A presente pesquisa está situada na interseção dos estudos sobre trabalho colaborativo, argumentação em ensino de ciências e ambientes virtuais de ensino-aprendizagem. Dessa forma, trata da argumentação colaborativa apoiada por computador em aulas de química. Os objetivos contemplam a construção do ambiente virtual de ensino-aprendizagem eduqui.info, o desenho metodológico de atividades didáticas pautadas na resolução de problemas sociocientíficos apresentados no formato de estudos de caso e a elaboração de quadro analítico capaz de permitir a análise dos dados coletados, no sentido de obter respostas às seguintes questões de investigação: Em que medida as atividades didáticas realizadas no eduqui.info favoreceram a prática da argumentação? Qual a qualidade dos argumentos produzidos pelos alunos a partir da realização de tais atividades? Quais aspectos se mostraram mais relevantes e influentes para a qualidade dos argumentos? A pesquisa foi organizada em dois ciclos de planejamento, execução e análise. Na etapa de planejamento foram elaborados os estudos de caso e o eduqui.info. Na etapa de execução, alunos de um curso de bacharelado em química solucionaram os estudos de caso nas diversas fases de atividades. Inicialmente, individualmente construíram um texto e um diagrama argumentativo com as respostas iniciais ao estudo de caso. Em seguida, organizados em duplas ou em trios, discutiram colaborativamente, encontraram uma solução para o caso e produziram um texto a respeito. Por fim, de forma individual, novo texto e diagrama argumentativo foram gerados. Para a terceira etapa, foi produzido um quadro analítico que subsidiou a análise da qualidade das discussões colaborativas na perspectiva da qualidade da produção e complexidade argumentativa e qualidade e diversidade conceitual. As discussões dos grupos que solucionaram quatro estudos de caso foram investigadas com base no referido quadro. Foi verificada a tendência da produção de mais mensagens no Fórum do eduqui.info do que o mínimo exigido na atividade, o que impactou no nível de produção argumentativa. Sobre a estrutura dos argumentos elaborados nas discussões, expressiva quantidade de componentes argumentativos foi empregada, elevando o nível de complexidade argumentativa das discussões. Com relação ao nível de qualidade conceitual, foi preponderante a adequação dos argumentos científicos, tecnológicos e ambientais, construídos à luz de leis e teorias aceitas pela comunidade científica. Foi também possível indicar os textos e os diagramas iniciais como aspectos que influenciaram fortemente a prática e a qualidade da argumentação nos grupos. / This research is located at the intersection of studies regarding collaborative work, argumentation in science teaching and virtual teaching and learning environments. Thus, it addresses collaborative argumentation supported by computing in chemistry lessons. The objectives include: constructing the eduqui.info virtual teaching and learning environment, the methodological design of didactic activities based on solving socioscientific problems presented as case studies and the establishment of an analytical framework which is able to analyse the data collected in terms of obtaining answers to the following research questions: To what extent did the didactic activities carried out in eduqui.info benefit the practice of argumentation? What is the quality of the arguments put forward by students based on the performance of these activities? Which aspects were most important and influential for the quality of the arguments? The research was organized in two phases of planning, execution and analysis. In the planning stage, the case studies and the eduqui.info were developed. In the execution stage, undergraduate chemistry students solved the case studies in the various phases of activities. Initially, they individually constructed a text and an argumentative diagram using the initial responses to the case study. Afterwards, in pairs or groups of three, they discussed collaboratively, found a solution to the case study and produced a text about it. Finally, individually, a new text and argumentative diagram were produced. For the third stage, an analytical framework was made that subsidized the analysis of the quality of the collaborative discussions in the perspective of production quality and argumentative complexity, as well as quality and conceptual diversity. The discussions in the groups that solved four case studies were investigated based on the aforementioned framework. We observed that there was a tendency to produce more messages in the eduqui.info forum than the minimum required in the activity, which affected the level of argumentative production. Regarding the structure of the arguments developed in the discussions, a significant amount of argumentative components was used, raising the level of argumentative complexity of the discussions. Regarding the level of conceptual quality, the adequacy of the scientific, technological and environmental arguments, constructed considering laws and theories accepted by the scientific community, was preponderant. The texts and initial diagrams were also indicated as aspects that strongly influenced the practice and quality of argumentation in the groups.

Submitted by Cássia Santos (cassia.bcufg@gmail.com) on 2014-09-18T11:33:27Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertacao Lidia N de A Carvalhaes.pdf: 4772156 bytes, checksum: 864af8872bad073bb894be333343d911 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2014-09-18T13:04:31Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertacao Lidia N de A Carvalhaes.pdf: 4772156 bytes, checksum: 864af8872bad073bb894be333343d911 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-09-18T13:04:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertacao Lidia N de A Carvalhaes.pdf: 4772156 bytes, checksum: 864af8872bad073bb894be333343d911 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-05-10 / This thesis aims to analyze and understand how the collaboration of pairs of students can cooperate to textual comprehension in English, interpreting the reading strategies and communication used by them to mediate the interaction, in an approach of English for Specific Purposes. The research, based on Vygotsky‟s sociocultural theory and his collaborators, aims to demonstrate that, by working together, participants have the opportunity to interact and can assist each other in understanding the text, allowing the cognitive development that, according to the author, occurs primarily in the interpsychological plan and then is internalized. The ten participants are Técnico em Informática students of Instituto Federal Goiano, Rio Verde Campus, and the discipline of Inglês Técnico is part of this course curriculum. This is a qualitative investigation of three reading tasks in which participants revise together the comprehension of exercises and reconstruct the solution for the proposed questions. At the end of each collaborative task, semi-structured interviews were conducted with students in order to obtain their perceptions of the work developed in pairs. The dialogues produced during the participants‟ interactions were recorded in audio and later transcribed and analyzed. Based on the results, we observed that the students made use of strategies and sociocognitive activities to mediate the interaction. These attitudes underlie the cognitive process, allowing the development of greater autonomy in carrying out the task, and assist in its successful completion, as pointed by Donato and Brooks (1994) and Guerrero and Villamil (1996). We also observed that participants felt more interested and stimulated to perform tasks involving content closer to their academic and professional reality, supporting the principles of English for Specific Purposes that recommend combining the knowledge of the specific area with the target language to suit students‟ needs and also the needs of their education (CELANI, 2009; HUTCHINSON; WATERS, 1987). We can therefore say that, through interaction, learners experienced concrete situations of linguistic practice, realizing that they can learn from each other and becoming aware of their active role in the learning process, which favors the acquisition of FL/L2. Thus, collaboration in learning to read in English, in an English for Specific Purposes approach, constitutes a very fruitful and interesting strategy, because this knowledge is co-constructed, acquired and shared, making it legitimate, highlighting the importance of the social component to teaching and learning, not just of a FL/L2, but also as an essential condition for human cognitive development (VYGOTSKY, 1998). / Esta dissertação tem por objetivo analisar e compreender como a colaboração em pares de alunos pode cooperar para a compreensão textual em língua inglesa, interpretando as estratégias de leitura e a comunicação utilizadas por eles para mediar a interação, numa abordagem de inglês para fins específicos. A pesquisa, fundamentada na teoria sociocultural de Vygotsky e de seus colaboradores, pretende demonstrar que, ao trabalharem em conjunto, os participantes têm a oportunidade de interagir e podem auxiliar uns aos outros no entendimento do texto, possibilitando o desenvolvimento cognitivo que, segundo este autor, ocorre primeiramente no plano interpsicológico e depois se internaliza. Os dez participantes deste estudo são alunos do curso Técnico em Informática do Instituto Federal Goiano, Câmpus Rio Verde, e a disciplina de Inglês Técnico faz parte da matriz curricular deste curso. Trata-se de uma investigação qualitativa em que os participantes revisam juntos a compreensão de textos e reconstroem a solução das questões propostas durante três tarefas de leitura. Ao final de cada tarefa colaborativa, entrevistas semiestruturadas foram realizadas com os alunos na intenção de conhecer as suas percepções sobre o trabalho desenvolvido em duplas. Os diálogos produzidos durante as interações dos participantes foram gravados em áudio e posteriormente transcritos e analisados. Com base nos resultados obtidos, pudemos observar que os alunos fizeram uso de atividades sociocognitivas e de estratégias para mediar a interação, atitudes que dão base ao processo cognitivo, permitindo o desenvolvimento de maior autonomia na realização da tarefa, e ajudam no seu cumprimento bem-sucedido, conforme apontam Brooks e Donato (1994) e Villamil e Guerrero (1996). Observamos também que os participantes sentiram-se mais interessados e estimulados a realizar as tarefas que envolveram conteúdos mais próximos da realidade acadêmica e profissional deles, corroborando os princípios da abordagem instrumental que recomendam aliar os conhecimentos da área específica com a língua-alvo para atender às necessidades dos alunos e de sua formação (CELANI, 2009; HUTCHINSON; WATERS, 1987). Podemos dizer, portanto, que, por meio da interação, os aprendizes vivenciaram situações concretas de prática linguística, percebendo que podem aprender uns com os outros e tomando ciência de seu papel ativo no processo de aprendizagem, o que favorece a aquisição da LE/L2. Dessa forma, a colaboração na aprendizagem de leitura em inglês, numa abordagem instrumental, constituise numa estratégia profícua e bastante interessante, pois esse conhecimento é co-construído, partilhado e adquirido, o que o torna legítimo, destacando a importância do social para o ensino e para a aprendizagem, não só de uma LE/L2, mas também como condição essencial para o desenvolvimento cognitivo do ser humano (VYGOTSKY, 1998).

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T18:22:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Mara Cristina Ferreira Cunha.pdf: 2569391 bytes, checksum: 871548677ccea58979e226be9826a3df (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-10-22 / This work aims to describe and interpret the phenomenon ressignification of the English reading activity of a high school students group in a public school in the city of São Paulo in classes planned with the contribution from these students. The theoretical basis of this research relied on texts about the reading activity (Grellet, 1981/1985; Nuttall, 1982/1985; P. Freire, 1993/2007, Kleiman, 2011, 2012) and collaborative learning (P. Freire, 1970/2010; Magalhães, 2011). This research was conducted in the light of Hermeneutic-Phenomenological Approach (van Manen, 1990; Freire, 1998, 2009, 2010, 2012). Questionnaires, a reflexive reports, reflexive questions, reflexive diaries and field notes are the instruments for text collection. The interpretation of the texts points to three main themes which appear as central in this lived experience: disinterest, interest and challenges, and these themes present subthemes which express the desire to study the English language, resistance to classes based on tasks which are common in public schools, such as translation and grammar, and invest their focus in activities meaningful to their lives, and see the teacher as a partner when she/he gives them voice. Thus, this research aims to contribute to the area of teaching-learning, providing information about this English reading activity as a lived experience held in and through collaboration of the students / Este trabalho tem como objetivo descrever e interpretar o fenômeno ressignificação da atividade de leitura em língua inglesa de um grupo de alunos do ensino médio em uma escola da rede pública estadual na cidade de São Paulo em aulas planejadas a partir da contribuição dos estudantes. A fundamentação teórica dessa pesquisa está baseada em textos sobre a atividade de leitura (Grellet, 1981/1985; Nuttall, 1983/1985; P. Freire, 1993/2007, Kleiman, 2011, 2012) e sobre a aprendizagem colaborativa (P. Freire, 1970/2010; Magalhães, 2011). Esta pesquisa foi realizada à luz da Abordagem Hermenêutico-Fenomenológica (van Manen, 1990; Freire, 2009, 2010). Questionários, um relato reflexivo, questões reflexivas, diários reflexivos e notas de campo foram os instrumentos de coleta de textos. A interpretação dos textos indica que esses alunos expressam o desejo de estudar a língua inglesa, apresentam resistência à trabalhos comuns nas aulas de inglês da escola pública, como por exemplo, a tradução e o estudo calcado na gramática, investem seu foco em atividades cujo sentido é explícito para as suas vidas e veem no professor um parceiro quando este lhes dá voz. Assim, esta pesquisa pretende contribuir para a área de ensino-aprendizagem, fornecendo informações sobre esta atividade de leitura em inglês, como uma experiência vivida, realizada por meio da colaboração dos estudantes

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T14:30:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Monica dos Santos Mandaji.pdf: 3566058 bytes, checksum: 4fa0777859519f0249b64b8e89a12a15 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-05-26 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The current research is connected to the Post-Graduate Program in Education: Curriculum at Catholic University of Sao Paulo (PUC-SP) in the research group New Technologies in Education . This study proposes to analyse the development of the collaboration process in coauthoral works developed in learning management systems. The research aimed to contribute for the evolution of the mark which recognizes the importance of collaboration in processes of teaching and learning in learning management systems through the construction of categories and models for the analysis of collaborative practices. The theoretical concepts were established upon two themes of origin: the concept of collaboration itself, with references, among others, in Amoretti; Simon; Maturana and Varela; Fiorentini; Johnson and Jonhson; and the evolution of communication, the consequent characterization of the information society and the evolution of the Web 2.0 as an effective possibility to use in processes of teaching and learning upon the concepts established by Ausubel; Barbero; Boavida and Ponte; Castells; Cunningham, Schons among others. The research universe was constituted of courses in continuous education and undergraduate distance learning courses, with focus on the following cases: the course Distance Learning and Musical Education developed by the Association of Friends of the Guri Project of the State Department of Culture of São Paulo and the course Culture in the space of diversity, sustainable development and inclusion CEDSI-Pe taught within the undergraduate Pedagogy course of UAB Ufscar Open University of Brazil at Federal University of São Carlos. Its analysis was made through the study of the relations established by the participants in the development of activities of coauthoring. As methodology it was used the bricolage method, since it comprehends an extensive group of possibilities and admits the use of techniques of qualitative and quantitative analysis with an observation directed towards the practices of the individual upon which one aims to break with the reductionism, the idea of installments, the fragmentation and the scientific neutrality of positivist methods, according to Kincheloe and Berry. Identified the repetition of actions in the relationships between individuals in the process of development of coauthoral activities it is possible to evidentiate as main contribution that the development of models for analysis categories may make it easier to accompany this process for teachers and collaboration managers in virtual learning spaces; and that the categorization of relationships makes it possibile for an evolution of the quantitative analysis for its qualification; with that new possibilities are open, such as the development of specialist systems in the field of Artificial Intelligence / A presente investigação está vinculada ao Programa de Pós Graduação em Educação: Currículo da Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC-SP) na linha de pesquisa de Novas Tecnologias em Educação . Este Estudo tem como proposta a análise do desenvolvimento do processo de colaboração em trabalhos de coautoria desenvolvidos em ambientes virtuais de aprendizagem. A pesquisa procurou contribuir para a evolução do marco que reconhece a importância da colaboração em processos de ensino e de aprendizagem em ambientes virtuais por meio da construção de categorias e de matrizes para a análise das práticas colaborativas. Os pressupostos teóricos foram estabelecidos a partir de duas temáticas: o conceito de colaboração, com referências, entre outros, em Amoretti; Simon; Maturana e Varela; Fiorentini; Johnson e Jonhson; e a evolução da comunicação, a consequente caracterização da sociedade da informação e a evolução da Web 2.0 como possibilidade efetiva de utilização nos processos de ensino e de aprendizagem a partir dos conceitos estabelecidos por Ausubel; Barbero; Boavida e Ponte; Castells; Cunningham, Schons entre outros. O universo da pesquisa foi formado por cursos de formação continuada e de graduação a distância, tendo como casos: o curso EaD e Educação Musical desenvolvido pela Associação Amigos do Projeto Guri da Secretaria do Estado da Cultura do Estado de São Paulo e a disciplina A cultura no espaço da diversidade, sustentabilidade e inclusão CEDSI-Pe ministrada junto ao curso de Pedagogia da UAB Ufscar Universidade Aberta do Brasil da Universidade Federal de São Carlos. A análise foi realizada a partir do estudo das relações estabelecidas pelos participantes no desenvolvimento de atividades de coautoria. Como metodologia foi utilizado o método da Bricolagem, pois possibilita um leque de possibilidades e admite o uso de técnicas de análise qualitativa e quantitativa com olhar dirigido as práticas do indivíduo na qual se almeja romper com o reducionismo, o parcelamento, a fragmentação e a neutralidade científica dos métodos positivistas, segundo Kincheloe e Berry. Identificada a recorrência de ações nas relações entre os indivíduos no processo de desenvolvimento de atividades em coautoria destaca-se como contribuição principal que a utilização de matrizes de categorias de análises pode facilitar o acompanhamento desse processo por parte de professores e gestores da colaboração em espaços virtuais de aprendizagem; e que a categorização das relações possibilita uma evolução da análise quantitativa para a qualitativa; com isso são abertas novas possibilidades como o desenvolvimento de sistemas especialistas como apoio à análise dos processos de elaboração de projetos de coautoria

abstract: The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of how collaborative language learning activities affected student perceptions of their engagement and language self-efficacy in a communicative, flipped language learning classroom in higher education. The new online platforms accompanying many textbooks now allow students to prepare for classes ahead of time, allowing instructors to use more class time for student engagement in actual language practices. However, there has been little investigation of the effects of this communicative, flipped classroom model on students’ learning processes and outcomes. This mixed methods action research study revealed that the introduction of varied collaborative language learning activities had a positive impact on students’ self-efficacy and engagement as well as provides implications that will be of value to language educators interested in enhancing their use of the communicative, flipped classroom model. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2019

The use of dispersed (virtual) teams is growing rapidly in the engineering profession. To help prepare students for work in this type of industry, university engineering courses are requiring students to work in teams. Industry leaders and university faculty are interested in improving and measuring the performance of these distributed teams. Surveys, interviews, and observations from the AerosPACE Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering (AerosPACE) capstone design course are examined to demonstrate how different collaboration tools can be used to best enhance a distributed design team's effectiveness. Collaboration tools to which distributed design teams should give extra consideration at different stages of the product development process are identified and presented in a model. Teams that follow this model will be more effective in their communication patterns. This study also consists of examining whether peer ratings can accurately predict team effectiveness (as defined by task and relational effectiveness) within a dispersed multidisciplinary, design team. The hypotheses predict that peer ratings will not be unidimensional over time, and will have a positive, significant relationship with team effectiveness. A longitudinal study was conducted on data gathered form the same capstone design course. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was first used to test unidimensionality of peer ratings and structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to model the data and determine any predictive relationships. Model fit statistics are reported to confirm adequate fit for each model. Results showed that while peer ratings are unidimensional at individual time points, they don't behave equally over time and should be considered separately. The structural equation models yielded mixed results, with some parts of peer ratings significantly predicting relational effectiveness and with yet failing to predict task effectiveness. As such, by examining peer assessments, supervisors and faculty will be able to determine and predict relational effectiveness of teams working at different locations, but should use other methods to predict task effectiveness.

The Australian business environment has been changing at an ever-increasing pace since the mid-1980s. Technological, economic and social changes have altered the working environment. There have been constant technological advances with information technology influencing most categories of work. Organisations in public and private sectors have ongoing expectations of increased productivity, increased quality of processes and swifter responsiveness to clients. Team roles have changed. Team members are multi-skilled and work is designed to emphasise the whole task. The Karpin Industry Task Force described a vision for an Australian business environment that would, by 2014, be one with a flexible, skilled and motivated workforce, world class managers, a customer comes first mentality, and an internationally competitive perspective. These characteristics are congruent with those of learning organisations. The aim of this study is to evaluate the suitability of groupware as the supporting infrastructure for a learning organisation. To do this, the study assesses the use of technology to support personal and team learning in a learning organisation, studies the impact of groupware on learning within workgroups, determines the extent to which communication and learning styles influence its effectiveness, and identifies ways in which groupware can be used to capture the information used to support knowledge management in an organisation. Two case studies are used to undertake this assessment. Three distinct yet related frameworks underpin this study. The first is that of Groupware and the related research frameworks of Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) and Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL). The second is the Learning Organisation and its supporting disciplines. The final framework is that of learning and the action-oriented learning processes. Each is examined and the interrelatedness of the frameworks is explored. The journey to produce this written material has been one of twists and turns, blind alleys and blinding revelations, observation and reflection. My choice of techniques has been eclectic, reflecting the breadth of theoretical material covered.

This thesis investigates the role of technology-use mediation in supporting the work of global virtual teams. The work is set in the context of a longer term action research programme into collaborative computing and global virtual teams, initiated by Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand and Uppsala University in Sweden. Over the period since 1998, global virtual collaborations involving teams of students from both universities have been conducted annually. This thesis investigates the 2004 collaboration cycle, in which participants from St Louis University Missouri joined the collaboration. This was the first triadic collaboration, and covered Northern, Southern and Western aspects of the globe while traversing three widely divergent time-zones. In spite of the extensive experience in collaboration possessed by the coordinators at all three sites, the results of the global virtual trial were at best mixed. This repeated experience of dissatisfaction in our global virtual collaborations, in spite of the technology being in place has been a primary motivator for this work. Why is global virtual collaboration difficult? What roles and activities are critical? How can we do it better? These are not issues solely to do with the student actors in the global virtual teams, but more to do with the supporting cast, engaged in “activities which involve the shaping of other users activities of [technology] use” (Orlikowski et al., 1995, p.425). Thus came about my interest in exploring the topic of technology-use mediation. This thesis applies a research framework adapted from DeSanctis & Poole’s “Adaptive Structuration Theory” (1994) by the author. Initially applied to “facilitation” in virtual teams “Extended Adaptive Structuration Theory (EAST)” (Clear, 1999a), has undergone further development. The resulting research framework “Technology-use Mediated AST (TUMAST)” is applied here for the first time to investigate technology-use mediation activities performed during the global virtual collaborative trial. A corpus of data based on the email communications of supporting parties to the collaboration is analysed in depth in this study, applying a combination of grounded theoretic and structurational techniques. Thus a very rich and firmly grounded picture of the processes of technology-use mediation is built. This thesis represents the first known in-depth longitudinal study of technology-use mediation in a real global virtual team setting. From this exploratory study some novel theorizations have resulted. Methodologically it demonstrates analysis of technology-use mediation applying the TUMAST framework in a manner that captures the richness and evolution over time of these complex activities. Substantively it proposes a novel theory of “Collaborative Technology Fit (CTF)”. It is hoped that future global virtual team coordinators and researchers may apply the theory in order to map their situation, and diagnose their degree of collaborative alignment on multiple dimensions, thus enabling corrective actions to be taken. While the work arises in a tertiary education context, it reflects the reality of professionals at work in a global virtual team. Its application within other domains remains to be proven, but readings from the literature, and personal experience within global virtual software development teams suggest its wider applicability.

This research is aimed at obtaining a better understanding of the impact of the use of collaborative and simulation sessions for learning lean principles and methods. Study participants were enrolled in a Lean Manufacturing System Engineering (IE436/536) course at Oregon State University or at three other business and engineering universities where lean manufacturing or related courses focusing on lean principles and methods were taught, including Oakland University's Pawley Lean Institute, University of Pittsburgh, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Lean principles and methods have been documented as an effective improvement methodology and have been applied by many organizations globally since the late 1970s. With the widespread application and potential benefit of lean principles and methods, several professional centers, engineering schools, and some business schools, have taught lean principles and methods in order to educate and train learners in lean knowledge and skills before and/or after entering the workplace. Non-traditional teaching methods e.g., collaborative learning activities and simulation activities aimed at improving training and teaching have been widely used and have been shown to be successful in some studies (e.g., Verma, 2003; Armstrong, 2003; Nikendei, 2007). Little research, however, has focused on how these non-traditional teaching methods might affect learner perceptions e.g., self-efficacy beliefs and attitudes. The relationship between learning and learner perceptions related to the learning of lean principles and methods when using non-traditional teaching methods is also not well understood. The purpose of this research study was three fold: first, to examine the impact of lean collaborative and simulation sessions on lean learning, self-efficacy beliefs, and attitudes; second, to determine whether or not learner background knowledge had an impact on lean learning, self-efficacy beliefs, or attitudes; and, finally, to explore the relationships between lean learning, self-efficacy beliefs, and attitudes. In the first study, data were collected from students who took IE436/536 Lean Manufacturing Systems Engineering at Oregon State University during the Fall term of 2010 or the Fall term of 2011. In the second study, data were collected from students who enrolled in three other engineering or business schools where lean manufacturing systems or related courses that included content involving lean principles and methods were taught using collaborative and simulation sessions. Data from the first study were used to examine the impact of lean collaborative and simulation sessions on learning, self-efficacy beliefs, and attitudes; data from the second study were used to examine on self-efficacy beliefs and attitudes. Results from the first study point out the importance of the use of collaborative sessions on learning for both lean methods studied (Jidoka and pull); whereas, the use of simulation, following collaborative sessions, provided benefits only to those students learning Jidoka methods. The research revealed that the content plays a role in the effect of the use of collaborative and/or simulation sessions. Overall, analysis of individual self-efficacy beliefs revealed no significant self-efficacy differences after participants engaged in simulation sessions. The results did indicate that there were significant differences in intrinsic goal motivation after participating in simulation sessions. The level of background knowledge demonstrated a mixed effect on learning and on attitudes. The findings showed a significant difference in learning pull only for some students. The level of background knowledge did impact learner intrinsic goal motivation, but did not impact other attitudes. In addition, the results indicated that the type of session and background knowledge impacted learning; whereas, only self-efficacy beliefs was shown to impact learner attitudes. In the second study, the overall research findings show that significant differences in learner extrinsic goal motivation resulted from the use of collaborative and simulation sessions. The findings revealed that the sequencing of the teaching methods influenced learner attitudes and self-efficacy beliefs. For example, significant differences in learner task value were found only when participants participated in simulation sessions first, followed by collaborative sessions. Similarly, the results showed that participants from universities, in which learners participated in collaborative sessions first, followed by simulation sessions, had higher levels of self-efficacy beliefs when compared with participants from a university in which learners participated in simulation sessions first and then collaborative sessions. Taken together, these research findings provide evidence that the use of collaborative and simulation session, as supplemental tools for teaching lean principles and methods, is beneficial. Based on these results lean educators should consider the content areas, the sequence of the use of non-traditional teaching methods, and self-efficacy beliefs as important potential factors in teaching and training lean principles and methods. / Graduation date: 2013

The purpose of this study was to identify indicators of three different types of teaching and learning used within an informal community of practice. Peters and Armstrong’s (1998) article, Collaborative learning: People laboring together to construct knowledge, served as the basis for this case study, which expanded upon the types of teaching and learning as a framework for understanding practitioners’ interactions within communities of practice (CoP). No other research has comparatively examined these three types of teaching and learning, or examined the types of teaching and learning as a framework for understanding interactions within CoPs. Eight members of a CoP group participated in this study over a 10-week period. Data sources consisted of audio taped meetings, discussion board posts, and field notes. Through typological and discourse analysis of the transcripts, five indicators of teaching and learning were identified: engagement, assumptions, influence, questions, and mode of discourse. Each indicator displayed different characteristics across each of the three types of teaching and learning. The results suggest how the types of teaching and learning can be used as a framework for understanding group interactions within CoPs. The indicators provide a practical method for practitioners to identify language behaviors that contribute to these interactions. By identifying these indicators, the researcher contends that practitioners can facilitate themselves and their CoPs with better intention and purpose.