The purpose of this doctoral dissertation was to advance the scientific knowledge on the development of high-performance coaches by proposing a new developmental approach to help intercollegiate sport coaches learn from their coaching practice. When applied to coach development, the theory of lifelong learning (Jarvis, 2006) suggests that coach learning evolves with the coaches’ experiences and develops from participating in the environment. However, current development opportunities for high-performance coaches lack connection with practice and forego reflective practice. This lead researcher thus set out to undertake a 12-month action research operationalised using appreciative inquiry to accompany intercollegiate sport coaches along their learning journey. A personal learning coach accompanied five intercollegiate sport coaches using narrative-collaborative coaching (NCC) to create a safe space for them to reflect. The findings are presented across four articles. The first article suggested reflective cards as a useful tool for coaches to engage in reflective practice. Findings from Article One also presented a model for other coaches to reflect on their coaching practice. Article Two described the main components of NCC, which was used by the personal learning coach to create a safe reflective space. A step-by-step methodology for using appreciative inquiry is presented. In Article Three, data generated from the journey of a female high-performance women’s rugby coach was used to extend the definition of a personal learning coach and to compare the role of PLC with other coach development actors. Findings about the evolution and the value creation of the accompanied learning journey are also presented. Article Four shared results specific to the intercollegiate context with the presentation of the companionship between a PLC and two intercollegiate ice hockey head coaches. These collaborative partnerships led to unique learning journeys, and created valuable learning activities within complex value creation stories. The four articles together make novel theoretical and practical contributions to the field of coach development by presenting a new developmental approach to accompany coach learning and by introducing an analytical framework to evaluate the value of learning activities.

abstract: In order to deploy autonomous multi-robot teams for humanitarian demining in Colombia, two key problems need to be addressed. First, a robotic controller with limited power that can completely cover a dynamic search area is needed. Second, the Colombian National Army (COLAR) needs to increase its science, technology and innovation (STI) capacity to help develop, build and maintain such robots. Using Thangavelautham's (2012, 2017) Artificial Neural Tissue (ANT) control algorithm, a robotic controller for an autonomous multi-robot team was developed. Trained by a simple genetic algorithm, ANT is an artificial neural network (ANN) controller with a sparse, coarse coding network architecture and adaptive activation functions. Starting from the exterior of open, basic geometric grid areas, computer simulations of an ANT multi-robot team with limited time steps, no central controller and limited a priori information, covered some areas completely in linear time, and other areas near completely in quasi-linear time, comparable to the theoretical cover time bounds of grid-based, ant pheromone, area coverage algorithms. To mitigate catastrophic forgetting, a new learning method for ANT, Lifelong Adaptive Neuronal Learning (LANL) was developed, where neural network weight parameters for a specific coverage task were frozen, and only the activation function and output behavior parameters were re-trained for a new coverage task. The performance of the LANL controllers were comparable to training all parameters ab initio, for a new ANT controller for the new coverage task. To increase COLAR's STI capacity, a proposal for a new STI officer corps, Project ÉLITE (Equipo de Líderes en Investigación y Tecnología del Ejército) was developed, where officers enroll in a research intensive, master of science program in applied mathematics or physics in Colombia, and conduct research in the US during their final year. ÉLITE is inspired by the Israel Defense Forces Talpiot program. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Applied Mathematics for the Life and Social Sciences 2019

The dissertation entitled "Formation of the catechists laymen in the Czech and Moravian dioceses (1990 - 2015)" focuses on the development of the formation of lay catechists in Czech and Moravian dioceses in the last twenty five years. With a view to the official catholic documents referring to the formation of lay catechists, this work is aimed to evaluate the fundamental and lifelong formation of catechists in particular dioceses. The dissertation is based on a combined research consisting of inquiries, which are being answered due to a solid insight into documents of dioceses, internal documents of diocesan catechetical centres as well as surveys and interviews with heads of catechetical centres and witnesses of the historical activity of these centres. The practical part contains charts. Final part of the dissertation indicates advantages of this work which can be used in future following research on the subject of formation of lay catechists in the Czech Republic. Keywords catechists - fundamental formation - lifelong formation - diocesan catechetical centre - service - education

The aim of the thesis is to find out, what was the initial motive for the study of the doctoral program and what are the types of motivations and barriers in further education of adults in doctoral studies. The theoretical part is based on the concept of lifelong learning and lifelong learning. It defines the concept of further education of adults, which needs to be defined to anchor the topic in the work. It focuses on doctoral studies, phases during doctoral studies, related strategic documents, legislation and available research surveys, that focus on motivation and barriers. Another important part of the work is to define the motive, motivation, types of motivation in relation to the adult, which is part of further adult education. Barriers are viewed in terms of available research. The practical part is based on a quantitative and descriptive study examining motivations and barriers across the disciplines to pursue a doctoral degree, which was carried out in the form of a questionnaire survey. The research survey is aimed at doctoral students, who have already interrupted primary education and are returning to study after at least a one-year break. They find out, what motive led them to return to study and how they are influenced by internal and external motivation. They also find out, what...

Många som drabbas av utmattningssyndrom (UMS) upplever en nedsatt kognitiv förmåga och att sjukdomen blir en brytpunkt och ett vägval som kräver en väl fungerande handlingsplan inför framtiden. Denna studie har intervjuat individer med UMS och frågat hur de ser på karriärvägledning, om den behövs och vilken typ av vägledning som de efterfrågar. Resultaten från de kvalitativa intervjuerna analyserades utifrån careershipteorin och konstruktivistisk teori och visar att personer med UMS är i behov av en livsförändring som kräver ny insikt, utsikt och framsikt för en lyckad återgång till arbetslivet och ett hälsosamt förhållningssätt till arbete och prestation. Vidare framkom det ett behov av ett holistiskt förhållningssätt där individens egen livshistoria sätts i centrum då det inte finns några mediciner eller färdiga lösningar som passar alla. Karriärkompetens och livslångt lärande är centrala delar av denna studie och med en fördjupad kunskap inom detta område kan en studie- och yrkesvägledarens insats, det vill säga karriärvägledning, vara till stor nytta för personer med UMS. / Many people who suffer from fatigue syndrome (UMS) experience a reduced cognitive ability that becomes a turning point, leading to a crossroad that requires a well-functioning action plan for the future. In this study, interviews with people that are or have been diagnosed with UMS have shared their opinions regarding career guidance, whether career guidance is needed, and what type of guidance they perceive as needed. The results from the qualitative interviews were analyzed drawing on careership theory and constructivist theory, showing that people with UMS are in need of a life change that requires new insight, perspective and foresight for a successful return to work and a healthy way of relating to work and accomplishment. Furthermore, the study shows that there is a need for a holistic approach where the individual's own life story is put at the center, since no medications or ready-made solutions that suit everyone exist. Career management skills and lifelong learning are central parts of this study and with an expertise within this area, a career counsellor’s contribution, i.e. career guidance, can be of great benefit to people with UMS.

The dissertation entitled "Formation of the catechists laymen in the Czech and Moravian dioceses (1990 - 2015)" focuses on the development of the formation of lay catechists in Czech and Moravian dioceses in the last twenty five years. With a view to the official catholic documents referring to the formation of lay catechists, this work is aimed to evaluate the fundamental and lifelong formation of catechists in particular dioceses. The dissertation is based on a combined research consisting of inquiries, which are being answered due to a solid insight into documents of dioceses, internal documents of diocesan catechetical centres as well as surveys and interviews with heads of catechetical centres and witnesses of the historical activity of these centres. The practical part contains charts. Final part of the dissertation indicates advantages of this work which can be used in future following research on the subject of formation of lay catechists in the Czech Republic. Keywords catechists - fundamental formation - lifelong formation - diocesan catechetical centre - service - education

In the last decades neural networks have become more frequent in video games. Neuroevolution helps us generate optimal network topologies for specific tasks, but there are still still unexplored areas of neuroevolution, and ways of improving the performance of neural networks, which we could utilize for video game playing. The aim of this thesis is to find a suitable fitness evaluation and improve the plasticity of evolved neural networks, as well as comparing the performance and general video game playing abilities of established neuroevolution methods. Using Analog Genetic Encoding we implement evolving neuromodulatory topologies in a typical two-dimensional platformer video game, and have it play against itself without neuromodulation, and against a popular genetic algorithm known as Neuroevolution of Augmenting Topologies. A suitable input and output structure is developed as well as an appropriate fitness evaluation for properly mating and mutating a population of neural networks. The benefits of neuromodulation are tested by running and completing a number of tile-based platformer video game levels. The results show an increased performance in networks influenced by neuromodulators, but no general video game playing abilities are obtained. This shows us that a more advanced general gameplay learning method with higher influence is required. / Neurala nätverk har blivit allt vanligare i tv-spel. Neuroevolution hjälper oss att utveckla optimala neurala topologier för specifika uppgifter, men det finns fortfarande outforskade områden i neuroevolution, och sätt att förbättra förmågan hos neurala nätverk som vi kan använda i spel. Målet är att hitta en lämplig fitnessbedömning och förbättra plasticiteten hos utvecklade neuralanätverk, samt jämföra deras utförande och förmåga att generellt spela videospel. Detta med hjälp av etablerade neuroevolutionmetoder. Genom Analog Genetisk Kodning implementeras utvecklande neuromodulatoriska topologier i ett typiskt tvådimensionellt platformer spel. Det används sedan för att spela mot en version av sig själv som inte har neuromodulatoriska egenskaper, samt mot en populär genetisk algoritm kallad Neuroevolution of Augmenting Topologies. Ett passande format för input och output, samt en fitnessbedömningsmetod för parande och muterande aven population av neurala nätverk utvecklas. Fördelarna med neuromodulation testas genom att låta nätverken spela ett antal tile-baserade platformerbanor. Resultaten visar en förbättring av utförandet hos nätverk som utvecklat neuromodulatorer, dock inga generella spelkunskaper kunde läras. Detta visar oss att en mer avancerad metod för generellt spelande krävs för att kunna få ett neuralt nätverk kunna spela och lösa mer generella problem.

In 2018, the initiative walking-football was introduced in various associations in Sweden, which is an adapted activity for the elderly. This to try to get more elderly people to want to participate in sports and to become more physically active throughout their lives. The purpose of the study was to elucidate and increase the knowledge of the importance of walking-football for people who are 65 years or older. This study would also highlight the effects the activity can contribute, as well as similarities and differences in women's and men's stories about the activity. Furthermore, the study aimed to investigate whether this activity can contribute to a lifelong sport participation. This study is based on a semi-structured method of interviewing and data collection, where three ladies and three gentlemen will answer questions that include how they experience their participation, what is meaningful about the activity and what possible effects the activity can have. The results of the interviews indicate that togetherness, joy and meeting new people are important for everyone who participated in the study regardless of gender. It turned out that the biggest difference between the gender was that most ladies felt that their physical ability was affected by the fact that they started playing walking-football, while the most men believe that even before they started, they had good physical basis. It was also found that the participants' health was affected in various ways, among other things by increased fitness, better balanceand mobility, and that they got to know new people and were able to create meaningful relationships.All participants in the study also say that no one wants to stop playing and that they intend to play aslong as it is physically possible. One conclusion of this study was that walking-football can contribute to lifelong participation among the elderly.

The work focuses on the issue of vocational education in the field of nutrition and nutritional needs of kindergarten children and aims to identify the educational needs of kindergarten employees in this area. Then the work compares the educational needs of teachers and school canteen staff. The work is divided into two parts, theoretical and analytical. The theoretical one deals with the definition in terms of placing the issue in the context of lifelong learning, the specifics of adult education, competencies, vocational education and the introduction of the topic of education in kindergartens. At the same time, educational needs are defined and the related definition of the analysis of educational needs, theoretical approaches to the issue and the cycle of systematic education. The second part, analytical, deals with the evaluation of a questionnaire survey conducted among teachers and school canteen staff in kindergartens, which focuses on the analysis of educational needs of employees in the field of nutrition and nutritional needs of children and the differences between these groups. The chosen method is the analysis of primary data obtained in electronic form directly from the respondents. The results show differences between the education of teachers and canteen employees, when a group of...

1 ABSTRACT The diploma thesis deals with the analysis of the educational needs of adults in professional education, specifically focuses on the analysis of the educational needs of grammar school teachers, which the student choses for the implementation of research. Today, the further education of pedagogical staff is a much-discussed topic, as one of the goals of the Strategie 2030+ document is to transform schools into learning organizations. But before a educational program can be determined, educational needs must be analyzed and identified. Therefore, the aim of the diploma thesis is primarily to analyze and identify the educational needs of grammar school teachers and then to design a program for their implementation. The work is divided into theoretical and empirical part. The theoretical part is based on the study of professional literature and other available sources. It deals with the definition of basic concepts related to the topic, competencies, self-education, further education of teachers, issues of adult education, motivations and barriers in adult education, lifelong learning, educational needs, especially their analysis and last but not least the teaching profession, the prestige of the profession, personalities of teachers and contemporary teacher education. The practical part is then...