[pt] O estudo investigou o papel da Monografia para Economistas no contexto do currículo de graduação em Economia no Departamento de Ciências Econômicas da Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ). A relevância da pesquisa tem como base o fato de que a apresentação da monografia é condição obrigatória para obtenção do título de bacharel em Ciências Econômicas e a discussão sobre o seu papel envolve uma reflexão mais ampla sobre o currículo de Economia como um todo. A metodologia utilizada é de cunho qualitativo e desenvolveu-se em duas partes: (1) Análise documental referente às orientações do Ministério de Educação e Cultura (MEC), do Conselho Regional de Economia (CORECON-RJ) e dos currículos do curso de Economia da instituição estudada. (2) Análise das entrevistas realizadas com professores de Departamento de Ciências Econômicas da UFRRJ sobre os aspectos principais do tema incluindo a identidade do curso, o papel desempenhado pela monografia, a maneira de desenvolvê-la assim como as principais dificuldades dos alunos. As conclusões do estudo revelam uma tensão sobre a própria concepção de tal disciplina, refletindo a discussão sobre a identidade do próprio curso de economia, enfatizando uma formação mais acadêmica do economista em contraste com uma concepção mais profissional. / [en] This study investigates the role of Monograph for Economists in the context of curriculum of the undergraduate course in Economics Curriculum at the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ). The relevance of this study is based on the fact that the presentation of a monograph is compulsory to obtain the title of Bachelor of Economic Sciences and the discussion of its role involves a broader discussion of the curriculum of Economics as a whole. The methodology of this study is qualitative and was developed in two parts: (1) Documental analysis of the guidelines of the Ministry of Education and Culture (MEC), of the Regional Council of Economics (CORECON-RJ) and of the curricular plans of the institution studied. (2) Interview analysis done with the professors of the Department of Economics of Federal Rural University about the main aspects of the theme including a discussion of the course s identity, the role of monographs, the way they are developed and the main difficulties the students have in preparing these monographs. The conclusions of this study reveal a tension about how monographs were conceptualized, reflecting the discussion of the course s identity and contrasting an academic formation with a professional one.

Ropes course programs provide numerous benefits but what makes programs effective has been unclear. The purpose of the study was to: 1) determine if there was a measurable difference in meaningful involvement between the Challenge by Choice (CbC) and Inviting Optimum Participation (IOP) approaches to ropes course program design and delivery, and 2) identify and compare the linkages among program attributes, outcomes, and values with each approach. The study involved 360 young adolescents (ages 10 -15) who took part in full-day ropes course programs provided by one of four organizations in Ontario, Canada. Participants included 172 boys and 188 girls. The average age was 12.7 years and 47% had previous ropes course program experience. Participants completed either: 1) an experience sampling survey related to meaningful involvement or 2) a means-end laddering survey related to program attributes, outcomes, and values. The experience sampling data were subjected to multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). The dependent variables were meaningful involvement during high (belayed) activities and low (non-belayed) activities. The independent variables were program type, sex, and ropes course experience. Program type had a significant effect (8(3,158) = 0.937, p< 0.05) for meaningful involvement experienced during high activities. Meaningful involvement consists of the areas engagement, choice, and view of self. Follow-up ANOVAs indicated that choice (F(1, 160) = 6.127, p< 0.05) was significantly higher in IOP programs. Differences between the programs in engagement and view of self were not significant. There was no significant effect for low activities. Means-end analysis was used to identify linkages among program attributes, outcomes, and values. Responses were organized into 11 Hierarchical Value Maps. Participants in IOP programs identified different linkages than participants in CbC programs. IOP program participants were more likely to mention the attribute low activities and the outcome group efficacy as significant and less likely to mention the outcome anxiety. CbC participants were less likely to mention low activities and group efficacy and more likely to mention anxiety and the value excitement. These findings indicate that ropes course program design and delivery can be manipulated to provide specific benefits and facilitate participant experiences of meaningful involvement.

Enrollment in online courses has outpaced overall university enrollment for the past several years. The growth of online courses does not appear to be slowing. The purpose of this study was to examine the origins of online education at Tarleton State University, to compare course completion and student academic performance between online and traditional courses, and to develop a predictive model for students’ successful completion of online courses. Archival data from the Tarleton student records system was collected using the Structured Query Language. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze student characteristics. Chi-square analysis was used to determine if significant differences existed between students enrolled in online and traditional courses when comparing course completion and academic performance. Analysis found significant differences existed in both course completion and academic performance for students enrolled in online vs. traditional courses. Additional analysis indicated significant differences existed in course completion by course discipline. A predictive model was created using binary logistic regression and included the predictor variables age, student classification, term course load, and cumulative GPA. The final model correctly predicted successful completion of 85.5 percent of all cases.

The purpose of this study is to investigate 11th and 12th grade high school students&rsquo / attitudes towards philosophy course and to examine whether their attitudes show significant differences with respect to certain background variables such as gender, school type, grade level, GPA of previous semester, philosophy course grade from the previous semester, mother&rsquo / s and father&rsquo / s education level, number of books available at home, and numbers of books read in the previous year. The sample consisted of 1322 high school students from 11th and 12th grades from 11 public and private high schools in the Province of Ankara. Data were gathered from the participants via Philosophy Course Attitude Scale developed by the researcher. Data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. ANOVA was employed to investigate whether there were significant differences among students&rsquo / v attitude towards philosophy course with respect to certain background variables. Descriptive Statistics were used to analyze the background of information of the sample and attitudes of students towards philosophy course. The findings indicated that the students have moderate level of positive attitude towards philosophy course. The findings also showed that with the exception of the mother&rsquo / s education, each of the variables examined (gender, grade level, school type, GPA of previous semester, philosophy course grade from the previous semester, father&rsquo / s education, number of books available at home, number of books read in the previous year) created a significant difference in student attitudes towards the philosophy course.

This study explored changes in goal orientations throughout the semester that might be influenced by self efficacy and a sense of classroom community in hybrid courses in which course management systems (CMS) were used. A hybrid course is distinguished from a traditional face-to-face classroom in that there is an extension of the class, and students interact online in addition to face-to-face. Data were gathered from 14 hybrid courses two times during a semester, once at the beginning of the semester and once again at the end, and were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) to investigate the relationships among the variables. Overall, the results indicated that each goal orientation changed throughout the semester, dynamically interacted with one another, and had unique relationship with self efficacy and sense of classroom community. More specifically, first, a sense of classroom community acted as a significant antecedent of goal orientations and mediated the relationship between pre-mastery goal orientation and post-mastery goal orientation. Second, self efficacy, another antecedent of goal orientations, mediated the relationship between pre-performance avoidance goal orientation and post-performance avoidance goal orientation. Third, post-performance approach goal orientation was influenced by sense of classroom community but not by self efficacy whereas post-performance avoidance goal orientation was influenced by self efficacy but not by sense of classroom community. Fourth, the nature of performance approach goal orientation at the beginning of the semester seemed to change throughout the semester as students gain or lose their competence and develop sense of classroom community. The results also showed that the collaborative function of the course management system most significantly contributed to the sense of classroom community in hybrid courses among four categories of functions (information delivery, external links, course materials, and collaborative function). Lastly, the study suggests ways for instructional designers and college teachers to identify and design courses that promote motivation and a sense of classroom community using various CMS functions, thereby enhancing teachers’ teaching and student learning. / text

This paper sets out to examine the most common errors in the national test and whether the students make the same errors in English course B as in English course A at Upper Secondary School in Sweden. The method used for this study is quantitative where nine grammatical features are used to count the errors made. Twenty national tests were used to carry out this study; ten national tests are from English course A and the other ten from English course B. Results from all features from English course A are compared with some features from English course B. The results show that the most common errors made in the national test are subject verb agreement and tense. Those two features had also a worsening in the English course B. The genitive errors have also doubled in English course B. The best improvement happened with the capital letters. Other features either stayed the same or improved slightly. One of the solutions for grammatical errors could be that teachers and students pay more attention to it and that the teachers include more grammar in their lessons so that the students have an opportunity to improve.

Ropes course programs provide numerous benefits but what makes programs effective has been unclear. The purpose of the study was to: 1) determine if there was a measurable difference in meaningful involvement between the Challenge by Choice (CbC) and Inviting Optimum Participation (IOP) approaches to ropes course program design and delivery, and 2) identify and compare the linkages among program attributes, outcomes, and values with each approach. The study involved 360 young adolescents (ages 10 -15) who took part in full-day ropes course programs provided by one of four organizations in Ontario, Canada. Participants included 172 boys and 188 girls. The average age was 12.7 years and 47% had previous ropes course program experience. Participants completed either: 1) an experience sampling survey related to meaningful involvement or 2) a means-end laddering survey related to program attributes, outcomes, and values. The experience sampling data were subjected to multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). The dependent variables were meaningful involvement during high (belayed) activities and low (non-belayed) activities. The independent variables were program type, sex, and ropes course experience. Program type had a significant effect (8(3,158) = 0.937, p< 0.05) for meaningful involvement experienced during high activities. Meaningful involvement consists of the areas engagement, choice, and view of self. Follow-up ANOVAs indicated that choice (F(1, 160) = 6.127, p< 0.05) was significantly higher in IOP programs. Differences between the programs in engagement and view of self were not significant. There was no significant effect for low activities. Means-end analysis was used to identify linkages among program attributes, outcomes, and values. Responses were organized into 11 Hierarchical Value Maps. Participants in IOP programs identified different linkages than participants in CbC programs. IOP program participants were more likely to mention the attribute low activities and the outcome group efficacy as significant and less likely to mention the outcome anxiety. CbC participants were less likely to mention low activities and group efficacy and more likely to mention anxiety and the value excitement. These findings indicate that ropes course program design and delivery can be manipulated to provide specific benefits and facilitate participant experiences of meaningful involvement.

Taking into consideration outdoor experiential learning's popularity as an effective method for the improvement of personal and group related skills (locus of control (Hans, 2000), self-esteem (Romi & Kohan, 2004), organizational abilities (Russell et al., 2000), social abilities (Meyer, 2000; Hui & Cheung, 2004; Dent, 2006), trust, communication, decision making and group dynamics (Ewert & McAvoy, 2000), there exists much uncertainty how program components relate to outcomes (Russell & Phillips-Miller, 2002; Sibthorp; 2003; Gass & Priest, 2006). Sibthorp et al. (2007:1) and Paisley et al. (2008:201-202) state that too much attention is directed at what participants learn and not how learning takes place. Outdoor experiential learning is mainly centre-based and wilderness-based (Hinkle, 1999:190; Hans, 2000:35), and due to the interchangeable use of these two methods, this confusion has occurred (Gillis & Gass, 2004:601; Epstein, 2004:107-108). In order to develop more successful programs a need has arisen to determine exactly how program components relate to program outcomes (Hans, 2000:33; Russell, 2000:170; Russell & Phillips-Miller, 2002:415; Gass & Priest, 2006:79). Taking this into consideration, Beringer and Martin (2003:30) state that change is usually only attributed to action and experience. In this regard Miner (2003:6), Cole (2005:23), Berger and McLeod (2006:82) and Hill (2007:339) believe that the symbolic meaning of wilderness and its therapeutic role is largely being overlooked or ignored compared to the ecological and experiential values thereof. Although many suggest that the physical environment is important for achieving program outcomes, future research could focus more on the difference of programs in wilderness, unfamiliar non-wilderness environments (such as rope courses) and familiar environments such as classrooms and workplaces (McKenzie, 2000:20). For a clearer understanding on how program components relate to outcomes, Priest (1996) (also see Priest, 1998 and Williams, 2000) indicates by using a comparative study that if group initiatives are more successful than rope courses for the improvement of organizational effectiveness, it can give valuable insight of what specific method should be used for achieving specific outcomes (Priest, 1996:37). Taking this into consideration it is the purpose of this study to compare the effectiveness of a centre-based adventure program with an expedition-based wilderness program with regard to personal and group effectiveness, and to determine if the personal experience of restoration (Kaplan, 1995:172-173; Laumann et al., 2001:31-32), physical self (Berger & McLeod, 2006:91; Caulkins et al., 2006:21), prfmitiveness, humility, timelessness (Cole, 2005:26; Johnson et al., 2005:7), solitude, privacy, freedom of choice (Borrie & Roggenbuck, 2001:7), personal self (Russell & Farnum, 2004:39) and spiritual upliftment (Irvine & Warber, 2002:80; Berger & McLeod, 2006:91) are symbolically unique to wilderness participation. This study made use of a crossover design with a mixed-method approach which De Vos (2005:360) refers to as a combination of quantitative and qualitative research in a single study. In a crossover design all the participants take part in both interventions (Simon, 2002:1), which is, in this case, the centre-based adventure programme and expedition-based wilderness programme. There were 28 third year students (14 men and 14 women), aged 20-23 (x= 21.6 ± 0.7) from the North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus) who took part in this study. The participants were identified using an availability sample and were randomly divided into two experimental groups (7 men and 7 women). The research instrument used to measure personal effectiveness was the Review of Personal Effectiveness and Locus of Control (ROPELOC) developed and piloted by Richards et al. (2002). This questionnaire measures personal effectiveness through seven major components. This questionnaire was administered in the form of a quantitative pre-and post-test to both groups. For the measurement of group effectiveness an improved version of the one,found in Herselman (1998) was used. This questionnaire measures group effectiveness through several factors, such as communication, team spirit, decision making and planning, which are considered important for effective group functioning. In combination with this questionnaire an improved version of the Recreation Experience Preference Scales (Manfredo et al., 1996) was used. This research instrument is developed to determine why people engage in recreation, what people want from it and how people might benefit from it. Both of these questionnaires (group effectiveness and Recreation Experience Preference Scales) were administered in the form of a quantitative post-test to both groups. In combination with the quantitative procedure, one-on-one and focus group interviews were conducted with each participant after every test. With regard to personal effectiveness results indicated that most of the ROPELOC components changed significantly. Between the two programs differences with medium effect (d=0.5) were found in self-confidence (d=0.53), stress management (d=0.42), quality seeking (d=0.62) and coping with change (d=0.49), all in favour of the expedition-based wilderness program. Even though both programs are very effective for the improvement of personal effectiveness, it is strongly recommended that an expedition-based wilderness program should be used. This is mainly attributed to the effect of the wilderness environment. The experience of solitude, privacy and freedom of choice, spiritual upliftment and restoration proved to be the most powerful. In terms of group effectiveness results indicated medium (d=0.5) to significant (d>0.8) differences mostly in favour of the centre-based adventure program in communication abilities (d=0.52), competition within the group (d=0.83) and productiveness (d=0.68). Although both programmes are rated very effective for the improvement of group effectiveness, it is strongly recommended that a centre-based adventure program should be used. This is mainly attributed to active involvement, intense social interaction and continuous group discussions. Furthermore, a significant sequence effect in favour of first attending the centre-based adventure program and thereafter the expedition-based wilderness program was documented, which lead to the conclusion that the two programmes should be used in combination. For a meaningful adventure experience results showed that the personal experience of restoration, physical self, primitiveness, humility, timelessness, solitude, privacy, freedom of choice, personal self and spiritual upliftment made the most important contribution during the expedition-based wilderness program and that this program is most effective in creating this. However, it is possible to experience these components during a centre-based adventure program, but to a lesser extent and with different meaning. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Recreation Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Taking into consideration outdoor experiential learning's popularity as an effective method for the improvement of personal and group related skills (locus of control (Hans, 2000), self-esteem (Romi & Kohan, 2004), organizational abilities (Russell et al., 2000), social abilities (Meyer, 2000; Hui & Cheung, 2004; Dent, 2006), trust, communication, decision making and group dynamics (Ewert & McAvoy, 2000), there exists much uncertainty how program components relate to outcomes (Russell & Phillips-Miller, 2002; Sibthorp; 2003; Gass & Priest, 2006). Sibthorp et al. (2007:1) and Paisley et al. (2008:201-202) state that too much attention is directed at what participants learn and not how learning takes place. Outdoor experiential learning is mainly centre-based and wilderness-based (Hinkle, 1999:190; Hans, 2000:35), and due to the interchangeable use of these two methods, this confusion has occurred (Gillis & Gass, 2004:601; Epstein, 2004:107-108). In order to develop more successful programs a need has arisen to determine exactly how program components relate to program outcomes (Hans, 2000:33; Russell, 2000:170; Russell & Phillips-Miller, 2002:415; Gass & Priest, 2006:79). Taking this into consideration, Beringer and Martin (2003:30) state that change is usually only attributed to action and experience. In this regard Miner (2003:6), Cole (2005:23), Berger and McLeod (2006:82) and Hill (2007:339) believe that the symbolic meaning of wilderness and its therapeutic role is largely being overlooked or ignored compared to the ecological and experiential values thereof. Although many suggest that the physical environment is important for achieving program outcomes, future research could focus more on the difference of programs in wilderness, unfamiliar non-wilderness environments (such as rope courses) and familiar environments such as classrooms and workplaces (McKenzie, 2000:20). For a clearer understanding on how program components relate to outcomes, Priest (1996) (also see Priest, 1998 and Williams, 2000) indicates by using a comparative study that if group initiatives are more successful than rope courses for the improvement of organizational effectiveness, it can give valuable insight of what specific method should be used for achieving specific outcomes (Priest, 1996:37). Taking this into consideration it is the purpose of this study to compare the effectiveness of a centre-based adventure program with an expedition-based wilderness program with regard to personal and group effectiveness, and to determine if the personal experience of restoration (Kaplan, 1995:172-173; Laumann et al., 2001:31-32), physical self (Berger & McLeod, 2006:91; Caulkins et al., 2006:21), prfmitiveness, humility, timelessness (Cole, 2005:26; Johnson et al., 2005:7), solitude, privacy, freedom of choice (Borrie & Roggenbuck, 2001:7), personal self (Russell & Farnum, 2004:39) and spiritual upliftment (Irvine & Warber, 2002:80; Berger & McLeod, 2006:91) are symbolically unique to wilderness participation. This study made use of a crossover design with a mixed-method approach which De Vos (2005:360) refers to as a combination of quantitative and qualitative research in a single study. In a crossover design all the participants take part in both interventions (Simon, 2002:1), which is, in this case, the centre-based adventure programme and expedition-based wilderness programme. There were 28 third year students (14 men and 14 women), aged 20-23 (x= 21.6 ± 0.7) from the North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus) who took part in this study. The participants were identified using an availability sample and were randomly divided into two experimental groups (7 men and 7 women). The research instrument used to measure personal effectiveness was the Review of Personal Effectiveness and Locus of Control (ROPELOC) developed and piloted by Richards et al. (2002). This questionnaire measures personal effectiveness through seven major components. This questionnaire was administered in the form of a quantitative pre-and post-test to both groups. For the measurement of group effectiveness an improved version of the one,found in Herselman (1998) was used. This questionnaire measures group effectiveness through several factors, such as communication, team spirit, decision making and planning, which are considered important for effective group functioning. In combination with this questionnaire an improved version of the Recreation Experience Preference Scales (Manfredo et al., 1996) was used. This research instrument is developed to determine why people engage in recreation, what people want from it and how people might benefit from it. Both of these questionnaires (group effectiveness and Recreation Experience Preference Scales) were administered in the form of a quantitative post-test to both groups. In combination with the quantitative procedure, one-on-one and focus group interviews were conducted with each participant after every test. With regard to personal effectiveness results indicated that most of the ROPELOC components changed significantly. Between the two programs differences with medium effect (d=0.5) were found in self-confidence (d=0.53), stress management (d=0.42), quality seeking (d=0.62) and coping with change (d=0.49), all in favour of the expedition-based wilderness program. Even though both programs are very effective for the improvement of personal effectiveness, it is strongly recommended that an expedition-based wilderness program should be used. This is mainly attributed to the effect of the wilderness environment. The experience of solitude, privacy and freedom of choice, spiritual upliftment and restoration proved to be the most powerful. In terms of group effectiveness results indicated medium (d=0.5) to significant (d>0.8) differences mostly in favour of the centre-based adventure program in communication abilities (d=0.52), competition within the group (d=0.83) and productiveness (d=0.68). Although both programmes are rated very effective for the improvement of group effectiveness, it is strongly recommended that a centre-based adventure program should be used. This is mainly attributed to active involvement, intense social interaction and continuous group discussions. Furthermore, a significant sequence effect in favour of first attending the centre-based adventure program and thereafter the expedition-based wilderness program was documented, which lead to the conclusion that the two programmes should be used in combination. For a meaningful adventure experience results showed that the personal experience of restoration, physical self, primitiveness, humility, timelessness, solitude, privacy, freedom of choice, personal self and spiritual upliftment made the most important contribution during the expedition-based wilderness program and that this program is most effective in creating this. However, it is possible to experience these components during a centre-based adventure program, but to a lesser extent and with different meaning. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Recreation Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

The design of automatic systems for steering a ship presents difficult challenges because of their dynamic properties which vary considerably within the range of sailing conditions. Automatic steering of ships has its origin at the beginning of the century and was prompted by the introduction of the gyrocompass. Until the earlier 70s almost all autopilots for a ship were based on the proportional-derivative-integral (PID) controller. The main disadvantage with PID controllers is that the optimal parameters setting can be achieved only for a particular sailing condition. This shortcoming was and is still dealt with in the framework of adaptive theory where the controller parameters are adjusted in the attempt to seek the optimum of a pre-set performance function. Despite such a potential advantage, at present adaptive control theory is limited to linear plants and requires a certain amount of a-priori information for a successful application. This thesis is concerned with the applicability of intelligent control techniques to the problem of designing course-keeping and course-changing autopilots for ships. For this reason the framework of intelligent control theory is introduced and a pragmatic definition of intelligent controllers is stated. The learning and adaptive features of neural networks and fuzzy logic systems are exploited and used to solve advantageously the control design problem. Adaptive networks are used as a unifying structure where different kinds of neural networks and fuzzy logic paradigms can be described. In this framework, comparisons between neural networks and fuzzy logic systems are made and results from one field can be easily extended to the other. Although the use of such systems for the design of autopilots is in its early stage, the majority of the contributions which have appeared in literature have focused on the use of feedforward networks trained with the back-propagation algorithm. The main contributions of this thesis are the critical analysis of the feedforward network controller trained with the back-propagation algorithm, the proposition of an alternative controller architecture based on the use of radial basis function networks and to give conditions under which the stability analysis of the intelligent controllers so designed can be evaluated.