The aim of the thesis is to prepare a draft plan for expanding business activities for the company BS vinařské potřeby, s.r.o.. This precedes a part describing theoretical foundations in accordance with the defined problem and a part dealing with the analysis of internal and external environment in which the selected company is located.

<p>Primjena Internet protokola u uređajima sa ograničenim resursima, dovodi do radikalne promjene Interneta i pojave potpuno novog koncepta pod nazivom Internet stv&acirc;ri &ndash; Internet of Things (IoT), čiji je jedan od osnovnih gradivnih elemenata Senzor Web (SW) čvor. SW čvor predstavlja elementarni &ldquo;resurs&rdquo; u SW mreži koja se po svojoj prirodi može posmatrati kao nestrukturirana kolekcija gradivnih elemenata koji se mogu dinamički orkestrirati u virtuelne klastere, odnosno u arhi-tekturu. Cilj disertacije predstavlja unapređenje procesa razvoja arhitekture sistema baziranih na SW mrežama uz oslonac na dinamičko generisanje servisnog sloja u svrhu povećanja produktivnosti, održivosti i smanjenja troškova razvoja. Pod unapređenjem procesa razvoja arhitekture smatra se analiza, integracija i prilagođavanje postojećih sistema i pristupa projektovanja arhitekture senzorskih mreža, kao i sistema baziranih na IoT konceptima. U tu svrhu definisana je arhitektura SW mreža, kreiran domenski specifičan jezik, interaktivni grafički editor i alat za automatsku transforma-ciju modela u implementacione klase. U sklopu teze izvršena je i eksperimentalna verifikacija predloženog modela i razvojnog okruženja, čime je dokazana njhova praktična primjena.</p> / <p>The use of Internet protocols in limited resources devices contributes to radical changes in the Internet and the emergence of an entirely new concept called the Internet of Things (IoT), consisted of the Sensor Web (SW) nodes as one of the basic building blocks. SW node is the elementary &quot;resource&quot; in the SW Network, which by their nature can be seen as an unstructured collection of blocks that can be dynamically orchestrated into the virtual cluster, or in the architecture. The aim of this thesis is to improve the process of developing a system archite-cture based on SW networks, relying on the dynamic generation of the service layer in order to increase productivity, sustainability and cost of development. The improvement of the architecture development process includes analysis, integration and adaptation of existing systems and sensor network architecture design approaches, as well as systems based on the IoT concepts. For this purpose, the archite-cture of the SW Network is defined, a domain-specific language has been created as well as interactive graphics editor and a tool for automatic transformation of models into the implementation class. As part of the dissertation, the experimental verification of the proposed model and the development environment were carried out demonstra-ting their practical application.</p>

In contrast to constant operating states, particle and NOx emissions of internal combustion engines are significantly higher during transient operating states, which occur repeatedly at working cycles of mobile machines. This paper therefore deals with the conception, development and testing of hydraulic hybrid systems to reduce these emissions by phlegmatization of the engine. A wheel loader with its machine-typical working cycle serves as an example for the investigation of the benefits of such a system. Therefore, model based development techniques are used. In a holistic machine simulation, four different typical wheel loader cycles were carried out and the optimum size of the hydraulic accumulator for the hybrid system is identified by a parameter variation. The lowest emitted emissions and the smallest construction dimensions are the key elements for the accumulator selection. With an optimal hydraulic accumulator, a reduction in particle emissions of up to 29.4 % is achieved in one of the cycles investigated.

El Desarrollo de Software Dirigido por Modelos es una rama de la Ingeniería del Software en la que los artefactos software se representan como modelos para incrementar la productividad, calidady eficiencia económica en el proceso de desarrollo de software, donde un modelo proporciona una representación abstracta del código final de una aplicación. En este campo, la iniciativa Model-Driven Architecture (MDA), patrocinada por la OMG, está constituida por una familia de estándares industriales, entre los que se destacan: Meta-Object Facility (MOF), Unified Modeling Language (UML), Object Constraint Language (OCL), XML Metadata Interchange (XMI), y Query/Views/Transformations (QVT). Estos estándares proporcionan unas directrices comunes para herramientas basadas en modelos y para procesos de desarrollo de software dirigidos por modelos. Su objetivo consiste en mejorar la interoperabilidad entre marcos de trabajo ejecutables, en automatizar el proceso desarrollo de software de software y en proporcionar técnicas que eviten errores durante ese proceso. El estándar MOF describe un marco de trabajo genérico que permite definir la sintaxis abstracta de lenguajes de modelado. Este estándar persigue la definición de los conceptos básicos que son utilizados en procesos de desarrollo de software dirigidos por modelos: que es un modelo, que es un metamodelo, qué es reflexión en un marco de trabajo basado en MOF, etc. Sin embargo, la mayoría de estos conceptos carecen de una semántica formal en la versión actual del estándar MOF. Además, OCL se utiliza como un lenguage de definición de restricciones que permite añadir semántica a un metamodelo MOF. Desafortunadamente, la relación entre un metamodelo y sus restricciones OCL también carece de una semántica formal. Este hecho es debido, en parte, a que los metamodelos solo pueden ser definidos como dato en un marco de trabajo basado en MOF. El estándar MOF también proporciona las llamadas facilidades de reflexión de MOF (MOF Reflecti / Boronat Moll, A. (2007). A formal framework for model management [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/1964

It is widely recognised that information and communication technologies development is a risky activity. Despite the advances in software engineering, many software development projects fail to satisfy the clients' needs, to deliver on time or to stay within budget. Among the various factors that are considered to cause failure, an inadequate requirements practice stands out. Model-driven development is a relatively recent paradigm with the potential to solve some of the dragging problems of software development. Models play a paramount role in model-driven development: several modelling layers allow defining views of the system under construction at different abstraction levels, and model transformations facilitate the transition from one layer to the other. However, how to effectively integrate requirements engineering within model-driven development is still an open research challenge. This thesis integrates Communication Analysis, a communication-oriented business process modelling and requirements engineering method for information systems development, and the OO Method, an object-oriented model-driven software development method provides automatic software generation from conceptual models. We first provide a detailed specification of Communication Analysis intended to facilitate the integration; among other improvements to the method, we build an ontology-based set of concept definitions in which to ground the method, we provide precise methodological guidelines, we create a metamodel for the modelling languages included in the method, and we provide tools to support the creation of Communication Analysis requirements models. Then we perform the integration by providing a technique to systematically derive OO-Method conceptual models from Communication Analysis requirements models. The derivation technique is offered in two flavours: a set of rules to be manually applied by a human analyst, and an ATL model transformation that automates this task. / España Cubillo, S. (2011). METHODOLOGICAL INTEGRATION OF COMMUNICATION ANALYSIS INTO A MODEL-DRIVEN SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/14572

Tesis por compendio / [ES] El Desarrollo Dirigido por Modelos, MDD por sus siglas en inglés (Model Driven Development), es un enfoque de ingeniería del software que centra la creación y evolución de productos software en el modelado. Desde hace casi dos décadas, la comunidad científica ha descrito muchas de las ventajas de MDD frente a otros enfoques, sin embargo, su adopción en el entorno industrial es muy poco frecuente. Con el objetivo de entender por qué MDD no ha reemplazado otros enfoques de ingeniería software, he realizado una investigación empírica a través de tres experimentos controlados. Con el primer experimento pretendo aclarar si los beneficios de MDD frente al Desarrollo centrado en Código, CcD por sus siglas en inglés (Code Centric Development), son fieles a la realidad del desarrollo software actual. En el segundo experimento comparo la valoración que realizan los ingenieros de los modelos que utilizan, con su utilidad para ser utilizados en contextos MDD. En el tercer experimento analizo el desempeño de los profesionales software en tareas de mantenimiento en contextos MDD. Nuestros resultados confirman los beneficios de MDD frente a otros enfoques, pero también, que la intención de uso de MDD no alcanza valores máximos. Los sujetos subestiman el potencial de los modelos que desarrollan y utilizan en contextos MDD. El problema de adopción parece estar ligado a factores humanos, no a factores técnicos. / [CA] El Desenvolupament Dirigit per Models, MDD (Model Driven Development), és un enfocament d'enginyeria del programari que centra la creació i evolució de productes programari en el modelatge. Des de fa quasi dues dècades, la comunitat científica ha descrit moltes dels avantatges de MDD enfront d'altres enfocaments, no obstant això, la seua adopció en l'entorn industrial és molt poc freqüent. Amb l'objectiu d'entendre per què MDD no ha reemplaçat altres enfocaments d'enginyeria programari, he realitzat una investigació empírica a través de tres experiments controlats. Amb el primer experiment pretenc aclarir si els beneficis de MDD enfront d'altres enfocaments, com el Desenvolupament centrat en Codi, CcD (Code Centric Development), són fidels a la realitat del desenvolupament programari actual. En el segon experiment compare la valoració que realitzen els enginyers dels models que utilitzen, amb la seua utilitat per a ser utilitzats en contextos MDD. En el tercer experiment analitze l'acompliment del professional programari en tasques de manteniment en contextos MDD. Els nostres resultats confirmen els beneficis de MDD enfront d'altres enfocaments, però també, que la intenció d'ús de MDD no aconsegueix valors màxims. Els subjectes subestimen el potencial dels models que desenvolupen i utilitzen en contextos MDD. El problema d'adopció sembla estar lligat a factors humans, no a factors tècnics. / [EN] Model Driven Development (MDD) is a software engineering approach in which the code of a software product is generated and evolutionated from conceptual models that abstractly represents the system. For nearly two decades, the scientific community has described many of the advantages of MDD over other approaches. Despite the benefits of MDD, its use in real practical developments is merely anecdotal. To understand why MDD has not replaced other software engineering approaches, I have conducted an empirical investigation through three controlled experiments. The first experiment aims to clarify whether the benefits of MDD compared to code-centric development (CcD) match the reality of development in real environments. In the second experiment, I compare engineers' assessment of the models they develop with the usefulness of these models to be used in MDD contexts. In the third experiment, I analyze the performance of software professionals in maintenance tasks in MDD contexts. Our results confirm the benefits of MDD over other approaches; however, the intention to use MDD does not reach maximum values. Subjects underestimate the potential of the models they develop and use in MDD contexts. The adoption problem seems to be linked to human factors, not to technical factors. / Domingo Montes, MÁ. (2022). Experimentation to Evaluate the Benefits of Model Driven Development [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/185748 / Compendio

[ES] Cada día surgen nuevas tecnologías que cambian el mundo tal y como lo conocemos: cómo aprendemos, trabajamos y nos relacionamos. Este escenario lleva a las organizaciones a adaptar rápidamente no sólo sus productos y servicios, sino también su estructura y estrategias para sobrevivir y prosperar. Como se ha estudiado ampliamente, alinear la tecnología de la información con objetivos de alto nivel es clave para que una organización se adapte rápidamente a su entorno. Los métodos de desarrollo dirigidos por modelos (MDD) han contribuido a ello al incluir los objetivos de negocio en el proceso de desarrollo de software, proporcionando trazabilidad, calidad y eficiencia mediante transformaciones de modelo a modelo. Sin embargo, los métodos MDD existentes no han incluido la estrategia y la estructura de la organización en el proceso de desarrollo. Esta tesis integra la información organizacional en un método MDD existente compuesto por OO-Method, un método MDD orientado a objetos, y Análisis de Comunicaciones, un método de modelado de procesos de negocio orientado a la comunicación. A ellos, se integran las principales contribuciones de esta tesis: LiteStrat, un método de modelado organizacional, y Stra2Bis, un método para diseñar procesos de negocio alineados estratégicamente. LiteStrat permite modelar las influencias externas que demandan el desarrollo de nuevo software, y la estrategia y la estructura organizacional para abordar dicha influencia. Stra2Bis integra LiteStrat y Análisis de Comunicaciones a través de tres reglas de transformación, generando una estructura de procesos de negocio alineada con la organización. Hemos realizado validaciones experimentales de las mejoras de completitud y precisión de los modelos producidos por los métodos, y de la eficacia y satisfacción de sus usuarios. El trabajo futuro se centra en la aplicación de los métodos en la industria y en su evolución continua. / [CA] Cada dia sorgixen noves tecnologies que canvien el món tal com el coneixem: com aprenem, treballem i ens relacionem. Aquest escenari porta a les organitzacions a adaptar ràpidament no sols els seus productes i servicis, sinó també la seua estructura i estratègies per a sobreviure i prosperar. Com s'ha estudiat àmpliament, alinear la tecnologia de la informació amb objectius d'alt nivell és clau perquè una organització s'adapte ràpidament al seu entorn. Els mètodes de desenvolupament dirigits per models (MDD) hi han contribuït en incloure els objectius de negoci en el procés de desenvolupament de programari, proporcionant traçabilitat, qualitat i eficiència mitjançant transformacions de model a model. No obstant, els mètodes MDD existents no han inclòs l'estratègia i l'estructura de l'organització en el procés de desenvolupament. Aquesta tesi integra la informació organitzacional en un mètode MDD existent compost per OO-Method, un mètode MDD orientat a objectes, i Anàlisis de Comunicacions, un mètode de modelatge de processos de negoci orientat a la comunicació. A ells, s'integren les principals contribucions d'aquesta tesi: LiteStrat, un mètode de modelatge organitzacional, i Stra2Bis, un mètode per a dissenyar processos de negoci alineats estratègicament. LiteStrat permet modelar les influències externes que demanden el desenvolupament de nou programari, i l'estratègia i l'estructura organitzacional per a abordar aquesta influència. Stra2Bis integra LiteStrat i Anàlisi de Comunicacions a través de tres regles de transformació, generant una estructura de processos de negoci alineada amb l'organització. Hem realitzat validacions experimentals de les millores de completesa i precisió dels models produïts pels mètodes, i de l'eficàcia i satisfacció dels seus usuaris. El treball futur se centra en l'aplicació dels mètodes en la indústria i en la seua evolució contínua. / [EN] New, disruptive technologies emerge daily, changing the world as we know it: how we learn, work, and socially interact. This ever-changing scenario pushes organisations to quickly adapt not only their products and services but also their structure and strategies to survive and thrive. As has been widely studied, aligning information technology to high-level goals is key for an organisation to adapt quickly to its environment. Model-driven development (MDD) methods have contributed to this by systematically including business goals in the software development process, providing traceability, quality and efficiency through model-to-model transformations. Yet, existing MDD methods have not included organisational strategy and structure in the development process. This thesis integrates organisational information into a baseline MDD method composed of the OO-Method, an object-oriented model-driven development method, and Communication Analysis, a communication-oriented business process modelling method. The baseline MDD method is extended by the main contributions of this thesis: LiteStrat, an organisational modelling method, and Stra2Bis, a method for designing strategically aligned business processes. LiteStrat supports modelling the external influences that drive new software development endeavours and the strategy and organisational structure to address such influence. Stra2Bis integrates LiteStrat and Communication Analysis through three model-to-model transformation guidelines, generating the scaffold of business processes aligned with the organisation's structure and strategy. Sound experimental validations were performed to assess the methods' improvements in completeness and accuracy and their effect on the method users' efficiency and satisfaction. Further work regards implementing the methods into industrial contexts and their continuous evolution. / Project Participation: SREC: Desarrollo ágil de sistemas desde requisitos a código (SREC). PID2021-123824OB-I00: Agencia Estatal de Investigacion, España. 2022-2025. DELFOS: Sistema de información para la gestión de variaciones genómicas. PDC2021-121243-I00 - Agencia Estatal de Investigacion, España. 2021-2023. OGMIOS: Sistema inteligente de apoyo a la toma de decisiones clínicas en medicina de precisión. INNEST/2021/57 - Agencia Estatal de Investigacion, España. 2021-2023. / Noel López, RA. (2024). Design and Implementation of a Model-Driven Software Production Method: from Strategy to Code [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/203527

There are numerous problems associated with the teaching of Euclidean geometry at secondary schools today. Students do not see the necessity of proving results which have been obtained intuitively. They do not comprehend that the validity of a deduction is independent of the 'truth' of the initial assumptions. They do not realise that they cannot reason from diagrams, because these may be misleading or inaccurate. Most importantly, they do not understand that Euclidean geometry is a particular interpretation of physical space and that there are alternative, equally valid interpretations. A possible means of addressing the above problems is tbe introduction of nonEuclidean geometry at school level. It is imperative to identify those students who have the pre-requisite knowledge and skills. A number of interesting teaching strategies, such as debates, discussions, investigations, and oral and written presentations, can be used to introduce and develop the content matter. / Mathematics Education / M. Sc. (Mathematics)

Mit dem Wandel des Internets zu einer universellen Softwareplattform sind die Möglichkeiten und Fähigkeiten von Webanwendungen zwar rasant gestiegen. Gleichzeitig gestaltet sich ihre Entwicklung jedoch zunehmend aufwändig und komplex, was dem Wunsch nach immer kürzeren Entwicklungszyklen für möglichst situative, bedarfsgerechte Lösungen entgegensteht. Bestehende Ansätze aus Forschung und Technik, insbesondere im Umfeld der serviceorientierten Architekturen und Mashups, werden diesen Problemen bislang nicht ausreichend gerecht. Deshalb werden in dieser Dissertation neue Konzepte für die modellgetriebene Entwicklung und Bereitstellung von Webanwendungen vorgestellt. Die zugrunde liegende Idee besteht darin, das Paradigma der Serviceorientierung auf die Präsentationsebene zu erweitern. So sollen erstmals – neben Daten- und Geschäftslogik – auch Teile der Anwendungsoberfläche in Form wiederverwendbarer Komponenten über Dienste bereitgestellt werden. Anwendungen sollen somit über alle Anwendungsebenen hinweg nach einheitlichen Prinzipien „komponiert“ werden können. Den ersten Schwerpunkt der Arbeit bilden die entsprechenden universellen Modellierungskonzepte für Komponenten und Kompositionen. Sie erlauben u. a. die plattformunabhängige Beschreibung von Anwendungen als Komposition der o. g. Komponenten. Durch die Abstraktion und entsprechende Autorenwerkzeuge wird die Entwicklung so auch für Domänenexperten bzw. Nicht-Programmierer möglich. Der zweite Schwerpunkt liegt auf dem kontextadaptiven Integrationsprozess von Komponenten und der zugehörigen, serviceorientierten Referenzarchitektur. Sie ermöglichen die dynamische Suche, Bindung und Konfiguration von Komponenten, d. h. auf Basis der o. g. Abstraktionen können genau die Anwendungskomponenten geladen und ausgeführt werden, die für den vorliegenden Nutzer-, Nutzungs- und Endgerätekontext am geeignetsten sind. Der dritte Schwerpunkt adressiert die Kontextadaptivität der kompositen Anwendungen in Form von Konzepten zur aspektorientierten Definition von adaptivem Verhalten im Modell und dessen Umsetzung zur Laufzeit. In Abhängigkeit von Kontextänderungen können so Rekonfigurationen von Komponenten, ihr Austausch oder Veränderungen an der Komposition, z.B. am Layout oder dem Datenfluss, automatisch durchgesetzt werden. Alle vorgestellten Konzepte wurden durch prototypische Implementierungen praktisch untermauert. Anhand diverser Anwendungsbeispiele konnten ihre Validität und Praktikabilität – von der Modellierung im Autorenwerkzeug bis zur Ausführung und dynamischen Anpassung – nachgewiesen werden. Die vorliegende Dissertation liefert folglich eine Antwort auf die Frage, wie zukünftige Web- bzw. Mashup-Anwendungen zeit- und kostengünstig entwickelt sowie zuverlässig und performant ausgeführt werden können. Die geschaffenen Konzepte bilden gleichermaßen die Grundlage für eine Vielzahl an Folgearbeiten.

en català:Un camp de recerca important dins del paradigma del Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) és la importància en la gestió eficaç de la informació d'esdeveniments generada durant l'activitat de l'aprenentatge col·laboratiu virtual, per a proporcionar coneixement sobre el comportament dels membres del grup. Aquesta visió és especialment pertinent en l'escenari educatiu actual que passa d'un paradigma tradicional - centrat en la figura d'un instructor magistral - a un paradigma emergent que considera els estudiants com actors centrals en el seu procés d'aprenentatge. En aquest nou escenari, els estudiants aprenen, amb l'ajuda de professors, la tecnologia i els altres estudiants, el que potencialment necessitaran per a desenvolupar les seves activitats acadèmiques o professionals futures.Els principals aspectes a tenir en compte en aquest context són, primer de tot, com dissenyar una plataforma sota el paradigma del CSCL, que es pugui utilitzar en situacions reals d'aprenentatge col·laboratiu complexe i a llarg termini, basades en el model d'aprenentatge de resolució de problemes. I que permet al professor una anàlisi del grup més eficaç així com donar el suport adequat als estudiants quan sigui necessari. En segon lloc, com extreure coneixement pertinent de la col·laboració per donar consciència i retorn als estudiants a nivell individual i de rendiment del grup, així com per a propòsits d'avaluació. L'assoliment d'aquests objectius impliquen el disseny d'un model conceptual d'interacció durant l'aprenentatge col·laboratiu que estructuri i classifiqui la informació generada en una aplicació col·laborativa en diferents nivells de descripció. A partir d'aquesta aproximació conceptual, els models computacionals hi donen resposta per a proporcionar una extracció eficaç del coneixement produït per l'individu i per l'activitat del grup, així com la possibilitat d'explotar aquest coneixement com una eina metacognitiva pel suport en temps real i regulat del procés d'aprenentatge col·laboratiu.A més a més, les necessitats dels entorns CSCL han evolucionat en gran mesura durant els darrers anys d'acord amb uns requisits pedagògics i tecnològics cada cop més exigents. Els entorns d'aprenentatge col·laboratius virtuals ara ja no depenen de grups d'estudiants homogenis, continguts i recursos d'aprenentatge estàtics, ni pedagogies úniques, sinó que exigeixen una forta personalització i un alt grau de flexibilitat. En aquest nou escenari, les organitzacions educatives actuals necessiten estendre's i moure's cap a paradigmes d'ensenyament altament personalitzats, amb immediatesa i constantment, on cada paradigma incorpora el seu propi model pedagògic, el seu propi objectiu d'aprenentatge i incorpora els seus propis recursos educatius específics. Les demandes de les organitzacions actuals també inclouen la integració efectiva, en termes de cost i temps, de sistemes d'aprenentatge llegats i externs, que pertanyen a altres institucions, departaments i cursos. Aquests sistemes llegats es troben implementats en llenguatges diferents, suportats per plataformes heterogènies i distribuïdes arreu, per anomenar alguns dels problemes més habituals. Tots aquests problemes representen certament un gran repte per la comunitat de recerca actual i futura. Per tant, els propers esforços han d'anar encarats a ajudar a desenvolupadors, recercaires, tecnòlegs i pedagogs a superar aquests exigents requeriments que es troben actualment en el domini del CSCL, així com proporcionar a les organitzacions educatives solucions ràpides i flexibles per a potenciar i millorar el rendiment i resultats de l'aprenentatge col·laboratiu. Aquesta tesi proposa un primer pas per aconseguir aquests objectius. / An important research topic in Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) is to explore the importance of efficient management of event information generated from group activity in collaborative learning practices for its further use in extracting and providing knowledge on interaction behavior. The essential issue here is first how to design a CSCL platform that can be used for real, long-term, complex collaborative problem solving situations and which enables the instructor to both analyze group interaction effectively and provide an adequate support when needed. Secondly, how to extract relevant knowledge from collaboration in order to provide learners with efficient awareness and feedback as regards individual and group performance and assessment. The achievement of these tasks involve the design of a conceptual framework of collaborative learning interaction that structures and classifies the information generated in a collaborative application at several levels of description. Computational models are then to realize this conceptual approach for an efficient management of the knowledge produced by the individual and group activity as well as the possibility of exploiting this knowledge further as a metacognitive tool for real-time coaching and regulating the collaborative learning process.In addition, CSCL needs have been evolving over the last years accordingly with more and more demanding pedagogical and technological requirements. On-line collaborative learning environments no longer depend on homogeneous groups, static content and resources, and single pedagogies, but high customization and flexibility are a must in this context. As a result, current educational organizations' needs involve extending and moving to highly customized learning and teaching forms in timely fashion, each incorporating its own pedagogical approach, each targeting a specific learning goal, and each incorporating its specific resources. These entire issues certainly represent a great challenge for current and future research in this field. Therefore, further efforts need to be made that help developers, technologists and pedagogists overcome the demanding requirements currently found in the CSCL domain as well as provide modern educational organizations with fast, flexible and effective solutions for the enhancement and improvement of the collaborative learning performance and outcomes. This thesis proposes a first step toward these goals.Índex foliat:The main contribution in this thesis is the exploration of the importance of an efficient management of information generated from group activity in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) practices for its further use in extracting and providing knowledge on interaction behavior. To this end, the first step is to investigate a conceptual model for data analysis and management so as to identify the many kinds of indicators that describe collaboration and learning and classify them into high-level potential categories of effective collaboration. Indeed, there are more evident key discourse elements and aspects than those shown by the literature, which play an important role both for promoting student participation and enhancing group and individual performance, such as, the impact and effectiveness of students' contributions, among others, that are explored in this work. By making these elements explicit, the discussion model proposed accomplishes high students' participation rates and contribution quality in a more natural and effective way. This approach goes beyond a mere interaction analysis of asynchronous discussion in the sense that it builds a multi-functional model that fosters knowledge sharing and construction, develops a strong sense of community among students, provides tutors with a powerful tool for students' monitoring, discussion regulation, while it allows for peer facilitation through self, peer and group awareness and assessment.The results of the research described so far motivates the development of a computational system as the translation from the conceptual model into a computer system that implements the management of the information and knowledge acquired from the group activity, so as to be efficiently fed back to the collaboration. The achievement of a generic, robust, flexible, interoperable, reusable computational model that meets the fundamental functional needs shared by any collaborative learning experience is largely investigated in this thesis. The systematic reuse of this computational model permits a fast adaptation to new learning and teaching requirements, such as learning by discussion, by relying on the most advanced software engineering processes and methodologies from the field of software reuse, and thus important benefits are expected in terms of productivity, quality, and cost.Therefore, another important contribution is to explore and extend suitable software reuse techniques, such as Generic Programming, so as to allow the computational model to be successfully particularized in as many as situations as possible without losing efficiency in the process. In particular, based on domain analysis techniques, a high-level computational description and formalization of the CSCL domain are identified and modeled. Then, different specific-platform developments that realize the conceptual description are provided. It is also explored a certain level of automation by means of advanced techniques based on Service-Oriented Architectures and Web-services while passing from the conceptual specification to the desired realization, which greatly facilitates the development of CSCL applications using this computational model.Based on the outcomes of these investigations, this thesis contributes with computational collaborative learning systems, which are capable of managing both qualitative and quantitative information and transforming it into useful knowledge for all the implicated parties in an efficient and clear way. This is achieved by both the specific assessment of each contribution by the tutor who supervises the discussion and by rich statistical information about student's participation. This statistical data is automatically provided by the system; for instance, statistical data sheds light on the students' engagement in the discussion forum or how much interest drew the student's intervention in the form of participation impact, level of passivity, proactivity, reactivity, and so on. The aim is to provide both a deeper understanding of the actual discussion process and a more objective assessment of individual and group activity.This information is then processed and analyzed by means of a multivariate statistical model in order to extract useful knowledge about the collaboration. The knowledge acquired is communicated back to the members of the learning group and their tutor in appropriate formats, thus providing valuable awareness and feedback of group interaction and performance as well as may help identify and assess the real skills and intentions of participants. The most important benefit expected from the conceptual model for interaction data analysis and management is a great improvement and enhancement of the learning and teaching collaborative experiences.Finally, the possibilities of using distributed and Grid technology to support real CSCL environments are also extensively explored in this thesis. The results of this investigation lead to conclude that the features provided by these technologies form an ideal context for supporting and meeting demanding requirements of collaborative learning applications. This approach is taken one step further for enhancing the possibilities of the computational model in the CSCL domain and it is successfully adopted on an empirical and application basis. From the results achieved, it is proved the feasibility of distributed technologies to considerably enhance and improve the collaborative learning experience. In particular, the use of Grid computing is successfully applied for the specific purpose of increasing the efficiency of processing a large amount of information from group activity log files.