Will the different levels of knowledge contribute to a collaborative learning? This thesis is based on a tuition experiment with children in small groups, working with the educational software Quest Atlantis at Kensington Park Elementary school in Miami. During this research we have found some similarities and new concepts within Damon’s and Phelps’s three peer learning concepts (1989). Through our investigation of how children collaborate and learn from each other, we discovered that anyone could be a contributor to the collaboration. Through our transcription we defined and measured patterns of collaboration between the pupils, which we used to identify how the pupils collaborated. Out of this we constructed two new concepts, Temporary Expert and Concealed Contributor, which affects the collaboration in different ways. / Den här uppsatsen är baserad på experimentell undervisning med barn i små grupper som arbetar med det utbildande mjukvaruprogrammet Quest Atlantis. Undervisningen hölls på Kensington Park Elementary school i Miami, Fl –USA. Under vår undersökning har vi hittat likheter, men även nya koncept inom Damon’s och Phelp’s tre ”peer learning” koncept (1989). Genom vår undersökning om hur barn samarbetar och lär av varandra, upptäckte vi att alla tillförde något till samarbetet. I vår transkribering kunde vi definiera och mäta olika typer av samarbetsmönster mellan eleverna. Med hjälp av dessa samarbetsmönster kunde vi sedan identifiera hur eleverna samarbetade. Utifrån detta konstruerade vi två nya koncept, ”Temporary Expert” och ”Concealed Contributor”, vilka båda påverkar samarbetet. / Charlotte Collin 0706-376548 Therese Olsson 0736-292110 Sofie Persson 0733-505105

L’ensemble de la doctrine s’accorde pour dire que la cession de droits sociaux est une opération complexe faisant appel à de nombreuses notions juridiques et financières. Ce faisant, même s’il s’agit purement et simplement de transférer les droits sociaux ou le pouvoir de la société par l’intermédiaire d’une telle opération, le législateur a rendu cette opération difficile par l’utilisation de termes inappropriés. De plus la jurisprudence inconsistante, et quelquefois imprécise, sur certains points de ce sujet à rendue cette opération très discutée. L’un des points essentiels de la cession de droits sociaux concernent le prix et la valeur de ces droits. Le législateur impose des conditions à ce prix, mais il n’est pas facile pour les parties à l’opération de remplir ces critères légaux. L’opération d’expertise du prix dans une cession de droits sociaux est l’opération permettant de dire le prix des droits sociaux, une opération permettant de remplir l’ensemble des critères juridiques et financiers d’une cession, tout en protégeant les intervenants. Cependant, il nous semble difficile d’être juge et partie à une telle opération. C’est la raison pour laquelle les parties doivent avoir recours à un tiers estimateur pour effectuer cette opération d’expertise dont la mission sera, d’une part, de remplir les critères légaux concernant le prix et, d’autre part, d’évaluer financièrement la valeur des droits sociaux dans toutes les situations. / Even though the transfer of social rights (more precisely legal and beneficial ownership) is a necessary and common operation in the life of a company, experience shows that it is a complex process involving many legal and financial concepts. Even if there is only a transfer of social rights or a transfer of the power of the company through such an operation, the legislator has made this operation more difficult through the use of inappropriate language. Moreover the inconsistent, and sometimes, inaccurate jurisprudence on some points surrounding this subject has made this operation highly controversial. One of the main issues regarding the transfer of social rights is the price, i.e. the value of those rights. The legislator imposes conditions on this price but it is not easy for the parties to the transaction to meet these legal requirements. The expert assessment of the price for the transfer of social rights is the process involved in determining the price of the social rights; an operation which fulfills the legal and financial requirements of such a transfer, whilst protecting the stakeholders. However, it seems difficult to be both judge and party to this transaction. This is why the parties should be able to use a third person as an expert to perform this operation. The expert’s goal will be, on the one hand, to fulfill the legal criteria regarding the price and, on the other hand, to assess the financial value of the social rights in all situations.

Les événements spatio-temporels regroupent une large diversité de phénomènes comportant des caractéristiques propres. Par exemple, l’étude de flux migratoires se révèle ainsi très différente de l’étude de propagation de maladies. En effet, le domaine d’intérêt de la première porte sur le suivi des trajectoires, tandis que celui de la deuxième porte sur les facteurs de la propagation. De plus, chaque classe d’un problème spatio-temporel peut être abordée différemment, que l’on considère ou non un voisinage spatial, une caractérisation des objets d’étude unique ou multiple, ou bien une (in)dépendance entre les événements. Ainsi, les techniques de fouilles de données développées sont souvent restées spécifiques à une sous-classe de problème spatio-temporel, c’est-à-dire sous un ensemble restreint d’hypothèses.Or, pour réussir à dégager des connaissances nouvelles à partir de données, il est nécessaire d’élargir cet ensemble d’hypothèses, c’est-à-dire élargir le champs des possibles quant aux corrélations qu’il peut exister entre événements. Nous proposons donc une modélisation de ces phénomènes spatio-temporels permettant de prendre en compte plus de considérations que dans l’état de l’art. En outre, cette modélisation permet d’exprimer des événements qui existent dans les phénomènes d’érosion : un objet d’étude peut se diviser en plusieurs objets, ou fusionner avec d’autres objets pour n’en former qu’un seul. Plus précisément, nous modélisons les dynamiques spatio-temporelles sous la forme d’un unique graphe orienté, que la composante temporelle des problèmes rend acyclique, et dont les sommets sont attribués par plusieurs caractéristiques. / Spatio-temporal events denote a large range of phenomena with different characteristics. For example, migration flows studies appear to be very different from disease spread studies. Indeed, interestingness of the first relies on tracking trajectories, whereas the second is about finding the factors of spread. Moreover, each class of a spatio-temporal problem can be tackled differently, depending on which parameters are considered: the studied spatial neighbourhood, the number of characteristics associated with the objects, or whether events are supposed correlated or independent. As a result, data mining techniques are often specificto a sub-class of spatio-temporal problem, that is to say, to a limited set of hypothesis.In order to bring out new knowledge from data, it seems to be necessary to enlarge this set of hypothesis, that is to say, to widen the field of possibilities regarding correlations that may exist between events. For this, we propose a new model that allows to take into account more considerations than existing studies. For example, this representation allows to model the complex spatio-temporal dynamic of erosion phenomenon: an object can be split up in several other objects, or can merge with other objects into one. More precisely, we use a single directed graph, that becomes acyclic thanks to the temporal component of the problem, and that is attributed by several characteristics.

Magister Commercii (Information Management) - MCom(IM) / Knowledge Management has been at the heart of mounting focus over the last several years. Research and literature on the area under discussion has grown and organizations have come to realize that success is often determined by one’s ability to create, disseminate, and embody knowledge in products and services. This realization has led to increased interest in examining the ways in which knowledge can be effectively identified, elicited, codified, distributed and retained.When an employee leaves an organization, the knowledge they possess often goes with them. This loss can potentially have a negative impact on the productivity and quality of the organization. Knowledge Management seeks to find ways to minimize loss of knowledge when an employee leaves an organization. One of the impediments that knowledge management seeks to overcome is the accepted tendency in people to hoard knowledge. People often withhold knowledge when they feel it provides them with a competitive advantage over others. The argument of this study was intended to provide the organization with an approach that it can utilize to facilitate tacit knowledge elicitation by means of the storytelling method.In keeping with Grounded theory principles, and utilising an interpretive approach, stories from Subject Matter Experts were collected and re-coded into fitting knowledge management constructs. The coding of the stories into the various knowledge management constructs was then further refined by means of expert review. Pearson’s cross correlation analysis was also used as a supporting tool to determine and validate that the collected stories were classified correctly under the knowledge management constructs. The research findings eventually demonstrated that storytelling is an effective means of eliciting tacit knowledge from experts. In addition to this, the research has inadvertently resulted in the construction of a knowledge management framework for storytelling.

Mechanical assembly is an important step during product realization, which is an integrative process that brings together the parts of the assembly, the people performing the assembly and the various technologies that are involved. Assembly planning involves deciding on the assembly sequence, the tooling and the processes to be used. Assembly planning should enable the actual assembly process to be as effective as possible.Assembly plans may have to be revised due to issues arising during assembly. Many of these revisions can be avoided at the planning stage if assembly planners have prior knowledge of these issues and how to resolve them. General guidelines to make assembly easier (e.g. Design for Assembly) are usually suited for mass-manufactured assemblies and are applied where similar issues are faced regularly. However, for very specific issues that are unique to some domains only, such as aircraft assembly, only expert knowledge in that domain can identify and resolve the issues. Assembly experts are the sources of knowledge for identifying and resolving these issues. If assembly planners could receive assembly experts’ advice about the potential issues and resolutions that are likely to occur in a given assembly situation, they could use this advice to revise the assembly plan in order to avoid these issues. This link between assembly experts and planners can be provided using knowledge based systems. Knowledge-based systems contain a knowledge base to store experts’ knowledge, and an inference engine that derives certain conclusions using this knowledge. However, knowledge acquisition for such systems is a difficult process with substantial resistance to being automated. Methods reported in literature propose various ways of addressing the problem of automating knowledge acquisition. However, there are many limitations to these methods, which have been the motivations for the research work reported in this thesis. This thesis proposes a dialog-like method of questioning an expert to automatically acquire knowledge from assembly experts. The questions are asked in the context of an assembly situation shown to them. During the interviews, the knowledge required for diagnosing potential issues and resolutions are identified. The experts were shown a situation, and asked to identify issues and suggest solutions. The above knowledge is translated into the rules for a knowledge based system. This knowledge based system can then be used to advise assembly planners about potential issues and solutions in an assembly situation. After a manual verification, the questioning procedure has been implemented on computer as a software named EXpert Knowledge Acquisition and Validation (ExKAV). A preliminary evaluation of ExKAV has been carried out, in which assembly experts interacted with the tool using the researcher as an intermediary. The results of these sessions have been discussed in the thesis and assessed against the original research objectives. The current limitations of the procedure and its implementation have been highlighted, and potential directions for improving the knowledge acquisition process are discussed.

Aim of this master’s thesis is create universal converter communication protocols. This converter will be instrumental towards testing attendance single communication protocol on microprocessors FREESCALE. Test instrument is behind purpose ease testing software PROCESSOR EXPERT. Processor expert is extended software for CODEWARRIROR. Test instrument is connected over interface USB to personal computer. PC is used like evolution tool for testing single periphery. Device could be used in future for other peripheries.

This thesis deals with the very topical issue in the sphere of the expert activity, which is requested by the general public at the same time. It sets a task of improvement, or better to saythe simplification in the approach to the appraising of real estate, with the aid of systemic methodology. There is as an example of the correct application of systemic methodology in the preparation of a sample expert opinion used in real estate (apartment house) located in Brno – Starý Lískovec. The property in question is appraised in accordance with the assignment by using the systemic approachonly after the evaluation of the current situation in appraising and discussing systemic methodology. A systemic approach to the appraising of aproperty is appropriately chosen largely because it better ensures the indispensable fact that, in the case of the expert opinion made by an expert, it is practically impossible to omit those important requisites which are inextricably linked to the expert opinion.

Since the 1970s there has been a rising trend in South Africa for legal professionals to use the services of psychologists in legal proceedings. Psychologists have therefore increasingly started to appear as expert witnesses in court cases. Despite this, the field of forensic psychology in South Africa has yet to be defined and delineated. Currently there are no set guidelines or regulations regarding who is qualified to do forensic work, and no standards against which this work can be measured. Psychology in the courtroom has begun to receive a notorious reputation as a result of this. The Professional Board for Psychology (PBP) of the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) is investigating the creation of a new category of registration, that of Forensic Psychologist, partly in an effort to manage and address this problem. However, to date little, if any, research has been conducted on the scope of the work presented to the courts by psychologists appearing as expert witnesses. This research aimed to address this gap by analysing a sample of forensic psychological reports. The following aspects were investigated: <ul><li>Who (category or registration, length of registration, etc.) is doing sentencing reports;</li> <li>How (interviews, collateral information, psychometric tests, etc.) these reports are compiled; and</li> <li>Whether these reports measure up to professional expectations as well as adhere to the guidelines of the HPCSA.</li></ul> It is clear from the results of this research that some of the psychologists doing forensic assessments and writing reports do so in an idiosyncratic way. Besides the fact that no uniformity exists, forensic work is sometimes done by psychologists who are not qualified to do so in terms of their registration category and thus their scope of practice. The reports analysed did not always measure up to guidelines or professional standards from abroad (in lieu of local standards or guidelines for reports) and/or transgressions were made in terms of HPCSA policies and guidelines. This situation is understandable in the light of two shortfalls in this field, namely training and regulation. The following recommendations can be made on the basis of this study: <ul><li>That psychologists who are adequately trained and have the proven experience in forensic work, be accredited by the PBP;</li> <li>That guidelines and standards for forensic work be drawn up by the PBP; in addition, that more complete ethical guidelines than those contained in chapter 7 of the PBP’s Rules of Conduct Pertaining Specifically to Psychology also be drawn up;</li> <li>That adequate training at MA level in basic forensic issues be made compulsory, with the option of advanced training for those wishing to specialise in the field; and</li> <li>That lawyers be trained in basic concepts of psychology so as to allow for better selection of an appropriate psychologist to assist them and also to assure effective cross-examination regarding psychological issues in court.</li></ul> If these recommendations were implemented, they could aid in regulating the field, thus producing forensic work of a consistently high quality. This will hopefully help to narrow the gap between the expected and actual interaction between law and psychology. Copyright / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Psychology / unrestricted

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This research seeks to investigate the influence of lesson study on preservice secondary mathematics teachers' view of self as mathematics expert. The study acknowledges the commonly held belief that prospective mathematics teachers have that they know and understand secondary mathematics. The purpose in engaging the preservice teachers in lesson study is to dislodge this belief. In particular, this research report focuses on one preservice teacher and her experiences during lesson study. Using the data collected, the researcher reports on the baseline beliefs that the preservice teacher held toward her knowledge of secondary mathematics, her mathematical experiences during the actual lesson study phase of the research and the final status of her beliefs in relation to her secondary mathematics understanding. After assessing the preservice teacher's beliefs, the report focuses on the moves the preservice teacher makes to protect her identity as a knower of mathematics. The report details how the researcher probed the subject's views through a follow-up interview. The researcher discovered during the follow-up interview that the subject was finally able to admit her lack of mathematical knowledge and her desire to not be seen as 'dumb' in front of the interviewer. The implications of the study suggest that teacher educators should be sensitive to preservice secondary teachers' perceptions of their mathematical knowledge and teacher educators should watch for the moves preservice teachers make to shift conversation away from mathematics topics.