The theory developed in Poggio and Girosi (1989) shows the equivalence between regularization and a class of three-layer networks that we call regularization networks or Hyper Basis Functions. These networks are also closely related to the classical Radial Basis Functions used for interpolation tasks and to several pattern recognition and neural network algorithms. In this note, we extend the theory by defining a general form of these networks with two sets of modifiable parameters in addition to the coefficients $c_\\ alpha$: moving centers and adjustable norm- weight.

Partnerships between Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and Further Education Colleges (FECs) were a specific recommendation of the 1997 Dearing Review and a major component of New Labour's 'Third Way'. Between 1997 - 2010 one of the key policy drivers was to widen participation in higher education with a target of 50% participation of 18 - 30 year olds by 2010. Funded partnerships were seen as the mechanism to achieve this target. Arguably partnerships between higher education (HE) and further education (FE) were not new. Many of the so-called 'post-92' universities which had previously been polytechnics had achieved growth through partnerships with FECs and considered themselves, perhaps, to be leading the way in widening participation. Among a plethora of policy initiatives, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) embarked on its own innovative partnership scheme, Lifelong Learning Networks. Drawing heavily from examples in North America, these were conceived as a way of achieving planned progression into higher education for students with vocational qualifications at level three. The response from the higher education sector to the initiative was equivocal at best and the results uneven. This study draws from Bourdieu's early anthropological studies and combines aspects of these with his study of the fields of the arts and higher education to propose a new reading of the policy response and practice of widening participation in higher education through partnerships.

Since the 1970s, the institution of fire management has been in a frustrated transition from fire suppression and control to ecologically informed fire management. Administrative boundaries, professional specializations and organizational incentives and funding mechanisms have stalled the adoption of landscape scale ecological fire restoration as a guiding paradigm. Using a case study approach, this dissertation examines the potential of a multi-scalar collaborative network, the US Fire Learning Network (FLN), to catalyze the changes necessary to overcome the frustrated transition. Established in 2002 in an agreement between the USDA Forest Service, The Nature Conservancy, and the US Department of Interior, the FLN operates at landscape, regional and national scales. In this multi-scalar context, the network utilizes planning technologies, communication modalities, and interpersonal interaction to link participants at each scale and motivate them to enhance their collaborative ecological restoration planning capacities. The network directly addresses the challenges of the frustrated transition by enabling practitioners to collaborate across administrative and disciplinary boundaries, develop expertise in ecological fire restoration planning and management, and to inform policy changes at the federal level that can create new incentives and funding mechanisms that support landscape scale ecological restoration. While institutional transformation has yet to occur, the FLN sets the stage to address the core challenges that fire management practitioners and organizations face as they engage in landscape scale ecological fire restoration. This work provides theoretical and practical insights to collaborative planning research by introducing new forms of collaborative practice, describing how collaborative planning can be conducted across multiple scales simultaneously, and establishing how multi-scalar collaborative networks may be able to catalyze institutional change necessary to respond to complex cross scalar environmental problems. / Ph. D.

This thesis discusses how the restructuring of the UK television industry in the 1980s and 1990s has affected learning and skills development in the sector. It is based on 71 semi-structured interviews with television freelancers and key informants in the industry, and a case study of a small regional independent company developed through semi-structured interviews and three months of participant observation. To investigate the current learning and skills development mechanisms, this thesis engages with community-based learning theories. These are discussed in relation to industry characteristics such as commissioning and independent production and labour market realities related to freelance work and educational provision. The findings reveal that the traditional on the job learning mechanisms within communities of practice are challenged under the new structural context characterised by unrestricted entry and progression and short-term projects within an uncertain employment context. Commercial pressures affect both the access to learning opportunities and the learning experience, mainly because of the lack of legitimate and gradual experiential learning possibilities, short-term involvement in the industry under pressures to perform. The thesis also discusses the realities of the work in a small regional independent production company as well as its benefits and limitations as a venue for community-based learning. This thesis concludes with several policy recommendations which address some of the main challenges to the sustainable skills development in UK television. These recommendations subscribe to the need for introducing legitimate traineeships, entry rules and detaching learning from the commercial pressures in the sector.

O trabalho propõe um modelo de estrutura de conteúdos educativos para programas interativos de televisão digital. Seu propósito é fornecer referências para processos colaborativos de produção e organização de conteúdo em redes de aprendizagem coligadas a emissoras de televisão educativa e universitária. A elaboração do modelo teve por base uma revisão bibliográfica de teorias, conceitos e práticas, bem como uma pesquisa-ação com grupos de ensino médio e superior. Sua concepção toma como hipótese a carência de modelos de referência nessa área e contempla a coexistência de aspectos formais e informais de educação, a arquitetura e prática das redes sociais e ambientes de aprendizagem, bem como pontos de inovação em relação a modelos tradicionais de comunicação. São definidos termos, atores, eventos, ambientes, categorias, classes e atributos de conteúdo, com indicação de critérios para sua vinculação síncrona ou assíncrona numa programação, além de requisitos e funções computacionais básicas para sua veiculação seletiva, adaptativa e participativa através de mídias digitais. O modelo é apresentado em duas formas: descritiva, por meio de definições, sentenças e quadros de classificação; e visual, por meio de mapas conceituais inter-relacionados. Uma experiência para validação do modelo proposto foi feita mediante a prototipagem de um ambiente televisivo de ensino-aprendizagem de Engenharia de Produção, com emprego de linguagens que compõem o middleware Ginga (NCL e LUA). A aplicação simula uma fábrica virtual com ambientes em três dimensões que dão acesso a vídeos educativos e conteúdos associados. Os resultados das práticas de modelagem e de prototipagem são avaliados a partir de seus objetivos iniciais e perspectivas de aprimoramento. São propostas possíveis extensões e especificações do modelo com vistas a seu aprimoramento e aplicação. Sustenta-se, por fim, que esse uso interativo da televisão digital na educação depende de modelos sistematizados de conteúdo que contemplem a participação comunitária na produção e veiculação de mídias, com o fortalecimento dos instrumentos de aprendizagem para além da comunicação vertical, centralizada e hierarquizada dos canais tradicionais de radiodifusão. / This research proposes a model to educative content structuring for interactive digital television programs. The intent is to provide references for collaborative production processes and content organization in learning networks associated with university and educative television broadcast services. Modelling activity was preceded by critical literature review, considering theories, concepts and practices reported, in parallel with a collaborative action research. The research conception took as hypothesis the lack of reference models applied to this context and considers the coexistence of formal, informal and non-formal learning and educational aspects; architecture and daily practices in social networks and learning environments; and innovations over traditional communication models. The model defines terms, actors, events, environments, as well as content categories, classes and attributes, indicating criteria for their synchronic or asynchronic association in a dynamic television grid. Basic computational requirements and functions for selective, flexible and participative content distribution through convergent digital media were also indicated. The model is presented in two complementary frames. One is descriptive and uses definitions, sentences and structured tables. The other is visual and uses interconnected conceptual maps. An experimental validation of the proposed model was made through the prototyping of a television learning environment oriented to Industrial Engineering education, developed with the use of programming languages (NCL and LUA) according to the brazilian\'s middleware specifications (Ginga). This application simulates a factory in a virtual 3D enviroment leading to educative videos and their associated contents. Modeling and prototyping outcomes are evaluated considering initial objectives and improvement perspectives. Possible modeling extensions and specifications are proposed and discussed targeting its further developments and effective application. The results indicate that interactive use of digital television in education requires systematic content models covering communitarian participation in both media production and distribution processes, in order to enhance learning instruments beyond vertical, hierarchical and centralized communication sustained by traditional broadcast channels.

Virtual communities of practice have been used to improve teachers' instructional practice; yet, many of these communities do not take into account the effect of teachers' personal learning and collegial collaboration beliefs on engagement within this model. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine if teaching was enhanced through participation in virtual communities of practice and determine if teachers' personal beliefs prior to entering these communities influenced their engagement. Wenger's social learning theory served as the conceptual framework. The research questions asked how teachers' beliefs on personal learning and their beliefs on collaboration influenced their engagement in virtual communities of practice and how personal learning networks facilitated extended technology-based learning in the classroom. Data were collected through 2 semi structured interviews with 9 teacher participants and analysis of digital records from the Classroom 2.0 and Flat Connections Nings. Manual, open-coding of the data revealed themes which explained the use of personalized learning networks for instructional growth and social networking for collaborative practice. Findings indicated that while teachers' previously held ideas were not significantly altered, the social, supportive environments created through virtual learning communities made a suitable setting for professional development. These findings may effect positive social change as virtual communities of practice for teachers evolve into professional development environments that challenge teacher beliefs, use progressive technologies, and engage teachers in collaborative activities.

This dissertation focuses on how entrepreneurs learn to acquire entrepreneurial knowledge and competence, which ultimately can open doors to business success. Contemporary critics suggest that programs designed to develop general competence are not sufficiently relevant to these entrepreneurs. On the other hand, scholars and practitioners have recently noticed that external relations in formal learning networks can be a notable opportunity for learning in entrepreneurs. The aim of this dissertation is to elaborate on the processes and outcomes of government supported learning networks among entrepreneurs who work in small and medium sized enterprises. It draws on reports of four separate but interrelated research studies that author conducted. The research described in the dissertation is based on multiple theoretical perspectives, methodologies, and data sources. To gain a full understanding of the experiences of the different network participants, as well as the interactive processes within the learning network, data were collected from multiple sources: interviews, participant observation, and videotaping. The conclusions stated in appended paper 1 and 2 are primarily based on the interviews, but they are also supported by the observations and written material. Paper three focuses on the videos in combination with the interviews. Finally, to complement the qualitative research with insights regarding the relationships among trust, learning, and self-efficacy, the last paper reports the results of a quantitative survey study. The dissertation makes several major contributions to knowledge. First and foremost, by combining entrepreneurship theory and learning theory, it describes the outcomes that can emerge from formal learning networks and shows how these outcomes can have entrepreneurial consequences. Second, it suggests how the learning situation can be characterized and describes an appropriate learning environment for entrepreneurs from small and medium sized enterprises. The research also contributes to theory on how trust in formal learning networks is built and how this trust contributes to entrepreneurial learning. At the same time, it shows that the potential benefits derived from trust cannot be realized without incorporating the entrepreneur’s level of self-efficacy in the analysis. The dissertation concludes by offering suggestions for exploiting learning and business opportunities through the construction and utilization of learning networks.

Investigating howgroups communicate, build knowledge and expertise, reach consensus or collaboratively solve complex problems, became one of the main foci of contemporary research in learning and social sciences. Emerging models of communication and empowerment of networks as a form of social organization further reshaped practice and pedagogy of online education, bringing research on learning networks into the mainstream of educational and social science research. In such conditions, massive open online courses (MOOCs) emerged as one of the promising approaches to facilitating learning in networked settings and shifting education towards more open and lifelong learning. Nevertheless, this most recent educational turn highlights the importance of understanding social and technological (i.e., material) factors as mutually interdependent, challenging the existing forms of pedagogy and practice of assessment for learning in online environments. On the other hand, the main focus of the contemporary research on networked learning is primarily oriented towards retrospective analysis of learning networks and informing design of future tasks and recommendations for learning. Although providing invaluable insights for understanding learning in networked settings, the nature of commonly applied approaches does not necessarily allow for providing means for understanding learning as it unfolds. In that sense, learning analytics, as a multidisciplinary research field, presents a complementary research strand to the contemporary research on learning networks. Providing theory-driven and analytics-based methods that would allow for comprehensive assessment of complex learning skills, learning analytics positions itself either as the end point or a part of the pedagogy of learning in networked settings. The thesis contributes to the development of learning analytics-based research in studying learning networks that emerge fromthe context of learning with MOOCs. Being rooted in the well-established evidence-centered design assessment framework, the thesis develops a conceptual analytics-based model that provides means for understanding learning networks from both individual and network levels. The proposed model provides a theory-driven conceptualization of the main constructs, along with their mutual relationships, necessary for studying learning networks. Specifically, to provide comprehensive understanding of learning networks, it is necessary to account for structure of learner interactions, discourse generated in the learning process, and dynamics of structural and discourse properties. These three elements – structure, discourse, and dynamics – should be observed as mutually dependent, taking into account learners’ personal interests, motivation, behavior, and contextual factors that determine the environment in which a specific learning network develops. The thesis also offers an operationalization of the constructs identified in the model with the aim at providing learning analytics-methods for the implementation of assessment for learning. In so doing, I offered a redefinition of the existing educational framework that defines learner engagement in order to account for specific aspects of learning networks emerging from learning with MOOCs. Finally, throughout the empirical work presented in five peer-reviewed studies, the thesis provides an evaluation of the proposed model and introduces novel learning analytics methods that provide different perspectives for understanding learning networks. The empirical work also provides significant theoretical and methodological contributions for research and practice in the context of learning networks emerging from learning with MOOCs.

Diversos esforços vêm sendo realizados por parte do setor produtivo e da academia no sentido de estabelecer mecanismos inovadores que facilitem a incorporação da medição e comparação de desempenho ao processo de decisão das empresas de construção. Dentre estes esforços, destacamse as iniciativas internacionais para desenvolvimento de sistemas de indicadores para comparação de desempenho e clubes de benchmarking. Em particular, estes clubes podem ser considerados como arranjos colaborativos, que fornecem um meio em que organizações podem adquirir e compartilhar conhecimentos do ambiente externo visando à implementação de melhorias incrementais e inovadoras. Entretanto, ainda, são escassos os trabalhos que explicam as condições nas quais os arranjos colaborativos mostram-se eficazes, os seus efeitos em termos de implementação de melhorias e aprendizagem das empresas, e como as práticas compartilhadas ao longo do processo colaborativo são transformadas em novos conhecimentos em diferentes contextos organizacionais. O objetivo geral desta tese foi estabelecer um conjunto de diretrizes para a realização de processos de benchmarking colaborativo visando à implementação de melhorias nas empresas de construção civil. No presente trabalho, foi estudado o processo de aprendizagem colaborativa ocorrido na realização de um Clube de Benchmarking, formado um por um grupo de vinte empresas de construção. Buscou-se, através deste processo, o desenvolvimento conjunto de um sistema de medição para comparação de desempenho e, posteriormente, a troca de experiências e práticas relacionadas aos indicadores e processos gerenciais selecionados pelas empresas participantes. A estratégia de pesquisa utilizada foi a pesquisa-ação, sendo o estudo subdividido em quatro fases: preparação, estudo empírico, estudos complementares e análise final dos dados. O estudo empírico foi realizado em três etapas, sendo o foco da pesquisa refinado ao final de cada nova etapa. Os resultados foram analisados de acordo com duas unidades de análise: o Clube de Benchmarking, por meio do processo colaborativo, e as empresas, através da análise das trajetórias de colaboração e aprendizagem. Os resultados indicaram que o ambiente colaborativo cria oportunidades para as pessoas refletirem e abstraírem sobre os conhecimentos compartilhados, e que esta reflexão estimula as pessoas a implementar melhorias nas suas empresas. A implementação efetiva destas melhorias, por sua vez, depende de um conjunto de capacidades dos gerentes e das empresas participantes para absorver o conhecimento disponibilizado externamente, de modo a entender, disseminar, transformar e usar este novo conhecimento dentro da empresa. As principais contribuições desta tese estão relacionadas a: (a) proposição de uma estrutura de avaliação da eficácia do processo colaborativo em clubes de benchmarking; (b) compreensão do processo de aprendizagem nas empresas de construção induzido por um processo de benchmarking colaborativo; e (c) o estabelecimento de um conjunto de diretrizes para a realização de processos de benchmarking colaborativo, incluindo os requisitos necessários para o seu desenvolvimento, bem como as principais etapas e passos para a criação de novos grupos. / Several efforts have been developed by practitioner and academics in order to establish innovative mechanisms which facilitate the insertion of performance measurement and comparison in the construction companies decision process. One of these efforts refers to the international initiatives for the development of performance measurement benchmarking systems and benchmarking clubs. In particular, these clubs can be considered as collaborative groups, providing an environment in which companies can acquire and share knowledge from the external environment aiming to implement performance improvements. However, little is known about the conditions under which effective networking takes place and the real benefits achieved by organisations regarding to the implementation of improvements and learning. Besides this, there is a lack of understanding about how the shared practices in collaborative groups can be transformed into a new knowledge in different organizational contexts. The aim of this paper is to establish a set of guidelines for the development of a collaborative benchmarking process aiming the implementation of improvements in construction companies. Specifically, a learning collaborative process was investigated, which was developed in a Benchmarking Club, involving twenty construction companies from the State of Rio Grande do Sul-Brazil. Through this process, a performance measurement system for benchmarking was developed, and, afterwards, the exchange of experience and practice related to the measures and managerial processes, previously defined by these companies, was also developed. This study was carried out using an action research strategy, which was divided into four phased: preparation, empirical study, complementary study and final data analysis. The findings were analysed in two phases. Firstly, the three stages of the collaborative process in the Benchmarking Club were analysed, followed by the stories of collaboration and learning of four construction companies involved in the first two stages of this study. As main conclusions, this work identified that the collaborative environment created the opportunity for the construction managers to reflect and abstract about the shared knowledge. Also, this encouraged these managers to start the implementation of improvements in their companies. The level of these improvements were dependent on a set of individual and organisational abilities to absorb the shared knowledge aiming to understand, diffuse, transform and use this knowledge inside of the companies. The main contributions of this study are: (a) the proposition of a structure to evaluate the effectiveness of the collaborative process in benchmarking clubs; (b) the understanding of the learning process in the construction companies due to the collaborative process; and (c) the establishment of a set of guidelines for the development of a collaborative benchmarking process, including the necessary requirement for its development, as well as the main stages and steps to create new benchmarking groups.

Diversos esforços vêm sendo realizados por parte do setor produtivo e da academia no sentido de estabelecer mecanismos inovadores que facilitem a incorporação da medição e comparação de desempenho ao processo de decisão das empresas de construção. Dentre estes esforços, destacamse as iniciativas internacionais para desenvolvimento de sistemas de indicadores para comparação de desempenho e clubes de benchmarking. Em particular, estes clubes podem ser considerados como arranjos colaborativos, que fornecem um meio em que organizações podem adquirir e compartilhar conhecimentos do ambiente externo visando à implementação de melhorias incrementais e inovadoras. Entretanto, ainda, são escassos os trabalhos que explicam as condições nas quais os arranjos colaborativos mostram-se eficazes, os seus efeitos em termos de implementação de melhorias e aprendizagem das empresas, e como as práticas compartilhadas ao longo do processo colaborativo são transformadas em novos conhecimentos em diferentes contextos organizacionais. O objetivo geral desta tese foi estabelecer um conjunto de diretrizes para a realização de processos de benchmarking colaborativo visando à implementação de melhorias nas empresas de construção civil. No presente trabalho, foi estudado o processo de aprendizagem colaborativa ocorrido na realização de um Clube de Benchmarking, formado um por um grupo de vinte empresas de construção. Buscou-se, através deste processo, o desenvolvimento conjunto de um sistema de medição para comparação de desempenho e, posteriormente, a troca de experiências e práticas relacionadas aos indicadores e processos gerenciais selecionados pelas empresas participantes. A estratégia de pesquisa utilizada foi a pesquisa-ação, sendo o estudo subdividido em quatro fases: preparação, estudo empírico, estudos complementares e análise final dos dados. O estudo empírico foi realizado em três etapas, sendo o foco da pesquisa refinado ao final de cada nova etapa. Os resultados foram analisados de acordo com duas unidades de análise: o Clube de Benchmarking, por meio do processo colaborativo, e as empresas, através da análise das trajetórias de colaboração e aprendizagem. Os resultados indicaram que o ambiente colaborativo cria oportunidades para as pessoas refletirem e abstraírem sobre os conhecimentos compartilhados, e que esta reflexão estimula as pessoas a implementar melhorias nas suas empresas. A implementação efetiva destas melhorias, por sua vez, depende de um conjunto de capacidades dos gerentes e das empresas participantes para absorver o conhecimento disponibilizado externamente, de modo a entender, disseminar, transformar e usar este novo conhecimento dentro da empresa. As principais contribuições desta tese estão relacionadas a: (a) proposição de uma estrutura de avaliação da eficácia do processo colaborativo em clubes de benchmarking; (b) compreensão do processo de aprendizagem nas empresas de construção induzido por um processo de benchmarking colaborativo; e (c) o estabelecimento de um conjunto de diretrizes para a realização de processos de benchmarking colaborativo, incluindo os requisitos necessários para o seu desenvolvimento, bem como as principais etapas e passos para a criação de novos grupos. / Several efforts have been developed by practitioner and academics in order to establish innovative mechanisms which facilitate the insertion of performance measurement and comparison in the construction companies decision process. One of these efforts refers to the international initiatives for the development of performance measurement benchmarking systems and benchmarking clubs. In particular, these clubs can be considered as collaborative groups, providing an environment in which companies can acquire and share knowledge from the external environment aiming to implement performance improvements. However, little is known about the conditions under which effective networking takes place and the real benefits achieved by organisations regarding to the implementation of improvements and learning. Besides this, there is a lack of understanding about how the shared practices in collaborative groups can be transformed into a new knowledge in different organizational contexts. The aim of this paper is to establish a set of guidelines for the development of a collaborative benchmarking process aiming the implementation of improvements in construction companies. Specifically, a learning collaborative process was investigated, which was developed in a Benchmarking Club, involving twenty construction companies from the State of Rio Grande do Sul-Brazil. Through this process, a performance measurement system for benchmarking was developed, and, afterwards, the exchange of experience and practice related to the measures and managerial processes, previously defined by these companies, was also developed. This study was carried out using an action research strategy, which was divided into four phased: preparation, empirical study, complementary study and final data analysis. The findings were analysed in two phases. Firstly, the three stages of the collaborative process in the Benchmarking Club were analysed, followed by the stories of collaboration and learning of four construction companies involved in the first two stages of this study. As main conclusions, this work identified that the collaborative environment created the opportunity for the construction managers to reflect and abstract about the shared knowledge. Also, this encouraged these managers to start the implementation of improvements in their companies. The level of these improvements were dependent on a set of individual and organisational abilities to absorb the shared knowledge aiming to understand, diffuse, transform and use this knowledge inside of the companies. The main contributions of this study are: (a) the proposition of a structure to evaluate the effectiveness of the collaborative process in benchmarking clubs; (b) the understanding of the learning process in the construction companies due to the collaborative process; and (c) the establishment of a set of guidelines for the development of a collaborative benchmarking process, including the necessary requirement for its development, as well as the main stages and steps to create new benchmarking groups.