Taking things into account: learning as kinaesthetically-mediated collaboration

This paper presents research on participant learning processes in challenge course workshops using the framework known as Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT). CHAT views learning as a shared, social process rather than as an individual event. Participants\u27 experiencing and learning was mediated by the physical and social conditions of the experience and by the contributions of other participants. The concept of mediation suggests that the meaning participants make of experience is not an individual event, but instead is enacted as a creative, collaborative process using cultural and institutional tools. The recognition that people\u27s physical, social and reflective learning processes are mediated, challenges longstanding assumptions about the radical autonomy of learners, about ‘direct experience,’ and about the centrality of independent, cognitive reflection in experiential learning. Empirical data showing processes of mediation are presented, and the implications for research and theory are discussed

Experience, Reflect, Critique: The End of the “Learning Cycles” Era

According to prevailing models, experiential learning is by definition a stepwise process beginning with direct experience, followed by reflection, followed by learning. It has been argued, however, that stepwise models inadequately explain the holistic learning processes that are central to learning from experience, and that they lack scientific or philosophical foundations. Criticism also centers on the way complex cultural, social, and physical processes during experience and learning are reduced to a rational, excessively cognitive, individual phenomenon. This article reviews this criticism and adds a historical dimension to the analysis, concluding that existing cyclic models might be better valued for their important historical contribution, rather than as active theories of learning in experiential education

Is group therapy democratic? Enduring consequences of Outward Bound’s alignment with the Human Potential Movement

Franklin Vernon provided an example of how programs viewing themselves as “cultural islands” are in fact embedded within historical capitalist relations, through the discourses of self that they promote. In this response, I expand on Vernon’s argument to situate the quasi-therapeutic practices he identified in the history of the human potential movement, which effectively merged with Outward Bound starting in the 1960s and continues to define outdoor experiential education. Where Vernon sought the structural referents to different models of self, this response seeks their historical origins. The response concludes by linking Vernon’s argument with existing critiques and parallel efforts in the literature on youth development and identity formation

Non-equilibrium dynamics from few- to many-body systems : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Physics at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

We study different nonequilibrium phenomena of isolated quantum systems ranging from few- to many-body interacting bosons. Firstly, we have suggested the dynamics of the center-of-mass motion to sensitively detect unconverged numerical many-body dynamics in potential with separable quantum motion of the center of mass. As an example, we consider the time evolution of attractive bosons in a homogenous background and use it to benchmark a specific numerical method based on variational multimode expansion of the many-body wave function - the Multicon gurational time-dependent Hartree for bosons (MCTDHB). We demonstrate that the simplified convergence criterion based on a threshold value for the least occupied mode function fails to assure qualitatively correct result while our suggested convergence test based on the center-of-mass motion correctly detects the deviation of numerical results from the exact results. Recent technological progress in manipulating low-entropy quantum states has motivated us to study the phenomenon of interaction blockade in bosonic systems. We propose an experimental protocol to observe the expected bosonic enhancement factor in this blockade regime. Specifically, we suggest the use of an asymmetric double-well potential constructed by superposition of multiple optical tweezer laser beams. Numerical simulations using the MCTDHB method predict that the relevant states and the expected enhancement factor can be observed. In the second half of the thesis, we have investigated the onset of quantum thermalization in a two-level generalization of the Bose-Hubbard dimer. To this end, the relaxation dynamics following a quench is studied using two numerical methods: We study different nonequilibrium phenomena of isolated quantum systems ranging from few- to many-body interacting bosons. Firstly, we have suggested the dynamics of the center-of-mass motion to sensitively detect unconverged numerical many-body dynamics in potential with separable quantum motion of the center of mass. As an example, we consider the time evolution of attractive bosons in a homogenous background and use it to benchmark a specific numerical method based on variational multimode expansion of the many-body wave function - the Multicon gurational time-dependent Hartree for bosons (MCTDHB). We demonstrate that the simplified convergence criterion based on a threshold value for the least occupied mode function fails to assure qualitatively correct result while our suggested convergence test based on the center-of-mass motion correctly detects the deviation of numerical results from the exact results. Recent technological progress in manipulating low-entropy quantum states has motivated us to study the phenomenon of interaction blockade in bosonic systems. We propose an experimental protocol to observe the expected bosonic enhancement factor in this blockade regime. Specifically, we suggest the use of an asymmetric double-well potential constructed by superposition of multiple optical tweezer laser beams. Numerical simulations using the MCTDHB method predict that the relevant states and the expected enhancement factor can be observed. In the second half of the thesis, we have investigated the onset of quantum thermalization in a two-level generalization of the Bose-Hubbard dimer. To this end, the relaxation dynamics following a quench is studied using two numerical methods: (1) full quantum dynamics and (2) semiclassical phase-space method. We rely on arguments based on the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis (ETH), quantum chaos as seen from the distribution of level spacings, and the concept of chaotic eigenstates in demonstrating equilibration dynamics of local observables in the system after an integrability-breaking quench. The same issue on quantum thermalization can be viewed from a different perspective using semiclassical phase-space methods. In particular, we employ the truncated Wigner approximation (TWA) to simulate the quantum dynamics. In this case, we show that the marginal distributions of the individual trajectories which sample the initial Wigner distribution are in good agreement with the corresponding microcanonical distribution

Adopting a Grounded Theory Approach to Cultural-Historical Research: Conflicting Methodologies or Complementary Methods?

Grounded theory has long been regarded as a valuable way to conduct social and educational research. However, recent constructivist and postmodern insights are challenging long-standing assumptions, most notably by suggesting that grounded theory can be flexibly integrated with existing theories. This move hinges on repositioning grounded theory from a methodology with positivist underpinnings to an approach that can be used within different theoretical frameworks. In this article the author reviews this recent transformation of grounded theory, engages in the project of repositioning it as an approach by using cultural historical activity theory as a test case, and outlines several practical methods implied by the joint use of grounded theory as an approach and activity theory as a methodology. One implication is the adoption of a dialectic, as opposed to a constructivist or objectivist, stance toward grounded theory inquiry, a stance that helps move past the problem of emergence versus forcing