This study was undertaken in conjunction with the Successful Integration of Learning Technologies (SILT) Project in Victorian state schools, and its purpose was to identify the forms of teachers’ professional practice that enhance knowledge building, in order to inform teacher development policy and pre-service education. Knowledge building is based on a constructivist approach to learning and teaching, and this, in conjunction with the spread of learning technologies, is said to have greatly changed the role of the teacher in the classroom: from the expert dispensing knowledge to the facilitator of student learning. (For complete abstract open document)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Texas, Aug., 2007. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (PhD)--Macquarie University, Division of Environmental and Life Science, Dept. of Graduate School of the Environment, 2008. / Bibliography: p. 370-395.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Michigan State University. Dept. of Teacher Education, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on July 23, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 173-182). Also issued in print.

Thesis (PhD) -- Macquarie University, Division of Environmental and Life Sciences, Graduate School of the Environment, 2008. / Typescript. Bibliography: p. 370-395.

Thesis (M. Information Science)--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Summaries in English and Afrikaans. Includes bibliographical references.

The purpose of this thesis was to explore how knowledge gained during taught Masters in Human Resource Management (MSc HRM) programmes was transferred into working organisations, whether knowledge gained from academic study could be transferred if individuals were motivated to transfer and if organisations had a culture that was receptive to transfer. The term knowledge transfer was defined as sharing of information between one individual and another individual or group. This study looked at the perceived value of Human Resource (HR) knowledge within organisational contexts, with a focus on how knowledge flowed and what facilitated or blocked that flow. A ‘two-tailed’ case study approach was taken using a social construction methodology and was applied across three University Centres, utilising students studying on MSc HRM programmes and their respective work organisations, plus Operational Managers within the same geographical boundaries. Data was gathered using qualitative methods and analysed thematically. A key finding of this study was that knowledge gained from MSc HRM programmes is valued within organisational contexts. HR professionals effectively transferred knowledge into their organisational functions and amongst workplace communities and via wider networks, in a homogenous manner. However, the study also found that transfer of knowledge across work boundaries, via heterogeneous workplace communities, was less effective. Individual willingness to transfer knowledge was found, but issues linked to organisational culture such as politics, power and structure was found to influence the extent of knowledge transfer activities. It was evident that in order for knowledge transfer to be effective an organisational culture based on mutual support and understanding was required. If an organisation had a culture focused on Key Performance Indicators (KPI) that reinforce knowledge transfer across team boundaries then heterogeneous workplace communities emerged. Organisations that deliberately focused on knowledge transfer evidenced a greater ability to transfer knowledge across organisational functions; this strategy was beneficial to organisational growth. This study concluded that building on workplace communities and managing a deliberate introduction of heterogeneous workplace communities enabled MSc HRM acquired-knowledge to be transferred cross organisationally. Although this study focused on the transfer of knowledge from MSc HRM programmes the concept behind using workplace communities to transfer and build knowledge could potentially be transferable to other disciplines. Two further areas of research were identified: firstly, action research within University Centres to ascertain the benefit of cross-discipline teaching, secondly, analysis of an organisation with a heterogeneous community design.

The overall aim of the presented work is the enhancement of the student experience through creating conditions where excellent learning can occur both individually and through working in communities of practice. There was a mixed method approach taken within the studies, with a bias towards a more qualitative slant. Each study had an action research focus through the use of small scale case studies of teaching and learning in practice. A criticism of qualitative research and particularly case studies, is in relation to generalisation of the findings. However, case studies in teaching and learning are context specific and explore the activity as it happens and therefore can contribute to the broader picture, through examples but they cannot provide incontrovertible best practice. The work presents two research objectives, the first being an exploration of the ways in which teaching and learning interventions can create conditions to support excellent learning. Within the studies presented in this thesis, the following are key headlines. PDP was found to be a positive addition to the curriculum in particular the activities of goal-setting and reflection. The intensive and bespoke transition programme delivered to the new students facilitated and enhanced student engagement. The module re-design which focused on authentic assessment, engagement, real-world learning and employability enhanced the student skill set. In addition to interventions to support students, the thesis also contains staff development activity. The two articles based on peer review found that, knowing and developing teacher immediacy plays a part in teacher development and can help create better connections with students. Although different each of the articles presents examples which others might find useful in enhancing practice. The second research objective considered how communities of practice for staff and students can support the conditions to enable excellent and purposeful teaching and learning. One of the articles focuses on an organisation set up to support teaching in higher education. It found that a support network can enhance knowledge and experiences and that a community of practice is one way of creating and maintaining groups of staff interested in teaching and learning. The articles on peer review show that this also has value at a more local level where teaching staff felt that by working together they had developed their individual approaches. This did not work for all staff and the study showed that this type of approach to staff development is very personal. Trust, honesty and commitment came out as important factors, which need to be fostered in a community of practice. For the students, working in peer learning groups (PLGs), connecting with each other very early on in their programme and sharing metaphors was found to have value. Learning in a university has been shown to be an isolating experience and working together has merits for both staff and students. This thesis has been based on small scale case studies and has evidenced developments at a local level, which I contend is the only way to change and develop practice. However, from a knowledge and generalisation perspective my research now needs to broaden, to determine cultural and subject differences, as this will make the evidence more compelling across the sector. Two specific areas from this study that would benefit from further research are, PLG groups in different subject contexts and staff working in communities of practice to support teaching and learning.

This research explores the relationship between social identity, artifact style, and communities of practice in the late prehispanic U.S. Southwest, focusing on how domestic, utilitarian objects and contexts both shape and reflect social identities. During the A.D. 1200s and 1300s, large-scale migration and aggregation occurred over much of the U.S. Southwest, bringing diverse individual and community identities into contact and, potentially, conflict. Within this social context, this research focused on clarifying the relationship between social identities and utilitarian objects and domestic contexts, and how this relationship can elucidate the social history of a community. These issues were explored through analysis of corrugated utilitarian pottery from the sites of the Homol’ovi Settlement Cluster (HSC), a community of seven villages in northeastern Arizona occupied from around 1260 through 1400. The social organization of corrugated pottery production in the HSC was approached from several angles. To identify the number and nature of the ceramic manufacturing communities present during the Pueblo IV occupation of the Homol’ovi area, sherds were submitted for instrumental neutron activation analysis and petrographic analysis. The results of the compositional analyses indicate that ceramic production groups in the Homol’ovi area were not primarily distinguished by access to specific raw material resources. What differentiation there is within the raw materials used by Homol’ovi potters appears to have been determined primarily by village, with the residents of a few villages preferring to use specific clay or temper sources. Both locally produced pottery and ceramics imported into the Homol’ovi area were incorporated into a typological and stylistic analysis. This analysis found evidence of two different production styles in the corrugated pottery assemblage. One appears stylistically similar to pottery produced in areas to the north around the Hopi Mesas; the other appears to be more akin to stylistic traditions practiced in the Puerco area and in the Chevelon drainage. This diversity suggests the presence of multiple immigrant communities co-residing within the HSC. This social diversity is not reflected in the decorated ceramic tradition of the HSC, which largely conforms to the ceramic traditions of the Hopi Mesas. Interrogating the disjuncture in the identities embodied through different categories of material culture, used in different social contexts, provides a framework through which to explore the complex social relationships that characterized Pueblo IV villages formed as individuals and communities negotiated the competing forces of integration and differentiation. This study demonstrates the value of approaching identity from multiple scales. If identity is understood as fundamentally multi-faceted and multi-scalar, even seemingly homogeneous cultural units are characterized by social diversity and the tension that accompanies such diversity. The patterns of production visible in utilitarian corrugated pottery provide a nuanced method of clarifying the complex identities of Ancestral Puebloan communities and assessing social connections and differences between groups.

Although multi-agency working isn’t a new concept, the previous Labour government encouraged professionals and services to work collaboratively and in partnership to address issues of social exclusion, poverty and deprivation in order to provide support and interventions to children, young people and their families. As a result, a range of initiatives and programmes under the banner of multi-agency working were developed in health, education and social services aimed at addressing these issues. One such initiative was the development of the multi-agency Behaviour and Education Support Teams (BEST). Previous research into multi-agency working has tended to focus on the structural development of the multi-agency service, including the barriers and benefits to multi-agency working. Less research has been undertaken on the perceptions, experiences and views of the individuals working within those multi-agency teams. Using a grounded theory approach this thesis explores the perceptions and experiences of individuals working in a multi-agency team, considering the impact multi-agency working has had on individual team members, their interactions with one another and selected school staff, co-located within a secondary school. In analysing the data (content analysis, observations and semi-structured interviews) the use of a qualitative research methodological approach has enabled the research to identify an emerging category of professional identity and three properties; roles and responsibilities, knowledge and skills and terminology. Running through the discussion of each of these three properties is the issue of co-location. The research will draw on examples taken from the data to illustrate and to inform throughout. Using Wenger’s (1998) ‘communities of practice’ as a theoretical framework, this research then considers the emerging theme of professional identity and how multi-agency teams and selected school staff negotiate the experience of self [identity]. Finally the research asks and answers the question ‘Is BEST a ‘community of practice’?