Thesis (M.ED.) --University of Limpopo, 2006 / South Africa chose an Outcomes-Based Education approach to underpin the new education system called Curriculum 2005, which was later reviewed to become the Revised National Curriculum Statement. This became policy and it was delivered to schools for educators to apply in their learning programmes work schedules and lesson plans. This study focuses on the lesson plan as a tool to be used by individual educators. Although the other curriculum development steps cannot be ignored, the empirical study of this investigation will be on lesson planning. The empirical study investigates the problems experienced by educators in planning Social Sciences lessons and uses them as tools to achieve the learning outcomes at senior Phase level. In order to find possible solutions to problems experienced by educators in the Department of Education, the following questions were constructed for investigation: • What is the structure of a lesson plan in the Social Sciences learning area? • How have educators changed their ways of planning lessons from the old to the new system? • What are the problems experienced by educators in the planning and use of Social Sciences lessons? The above questions guided this study to yield the following results: • The majority of educators does not know and understand how to plan by using learning outcomes in the lesson plan structure. It is not only with learning outcomes but even the use of other elements of a lesson plan structure makes planning difficult for educators. • Most educators are resistant to change from the old to the new ways of planning lessons. In some cases, educators start by implementing the curriculum without a well written, structured lesson plan because of delays in the delivery of policy documents to schools, workshops which do not address classroom issues but emphasize the design features without relating them to the Social Sciences learning area specifics. ii • The majority of educators experience problems in planning Social Sciences lessons because they were not trained in the revised National Curriculum Statement, because of being in excess. They are not taken for training and are frequently not enthusiastic to implement what they have learnt from Outcomes- Based Education workshops in the classroom because they fear failure due to a lack of managerial intervention for support, guidance and follow-ups. The recommendations of this study were guided by the findings of the empirical results.

This mini-dissertation investigates the influence that an outcome-based remuneration scheme can have on productivity in the financial sector. It focuses on four dimensions that were used to determine if productivity levels could be affected; all of these four dimensions could be linked back to the performance of the employee and employer. The four dimensions were units produced, overtime, absenteeism and till cash up which speaks to the quality of transactions that were processed. When these four dimensions were tested statistically the results tended to suggest that there is a positive association with productivity and an outcome-based remuneration scheme. This simply means that an outcome-based remuneration scheme increases productivity levels in the workplace, more specifically in the financial sector; the literature review also supports this statement. The study also deals briefly with the advantages and disadvantages of a pay for performance scheme as well as when designing a pay for performance scheme what are the key design elements. It also briefly touches on the implementation of such a scheme, whether pay for performance is sustainable over a period of time and what are the most common types of pay for performance schemes. / Thesis (MBA)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

This mini-dissertation investigates the influence that an outcome-based remuneration scheme can have on productivity in the financial sector. It focuses on four dimensions that were used to determine if productivity levels could be affected; all of these four dimensions could be linked back to the performance of the employee and employer. The four dimensions were units produced, overtime, absenteeism and till cash up which speaks to the quality of transactions that were processed. When these four dimensions were tested statistically the results tended to suggest that there is a positive association with productivity and an outcome-based remuneration scheme. This simply means that an outcome-based remuneration scheme increases productivity levels in the workplace, more specifically in the financial sector; the literature review also supports this statement. The study also deals briefly with the advantages and disadvantages of a pay for performance scheme as well as when designing a pay for performance scheme what are the key design elements. It also briefly touches on the implementation of such a scheme, whether pay for performance is sustainable over a period of time and what are the most common types of pay for performance schemes. / Thesis (MBA)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Thesis (M.M. (Security))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Graduate School of Business Administration, 2013. / The first key to wisdom is this - constant and frequent questioning, for by doubting, we are led to question and by questioning we arrive at the truth (Pierre Peter Aberlard). lll The purpose of this study is, to investigate possible contributory factors to poor learner1 performance at the School of Military Justice (SoMJ) on Advanced Military Law Course, the trend that was noticed after the implementation of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) in 2009. The determination of the nature of challenges that might contribute negatively to learner performance at SoMJ will be concluded. My hypothesis is that since the accreditation of SoMJ as a service provider and implementation of OBE, a trend of poor learner performance has been noticed. This might impact negatively on the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and ultimately poor performance at the workplace. A qualitative method was used, the reason being qualitative method will describe social reality from the point of vlew of participants within the system studied as well as supported by the relevant data collected. A qualitative phenomenological method to prove the hypothesis of this study was conducted. One-on-one semi-structured interviews corroborated by analysis of document relevant to the research questions and the concept of study was used. The study explored the perceptions and experiences of twenty seven volunteer learners who attended the Advanced Military Law Course during 2010, 2011, 2012, the specialists from the management group and facilitators in terms of the research questions. As demonstrated by data collection and data analysis processes, five themes emerged, namely global view of changing approaches to education, South African view of changing education approaches, Military Education, traditional learning versus OBE and contributory factors to learner performance (adult learning) .The findings of the study revealed that there is actually a high rate of incompetence after the first assessment attempt. A lot of factors that might contribute to poor learner performance were identified and investigated. Recommendations based on the findings of the study will guide the Defence Legal Services Division (DLSD) on measures to improve the current learner performance at SoMJ.

Economic justification for rehabilitative services has resulted in the need for outcome based research which could quantify success or failure in individual patients and formulate baseline variables which could predict outcomes. The purpose of this study is to investigate the utilization of baseline clinical, exercise test, and psychosocial variables to predict clinically relevant changes in exercise tolerance of cardiac patients who participated in early outpatient cardiac rehabilitation. Clinical records were analyzed retrospectively to obtain clinical, psychosocial and exercise test data for 94 patients referred to an early outpatient cardiac rehabilitation program at a large urban hospital in the Southeast US. All patients participated in supervised exercise training 3d/wk for 2-3 months. A standardized training outcome score STO) was devised to evaluate training effect by tabulating changes in patients predicted VO2, body weight and exercising heart rates after 8-12 weeks of exercise based cardiac rehabilitation. STO = Predicted VO2 change + BW change- HR change. The Multi-Factorial Analysis was applied to derive coefficients in the STO formula so that the STO scores reflected the independent effects of BW, HR and Predicted V02 changes on training outcome. Patients were classified into one of three possible outcome categories based on STO scores, i.e. improvement, no change, or decline. Thresholds for classifying patients were the following; STO scores greater than or equal to 3 SEM above the mean = improved, (N= 40: 41%), STO scores less than or equal to 3 SEM below the mean = decline, (N=34: 35%), STO scores within 3 SEM= no change, (N=23: 24%). Multiple logistic regression was used to identify patient attributes predictive of improvement, decline, or no change from measures routinely collected at the point of admission to rehabilitation. The model for prediction of improvement correctly classified 70% of patients as those who improved vs. those who did not (sensitivity 70%, specificity 71%). This model generated the following variables as having predictive capabilities; recent CABG, emotional status, social status, calcium channel blocker, recent angioplasty, maximum diastolic BP, maximum systolic BP and resting systolic BP. The model for predicting those who declined vs. those who did not decline demonstrated higher correct classification rate of 74% and specificity (84%). This model generated the following variables as having predictive capabilities; social status, calcium channel blocker, orthopedic limitation, role function, QOL score and Digitalis. However, these models may include certain bias because the same observations to fit the model were also used to estimate the classification errors. Therefore, cross validation was performed utilizing the single point deletion method; this method yielded somewhat lower fraction correct classification rates (66%,69%) and sensitivity rates (56%,44%) for improvement vs. no improvement and decline vs. no decline groups respectively. Conclusion A combined set of baseline clinical, psychosocial and exercise measures can demonstrate moderate success in predicting training outcome based on STO scores in hospital outpatient cardiac rehabilitation. In contrast psychosocial data seem to account for more of the variance in prediction of decline than other types of baseline variables examined in this study. Baseline blood pressure responses both at rest and during exercise were the greatest predictors of improvement. However, cross validation of these models indicates that these results could be biased eliciting overly optimistic predictive capabilities, due to the analysis of fitted data. These models need to be validated in independent sample with patients in similar settings. / Master of Science

This mixed-methods single case study explored how outcome-based instructional design can be used to incorporate social software into an existing e-learning course. Pre-service teachers enrolled in a teacher education program at a Canadian university volunteered to participate in a study where social software was incorporated into a foundations course to facilitate digital literacy development, social objects production, and reflection on how these experiences connect to future teaching practice. The instructional design process was guided by a conceptual framework and informed by W(e)Learn, a well-tested e-learning design and evaluation framework. The quantitative and qualitative data were collected from the instructional designer’s journal, participant surveys, course records and interviews. Findings provided a comprehensive view of the effectiveness of outcome-based instructional design. In general, participants achieved the expected learning outcomes for this study. There were also unexpected outcomes. For example, some learners created a virtual community of practice. Some learners had an influence on their in-service teacher’s use of social software in teaching and learning. The findings supported the literature that states an outcome-based instructional design approach can facilitate learning. The findings also revealed why participants used social software in their teaching (e.g. awareness, usefulness, and school environment). In addition, these findings can inform school board policy with regard to supporting the use of social software in teaching and learning. The integration of qualitative and quantitative findings revealed convergence and divergence between the two types of data. In addition the findings informed directions for further research, including the relationship between learners’ satisfaction and learning experiences as well as the achievement of learning outcomes. The corroboration of data also identified specific effective and iii imperfect areas of the instructional design strategies, which, in turn, informed the revision of the conceptual framework for outcome-based instructional design. This study found W(e)learn to be effective in guiding outcome-based instructional design and analyzing the achievement of expected learning outcomes. The study also contributes to theory by recommending the inclusion of two new elements into W(e)learn. Painstakingly recording the instructional design process in a journal resulted in documented practical information and lessons learned that may guide and benefit instructional designers and educators who want to incorporate software into their learning activities.

abstract: Academia is not what it used to be. In today’s fast-paced world, requirements are constantly changing, and adapting to these changes in an academic curriculum can be challenging. Given a specific aspect of a domain, there can be various levels of proficiency that can be achieved by the students. Considering the wide array of needs, diverse groups need customized course curriculum. The need for having an archetype to design a course focusing on the outcomes paved the way for Outcome-based Education (OBE). OBE focuses on the outcomes as opposed to the traditional way of following a process [23]. According to D. Clark, the major reason for the creation of Bloom’s taxonomy was not only to stimulate and inspire a higher quality of thinking in academia – incorporating not just the basic fact-learning and application, but also to evaluate and analyze on the facts and its applications [7]. Instructional Module Development System (IMODS) is the culmination of both these models – Bloom’s Taxonomy and OBE. It is an open-source web-based software that has been developed on the principles of OBE and Bloom’s Taxonomy. It guides an instructor, step-by-step, through an outcomes-based process as they define the learning objectives, the content to be covered and develop an instruction and assessment plan. The tool also provides the user with a repository of techniques based on the choices made by them regarding the level of learning while defining the objectives. This helps in maintaining alignment among all the components of the course design. The tool also generates documentation to support the course design and provide feedback when the course is lacking in certain aspects. It is not just enough to come up with a model that theoretically facilitates effective result-oriented course design. There should be facts, experiments and proof that any model succeeds in achieving what it aims to achieve. And thus, there are two research objectives of this thesis: (i) design a feature for course design feedback and evaluate its effectiveness; (ii) evaluate the usefulness of a tool like IMODS on various aspects – (a) the effectiveness of the tool in educating instructors on OBE; (b) the effectiveness of the tool in providing appropriate and efficient pedagogy and assessment techniques; (c) the effectiveness of the tool in building the learning objectives; (d) effectiveness of the tool in document generation; (e) Usability of the tool; (f) the effectiveness of OBE on course design and expected student outcomes. The thesis presents a detailed algorithm for course design feedback, its pseudocode, a description and proof of the correctness of the feature, methods used for evaluation of the tool, experiments for evaluation and analysis of the obtained results. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Software Engineering 2018

This mixed-methods single case study explored how outcome-based instructional design can be used to incorporate social software into an existing e-learning course. Pre-service teachers enrolled in a teacher education program at a Canadian university volunteered to participate in a study where social software was incorporated into a foundations course to facilitate digital literacy development, social objects production, and reflection on how these experiences connect to future teaching practice. The instructional design process was guided by a conceptual framework and informed by W(e)Learn, a well-tested e-learning design and evaluation framework. The quantitative and qualitative data were collected from the instructional designer’s journal, participant surveys, course records and interviews. Findings provided a comprehensive view of the effectiveness of outcome-based instructional design. In general, participants achieved the expected learning outcomes for this study. There were also unexpected outcomes. For example, some learners created a virtual community of practice. Some learners had an influence on their in-service teacher’s use of social software in teaching and learning. The findings supported the literature that states an outcome-based instructional design approach can facilitate learning. The findings also revealed why participants used social software in their teaching (e.g. awareness, usefulness, and school environment). In addition, these findings can inform school board policy with regard to supporting the use of social software in teaching and learning. The integration of qualitative and quantitative findings revealed convergence and divergence between the two types of data. In addition the findings informed directions for further research, including the relationship between learners’ satisfaction and learning experiences as well as the achievement of learning outcomes. The corroboration of data also identified specific effective and iii imperfect areas of the instructional design strategies, which, in turn, informed the revision of the conceptual framework for outcome-based instructional design. This study found W(e)learn to be effective in guiding outcome-based instructional design and analyzing the achievement of expected learning outcomes. The study also contributes to theory by recommending the inclusion of two new elements into W(e)learn. Painstakingly recording the instructional design process in a journal resulted in documented practical information and lessons learned that may guide and benefit instructional designers and educators who want to incorporate software into their learning activities.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(理学) / 甲第20660号 / 理博第4325号 / 新制||理||1621(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院理学研究科生物科学専攻 / (主査)教授 友永 雅己, 准教授 足立 幾磨, 准教授 鈴木 樹理 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Science / Kyoto University / DGAM

Intelligent systems ought to be distinguished as a special type of systems that require distinctive engineering processes. While this distinction is informally acknowledged by some, practical systems engineering (SE) methodologies for intelligent systems remain primarily rooted in traditional SE paradigms centered around component aggregation. Initially, this dissertation posits that the traditional approach is grounded in the notion of open systems as the fundamental precept, whereas engineering intelligent systems necessitates an alternative approach founded on the principles of closed systems. This dissertation endeavors to identify potential gaps within the current SE foundations concerning the accommodation of the unique characteristics of intelligent systems, such as continuous learning and sensitivity to environmental changes. Furthermore, it argues for the mitigation of these gaps through the formalization of closed systems precepts. It adopts a systems-theoretic perspective to elucidate the phenomena of closed systems and their intricate interplay with engineering intelligent systems. This research contends that, given the intricate coupling between intelligent systems and their environments, the incorporation of closed systems precepts into SE represents a pivotal pathway to construct engineered intelligence. In pursuit of this objective, this dissertation establishes a formal foundation to delineate closed systems precepts and other fundamental practices. Subsequently, it provides formalism to discern two important categories of closed systems, informationally and functionally closed systems, and their relevance in the domains of engineering and design across diverse levels of system abstraction. Additionally, it explores the practical application of the closed systems precepts through the novel paradigm of core and periphery, followed by its examination within real-world contexts. This dissertation is organizes as follows: Chapter 1 initiates the dissertation by presenting the problem formulation and motivation. It subsequently delves into a thorough literature review and outlines the research's scope and objectives, contributing to the essence of this work. In Chapter 2, a narrative unfolds, elucidating the contributions of the provided papers to the objectives outlined in Chapter 1. This chapter illuminates how each paper aligns with and furthers the overarching goals set forth in the Chapter 1. Chapter 3 serves as a culmination, offering a summary of the accomplishments, acknowledging limitations, and delineating potential avenues for future research within this domain. Paper A is devoted to substantiating the closed notion of intelligence property. In the realm of artificial intelligence (AI), systems are often expected to exert influence upon their environments and, reciprocally, to be influenced by their surroundings. Consequently, a profound interdependence exists between the system and its environment, transcending the confines of conventional input-output relations. In this regard, Paper A postulates that the engineering of intelligent systems mandates an approach that elevates closed systems as foundational precepts for characterizing intelligence as a property contingent upon the system's relationship with its context. The ensuing discussion will juxtapose the viewpoints of open and closed systems, illustrating the limitations of the open system perspective in representing intelligence as a relational property. In response, this paper will advocate for the adoption of the closed system view to establish intelligence as an inherent relational property arising from the system's dynamic interactions with its environment. Paper B is dedicated to the formalization of the closed systems paradigm within SE. In this paper, formalism is proffered for the closed systems precepts, drawing upon systems theory, cybernetics, and information theory. A comprehensive comparison of two closure types, informational and functional closure, within closed systems is presented, underpinned by a common systems-theoretic formal framework. This dissertation contends that by grounding these initiatives in the core and periphery concept, we can facilitate the design and engineering of intelligent systems across multiple levels of abstraction. These levels may span a spectrum from informational closure to a synthesis of informational and functional openness. It posits that this approach represents a versatile, method-agnostic solution to some of the principal challenges encountered when engineering multiple tiers of intelligence for complex systems. Paper C delves into the rise of the concept of core-periphery from some cybernetics principles, such as variety and "The Law of Requisite Variety" and provides a formalism that is a derivation of the mentioned principles in Cybernetics. Later, it elaborates on the practical implications of such concepts in intelligent systems from biological systems and entails an engagement with a CNN model to explore the core and periphery concept within AI-enabled systems. Paper D proposes the practical implementation of the closed systems doctrine in SE, offering frameworks that rigorously define the boundaries between closed systems and their environment. These frameworks are meticulously designed to account for stakeholder requirements and the inherent design constraints of the system. This paper illustrates practical applications of informational and functional closure within SE processes, leveraging a hypothetical example for elucidation. It focuses on two aspects of engineering intelligence, scope and scale to provide a platform for the utilization of closed systems precepts. / Doctor of Philosophy / There has been a longstanding call within the Systems Engineering (SE) community for the development of a comprehensive SE theory. This endeavor seeks to bestow upon the field of SE the requisite credibility to stand autonomously as an engineering discipline, capable of addressing the contemporary engineering challenges that confront us. In the pursuit of establishing SE as a distinct engineering field, it becomes imperative to furnish precise and formal definitions for the fundamental concepts that underpin SE processes. Presently, the absence of concrete formalism and clear distinctions surrounding certain core concepts introduces ambiguity into various SE practices. Until recently, the immediate necessity for such foundational formalism was not universally acknowledged or appreciated, as engineers predominantly relied on established practices to design traditional engineered systems. These conventional SE practices had withstood the test of time, until the emergence of a new generation of complex systems characterized by distinctive features. Among these emergent systems, Artificial Intelligent (AI) systems have garnered significant attention, bearing unique attributes that call into question the adequacy of the current SE practices in supporting their development. Consequently, it has been asserted that intelligent systems necessitate the incorporation of new characteristics that render them incompatible with conventional SE practices. This assertion underscores the need for a thorough reevaluation of SE, potentially entailing an expansion of the formalism underpinning its fundamental principles. However, despite these pressing concerns, SE currently lacks a solid theoretical foundation capable of facilitating a paradigm shift away from current practices. The primary objective of this dissertation is to identify the existing gaps responsible for the misalignment between the characteristics of AI systems and prevailing SE practices. Additionally, it seeks to propose innovative methodologies to bridge these gaps effectively. In alignment with this objective, the dissertation provides formalism for these methodologies. Finally, this dissertation aims to provide practical implication of such formalism to validate their applicability. In summary, the central research question, along with the ensuing objectives of this dissertation, can be articulated as follows: What aspects of SE are insufficient for engineering the new characteristics demanded by intelligent systems? What specific actions need to be undertaken to rectify the gaps within SE for intelligent systems? What theoretical foundation and formalism are essential to address these deficiencies within the SE process? What are the practical implications of these efforts for SE processes, as exemplified by real-world scenarios?