.3. Supervised Feature Selection . . . . . 13 2.3.4. Unsupervised Feature Selection . . . . . 17 3. Methods and Implementation 3.1. Notable Algorithmic Changes . . . . . 19 3.1.1. Rescaling of Target Values . . . . . 19 3.1.2. ExtendedWinner Selection . . . . . 21 3.2. Package Structure . . . . . 23 3.3. Interfaces and Implementation of Specific Methods . . . . . 29 3.4. Datasets . . . . . 41 4. Results 4.1. Validation Against the conML Prototype . . . . . 43 4.2. Change in Abstraction Capability . . . . . 49 4.2.1. Influence of Target Scaling . . . . . 49 4.2.2. Influence of the Parameter kappa_p . . . . . 55 4.2.3. Influence of the Winner Selection Procedure . . . . . 61 5. Discussion 5.1. Reproduction Results . . . . . 67 5.2. Rescaling of Constructed Targets . . . . . 69 5.3. kappa_p and the Selection of Winner Models . . . . . 71 6. Conclusions 6.1. Contributions of this Work . . . . . 77 6.2. Future Work . . . . . 78 A. Julia Language Reference . . . . . 81 B. Additional Code Listings . . . . . 91 C. Available Parameters . . . . . 99 C.1. Block Processing . . . . . 105 D. Configurations Reference . . . . . 107 D.1. Unsupervised Methods . . . . . 107 D.2. Supervised Methods . . . . . 108 D.3. Feature Selection . . . . . 109 D.4. Winner Selection . . . . . 110 D.5. General Settings . . . . . 110 E. Supplemental Figures . . . . . 113 E.1. Replacing MAPE with RMSE for Z-Transform Target Scaling . . . . . 113 E.2. Combining Target Rescaling, Winner Selection and High kappa_p . . . . . 119 Bibliography . . . . . 123 List of Figures . . . . . 129 List of Listings . . . . . 133 List of Tables . . . . . 135

Syftet med denna uppsats är att beskriva och analysera vilka förutsättningar studie- och yrkesvägledare på språkintroduktionsprogram har för det individuella vägledningssamtalet. Utifrån detta utformades följande frågeställningar: vilka är vägledarnas förutsättningar för det individuella vägledningssamtalet med elever med annan kulturell bakgrund? Hur arbetar studie- och yrkesvägledaren med det individuella samtalet för att stötta eleverna i studie- och yrkesvalsprocessen? För att besvara uppsatsens frågeställningar använde vi oss av en kvalitativ metod och genomförde sex intervjuer med studie- och yrkesvägledare på språkintroduktionsprogram. Tidigare forskning visar att vägledningssamtal utgör en central funktion för studie- och yrkesvägledning och är den plats där framtidsfrågor ges utrymme. Studie- och yrkesval för elever med annan kulturell bakgrund kan innebära utmaningar då eleverna befinner sig i en ny kontext samt kan sakna kunskap om utbildning och arbetsmarknad. För att analysera vägledarnas förutsättningar och hur de arbetar med det vägledande samtalet används begreppen habitus, fält och kapital från Bourdieus sociologiska teori. Begreppet handlingshorisont från Hodkinson och Sparkes careership theory och begreppet levnadsrum från Peavys konstruktivistiska vägledning används även vid analys av empirin. Studien visar att de intervjuade vägledarna trots varierande förutsättningar, arbetar kompensatoriskt genom att informera om utbildning och arbetsmarknad samt samarbetar med andra aktörer i det vägledande samtalet. / Due to the increased cultural differences in schools across Sweden, it has been argued that there is a clash of how different guidance counselors work with language introductory programs. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze the prerequisites of guidance counselors in such programs with a focus on individual guidance consultation. The paper adds knowledge to previous research that suggest that consultations are key in the guidance of career and study for individuals coming from abroad. This is because study and career choices for students with different cultural backgrounds can be challenging as students are included in a new context and lacks knowledge about education and the labor market in Sweden. Conducting six interviews with guidance counselors on language introduction programs in Scania region of Sweden, this paper analyzes, using the concepts of action horizon from Hodkinson and Sparkes careership theory and living space from Peavy's constructivist how they work with the guiding conversations, as well as the concepts of habitus, fields and capital drawing on Bourdieu's sociological theory. The study shows that the interviewed guidance counselors, despite different and equal conditions, work compen-satory by informing about education and the labor market and cooperating with other actors in the guiding conversation.

This qualitative study, pursued within a one–site case study, explores the understanding and implementation of inclusive education in an independent Jewish community school in Johannesburg, South Africa nineteen years post democracy. It analyses the phenomenon of inclusion in a school with a community ethos of care and belonging whose context is by definition exclusionary on grounds of a particular social category, religion. Because of its exclusionary agenda the school can be paradoxically positioned as inclusive on grounds of strong communal values. The school however, struggles with difference and diversity of a certain kind, despite its purportedly strong communal spirit and strong religious culture. This study set out to probe how stakeholders understood inclusive education in an attempt to explain how this influenced their practice of inclusive education. Lewin’s theory of Planned Change and four belief systems were utilized to examine the understanding and practice of stakeholders at the school. The study suggested that the four belief systems influenced the way in which inclusive education was both understood and practised in this school. The study argued for the recognition of the importance of different belief systems in the implementation of inclusion in South Africa. The main research question which guided the study was: How has inclusive education policy been implemented in a mono-cultural community school in South Africa, with the three sub–questions being: 1. How do the various school stakeholders understand the concept of inclusion and what are their attitudes towards inclusion? 2. How is inclusive education managed at class, school and community level? 3. To what extent do their attitudes and understandings influence their practice of inclusive education? It was conducted within an interpretative/constructivist research paradigm and utilized a case study design. It relied on qualitative methods of data generation such as insider interviews, personal accounts and document analysis. The participants were drawn from four stakeholder groups, namely, teachers, parents, middle managers and top managers. The descriptions of the stakeholders’ understandings that emerged in this study highlighted how belief systems determined the action towards inclusive education and how despite the school being a community school, the community discourse did not prevail in the actions towards inclusive education, it was the individual beliefs which vied for dominance which determined inclusive action. This resulted in a qualified and fragmented inclusion and in some cases exclusion. The findings were linked to Lewin’s planned approach to change including field theoretical and group dynamic theories. The study concluded that the four belief systems influenced the way in which inclusive education was both understood and practised in this school and the study argued for the recognition of the importance of different belief systems in the implementation of inclusion in South Africa. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / am2013 / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

In response to social trends whereby children are spending less time outside, school administrators have developed certified Nature Explore Outdoor Classrooms (NEOCs) intentionally designed to support whole-child learning within a natural environment. Despite the documented benefits of nature-based education, the literature and NEOC sites report challenges in facilitating this type of space. The purpose of this study was to investigate what prevents teachers in a certified NEOC from facilitating student/teacher engagement with the natural outdoor environment. Kolb's, Piaget's, and Vygotsky's theories of constructivism served as the study's framework to explore the problem from the teachers' perspectives. A qualitative case study was used to gain insight into the potential barriers to facilitating a NEOC. Eight teachers were recruited using purposeful sampling. Participant criteria included (a) >18 years of age, (b) >3 years early childhood teaching experience, (c) >1 year experience in selected NEOC, (d) prior NEOC training, and (e) willingness to share experiences. Data collection included classroom observation, individual interviewing, and review of relevant documents. All data were analyzed using comparative and inductive analysis and coded into 5 emergent themes. Identified barriers included teacher involvement, rules and regulations, volunteers, materials, and weather. By creating a 3-day professional development program that supports the benefits of nature-based learning environments and introduces strategies to overcome identified barriers, this study may promote positive social change in nature-based education. Children, families, and communities may expand their nature-based knowledge and interaction skills to pass to future generations.

Many students have problems learning stoichiometry, a complex mathematical chemistry concept used to determine how much product will be produced or formed from a given quantity of reactants. The problem addressed in this study was teachers' lack of understanding of how to teach stoichiometry in a Midwestern urban school district. The conceptual framework of the study was based upon constructivist theory. A qualitative narrative approach was used to obtain the perceptions of 5 high school chemistry instructors related to their experiences, successful or unsuccessful, in teaching stoichiometry to students in Grades 10 and 11. Data were gathered through face-to-face interviews, which were analyzed via an inductive approach to reveal 6 themes: a difficult subject to teach, presentation of stoichiometry, relevancy, students' reactions, barriers, and gender differences. Findings suggested the need for teachers to be knowledgeable, creative, and resourceful in their subject areas to help their students to learn stoichiometry. Findings also revealed the need for teachers to adapt their instructional strategies and modes of delivery to reflect their students' individual learning styles. Understanding how the participating teachers explained stoichiometry to their students might help other chemistry teachers to examine and adapt their own instructional styles and delivery methods of the concept. This understanding might, in term, help to improve student achievement in stoichiometry in particular and chemistry in general.

No description available.