Online Teaching: Creating Text-Based Environments for Collaborative Thinking

This article examines some of the ways graduate students engage in interactive writing in online university courses as a means of discussion. In particular I present data from course transcripts that suggest that discursive interaction in an asynchronous, text-based, online course may be uniquely suited to fostering higher-order thinking and social construction of meaning. I support this argument by considering the emergent online community and its participation structures, qualities of the interactive written discourse, and means by which the discourse supports making meaning and higher-order thinking. Findings support research that suggests that well-designed, text-based, online courses for university students create collaborative learning environments that enhance thinking.Cet article porte sur quelques-unes des façons dont les étudiants des deuxième et troisième cycles participent aux discussions interactives dans le cadre de cours universitaires en ligne. Nous y présentons des données tirées de relevés de notes et qui laissent croire que l'interaction discursive dans le contexte d'un cours en ligne asynchrone à base de textes peut s'avérer particulièrement apte à favoriser des processus mentaux de niveau élevé et la construction sociale de la signification. Pour appuyer ce point de vue, nous tenons compte de la communauté virtuelle naissante et de ses structures de participation d'une part et des qualités du discours interactif et des moyens par lesquels il appuie la construction de la signification et les processus mentaux de niveau élevé d'autre part. Les résultats viennent appuyer la recherche qui propose que les cours universitaires en ligne, bien conçus et à base de textes créent des environnements d'apprentissage collaboratif qui promeuvent la réflexion

Guest Editor\u27s Introduction: Teacher Research on Classroom Discourse in Northern Canadian Communities

This special issue brings together a series of articles written by practitioners in a number of northern communities in British Columbia, all of whom are affiliated with UNBC\u27s graduate program in Curriculum and Instruction. The region they are writing about is large, rugged, and sparsely populated. Prince George, centrally located and the site of the main UNBC campus, has a population of 75,000. There are seven other small cities in the 10,000-20,000 range, and the remainder of the population resides in small towns and villages

We All Know How, Don’t We? On the Role of Scrum in IT-Offshoring

Part 2: Creating Value through Software DevelopmentInternational audienceOffshoring in the IT-industry involves dual interactions between a mother company and an external supplier, often viewed with an implicit perspective from the mother company. This article review general off shoring and IT offshoring literature, focusing on the proliferation of a globally available set of routines; Scrum and Agile. Two cases are studied; a small company and short process and a large mother company with a long process. The interactions of the set ups shows that global concepts like Scrum and Agile are far from a common platform. The “well known” concepts are locally shaped and the enterprises have mixed experiences

Vulnerability to high risk sexual behaviour (HRSB) following exposure to war trauma as seen in post-conflict communities in eastern uganda: a qualitative study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Much of the literature on the relationship between conflict-related trauma and high risk sexual behaviour (HRSB) often focuses on refugees and not mass in-country displaced people due to armed conflicts. There is paucity of research about contexts underlying HRSB and HIV/AIDS in conflict and post-conflict communities in Uganda. Understanding factors that underpin vulnerability to HRSB in post-conflict communities is vital in designing HIV/AIDS prevention interventions. We explored the socio-cultural factors, social interactions, socio-cultural practices, social norms and social network structures that underlie war trauma and vulnerability to HRSB in a post-conflict population.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We did a cross-sectional qualitative study of 3 sub-counties in <it>Katakwi </it>district and 1 in <it>Amuria </it>in Uganda between March and May 2009. We collected data using 8 FGDs, 32 key informant interviews and 16 in-depth interviews. We tape-recorded and transcribed the data. We followed thematic analysis principles to manage, analyse and interpret the data. We constantly identified and compared themes and sub-themes in the dataset as we read the transcripts. We used illuminating verbatim quotations to illustrate major findings.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The commonly identified HRSB behaviours include; transactional sex, sexual predation, multiple partners, early marriages and forced marriages. Breakdown of the social structure due to conflict had resulted in economic destruction and a perceived soaring of vulnerable people whose propensity to HRSB is high. Dishonour of sexual sanctity through transactional sex and practices like incest mirrored the consequence of exposure to conflict. HRSB was associated with concentration of people in camps where idleness and unemployment were the norm. Reports of girls and women who had been victims of rape and defilement by men with guns were common. Many people were known to have started to display persistent worries, hopelessness, and suicidal ideas and to abuse alcohol.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The study demonstrated that conflicts disrupt the socio-cultural set up of communities and destroy sources of people's livelihood. Post-conflict socio-economic reconstruction needs to encompass programmes that restructure people's morals and values through counselling. HIV/AIDS prevention programming in post-conflict communities should deal with socio-cultural disruptions that emerged during conflicts. Some of the disruptions if not dealt with, could become normalized yet they are predisposing factors to HRSB. Socio-economic vulnerability as a consequence of conflict seemed to be associated with HRSB through alterations in sexual morality. To pursue safer sexual health choices, people in post-conflict communities need life skills.</p

The Communication of Corporate-NGO Partnerships: Analysis of Sainsbury’s Collaboration with Comic Relief.

This study focuses on CSR communication using the example of Corporate-NGO partnership between British supermarket chain Sainsbury’s and Comic Relief. Questionnaires were distributed to 40 participants asking them about their consumer behaviour and opinion on partnerships. Using thematic analysis, two main themes have been identified in the data set: some consumers are sceptical towards cross sector partnerships because they assume selfish reasons behind the collaboration and view them as corporate PR tool. On the other hand, the majority of consumers evaluate Corporate-NGO Partnerships as appropriate and a gain for society at large. The analysis showed that Sainsbury’s customers know about the partnership with Comic Relief while non-customers lack awareness, and that the most successful means of communication of partnerships is the supermarket promotion

Isolation in Globalizing Academic Fields: A Collaborative Autoethnography of Early Career Researchers

This study examines academic isolation – an involuntary perceived separation from the academic field to which one aspires to belong, associated with a perceived lack of agency in terms of one’s engagement with the field – as a key challenge for researchers in increasingly globalized academic careers. While prior research describes early career researchers’ isolation in their institutions, we theorize early career researchers’ isolation in their academic fields and reveal how they attempt to mitigate isolation to improve their career prospects. Using a collaborative autoethnographic approach, we generate and analyze a dataset focused on the experiences of ten early career researchers in a globalizing business academic field known as Consumer Culture Theory. We identify bricolage practices, polycentric governance practices, and integration mechanisms that work to enhance early career researchers’ perceptions of agency and consequently mitigate their academic isolation. Our findings extend discussions on isolation and its role in new academic careers. Early career researchers, in particular, can benefit from a deeper understanding of practices that can enable them to mitigate isolation and reclaim agency as they engage with global academic fields

Academically Capable Students who are Failing in High School: Perceptions about Achievement

A sub-group of at-risk learners, familiar to high school counsellors, consists of students who have demonstrated academic capability yet begin to fail in their senior years. Although they do not fit within a high-risk profile, such students are at risk of not completing their secondary school education and may acquire inadequate preparation for post-secondary education or rewarding careers. Our goal was to describe the achievement perspectives of three such students from a small rural community, using qualitative interviews. We found that academic, social, family, and peer factors influenced their decision making. We suggest ways to modify school practices to provide better support for such students.Un sous-groupe d'apprenants à risque, connus des conseillers des écoles secondaires, est constitué d'étudiants ayant démontré des aptitudes académiques mais qui commencent à échouer pendant les dernières années du cycle secondaire. Sans posséder un profil à grand risque, ces étudiants risquent néanmoins de ne pas terminer leurs études secondaires ; de plus, ils ne recevront peut-être pas une préparation adéquate leur permet- tant de poursuivre des études postsecondaires ou d'avoir une carrière enrichissante. Nous avions comme but d'examiner, à l'aide d'entrevues en profondeur, les perspectives de réussite de trois étudiants à risque provenant de petites communautés rurales. Il en ressort de ces entrevues que les facteurs académiques, sociaux et familiaux de même que les pairs influent sur les décisions prises par ces étudiants. Nous suggérons des façons de modifier les pratiques scolaires afin de donner un meilleur soutien aux apprenants à risque