Planejamento, controle, coordenação, padronização foram e continuam sendo importantes para a efetividade das práticas no ambiente organizacional. Entretanto, novas lentes de análise são necessárias para contribuir na compreensão da atuação dos indivíduos nas organizações, e uma destas novas propostas, apresentada neste trabalho, consiste na improvisação e sua articulação com a aprendizagem. A complexidade do mundo contemporâneo do trabalho muitas vezes exige a capacidade de o sujeito atuar na resolução de problemas emergenciais. Mesmo organizações com alta tecnologia, planejamento e padronização, em determinadas ocasiões podem precisar improvisar. O presente estudo tem por objetivo descrever e compreender os processos de improvisação e possíveis articulações com a aprendizagem em cervejarias artesanais do Brasil e Alemanha. A abordagem é qualitativa, com base em um estudo multicaso realizado em dez cervejarias artesanais brasileiras e alemãs, nas quais coletou-se dados por meio de entrevistas semiestruturadas, observação direta, análise de documentos. A pesquisa delimitou-se a partir de dois eixos norteadores: improvisação e teoria da aprendizagem situada. Entendese o conceito de improviso como a ação que ocorre de forma extemporânea, sem espaço para planejamento. A improvisação não ocorre sem uma base de conhecimentos prévios, pois há a necessidade de considerar a influência direta das normas, contexto, forma de participação e experiência sobre o tema do improviso. Concluiu-se que na sua articulação com a improvisação, a aprendizagem pode ocorrer: a) antes do improviso – já que o indivíduo ou grupo baseiam-se nas estruturas mínimas, nos conhecimentos previamente adquiridos, normas, regras, experiências; esta base de conhecimentos molda o improviso a ser realizado; b) durante o improviso – como uma forma de aprendizagem em tempo real, são criados novos caminhos, formas e estruturas; existe a procura por novos conhecimentos para resolver o problema dentro de um período curto; experiências, ações e mudanças convergem no tempo; c) após o improviso – permanência na memória; possibilidade de reflexão sobre erros e acertos na improvisação, busca de outras soluções possíveis. / Elements such as planning, control, coordination, standardization, were and are important for effectiveness in the organizational environment. New perspectives are necessary to contribute to understand the performance of individuals in organizations, and one of these new proposals, presented here, is the improvisation and its relationship with learning. The complexity of the contemporary world often requires the ability of the people to act solve critical and urgent problems. Even organizations with high technology, planning and standardization, on some occasions may need to improvise. This study aims to describe and understand the processes of improvisation and the possible links with learning in craft breweries located in Brazil and Germany. The approach is qualitative, based on a multicase study conducted in ten craft breweries in Brazil and Germany. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews, direct observation, document analysis. The research was delimited from these two themes: situated learning and improvisation. It is argued in this research that improvisation requires some structure and prior knowledge, because there is a need to consider the influence of norms, context, forms of participation and experience in the field of improvisation. It was concluded that in its articulation with improvisation, learning can occur: a) before the improvisation - as based on the minimum structures, the previously acquired knowledge, norms, rules, experiences, and this base of knowledge shapes the improvisation; b) during the improvisation - as a form of real-time learning, people created: new ways, shapes and structures; there is a search for new knowledge to solve the problem within a short time; experiences, actions and changes converge in time; c) after the improvisation – the performance stay in memory; reflection on mistakes and successes in improvisation; search for other possible solutions.

In a society where knowledge is more and more valuable, every moment that knowledge can be shared between colleagues is of great importance. According to our earlier personal experiences, we thought that organizations prioritised explicit knowledge and not tacit knowledge.  To contribute to knowledge on the subject we choose to do a study where we focused on the experiences of coworkers that works in shops. The purpose of the study then became: “to investigate how tacit knowledge is made use of in shops from the perspective of coworkers”. With the purpose in mind, we created two questions: “How does the coworkers of shops perceive that tacit knowledge occurs on their workplace?” and “how does coworkers perceive that they share their tacit knowledge”?  The study is made with a qualitative approach the collection of data has been made through seven semistructured interviews with coworkers. When we analyzed the empiric material, we’ve analyzed it through the theory of situated learning by Lave and Wenger that is included in the sociocultural perspective. Some things that the result showed according to our interpretation was observation and social interactions with other colleagues is the most common way that tacit knowledge can be shared through on the respondent’s workplaces, that the organizations do have a plan to make use of the explicit knowledge in greater extent than tacit knowledge, the respondents views trust as an important factor when it comes to sharing their tacit knowledge. / I ett samhälle där kunskap blir mer och mer värdefullt är vartenda tillfälle där kunskap kan delas mellan kollegor av stor vikt. Våra personliga uppfattningar är att organisationer prioriterar formell kunskap som kan förmedlas i ord och skrift och inte den tysta kunskapen.  För att bidra med kunskap i ämnet valde vi att göra en studie där vi fokuserar på medarbetare som arbetar i butik för att ta reda på deras uppfattningar. Syftet blev då: “att undersöka hur tyst kunskap tas tillvara på inom detaljhandeln utifrån medarbetares perspektiv”. Utifrån syftet skapade vi de två frågeställningarna: ”Hur uppfattar butiksmedarbetare att tyst kunskap förekommer på deras arbetsplats?” och ”Hur upplever medarbetare att de delar sin tysta kunskap?  Studien har gjorts med kvalitativ ansats och datainsamlingen har skett genom sju stycken semistrukturerade intervjuer med medarbetare. När vi analyserat det empiriska materialet har vi gjort det ur teorin situerat lärande av Lave och Wenger som ingår i det sociokulturella perspektivet. Några saker som resultatet visar enligt vår tolkning är att: observation och socialt samspel med andra kollegor är de vanligaste sätten som tyst kunskap delas på respondenternas arbetsplatser, att organisationerna har en plan för att ta tillvara på explicit kunskap i högre utsträckning än tyst kunskap samt att respondenterna ser tillit som en viktig faktor när de ska dela sin tysta kunskap.

No description available.

Process skills, such as critical thinking, communication, and problem solving, are sometimes referred to as soft skills or professional skills and have been identified by instructors and employers alike as being desirable skills for students to acquire before they graduate. The development and assessment of process skills in students were important learning objectives for both the ANA-POGIL (Analytical Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning) and ELIPSS (Enhancing Learning by Improving Process Skills in STEM) projects. The ANA-POGIL project consisted of a faculty consortium that was comprised of chemistry faculty. The ELIPSS project currently consists of a faculty consortium that includes representation from multiple STEM disciplines, including biology, chemistry, anatomy & physiology, math, engineering, and physics. In order to optimize the student development of process skills there should be alignment between the instructors’ goals for their courses and what they assess. The faculty members associated with both of these projects wanted to enhance students’ development of process skills by providing them with feedback, and a problem solving rubric was developed to meet those needs. The rubric categories were constructed based on faculty definitions and literature that described characteristics of successful problem solvers. To the test the rubric’s validity, it was piloted by both faculty and students. The rubric was then used in an advanced analytical instrumental laboratory course to assess the extent to which evidence of students’ process skills changed over the course of a semester. Students from the laboratory course were interviewed to gather their insights into the rubric and how they used the feedback. Findings suggest that instructors should emphasize the importance of process skills and incorporate them directly into their courses if they want students to value them. Even though students were provided regular feedback, their problem solving scores did not change appreciably throughout the semester. While students found the rubric feedback useful on the surface, they did not use the feedback in any significant way to improve on their laboratory reports because there was no grade or incentive tied to the rubrics. If faculty want students to obtain process skills, they should place some incentive on the acquisition and development of them. Another goal of the ANA-POGIL project was to develop multi-part, open-ended questions to assess process skills. To analyze evidence of the process skills that were present in the student responses, a qualitative coding scheme focused on three process skills (information processing, problem solving, and critical thinking) was used. There was overall good alignment between the process skills the faculty had identified for the exam questions and the evidence that was found in the student responses. Findings show that if instructors value eliciting a certain process skill in students’ responses, then they should be extremely explicit in how the exam structure is worded to elicit that skill. Well-designed laboratories help students develop skills in experimental design, data analysis, and communication in addition to critical technical skills. A common course structure that presents challenges for both the students and instructional staff is in upper-level undergraduate chemistry laboratories where students perform experiments in a rotational style, with each group of students working on one instrument per week. As a solution to this challenge, a set of pre-laboratory videos were generated for each experiment. Laboratory observations and student interviews were conducted to investigate how students were using the resources and to characterize their experiences in the laboratory. Findings show that students used the resources to come more prepared to complete the laboratory experiments more independently with less instructional intervention. Findings from the student observations and experiences in the laboratory show that students enjoyed working with both their peers and the instructional team to successfully complete the experiments.

La modélisation et la simulation des systèmes complexes constitue une solution idéal pour comprendre ces systèmes. En effet, l'expérimentation virtuelle permet, par rapport à l'expérimentation réelle dans le champ d'étude considéré, d'apporter des réponses plus rapides aux questions posées sur ces systèmes, ce qui donne la possibilité de proposer des solutions en un temps adapté au contexte réel. Ce travail traite la question de la représentation de l'action humaine en prenant en compte sa dimension temporelle et spatiale aux échelles individuelle et collective. Cette question a déjà été traitée dans le domaine de l'intelligence artificielle, en général, et celui des systèmes agricoles, en particulier, qui constitue le domaine d'application de cette thèse. Les modèles proposés jusqu'à présent se basaient principalement sur la théorie de l'action planifiée en ne prenant en compte que la dimension temporelle de l'action. Les limites majeures de ces modèles résident dans leur complexité dans la mesure où il est difficile de pouvoir prédire l'ensemble des changements futurs dans l'environnement de l'acteur. Cela conduit à la nécessité de re-planifier fréquemment les actions afin d'obtenir des résultats cohérents. La deuxième limite réside dans l'écart qu'il peut y avoir entre les résultats des actions simulées et la réalité observée. En effet, un acteur ne réalise pas systématiquement les actions qu'il prévoit selon les situations réelles dans lesquelles il se trouve. Afin de pallier aux limites des modèles de l'action planifiée, nous avons développé un modèle de l'action humaine qui se base sur la théorie de l'action située. L'action est vue comme un processus doté d'une épaisseur temporelle émergent des situations créées par l'interaction entre l'acteur et son environnement dans le temps et dans l'espace. Notre modèle combine le concept d'affordance, le concept de stigmergie ainsi que la notion d'émergence. Nous proposons donc un système multi-agents dans lequel l'espace est explicitement représenté et partitionné en un ensemble de places. Le pilotage de chaque place est attribué à un agent abstrait. Celui-ci représente un observateur capable de détecter à tout instant les affordances émergentes sur sa place ainsi que de déclencher l'action appropriée. Les acteurs sont représentés comme des entités de l'environnement au même titre que les objets passifs. Ces entités de l'environnement portent un ensemble d'informations sur leurs capacités à exécuter ou subir des actions. Ces informations permettent aux agents, grâce aux méta-connaissances qu'ils détiennent de détecter les affordances. Celles-ci, une fois détectées, sont réifiées dans l'environnement et utilisées par les agents grâce à un mécanisme de sélection d'actions pour déterminer l'action qui sera finalement exécuter. La coordination des actions au niveau collectif se fait par stigmergie : les agents communiquent de façon implicite en utilisant un ensemble de marques qui sont une métaphore des phéromones des colonies de fourmis. Afin de montrer la pertinence du modèle proposé, un prototype appliqué au domaine des systèmes de production agricoles a été implémenté en utilisant la plateforme AnyLogic. / Simulation modelling of complex systems nowadays is an ideal solution to get a good understanding of these systems. In effect, compared with real experiments in the field of studies considered, virtual experiments allow one to quickly answer questions about these systems and provide solutions within a delay well adapted to their actual context. This thesis deals with the issue of human action representation, accounting with its temporal and spatial dimensions at individual and collective levels. This question has already been addressed in the field of Artificial intelligence in general and in the one of Agricultural systems in particular, the latter being the application domain of this thesis. The models proposed to date were mainly based upon the theory of planned action, explicitly accounting with the temporal dimension of action only. The main limits of these models lie in their complexity, because the ability to predict all future changes in actors' behaviors is far too difficult. This difficulty leads to the need of frequently re-planning the course of actions in order to get consistent results. The second drawback lies in the discrepancy that may arise between the results of simulated actions and actual observations. In effect, real actors do not realize systematically the actions they forecast according to the situations they actually encounter. In order to overcome the limits of planning models, we developed a model of human action based on the theory of situated action. Action is there viewed as a process endowed with a temporal thickness and emerging from the situations created by the interaction, through time and space, between the actor and its environment. Our model combines the concepts of affordance and stigmergy as well as the notion of emergence. Therefore we propose a multi-agents system within which space is explicitly represented and partitioned into a set of “places”. The control of each place is left to an abstract agent standing for an observer capable of detecting the affordances occurring on its place and trigger appropriate actions. Actors as well as passive objects are represented as “environmental entities”. These entities carry information about their capacity of performing or undergoing actions. This information allows the agents to detect affordances thanks to the meta-knowledge they hold. Once detected, these affordances are reified in the environment to be used to determine the action that will eventually be executed. Coordination of actions, at the collective level, is performed through stigmergy: the agents communicate implicitly between them using a set of marks as a metaphor of pheromons in ant colonies. To prove the relevance of the proposed model, a software prototype, applied to the domain of agricultural production systems, has been implemented with the simulation platform AnyLogic.

In this thesis I employ insights from Conversation Analysis and Embodied Cognition Theory to examine the discursive practices of a group of interactants who operate in what I describe as a group cognitive system. While studies on embodied cognition have been done on both individuals and groups involved in various concrete physical tasks and situated cognition studies have been done on many types of socially situated conversations, my aim is to combine these two theoretical frameworks to observe people’s embodied interactions in informal everyday conversation as they engage in ongoing learning processes. My research question revolves around understanding how the group’s shared cognition unfolds and how new paradigms of thought and purpose are generated in the process of their interactional practices. I employ Conversation Analysis methodology in the collection and analysis of data with attention on how learners interact with each other and their environment via verbal communication. In addition, I focus on non-verbal embodied actions as they function to form a cognitive system where new realities are mentally simulated and brought to materiality via information feedback loops.

With the number of underprepared, at-risk students entering college, many institutions have developed initiatives to help support student success. Previous research has shown that peer mentoring has been used to support student success, but there is limited research on the mentoring experience from the peer mentors'€™ perspective. The purpose of the study was to explore the experiences and perceptions of peer mentors who mentor at-risk college students at a 4-year institution. Using a phenomenological design, 8 peer mentors were interviewed. This study was built on Lave and Wegner'€™s theory of situated learning and Zachary'€™s 4-phase mentoring model to help explain the meaning and value that the participants attributed to their experiences. Moustakas'€™s 7 step data analysis method was used. The results from this study suggested 5 themes that represent the peer mentors'€™ experiences: (a) being a role model, (b) learning experiences for the peer mentors, (c) establishing accountability, (d) effective mentor/mentee communication and relationship, and (e) clarifying the role as a mentee. The participants believed they strengthened their leadership and communication skills as a result of their mentoring experience; they also placed a strong emphasis on the challenges that occur during the mentoring relationship. The participants gained an understanding of how the skills they developed would be used in their academics and future professional careers. The positive social change implications for this study included: (a) aiding in the training of future peer mentors; (b) the improvement of future peer mentor programs; (c) improved support for at-risk students; and (d) gaining new insights for other researchers searching to promote successful mentorship programs for at-risk students.

我國專業晶圓代工產業已是全球半導體產業鏈中不可或缺一環，此創新之商業模式不但帶動了全球半導體產業鏈的重整，更為我國半導體產業奠定了雄厚的基礎。但是無法快速回應晶圓缺陷問題與縮短工程師培訓時間，卻仍是台灣半導體產業發展近四十幾年來的瓶頸。此問題的延誤不傴使晶圓廠耗損巨額的成本，更承擔喪失國際客戶訂單的風險。因此，如何使半導體工程師提升工作效率，與如何有效培養新進工程師，如今已成為半導體業界刻不容緩之議題。 在知識經濟時代中，為企業打造適宜之知識管理模式是產、官、學界所致力的目標。但多數的研究以資訊科技所主導的知識管理系統為範疇，鮮少研究去探索知識工作者陎臨求解問題的困境中，是如何依循著問題情境，如何在其中摸索，進而發展出解決方案的詳細過程。有鑑於此，本研究選擇以詮釋型個案研究方法，深入訪察半導體工程師工作實務，藉此瞭解工程師於維修情境中排除晶圓缺陷的樣貌。 經由探討排除晶圓缺陷的工作實務中發現，工程師具備了四禑與「情境」調適性學習(adaptive learning)((Tyre and von Hippel,1997)的歷程：第一、工程師必頇在問題情境中，辨認隱藏於情境當中之線索，並賦與線索意義而展開偵察行動。第二、工程師在偵察過程中，頇不斷地依情境調整收集資料技巧，挖掘出更多或更深層的資訊。第三、工程師適當的工具與資源，有效率地萃取更多的資訊。第四、工程師彼此之間依情境發展出最適行為模式，得以順利整合跨部門執行偵察行動。 本研究著重於解析工程師在問題情境中，不斷學習與調適之詳細過程，並指出調適性學習如何在排除晶圓異常工作中扮演重要的角色。最後，針對調適性學習行為提出具體的理論與實務意涵，以供組織未來進行人員培訓與知識管理之參考。

Computer-based information systems (IS) play an increasingly pervasive and important role in contemporary organisations. Despite decades of continuing research and the development of an extensive prescriptive literature, IS development projects continue to be problematic, with many failing or being seriously challenged. In addition, the IS development environment has changed significantly in recent years, with rapid advances or shifts in technology, increasing devolution of IS responsibility and expenditure to user groups, high levels of packaged software acquisition and customisation, greater outsourcing of IS development, and an increasing emphasis on enterprise-wide and inter-organisational IS. In many cases these changes are interrelated and involve more flexible, ad hoc or non-traditional development approaches. Combined with the fact that at the same time IS have become increasingly sophisticated and integrated, the potential for unpredictable or unintended consequences has also increased. Together, the continued problematic nature of many IS projects and the changing IS development environment, suggest that there is an ongoing need for a fuller understanding of IS development processes and practices. Given the limitations of factor-based, prescriptive studies, an understanding of how contemporary IS development is enacted needs to be grounded in and built upon the cumulative body of research that attempts to understand the complexity and dynamic nature of IS development. Accordingly, this study uses a conceptualisation of IS development as a process in which an IS emerges from a dynamic and interactive relationship between the technology, its social and organisational context, and the negotiated actions of various individuals and groups. The thesis presents the results of an extensive empirical investigation into contemporary ARE development practices based on data collected from New Zealand. The study uses a range of research methods and ultimately develops a sociotechnical process model of IS development as situated action. Following Walsham’s (1993) emphasis on the content, context and process of IS-related organisational change, the methods used in this study are three-fold. First, an extensive literature review is undertaken to provide a comprehensive synthesis of contemporary empirical knowledge about the content of IS development. Second, a survey is used to collect contextual data about IS development and acquisition practices in New Zealand. Finally, these both support an in-depth longitudinal case study of the IS development process in an organisational setting. The literature review synthesises the results of recent empirical studies of the various influences that shape IS development, using a classificatory framework based around actors, project content, IS development processes, and context. The review shows that, while a number of traditional factors influencing IS development continue to be relevant, other factors have emerged as important as a result of changes to the IS development environment and to IS development practice. In particular, increasing recognition within the IS literature has been given to the relative importance of people and process and of the organisational and environmental context in which IS development takes place. The results of the literature review inform the design of a survey instrument intended to provide an updated assessment of IS development and acquisition practices in New Zealand organisations. A Web-based survey was administered to a sample of senior IS managers in 460 public and private sector organisations with 200 or more FTEs. Based on the 106 usable responses, the results of the survey confirm the ongoing relevance of a number of traditional factors identified in the IS literature as facilitating or inhibiting IS development. However, a number of factors were identified as emerging or increasing in relevance in light of changes in the IS development environment. While the survey provides a useful description of contemporary IS development and acquisition practice in New Zealand, it does not enable a detailed understanding of IS development in action. To address this, an IS project in a large New Zealand organisation was followed in action for over two years. The project involved the development of a sophisticated financial database model using a purchased commercial software package and external consultants. As such, it provides a useful exemplar of development in a contemporary IS environment. The case study illustrates how a seemingly small, well-defined project experienced delays and difficulties as might be expected in larger, more complex projects. It offers insights into the significance of external actors, the importance of full stakeholder participation, the influence of initial characterisations of the nature of the project, and the observance of project management processes. Consideration of the project outcome reveals its multi-dimensional, subjective and temporal nature. A process approach (Markus & Robey, 1988) is employed to structure the analysis of the case study. A combination of temporal bracketing, narrative analysis and visual representation is used to analyse the sequence of social action and organisational processes involved in the project and to develop a process explanation of how and why the particular project outcome in this case study developed over time. Underpinning and informing this analysis is the construction and utilisation of a model of IS development as a situated, sociotechnical process. Drawing on theoretical concepts from structuration theory and the sociology of technology, the model considers the situated actions and practices of various individuals and groups involved in IS development, the ways in which these are enacted within different contextual elements, and the role of existing and new technological artefacts in this process. IS development is characterised as iterative and emergent, with change occurring dynamically from a trajectory of situated interactions (in which meanings and actions are negotiated) and intended and unintended consequences. As a whole, this PhD highlights the changing nature of the IS development environment and the way a complex ensemble of ‘factors’ interact to influence IS project outcomes. Common themes emerge around the importance of people and process, and the context in which IS development takes place, while at the same time explicitly including a consideration of technology in the analysis.

This thesis examines the role of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) task analysis within the context of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) system design. It recognises and critically examines several carrefours that differentiate cognitive from sociocultural task analysis theories in Second Language Acquisition and Human-Computer Interaction. A study into the role of multimodal interaction and second language (L2) vocabulary acquisition revealed the need for an integrative approach to examining learner-computer interaction. In response, a conceptual, situated task analysis framework was developed that promotes (1) a common unit of analysis for principled theoretical investigation and methodological selection; and (2) a formative task analysis framework which considers both software engineering and human-computer interaction practices within CALL system design. / Understanding the extant relationships between learner, theory and practice has become increasingly important in light of recent criticisms of CALL software quality, and its influence on learning outcomes. To further develop our understanding of the role of HCI and Software Engineering in CALL, an empirical exploratory study was undertaken. The design of the study was influenced by research concerning (1) cognitive complexity and language learning; (2) social perspectives on learner-computer interaction; and (3) the intersection between system design, quality, and learner-computer interaction. / Computer-mediated activity in language learning environments can be categorised as a highly social process through its dependency upon a number of sociocultural and environmental contraints. As such, learner-computer interaction is likely to be highly fluid and dynamic. The distinction between static and dynamic environments is a critical determinant when selecting a particular HCI task analysis strategy. To evaluate competing task analysis approaches, a small qualitative study was established that considered the role of multimodal interaction in L2 vocabulary acquisition. Emerging trends from this study served to elucidate the appropriateness of existing HCI theories and their units of analysis within the context of CALL system design. / Participants for this study were selected from an undergraduate Computer Science degree at a major Australian university. Participants had little to no prior knowledge of the L2 used in the study. Participants conducted three sessions with a multimodal speech-enabled language learning tool. After each session, participants completed an immediate recall test and responded to a series of semi-structured interview questions. After an eight week period, participants were asked to take part in a delayed recall and recognition test. Findings from this study showed two distinct trends: (1) a relationship between the degree of multimodal interaction strategy and delayed L2 vocabulary recall and recognition; and (2) the limitations of existing HCI task analysis approaches with respect to analysing learner-computer interaction within the context of CALL system design. As such, this study provided key insights into the role of HCI in CALL, proposing several implications for further research. / Instructed by these findings, research was undertaken to develop an holistic, situated task analysis framework: C.A.S.E (Cognition, Activity, Social Organisation, Environment). Ontological, epistemological and methodological components of the framework are discussed in detail. C.A.S.E provides a conceptual framework for integrating cognitive and social theories on learning, interaction and system design. Consequently, C.A.S.E provides both theoretical and methodological support for bridging the divide between CALL, HCI and Software Engineering. Several applications of the framework relevant to CALL practitioners are described in this thesis. / The outcomes of this investigation establish an agenda for further research. The thesis concludes with a discussion related to CALL system design, specifically the role of Software Engineering in end-user developer CALL activities. To assist readers, additional discussions on Philosophy of Science and Software Engineering have been provided as appendix chapters.