Building community in a virtual classroom: Construction of classroom culture in a postsecondary distance education class

The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate how a community was constructed in a postsecondary distance education class that relied only on computer-mediated communications. The use of a social constructionist perspective with Interactional Ethnography provided a theoretical and methodological means to make visible how the actions and interactions of the class members constructed their community. This study was built on and expanded qualitative research in K--12 traditional classrooms, which provided a lens with which to view the processes that shaped on-line community development. Past research has used ethnography and discourse analysis to investigate how traditional classroom participants\u27 interactions over time constructed a unique social culture and how this culture influenced student learning; Interactional Ethnography made visible in-the-moment and over-time development of the community characteristics by the members\u27 actions and interactions by employing ethnographic analysis to identify what characteristics developed over the semester, and sociolinguistic analysis to reveal how these characteristics were developed; Data sources from this sixteen-week on-line Survey of Literature course included class web pages, student survey responses, debriefing questionnaire responses, and electronic transcripts of instructor-student e-mail, class listserv communications, and class Multi-user Domain, Object Oriented (MOO) discussions; Findings revealed that actions and interactions of class members constructed common understandings of norms and expectations, roles and relationships, and the meaning of words, actions, and objects of the classroom. They compensated for the lack of face-to-face conversational cues by using techniques such as emotes, exaggerated spelling, and acronyms; Both on-task and off-task sharing of thoughts, feelings, knowledge, and experiences were important in constructing the on-line community and providing students with opportunities for learning both social and academic content. This intertextual and intercontextual use of resources demonstrated the historical dimension of community construction and potentially helped to decrease feelings of isolation and build rapport among the community members; This study provides practical examples of on-line instructional design and student-centered pedagogical techniques. It also supports the premise that class members construct community characteristics and opportunities for learning through their actions and interactions

Déterminants du recours au travail atypique : Une étude des travailleurs à statut précaire dans les organisations québécoises

Cette étude, réalisée auprès de 250 entreprises privées québécoises, a pour objectif d'identifier les facteurs qui permettent d'expliquer l'intensité du recours à des contrats atypiques, et d'une façon plus particulière, à des travailleurs à statut précaire. Trois catégories de déterminants ont été testées : les facteurs environnementaux, les facteurs internes reliés aux coûts de0501n-d'oeuvre et les facteurs internes reliés à la flexibilité organisationnelle. Les variables du modèle ont permis d'expliquer 19 % de la variance de l'intensité du recours au statut précaire. Les résultats de notre étude suggèrent que le recours à des travailleurs à statut précaire peut être expliqué davantage par des raisons liées aux coûts de0501n-d'oeuvre que par des motifs liés à la flexibilité organisationnelle ou à l'environnement concurrentiel.The purpose of this study was to examine the factors that influence the use of contingent wokers. More than 250 Canadian organizations participed to the survey. Three class of determinants have been tested: environmental factors, work-force costs factors, and organizational flexibility factors. The model explained 19% of variance in intensity of use of contingent workers. The results suggest that the strategy of externalization of work is motivated much more by cost control considerations, and less by the research of organizational flexibility or by the nature of competitive environment and the structure of ownership

Cuando las reinas transgreden las normas, ¿crean orden o desorden?

L’article questionne la relation entre désordre et transgression à travers des exemples de reines séleucides et lagides responsables d’actes considérés comme transgressifs dans le domaine politique. L’auteur part de l’idée que les sociétés hellénistiques voyaient comme tels aussi bien la prise de parole d’une femme en public et dans un cadre officiel (hors du champ religieux) que l’exercice du pouvoir royal par une femme seule ou associée à un enfant mineur. Les cas examinés montrent qu’un contexte de désordre politico-social était parfois à l’origine de l’acte transgressif et que la transgression générait fréquemment une situation d’ordre à court terme mais une situation de désordre à plus long terme. Enfin, les sources antiques émettent des considérations morales sur ces transgressions et ne s’intéressent guère à leurs motivations ou à leur impact dans le domaine politique.The article questions the relationship between disorder and transgression using examples from Seleucid and Ptolemaic queens who committed what may be considered acts of transgression. The author begins with the idea that Hellenistic societies considered women speaking in public in formal settings (outside of the religious sphere) as well as the exercise of royal power by a single woman, or associated minor child, as deviations from accepted norms. The cases under review show that a state of political-social disorder was, at times, the origin of acts of transgression. Such acts frequently generated situations of short term order that were ultimately superseded by long-term disorder. In conclusion, the ancient sources transmit moral considerations regarding these transgressions while maintaining little interest in either their underlying motivations or their impact in the political sphere.Este artiacute;culo examina la posible relacioacute;n entre desorden y transgresioacute;n a traveacute;s de ejemplos de reinas seleacute;ucidas y laacute;gidas responsables de actos transgresores en el aacute;mbito poliacute;tico. La autora parte de la idea de que las sociedades heleniacute;sticas consideraban como actos transgresores tanto que una mujer tomara la palabra en puacute;blico en un marco oficial (exceptuando el campo religioso), como que una mujer sola ejerciera el poder como regente de un hijo menor o como que detentara una autoridad real uacute;nica. Los casos examinados muestran que un contexto de desorden poliacute;tico-social estaba, a veces pero no siempre, en el origen del acto transgresor, y que generalmente la transgresioacute;n generaba a corto plazo una situacioacute;n de orden, pero una situacioacute;n de desorden a maacute;s largo plazo. Las fuentes antiguas aportan consideraciones morales sobre estas transgresiones e ignoran sus motivaciones asiacute; como su impacto en el aacute;mbito poliacute;tico