The relationship between teachers' understanding of the nature of science and their science practice : four case studies from an urban primary school.

This is a digitised version of a thesis that was deposited in the University Library. If you are the author and you have a query about this item please contact PEARL Admin ([email protected])Merged with duplicate record (10026.1/432) on 03.01.2017 by CS (TIS)This thesis explores the relationship between a teacher's understanding of the nature of science and her practice. The idea that teachers' understanding of the nature of science is a powerful determinant of their actions in the classroom has a strong intuitive appeal. Research over the last forty years has provided inconclusive results; however, there is a clear implication within recent central policy on teacher education that such knowledge should translated directly into practice. This has led to the identification within teacher training, materials of specific expectations regarding understanding of the nature of science (DfEE 1998a). This thesis presents four case studies of the science teaching of primary teachers. The studies derive from data collected over the course of a year and analyse evidence of the teachers' ideas, both tacit and espoused, about the nature of science against their practice in the classroom. The research employed a methodology unlike other studies in the field. Primary teachers frequently lack experience of reflection on the philosophy of science, and their actions may convey tacit ideas different from those they espouse. In order to ensure that, a mechanism existed to facilitate elicitation of the teachers' philosophical understanding, to render possible the identification of any tacit ideas and to enable the inherent dialectical nature of theory and action within practice to be accommodated, the participating teachers were encouraged to engage in action research on their own practice. Data generated by this personal inquiry then served as evidence for the main research questions. This methodology yields results which are closely derived from the everyday reality of teachers' practice. The findings indicate that teachers' understanding of the nature of science does not translate directly into predictable approaches to science teaching. Teachers' understanding of the nature of science is seen to be mediated strongly by their pedagogical beliefs and aims and it is these beliefs that assume overriding importance in the derivation of science practice. These findings extend previous research results. They suggest that the development of science practice will need to have regard for factors other than mere extension of knowledge, raising implications for both preservice and inservice teacher education.Rolle School of Education Researc

Psychology applied : a fusion of abduction and ergonomics

The world has an increasing number of problems, many of which involve a human­ technological component, the solution of which requires strong methods. To explore problem solving methods, I proposed the development of an abductive-ergonomics framework. This framework must support the generation of theories that will support design. To achieve this, I discussed psychology's current method, the hypothetico­-deductive method, suggesting that it is not a general method. As an alternative I discussed abduction, which provides a strong general method. I also explored the aims, perspectives, and unit of analysis offered by ergonomics. In the last chapter I proposed that abduction provides the control task structure to the real world domain described by ergonomics. The fusion between abduction and ergonomics provides the basis for the real world problem solving framework proposed in this thesis

Working on Crime: Individual and Team Management of Knowledge for Decision Making in the Initial Investigative Process

Every police agency needs to know how a productive environment for investigators working on crime, based on an effective investigative knowledge-management system, may best be provided. In order to contribute understanding for that purpose, this research examines three strands of the theme of working on crime that are entailed in the initial stages of an enquiry: the nature of the investigative process; investigative teamwork, and the individual and team management of knowledge. It is contended that the initial investigative process requires speedy and effective use of knowledge from four main sources: from objects and scenes, from people, from investigators' own experience, and from knowledge-management systems. The management of this knowledge for decision making in the initial stages of a police investigation of a crime is essentially a process of intuitive pattern-making ahead of verification. It is both internalised and manifest, and sited within the prevailing culture, undertaken by an individual investigator upon the explicit, implicit and unknown facts available to him or her, thus creating a continuing, unselfconscious, productive interplay between the skills of one and the complexity of the other. This process takes place within a subtle and multi-layered environment, the 'investigative entity'. In order to advance understanding of the process in its environment, it was necessary first to conceptualise a new model of this 'investigative entity'. The model illuminates the complexity of the investigative task, shows the centrality of individual investigators, and their skills, to the process of investigation, and emphasises the interrogative interface of the practitioner and the decision making process with the architecture of knowledge. Classical theories and practices of decision making are discussed, amplified with material on the intuition and analytic processes which underlie the model, the particular need for knowledge in investigative decision making, and the role of investigative knowledge-management systems as tools for intuition. The role played by official knowledge-management systems in the investigative entity is delineated, but emphasis centres on the power and utility of the individual investigator's tacit knowledge and skills. However, investigative work requires that investigators must often work in teams, where for success, a supportive culture for individuals' intuitive decision making needs to be provided. The thesis examines ways in which investigative teams may be viewed, and establishes a list of criteria for identifying the nature of investigative teams. The New Zealand Police provides the locus for examining the potency and relevance of the investigative entity model, both for individual investigators and for teams, and the actual use of police knowledge-management systems by investigators. Through interviews, observation and discussion a picture takes shape of investigators managing knowledge, both as vigorously competent individuals, and in concert with others. This empirical vignette sheds light on how investigative decision making in the initial stages of an incident takes place in practice. To conclude, guidelines for providing the optimal conditions and knowledge-management systems for investigators are suggested, with the responsibility for doing so laid upon the agency and the government

Tacit knowledge for business intelligence framework using cognitive-based approach

Tacit knowledge becoming a key issue in business intelligence approach to knowledge systems. Capturing the tacit knowledge is not a straightforward task, since it consists of unstructured data and related to a variety of information that is not always accessible through traditional means. This work presents a systematic approach for capturing tacit knowledge to be used in a business intelligence framework. The approach is based on the theory of systematic functional linguistics, developed into interview protocols to be asked to tacit knowledge owners. The data transformed into cognitive maps to supply the data warehouse. The framework was tested on 23 librarians from several university libraries in West Java and Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The algorithm starts with a content targeted interview to identify the list of problems faced by librarians. The problems were then converted into a questionnaire to identify qualities of the problems such as frequency, urgency, severity, and importance. From the questionnaire results, the best tacit knowledge performers were identified. They are respondents who can solve the problems, while the majority of the respondents are unable to solve them. The best performers were then subjected to grammar targeted interview to collect the solutions they made to the problems. The transcription of the interview results is then converted into cognitive maps that visualize the solutions. These cognitive maps are then stored in a data warehouse and ready to collect anytime for analytics purposes. The framework is validated through Power BI and reviewed by seven experts. Its applicability to other domains is justified as long as the domain, e.g., manufacturing, have experienced problems related to technical, managerial, and empirical problems faced by employees at work. This research contributes to the methods of capturing tacit knowledge using a cognitive-based approach, which important to ensure the continuity of business in various domains

Analogy

This essay (a revised version of my undergraduate honors thesis at Stanford) constructs a theory of analogy as it applies to argumentation and reasoning, especially as used in fields such as philosophy and law. The word analogy has been used in different senses, which the essay defines. The theory developed herein applies to analogia rationis, or analogical reasoning. Building on the framework of situation theory, a type of logical relation called determination is defined. This determination relation solves a puzzle about analogy in the context of logical argument, namely, whether an analogous situation contributes anything logically over and above what could be inferred from the application of prior knowledge to a present situation. Scholars of reasoning have often claimed that analogical arguments are never logically valid, and that they therefore lack cogency. However, when the right type of determination structure exists, it is possible to prove that projecting a conclusion inferred by analogy onto the situation about which one is reasoning is both valid and non-redundant. Various other properties and consequences of the determination relation are also proven. Some analogical arguments are based on principles such as similarity, which are not logically valid. The theory therefore provides us with a way to distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate arguments. It also provides an alternative to procedures based on the assessment of similarity for constructing analogies in artificial intelligence systems

Paradigms in environmental management research : outline of an ecosophical-hermeneutic alternative

Doctoral thesis (Ph.D.) – Bodø Graduate School of Business, 2011The first aim of the dissertation is to develop a conceptual tool (two paradigms) for the purpose of analyzing Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA). This positions the dissertation in a field which includes environmental management, the philosophy of science, environmental philosophy and ethics. Thus making the research at hand, to a great extent, an interdisciplinary piece of research. Using two research paradigms, Johansen discusses six Norwegian EIA cases with regard to ontology (nature and human), perception of science, scientific ideals, ethics and esthetics. The intention of the analysis is to illuminate the paradigmatic presuppositions governing Norwegian EIA-кesearch. Part V of the dissertation discusses the transition from atomistic to holistic EIA-research. Through applying hermeneutical reflexive methodology, the thesis reveals findings of significance: the manuals on EIA and EIA reports are characterized by an ever increasing incoherence (from EIA report on Veslefrikk of 1987 to Goliat, 2009). Concretely this means that contemporary Norwegian EIA-research can be characterized as much “talk”, or promises about sound ethical and humanistic concerns, and less “walk”, or little actual research and implementation of the norms and values promised; hence then the lack of correspondence (incoherence) between values (ontology) and method/practice. The kernel message of this dissertation is to make it clear that the reason why humanistic and environmental concerns are absent and left out in the shade can be explained by the epistemological and methodological choices of EIA-researchers. These choices in turn result in consequences for ontology. The dissertation discusses it being necessary to use the epistemological position of hermeneutics in order to gain a deeper (intuitive and emphatic) understanding (‘Verstehen’) of social and environmental impacts. This method utilizes a subject-subject relationship between the researcher and the study object in order to understand the inner unique experience of subjects and social phenomena. The thesis suggests several ways forward (ontologically, epistemologically and methodologically) with regard to how current atomistic EIA-research can be developed into holistic EIA-research

A Structured Systemic Framework for Software Development

The purpose of this research was to develop and apply a systems-based framework for the analysis of software development project performance. Software development project performance is measured at the project level; that is, cost, schedule, and product quality that affect the overall project. To date, most performance improvement efforts have been focused on individual processes within the overall software development system. Making improvements to sub-elements, processes, or sub-systems without regard for the overall project is a classic misbehavior entered into by practitioners who fail to use a holistic, systemic approach. Attempts to improve sub-system behavior are at odds with The Principle of Sub-optimization. (van Gigch, 1974) The traditional method of predicting software development project performance, in terms of sub-system performance is too restrictive. A new holistic, systemic view based on systems principles offers a more robust way to look at performance. This research addressed this gap in the systems and software body of knowledge by developing a generalizable and transportable framework for software project performance that is based on systems principles. A rigorous mixed-method research methodology, employing both inductive and case study methods, was used to develop and validate the framework. Two research questions were identified as integral to increasing the understanding of a systems-based framework. (1) How does systems theory apply to the analysis of software development project performance? (2) What results from the application of a systems-based analysis framework for analyzing performance on a software development project? Using Discoverers\u27 Induction (Whewell, 1858), a systems-based framework for the analysis of software development project performance was constructed, adding to the systems and software body of knowledge and substantiating a comprehensive and unambiguous theoretical construct for software development. Then, the framework was applied to two completed software development projects to support validation. The structured systemic framework shows significant promise for contribution to software practitioners by indicating future software development project performance. The research also made a contribution in the area of research methodologies by resurrecting William Whewell\u27s Discoverers\u27 Induction (1858) and furthering the use of the case study method in the engineering management and systems engineering domain, areas where their application has been very limited