The importance of testing the co-alignment model has been emphasized by several researchers in the past. The present study is an attempt to test the model using theories in corporate finance and strategic management, which will also prove the commonalties that exist between these domains of business research. This will help support the arguments of some researchers in the hospitality industry who have stressed the importance of assessing the firm's strategies using concepts in finance. The overall objective of this study is to test the viability of the co-alignment model using strategic management and corporate finance theory. The present study identifies the dimensions and variables using prior research within each of the constructs studied under the management and corporate finance domains, vis-a-vis environment risk, corporate strategy, capital structure and firm performance. The relationship between the constructs and dimensions were tested for the dependencies between them using surrogates used in prior research through a priori hypothesized relationships. The unit of analysis was the corporate level, and hence, the study included corporate level data of restaurant firms. The research design included cross-sectional data of restaurant firms that were averaged across an a priori defined time period. These firms were selected based on certain criteria that helped control for country effects and industry effects. Therefore, the publicly traded firms selected as part of the sample were based in the U.S. serving markets predominantly within the country. The statistical analysis was conducted using cross-sectional regression. Results indicate that a high variance in firm performance is explained by the co-alignment between environment risk, corporate strategy, and capital structure. Furthermore, the hypothesized relationships between variables that represent the constructs hold good while using accrual and cash flow returns as surrogates of firm performance. This key finding provides the base for future research efforts, which could focus on developing the model through the use of surrogates that are used in both strategic management and corporate finance research. Also, the sample could be extended to include privately owned restaurant firms that serve markets within the U.S., which will help improve the generalizability of the co-alignment model. / Ph. D.

Les peuplements forestiers mélangés subissent moins de dégâts d’insectes herbivores que les peuplements purs, du fait d’une diminution de l’accessibilité à la ressource ou/et d’une amélioration des conditions de survie de leurs ennemis naturels. Pour vérifier ces hypothèses, nous avons étudié un insecte ravageur, la processionnaire du pin (Thaumetopoea pityocampa), et ses insectes parasitoïdes dans le contexte de monoculture de pin maritime (Pinus pinaster) de la forêt des Landes de Gascogne, où persistent localement des zones de milieu ouvert (parefeux, coupes rases) et des boisements d’essences feuillues (haies en bordure de peuplement de pin, ripisylves, îlots). Nous avons pu démontrer que :(1) La colonisation des parcelles de pin par la processionnaire est limitée parla présence de haies de feuillus en lisière de parcelle. En effet, les feuillus jouent un rôle de barrière physique, entravant la détection visuelle des pins par la femelle de processionnaire lorsqu’elle recherche un site d’oviposition.(2) La longévité des principaux parasitoïdes, spécialiste et généraliste, des oeufs de processionnaire est favorisée par la consommation de miel lat produit pardes pucerons du chêne. Cela permet notamment à l’espèce généraliste, qui émergedeux mois avant la processionnaire, de prolonger sa présence dans le milieu et doncd’augmenter sa probabilité de parasiter des pontes de processionnaire.(3) Les chrysalides de processionnaire du pin survivent mieux dans le sol desmilieux ouverts que sous couvert forestier (de pin ou de feuillus), du fait d’unetempérature et d’une humidité plus élevées. L’association de pins et de milieuxouverts favorise la processionnaire par complémentation des habitats, tandis que laprésence de feuillus peut représenter un piège écologique pour les chenilles aumoment de l’enfouissement.(4) À l’échelle du paysage, les peuplements de pin maritime au centre depaysages hétérogènes sont moins infestés que dans les paysages de monoculture.De plus, les niveaux d’infestation de la processionnaire diminuent lorsque laproportion de feuillus dans le paysage environnant augmente.Ces résultats sont interprétés en fonction des mécanismes écologiquesexpliquant la relation entre diversité et herbivorie. Des possibilités de transfert vers lagestion forestière de la forêt des Landes de Gascogne sont proposées, ainsi que desperspectives en termes de recherche scientifique. / Mixed forests are less prone to insect damage than pure forests because ofreduced host accessibility and/or improved control by natural enemies. To test thesehypotheses, we have studied the ecology of the pine processionary moth (PPM)(Thaumetopoea pityocampa) and its parasitoid, in a monoculture of maritime pine(Pinus pinaster) plantations, the Landes de Gascogne forest. There, open areas(firebreaks, clear cuts) and patches of broadleaved woodlands (hedgerows, riparianforest, natural forest remnants) still persist locally. In this study we have shown that:(1) Pine stand colonization by PPM was limited by the presence ofbroadleaved hedgerows at stand edge. Broadleaved trees formed physical barriersdisrupting the visual detection of pine trees by PPM females when searching for anoviposition site.(2) The longevity of the two main PPM egg parasitoids increased whenspecimen were fed with honeydew produced by oak aphids. The generalist species,which emerges two months before PPM, could benefit from this longer lifespan tooverlap its host emergence.(3) PPM pupae survived better in the soil of open areas than under forestcovers (pine or broadleaved trees), because of higher temperature and humidity. Theassociation between pine stands and open areas benefits PPM through habitatcomplementation, whereas the presence of broadleaved trees may act as anecological trap for PPM caterpillars.(4) Maritime pine stands within heterogeneous landscapes exhibited lowerPPM infestations than similar stands within pine monocultures. PPM infestation levelsdecreased with increasing percent broadleaved area in the surrounding landscape.These results are discussed according to the ecological mechanisms whichmay explain the relationship between insect herbivory and tree species diversity.Perspectives for improved PPM management in the Landes de Gascogne forest, andfor further scientific research are proposed.

Este estudo propõe uma hipótese que considera fundamental a atuação linguística conjunta dos cabo-verdianos e dos judeus sefarditas e seus escravos na gênese e no desenvolvimento do papiamentu. A justificativa para a pesquisa reside no fato de que, a despeito de ser um tema discutido na literatura, ainda se trata de um assunto controverso entre os estudiosos, havendo até o momento, pelo menos, quatro hipóteses diferentes. Maduro (1965), Rona (1970) e Munteanu (1996), por exemplo, defendem que o papiamentu seria um crioulo de base espanhola, tendo seus elementos portugueses introduzidos posteriormente pelos judeus sefarditas e seus escravos. Já Lenz (1928) e Martinus (1996) consideram o papiamentu como resultado da relexificação de um crioulo ou protocrioulo afroportuguês falado por escravos trazidos da África. De acordo com Goodman (1996 [1987]) e Smith (1999), por seu turno, o papiamentu seria um crioulo de base portuguesa, surgido a partir de um dialeto judeo-português da comunidade sefardita e seus escravos. Por fim, Jacobs (2012) considera que o papiamentu teria se originado a partir do crioulo falado na ilha de Santiago, no arquipélago de Cabo Verde, sendo mais tarde levado para Curaçao. Analisando as hipóteses, observou-se que duas apresentam argumentos e fatos linguísticos evidenciáveis, a saber, as relações com o kabuverdianu (especialmente, a variedade de Santiago) e a participação dos judeus sefarditas e seus escravos. A fim de decidir a favor de uma das hipóteses, itens lexicais e funcionais das variedades setecentistas e oitocentistas do papiamentu e do kabuverdianu clássicos, bem como do papiamentu sefardita, foram comparados, resultando em convergências nos níveis lexicais e funcionais. De um lado, a grande quantidade de elementos derivados do português no papiamentu clássico seria uma evidência de que esses itens representaram um papel basilar no desenvolvimento da língua, de outro, as convergências lexicais e funcionais uma vez que há uma menor probabilidade de substituição dos itens funcionais (em virtude de sua opacidade semântica) (MATRAS, 2009) não podem ser explicadas por acaso. Já as similaridades com o kabuverdianu clássico confirmariam seu parentesco linguístico. No que diz respeito ao papel da comunidade sefardita e seus escravos, observou-se que a expressão linguística dos judeus também faz parte da estrutura geral do papiamentu clássico, deixando marcas inclusive na variedade moderna. Tendo em vista o material documental dos séculos xviii e xix, escolher uma única hipótese resultaria em um quadro parcial, sendo necessário postular uma convergência de hipóteses, que consiste não somente na reunião de duas hipóteses (a cabo-verdiana e a sefardita), mas na proposta de um novo cenário para se explicar a gênese e o desenvolvimento do papiamentu. Dentro dessa perspectiva, é importante considerar que, em situações de contato, as línguas continuam se influenciando mutuamente ao longo dos tempos (PERINI-SANTOS, 2015), sendo necessária, portanto, uma análise que privilegie a contribuição dos falantes de diferentes línguas em diversas sincronias. Assim, seguindo Faraclas et al. (2014), uma convergência de elementos linguísticos cabo-verdianos e dos sefarditas e seus escravos deve ser considerada nos estudos sobre a formação e desenvolvimento do papiamentu. / This study proposes a hypothesis considering fundamental the joint linguistic agency of Cape Verdeans and Sephardic Jews and their slaves for the genesis and development of Papiamentu. The rationale for the study lies in the fact that, despite being a topic discussed in the literature, it is still a controversial subject among scholars. So far, there are at least four different hypotheses. Maduro (1965), Rona (1970) and Munteanu (1996), for example, argue that Papiamentu is a Spanish-based Creole and that its Portuguese elements were later introduced by Sephardic Jews and their slaves. On the other hand, Lenz (1928) and Martinus (1996) consider Papiamentu a result of a relexification of a Creole or an African-Portuguese Proto-Creole language spoken by the slaves brought from Africa. According to Goodman (1996 [1987]) and Smith (1999), Papiamentu was a Portuguese-based Creole emerged from a Judeo- Portuguese dialect of the Sephardic community and its slaves. Finally, Jacobs (2012) considers that Papiamentu would have originated from the Creole spoken on Santiago island, in the Cape Verde Islands, and was later taken to Curacao. By analyzing the hypotheses, it was observed that two of them have arguments and linguistic facts capable of being evidenced: relations with Cape Verdean Creole (especially the Santiago variety) and the participation of Sephardic Jews and their slaves in it. In order to decide in favor of one of these hypotheses, lexical and functional items of the eighteenth and nineteenth-century varieties of Classic Papiamentu, Classic Cape Verdean Creole and Sephardic Papiamentu were compared, resulting in convergences at the lexical and functional levels. On the one hand, the large number of elements derived from Portuguese in Classic Papiamentu would evidence that these items played a fundamental role in the development of the language. On the other hand, lexical and functional convergence as it is less likely to replace functional items (by virtue of their semantic opacity) (MATRAS, 2009) cannot be explained by mere chance. Similarities with Classic Cape Verdean Creole confirm their linguistic kinship. Regarding the role of the Sephardic community and its slaves, it was observed that the linguistic expression of Jews was also part of the overall structure of Classic Papiamentu, leaving marks even in its modern variety. Given the eighteenth and nineteenth-century documentation, choosing a single hypothesis would result in a partial picture. It is necessary to postulate a convergence of hypotheses, which consists not only in uniting two hypotheses (Cape Verdean and Sephardic), but also in the proposal of a new scenario to explain the genesis and the development of Papiamentu. Within this perspective, it is important to consider that, in contact situations, languages continue to influence each other over time (PERINI-SANTOS, 2015), requiring therefore an analysis that favors agency on the part of speakers of different languages in different synchronies. Thus, following Faraclas et al. (2014), a convergence of linguistic elements of Cape Verdean Creole and of the languages of Sephardic Jews and their slaves must be considered in studies on the formation and development of Papiamentu.

Argumentieren ist zentraler Bestandteil naturwissenschaftlicher Erkenntnisgewinnung. Dennoch gibt es bisher nur wenige Arbeiten, die untersuchen, wie Lernende auf der Grundlage selbstständig durchgeführter Experimente für bzw. gegen eine eigene Hypothese argumentieren. Vor diesem Hintergrund untersucht diese Arbeit, welchen Einfluss personale Faktoren (u. a. das Fachwissen und das situationale Interesse) und die Art der Lernumgebung (Realexperiment vs. Computersimulation) darauf nehmen, welche Typen von Argumenten verwendet werden. Ferner wird in dieser Arbeit untersucht, inwiefern die Verwendung dieser Argumentkategorien den Lernerfolg beeinflusst. Auf der Basis von Interviewdaten konnten zunächst für die vorgebrachten Argumente beim Wechseln bzw. Beibehalten eigener Hypothesen beim Experimentieren zehn Kategorien identifiziert werden (u. a. „Intuition“, „Expertenwissen“, „Messunsicherheiten“ sowie „Daten als Evidenz“). Zur quantitativen Erfassung wurde dann für die vier o. g. Argumentkategorien ein Likert-skaliertes Instrument entwickelt. Die aufgeführten Fragestellungen wurden schließlich in einer randomisierten Studie mit 938 Schülerinnen und Schülern untersucht. Bei der Untersuchung des Einflusses personaler Faktoren zeigt sich u. a., dass Lernende in einer Argumentation umso eher Daten als Evidenz heranziehen, je höher das fachliche Vorwissen ist. Die Verwendung dieser Argumentkategorie erhöht wiederum die Wahrscheinlichkeit dafür, dass Lernende nach dem Experimentieren eine fachlich adäquate Hypothese aufstellen. Dies impliziert, dass der Umgang mit experimentellen Daten und Beobachtungen im Physikunterricht stärker als bisher berücksichtigt werden muss, z. B. durch eine explizitere Förderung von Fähigkeiten zum Umgang mit experimentellen Daten. Bis auf einen gut erklärbaren Unterschied können grundlegende Unterschiede beim Experimentieren zwischen Gruppen, die mit einem Real- bzw. Computerexperiment gearbeitet haben, nicht belegt werden. / Argumentation from data and evidence evaluation is widely seen as a scientific core practice. One approach to engage students in a meaningful argumentation practice is to provide lab work situations where they can construct hypotheses on the basis of their own prior knowledge and consequently evaluate these hypotheses in light of self-collected data. However, until recently, only little research has analyzed students' argumentation from data. Against this backdrop this research seeks to identify: a) the influences of personal factors (such as content knowledge and situational interest); b) the type of learning environment as a situational factor (real vs. virtual experiment) on the use of different categories of argument (such as Intuition, Appeal to Authority, Measurement Uncertainties (explicit) and Data as Evidence); c) the influence of argumentation on learning outcomes through experimentation in school labs. First, an interview-study was used to identify the different types of arguments used by students. Analyses focused on the nature of justification in argument and revealed ten different categories students use while arguing for or against hypotheses. As a next step, four out of ten categories were operationalized by means of a Likert-scaled instrument to assess the use of different types of argument in a valid and reliable manner. The findings from a randomized study among 938 secondary school students in a lab work setting indicate, among others, that content knowledge is positively related to the use of data as evidence. Again, the use of data as evidence increases the probability of stating a correct hypothesis after conducting the experiment. This implies that the ability to deal with data and measurement uncertainties should be better fostered in physics classes. Besides one explicable difference, no evidence was found, which supports the hypothesis that students' argumentation would differ while working with hands-on materials vs. computer simulations.

A descoberta de Regras de Associação é uma tarefa de mineração de dados que procura identificar padrões em datasets, permitindo, após a sua interpretação, identificar conhecimento específico acerca do problema em análise. A Mineração de Regras de Associação pode ser usada como uma metodologia para descobrir hipóteses ou teorias candidatas em um domínio do conhecimento. No entanto, o processo de Mineração de Regras de Associação gera um grande número de regras superando a capacidade de exploração do usuário. Esse fato pode tornar o processo de análise inviável, além de afetar negativamente o resultado de alguns algoritmos de extração de conhecimento. Diante disso, várias abordagens foram propostas para guiar o usuário na exploração das Regras de Associação descobertas, em especial com a utilização de estruturas de Rede, que permitem analisar as relações existentes entre as regras. Neste contexto, esse trabalho foi motivado pelo potencial uso de Redes na otimização da identificação do conhecimento, em processos de Mineração de Regras de Associação, formulando abordagens explicáveis. Outra motivação surge da lacuna referente ao uso de Redes em tarefas multialvo inerente de várias aplicações do mundo real. O desenvolvimento deste trabalho teve o intento de avançar as pesquisas da área de Mineração de Regras de Associação com o uso de Redes em relação a métodos de geração de hipóteses validáveis com um ou dois itens objetivo, tanto em relação à interpretabilidade como na expressividade das representações construídas. Um Mapeamento Sistemático da literatura da área foi realizado com a finalidade de conhecer o estado da arte sobre como o uso das Redes pode auxiliar nos processos de Mineração de Regras de Associação. Neste trabalho é proposto e desenvolvido um método de seleção e avaliação das medidas de suporte e confiança mínimos referentes a extração de Regras de Associação com o uso de Medidas de Centralidade de Redes, cuja contribuição principal foi a elaboração de um critério objetivo para extração de Regras de Associação. Foram também propostas, desenvolvidas e validadas duas novas Redes, as Redes de Regras de Associação Filtradas (Filtered-ARNs) e as Redes de Regras de Associação Multialvo (MTARNs) que promoveram um impacto positivo na identificação do conhecimento por meio da comprovação matemática da influência entre os elementos de uma Regra de Associação e ampliaram a capacidade de extração do conhecimento em estudos de aplicações multialvo. / The discovery of Association Rules is a data mining task that seeks to identify patterns in datasets, allowing, after its interpretation, to determine specific knowledge about the problem under analysis. Association Rules Mining can be used as a methodology for discovering hypotheses or candidate theories in a knowledge domain. However, the Association Rules Mining process generates a large number of rules that exceed the users ability to exploit. This fact may make the analysis process impracticable, as well as negatively affect the outcome of some knowledge extraction algorithms. Therefore, several approaches were proposed to guide the user in the exploration of the discovered Association Rules, especially with the use of Network structures, which allow to analyze the relations between the rules. In this context, this work was motivated by the potential use of Networks in the optimization of knowledge identification, in Association Rules Mining processes, formulating explanable approaches. Another motivation arises from the gap regarding the use of Networks in multi-target tasks inherent to several real-world applications. The development of this work was intended to advance the research of the Association Rules Mining with the use of Networks with methods of generating validate hypotheses with one or two target items, both about the interpretability and in the expressiveness of representations built. A Systematic Mapping of the literature of the area was carried out with the purpose of knowing the state of the art on how the use of the Networks can help in the Mining processes of Association Rules. In this work, a method of selection and evaluation of the minimum support and trust measures regarding the extraction of Association Rules with the use of Network Centralization Measures was proposed and developed, whose main contribution was the elaboration of an objective criterion for extraction of Association Rules. Two new networks were also introduced, developed and validated, the Filtered Association Rules Networks (Filtered-ARNs) and the Multi-Target Association Rules Networks (MTARNs) that promoted a positive impact on the identification of knowledge through mathematical proof of the influence between the elements of an Association Rule and extended the capacity of knowledge extraction in studies of multi-target applications.

Title: Motivations of females to play poker online. (Business study of Swedish women) Authors: Anastasiya Bochkareva - 870208 Engelbrektsgatan 8A 72216 Västerås, Sweden aba07001@student.mdh.se Karina Petrova - 880613 Södergatan 22 19547 Märsta, Sweden kpa07001@student.mdh.se Supervisor: Mikael Holmgren Examiner: Ole Liljetors Key Words: Online gambling; Online poker; Swedish women; Motivation; Emotional motivations; Material motivations, Atmosphere; Accessibility; Hypotheses; Regression analysis Institution: Mälardalen University Sweden, School of Sustainable Development of Society and Technology, Box 883, 721 23 Västerås Course: Master Thesis in Business Administration, 15 ECTS-points, spring semester 2011 Problem: What motivates Swedish women to play poker online for money? Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate the main motives behind Swedish females’ propensity to play poker online by means of hypotheses testing through regression analysis. Method: Method includes collection of the information on definitions, theories and modelsabout gambling, online gambling (precisely online poker) and motivations togamble. Five hypotheses have been constructed based on the collected informationand the survey have been created and conducted among 397 Swedish female onlinepoker players. Further, based on gathered data, hypotheses have been tested bymeans of simple linear and multiple regressions.. Results: Regression analysis revealed that emotional and material motivations together withaccessibility of the game and surrounding atmosphere play a significant role in thereason why Swedish females play online poker for money. It was also found thatemotional motivation was a fundamental factor that triggers Swedish women togamble. Furthermore, research revealed the hypothetical target segment of femaleSwedish online poker players. Average Swedish woman is between 30-40 years oldsingle woman without children, who live high speed, active life (either studying orworking) and who spends around 30.3 hours per months on playing online poker.

Οι δείκτες αποτελεσματικότητας μιας διαδικασίας μετρούν τον βαθμό στον οποίο μια διαδικασία, που βρίσκεται σε στατιστική ισορροπία, παράγει προϊόντα τα οποία ικανοποιούν τις προδιαγραφές του πελάτη. Στη διπλωματική αυτή εργασία δίνονται οι ορισμοί διαφόρων τέτοιων δεικτών που έχουν προταθεί από τη βιβλιογραφία, για μονοδιάστατες και διδιάστατες μεταβλητές, οι οποίες ακολουθούν κανονική κατανομή. Παρουσιάζονται οι ιδιότητες καθώς και οι σχέσεις μεταξύ των δεικτών αυτών και αναλύονται τα μειονεκτήματα και τα πλεονεκτήματα της χρήσης τους. Δίνονται εκτιμητές κάποιων δεικτών και ιδιότητες αυτών όπως αναμενόμενη τιμή, διασπορά, συνάρτηση πυκνότητας. Κατασκευάζονται επίσης διαστήματα εμπιστοσύνης και έλεγχοι υποθέσεων για τους εκτιμητές των δεικτών. Τέλος, παρουσιάζονται αριθμητικά παραδείγματα και εφαρμογές των δεικτών αποτελεσματικότητας στη βιομηχανία. / Process capability indices are intended to provide single-number assessment of the capability, of a process in statistical control, to produce items that meet the customer΄s specifications. We present the definitions of various such indices that have been proposed for univariate and bivariate normal distributions. We refer to their properties, the relations among them and the weaknesses or benefits from their use. Estimators of the indices are considered and their properties such as expected value, variance and probability density function are derived. Confidence intervals and tests of hypothesis are constructed for their estimators. Finally, numerical examples and applications of process capability indices in industry are presented.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. / MBA Professional Report / The purpose of this MBA Project is to assess the change readiness of Anniston Army Depot's (ANAD) organizational climate - especially now as the Depot prepares for large-scale Logistics Management Program (LMP) information technologies (IT) change. ANAD is a highly important division of the United States Army Materiel Command (AMC) and is the Army's designated Center of Industrial and Technical Excellence (CITE) for a variety of combat vehicles, artillery equipment, bridging systems and small-caliber weapons. It provides advanced maintenance support for all of these systems, in addition to fulfilling a host of other vitally importnat Army-wide logistical functions. ANAD presently uses the Standard Depot System (SDS) to manage its complex array of admministrativr and logistical functions. However, AMC has mandated that ANAD completely replace the SDS and employ the new Logistics Modernization Program (LMP) starting in March 2009. The researchers gathered a combination of historical information, personnel observations and responses to survey questionnaires on readiness for change in order to conduct a quality analysis on ANAD structure and climate and their implications, if any, for LMP omplementation. Ultimately, people are the heart of any IT systm, regardless of its size and degree of automation. The tremendous importance of organizational personnel in the change process is often under appreciated and under addressed in the civilian sector of the military - particularly when this sector embarks on significant IT transformation initiatives. Bold IT actions inevitably have a profound effect on any organization, regardless of its size, mission, and personnel composition. This project was conducted with the sponsorship and assistance of the Anniston Army Depot.

This diploma thesis follows my bachelor thesis in which the mother slang was described. This diploma thesis is aimed at the performance of the mother speech research, i.e. the use of specific expressions and language resources used by mothers of small children in Internet discussions in relevant forums or web pages. The diploma thesis aims at creating a questionnaire and establishing five hypotheses. The first part of the thesis describes the methodology of this research, in the following part there are presented the data obtained by the questionnaire survey. The hypotheses are verified in the following section, and the hypothesis testing procedure is described here. The appendix includes the questionnaire and a table of critical values that specifies the data that are needed for verifying hypotheses.

Orientadora: Profª. Drª. Meiri A. G. de Campos Miranda / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do ABC, Programa De Pós-Graduação em Ensino, História, Filosofia das Ciências e Matemática, 2017. / O presente trabalho teve como objetivo investigar uma sequência de aulas que contou com uma saída para estudo do meio, como estratégia para a aprendizagem sistêmica dos conhecimentos relacionados a problemas socioambientais, tendo a pesca na comunidade do Saco do Mamanguá como tema disparador. Dentre as diferentes estratégias que os professores de biologia utilizam para ensinar, o estudo do meio é apresentado na literatura como uma atividade que proporciona múltiplas aprendizagens relacionadas aos diferentes conteúdos conceituais, procedimentais e atitudinais, e principalmente por ser um mote para a construção de saberes para a sustentabilidade socioambiental. Além disso, o estudo do meio tomado como atividade interdisciplinar, favorece o entendimento da realidade socioambiental, pelo fato desta demandar conceitos que não podem ser atendidos por um único campo de conhecimento. Por meio de uma questão aberta, de um texto de análise crítica e da observação do pesquisador, levantou-se as ideias dos alunos sobre o pagamento do seguro-defeso aos pescadores da região estudada. As coletas foram realizadas em momentos pré-estabelecidos da sequência de aulas e no estudo do meio na cidade de Paraty/RJ, durante a visita a uma comunidade de pescadores no Saco do Mamanguá. Por meio da Análise Textual Discursiva, foram identificados nas ideias dos alunos aspectos econômicos, ambientais e socioculturais, e estabelecidos níveis de formulação referentes às hipóteses de transição manifestadas pelos estudantes ao longo de todo o trabalho. Esta análise possibilitou verificar como as ideias dos sujeitos se manifestaram ao longo do processo de aprendizagem, e os resultados apontam um significativo papel do estudo do meio para complexificar o entendimento dos alunos sobre a realidade socioambiental no Saco do Mamanguá e o seguro-defeso. As atividades prévias ao estudo do meio e a mediação do professor também se mostraram importantes para que os alunos considerassem novos aspectos do tema nos seus posicionamentos. Desta forma, considera-se que o estudo do meio tem significativo potencial para a aprendizagem de questões socioambientais sob uma perspectiva da complexidade, na medida em que promove um entendimento sistêmico sobre a realidade. / The aim of the present study was to investigate a sequence of classes involving field work activity as a systemic learning strategy of knowledge related to socio-environmental issues, with the fishing at Saco do Mamanguá community as the guided theme. Among other different approaches used by biology teachers, the field work constitutes an important strategy for science teaching, as it allows the exploration of several content topics related to concepts, attitudes and procedures towards construction of knowledge for socio-environmental sustainability. Besides that, explore field work as an interdisciplinary activity brings a better understanding of the socio-environmental reality because it demands concepts that can not be met by a single field of knowledge. Through an open question, a critical analysis text and the researcher observation the students hypothesized ideas about the fishermen unemployment insurance payment of the studied region. The collections were performed at pre-established class sequence times as well as during a visit to Saco do Mamanguá community in the field work at the city of Paraty in Rio de Janeiro. Economic, environmental and socio-cultural aspects in the students ideas were identified through textual-discursive analysis stablishing formulation levels regarding the transition hypothesis manifested by the students along the entire work. The analysis made it possible to verify how the subject ideas manifested themselves along the learning process and the results point to the field work significance as a way of complexify students' understanding about Saco do Mamanguá unemployment insurance and socio-environmental reality. The activities prior to the field work and the teacher pedagogical mediation also were important for the consideration of new theme aspects on the students positioning. Therefore, the field work is considered as a significant potential strategy for the learning of socio-environmental issues from a complexity perspective, as it promotes a systemic understanding of reality.