Search

This work is situated in didactics of science, in a perspective of research-based design of teaching resources. In the first part, we present a specific theory (the theory of the two worlds) and the associated design tools drawn from more general theories on learning and epistemology in the field of physics, as well as from teachers’ experience. This theory and the related tools constitute a theoretical basis for the practical choices involved in designing teaching sequences in physics and chemistry at high school level. In the second part, we analyse the collective activity of an R&D group composed of one researcher and five teachers during a one-hour working session. The theoretical framework used is the theory of activity (Leontiev, 1979). The analysis focuses in particular on the role of the specific theory of two worlds and related tools in the group’s work, and the outcomes in terms of practical decisions about the resulting teaching resources. Our findings show that this theory and the related tools work well for planning activities and learning situations, but they also show their limits when it comes to guiding teachers’ work in the classroom. In the third part, we put forward some ideas for a complementary theory based on the Theory of Joint Action in Didactics that would form the theoretical foundation of the actions suggested to teachers for the design of teaching sequences.

Recurrent changes at workplaces seem to increase the haste, stress, health complaints and safety problems of workers. OHS-professionals try to reduce stress or cure separate environmental problems and risk factors at work. However, in spite of their good intentions, in rapid change situations, these professionals may add to the confusion with their prevailing methods and recommendations. The dynamics of workplace transformations are not well understood from the perspective of the everyday work of either the organization or the individual. In this paper, the Activity Theoretical Approach is used to reconceptualize work-related well-being in situations of rapid change. Key concepts are production and service concepts and their asynchronies. Many asynchronies were observed in the analysis of the two cases of different types of organizations. These asynchronies caused frustration, confusion and lowered the work motivation and perceived well-being of employees. The nature of the load was called disturbance load. Our data and results show that rapid changes in production and service concepts are a major challenge for research on well-being, especially since continuous change has become an inseparable part of work life over the past ten years.

One of the central roles of ergonomic research is to provide a normative basis for the evaluation of the appropriateness of artefacts used in various human activities. In this paper a new activity theory based approach, the Core-Task Analysis is introduced. Inspired by that, an evaluation method, Contextual Assessment of Systems Usability, was developed for the analysis of the appropriateness of complex information and control systems. The basic structure of the method is described and the indicators for assessment briefly described.

One of the central roles of ergonomic research is to provide a normative basis for the evaluation of the appropriateness of artefacts used in various human activities. In this paper a new activity theory based approach, the Core-Task Analysis is introduced. Inspired by that, an evaluation method, Contextual Assessment of Systems Usability, was developed for the analysis of the appropriateness of complex information and control systems. The basic structure of the method is described and the indicators for assessment briefly described.

Recurrent changes at workplaces seem to increase the haste, stress, health complaints and safety problems of workers. OHS-professionals try to reduce stress or cure separate environmental problems and risk factors at work. However, in spite of their good intentions, in rapid change situations, these professionals may add to the confusion with their prevailing methods and recommendations. The dynamics of workplace transformations are not well understood from the perspective of the everyday work of either the organization or the individual. In this paper, the Activity Theoretical Approach is used to reconceptualize work-related well-being in situations of rapid change. Key concepts are production and service concepts and their asynchronies. Many asynchronies were observed in the analysis of the two cases of different types of organizations. These asynchronies caused frustration, confusion and lowered the work motivation and perceived well-being of employees. The nature of the load was called disturbance load. Our data and results show that rapid changes in production and service concepts are a major challenge for research on well-being, especially since continuous change has become an inseparable part of work life over the past ten years.

This study reports on the use of Activity Theory as a supportive framework in a design process. Crews on Fast Patrol Boats in the Royal Norwegian Navy were observed during high-speed navigation in coastal waters. The unit of analysis was the navigation team of five persons in their work. Activity was regarded as situated actions shaped by tools, objects and constraints. The framework of Activity Theory was used to form a design language that encompassed the aspects relevant to design and navigation. Based on the findings, a prototype of a automated steering system was built. We suggest that in design process, Activity Theory moves the focus from the technical qualities of artefacts towards how artefacts are used as tools to mediate activity.

This study analyses the working activity of drivers in the passenger land transport sector in the Metropolitan area of Porto. It considers the evolutions that follow a privatization policy and, namely, the changes at the level of work organization and the objectives which regulate this activity. Two cases have been object of a particular attention. In the first case, a bus route was selected on which three companies did business: a public company; another company which uses the route under analysis as a result of a concession attributed and controlled by the public company; and a third private company. In the second case, only one private bus company operated on the route. The final results of this research suggest that the companies’ policies are generally based, essentially, on market oriented options. On the other hand, the drivers try to balance these options with their own choices and solutions, which are based on values without dimension. The contribution of ergology enriched the reflexion on the strategies and renormalizations that workers make everyday, to establish operative trade-offs which make management of the activity’s objectives and the real needs of the users possible.

The paper addresses the call by Rasmussen and Svedung (2000) for (i) more research into emergency incident management and (ii) more attention to be given to the nature of emergency-as-activity, rather than the current preoccupation on organisational structures. Drawing on French-speaking and Nordic approaches to activity, this paper proposes a taxonomy of work activity focussed on emergency-as-activity. The taxonomy draws on concepts found in ergonomic research into other HRO domains and empirical analysis conducted in a related HRO environment (air traffic control). The paper constructs a set of propositions that will be empirically tested in a study investigating work activity in multi-agency emergency incident management for bushfires in Australia. The taxonomy based on related HRO environments emphasising communicative practices, proposes that the most salient features of work activity in managing incidents will be their spatio-temporal features, their complexity and the need to act interdependently with others.

This article proposes to analyze the work of the ergonomist consultant in intervention on the basis of a service relationship model. The authors show that the activity of advising is based entirely on a service provision basis. From this point of view, it proves that the service relationship applied to the ergonomic intervention raises the issue of the objects used in the intervention. However, the theoretical outline of the service relationship must be adapted to study the ergonomic intervention. Thus we start from a reflexive point of view on the intervention to test the heuristic dimension of the model and to raise new issues.

The paper addresses the call by Rasmussen and Svedung (2000) for (i) more research into emergency incident management and (ii) more attention to be given to the nature of emergency-as-activity, rather than the current preoccupation on organisational structures. Drawing on French-speaking and Nordic approaches to activity, this paper proposes a taxonomy of work activity focussed on emergency-as-activity. The taxonomy draws on concepts found in ergonomic research into other HRO domains and empirical analysis conducted in a related HRO environment (air traffic control). The paper constructs a set of propositions that will be empirically tested in a study investigating work activity in multi-agency emergency incident management for bushfires in Australia. The taxonomy based on related HRO environments emphasising communicative practices, proposes that the most salient features of work activity in managing incidents will be their spatio-temporal features, their complexity and the need to act interdependently with others.

The aim of this paper is to show that the various characteristics of service relationships in public utilities and demands about them require careful thought concerning what we call “activity”. Following task analysis (nurses, office clerks, policemen, funeral directors, crèche, nurses, educators…) don’t do the same work: their aim, the types of interactions between “customers” and workers, work conditions and organization, possibilities of service relations. So, the problem is to precise what aspects of workers’ activities, we have to take into account so that activity analysis can be oriented to a more adequate understanding of the job and relevant ergonomic interventions. In order to take action about health and efficiency, they can often require passing beyond a behavioral analysis which describes effective task or its observable components, according to work conditions. We need to have a better understanding of the internal activity component that is a better understanding of physiological, affective and cognitive mechanisms that direct and regulate this behaviour according to the operators’ motives, goals and possibilities in interaction with the environmental conditions. To render an account of reality, this kind of pragmatic systemic analysis of activity has to be supported by different “activity theories” according to the research purpose and conditions.

The aim of this paper is to show that the various characteristics of service relationships in public utilities and demands about them require careful thought concerning what we call “activity”. Following task analysis (nurses, office clerks, policemen, funeral directors, crèche, nurses, educators…) don’t do the same work: their aim, the types of interactions between “customers” and workers, work conditions and organization, possibilities of service relations. So, the problem is to precise what aspects of workers’ activities, we have to take into account so that activity analysis can be oriented to a more adequate understanding of the job and relevant ergonomic interventions. In order to take action about health and efficiency, they can often require passing beyond a behavioral analysis which describes effective task or its observable components, according to work conditions. We need to have a better understanding of the internal activity component that is a better understanding of physiological, affective and cognitive mechanisms that direct and regulate this behaviour according to the operators’ motives, goals and possibilities in interaction with the environmental conditions. To render an account of reality, this kind of pragmatic systemic analysis of activity has to be supported by different “activity theories” according to the research purpose and conditions.

This study reports on the use of Activity Theory as a supportive framework in a design process. Crews on Fast Patrol Boats in the Royal Norwegian Navy were observed during high-speed navigation in coastal waters. The unit of analysis was the navigation team of five persons in their work. Activity was regarded as situated actions shaped by tools, objects and constraints. The framework of Activity Theory was used to form a design language that encompassed the aspects relevant to design and navigation. Based on the findings, a prototype of a automated steering system was built. We suggest that in design process, Activity Theory moves the focus from the technical qualities of artefacts towards how artefacts are used as tools to mediate activity.

This article proposes to analyze the work of the ergonomist consultant in intervention on the basis of a service relationship model. The authors show that the activity of advising is based entirely on a service provision basis. From this point of view, it proves that the service relationship applied to the ergonomic intervention raises the issue of the objects used in the intervention. However, the theoretical outline of the service relationship must be adapted to study the ergonomic intervention. Thus we start from a reflexive point of view on the intervention to test the heuristic dimension of the model and to raise new issues.

This study analyses the working activity of drivers in the passenger land transport sector in the Metropolitan area of Porto. It considers the evolutions that follow a privatization policy and, namely, the changes at the level of work organization and the objectives which regulate this activity. Two cases have been object of a particular attention. In the first case, a bus route was selected on which three companies did business: a public company; another company which uses the route under analysis as a result of a concession attributed and controlled by the public company; and a third private company. In the second case, only one private bus company operated on the route. The final results of this research suggest that the companies’ policies are generally based, essentially, on market oriented options. On the other hand, the drivers try to balance these options with their own choices and solutions, which are based on values without dimension. The contribution of ergology enriched the reflexion on the strategies and renormalizations that workers make everyday, to establish operative trade-offs which make management of the activity’s objectives and the real needs of the users possible.

The article focuses on the analysis of the cooperative design of teaching resources for physics teachers by using several particular tools and theories including the theory of the two worlds, the theory of activity, and the Theory of Joint Action in Didactics.