Educational process modelling with workflow and time Petri nets : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Computer Science at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

The research presented in this thesis describes how to use workflow management technology to model educational processes with a time axis. As workflow management technology has been widely used in modelling business processes, it has the potential to model educational processes. Based upon the components of workflow, educational processes and business processes have many common features such that educational processes can be modelled with workflow management technology. In addition, owing to the importance of the time component in processes, time Petri nets have been chosen as the design language for the modelling of the educational processes. The notation of time Petri nets has been illustrated in this thesis for the educational process. In this thesis, three different educational processes have been presented and modelled with workflow management technology as well as with time Petri nets individually. Furthermore, the architecture of the educational process management system has been constructed by adopting the reference model from the Workflow Management Coalition. To show the validity of using workflow management technology in the education domain, a sub-process of an educational process has been modelled and developed with certain developing techniques. It provides the potential research direction for further research on the modelling of educational process with workflow technology associated with a time component

Peirce and Education - an Overview

The philosophy of Charles S. Peirce (1839–1914) enhances our understanding of educational processes

Drivers for change in primary care of diabetes following a protected learning time educational event: interview study of practitioners

Background: A number of protected learning time schemes have been set up in primary care across the United Kingdom but there has been little published evidence of their impact on processes of care. We undertook a qualitative study to investigate the perceptions of practitioners involved in a specific educational intervention in diabetes as part of a protected learning time scheme for primary health care teams, relating to changing processes of diabetes care in general practice. Methods: We undertook semistructured interviews of key informants from a sample of practices stratified according to the extent they had changed behaviour in prescribing of ramipril and diabetes care more generally, following a specific educational intervention in Lincolnshire, United Kingdom. Interviews sought information on facilitators and barriers to change in organisational behaviour for the care of diabetes. Results: An interprofessional protected learning time scheme event was perceived by some but not all participants as bringing about changes in processes for diabetes care. Participants cited examples of change introduced partly as a result of the educational session. This included using ACE inhibitors as first line for patients with diabetes who developed hypertension, increased use of aspirin, switching patients to glitazones, and conversion to insulin either directly or by referral to secondary care. Other reported factors for change, unrelated to the educational intervention, included financially driven performance targets, research evidence and national guidance. Facilitators for change linked to the educational session were peer support and teamworking supported by audit and comparative feedback. Conclusion: This study has shown how a protected learning time scheme, using interprofessional learning, local opinion leaders and early implementers as change agents may have influenced changes in systems of diabetes care in selected practices but also how other confounding factors played an important part in changes that occurred in practice

Diffusion of e-learning as an innovation and economic aspects of e-learning support structures

Meanwhile, many universities and educational institutions have implemented an e-learning center or some similar, often smaller institutional units in order to support the usage of new media in teaching and learning processes [1]. This paper addresses questions around the installation of such e-learning support structures at different levels of an institution and also looks at the diffusion of e-learning as an innovation in educational institutions

Adolescent Literacy Programs: Costs of Implementation

Reviews the literature on implementation of educational reforms and compares implementation processes and costs at schools that have adopted one of three literacy reforms. Includes recommendations for detailed resource planning and cost accounting

Learning from Internal Change Academy processes

A 2007/8 Research and Development Grant from SEDA under its Supporting and Leading Educational Change programme provided Sheffield Hallam University with the opportunity to undertake an extremely interesting and timely piece of work on learning from Internal Change Academy processes. A presentation to the SEDA Spring Conference 2009 focused on understanding the value of Internal Change Academies as a model for leading educational change and demonstrated how a simple benchmarking exercise may provide a rich source of data in leading change processes. This article focuses on the broader lessons learnt about change rather than on the practicalities and the different models of running an Internal Change Academy. That information is available in the project final report (Flint and Oxley, 2009)

The Effectiveness of Top Management Groups in Manufacturing Organisations

We test whether demographic characteristics and team processes in top management teams predict the subsequent productivity and profitability of their companies in 42 UK manufacturing organisation. The results that there are independent effects of both demographic characteristics and team processes. Team member mean educational level and team tenure both predict the subsequent productivity and profitability of the companies positively, while age diversity in the team is a negative predictor of company performance. Team processes (clarity of and commitment to objectives, participation, task orientation, and support for innovation) predict (positively) company performance. Only mean educational level, of the demographic variables, also predicts team processes, suggesting that the effects of demographic variables on company performance are not strongly mediated by team processes. The implications of these findings for the composition and development of top management teams are discussed.

Technological change and educational training processes

Con la consolidación de la era digital en todas las actividades económicas y sociales a nivel mundial, se han experimentado cambios significativos en los procesos de aprendizaje, en general y de los estudiantes en particular, especialmente como consecuencia de las dificultades que enfrentan hoy las personas para concentrarse en tareas concretas; esto puede evidenciarse fácilmente al tomar en cuenta los múltiples distractores a que estamos expuestos cotidianamente al estar conectados a la red, inclusive cuando realizamos actividades intelectuale

Libraries, Language, and Change: Defining the Information Present

Changes in the information world are resulting in new concepts of resource sharing, new practices in the management of library resources, and an expanding role for libraries in the educational process. However, such concepts have not necessarily been identified, named, and defined in the language of contemporary librarianship. Although librarians and their associates in the information and educational processes need to be made aware of these subtle, but powerful, new issues, discussions cannot easily proceed until there is a shared understanding of them in the language of review and debate. This paper introduces three themes that encompass these issues: distance information, managed information, and transformational budgeting.Informatio