This diploma thesis deals with business process simplification. Basic terms like business or process are defined in the theoretical part of the thesis as well as selected methods of business management such as TPS, KAIZEN, 5S, Six Sigma, etc. The principal concept for this work is described in the second chapter. It’s very important to simplify things and work, which means to identify the essential parts and eliminate the rest (waste). The practical part describes company Kuličkové šrouby Kuřim, a.s. (KSK) and the study of individual processes and impacts upon them. Further on, several process simplifications from various parts of the company are presented. Each individual case is described and analysed.

Despite advances in health care over the past decades, medical errors and omissions remain significant threats to patient safety and health. A large number of these mistakes are made by trainees, persons who are just beginning to build the case-based experiences that will transform them from novices to expert practitioners. Clinicians use both intuitive and deductive problem-solving skills in caring for patients and they acquire expertise in applying these skills through interaction with many and varied cases. The contemporary heath care environment, with decreased lengths of stay for patients and reduced duty hours for trainees, makes getting optimal patient exposure difficult. Virtual patients (VPs), online, interactive patient cases, may help close the case exposure gap. Evidence has shown that VPs improve clinical reasoning skills, but no formal instructional design theory of VPs has been advanced. The goal was to conduct formative research to develop an instructional design theory of VPs to help novice clinicians cultivate clinical reasoning and diagnostic skills. The instructional design theory, goal-based scenarios (GBS), grounded in the learning theory, Case-based Reasoning, provided methods that promised to be appropriate to the goal. An existing, two-module, multimedia VP, Matt Lane, A Pressure Ulcer Prevention Virtual Patient, was tested with 10 medical trainees to determine which methods of GBS it incorporated and which of its methods were not part of GBS. Leaners' experience of what worked and didn't work to promote learning in the VP was analyzed. The VP was found to incorporate all GBS methods and one significant method, the Life Model, that was not part of GBS. The Life Model Method involved replicating, with a high degree of fidelity, the experiences of a real patient in creating the VP scenario. Recommendations for customization of GBS for VPs included more explicit advertisement of learning goals and leverage of Internet search engines to provide just-in-time resources to support problem-solving. Incorporation of the Life Model was also recommended along with the Simplifying Conditions Method from Elaboration Theory to manage the complexity inherent in the Life Model. The resultant, enhanced GBS theory may be particularly relevant in teaching patient-centered care.

Matematiklärare gör många olika stödinsatser för att hjälpa lågpresterande elever att nå betygskriterierna i matematik. I den tidigare forskningen som används i denna undersökning beskrivs det att matematiklärare har långa listor av stödinsatser som de använder sig av i sin undervisning. Utöver detta beskrivs majoriteten av stödinsatserna som en förenkling av elevernas material i den tidigare forskningen. Denna undersökning utmanar synen att matematiklärare, med inriktning på årskurserna 7–9, främst använder förenklat material som stödinsats. Genom att använda en definition av scaffolding tillsammans med dess teoretiska beskrivningarna ur ett sociokulturellt perspektiv, analyseras matematiklärares stödinsatser och deras motiveringar bakom dessa. För att inhämta empiri intervjuades sex matematiklärare i olika delar av sydvästra Skåne. Undersökningen grundar sig alltså i en kvalitativ metod med inriktning mot en tematisk analys. Ur det transkriberade materialet framgick det att matematiklärarna arbetade mycket med stödinsatser på både individ- och gruppnivå samt att de använde sig av flera olika stödinsatser i sin undervisning. Slutsatsen i denna undersökning blev att det var svårt att synliggöra om en stödinsats är scaffolding utifrån de strikta definitioner som finns i teorin.

The study investigated errors made by Grade 9 learners when simplifying algebraic expressions. Eighty-two (82) Grade 9 learners from a rural secondary school in Limpopo Province, South Africa participated in the study. The sequential explanatory design method which uses both quantitative and qualitative approaches was used to analyse errors in basic algebra. In the quantitative phase, a 20-item test was administered to the 82 participants. Learners’ common errors were identified and grouped according to error type. The qualitative phase involved interviews with selected participants. The interviews focused on each identified common error in order to establish the reasons why learners made the identified errors. The study identified six (6) common errors in relation to simplifying algebraic expressions. The causes of these errors were attributed to poor arithmetic background; interference from new learning; failure to deal with direction and operation signs; problems with algebraic notation and misapplication of rules. / Mathematics Education / M. Ed. (Mathematics Education)