This item contains the agenda, minutes, and attachments for the Faculty Senate meeting on this date. There may be additional materials from the meeting available at the Faculty Center.

Made available in DSpace on 2010-04-20T20:48:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3 68472.pdf.jpg: 26974 bytes, checksum: 034a1c3c9d998708ccd9d2147b6ae400 (MD5) 68472.pdf: 1943638 bytes, checksum: 074240d8b8c6bdfa6dfcfb36d0dd4f75 (MD5) 68472.pdf.txt: 413719 bytes, checksum: bc028bb1f27dfc3f51effc0a0cdcb7af (MD5) Previous issue date: 2004-04-14T00:00:00Z / The main purpose of this thesis is to analyze the financial analysts of Brazilian firms. By gathering data from the market and analyzing the current performance of the firms, these professionals prepare earnings forecasts and stock recommendations. Using I/B/E/S database, it is presented a broad empirical research of the earnings forecasts and stock recommendations, as well as their information content for the Brazilian capital market. The empirical studies covered the period from January 1995 to June 2003. This thesis starts with the discussion of some concepts and the modus operandi of the financial analysts of Brazilian firms. After a literature review in the area, the empirical studies begin with the analysis of the earnings forecast errors. Some of their characteristics, such as accuracy, bias and precision are investigated in different contexts. After a critical analysis of the informational content for different types of earnings forecast revisions and actual announced earnings deviated form analysts expectations (earnings surprises), evidences of price effects in response to these facts are documented. The last part of this thesis discusses the role of stock recommendations in the Brazilian market. The percentage distribution of stock recommendations is verified as well as the informational content of stock recommendations. Other studies are carried out to verify the performance of the consensus stock recommendations and the effects of downgrades and upgrades of recommendations for Brazilian companies. / Esta tese propõe-se a analisar os analistas de mercado de capitais de empresas brasileiras. Coletando informações do mercado e analisando o desempenho corrente das empresas, estes profissionais realizam projeções de resultados e fazem recomendações. Usando dados extraídos do sistema I/B/E/S, realiza-se uma abrangente pesquisa empírica das previsões e recomendações dos analistas, bem como de seu conteúdo informativo para o mercado brasileiro. O período de estudo foi entre janeiro 1995 a junho 2003. Inicialmente são discutidos conceitos e particularidades do modus operandi dos analistas de empresas brasileiras. A seguir, depois de uma revisão da literatura onde se documentam as principais contribuições e descobertas, procede-se a uma investigação da natureza dos erros de previsão dos analistas de empresas brasileiras. Características como a acurácia, viés e precisão das previsões dos analistas são apreciadas e contextualizadas em diferentes situações. Efetua-se um detalhamento analítico do conteúdo informativo dos diferentes tipos de revisões de previsões dos analistas e das surpresas provocadas pelo anúncio de resultados em desacordo com as expectativas. De modo geral, as revisões e as surpresas, na medida em que informarem o mercado, provocam variações de retornos. Encerra-se a tese com uma análise das recomendações dos analistas. Apura-se a distribuição percentual das recomendações, assim como os efeitos sobre os preços de recomendações de compra (buy) e de venda(sell). O desempenho das recomendações de consenso e o efeito das revisões de recomendações para cima (upgrade) e para baixo (downgrade) são exemplos de outros pontos analisados.

Die Dissertation untersucht Samuel Taylor Coleridges Praxis der Selbstredaktion in den Jahren von 1814 bis 1818 und beleuchtet dabei die zentrale Rolle, die William Wordsworths The Excursion, 1814 als Teil von The Recluse erschienen, in der Herausbildung von Coleridges Œuvre einnimmt. Die Arbeit entwickelt ihre zentrale These zu Coleridges Überarbeitungspraxis durch eine detaillierte Analyse der Verfahren, über die Coleridge aufhörte, durch Wordsworth zu sprechen. Ich beziehe mich dabei in erster Linie auf die Überarbeitungen von Biographia Literaria (1817), Sibylline Leaves (1817) und dem 1818 erschienenen rifacciamento zu dem Periodikum The Friend, das ursprünglich 1809–1810 publiziert worden war. Vor dem Hintergrund von Coleridges in den 1790er- und 1800er-Jahren neu aufgekommener und sich später weiterentwickelnder Rezeption von Immanuel Kants kritischer Philosophie werde ich argumentieren, dass sich die „radikale Differenz“ zwischen Coleridge und Wordsworth, die seit den Lyrical Ballads (1798) und dem „Preface“ (1800) bestand, weiter verstärkte, nachdem es Wordsworth nicht gelungen war, das groß angelegte Konzept eines „first genuine philosophical poem“ – The Recluse – zu vollenden. Insbesondere nachdem Coleridge 1807 The Prelude gehört hatte, enttäuschte The Excursion nach den Maßstäben seiner „vergleichenden Kritik“ seine lang gehegten Erwartungen. Während sein organisches Weltbild einen aktiven Geist kannte, der nach universaler „Wahrheit“ sowohl durch innere synthetisierende Kräfte als auch empirische Naturgesetze strebt, gründete sich Wordsworths Gedicht auf ein obskur-labiles Fundament zwischen Außenwelt und Selbst. Coleridges aus seinen eigenen Theorien zu Sprache und Einbildungskraft erwachsene Enttäuschung über The Excursion und die nachfolgende Loslösung von Wordsworth und ihrem gemeinsamen Werk verschafften ihm letztendlich die notwendige Autonomie, die einerseits einen nüchternen Blick auf die eigene Vergangenheit und andererseits eine dialogische Freundschaft zu Wordsworth ermöglichten, innerhalb derer Coleridge die Bedeutsamkeit erkannte, zu einem Freund zu sprechen. / This thesis is an examination of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s revisionary activity from 1814 to 1818, considering the integral role of William Wordsworth’s The Excursion, published as part of The Recluse in 1814, on Coleridge’s conception of his discrete oeuvre. It is via a detailed analysis of the way Coleridge ceased to speak “through” Wordsworth that this thesis unfolds its principal argument on Coleridge’s revisionary activity. I principally consider the revisions at work in the Biographia Literaria (1817), Sibylline Leaves (1817) and the 1818 rifacciamento to The Friend (the periodical originally issued in 1809-1810). Taking into account Coleridge’s newly-emerging and subsequently evolving responses to Immanuel Kant’s critical philosophy in the 1790s and 1800s, I will argue that the already-existing “radical Difference” between Coleridge and Wordsworth ever since the Lyrical Ballads (1798) and the “Preface” (1800) further intensified following Wordsworth’s failure to bring their grand scheme for a “first genuine philosophical poem”, The Recluse, into completion. Especially after The Prelude Coleridge heard in 1807, The Excursion by means of his “comparative censure” fell short of meeting the long-cherished expectations. Whereas Coleridge’s organic view of the world involved the recognition of an active mind seeking universal “Truth” through the inner synthetic faculties as well as the empirical laws in nature, Wordsworth’s poem was founded upon an obscurely precarious ground between the phenomenal world and the inner self. Ultimately, Coleridge’s disappointment with The Excursion on the basis of his theories on language and imagination, and the ensuing detachment from Wordsworth and their joint oeuvre gave him the autonomy to revise his past works in a way that ensured formation of a more sober relationship with his own past and a dialogic friendship with Wordsworth in which Coleridge came to realise the importance of speaking to a friend.

This item contains the agenda, minutes, and attachments for the Faculty Senate meeting on this date. There may be additional materials from the meeting available at the Faculty Center.

This item contains the agenda, minutes, and attachments for the Faculty Senate meeting on this date. There may be additional materials from the meeting available at the Faculty Center.

This item contains the agenda, minutes, and attachments for the Faculty Senate meeting on this date. There may be additional materials from the meeting available at the Faculty Center.

This item contains the agenda, minutes, and attachments for the Faculty Senate meeting on this date. There may be additional materials from the meeting available at the Faculty Center.

This item contains the agenda, minutes, and attachments for the Faculty Senate meeting on this date. There may be additional materials from the meeting available at the Faculty Center.

Wirtschaftsprognosen sollen die Unsicherheit bezüglich der zukünftigen wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung mindern und Planungsprozesse von Regierungen und Unternehmen unterstützen. Empirische Studien bescheinigen ihnen jedoch in aller Regel ein unbefriedigendes Qualitätsniveau. Auf der Suche nach den Ursachen hat sich in Form der rationalen Erwartungsbildung eine zentrale Grundforderung an  die Prognostiker herausgebildet. So müssten offensichtliche und systematische Fehler, wie bspw. regelmäßige Überschätzungen, mit der Zeit erkannt und abgestellt werden. Die erste Studie der Dissertation übt Kritik am vorherrschenden Verständnis der Rationalität. Dieses ist zu weitreichend, weshalb den Prognostikern die Rationalität voreilig abgesprochen wird. Anhand einer neuen empirischen Herangehensweise wird deutlich, dass die Prognosen aus einem anderen Blickwinkel heraus durchaus als rational angesehen werden können. Der zweite Aufsatz zeigt auf, dass in Form von Befragungsergebnissen öffentlich verfügbare Informationen bestehen, die bei geeigneter Verwendung zu einer Verbesserung der Qualität von Konjunkturprognosen beitragen würden. Die Rationalität dieser Prognosen ist daher stark eingeschränkt. Im dritten Papier erfolgt eine Analyse von Prognoserevisionen und deren Ursachen. Dabei zeigt sich, dass es keinen Zusammenhang zwischen der Rationalität und der Qualität der untersuchten Prognosezeitreihen gibt. Die vierte Studie dient der Präsentation der Ergebnisse eines Prognoseplanspiels, welches den Vergleich der Prognosen von Amateuren und Experten zum Ziel hatte. Es stellt sich heraus, dass die Prognosefehler erhebliche Übereinstimmungen aufweisen.

This investigative study was undertaken against the background of the recent calls for back to basics by the Schooling 2025 initiative, as well as to address the 2000 and 2009 Review Committees’ reports on the training and development of teachers and on the variable quality of learning support materials. The act of systemic transformation has led to two curriculum revisions taking place within the South African education sector and has inevitably culminated in the identification of shortcomings in teacher development and learning materials. This study has positioned itself to address these shortcomings at pre-service level through the preparation of Mathematics student teachers as prospective Mathematics teachers. In addressing the issue of inadequate training, the focus of the study was not only on cognition, but also on how affect could influence the learning of Mathematics so as to ensure a more encompassing approach in understanding how student teachers learn and do Mathematics. Integrated research on affect and cognition could lead to optimal performance in the teaching and learning of Mathematics and researchers in mathematics education need to acknowledge the role and impact of the affective domain and integrate it into studies of cognition. If learners are going to become competent learners of Mathematics, their affective responses to Mathematics are going to be much more intense than if they are merely expected to achieve satisfactory levels of performance in low-order mathematical skills. In the studies on mathematics cognition, the focus of mathematical competencies is on abilities and capabilities while, in the affective domain, competencies in mathematics are more than the abilities to perform observable tasks. Rather, the focus of the affective competencies lies in the direction, the degree and the levels of intensities of affect constructs (or their variables) that will define mathematical competencies within the affective domain. Evidentiary (qualitative) data from this study supported the contention that affect does influence the learning of mathematics since there were distinct patterns in the overall expressions of participants towards this aspect of the research. The acknowledgment of the concerns of student teachers during field practicum could possibly help in ameliorating these concerns through the identification of what student teachers were mostly concerned about when teaching Mathematics and how, by addressing these concerns, could help improve their teaching skills and abilities. Based on the quantitative evidence, the three subscales of self, task and impact used in the Student Concerns Questionnaire (SCQ) were modified on the basis of factor analysis to a two-factor model (concerns about self-benefit and concerns about learner-benefit). Some of the statistical results were integrated with the narrative data to provide substantive support for the expressions of student teachers. No classical trends, as noted in the concerns theory, could be detected in this study. It was statistically inferred that a majority of Mathematics student teachers who participated in this study were moderately concerned about most of the concerns statements noted in each of the items on the SCQ. In addressing the variable quality of the learning material the study focused on the development and the use of social context learning packages. The utilisation of these learning packages (in an intervention strategy) was aimed at strengthening social context knowledge and education, and explored its role in the translation (if any) of student teacher concerns within a hierarchical spectrum. The evidence on how student teachers perceived the use of these learning packages was recorded during the interviews. Analyses of the verbal data revealed that the participating student teachers agreed with the use of social context learning packages as part of their Mathematics lessons. In sum, the need to prepare effective Mathematics teachers and raise the academic calibre of prospective Mathematics teachers was fundamental to the overall design of this study. It is trusted that curriculum planners and designers will consider the recommendations of this study to address the so-called inadequacies within the education system of South Africa. / Thesis (PhD (Mathematics Education))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013