Nos travaux portent sur les mécanismes nerveux qui sous-tendent la perception de notre corps en mouvement. Chacune de nos actions est caractérisée par l'intention motrice qui en est à l'origine et par le feedback multi-modalitaire que son exécution évoque. Dans ce cadre, nous avons formalisé le codage proprioceptif du mouvement et nous avons exploré deux types d'images motrices et leur interaction perceptive à travers l'étude des mouvements imaginés et des illusions kinesthésiques.Sur la base de données neurosensorielles, nous avons contribué à développer une méthode « propriomimétique » inspirée du modèle vectoriel de population permettant de prédire les patterns proprioceptifs afférents évoqués lors de mouvements complexes. Ces patterns modélisés ont ensuite été utilisés pour activer les voies de la proprioception musculaire chez des sujets immobiles grâce à la méthode des vibrations tendineuses. / This thesis deals with the neural mechanisms involved in body movement perception. We contributed to developing a "propriomimetic" method based on neurosensory data and drawn from the population vector model for predicting the afferent proprioceptive patterns evoked during complex movements.The main contribution of this work is that it extends the scope of the method to include the whole set of possible human actions by showing that it can be used to accurately predict the proprioceptive patterns and to generate the kinaesthetic experiences associated with movements involving one or more joints, performed in 2- or 3-dimensional space, regardless of which muscles are involved.Other motor images were intentionally generated by the subjects in subsequent experiments and combined with those imposed by the vibratory stimulation. The results obtained here show that the images of both kinds were completely integrated when evoked simultaneously and that they gave rise to a unique and original perceptual experience, in which their spatio-temporal characteristics were combined. From the theoretical point of view, these findings confirm that proprioceptive afferents play an important role, along with the motor intention itself, in the elaboration of kinaesthetic perception. From the clinical point of view, the possibility of evoking motor images quite "naturally" using the method presented here to activate the peripheral receptors and/or the command centers, and thus the whole sensorimotor loop in the absence of any real movements, opens some promising perspectives for rehabilitation purposes.

This thesis aims at identifying and exploring properties and design aspects of human movement when used as interaction modality between people and technology. The work has been carried out with a multidisciplinary approach and combines theories, methods and practices from various areas such as modern dance, pedagogy, behavioural science, human computer interaction and research through design. The research question asked in this work is: Which communicative aspects and properties of human full-body movement are important when designing for movement-based interaction, and how could such design be accomplished? This question has been dealt with through carrying out an explorative study of people experiencing dance-based human movement. The informants used were participants on a dance course called Physical Expression. On the basis of this study the following aspects of human movement were identified and discussed: Movement imitation, Movement generation, Natural movements, The meaning of movement, Personal space, Self-confidence, and Movement literacy. These notions were further explored, in relation to movement-based interaction design, through the design and implementation of an interaction concept and a research prototype called BodyBug. BodyBug can be described as an artefact that initiates and maintains bodily movements through its need to be fed with movement input. It gives the users a possibility to create and explore three-dimensional movements within a personal interaction space, both individually and in groups. BodyBug is a small device but does not necessary create small-scale interaction and movements The main findings from this research can be summarised in four theoretical notions that are related to human movement as a dynamic and communicative process: Movement Literacy, Personal Interaction Space, Imitate-React-Express and Social Acceptability. These notions reflect aspects of human movement such as the ability to verbalise, describe, sense and express intentions through human movement; the physical and emotional space we create when moving; the naturalness and understanding of movement; and finally, the social impact of movement. The design and implementation process of the interaction concept exemplifies how we can apply knowledge and physical experiences of human movement in concrete design for movement-based interaction. The design process of BodyBug is therefore described as a holistic design process. It also argues for the importance of, and need for, multidisciplinary competencies and contributions throughout the whole design process. This work has shown that making use of movement as interaction modality means to provide possibilities for getting to know one’s own movement pattern and thus utilising the kinaesthetic sense and kinaesthetic awareness. However, since movement-based interaction is still in its early phase, we need more experiences and physical examples of this kind of interaction in order to develop an increased knowledge of human movement as design material. We also need to further investigate how movement-based interaction is experienced, and to continue the search for the essence and physical grounding of human movement in relation to technology and computational artefacts. Some of the biggest challenges are to design for movement-based interaction without loosing the aspects of individual preferences and differences in movement, and to preserve the spontaneity and ambiguity in human movement. As shown in this thesis, one approach to deal with these issues is to design for the pleasure of motion. / <p>QC 20100913</p>

The aim of this research was to examine the extent to which the pedagogical practices of Business Studies teachers in Botswana junior secondary schools conform to pedagogical practices recommended for imparting practical business skills relevant to the world of work. It also aimed to identify the strengths and weaknesses of teachers’ current practices with a view to proffer a teaching model that would help to maximize learner acquisition of business skills and competencies. Literature related to the pedagogy of business education subjects was reviewed to give a general conceptual and methodological foundation for the investigation. An overview of the methodological approaches and the qualitative research design selected for application to the study were provided including the data-gathering procedures and the conceptual framework that supported and informed the research. The major findings of the study were that Business Studies teachers subscribe mainly to the transmission paradigm of teaching. Teachers’ failure to use constructivist pedagogies prescribed in the syllabus were attributed to a multiplicity of challenges they face in their day-to-day practices. The challenges that beset the pedagogy of business subjects emanate from a variety of sources such as the scarcity or non-availability of teaching materials and resources, a congested syllabus and problems associated with striking a balance between the theoretical and practical aspects of the subject. Teachers indicated that the Business Studies syllabus is too long and with the little time allocated to teach it on schools timetables, it is impractical to expect them to complete the syllabus using constructivist teaching approaches which they perceive as pedagogically burdensome and time-consuming. Despite the teachers’ constraints in creating constructivist learning environments, the use of an entrepreneurial pedagogy in the form of the mini enterprise whereby students are involved in setting and running a concrete enterprise is prevalent. The study concluded by suggesting a pedagogical model, based on the findings, to improve Business Studies curriculum delivery. It was also recommended that support structures aimed at monitoring and ensuring that the delivery of business education is done according to the stipulated business curriculum standards be put in place. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Didactics)

The use of kinaesthetic experiences associated with dance to support learning of curricular mathematics has been little represented in the available literature. Maths Dance is an approach to teaching and learning mathematics through dance and movement. The objectives of the study are related to assessing the impact of Maths Dance on students’ cognitive, affective and physical developmental areas in preschool and primary school settings. The investigation of the case study on Maths Dance took place in London, UK, with the participation of four teaching staff members, who were interviewed in detail, and thirty students of Reception, Year 2 and Year 3 classes, out of which eleven students were interviewed. All thirty students were observed once during three Maths Dance sessions, one session per each age group.      Based on a qualitative research approach, the data are analysed and discussed below around seven themes in relation to the theories of constructivism, Dienes’s theory of learning mathematics, Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences and educational neuroscience. According to the main findings, students and teaching staff members express positive attitudes regarding most aspects of the research questions. Specifically, Maths Dance is believed to improve students’ maths skills, critical thinking and creativity, as well as enhance student motivation, socio-emotional and motor skills. The pleasant nature of the activities is also highlighted, an element that is believed to make this method adequate for students of low achievement in maths.  However, the small sample size, in addition to the fact that Maths Dance has recently started being implemented in schools, does not permit generalization of the results.

Les informations sensorielles peuvent être atténuées de la périphérie jusqu'au cortex durant le mouvement. Notre hypothèse est que l'information somatosensorielle serait facilitée durant la planification du pas où il serait inopportun de supprimer ces informations cruciales. Nous avons enregistré les potentiels somatosensoriels (SEPs) évoqués par vibration bilatérale des muscles des chevilles afin de stimuler la proprioception.Les résultats montrent que la composante évoquée corticale précoce restait inchangée mais une composante tardive négative était significativement augmentée durant la planification du pas.Pour tester si cette facilitation proprioceptive était due aux contraintes d'équilibre, la même expérience fut effectuée en microgravité où cette facilitation disparut, malgré la restauration d'un cadre de référence spatial.Cette facilitation tardive survint pendant l'imagerie motrice kinesthésique d'un pas planifié, démontrant que l'imagerie mentale intègrerait les contraintes d'équilibre et posturales requises pour la tâche, ceci étant confirmé par la disparition de cette facilitation lors de la planification du pas imaginé en microgravité.Ceci démontre au niveau neurophysiologique, une modulation de la transmission des afférences sensorielles selon leur pertinence pour planifier un mouvement. Cette facilitation résulterait de mécanismes prédictifs reliés à l'importance de contrôler l'équilibre du corps avant l'initiation du pas, car ce processus survint durant la planification d'un pas exécuté ou imaginé. Il serait basé sur un modèle interne de l'action impliquant des lois physiques du mouvement (1-g modèle) car cette facilitation fut supprimée en microgravité. / Sensory inputs can be attenuated from the periphery to the cortex during voluntary movements. Our hypothesis is that the somatosensory information could be facilitated during the planning of a step. It would appear dysfunctional to suppress somatosensory information, which is considered to be of the utmost importance for gait planning. We recorded somatosensory potentials (SEPs) evoked by bilateral ankle vibration to stimulate proprioception. Results showed that cortical early evoked component remained unchanged but a negative late component was significantly increased during step planning. To determine whether this facilitation of proprioceptive inputs was related to gravitational equilibrium constraints, we performed the same experiment in microgravity. In the absence of equilibrium constraints, both components did not significantly differ between the static and stepping conditions, despite the restoration of a body in space reference frame.This late facilitation occurred during kinesthetic motor imagery of a planned step, suggesting that mental imagery would integrate postura and balance constraints required for the task, as it was confirmed byt the lack of this facilitation during the planning of an imagined step in microgravity.These observations provide neurophysiological evidence that the brain exerts a dynamic control over the transmission of the afferent signal according to their current relevance during movement preparation.These processes should be based on internal model of action involving the physical laws of motion (1g-model) as this sensory facilitation was suppressed in microgravity when planning motor imagery.

L’objectif de cette thèse est d’étudier l’effet d’un entraînement explicite de la conscience phonémique (CP) en anglais L2 et les apports potentiels du tableau blanc interactif (TBI) comme instrument permettant de réaliser cet entraînement avec des apprenants de CE1. A partir des travaux de pédagogues tels que Borel-Maisonny et Caleb Gattegno, nous avons conçu des aides multimodales qui sont à la fois visuelles, sonores et kinesthésiques. Les couleurs de l’approche Gattegno ont été reprises pour créer des cartes de couleur auxquelles nous avons joint une représentation sonore du phonème. La carte sonore est également manipulable sur le TBI. En ce sens, la manipulation sur TBI pourrait aider la manipulation mentale des éléments. Les représentations des phonèmes constituent des représentations externes multimodales intégrées (REMI). Ces REMI ont été intégrées à un dispositif d’apprentissage permettant de valider les hypothèses de recherche. Il s’agissait non seulement d’évaluer l’efficacité de tâches explicites de conscience phonémique dans le cadre de l’apprentissage de l’anglais, mais également d’évaluer l’efficacité de l’utilisation du TBI pour réaliser les tâches de conscience phonémique. Ces hypothèses de recherche ont été testées à l’aide de trois groupes d’apprenants : deux groupes expérimentaux et un groupe contrôle. Un groupe a effectué des tâches explicites de conscience phonémique avec les REMI sur TBI (groupe ConsPhonoTBI), un groupe a effectué ces mêmes tâches de manière classique, c’est-à-dire mentalement sans aide multimodale (groupe ConsPhono), tandis que le groupe contrôle a fait des activités de vocabulaire anglais. La comparaison du groupe contrôle avec le groupe ConsPhono permet de déterminer l’effet d’un entraînement explicite de la conscience phonémique, tandis que la comparaison du groupe ConsPhono avec le groupe ConsPhonoTBI permet de déterminer l’effet des aides multimodales et de leur utilisation sur TBI dans le cadre de cet entraînement explicite. Cette recherche a pour objet une intervention dans le domaine du travail puisque les enseignants et les apprenants sont considérés comme étant en situation de travail. Cette recherche s’inscrit alors dans le cadre de l’ergonomie cognitive. En l’occurrence, la quasi-expérimentation a été menée en 2011-2012 auprès d’apprenants issus de classes de CE1 situées dans l’Isère. Dans la méthodologie de recherche mixte adoptée, les données qualitatives et quantitatives ont été triangulées et permettent d’obtenir des résultats ayant une validité interne. L’étude indique que le travail explicite de la conscience phonémique a un effet sur le niveau atteint dans ce domaine et que l’utilisation des REMI sur TBI permet d’atteindre un meilleur niveau dans le même laps de temps. Par ailleurs, cette étude indique que l’utilisation du TBI pour mener cet entraînement explicite permet à des enseignants non-spécialistes en langue de se décentrer pour réguler l’activité, de proposer une prononciation correcte aux élèves, renforçant ainsi le sentiment d’auto-efficacité au sens de Bandura (2003). En outre, le TBI favorise les échanges entre les apprenants au niveau du groupe classe et permet une découverte collective des phonèmes anglais. / This thesis seeks to study the effect of an explicit training of phonemic awareness (PA) in English L2 and the possible contribution of an Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) as a tool to carry such a training with 7-8 year old learners (in CE1 in France). Based on the work of some educators like Borel-Maisonny and Caleb Gattegno, we created some multimodal materials which are visual, sound and kinesthetic. We used the colors from Gattegno’s approach to create cards to which we attached the sound representation of each phoneme. These cards could also be moved on the IWB. Hence, the manipulation done on the IWB might help the mental manipulation that the learner should normally do mentally. The full representation for each phoneme is an external multimodal integrated representation (EMIR). These EMIR were used among a learning scenario which aimed to test research hypotheses. First of all, the aim was to know whether explicit tasks of phonemic awareness were useful or not. Then, the aim was to check the effect, in any, of the IWB in such a learning scenario concerning phonemic awareness. These research hypotheses have been tested thanks to three groups: two experimental groups and one control group. One group carried out the activities of phonemic awareness with EMIR on an IWB (PA-IWB group), one group carried out the same activities but on a traditional way, that-is-to-say mentally with any multimodal help (PA group) while the control group carried out some activities based on vocabulary. By comparing the control group with the PA group, we found out the effect, if any, of the explicit training of phonemic awareness and, by comparing the PA group with the PA-IWB group, we found out the effect, if any, of the multimodal tools used on the IWB. This research aims to take action in the field of ergonomics since teachers and learners are considered as being at work. This research fits into the field of cognitive ergonomics. Here, the quasi-experimentation was carried out during the school year 2011-2012 with 7-8 year old learners from Isère, France. Using a mixed research method, we triangulated qualitative data with quantitative data in order to get the most accurate results with an internal validity. This study shows that an explicit training of phonemic awareness (PA) has an effect on the level that learners can reach in PA and that the use of EMIR on an IWB allows learners to get an even better level in the same amount of time. Besides, it also appears that the use of the IWB for this kind of training helps the teacher when s/he is not a specialist in the target language. S/he can step aside, regulate the work and provide the correct pronunciation, which helps her/him reinforcing her/his feeling of self-efficacy as defined by Bandura (2003). Finally, the IWB urges the learners on interacting as a whole group and so discovering the English phonemes all together.

The purpose of this study was to explore and describe themes of resilience in the expressions and behaviours of six-year-old children with regard to the mother-child relationship, where the mothers are infected with HIV&AIDS. Themes of resilience were investigated within the framework of positive psychology. A study of limited scope was conducted from a phenomenological paradigm. I followed a mixed method methodological paradigm based on a case study design. I purposefully selected eleven six-year-old participants whose mothers are infected with HIV&AIDS from a five-year randomised control trail study (Kgolo Mmogo). Qualitative data collection methods included the transcriptions of structured baseline interviews relating to the Kinaesthetic Family Drawing (KFD), as well as the KFD per se. I utilised the scores from the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale (Vineland) as uantitative data collection strategy. The transcriptions were analysed by means of an inductive thematic analysis. For the analysis of the KFD I developed and piloted a framework of analysis. The raw scores from the Vineland were compared with the appropriate age norms and compared with themes of resilience identified from the KFD as well as the transcripts of the interviews. I identified both internal and external resources of resilience. The findings of my study illustrate the presence of themes of resilience as well as non-resilience within the participants and the mother-child relationships. More factors of resilience (protective factors) than non-resilience (risk factors) were identified. Secondly, it seems possible to use the KFD with the Vineland when exploring resilience as insights from both mother and child participants are measured. The integrated results from the different data sources indicate that although the results of the KFD and the transcriptions did not correlate with the results obtained from the Vineland, the results from the different data sources supplement one another. The use of the KFD as a measure to generate data related to resilience made it possible to evaluate adaptation and resilience in a specific cultural context unlike the Vineland. The results from the data sources indicate resilience and/or non-resilience in the mother-child relationship in terms of three categories namely, protective factors (Expressive Language Skills, Interpersonal Relationships and Play and Leisure Time), risk factors (Coping Skills and Gross Motor Skills) and a balance between protective and risk factors (Receptive Language, Daily Living Skills, personal and domestic, as well as Fine Motor Skills). It is feasible to use the KFD as a measure to identify themes of resilience and non-resilience when the drawing is accompanied by an interview. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Educational Psychology / unrestricted

The aim of this research was to examine the extent to which the pedagogical practices of Business Studies teachers in Botswana junior secondary schools conform to pedagogical practices recommended for imparting practical business skills relevant to the world of work. It also aimed to identify the strengths and weaknesses of teachers’ current practices with a view to proffer a teaching model that would help to maximize learner acquisition of business skills and competencies. Literature related to the pedagogy of business education subjects was reviewed to give a general conceptual and methodological foundation for the investigation. An overview of the methodological approaches and the qualitative research design selected for application to the study were provided including the data-gathering procedures and the conceptual framework that supported and informed the research. The major findings of the study were that Business Studies teachers subscribe mainly to the transmission paradigm of teaching. Teachers’ failure to use constructivist pedagogies prescribed in the syllabus were attributed to a multiplicity of challenges they face in their day-to-day practices. The challenges that beset the pedagogy of business subjects emanate from a variety of sources such as the scarcity or non-availability of teaching materials and resources, a congested syllabus and problems associated with striking a balance between the theoretical and practical aspects of the subject. Teachers indicated that the Business Studies syllabus is too long and with the little time allocated to teach it on schools timetables, it is impractical to expect them to complete the syllabus using constructivist teaching approaches which they perceive as pedagogically burdensome and time-consuming. Despite the teachers’ constraints in creating constructivist learning environments, the use of an entrepreneurial pedagogy in the form of the mini enterprise whereby students are involved in setting and running a concrete enterprise is prevalent. The study concluded by suggesting a pedagogical model, based on the findings, to improve Business Studies curriculum delivery. It was also recommended that support structures aimed at monitoring and ensuring that the delivery of business education is done according to the stipulated business curriculum standards be put in place. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Didactics)