Enhancing science literacy through implementation of writing-to-learn strategies: exploratory studies in high school biology

Some evidence of benefits from writing-to-learn techniques exists; however, more research is needed describing the instructional context used to support learning through writing and the quality of learning that results from particular tasks. This dissertation includes three papers, building on past research linking inquiry, social negotiation, and writing strategies to enhance scientific literacy skills of high school biology students. The interactive constructivist position informed the pedagogical approach for two empirical, classroom-based studies utilizing mixed methods to identify quantitative differences in learning outcomes and students\u27 perceptions of writing tasks. The first paper reports students with planned writing activities communicated biotechnology content better in textbook explanations to a younger audience, but did not score better on tests than students who had delayed planning experiences. Students with two writing experiences as opposed to one, completing a newspaper article, scored better on conceptual questions both after writing and on a test 8 weeks later. The difference in treatments initially impacted males compared to females, but this effect disappeared with subsequent writing. The second paper reports two parallel studies of students completing two different writing types, laboratory and summary reports. Three comparison groups were used, Control students wrote in a traditional format, while SWH group students used the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) during guided inquiry laboratories. Control students wrote summary reports to the teacher, while SWH students wrote either to the teacher or to peers (Peer Review group). On conceptual questions, findings indicated that after laboratory writing SWH females performed better compared to SWH males and Control females; and as a group SWH students performed better than Control students on a test following summary reports (Study 1). These results were not replicated in Study 2. An open-ended survey revealed findings that persisted in both studies; compared to Control students, SWH students were more likely to describe learning as they were writing and to report distinct thinking was required in completing the two writing types. Students\u27 comments across studies provide support for using non-traditional writing tasks as a means to assist learning. Various implications for writing to serve learning are reported, including identification of key support conditions

Facilitating self-organization in non-hierarchical communities: a methodology for regeneration programs

Research purpose: As a by-product in the development of the Quality Management Systems, self-organized working groups were introduced and became a common practice in management. In the last ten years some authors – influenced by the developments in the study of Complex Systems – have reintroduced the self-organization concept as being the future of management. In this approach, the description of the mechanism driving this process has been explored to provide a method to facilitate the emergence of viable organisational structures and to support such organizational behaviour. This topic becomes more relevant in the present times when the community development is more locally oriented and the communities are being empowered to become more autonomous in the definition of the means and results they want to improve their quality of live. It is within this context that in order to facilitate self-organization processes – in a rural community engaged in a independent regeneration program –this research suggest the use of a model inspired in both cybernetics and the self-organization in a biological system. Methods: This thesis details the development of a three loops framework aimed to facilitate the self-organizing behaviour through the use of a Visualization - Planning - Reflective toolset (V-P Toolset). The framework was deployed within a case study organization (The XOOP) using an interpretivist philosophy of constructionism to guide the research. During its execution the researcher acted as both an observer and participant of the organisational change. Within the context of an action research project, the framework followed a multimethodology design where cybernetic and social tools of organizational analysis such as the Viable System Model (VSM), Narrative and Story-telling analysis and Social Network Analysis (SNA) provided a unique approach to the facilitation of self-organization and the mergence of viable organizational structures. Results: The VSM and the SNA were used to diagnose the organizational structure. The information provided by these tools was then contextualized within the Narrative and Story-telling analysis, identifying critical events in the evolution of the organization. This combination of tools provided insights about the self-organizing behaviour of the organization and the mechanism that facilitated (or impeded) the emergence of viable organizational structures throughout the evolution of the observed community.Conclusions: The introduction of a common language to describe the organization facilitated the endogenous creation of a shared mental model of the community. This representation of the organization made more efficient the exchange of information, the coordination of activities and the autonomous operation of the different working groups. Thus, the iterative loops of the V-P contributed to made this process more efficient and provided evidence about the convenience of the integration of the VSM with the SNA as organizational diagnostic tools

Being objective: communities of practice and the use of cultural artefacts in digital learning environments

Over the past decade there has been a dramatic increase in the volume of digital content created from museum, library and archive collections but research on how this material is actually used, particularly in digital learning environments, has fallen far behind the rate of supply. In order to address this gap, this thesis examines how communities of practice (CoPs) involved in the supply and use of digital artefacts in the Higher Education sector in the UK interact with content and what factors affect this process. It focuses on a case study involving the digitisation of Shakespeare collections used in postgraduate research, and the testing of use in a range of different learning environments. This produced a number of significant findings with implications for the HE and cultural sectors. Firstly, similar patterns of artefact use were found across all users suggesting there are generic ways in which everyone interacts with digital artefacts. However, distinct forms of use did emerge which correspond with membership of particular communities of practice. Secondly, members of a CoP appear to share a particular learning style and this is influenced by the learning environment. Finally, the research indicates that a mixed method for analysing and measuring use, piloted and tested in the case study, is possible

The Persistence of Minimalism

The following work develops a new and general theory of minimalism – one addressing both its transhistorical and interdisciplinary dimensions, and capable of accounting for existing minimalism of every epoch and in every medium, while suitably open to embrace minimalist work yet to be created. To offer such a theory it is necessary not only to revisit the histories of minimalist practice and criticism, but also to consider its radical philosophical ground and implications. Hence its principal thesis – that minimalism exemplifies the persistence and facticity of the Real – grapples at once with the ontological heart of minimalist theory, and its practical instantiation through canonical as well as rarely considered examples. Divided into three parts, the first part addresses minimalism as the manifestation of particular aesthetic properties in relation to critical and theoretical trends. Since it becomes apparent that no single descriptive or theoretical account adequately frames minimalism, the discussion turns to the possibility of discovering a philosophical ground equally radical to the minimalist objects it addresses. The Real – an indifferent field of forces from which contingent entities are subtracted from within an irreversible temporal passage – offers precisely this radical continuum. Minimalism, by exposing the continuity between radical poiesis and an essentially quantitative understanding of Being, clarifies the indifferent persistence of the Real in every existential situation. Penetrating to the heart of this proposition, parts two and three respectively address minimalism in terms of its quantitative logic of Being – every exemplary subtraction from which is instantiated a type of existential calculation – and its exemplary aesthetic manifestation in terms of an existential transumption – a constructive poietic displacement by which minimalism renders itself maximally intelligible in terms of its objecthood and persistence. The work concludes with a typology which reorients and confirms the substance of the preceding argumentation

The Hybrid Practitioner

The practice of architecture manifests in myriad forms and engagements. Overcoming false divides, this volume frames the fertile relationship between the cultural and scholarly production of academia and the process of designing and building in the material world. It proposes the concept of the hybrid practitioner, who bridges the gap between academia and practice by considering how different aspects of architectural practice, theory, and history intersect, opening up a fascinating array of possibilities for an active engagement with the present. The book explores different, interrelated roles for practicing architects and researchers, from the reproductive activities of teaching, consulting and publishing, through the reflective activities of drawing and writing, to the practice of building. The notion of the hybrid practitioner will appeal strongly to students, teachers and architectural practitioners as part of a multifaceted professional environment. By connecting academic interests with those of the professional realm, The Hybrid Practitioner addresses a wider readership embracing landscape design, art theory and aesthetics, European history, and the history and sociology of professions

Bicultural Managers’ Competencies and Multicultural Team Effectiveness

Biculturals are increasingly recognized as an important segment of managers, yet U.S.-based global organizations’ limited knowledge and recognition of this group’s distinctive experiences and related implications within their work environment limit the value placed on bicultural managers’ leadership of multicultural teams and the use of their competencies and skills to improve the effectiveness of multicultural teams. Notwithstanding, traditional leadership models are lacking in diversity and unanswered questions remain regarding the role of multiculturalism in global leadership and team effectiveness. The purpose of this qualitative exploratory multiple case study was to gain deeper understanding of the management experiences of biculturals in U.S.-based global organizations and the implications of their bicultural competencies and skills in leading multicultural teams. This study was framed by 3 concepts: bicultural competence, boundary spanning by bicultural managers, and leadership emergence in multicultural teams. Data were collected from semistructured interviews with 7 participants, reflective field notes, and archival data. Identifiable themes emerged through thematic analysis of the textual data and cross-case synthesis analysis. Five conceptual categories that enclosed a total of 16 themes were identified. The conceptual categories are (a) bicultural competence, (b) boundary spanning, (c) cultural intelligence, (d) global identity, and (e) leading multicultural teams. Findings may drive social change by challenging the status quo in existing formal work structures and promoting diversity in the workplace creating emerging avenues for business growth and building bridges of communication between the business world and society

Racialized Citizenship in Superdiverse Europe

This volume enquires about how racialization shapes European societies and the lives of people affected by it in myriad ways. It provides a powerful collection of new publications by scholars who, through their research, contribute to placing race and racialization studies at the forefront of European academia

The Hybrid Practitioner

The practice of architecture manifests in myriad forms and engagements. Overcoming false divides, this volume frames the fertile relationship between the cultural and scholarly production of academia and the process of designing and building in the material world. It proposes the concept of the hybrid practitioner, who bridges the gap between academia and practice by considering how different aspects of architectural practice, theory, and history intersect, opening up a fascinating array of possibilities for an active engagement with the present. The book explores different, interrelated roles for practicing architects and researchers, from the reproductive activities of teaching, consulting and publishing, through the reflective activities of drawing and writing, to the practice of building. The notion of the hybrid practitioner will appeal strongly to students, teachers and architectural practitioners as part of a multifaceted professional environment. By connecting academic interests with those of the professional realm, The Hybrid Practitioner addresses a wider readership embracing landscape design, art theory and aesthetics, European history, and the history and sociology of professions

An empirical investigation of the nature of management development with particular emphasis on the influence of learning styles on the levels of accumulated managerial tacit knowledge in the Malaysian Public Service

This study explored the broad learning patterns associated with the acquisition of managerial tacit knowledge. The study then proceeded to examine whether levels of accumulated managerial tacit knowledge (LAMTK) may be associated with managers' learning styles and/or the extent to which a person's style is consonant with the context of their work environment. The possibility that deliberate learning strategies normally associated with formal rather than informal learning would be unrelated to LAMTK was also examined.The research employed a cross-sectional, mixed-method approach incorporating both qualitative interview and survey data collection. For the qualitative element, interviews were conducted with 14 public sector managers based on a method developed by Nestor-Baker (1999). For the quantitative element, survey data were collected from 356 public sector managers attending management development training courses at the Malaysian National Institute of Public Administration. Respondents completed a questionnaire designed to measure tacit knowledge based on Stemberg et al's (2000) Tacit Knowledge Inventory for Managers, learning styles based on Geiger et al's (1993) normative version of Kolb's Learning Style Inventory, learning strategy based on Warr & Downing's (2000) Learning Strategies Questionnaire, and a range of other selfdeveloped items.The interviews revealed that most managers were unaware of the learning associated with the acquisition of tacit knowledge, as it occurs in an unplanned and unintentional manner. Several adult learning principles such as reflection and learning from experience emerged from the analyses. While learning styles were found to be significant in predicting LAMTK, a rather surprising finding was that learning strategies, believed to be associated with declarative as opposed to tacit knowledge, were also related to LAMTK. Based on these findings it was concluded that the process of tacit knowledge acquisition involves the interaction of learning that takes place in both formal and informal settings. Outcomes of the research suggest that in management development initiatives, formal approaches should be blended with informal approaches in order to achieve effective learning