Yliopisto-opetuksen yhteistoiminnallinen kehittäminen

The main aim of this work is to study the possibility of applying the cooperative learning approach to develop academic learning and teaching culture. In this work cooperative learning refers to a pedagogical approach that applies social psychological knowledge of group dynamics and small group teaching. Furthermore, theories of collaborative learning and organization development have been applied. Based on these theories a model of developing learning and teaching culture was developed. The model was tested in the development project that was carried out in the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry of Helsinki University. The research questions were: How were the theories of cooperative and collaborative learning and organization development applied in the project? What kind of effects did the development project have on the learning and teaching culture? Through which kind of mechanisms did the project influence this culture? How should the development model be revised after the empirical test? The project lasted five years and the major part of the project consisted of a one-year pedagogical training course. Altogether 145 people (teachers, researchers, library staff, and students) participated in the training, two to three departments at a time. In the pedagogical training cooperative learning methods were widely used. A questionnaire was used to study effects of the development project. The questionnaire was sent to 87 people and 65.5 % answered it. Both the answers to the questionnaire and a sample of learning diaries (n=61) were used to study the mechanism of the project. A sample of the learning diaries consisted of two pedagogical training group members diaries. The frequency distributions were calculated as extrapolations from the answers to the structured questions. Furthermore the answers were classified by the main background variables. The analysis of the open answers to the questionnaire and the learning diaries were data-based. According to the answers to the questionnaire, the effects of the pedagogical training were as follows: The participants consider learning more as an active process of constructing knowledge. Furthermore they considered the individual learning styles and strategies, cooperation and motivation as more important part of the learning process than before the pedagogical training. The role of the teacher was viewed more challenging than before. Additionally the cooperation between teachers, other staff members and students had projected to increase. After the project had ended the teaching methods in the whole faculty were viewed to become varied and the teaching was considered to be more valued than before. According to the answers to the questionnaire, the project influenced through the following ways: the project stimulated the change process, provided new methods for learning and teaching, had an effect on conceptions of learning and teaching and facilitated meaningful communication with others (staff and students). The analysis of the learning diaries supported these findings. In addition, the analysis of the learning diaries deepened the understanding of how the cooperative learning methods supported positive learning atmosphere and reduced the negative effect of the status differences between the members of the group. The critical comments in the learning diaries could be interpreted as collision between cooperative and traditional teaching culture. Cooperative learning gives theory-based methods to develop academic learning and teaching culture. The approach helps the developer to create positive collaborative learning environment and gives ways to support learning in small groups, which can promote cultural change. On the other hand, to understand the whole process of organization development and promote change the theories of organizations and more sosioconstructivist theory of learning are needed. Cooperative learning, collaborative learning, higher education, group dynamics, social constructionism, organisational culture, organisation development

Annual report 1989

The report describes the activities of the Institute during the year 1989, which include the following: The Zambia/Zimbabwe Lake Kariba Fisheries Research and Development Project; the pilot cage culture project; cooperative development; an economic evaluation of the Kariba International Tiger Fish Tournament; hydroacoustic surveys in Lake Kariba; and, the age structure and population dynamics of the sardine Limnothrissa miodon in Lake Kariba.

基于领域的快速协同开发平台的研究与实践

在全面分析研究企业信息系统和大量实践的基础上,为解决传统企业信息系统开发存在的问题,提出并设计了一个企业级的基于领域的快速协同开发平台。通过对信息系统进行领域分析,得出了平台的总体架构,该平台采用了业务流程管理、模型驱动架构、面向服务架构等技术思想进行实现,并将这些思想有效结合,使其协同工作。通过具体的应用,验证了平台能有效地提高软件复用率,极大地缩短企业信息系统的开发周期,减少信息系统的成本支出。

Incidencia de la política "desarrollo pacífico" en las relaciones de china y la ASEAN. Una aproximación desde la soberanía de las islas Spratly, 2004 – 2012

El interés de este trabajo es el de analizar la Política Exterior de la Republica Popular China, más específicamente la conocida como Desarrollo Pacífico, y su incidencia en las disputas territoriales del Sudeste Asiático. El trabajo se dividirá en 3 partes, donde cada una tratara distintos aspectos del Desarrollo Pacífico, y través del mismo se explicará como por medio de distintos conceptos se pueden entender las múltiples posiciones chinas, así como las preocupaciones de los países que conforman el bloque ASEAN. El propósito de este documento será demostrar que a pesar de que dicha política ha ayudado de forma sustancial a mejorar las relaciones entre ambos bandos y ha traído bastantes beneficios políticos, no ha sido suficiente para eliminar la tensión en la zona y dar una solución a las disputas que se viven.

Farmer cooperatives /

Issues prior to Jan. 1978 were classed: A 89.8:(v.nos. & nos.); issues for Jan. 1978-Sept. 1980 were classed: A 105.19:(v.nos.nos.)

Rural cooperatives /

Title from cover.

Learner support and discovery in a virtual non-judgmental environment

This thesis is a qualitative case study that draws upon a grounded genre analysis approach situated within the social constructivist paradigm. The study describes the various obligatory, desired, and optional moves used by post-graduate students as they interacted within an online, non-judgmental environment in order to seek solutions to issues they were experiencing with their research projects or teaching. The postgraduate students or case participants met individually online with me at pre-arranged times to take part in Instant Messenger Cooperative Development (IMCD) (Boon, 2005) 30-minute to one hour sessions via the text-chat function of Skype. Participants took on the role of ‘Explorer’ in order to articulate their thoughts and ideas about their research. I took on the role of ‘Understander’ to provide support to each Explorer by reflecting my understanding of the ongoing articulations as the Explorers investigated their specific issues, determined possible ways to overcome them, made new discoveries, and formulated plans of action regarding the best way for them to move forward. The description of generic moves covers 32 IMCD sessions collected over a threeyear period (2009-2012) from 10 different participants (A-J). Data collected is drawn from live IMCD sessions, field notes, and post-session email feedback from participants. In particular, the thesis focuses on describing the specific generic moves of Explorers within IMCD sessions as they seek satisfactory resolutions to particular research or pedagogic puzzles. It also provides a detailed description of a longitudinal case (Participant A – four sessions), a one-session case (Participant B – one session), and an outlier case in which the Explorer underwent a negative IMCD experience. The thesis concludes by arguing that IMCD is a highly effective tool that helps facilitate the research process for both distance-learning and on-campus students and has the potential to be utilized across all disciplines at the tertiary level.

Social economy, youth and employment

Organizations of the Social Economy in Spain accounted for 13% of employment and 12% of GDP in 2013, according to the Spanish Confederation fo Social Economy. Also, according to various institutions and studies, the role of Social Economy has become relevant due to they represent a model promoting the creation of collective business projects with greater sustainability and potential than models of individual self-employment. However, despite all this, there are few academic studies or sectoral reports analyzing employment in this sector, especially in the case of youth employment. This study aims to fill this gap in the literature analyzing the scared available data in order to show the numbers and characteristics of youth employment in this sector. Results show the weight of youth employment in the Social Economy is higher than the economy overall.

Organización financiera-contable, con base a la Norma de Información Financiera para Asociaciones Cooperativas de El Salvador (NIFACES), en la Asociación Cooperativa de Producción Agroindustrial y Comercialización Ganadera de Cabañas de Responsabilidad Limitada (COPIGAC, DE R.L.), ubicada en el Municipio de Sensuntepeque, Departamento de Cabañas, a implementarse en el año 2015

Las asociaciones cooperativas han tenido mayor auge en nuestro país en los últimos años, siendo indispensables para el desarrollo de la economía nacional, en tal sentido el cooperativismo moderno ha diversificado las áreas de producción de las cooperativas, pasando de producir para el sector primario de la economía, al secundario y terciario; es decir, de la producción agrícola, al de agroindustria comercial hasta la prestación de servicios, con el fin último de satisfacer las diferentes necesidades de los usuarios del sistema cooperativo, sin perder de vista que desempeñan un papel importante en el ámbito social, convirtiéndose así en entidades de economía solidaria. En El Salvador, el departamento de Cabañas pertenece a una zona geográfica de gran importancia para el sector agroindustrial ya que de acuerdo al 4º Censo Agropecuario realizado por la Dirección General de Estadísticas y Censos (DIGESTYC) 2007-2008, de los 9 municipios del departamento el 27.17% de cabezas de ganado bovino pertenecen al municipio de Sensuntepeque, volviéndose así un mercado propicio para COPIGAC dedicada a la producción agroindustrial y comercialización de concentrado para ganado bovino. El Instituto Salvadoreño de Fomento Cooperativo (INSAFOCOOP) ha generado legislación especial denominada Norma de Información Financiera Para Asociaciones Cooperativas de El Salvador (NIFACES), con la finalidad de normar la constitución, funcionamiento y administración del sector cooperativo y que obtengan certeza de reflejar en su información financiera contable el cumplimiento de los requerimientos que demanda el organismo que las fiscaliza, a la vez que adopta uniformidad en la presentación de los datos contables en relación con los demás sectores. Debido a la importancia de la Asociación Cooperativa de Producción Agroindustrial y Comercialización Ganadera en el municipio de Sensuntepeque, el propósito principal que busca la ejecución del presente trabajo de investigación es diseñar una ORGANIZACIÓN FINANCIERA CONTABLE que sirva como un instrumento para estructurar, ordenar, clasificar y resumir la información que se genere de sus actividades; a fin de establecer resultados confiables, que sirvan a la administración para la toma de decisiones. La Organización Financiera Contable es regida por leyes y reglamentos generales, especiales, mercantiles, tributarios, y de previsión y seguridad social las cuales son fundamentales para su diseño, está compuesta por el Control Interno y el Sistema Contable y de Costos con base a la Norma de Información Financiera Para Asociaciones Cooperativas de El Salvador (NIFACES). El documento final que contiene la Organización Financiera Contable fue elaborado utilizando metodología que permitió la recolección de información bibliográfica de elementos teóricos sobre el cooperativismo, contabilidad general, contabilidad de costos y el control interno, se utilizaron como instrumentos de recolección de datos, la entrevista, la observación directa a las actividades ejecutadas por la cooperativa y listas de cotejo, los cuales permitieron el análisis e interpretación de los resultados. Así mismo al analizar e interpretar los resultados obtenidos en la investigación se lograron determinar las conclusiones y recomendaciones con el propósito de brindar solución a la problemática resultante, posteriormente se diseñó un plan de intervención para elaborar la Organización Financiera Contable. Es necesario mencionar que debido a la importancia de las asociaciones cooperativas ante un mundo globalizado y competitivo, deben mantener la uniformidad en la presentación de la información financiera contable en comparación con otros sectores económicos, por ello es beneficioso para la cooperativa en estudio aplicar los lineamientos que establece la normativa de información financiera especial. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Cooperative associations have had the greatest boom in our country in recent years, being indispensable for the development of the national economy, in this sense the modern cooperative has diversified production areas of cooperatives, from producing for the primary sector economy, secondary and tertiary; ie agricultural production, commercial agribusiness to provide services, with the ultimate aim to meet the different needs of users of the cooperative system, without losing sight of that play an important role in the social field, thus becoming in solidarity economy entities. In El Salvador Cabañas department belongs to a geographical area of great importance for the agribusiness sector since according to the 4th Census of Agriculture conducted by the Department of Statistics and Census (DIGESTYC) 2007-2008 of 9 municipalities in the department 27.17% of the heads of cattle belonging to the municipality of Sensuntepeque, thus becoming an enabling market for COPIGAC dedicated to the agroindustrial production and marketing of concentrate for cattle. The Salvadoran Institute for Cooperative Development (INSAFOCOOP) has created special legislation called Financial Reporting Standard for Cooperative Associations of El Salvador (NIFACES), in order to regulate the establishment, operation and administration of the cooperative sector and obtain certainty to reflect on their financial accounting information meeting the requirements demanded by the body that oversees, while adopting uniformity in the presentation of financial data relating to other sectors. Because of the importance of the Cooperative Production Association Agroindustrial and Marketing Livestock in the municipality of Sensuntepeque, the main purpose that seeks the implementation of this research is to design a STOCKHOLDERS financial organization that serves as an instrument to structure, order, classify and summarize the information generated by its activities; to establish reliable results that serve the administration for decision-making. Financial Organization Accounting is governed by laws and general, special, commercial, tax regulations, and welfare and social security which are fundamental to its design, it is made by the Internal Control and Accounting System and Cost based on the Standard Financial Information for Cooperative Associations of El Salvador (NIFACES). The final document containing the Financial Organization Accounting was developed using methodology that allowed the collection of bibliographic information theoretical elements on cooperativism, general accounting, cost accounting and internal control, were used as instruments of data collection, interview, direct observation of the activities carried out by the cooperative and checklists, which allowed the analysis and interpretation of results. Also to analyze and interpret the results of the investigation are able to determine the conclusions and recommendations in order to provide a solution to the resulting problem, then an intervention plan designed to develop the Financial Accounting Organization. It should be mentioned that because of the importance of cooperative associations in a globalized and competitive world, should maintain uniformity in the presentation of accounting and financial information compared with other economic sectors, it is beneficial for the cooperative study apply the guidelines which establishes special rules of financial information.

Cooperative learning in Thailand : professional development to enhance primary education

The overall purpose of this study was to develop a model to inform the design of professional development programs and the implementation of cooperative learning within Thai primary school mathematics classrooms. Action research design, with interviews, surveys and observations, was used for this study. Survey questionnaires and classroom observations investigated the factors that influence the implementation of cooperative learning strategies and academic achievement in Thai primary school mathematics classrooms. The teachers’ interviews and classroom observation also examined the factors that need to be addressed in teacher professional development programs in order to facilitate cooperative learning in Thai mathematics classrooms. The outcome of this study was a model consisting of two sets of criteria to inform the successful implementation of cooperative learning in Thai primary schools. The first set of criteria was for proposers and developers of professional development programs. This set consists of macro- and micro-level criteria. The macro-level criteria focus on the overall structure of professional development programs and how and when the professional development programs should be implemented. The micro-level criteria focused on the specific topics that need to be included in professional development programs. The second set of criteria was for Thai principals and teachers to facilitate the introduction of cooperative learning in their classrooms. The research outcome also indicated that the attainment of these cooperative learning strategies and skills had a positive impact on the students’ learning of mathematics.

PICES Climate Change and Carrying Capacity Workshop on the Development of Cooperative Research in Coastal Regions of the North Pacific, October 17-18, 1997, Pusan, Republic of Korea

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Impact of Nigerian Agricultural Cooperative and Rural Development Bank (NACRDB) loan to artisanal fishermen in Lake Kainji

This study was conducted to assess the impact of Nigerian Agricultural, Co-operative and Rural Development Bank Loan on beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries fishermen in Lake Kainji. A total of fifty fishermen (25 beneficiaries and 25 non-beneficiaries) were randomly selected from five fishing villages along the lake basin. Data collected were scored and the percentages of the parameters were calculated appropriately. The types of loans disbursed to beneficiaries revealed that 52% was cash and 48% was in kind. The credit package ranged between N5, 000 to N150, 000 only. Only 48% of the loans granted were paid while the rest remained unpaid. The results obtained from the membership of fishermen Cooperative showed that 64% of beneficiaries were members while 36% were non-members. Also 36% of non-beneficiaries were members while 64% were not. The Common fishing gears used by the two categories of fishermen include gillnets longline, castnet and driftnets. Sixty percent of beneficiaries and 8% of non-beneficiaries fishermen were using canoe with outboard engines while the rest used canoes with paddles. Beneficiaries earned a higher income (N1, 000 to N9, 000) daily than non-beneficiaries (N1, 000 to N6, 000) daily from sales of fish caught. Major contrainsts to increased catch and income identified include inadequate capital, non- availability of fishing inputs, stealing of fishing gears, lack of access to credit facilities and menace of stump and water hyacinth in the lake. Lastly, recommendation were made for the bank management, government and other lending institutions on how to improve the livelihood of the Artisanal fishermen by increasing the loan usually granted

The role of fishermen cooperative societies in the development of fisheries resources on Kainji Lake basin, Nigeria

Field survey was conducted to evaluate the role of fishermen cooperative in the development of fisheries resources in Kainji Lake. The study was conducted with aid of questionnaires administered in five fishing villages namely Monnai, Yuna, Kaya, Malale and Tunga Danbaba. Ten questionnaires were administered in each fishing village majority of the fishermen interviewed are between the ages of 20-40 years. The results of the educational background revealed that 60% of the respondents were knowledgeable only on Quranic education. Majority of the respondents (86%) was members of fishermen cooperative societies. Only 32% of the respondents indicated to have benefited for loan and credit facilities. Sixty-nine (69) percent of fishermen realized income of between N1, 000-N2, and 000 daily. The major problem facing fishermen cooperative includes lack of capital, lack of access to loan and credit facilities, shortage of adequately trained and well-motivated fisheries extension workers, inadequate fishing inputs and high charge of fishing license fees by Kainji Lake fisheries Management and Conservation Unit (KLFMCU). Recommendation was made on how to improve fishermen cooperative for the development of the lake fisheries resources

An analysis of the cooperative mechano-sensitive feedback between intracellular signaling, focal adhesion development, and stress fiber contractility

Cells communicate with their external environment via focal adhesions and generate activation signals that in turn trigger the activity of the intracellular contractile machinery. These signals can be triggered by mechanical loading that gives rise to a cooperative feedback loop among signaling, focal adhesion formation, and cytoskeletal contractility, which in turn equilibrates with the applied mechanical loads. We devise a signaling model that couples stress fiber contractility and mechano-sensitive focal adhesion models to complete this above mentioned feedback loop. The signaling model is based on a biochemical pathway where IP3 molecules are generated when focal adhesions grow. These IP3 molecules diffuse through the cytosol leading to the opening of ion channels that disgorge Ca2+ from the endoplasmic reticulum leading to the activation of the actin/myosin contractile machinery. A simple numerical example is presented where a one-dimensional cell adhered to a rigid substrate is pulled at one end, and the evolution of the stress fiber activation signal, stress fiber concentrations, and focal adhesion distributions are investigated. We demonstrate that while it is sufficient to approximate the activation signal as spatially uniform due to the rapid diffusion of the IP3 through the cytosol, the level of the activation signal is sensitive to the rate of application of the mechanical loads. This suggests that ad hoc signaling models may not be able to capture the mechanical response of cells to a wide range of mechanical loading events. © 2011 American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Development and standardization of solid phase assays for the detection of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA). A report on the second phase of an international cooperative study on the standardization of ANCA assays

Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) are diagnostic markers for systemic vasculitis. They are classically I detected by an indirect immunofluorescence test using normal donor neutrophils as substrate. This assay lacks antigenic specificity and is not quantitative. The 'EC/BCR Project for ANCA Assay Standardization' is an international collaboration study with the aim to develop and standardize solid phase assays for ANCA detection. In this part of the study the isolation and characterization of proteinase-3 and myeloperoxidase, the two main target molecules for ANCA, and the development and standardization of ELISAs with these antigens are described. Six laboratories successfully isolated purified proteinase-3 preparations that could be used. Three of these preparations, together with one myeloperoxidase preparation, were subsequently used for ANCA testing by ELISA. The ELISA technique was standardized in two rounds of testing in the 14 participating laboratories. The coefficient of variation of these new assays decreased from values of approx. 50% in the first round to approx. 20% in the second round. We conclude that purified proteinase-3 and myeloperoxidase can be used in standardized ELISAs for ANCA detection. Whether such procedures offer advantages over the IIF test will be determined in a prospective clinical study.