Dialogic activity : a study of learning dialogues and entanglements in a vocational tertiary setting : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctorate in Education at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

New Zealand’s economic growth continues to place major pressure on the trades sector. To meet future demand for qualified builders, plumbers, electricians, and engineers, trades education has become available at no cost to students for two years. To attract student interest further, tertiary institutions now offer courses in a range of delivery options. Blended learning (BL) is one of these delivery modes and involves a combination of traditional face-to-face and digitally mediated approaches. This research explored students’ dialogic activity in a BL environment, within a trades educational institution. The dialogues that emerged during trades training courses were examined in relation to a complex assemblage of elements, which included interactions between students and teachers, and the digital and materials artefacts in the BL environments. The research used an interdisciplinary lens, employing theories of socio-materialism and dialogism, to unpack forms of dialogic activity that emerged within the BL environment. That same lens was used to reveal the part that material and digital artefacts played in the emergent dialogic activity. Conducted as a multiple case study, the research involved observations of instructors and student participants from three Level 3 pre-apprentice trade programmes, which provided a wide range of data over the course of one semester. Datasets from Automotive Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, as the three cases involved, were analysed to explore the contextual meaning of the learning dialogues and activities in action. The findings revealed that learning dialogues occur in multiple contexts and environments. Artefacts and their properties, BL designs, open and flexible learning spaces, environmental conditions, health and safety considerations, embodiment, multiplicity, mediation, and class culture, all have a significant influence on dialogic activity. The findings offer important insights about the link between course design and learning and identify dialogic activity as an interdisciplinary phenomenon that warrants further investigation

Graduate Internship Report: San Jacinto High School

Created and submitted courses for the creation of pathways within the ag department. Also built a six nest chicken coop to start a laying hen project. Students built the coop and take care of the laying hens. We will start using the chickens in our other courses

Teacher Internship Report- Kerman High School

This internship/project report includes validation documents required in meeting the quality criteria for secondary-level programs of instruction in agriculture. The documents are concurrently used for the Agriculture Incentive Grant review process at Kerman High School conducted by representatives of the California Department of Education. The internship included the development of a comprehensive program plan for Kerman High School. The comprehensive program plan for Kerman High School includes information about the Kerman FFA Chapter, an outline the goals and objectives of the program, program of activities, along with an overview of Kerman High School, the agriculture program and community

Phase I Inspection of the Stay Cable System on the US 231 William H. Natcher Bridge over the Ohio River

The US 231 Natcher Bridge was opened in 2002. By 2006 cracking was observed in the plastic piping that protected the stay cable strands from the environment at both the deck and tower anchorages. Over time the extent of cracking increased and an investigation was initiated to assess the types of deterioration impacting the cables, their causes and their impacts on the integrity of the stay cables. From 2012-2015, a series of in-depth field inspections were performed using visual and nondestructive testing. Most of this work focused on the piping at the deck anchorages. The inspections disclosed voids in cable grouting, bad welds in the plastic piping and deterioration of the co-extruded outer layer of the piping. Water was detected during inspections of the cable ends at the anchor blocks along with minimal corrosion of the strands and anchorages. The water and samples of the plastic piping were evaluated and found to be problematic. Thermographic inspection of the tower anchorages. No direct indications of cable corrosion damage were observed, but ultrasonic testing of the strand wires at the deck anchorages revealed possible signs of corrosion. Thermography of the tower anchorages provided extensive grout void indications. Recommendations are provided to address remaining concerns related to the condition of the strands at the towers and to evaluation of strands of selected stay cables at the deck anchorages