Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Learning in a work situation'

This study has been executed at the Public Employment Office, an institution that has been

subject for much debate during the last couple of years. The government has instructed the

Labour Market Board to change the Public Employment Office toward a more effective

organization. This study examines one of the Public Employment Offices that are included in a

pilot project that aims to improve and develop work methods with the objective to become a

more service minded organization. From this starting point we have investigated which effect this

organizational change has had on the employee within this organization and within the pilot

project. In addition we investigate whether attitudes of the unemployed has an effect on the

staff´s work situation. In connection to this we seek to produce proposals of how to improve the

work situation for the staff. The purpose of the study is thus to map out the staff´s experience of

the work situation within the pilot project. Our intention has been to comprehend the complex

reality of an agent at the Public Employment Office. To create a basis for our analysis and to be

able to answer the questions at issue, we apply theories regarding organizational change, learning

and health. The main results of this study indicate that learning has increased at the workplace.

The results also indicate that the new, more service minded work methods increase the demands

on the agents to be able to handle social relations with unemployed and with colleagues. Finally

we find that though agents have a high workload they find their work to be stimulating.

The main purpose of the research this thesis is based upon was to study students’ attitudes towards learning chemistry at university level and their motivation from three perspectives. How can students’ attitudes towards learning chemistry be assessed? How can these attitudes be changed? How are learning situations experienced by students with different attitude positions?

An attitude questionnaire, assessing views of knowledge, learning assessments, laboratory activities, and perceived roles of instructors and student, was used to estimate students’ attitude positions. It was shown that a positive attitude was related to motivated student behaviour. Furthermore, it was shown that factors in the educational context, such as the teachers’ empathy for students learning chemistry, had affected the students. It was also found that students holding different attitude positions showed different learning outcomes and differed in their perceptions of the learning situation. Students’ holding a more relativistic attitude more readily accepted the challenges of open experiments and other more demanding tasks than those holding a dualistic attitude.

In addition, the teachers were found to play important roles in the way the tasks were perceived and the development of students’ ideas. In studied laboratory activities open tasks resulted in positive student engagement and learning outcomes. Preparative exercises, such as a computer simulation of the phenomena to be investigated, affected students’ focus during laboratory work, encouraging them to incorporate more theoretical considerations and increasing their ability to use chemical knowledge. Finally, it was shown that students’ focus during laboratory work is reflected in the questions they ask the teacher, implying that questions could be used as tools to evaluate laboratory teaching and learning processes.

The findings imply that students’ attitudes towards learning and motivation, and the design of learning situations, are key factors in the attainment of desirable higher educational goals such as the ability to judge, use, and develop knowledge. For universities encountering students with increasingly diverse attitudes, motivation and prior knowledge, these are important considerations if they are to fulfil their commissions to provide high quality learning environments and promote high quality learning.

A methodology and a framework for evaluating computer-based learning was produced by the TLTP Teaching with Independent Learning Technologies (TILT) Project's dedicated Evaluation Group, known as TILT-E, of which the author was a member. TILT-E's evaluation work was a result of over twenty evaluation case studies conducted by the group from 1993 to 1998, the majority of which were performed during 1994 and 1995. The TILT-E studies can be viewed as examples of good practice in the evaluation of a range of computer-based teaching situations. While TILT-E's method and measures provide a useful framework for evaluating computer-based learning they did not fully exploit the strengths and history of the theoretical approaches underpinning the TILT-E work. In fact, research traditions are seldom mentioned in the TILT-E literature yet are central not only to understanding the value of the TILT-E work, but also to assisting future research in the search for a model of the computer-based teaching and learning situation. By examining the evolution of the TILT-E methodologies through three of the first TILT-E studies, referred to in this thesis as the Pilot Studies, and then assessing several later case studies much is learnt about the need for a pluralist approach to evaluation in the computer-based teaching and learning context. While TILT-E advocates the use of different methods, the group failed to justify this approach and to recommend when and why such a mix would be appropriate. This thesis aims to rectify this imbalance through the detailed examination of eight evaluation episodes covering three different computer-based teaching and learning situations, all of which had been carried out by the author. Firstly, the Fast Frac case study is considered, which involved evaluating the replacement of a lecture with the Fast Frac software. The Fast Frac study consisted of three evaluation episodes over a period of four years. The study found that the package could replace the lecture, and noted not only that a comparative design does not necessarily constrain the researcher to empirical methods alone, but also that such an approach need not disadvantage the students in either the control or the experimental groups.

In this thesis, I adopt the anti-essentialist cultural paradigm to explore the complexity within the processes of both cultural-making and personal acculturation that may occur in an interweaving way within a local cultural arena (Holliday, 2011; 2013).More precisely, I contextualise this study in student group work as the specific cultural arena to investigate the cultural-making process towards group cohesiveness and individual group member's acculturation process. A conceptual framework is suggested after synthesising both the debates between the essentialist and the anti-essentialist cultural paradigms in the field of intercultural communication and the discussions on acculturation in the existing literature. I conceptually argue that culture is constituted by various salient aspects vis-à- vis cohesive thinking and behaviours that are always forming and re-forming. Personal acculturation can be explored through tracing the changes of an individual's cultural realities (Holliday, 2011; 2013). Both of them occur in parallel in a cultural arena (in this case, student group work).Through analysing in-depth, narrative data from 15 participants about their group work experiences, I fine-tune and enrich this conceptual framework with empirical evidence (i.e. the findings) to demonstrate complexity (i.e. uncertainty and fluidity) in the cultural-making process as well as the dynamics and unpredictability of personal acculturation (i.e. an individual presents different trends of the key aspects of acculturation). Furthermore, I also identify four types of personal acculturation trajectories by comparing all the participants' acculturation trajectories. Using this fine-tuned conceptual framework, the author of the thesis strengthens the potential links between the two separate, in parallel, but interrelated processes (e.g. cultural-making process and personal acculturation), which seem not to have been paid enough attention in the existing literature vis-à-vis the study of culture and (personal) acculturation. More importantly, the author argues that the links can be interpreted as an interplay in student group work asthe specific cultural arena.

I Läroplanen för förskolan -98 yttras det att förskollärarna ska hjälpa barn att skapa och kommunicera med hjälp av sång och musik. Med detta i åtanke är syftet med studien att undersöka förskollärarnas skilda uppfattningar av sångsamlingen som en pedagogisk situation. Tidigare forskning har visat att barnen sjunger språket innan de talar det. För det lilla barnet är språket i början endast klang och rytm, det vill säga ett musikaliskt fenomen.

Studien utgår från en fenomenografisk ansats med en kvalitativ inriktning. En videoinspelad sångsamling har legat till grund för det insamlade intervjumaterialet.

Följande kategorier har framkommit ur materialet: Sångsamlingen som en situation för lärande och Sångsamlingen som en situation för lust och glädje. Utifrån dessa huvudkategorier har forskarna funnit att sångsamlingen ger barnen möjlighet till att utveckla sitt språk, matematiska tänkande, sociala samspel, kulturella lärande samt att stärka motoriken. Sångsamlingen i förskolan har en betydande roll för barnens utveckling både språkligt och emotionellt. Barnens språkliga utveckling tränas med hjälp av rim och ramsor som också kan leda till ett matematiskt lärande. För att väcka lust hos barnen är det viktigt att sångsamlingen varieras. Med hjälp av instrument, sångpåsar och sångkort utvecklas sångsamlingen och ger barnen lust att lära.

In the curriculum ”Läroplan för förskolan -98” is prescribed that the preschool- teachers shall support the ability of the child to create and communicate with song and music. Based upon this, the purpose of this study is to study the preschool-teachers different views of the organised “singing-together” (Swedish:”sångsamling”) as a pedagogic situation. Former research shows that children sing the language before they know how to speak it. To the small child the language is just tune and rhythm – a kind of musical phenomena.

This study is phenomenografic with a qualitative design. A videotaped “sångsamling” is the base of the gathered data.

The data is categorized into two main categories: “Sångsamlingen” as a situation of learning and “Sångsamlingen” as a situation of joy and happiness. Emanating from these categories the researchers have found that “sångsamlingen” stimulates language, mathematical thinking, ability of social relations, cultural learning and the motion of the child. “Sångsamlingen” is important to the development of language and emotional capacity of the preschool- child. The language is trained by rhymes and tunes which also may affect learning in maths. To evoke the lust to learn it’s important to vary and develop “sångsamlingen” by using instruments, song bags and song cards.

Although most modern, highly-computerized flight decks are known to be robust to small disturbances and failures, humans still play a crucial role in advanced decision making in off-nominal situations, and accidents still occur because of poor human-automation interaction. In addition to the physical state of the environment, operators now have to extend their awareness to the state of the automated flight systems. To guarantee the accuracy of this knowledge, humans need to know the dynamics or approximate versions of the dynamics that rule the automation. The operator's situation awareness can decline because of a deficient mental model of the aircraft and an excessive workload. This work describes the creation of a computational human agent model simulating cognitive constructs such as situation awareness and mental models known to capture the symptoms of poor human-automation interaction and provide insight into more comprehensive metrics supporting the validation of automated systems in aviation.

Aujourd’hui encore, dans un contexte de crise sociale, de fortes évolutions institutionnelles et réglementaires, les modalités d’intervention des bailleurs sociaux en matière d’insertion par le logement sont interrogées. L’emploi de chargée d’attribution (CA) dans le département de la Martinique, exercé essentiellement par des femmes, est au cœur du fonctionnement de ces opérateurs immobiliers. Ces professionnelles, dont l’intervention se situe entre celle du travailleur social et celle de l’agent immobilier, ont pour principale mission l’instruction des demandes de logements sociaux à partir d’un entretien client. Elles évoluent dans un environnement de travail complexe et dynamique (Rogalski, 2003 ; Vinatier, 2009 ; Hoc et al., 2006 ; Amalberti, 2001a) où il est difficile de figer stricto sensu des règles d’actions communes pour toutes les tâches prescrites. En toile de fond, la quête de réponses à un questionnement a motivé notre démarche didactique : comment apprennent-elles le métier sans l’existence d’une formation ni d’un diplôme spécifique préalable ? Quelles sont les manières de faire, les compétences qui semblent les plus optimales ? Y a-t-il plusieurs manières de faire équivalentes pour une même situation ? Comment cela s’apprend-il ? Qu’apprennent-elles ? De quelle pratique experte s’agit-il ? Y a-t-il une pratique pour chaque organisation de travail ? Ou encore existe-t-il une pratique professionnelle identique dans des organisations de travail différentes ? Pouvons-nous parler de modèle d’expertise ? Pouvons-nous en définir un ? Leur activité peu documentée est soumise à de multiples tensions génériques d’une part et spécifiques au contexte martiniquais d’autre part. Dans ce secteur professionnel, l’apprentissage se réalise en situation de travail (Mayen, 2012). Les notions d’activité et d’apprentissage sont ainsi étroitement liées. L’intérêt majeur de cette recherche doctorale est de la conduire dans un contexte en mutation (évolution de la législation, des organisations de travail, etc.). Or, l’analyse du travail montre à quel point les contraintes notamment temporelles, maîtrise recherchée du temps afin de gagner en efficacité, rendent difficiles la mutualisation des connaissances et de l’expérience de ces professionnelles. Il s’agit précisément de comprendre comment elles apprennent dans et par l’activité d’entretien client. Notre recherche, inscrite dans le champ disciplinaire de la didactique professionnelle, se caractérise par l’intention générale d’appréhender les exigences de travail (Mayen et al., 2010) pour ensuite comprendre comment elles s’y prennent pour exercer (Mayen, 2005). Nous tenterons d’apporter des réponses à la question de savoir si elles construisent des conceptualisations professionnelles et surtout lesquelles car il y a toujours un certain niveau de conceptualisation, pour faire face aux situations rencontrées (Mayen, 2012). L’environnement de travail, les situations d’imprévus, d’empêchement (Clot, 2010) ou de résolutions de difficultés sont autant d’éléments qu’il convient de prendre en compte pour conduire une analyse du travail des CA. L’enjeu scientifique est donc de permettre d’élargir les recherches sur les classes de situations jusque-là réalisées en didactique professionnelle sur les métiers de service. Il s’agit également de faire connaître à un large public l’activité de ces intervenantes du logement social
Against a backdrop of social crisis and major institutional and regulatory changes, the ways in which social landlords can intervene today to promote integration through housing are still being questioned. The job of allocation officer (CA) in the department of Martinique, held mainly by women, is at the heart of how these property operators operate. These women, whose work falls somewhere between that of a social worker and that of an estate agent, are primarily responsible for processing applications for social housing, based on a client interview. Their work situations are complex and dynamic (Rogalski, 2003 ; Vinatier, 2009 ; Hoc and al., 2006 ; Amalberti, 2001a), and it is difficult to set down strict common rules of action for all the prescribed tasks. Our didactic approach was motivated by our desire to answer the following set of questions: How do they learn the trade without any prior training or specific degree? What are the ways of doing things and the skills that seem to be the best suited for their jobs? Are there several equivalent ways of doing things in the same situation? How can this be taught? What do they learn? What expert practice is involved? Is there a specific practice for each work organization? Or is there a professional practice common to different work organizations? Can we talk about a model of expertise? Is it possible to define one? Their poorly documented activity is subject to multiple tensions, both generic and specific to the Martinique context. In this professional sector, learning always takes place in a work situation (Mayen, 2012). The concepts of activity and learning are closely linked. The main interest of this doctoral research is that it is being conducted in an ever-changing context (changes in labour legislation, work organization, etc.). An analysis of work shows the extent to which time constraints, specifically the need to manage time in order to increase efficiency, make it difficult for these professionals to share the knowledge and experience they have gained. The aim is precisely to understand how they learn in and through the social housing rental business. Our research, which falls within the disciplinary field of professional didactics, is characterized by the general intention of understanding the work requirements (Mayen et al., 2010) of CAs in Martinique and then how they go ! about practicing (Mayen, 2005). We will attempt to provide answers to the question of whether they construct professional conceptualizations, and especially which ones, as there is always a certain level of conceptualization, in order to deal with the situations they encounter (Mayen, 2012). Work environments, unforeseen situations, impediments (Clot, 2010) and problem-solving are all factors that need to be taken into account when analyzing the work of CAs. The scientific challenge is therefore to broaden the research on the classes of situations which, up to now, were mainly carried out in vocational didactics on the service professions. The aim is also to make the work of this social housing workers known to a wider public

A l'interface du travail, de la formation des adultes, de l'orientation et de l'accompagnement des parcours socio-professionnels, les pratiques d'accompagnement en Validation des Acquis de l'Expérience reposent sur une activité, dont les contours se sont progressivement formalisés, depuis la mise en place du dispositif en 2002, grâce aux acteurs de ce champ.Alors même que des réflexions sont aujourd'hui engagées à l'université pour créer des parcours certifiants de nature à permettre l'accès au métier, nous pensons qu’une recherche approfondie sur l'activité en situation d'accompagnement VAE peut contribuer à la conception de dispositifs de formation en direction des conseillers chargés de l'accompagnement des candidats. A partir d'une observation ethnographique conduite dans un organisme de formation du Travail Social, un corpus audio d'entretiens d'accompagnement VAE a été constitué. La recherche s’est centrée d’une part, sur les discours d’expérience du candidat et du conseiller, pris isolément du contexte interactionnel dans lequel ils apparaissent. A partir d’une analyse textuelle, discursive et énonciative, nous nous sommes intéressée aux caractéristiques de ces discours pour comprendre l’activité qu’ils supposent du point de vue des acteurs, les expériences qu’ils convoquent et les espaces d’activité fictionnels qu’ils font émerger (l’espace du travail éducatif, l’espace de l’écriture du dossier VAE, l’espace du jury VAE). D’autre part, la recherche s’est centrée sur les interactions entre conseillers et candidats au cours des entretiens d'accompagnement, pour comprendre en quoi l’activité dialogale qu’elles sous-tendent, contribue au développement par le candidat d'un discours d’expérience sur son travail. Une analyse des trajectoires d’engagement des acteurs dans l’activité met en évidence que différentes configurations dialogiques (éducateur / éducateur ; accompagnateur / accompagné ; évaluateur / évalué) prennent place au cours du dialogue entre le conseiller et le candidat, qui se constituent comme une source d’étayage au développement de la pensée et du discours du candidat sur son travail. Ces configurations dialogiques sont rendues visibles par des voix mises en scène qui convoquent des expériences passées, anticipées ou imaginées, associées à des espaces d'activité distincts de la situation d'accompagnement. Parce qu'elles permettent au candidat de s'engager dans des dialogues fictifs reconfigurant les places endossées par chacun, ces configurations dialogiques permettent d’appréhender les mouvements interprétatifs en pensée et en discours du candidat sur son activité et rendent possible une transformation du point de vue porté sur l'activité professionnelle
At the interface of the work, vocational training, and guidance for professional career paths, the guidance practices for Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL) are based on an activity whose properties have been gradually formalized and developed, since the introduction of the legislative framework in 2002, thanks to the actors of the field themselves. While discussions are now committed at the university to create pathways to certification, such as to permit access to the profession, we believe that a thorough research on the work activity of guidance practices in Accreditation of Prior Learning may contribute to the design of training devices addressed to advisers in order to assist candidates in their preparation. Based on ethnographic observations conducted in a training organization in the field of Social Work, our data consists of audio recordings of guidance interviews between advisers and candidates. Firstly, the research focused on discourses of experience produced by candidates and advisers. We analyzed them separately from interactional context in which they are produced. From a textual, discursive and enunciative perspective, we are interested in the characteristics of the discourses of experience to understand the activity they involve from the point of view of the actors, the experiences they summon, and the fictional activity areas’ emergence (the space of educational work, the space of writing activity the APL file, the jury APL space). Then, the research focused on interactions between advisers and candidates in guidance interviews, in order to understand how the dialogical activity they underlie, contributes to the development of the candidate’s discourse of experience about his work. An analysis of the trajectories of the actors engaging in the activity shows that different dialogic configurations (educator / educator; adviser / candidate; appraiser / appraisee) take place during the dialogue between the adviser and the candidate, which are like a support for the development of candidate’s thought and discourse about his work. These dialogic configurations are manifested by voices staging that summon past experiences, expected or imagined, associated with fictional activity areas separated from the guidance situation. Because they allow the candidate to engage in fictitious dialogues by reconfiguring the places taken in the relationship, these dialogic configurations give access to interpretative movements in thought and speech of the candidate's activity, and they enable a transformation of the point of view focused on the professional activity

Syftet med den här studien är att erövra kunskaper om pedagogernas kommunikationshandlingar gentemot barnen, inom en engelsk pedagogisk verksamhet. Frågeställningen som ligger till grund för min studie är följande:- Hur sker kommunikationen mellan pedagogerna och det enskilda barnet, vid olika lärandetillfällen? - Hur sker kommunikationen mellan pedagogerna och det enskilda barnet, i olika emotionella situationer? Undersökningen är en kvalitativ studie, där pedagoger på en engelsk privat förskola har observerats. Barngruppen bestod av 11 till 18 barn i åldrarna fem och sex år, medan två till tre pedagoger närvarade varje dag. I resultatdelen har materialet om hur pedagogerna har kommunicerat med barnen behandlats utifrån ett sociokulturellt perspektiv. Pedagogerna i den engelska förskolan innehar makt, och använder den i sitt förhållningssätt gentemot barnen. Varje pedagog kommunicerar med barnen på olika sätt, och de verkar inte utgå från någon gemensam mall.
The aim with this study is to acquire knowledge about communication, in everyday interactions between the pedagogues and children, in an English nursery school. This study is based on the following frame of questions: - How does the communication appear between the pedagogues and children, in different learning situations? - How does the communication appear between the pedagogues and children, in different emotional situations? The empirical research in this degree project is qualitative, and the data consisted of observations is focused on the pedagogues. The group of children consists of eleven to eighteen in total (aged 4 to 5 years) and there were about two to three pedagogues in the room. The result of this study is processed out of a socio-cultural perspective. I have come to a conclusion that the English pedagogues have power, which they used in the attitude among the children. The result showed that every pedagogue did communicate with the children, in different ways, and that their attitude was various.

Denna studie görs inom det arbetslivspedagogiska fältet och behandlar arbetsrotation på ICA-butiker. Syftet är att undersöka hur arbetsrotation sker hos medarbetare inom olika ICA-butiker och vilken betydelse det får för lärandet. Lärandet som undersöks är hur individer kan tillgodogöra sig yrkeskunskap utifrån de läroprocesser och lärandesituationer som uppstår i samband med arbetsrotation. De teoretiska verktyg som används grundar sig i Ellströms feed-forward och feed-back faser, de tre regleringsnivåerna av lärande samt en teori om subjektiva och objektiva handlingsutrymmen. Studien använder sig även av Börnfelts teori om en formell och informell organisation. Den metod som använts är kvalitativ och grundar sig i öppna intervjuer med åtta anställda från ICA-butiker med olika butiksformat, med det syftar vi till ICAs butiksformat; Nära, Supermarket, Kvantum och Maxi. Intervjuerna har transkriberats och analyserats ner till fyra olika teman; Arbetets innehåll, Avvikande situationer, Formellt Medarbetarskap och Informella Relationer. Resultatet visar att om anställda roterar mellan avdelningar eller ställs inför utmaning öppnar det upp individers handlingsutrymme, vilket leder till feed-forward faser som i sig genererar lärosituationer där anställda kan lära sig på en begreppslig- och intellektuell nivå. I flertal butiker bestämmer den formella organisationen det objektiva handlingsutrymmet men studien visar att den informella organisationen kan skapa sitt eget objektiva handlingsutrymme. Detta ställer visserligen krav på att det förekommer ett subjektivt handlingsutrymme i form av kunskap eller erfarenhet. I de butiker där ett tydligt objektivt handlingsutrymme ges tenderar anställda att hjälpa varandra inom och över avdelningar i högre utsträckning. I studien konstateras också att arbetsrotation gynnas av kollegiala relationer. Resultatet av studien kan användas för att vidare studera arbetsrotationens inverkan på lärande. Studien kan med fördel användas av yrkesverksamma inom ICA-butiker i syfte att få ökad förståelse för vilka konsekvenser som kan förbindas med införandet av arbetsrotation.
This paper examines job-rotation in ICA-stores within the pedagogy of working life. The purpose of this study is to determine how job-rotation works in ICA-stores and its relevance to learning from a employee perspective. The area of learning that we are investigating is how individuals assimilate knowledge from their professions through learning processes and situations during a job-rotation. The theoretical tools used in this study are based on Ellströms views on the feed-forward and feed-back phases, on Ellströms three levels of learning to conceptualise the act of learning, and finally on the theory of the subjective and objective spaces of action in regards to the learning situation. The paper mentions Börnfelts theories of formal and informal organisation as well. We used a qualitative method based on open interviews with eight employees from different ICA-stores, varied in both location and size. All interviews have been transcribed and analysed into four themes: The Content of the Work, Daily Obstacles/everyday situation, Formal Teamwork, and Informal Relations. The results of these interviews show that if employees rotate between departments, so called “revolving work tasks,” or face challenges within their own work tasks, the individuals acting space is opened up. This results in feed-forward and feed-back phases, which in turn generate the learning situations where the employees can learn on a conceptual and intellectual level. In several stores, the formal organisation creates an objective space of action for the employees, but the study shows that an informal organisation can also create their own objective space of action. If this is going to happen, employees must acquire a subjective space of action in the form of knowledge or experience. In a store with a clear objective space of action, employees tend to help each other more within and over departments. The study also states that a good relation between coworkers facilitates job-rotation. The results of the study can be used as a basis for further study of the way job-rotation affects learning. The study lends itself well to be used by people now working at ICA-stores, in order to get a better understanding of the consequences that can be connected to the introduction of job-rotation.

The after-school centresdevelopment has shifted from being a workplace to today's after-school centre as part of elementary school curriculum with a central content and purpose. Research in the field is in terms of conversational styles and roles but is not so much linked to the after-school centre'ssnack time. The present study has been intended to distinguish and exemplify the social interaction that is taking place in the after-school centre's snack time. Focus off interest has been how pupils talk and listen to each other and whether it is possible to discover in the conversation whether the conversation can be linked to school skills. Based on Sociocultural perspective on learning as well as Goffman's dramaturgical perspective as a frame, four recorded and observed conversations at two different after-school centres have been analysedwith an abductive approach. The purpose of this work is to identify the learning situations that occur during the after-school centre's snack, as well as describe how the students talk to each other. The roles that emerged in the result were categorized into five qualitatively distinct roles called; the conversation leader, listener, co-driver, clown and expert. The conversation leader is dependent on both the listener and the co-driver while the other roles are more independent of each other. The learning situations that can be linked to school skills are described in a separate section and are highly dependent on the role of the expert. All results are exemplified by direct quotes from the transcribed material.

Studiens syfte är att undersöka vilken betydelse motivation ger för korrelationen mellan en upplevd högre grad av situationsanpassat ledarskap inom en bransch som historiskt adapterat Taylorismens styrande produktionsfokus jämfört med modernare ledarskapsteorier. Studien baseras på ett teoretisk ramverk kring tre övergripande faktorer; grad av upplevt situationsanpassat ledarskap(Meier, 2016), upplevd grad av möjligheter till lärande (Marsick & Watkins, 2003) samt motivation (Furnham, Eracleous & ChamorroPremuzic, 2009). Dessa variabler undersöks ur en kvantitativ ansats med av erkända forskare validerade datainsamlings instrument och faktorialanpassning. Resultatet delades upp och kodades till lämpligt format för att kunna utföra bivariata och trivariata kvantitativa statistiska analyser som undersöker samband mellan dessa variabler. De bivariata analyserna (ledarskap mot lärande) visade olika grader av samband som sedan testades med motivation som modulerande endogen variabel där sambanden visade stärkt korrelation. Studien visade stöd åt korrelationen av dessa trevariabler, dock indikerar determiniationskoefficienten R2att ytterligare förklarande påverkande faktorer finns till sambandet då R2 < 100%.

La finalité de ce travail exploratoire, inscrit dans le cadre d’une didactique professionnelle du design naissante, est de comprendre l’incidence de l’alternance sur les apprentissages d’étudiants en design. Dans ce but, les connaissances ou savoirs impliqués et les représentations que les prescriptions proposent sont extraits puis mis en regard des représentations que les étudiants construisent de l’activité de conception en tant qu’objet social ou en jeu dans les activités d’apprentissage. Pour aborder ces représentations décrites ou construites, puis leur incidence sur l’activité de conception et sur les apprentissages, il est fait appel à un champ théorique multidisciplinaire et à un cadre méthodologique dialectique s’appuyant sur une analyse curriculaire et sur une analyse de l’activité des étudiants-apprentis. Les résultats mettent en lumière des représentations, parfois antagonistes, de l’activité de conception et de la profession de designer. Ils montrent que l’alternance des temps et des lieux d’apprentissage est un révélateur, pour les étudiants, des spécificités de l’activité de conception au sein de chacun des environnements. Ainsi, les environnements « organisants » et « capacitants » du curriculum réel, impensés dans le prescrit, modifient et régulent l’activité et le développement des compétences. Enfin, la production de connaissances, prescrite par le curriculum dans la cadre d’un « mémoire de recherche », permet aux apprentis-designers-chercheurs de développer des formes d’expertises qui interrogent sur les interactions entre savoirs pour agir et métaconnaissances pour concevoir et semblent redéfinir la représentation de la compétence de conception
The purpose of this exploratory work, grounded on an emerging professional pedagogy of design, is to understand the impact of work-linked training in design on the learning of the design activity by students. To that end, the knowledge involved is extracted, juxtaposed with the representations that the requirement offers, and then set against the representations that students build of design activity as a social object as well as those involved in learning activities. Therefore, the theoretical field which is used is multidisciplinary. It induces a dialectical methodologic framework based both on a curricular analysis, necessary to understand the observed teaching situations, and on an analysis of the students’ activities. The outcomes shed light on these (sometimes conflicting) representations of creative design activity and of the designer’s profession. Outcomes also show the alternating times and places of learning situations reveal to the students the specificity of both designing situation. Thus, the “organizing environments” of the real curriculum and untaught within the required one, modify and regulate the system of interactions and the development of the students’ design skills. Moreover, the exchange device induces a timeline and “enabling” working and learning environments. Finally, the production of knowledge, required by the curriculum through the “research thesis”, allows the “apprentices-designers-researchers” to develop forms of expertise that question the interactions between knowledge to act and meta-knowledge to design and seems to redefine the representation of the design skill

This study seeks to examine (1) in what situations Swedish upper secondary school students from two EFL classes are unwilling to speak English in English class, and (2) what the motivational factors are for the same students to speak English. Students in their first and second year of studying English in Swedish upper secondary school participated in this study. The data were collected using observations, a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The data collected in this study were analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The results of the study showed that students are unwilling to speak English in assessed situations as well as in situations where students are given less time before they can speak. The results suggest that students are influenced by one another, and that using English only instruction will make students more confident in speaking activities since speaking English will be normative behavior in class. Moreover, students are motivated to speak the target language in class by the English they meet outside of school, and by the plans that they have envisioned for their future.

During word learning, many words are associated with many meanings to build a lexicon. A model by McMurray et al. (2012) suggests that vocabulary acquisition may not only depend on building correct associations, but also pruning incorrect ones. Additional evidence for the importance of pruning comes from a word learning analog in pigeons, where the opportunity for pruning incorrect associations between objects and symbols was manipulated during training (Roembke et al., 2016). To investigate pruning in humans, we conducted six supervised word learning experiments. Participants were first trained to link two objects to each word, and subsequently were tested how quickly these were pruned. Across experiments, association strength was measured by using either eye movements to to-be pruned objects, or a post-training accuracy assessment. Learners showed rapid—though potentially not complete—pruning of incorrect associations, but this depended on whether the symbols were auditory words, orthographic words or non-linguistic symbols. Thus, this dissertation provides first evidence that pruning is operative during word learning. We also examined how newly learned words compete against known words for recognition using eye-tracking and found that despite very high accuracy these words were not strong competitors.

For Command and Control teams Situation Awareness forms an important part of their ability to execute their tasks. It is therefore a crucial consideration in Command and Control systems to understand how best to support and design these systems. Despite a considerable amount of attention since the 1980s no consensus has yet been reached concerning the nature of team SA. Three schools of thought on SA: the Individualistic, the Engineering and the System Ergonomics, provide three different approaches to understanding the phenomenon of SA and its measurement. This thesis argues that the System Ergonomics school of thought, with the theory of Distributed SA, provides the most resilient approach to understanding team SA. This thesis advances and validates the theory of Distributed SA. A review of SA theory is presented, in which particular attention is given to Distributed SA. Drawing on the distributed cognition and systems theories Distributed SA takes the interaction between agents and their environment into account when exploring how SA emerges, followed by a review of measures utilised for assessing Distributed SA. The methods utilised in this work, namely the Critical Decision Method and Communications Analysis, are assessed in terms of their reliability and validity of eliciting Distributed SA. The findings suggested that methods to assess team SA can be tailored to collect data at different phases of activity. It was concluded that the Hierarchical Task Analysis may be applied before, Communication Analysis during and the Critical Decision Method after Command and Control activity. An experiment was performed to test the assumption that a relationship exists between organisational structure and team performance and between Distributed SA and team performance. Conclusive differences were found between different organisational structures and performance lending support to the literature. Distributed SA was found to be strongly correlated with good task performance and moderately negatively correlated with poor task performance. The relationship appeared to be mediated by organisational structure. Furthermore, a series of case studies are used to explore the components of Distributed SA, i.e. transactional and compatible SA. The analysis showed that more effective teams were characterised by a high volume of communications and had a different pattern of transactions compared to less effective teams. The findings are used to contribute to the existing debate concerning team SA and to advance the theory of Distributed SA.

This thesis proposes a novel and robust online adaptation mechanism for threat prediction and prevention capable of taking into consideration complex contextual and temporal information in its internal learning processes. The proposed mechanism is a hybrid cognitive computational model named SAFEL (Situation-Aware FEar Learning), which integrates machine learning algorithms with concepts of situation-awareness from expert systems to simulate both the cued and contextual fear-conditioning phenomena. SAFEL is inspired by well-known neuroscience findings on the brain's mechanisms of fear learning and memory to provide autonomous robots with the ability to predict undesirable or threatening situations to themselves. SAFEL's ultimate goal is to allow autonomous robots to perceive intricate elements and relationships in their environment, learn with experience through autonomous environmental exploration, and adapt at execution time to environmental changes and threats. SAFEL consists of a hybrid architecture composed of three modules, each based on a different approach and inspired by a different region (or function) of the brain involved in fear learning. These modules are: the Amygdala Module (AM), the Hippocampus Module (HM) and the Working Memory Module (WMM). The AM learns and detects environmental threats while the HM makes sense of the robot's context. The WMM is responsible for combining and associating the two types of information processed by the AM and HM. More specifically, the AM simulates the cued conditioning phenomenon by creating associations between co-occurring aversive and neutral environmental stimuli. The AM represents the kernel of emotional appraisal and threat detection in SAFEL's architecture. The HM, in turn, handles environmental information at a higher level of abstraction and complexity than the AM, which depicts the robot's situation as a whole. The information managed by the HM embeds in a unified representation the temporal interactions of multiple stimuli in the environment. Finally, the WMM simulates the contextual conditioning phenomenon by creating associations between the contextual memory formed in the HM and the emotional memory formed in the AM, thus giving emotional meaning to the contextual information acquired in past experiences. Ultimately, any previously experienced pattern of contextual information triggers the retrieval of that stored contextual memory and its emotional meaning from the WMM, warning the robot that an undesirable situation is likely to happen in the near future. The main contribution of this work as compared to the state of the art is a domain-independent mechanism for online learning and adaptation that combines a fear-learning model with the concept of temporal context and is focused on real-world applications for autonomous robotics. SAFEL successfully integrates a symbolic rule-based paradigm for situation management with machine learning algorithms for memorizing and predicting environmental threats to the robot based on complex temporal context. SAFEL has been evaluated in several experiments, which analysed the performance of each module separately. Ultimately, we conducted a comprehensive case study in the robot soccer scenario to evaluate the collective work of all modules as a whole. This case study also analyses to which extent the emotional feedback of SAFEL can improve the intelligent behaviour of a robot in a practical real-world situation, where adaptive skills and fast/flexible decision-making are crucial.

This research is a theoretical and technical exploration into the machine learning of a form of design process knowledge viz. heuristic associations between patterns of the design context and preferences on design decisions such that the learned knowledge could be profitably reused for the synthesis of appropriate designs. Appropriate designs mean designs that satisfy all feasibility and most desirability constraints or criteria as laid down in design specifications. A design decision means an unit design transformation process. A design context, as defined in this thesis refers to a combination of some initial design information that is modeled under a representation, some new information that is generated by various transformation and inference processes that operate on the representation as well as some information about the process that operates on the representation. By a context pattern it is meant that there exists some combination of some of the variables that represents the above information, such that the possible values of some or all of the variables in the pattern are constrained by relationships with other variables in that pattern. It is such a context pattern to which is referred to, as a situation. Situation learning is the process of associating a situation with a preference on a design decision. A preference indicates whether a design decision is to be preferred over others, or worse compared to others or should be totally rejected.

This thesis analyses the work situation and class position of Brazilian engineers through a Marxist perspective. The research is based on two case studies, one focused on a large German steel company based in Brazil and the other on a large Brazilian energy corporation. The fieldwork involved 114 interviews, with engineers from different hierarchical positions in these two companies. Data was also gathered through interviews with representatives from the companies, the Council of Engineering, the Engineering Education System and the Engineers Trade Unions. The findings show that the engineering profession in Brazil has shifted from its initial condition as a liberal profession to an organizational profession, with the country's industrial deployment. Both companies consider all salaried workers as employees, including managers. Hence they are subject to the company's general personnel policies. The multinational company controls labour more rigidly than the national company, as well as reserving its top positions for its home country's executives. Although no deskilling process was found, engineers of both companies performed simple work, which required less engineering knowledge than they had learned from school. Engineers have little autonomy, authority and participation in decision making and are subject to direct supervision, performance evaluation, time control, overtime work, productivity and to poor working conditions in the multinational company. The majority of the engineers supervised other workers without being in a managerial position. They found that to move into management, was a good way to improve their autonomy, authority, prestige, salary, status, power and professional pride. Despite ideological divisions between capital and labour, most of the engineers were unionised and saw unions as the right way to deal with the employer.

Notre travail s’intéresse aux maîtres d’apprentissage de l’enseignement supérieur et à la façon dont ils débutent dans cette fonction. En France, ceux qui occupent la mission de tuteur sont peu formés et les formations qui leurs sont proposées sont souvent de courte durée (1 journée). De même les prescriptions institutionnelles restent relativement floues, mentionnant peu le tuteur. Il semble dès lors que cette fonction s’apprenne très largement sur le tas. Notre objectif est ainsi de comprendre les pratiques formatives des tuteurs débutants et notamment, la façon dont les interactions et les relations que ces derniers vont voiravec d’autres acteurs (du monde scolaire, professionnel ou autre) vont les aider à construire leur pratique.Ce travail est construit à partir d’une enquête de terrain d’une année et d’un corpus caractérisé par une multiplicité de modes de production de données (observations participantes, captations audio et vidéo, entretiens, collecte de documents, etc.). Il prend la forme de trois études de cas dont le but est de comprendre comment se met en place une configuration tutorale (d’après Elias, 1981) et la façon dont cette configuration crée des affordances (Billett 1995, 2011), c’est à dire des opportunités d’apprentissage pour le tuteur débutant, dont il peut se saisir afin de construire sa pratique.Une analyse des prescriptions institutionnelles sur le tutorat et le rôle du maître d’apprentissage nous conduit à montrer que celui-ci occupe une place secondaire dans les discours institutionnels plutôt focalisés sur l’apprenti et adressés à ces derniers ou aux employeurs. De plus, les prescriptions se font à plusieurs niveaux (de la loi à l’école) et cela constitue un millefeuille de prescriptions qui restent floues et hétérogènes. Enfin, c’est une configuration tutorale relativement figée, incluant seulement trois acteurs (apprenti / MAP ou employeur / tuteur-école ou école) qui est la plupart du temps présentée.L’analyse de nos cas est réalisée en croisant deux niveaux : le niveau local et le niveau global. Il s’agit d’une part d’appréhender les interactions récurrentes et les relations qui se mettent en place dans le temps long et d’autre part, la façon dont les acteurs interagissent et se coordonnent dans des interactions et situations locales. Cela nous permet de documenter la façon dont une configuration tutorale émerge et se met en place dans le temps long, mais aussi la façon dont elle est localement consolidée ou au contraire bouleversée. Ces analyses nous permettent de mettre en avant que là où l’on a l’habitude de penser un duo tuteur-apprenti, il y a en réalité un réseau d’acteurs aux profils, objectifs et caractéristiques variés qui se crée dans le but d’accompagner l’apprenti. Cette configuration tutorale est dynamique et varie selon les contextes. Elle peut être constituée, outre l’apprenti et son tuteur, par des acteurs de la place de travail (hiérarchie, collègues, etc.), des acteurs de l’école (tuteurs-école, enseignants) ou encore des acteurs de la sphère familiale, amicale, etc. Chaque acteur de cette configuration a ses enjeux propres qui contribuent à orienter sa mise en place et son évolution dans le temps. Nos analyses montrent que cette évolution peut se faire en faveur de l’appropriation par le tuteur de son rôle. La configuration est, en effet, génératriced’affordances pour le maître d’apprentissage débutant, dont ce dernier peut se saisir afin de développer sa pratique tutorale. Ces affordances peuvent prendre des formes diverses (aide directe, inclusion à un collectif tutoral, échanges sur la pratique tutorale, etc.). Elles ne sont actualisées comme ressources que parce que le tuteur débutant s’en saisit, les rendant ainsi pertinentes pour sa pratique.Ces analyses nous conduisent à formuler des préconisations en vue d’améliorer la formation et l’information des tuteurs, notamment dans le cadre du travail d’ingénierie de formation actuellement mené par le CFA Formasup ARL
This research focuses on workplace tutors in dual vocational tertiary courses, and how they begin in this role. In France some tutor’s training are offered but they are short-term (1 day) and few tutors participate. Institutional requirements remain vague with little mention mention of the workplace tutors. Therefore, it seems that a large part of tutors are learning this activity « on the job ». Our purpose is to understand how workplace tutors are learning their role, and in particular, how interactions and relationships they have with other actors (from the shool, the company, etc.) help them to build their practice of tutoring.This research is based on a one-year fieldwork and a corpus characterized by a multiplicity of data production modes (participating observations, audio and video recordings, interviews, document collection, etc.). It takes the form of three case studies whose aim is to understand how a tutorial configuration is set up (according to Elias, 1981) and how this configuration creates affordances (Billett 1995, 2011), i.e. learning opportunities for the novice workplace tutor, which he can take advantage of to build his practice.An analysis of the institutional requirements on tutoring and the role of the workplace tutor, leads us to show that he occupies a secondary place in speeches that are rather focused on the apprentice and addressed to them or to employers. In addition, this requirements are made at several levels (from law to school) and this constitutes a myriad (millefeuille) of requirements that remain vague and heterogeneous. Finally, it is a relatively fixed tutorial configuration, including only three actors (apprentice / MAP or employer / school-tutor or school) that is most of the time presented.The analysis of our cases is carried out by crossing two levels: the local level and the global level. On the one hand, it is a question of understanding the recurrent interactions and relationships that are established over time and, on the other hand, the way in which actors interact and coordinate themselves in local interactions and situations. This allows us to document how a tutorial configuration emerges and is implemented over time, but also how it is locally consolidated or disrupted. These analyses allow us to highlight that where we are used to thinking of a tutor-apprentice duo, there is in reality a network of actors with various profiles, objectives and characteristics that is created in order to support the apprentice. This tutorial configuration is dynamic and changes according to the context. It can be made up, in addition to the apprentice and his tutor, by actors in the workplace (hierarchy, colleagues, etc.), actors in the school (school-tutors, teachers) or actors in the family, friends, etc. Each actor in this configuration has its own purposes that contribute to orienting its implementation and evolution over time. Our analyses show that this evolution can be in favour of the tutor's appropriation of his role. The configuration is, in fact, agenerator of affordances for the novice workplace tutor, which he can take advantage of in order to develop his tutoring practice. These affordances can take various forms (direct support, inclusion in a tutoring collective, exchanges on tutoring practice, etc.). They are only actualized as resources because the novice tutor takes them over, making them relevant to his or her practice.In addition to documenting the training practices of tutors, this research aims to support the apprentices training center (Formasup ARL) in the engineering work of the training courses they are currently conducting

Cette thèse porte sur l'apprentissage des modèles de situations afin de fournir des services sensibles au contexte dans un environnement intelligent. D'abord, nous motivons et introduisons la notion de contexte pour la modélisation du comportement humain. Ce dernier est représenté par un modèle de situations décrivant l'environnement, ses occupants et leursactivités. Nous proposons deux exemples d'implémentation du modèle de situations. Puis, nous introduisons un cadre conceptuel pour l'acquisitionautomatique et l'évolution des différentes couches d'un modèle de situations. Ce cadre regroupe différentes méthodes d'apprentissage: la détection de rôles par entité, l'extraction non-supervisée de situations à partir de données multimodales, l'apprentissage supervisé de situations et l'évolution d'un modèle de situations basée sur les retours de l'utilisateur. Ce cadre conceptuel ainsi que les méthodes associées ont été implémentées et évaluées dans un environnement domestique augmenté
This thesis addresses the problem of learning situation models for providing context-aware services in an intelligent environment. First, the notion of context for modeling human behavior in an intelligent environment is motivated and introduced. Context is represented by a situation model describing environment, users and their activities. Two example implementations for the situation model are proposed. A framework for acquiring and evolving different layers of a situation model is then introduced. Several novel learning methods are part of this framework: role detection per entity, unsupervised extraction of situations from multimodal data, supervised learning of situation representations, and the evolution of a predefined situation model with feedback. The situation model serves as frame and support for the different methods, permitting to stay in an intuitive declarative framework. The proposed framework has been implemented and evaluated for an intelligent home environment

Contemporary work is beset by changing laws, globalisation and technology. Such changes, together with the growing intensity of work, means work practices are constantly changing. Increasing numbers of women are entering into this work, often in contingent roles and many in administrative and service-related employment. Frequently, these contingent forms of work offer little in the way of career paths or support for ongoing learning and career development. This study investigates the work and learning experiences of a cohort of nine female auxiliary workers within the legal sector. These women are held to be illustrative of the growing ranks of contingent workers and their experiences in contemporary working life. The study examines the affordances for these women’s learning and levels of support available to them for participation in learning through their work.The study is informed by a critical ethnographic approach that recounted the work and learning practices of these women through a series of structured interviews, observations and reflective journals written by both the participants and the researcher. This is interwoven with an autoethnography of the researcher’s work experiences within the legal workplace. Having advanced the case for learning through auxiliary kinds of work, the study describes and discusses three legal practice managers’ purposes of, conceptions about and practices for the learning of auxiliary legal workers in their legal practices. Next, it elaborates and discuses these women’s experiences of, conceptions about and practices to learn through their work. The literature dealing with aspects of the changing nature of work and contemporary issues affecting women at work such as power relations, the impact of policy, gender equity and discrimination illuminates the problems for these women workers. It also elaborates the nature of learning through work, and the self-identity and social identity of women at work and the notion of workplace knowledge within organisational practice. How opportunities were afforded and maximised by these women was important as their learning was set within the structures of the workplace that served to inhibit their progress. Yet, these women needed to learn to perform effectively and to retain their employment, and perhaps to progress. The women worked within an environment characterised by change and the findings of the study positioned each of them as committed workers and continuous, self-directed learners; that is, learning was fundamental to their everyday work and they shared a strong resolve to find ways to learn. The study found strong and consistent evidence of personal epistemologies, reflexive practice and personal agency being exercised in the conduct of these women’s work and learning. Through these processes, the women developed a sense of their own identity at work as workers and learners and they enacted those identities. Yet, all this was found, to be necessitated by and in the face of low workplace affordance for their work and learning. That is, formal learning policies and programs were not readily accessible to auxiliary level women at work. However, the study suggests that if these women were offered opportunities to participate in formal learning programs at work they would probably do so. It was concluded that improvement in the workplace norms, values and practices associated with contingent workers, such as these nine auxiliary legal workers, was needed, firstly, for the legal practices to enact policies, procedures and opportunities for auxiliary level staff to participate in kinds of learning that promote professional and self development and, secondly, for auxiliary level women to be aware of, to learn and to participate in new ways to practice and to strive for professional and self development. Overall, this study illustrated how workplace policies and practices can work against the needs, learning and aspirations of workers, who perform essential support and service roles, yet are not seen as being central to workplace success. Interactive collaborations between workplace managers and contingent workers are needed to continually find new ways to help these workers change and grow at work within workplace environments that are invitational for them. In all, the study found that the agency and personal epistemologies of these auxiliary workers was essential in their negotiation of learning, the enactment of peer support and to necessarily cross boundaries of practice in learning and working. While such agency is commendable, it is held that this agency might be deployed more productively in workplaces, if it were not continually having to be exercised to overcome the low invitational qualities of the very workplaces in which they work and learn.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Education (EdD)
School of Education and Professional Studies
Faculty of Education
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Based on the theoretical framework provided by Balanced Integration Differentiation (BID) Model (mamoglu, 1998
2003) and Self-Determination Theory (SDT) (Deci and Ryan, 1985), this study aimed to explore possible determinants of Turkish employees&
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subjective (i.e., life satisfaction) and psychological well-being. Previous SDT research demonstrated that autonomus causality orientation and perceived autonomy supportiveness of context predicted need satisfaction at work and in turn, employee well-being (e.g., Baard et al., 2004
Ilardi et al., 1993). BID Model was tested in a work setting for the first time. Different from SDT research, relational aspects both as a form of self orientation and a contextual characteristic (i.e., perceived relatedness supportiveness) were included in this study, along with individuational orientation and perceived autonomy supportiveness dimension, to explore their possible influence on well-being. Three-hundred-eighty-three employees (154 women and 229 men) from various public and private sector organizations participated in the study. Onehundred- ninety-two of them were from public sector organizations, whereas 191 of them were from private sector organizations. Relational and individuational self orientations directly predicted need satisfaction and psychological well-being, whereas relational orientation directly predicted life satisfaction. Need satisfaction also predicted both types of wellbeing. Furthermore, relational orientation predicted both autonomy and relatedness supportiveness of work context and in turn, predicted need satisfaction and well-being in public sector organizations. Furthermore, individuational orientation predicted autonomy supportiveness and relational orientation predicted relatedness supportiveness and in turn, predicted need satisfaction and well-being in private sector organizations. The findings were discussed in terms of relevant literature.

Denna studie är en litteraturstudie med syftet att se hur kunskapen ser ut om hörselskadade barns psykosociala situation samt hur barnen identifierar sig i förhållande till den döva och den hörande världen. För att få mer helhet och djup i studien inkluderas även döva barn samt barn som fötts döva och fått cochleaimplantat inopererat. Frågeställningarna omfattar de hörselskadade barnens mentala hälsa/välbefinnande, identitetsutveckling, sociala relationer, samt CI-opererade barns situation. Som en särskild grupp när det gäller hälsa/välbefinnande redovisas även hörselskadade barn med tilläggsfunktionshinder.

Studien är gjord som en systematisk kunskapsöversikt där sökningar gjorts i olika databaser för vetenskapliga artiklar och litteratur. När det gäller böcker så har databasen LIBRIS använts och vad gäller artiklar har ELIN, Pubmed, PsychINFO samt ERIC använts. De träffar jag fått har sedan bedömts när det gäller relevans och grundläggande kvalitet.

Resultat i studierna visar att hörselskadade barn löper en ökad risk att drabbas av mental ohälsa i jämförelse med hörande barn. En stor riskfaktor är kommunikationssvårigheter mellan föräldrar och barn i och med att de flesta hörselskadade barn har hörande föräldrar. Föräldrarna kan därmed ha svårt att utveckla ett tillräckligt bra teckenspråk samtidigt som barnen kan ha svårigheter att klara talat språk. Barnens förmåga att använda talspråk varierar också mycket beroende på situation. I en bullrig miljö kan talspråk vara näst intill en omöjlighet för det hörselskadade barnet. Skolplacering är en annan stor fråga när det gäller vad som är det bästa för de hörselskadade barnen. Det är ofta långt till specialskolor vilket kräver att barnen i tidig ålder flyttar hemifrån i veckorna och bor på internat. Många hörselskadade barn placeras i vanliga skolor för hörande barn, antingen i hörselklasser eller i vanliga klasser. En följd av skolplacering bland hörande barn kan vara att det hörselskadade barnet blir isolerat och hamnar i utanförskap. Barnen kan också få svårigheter att utveckla en stabil identitet som hörselskadad om de inte får möjlighet att träffa andra hörselskadade. Barn med hörselskada löper också signifikant större risk att utsättas för övergrepp av olika slag än hörande barn.

In this study the semi structured interview method was used to explore what kind of knowledge one In State Authority: The Migration Board, and three Non Governmental Organisations: Red Cross, Save the Children and ISS- International Social Service have about the situation for separated children. Another purpose in this study was to explore if people who are close to the children are working for the best of the children and if their cases were treated with legal security. The result shows that the children’s cases are not treated with legal security and some of the children suffer psychologically from separations from the families and other children need new families because they were maltreated. The result also shows that there are signs that separated children are discriminated compared to children with a Swedish background.

The exploratory research, is leaded mainly by the frames of the Activity Theory (Engeström, 1987; 1999; 2001) and the situated learning (Chaiklin & Lave, 1993; Fabbri, 2007; Fenwick, 2003; Lave , 1988; Lave & Wenger, 1991), in order to identify the characteristics of the process that characterizes partnership’s development between the two systems, school and work, as well as the practices carried out during the School-Work Alternantion paths (SWA). With the aim of also identifying room of improvement, it was investigated the role of the teacher-tutor as boundary spanners (Wreets & Sandmann, 2010) between the school and the work systems. Seven high schools of northern Italy were involved, and the exploratory study was conducted using the mixed method approach including the triangulation and the qualitative and quantitative approaches (Creswell, 2013; Teddlie and Tashakkori, 2009). The research design included two directions: i) the exploration of SWA phenomenon through a qualitative approach (focus groups and interviews) and a quantitative one (CAWI survey for students of classes IV-V); ii) the identification of room of improvement through the collection of data of teacher-tutors’ boundary spanners behaviors (CAWI survey for teachers on a national sample) and the recommendation for a possible training pathway, based on the professional profile of SWA figures, came to light. The results obtained show that: SWA is recognized by all the actors involved, a learning experience; its effectiveness depends on certain predictors that confer to it the characteristic of situated learning and of effective partnership; workplaces and schools do not show to inhabit a common space, characterized of shared boundary objects, rules and artifacts. The results obtained from the survey aimed at teachers are also important, because they show that boundary spanners behaviors can be treated in order to develop a new professional profile of SWA teacher-tutors, through tailored training courses, supporting them to become skillful promoter of internal and external partnership
La ricerca, a carattere esplorativo, si pone principalmente all’interno delle cornici della Teoria dell'Attività (Engëstrom, 1987;1999; 2001) e dell’apprendimento situato (Chaiklin & Lave, 1993; Fabbri, 2007; Fenwick, 2003; Lave, 1988; Lave & Wenger, 1991), nell’intento di identificare le caratteristiche del processo di costruzione della partnership dei sistemi scuola-lavoro, oltre che delle pratiche realizzate durante i percorsi di Alternanza Scuola-Lavoro (ASL). Con l’obiettivo di individuare anche spazi di miglioramento, è stato investigato il ruolo dei docenti-tutor come boundary spanners (Wreets & Sandmann, 2010) fra i sistemi scuola-lavoro. Con il coinvolgimento di sette scuole secondarie di secondo grado del nord-Italia, il percorso esplorativo è stato condotto tramite la metodologia del mixed method includendo insieme alla triangolazione, approcci quali-quantitativi (Creswell 2013; Teddlie e Tashakkori, 2009). Il piano della ricerca ha previsto due direzioni: i) l’esplorazione del fenomeno dell’ASL tramite un approccio qualitativo (focus group e interviste) e quantitativo (indagine CAWI per studenti delle classi IV-V); ii) l’individuazione di spazi di miglioramento attraverso la rilevazione degli orientamenti di boundary spanners dei docenti-tutor (indagine CAWI per docenti su un campione nazionale) e l’elaborazione, come raccomandazione, di una possibile proposta formativa, sulla base del profilo professionale delle figure dell’ASL emerso. I risultati ottenuti dimostrano che l’ASL è riconosciuta, da tutti gli attori coinvolti, un’esperienza di apprendimento; che la sua efficacia dipende da alcuni predittori che attribuiscono ad essa il carattere situato dell’apprendimento e della partnership efficace; che attualmente scuola e lavoro non dimostrano di abitare uno spazio comune, caratterizzato da boundary objects, rules e artifacts condivisi. Importanti sono anche i risultati ottenuti dall’indagine rivolta ai docenti, rilevando che gli orientamenti di boundary spanners possono essere formati nell’intento di sviluppare un nuovo profilo professionale delle figure di ASL, tramite appositi percorsi formativi, aiutandoli a divenire abili sostenitori e promotori di partnership interne ed esterne.

Cette recherche vise la compréhension des processus d’enseignement-apprentissage de la clarinette en groupe restreint, dans une perspective évolutive des situations individuelles légitimées à travers l’histoire de la pédagogie instrumentale en France. Le travail en groupe viendrait enrichir les modalités d’apprentissage développées dans les situations individuelles et changerait la place de l’élève dans la construction des différents savoirs (techniques, cognitifs, esthétiques, expressifs, déclaratifs, etc.) imbriqués dans le savoir instrumental. Dans un cadre où la relation asymétrique enseignant-élève place souvent l’enseignant en seul détenteur du savoir, le groupe apparait comme une possibilité méthodologique d’équilibration des contrats didactiques. C’est à travers le développement d’activités de collaboration et la résolution des conflits sociocognitifs, créés dans une grande variété d’interactions, que le groupe permet une co-construction des savoirs musicaux. Les analyses des situations d’enseignement-apprentissage individuelles et en groupe, sont fondées sur des pratiques enseignantes instrumentales réelles et étayées d’une théorisation des travaux socioconstructivistes dans le cadre scolaire. Cette démarche s’inscrit dans un lien étroit entre la pratique et la recherche, qui semble fondamental dans l’évolution de la pédagogie et de la didactique instrumentale
The purpose of this research is to better understand the impact of teaching/learning clarinet-playing in small groups in the perspective of individual progress situations validated by the history of instrument pedagogy in French “conservatoires”. It would seem however that group work would better serve the development of learning modes as it expands the learning processes involved in the traditional one-to-one approach. Group work would change the learner’s position as he/she acquires the various (technical, cognitive, esthetic, expressive, declarative, etc.), skills involved in playing a musical instrument. In a context in which the asymmetrical teacher/student relationship often sets the teacher as the sole expert, the group appears as a pedagogical means to establish some balance and better define each person’s role. An array of activities requiring all forms of interaction will encourage collaboration and develop an aptitude to resolve socio-cognitive conflicts, the group thus becomes the place where musical skills are mutually acquired and structured. This analysis is based on authentic teaching of musical instruments and is supported by the analysis of socio-constructivist work carried out in schools. This study therefore combines both the theoretical field of research and the practical experience of teaching, which is fundamental when dealing with the evolution of both pedagogy and the teaching of musical instruments

The aim of the thesis was to investigate and analyze howproject members at operative level experience industrialproject work. The project goal, alongside the time limits,methods applied, and cooperation, were envisaged to set theprerequisites for the work situation. Four empirical studies,based on both qualitative and quantitative methods, areencompassed by this thesis. In total, 31 companies and 298respondents were involved in the studies. The studies wereperformed in product-development and construction settingswithin the mechanical engineering industry. The analysis showsthat project work is characterized by: 1) Goal-focusedcooperation in flexible and changeable work groups. Demandscompetence for cooperation; interaction and communicationconstantly adjusted to problem-solving processes; and jointactivities for goal definition. 2) Treating time as a resource.A fast pace of work demands shared responsibilities in a team;unconstrained interaction and communication; and socialsupport. Scarce time resources give rise to the risk ofneglecting needs for long-term knowledge development. 3)Development and insecurity. Development makes contingency-basedsupervision and planning needed, together with team-basedplanning and goal formulation. High levels of developmentstimulate knowledge and improvements to routines and practices.Technological development also entails insecurity, whichrequires the ability mentally to cope with flexibility andcontinuous adjustments.

Keywords:Project organization, Project work, Projectmanagement, Project team, Product development, Constructionprojects, Psychosocial work environment.

Syftet med det här utvecklingsarbetet är att ge ett förslag på hur man som lärare kan engagera och motivera fler elever till att sträva efter att nå målen i ämnena svenska och historia på högstadiet. Utifrån tidigare forskning, olika teoretiker, läroplanen för grundskola 2011 och de nya kursplanerna för svenska och historia utformas ett utvecklingsarbete som utgår från ett tematiskt arbetssätt där skönlitteratur har en central roll i temat och där läromedel ersätts med olika varierade moment som film, museum besök, gästföreläsare etc. Temat kallas revolutionernas tidevarv och behandlar 1700-1800 talet med fokus på Franska revolutionen, ideologier och de samhällströmningar som följer av detta. Eleverna jobbar både i grupp och med tre stycken individuella uppgifter. Temaarbetet sträcker sig över sex veckor och totalt 30 timmar. De frågeställningar som legat till grund för uppsatsen är: Hur kan man jobba didaktiskt för att få fler elever intresserade, engagerade och få dem att känna sig inkluderade för att sträva efter att nå målen? Hur kan man som lärare jobba pedagogiskt för att få mer tid tillsammans med sina elever? Hur kan man utifrån olika lärandeteorier skapa ett större sammanhang och ge en ökad motivation för eleverna i sin undervisning?
The purpose of this work of development is to provide a proposal on how teachers can engage and motivate more students to strive to achieve the goals in Swedish and history in high school. Based on previous research, various theorists, the curriculum of primary education in 2011 and the new curriculum for Swedish history and form a development that is based on a thematic approach in which literature is central to the theme and where teaching materials are replaced with various diverse elements that movie, museum visits, guest speakers, etc. The theme is called revolutions of the era and deals with 1700 - 1800 with a focus on French Revolution, ideologies and the social currents that result from it. Students work in groups and with three individual tasks. Theme work spans six weeks and a total of 30 hours. The issues were the subject of the essay is: How can you work educationally to get more students interested, engaged and make them feel included in order to seek to achieve the goals? How can we as teachers work pedagogically to have more time with their students? How can one based on different learning theories to create a larger context and give a greater motivation for students in their teaching?

Syftet med denna empiriska undersökning har varit att undersöka hur pedagoger varierar sin undervisning utifrån varje enskild individs behov och förutsättningar. Dessa enskilda individers behov och förutsättningar har vi i denna empiriska undersökning kopplat till de fyra inlärningsstilarna som Boström & Wallenberg (1997) använder. Matematikämnet är ett skolämne som vi anser har stor potential till att kunna varieras så att den inkluderar samtliga inlärningsstilar. Dock har vi insett att problematiken ligger i att matematiken sällan sker i praktisk form, utan mestadels sker den i visuell och auditiv form. Därav ville vi undersöka hur matematiken kan varieras för att även ske i praktisk form. Den empiriska undersökningen skedde genom att vi kombinerade den kvalitativa metoden med den kvantitativa metoden, då vi ansåg att delar av de olika metoderna kunde komplettera varandra så att validiteten i denna empiri skulle förbli hög. Vi valde att endast göra undersökningen i årskurs 6 eftersom att vi ville att samtliga elever och pedagoger skulle ha samma förutsättningar inför intervjutillfällena. Eftersom vi delade ut enkäter till samtliga elever ville vi att eleverna skulle vara jämnåriga, då det gav oss större möjlighet för att jämföra resultatet av den empiriska undersökningen.

Work integrated learning was established at Swedish universities about twenty years ago; and today there are some different attitudes about the purpose of integrating theoretical perspectives to practical experiences, during higher education. For example, there are arguments that students tend to become clients or tools in order to gain regional development if the practical perspectives overcome the possibilities of reflection. Education will in this case only serve to facilitate employment after graduation, rather than to facilitate developmental learning. To understand the relationship between reproductive- and developmental learning, this thesis explores the different kinds of strategies student teachers develop, during their teacher training – to gain the skills and knowledge needed to work as a professional teacher. The focus is how the students respond to the various emerging contradictions, while crossing the boundaries – between the university, and the workplace. The activity theory approach conceptualizes boundary-crossing as a phenomenon based on the idea of horizontal development – which requires the ability to find relevant information wherever it may be available. The implication is that change and development occur as a result of collaboration through mutual boundary objects, and via emerging contradictions between two or more interacting activity systems. The overall design resembles a phenomenological case study performed over a period of approximately six months. The population providing the empirical data consisted of five student teachers, in their first year, attending a teacher training program in Sweden. Data collection where gathered through a three-step design, where exploratory narrative interviews were conducted at three different occasions: (i) after their first period of work placement, (ii) before entering their second period of work placement and (iii) immediately after their second period of work placement. The results indicate that the students’ processes of learning include four distinct learning strategies (questioning, challenging, adjusting and imitating), to transform the information given in various situations. These strategies are consequences of the students´ prior experiences when encountering contradictions during their teacher training program.

För omkring 20 år sedan utvecklades arbetsintegrerat lärande som en ny pedagogisk form på svenska högskolor och universitet Det råder dock delade meningar om syftet bakom högskolans ambition att integrera teoretiska perspektiv till individuella praktiska erfarenheter. Exempelvis riskerar studenter att liknas vid klienter, eller verktyg för regional utveckling om fokus på praktiska erfarenheter överordnas möjligheten till reflektion. Utbildningens roll kan i så fall bli att underlätta anställningsbarhet efter examen istället för att leda till ett utvecklingsinriktat lärande. För att förstå relationen mellan anpassnings- och utvecklingsinriktat lärande undersöker denna uppsats vilka strategier lärarstudenter utvecklar, under utbildning på lärarprogrammet, för att uppbära den kunskap som behövs för att kunna arbeta som lärare. Fokus ligger på hur studenterna svarar mot de varierande motsättningar som uppstår vid övergångarna mellan högskolan och arbetsplatsen. Uppsatsen utgår från verksamhetsteoretiska resonemang och speciellt fenomenet ”boundary-crossing” som innebär grunden för horisontell utveckling och innefattar förmågan att finna relevant information där den är tillgänglig. Utgångspunkten är att förändring och utveckling sker som ett resultat av samverkan mot gemensamma mål och på grund av motsättningar mellan två eller flera verksamhetssystem. Det övergripande upplägget av studien kan liknas vid en fenomenologisk fallstudie och utfördes under sex månader. Populationen som ligger till grund för studiens empiriska data består av fem lärarstudenter som studerar sitt första år vid en av Sveriges lärarutbildningar. Data samlades in genom narrativa intervjuer vid tre olika tillfällen: (i) efter studenternas första praktikperiod, (ii) innan studenterna påbörjade sin andra praktikperiod och (iii) direkt efter att studenterna avslutat sin andra praktikperiod. Studiens resultat visar att lärarstudenterna använder fyra olika lärandestrategier (ifrågasättande, utmanande, anpassande och imiterande), för att omvandla den information de möter till kunskap, vid olika tillfällen under lärarutbildningen. Dessa strategier utvecklas som följd av de erfarenheter studenterna har med sig när de möter olika motsättningar under lärarutbildningen.

The research question underpinning this study is ‘How is learning organised within the context of social work practice in the third sector?’ The research objective is to establish conceptual frameworks that theorise the organisation of learning in this context. Drawing upon literatures from Organisational Behaviour, Management, Social Work, Sociology and Psychology (e.g., Ballew and Mink 1996; Foucault 1995; Mayer and Salovey 1997; Ouchi 1979; Weihrich 1982) and undertaking an ethnographic inquiry in the Old-Five-Old Foundation in Taiwan, which collects documents as secondary data and gathers primary data through participant observations and interviews, this study establishes interdisciplinary frameworks to answer this research question. It argues that practitioners’ learning is organised by five kinds of structuring forces. At the macro level, practitioners’ direction of learning is organised by service purchasers’ demanding (an inter-organisational level structuring force) and the service provider’s planning (an organisational level structuring force). The evaluation of practitioners’ learning is organised by the service provider’s monitoring (an organisational level structuring force). At the micro level, practitioners’ methods of learning are organised by practitioners’ puzzle solving and instructors’ instructing (individual level structuring forces). By looking at the macro and micro structuring forces (cross level analysis) that organise practitioners’ learning, including their direction and methods of learning and the evaluation of their learning (process analysis), this study systematically analyses the organising of learning through both a cross-level analysis and a process analysis, deepening an understanding of the organising of learning and thus making an original contribution to previous studies of learning in the organisational setting (e.g., Argyris and ch n 1978; Nonaka and Takeuchi 1995; Senge 1990; Wenger 1998, 2000).

The concept of negotiation is often used in contemporary sociocultural and constructivist perspectives and theories of adults’ learning in and for work. It is used to bring a range of meanings to the description and explanation of work learning as an interactive process of active participation in and with the resources that constitute work. At its most fundamental, that interaction is between the worker and their context, between the individual and their immediate situation. At its most complex, that interaction is multiply enacted and dynamically experienced as all the resources – the personal, social, cultural, historic, material, and ideational influences – that shape work and workers’ engagement. These resources are variously mediating how and in what ways workers’ interactions can be observed, interpreted, and understood as the constant flux of reality. Across all these momentary and lifelong interactions, whether as concrete as hammering a nail or as abstract as metaphysics, the concept of negotiation supports understanding workers’ activities as interdependent with and relational to all else that is happening for, by, and to them. This support comes from the broad range of meanings the concept carries, particularly those meanings that evoke notions of joint activity in search of solution and agreement as the means of moving forward from a base of difference. Such joint activity is evidence of needing each other and needing to interact to accomplish something. So, negotiation comes to be synonymous with interaction and co-participation and, thereby, generally descriptive and explanatory of learning in and for work as social activity.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Education and Professional Studies
Arts, Education and Law
Full Text

This thesis comprises a set of linked texts, published over a lo-year period, principally as book chapters and journal articles. The texts offer a series of analyses of the literature of higher education teaching and learninq: the nature of academic work and the ways in which it is constructed for different purposes: the ways in which teaching, research and discipline can be understood as elements of academic practice: discipline as the academic workplace and the nature of 'workplace learning' in this context: and the contribution of selected theoretical perspectives on learning and work to new understandings of academic practice. Taken together, these texts have made a significant contribution to the development of academic practice as a focus of educational research. They draw upon • An initial review of the literature of learning and teaching in higher education: • An empirical study of the construction of pedagogic and academic identity, involving extended interviews with 20 academics, • The development of successive conceptualisations of pedagogic and academic practice and identity: • The incorporation of new theoretical perspectives into the study of academic work and the cross-fertilisation of the field from different disciplinary perspectives. The published texts are arranged thematically and located both within the research field and within the development of the author's academic career. The publications are critically appraised in terms of their contribution to the development of academic practice as a focus of research into higher education, and to the emergent disciplinary field of 'work and learning'.

The core aim of this research study is to analyse the effects of experiential learning pedagogy on students, received during work based student placements. This study identifies and examines the perceptions held by higher education (HE) stakeholders, regarding the effects of experiential learning work placements on students. My research is situated in Bourdieusian concepts, which include ‘habitus’, ‘field’, and ‘cultural reproduction’ (Bourdieu, 1977b, p72; 1986a, p60; 1977a, p487). My research found employability is an agency in its own right. Employability had a doxa (a societally embedded opinion) (Bourdieu, 1977b, p169) effect on my research study. Most of the research responses were given in employability terms. The majority of research participants clearly indicated other aspects of experiential learning, e.g. students developing self-efficacy were a secondary consideration. Preparedness for work was the key priority. My research found, all HE stakeholders have been influenced to ‘ideologically reproduce’ the employability agenda, in order to ‘fit in’ with the current HE landscape (Bourdieu, 1977a, p490; Bourdieu, 1990, p53; Brady, 2012, p346). This research study found that Holdsworth and Quinn’s (2012, p386) ‘reproductive’ or ‘deconstructive’ concepts present in their ‘Student Volunteering’ study, were replicated by students on unpaid experiential learning work placements, with either a ‘Third Sector’ organisation or a statutory agency. This study also identified hitherto undiscovered causal factors, absent in Holdsworth and Quinn’s (2012) study. These are additional social actors, which significantly influence whether students become ‘reproductive’ or ‘deconstructive’ during experiential learning work placements. This research found the ‘wider society’ is an existential agency, which has a strategic governance role representing society as a whole. The ‘wider society’ has a societal remit to coordinate delivery of all society’s needs, which includes social care provision and environmental management. Trained people are required to deliver this societal remit, so the ‘wider society’ is an experiential learning higher education stakeholder.

Machine learning methods are increasingly being used to solve real-world problems in the society. Often, the complexity of the methods are well hidden for users. However, integrating machine learning methods in real-world applications is not a straightforward process and requires knowledge both about the methods and domain knowledge of the problem. Two such domains are colour print quality assessment and anomaly detection in smart homes, which are currently driven by manual monitoring of complex situations. The goal of the presented work is to develop methods, algorithms and tools to facilitate monitoring and understanding of the complex situations which arise in colour print quality assessment and anomaly detection for smart homes. The proposed approach builds on the use and adaption of supervised and unsupervised machine learning methods. Novel algorithms for computing objective measures of print quality in production are proposed in this work. Objective measures are also modelled to study how paper and press parameters influence print quality. Moreover, a study on how print quality is perceived by humans is presented and experiments aiming to understand how subjective assessments of print quality relate to objective measurements are explained. The obtained results show that the objective measures reflect important aspects of print quality, these measures are also modelled with reasonable accuracy using paper and press parameters. The models of objective  measures are shown to reveal relationships consistent to known print quality phenomena. In the second part of this thesis the application area of anomaly detection in smart homes is explored. A method for modelling human behaviour patterns is proposed. The model is used in order to detect deviating behaviour patterns using contextual information from both time and space. The proposed behaviour pattern model is tested using simulated data and is shown to be suitable given four types of scenarios. The thesis shows that parts of offset lithographic printing, which traditionally is a human-centered process, can be automated by the introduction of image processing and machine learning methods. Moreover, it is concluded that in order to facilitate robust and accurate anomaly detection in smart homes, a holistic approach which makes use of several contextual aspects is required.
PPQ
SA3L

Situation Awareness (SA) is critical commodity for teams working in complex sociotechnical systems and is thus a fundamental consideration in collaborative system design and evaluation. Despite this, SA remains predominantly an individual construct, with the majority of models and measures focused on SA from an individual perspective. In comparison, team SA has received much less attention and this thesis argues that further work is required in the area both in relation to the development of theoretical perspectives and of valid measures, and to the development of guidelines for system, training and procedure design. This thesis advances team SA theory and measurement by further investigating a recently proposed model of SA in complex collaborative environments, the Distributed Situation Awareness (DSA) approach, and by testing a new methodology for representing and analysing DSA during real world collaborative activities. A review of SA theory and SA measurement approaches is presented. Following this, the DSA theory and propositional network assessment methodology are outlined and a series of case studies on DSA during real world collaborative activities in the military and civil domains are presented. The findings are subsequently used to explore the concept of DSA and the sub-concepts of compatible and transactive SA. In conclusion, a model of DSA in complex collaborative systems is presented, and a series of system design guidelines for supporting DSA are outlined.

This doctoral project is a case study of how work based learning began to grow in Europe through the conceptualisation and development of a common European work based learning platform in a pan-European partnership. The partnership, known as DEWBLAM (Developing European Work Based Learning Approaches and Methods), was established in order to introduce higher education institutions to work based learning, enabling them to pilot their own programmes relevant to local needs and situations. The project was framed within European protocols, such as the Bologna Process that aims to modernise and transform different national higher education systems into a transparent and comparable European system. The methodological approach is interpretative and constructivist, enabling me to theorise the how and why of events, and allowing theories to emerge from the data. I use an explanatory case study, which is retrospective as the DEWBLAM project has ended and no further intervention is possible, test validity through action research indicators, and draw relatable inferences. I analyse the multi-layered ecology of the DEWBLAM project, identifying how changing postmodern epistemologies and internal/external environments affected the partnership, highlighting the need to establish a meta-narrative and drawing on my previous professional practice to support my role in facilitating the processes of knowledge creation. I then critically analyse the definitions and distinctive features of work based learning that were collectively conceptualised, referencing these within current thinking, and raising concerns at these definitions as job-related competences. I consider the case for meshing academic and work based knowledge with competence to form the concept of competent knowledge and analyse the bounded relationships of universities and the work place, proposing new ways of engagement that allow multi-directional knowledge flows. Finally, I give an overview of the doctoral project outcomes, evaluate the potential impact of DEWBLAM, highlighting the contribution to knowledge and local knowledge economies made by the platform and the ensuing pilot programmes. I reflect on my achievements and on my own practice, and conclude by recommending that, inter alia, the expert practitioners at Middlesex University need to contribute more to informing current debates on new European educational realities, in order to avoid the prevalence of too narrow interpretations of work based learning.

This thesis investigates the relationship between learning designers and teachers by addressing the question: How do learning designers work with teachers to develop their capability to design for learning? It explores the role of learning designers as both co-designer and coach through studies into the way that these roles play out during learning design sessions and the methods available for investigating them. It investigates how learning designers facilitate teachers’ development in three ways: design mindshift progression, design for learning skills and processes, and pedagogical skills for enacting learning designs.

La Ricerca ha studiato le più significative “variabili formative” all’interno dei processi di apprendimento basato sul lavoro (work - based learning) in un’ ottica di qualità pedagogica, con un’attenzione particolare ai modelli duali di apprendistato e alternanza scuola-lavoro . L’idea della ricerca, è nata dalla consapevolezza che le esperienze formative dei giovani coinvolti nei processi “transizionali” scuola -lavoro, debbano essere “osservate” non solo nella prospettiva dell’occupabilità, ma anche considerando le caratteristiche peculiari dei processi cognitivi attivati, la partecipazione al processo di costruzione dei significati, e quindi - su un piano di lungo periodo - la trasferibilità della disponibilità ad apprendere dei soggetti in formazione. L’indagine empirica ha richiesto la costruzione di un dispositivo pedagogico denominato“ Tassonomia di Indicatori di qualità (TIQ)” relativa ai processi formativi dei principali modelli di WBL. Il risultato finale della ricerca è stata la costruzione del dispositivo pedagogico sopra descritto, la verifica della validazione empirica dello stesso , grazie all’indagine sul campo e la definizione di soluzioni pedagogiche e metodologiche con particolare riferimento all’interazione tra la scuola e il mondo del lavoro e al ruolo formativo della Tutorship .

Engaging Queensland primary teachers in professional associations can be a challenge, particularly for subject-specific associations. Professional associations are recognised providers of professional learning. By not being involved in professional associations primary teachers are missing potential quality professional learning opportunities that can impact the results of their students. The purpose of the research is twofold: Firstly, to provide a thorough understanding of the current context in order to assist professional associations who wish to change from their current level of primary teacher engagement; and secondly, to contribute to the literature in the area of professional learning for primary teachers within professional associations. Using a three part research design, interviews of primary teachers and focus groups of professional association participants and executives were conducted and themed to examine the current context of engagement. Force field analysis was used to provide the framework to identify the driving and restraining forces for primary teacher engagement in professional learning through professional associations. Communities of practice and professional learning communities were specifically examined as potential models for professional associations to consider. The outcome is a diagrammatic framework outlining the current context of primary teacher engagement, specifically the driving and restraining forces of primary teacher engagement with professional associations. This research also identifies considerations for professional associations wishing to change their level of primary teacher engagement. The results of this research show that there are key themes that provide maximum impact if wishing to increase engagement of primary teachers in professional associations. However the implications of this lies with professional associations and their alignment between intent and practice dedicated to this change.

Published Article
In the actual learning situation, students develop context specific strategies for learning in response to their own perceptions of the requirements for learning. Among all the contextual factors, assessment has been demonstrated to have a powerful effect on the learning process and is a defining feature of the students' approach to learning. However, assessment in the engineering discipline is typically orientated towards demonstrating competence in specific tasks using only traditional assessment techniques. However, the effectiveness of education programmes is dependent on how well lecturers understand the role of assessment in student learning and how well they are prepared to change their strategy in such a way that they use assessment as a tool for the improvement of student learning.

This thesis deals with how managerial work sets the agenda for managerial learning in small firms. Although studies of learning in organizations are numerous, research on managerial learning in the small-firm context is limited. In particular, our knowledge of managerial learning suffers from an insufficient understanding of what top managers in small firms do. The primary purpose of this thesis is to describe how the work of small-firm managers sets the agenda for managerial learning, and how their learning can be supported. Additionally, the thesis explores the use of so-called “Action Technologies” in supporting managerial learning in small firms.Drawing on an observational study of six owner-managers in small (17-43 employees) manufacturing firms, and a synthesis of earlier studies, this thesis shows that three features of managerial work shape managerial learning in small firms: The small firm’s top manager (i) operates in context with specific structural conditions that affect his/her behavior, (ii) have certain cognitive predispositions guiding his/her behavior, and (iii) have certain behavioral preferences directing his/her behavior.The main argument in this thesis is that managerial learning in small firms is made difficult due to features that make it hard to come to a point where learning (in terms of reflection and conceptualization) is given time and resources, as the manager has trouble in finding time for learning, and as learning risks to become low-priority. Learning is also difficult due to barriers related to the learning process: the work of the manager fosters a superficial learning orientation, makes it difficult to probe deeply into and to develop complicated understandings of issues at hand, and makes peer-learning rarely possible.Drawing on an action research project of managerial learning in four networks of small-firm owner-managers, the thesis also explores, in a concrete manner, how managerial learning might be supported in a way that circumvents the deficient situation for managerial learning in this kind of firm. More specifically, it seems that Action Technologies by their design constitute a learning context that supports the learning of the small-firm top manager by dissolving the barriers to learning identified above.

Original papers included. Paper III, "Managerial behavior in small firms - a critical analysis of evidence from observational studies" changed title to "Managerial work in small firms: summarising what we know and sketching a research agenda".

Det övergripande syfte med denna uppsats var att undersöka hur bidragstagare upplever sin situation och hur de upplever bemötandet från samhället. Syftet var även att undersöka ifall det finns några skillnader i hur de blir bemötta och hur de önskar bli bemötta. Studien genomfördes med hjälp av att intervjua sex bidragstagare som haft försörjningsstöd minst ett år. Studien är kvalitativ och utgår från ett hermeneutiskt förhållningssätt. Resultatet analyserades med hjälp av tidigare forskning och teorier. De teorier som användes var skam/stigma, stereotyper och symbolisk interaktionism. Resultatet visade på att samtliga hade negativa upplevelser av att gå på försörjningsstöd, men det varierade i omfattning. Faktorer som påverkade den negativa upplevelsen var en kombination av skamkänslor och ekonomiska svårigheter. Resultatet visade att samtliga deltagare kände skam inför försörjningsstöd, vilket stämmer överens med tidigare forskning.