<p>The research presented in this thesis investigates the concept of sustainability in relation to mobile learning initiatives. Sustainability is seen as a key concept for mobile learning to gain acceptance. In linking sustainability to scalability, a term used to describe how well something can grow to suit an increasing complexity, a representation of this process is provided. In this thesis, this process is called ``the quest for equilibrium.''</p><p>A study was conducted of an actual mobile learning initiative that involved introducing podcasts as a supplement to traditional lectures in higher education. In following this initiative, thorough data gathering was conducted, utilizing the process of iterative cycles that characterizes the action research approach. In accordance, a literature survey was conducted, whereby leading publications in mobile learning were classified and analyzed according to the following criteria: Reflections, Frameworks, Scalability, and Sustainability.</p><p>As the mobile learning system evolved from idea to an actual empirical study, trying to understand this process became important. The insights gained during this research were used to develop a conceptual model that is based on the notion that the two concepts of Scalability and Sustainability can be linked to each other.</p><p>This conceptual model is presented describing how a mobile learning system evolves, from Idea, to Experiment, to Project, to Release. Further, each of the stages in this evolution is described by using four areas of concern: Technology, Learning, Social, and Organization.</p><p>Using the experience from a specific mobile learning initiative to define a conceptual model that then is used to describe the same initiative, was a way to bring together practice, theory, and research, thus provide reliable evidence for the model itself.</p><p>The conceptual model can serve as a thinking tool for mobile learning practitioners, to help address the complexity involved when undertaking new efforts and initiatives in this field.</p>

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Central Florida, 2009. / Adviser: Enrique Ortiz. Includes bibliographical references (p. 107-110).

Thesis (MA (Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Sydney, 2009. / A thesis presented to the University of Western Sydney, College of Health and Science, School of Engineering, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Includes bibliographies.

The purpose of this study was to explore Photovoice methodology, a relatively new and increasingly popular form of Participatory Action Research (PAR). Photovoice was examined in order to determine whether or not it might assist art educators in expanding access to the arts for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Photovoice has been used in a variety of fields to address a broad range of issues, however, few Photovoice projects have been conducted to investigate topics in art education. This study centered on the following questions: “What are the potential benefits of Photovoice?” and “How might Photovoice assist in the development of a more accessible art education program for people with autism?” For this study, I interviewed four individuals who had conceptualized, organized, and/or facilitated one or more Photovoice projects. Each was asked to discuss their research background as well as describe their interests and experience conducting Photovoice. Using content analysis to identify predominant themes encoded in the interview data, I compiled a set of codes and categories in order to highlight the most salient features of Photovoice from the perspective of the Participants. This data was then compared to “best practices” in art education. “Best practices” establish guidelines for the education of students with disabilities, including students with ASD. Analysis of the interview and “best practices” data revealed four themes: (a) The importance of planning and organization,(b) factoring in technical issues, (c) structuring participation, and (d) therapy vs. empowerment. Through the evaluation of these four themes, I formulated several key assertions to support the claim that Photovoice will not likely be incorporated into the “best practices” curriculum. However, Photovoice may still have a place in the art classroom as a means to inform and enrich practice on a small scale. / text

Aphasia impairs using and understanding language, and thus impacts on communication, identity and relationships. However, little research has investigated how people with aphasia understand friends and friendship. This Participatory Action Research (PAR) study explored how younger adults with aphasia experience friendship. Participants were 28 people with aphasia, some of whom were members of the Research Group. Data from 12 initial interviews in Phase 1 of the study led to a model of friendship and aphasia. This underpinned development of peer-led Friendship Events in Phase 2 of the study, after which 16 additional participants with aphasia were interviewed, contributing to elaboration of the model. Within the context of living with aphasia, which was central for all participants, eight inter-connected themes emerged. Friends could be anchors in a time of change and trusted stabilising influences while reconfiguring identity. Participants described the hard work of friendship, the place of communication in supporting friendship, and the challenge of equality within post-aphasia friendships. Time, humour and two-way flexibility were crucial in developing new kinds of friendship. Participants categorised a wide variety of relationships as friendship. These findings elucidate understandings of friendship loss and change as well as strategies to maintain friendship post-onset of aphasia. The study sheds new light on social connectedness and social support provided by friends, family and peers with aphasia. It emphasises the role of friendship in reconfiguring identity, and offers practical recommendations for harnessing the benefits of friends and friendship in life with aphasia. PAR methodology facilitated creation of accessible tools to support conversations and awareness-raising about friendship. The study highlights the strengths of relational methods for researching friendship and the transformative potential of doing PAR with marginalised groups such as people with aphasia.

This action research project focuses on teaching life cycle assessment to engineering students in high school, using biofuels as a relevant application. The study examined the effectiveness of teaching methods related to both the engineering content—life cycle assessment—and the science content—biofuel production. It also examined underlying conceptions that students have about the preferability of some common consumer products from an environmental perspective, as well as their knowledge of ethanol compared to gasoline. The participants in the study consisted of sixteen college students enrolled in an Engineering Energy Systems course while pursuing either an undergraduate or graduate degree related to teaching engineering and science at the secondary level. The students participated in lessons written for a high school engineering science course currently under development in the UTeach Engineering program at The University of Texas at Austin. Data were collected from a pre- and post-unit assessment, observation of student activities and behaviors, and a participant survey. The results of the study suggest that student understanding of the environmental implications of products or processes is deeper after completion of the unit. The study also shows a positive relationship between hands-on sense-building activities and student engagement. As an action research project, the primary goal is the immediate improvement of teaching to increase learning in the classroom. Modifications to the unit and lesson design have been made based on the results of the study in preparation for using the unit with high school students in the following school year. / text

Playing is a common part of children’s leisure time, and with children spending an increasing amount of this time in school-age childcare, in both Sweden and England, staff have the responsibility to facilitate play. The way play is conceptualised by staff may lead to different aspects of play being facilitated. These play practices are enabled and constrained by the arrangements of what this dissertation calls the school’s play practice architecture, i.e. where play practices are intertwined with a school’s practice architecture. The aim of the research was to explore how staff talked about play and how to facilitate it, how concepts of play contributed to different play practices and how it might be possible to transform play practice architectures. The research draws on conversations with staff in school-age childcare settings in two Swedish and one English school during an action research project. Just as action research was used to disturb and change practice in order to understand it, concepts from Deleuze and Guattari’s philosophy (1980/2004) were put to work to disturb taken-for-granted concepts of play in order to explore how play works. Article I explores what the staff talked about in relation to play and its facilitation. The conclusion is that the ability of staff to interpret children’s play as children exploring their agency is crucial when facilitating play in a learning institution. Article II examines some discursive orders about play in school-age childcare and goes beyond them by conceptualising playing as becoming-different. The article argues that when foregrounding play, staff recognised children and themselves as becoming-players. Article III investigates how to think practice as constant change. For any practice, planning is required, and yet the unexpected keeps happening. When playing was conceptualised as a “What If? As If” approach, which allowed for potentialities to become actualised, then this approach was also useful as an approach in practice. The analysis suggests that when engaging in a playing practice, practitioners develop new knowledge and simultaneously change social situations. The practice of playing, whether intentional or unintentional, can not only disturb but also transform play practice architectures. The practice of playing is sensitised to the disturbances caused by playing and also puts itself “in play”. This opens up for a continuous de- and reterritorialisation of play and playing in school-age childcare practice.

In this qualitative, action research study, I aimed to improve my teaching practices in my seventh grade drama classroom. I conducted the study by implementing a monologue unit plan I had used in the past adapted for this study. My emphases for the study were the promotion of creativity, the identification of drama and theatre elements, and the transformation in understanding. Data was gathered from students in my class, a third eye observer, and me. Notation, description, sources for analysis, and questioning procedures were used to survey the data by looking for patterns, coding the responses, and generating findings that satisfied the research questions. I discovered that imagination is supported in my classroom but that I need to develop better strategies to show how dramatic skills affect the daily lives of students and the importance of empathy for this class as well as the others I teach.

A qualitative study using an action research methodology was conducted to observe what value a national community of practice (CoP) had for the resiliency of Canada's geographically dispersed, non-profit, environmental education (EE) network leaders. Research suggests that North America's non-profit sector faces a looming leadership crisis as its executive leaders are subjected to escalating anxiety, burnout, and feelings of isolation (Cornelius, Moyers, & Bell, 2011). Peer support networks, alternately known as a CoP, have been proposed as a potential means of sustaining such beleaguered executives. This research reveals that Canadian EE leaders found value in a CoP as a forum for networking and relationship building, as a medium for professional development, and as a source of support and inspiration. This thesis recommends the establishment of a national CoP for Canada's EE network leaders and outlines recommendations to inform the creation of such a community.