A particular interest of distance education researchers is the community of inquiry framework, which was developed for the purpose of taking a closer look at computer mediated communication in educational contexts (Garrison, Anderson, Archer, 2000). However, it is somewhat surprising that although the community of inquiry framework has been developed based on distance education contexts, it does not consider the complexities of the community’s global and local contexts, the potential linguistic demands of the teaching and learning contexts, and how power, agency, and identities are negotiated in these contexts. Through six cases of online instructors teaching in international contexts at the tertiary level, I explored the negotiation of teaching presence as viewed through the lens of cultural historical activity theory (Engeström, 1999, 2001). In this view, instructors are engaged in a dynamic process in which teaching presence is shaped through the mediating components of the activity system. This multi-case study employed cross case analysis drawing on data from interviews with students, program coordinators, and instructors, in addition to analyses of discussion forum transcripts, course documents, formative evaluations, student and instructor reflections, and researcher-participant observations. The linguistic challenges faced by both instructor and students for whom the language of instruction was a second or third language and instructors’ sociocultural identities, positioning, and conceptualization of the online interaction spaces were found to be important mediators in the negotiation of teaching presence.

This research focused on the question, How do practitioners understand the transfer of competence (that is, what do they know and can do) accross different workplace contexts and how does it influence their practice? The research investigates the experiences and perceptions of 108 workers, who have changed jobs or whose jobs have changed, as to how they were able to adapt what they knew and could do at the time. The research is phenomological, using a methodology designed to collect and analyse data from the participants without decontextualising it. The methodology is customised and contextualised and uses activity theory, Engestrom's theory of expansive learning, grounded theory and discourse analysis to interrogate the research question. The collection of data occurred over a period of five years and was in two stages, with the second stage validating and building on the first stage. Minimally structured interviews and a questionnare were the main data collec tion tools used. Some descriptive statistics have been used but the research is qualitative in intent. The research draws on current theoretical positions of learning, transfer, experimental learning, workplace learning, activity theory, qualitative research and reflection on experience. The thesis has been written to foreground the voices of the participants and the insights their experience brings to the research. The research addresses a current gap in research work, carried out in Australia or overseas, which focuses on the transfer of competence across workplaces. The outcomes provide new perspectives on the ways in which practitioners understand transfer and integrate these interpretations into their generalisation without decontextualisation, and thus makes a contribution to our collective knowledge and understanding. The outcomes of the research are a metaphoric framework to guide the transfer of competence over different work contexts; a record of the application of new understandings of transfer as a sequence of consequential transitions (Beach 1999); generalisations derived from the embedding of contexts (Van Oers 1998); and an innovative research methodology. In addition, the participants have provided their perspectives on the preperation of, and on-going support for, people entering or crossing workplace contexts, and the consequential, necessary changes to institutional learning.

<p>I denna rapport tas ett problem till sjöss upp, nämligen alkohol. Alkoholgränsen i ‰ (promille) på sjön går vid 1,0 ‰ och med bil går gränsen vid 0,2 ‰. Detta ämne är aktuellt då det figurerat tv-program såsom Kustbevakarna som visat hur alkoholpåverkade människor tagits om hand av Kustbevakningens personal (www.kanal5.se). Med detta i åtanke ges här ett designförslag på en alkolåsmodul att ha i fritidsbåtar. Modulen ska vara enkel att använda och inte vara till belastning. Meningen med alkolåset är att förhindra att alkoholpåverkade människor ska kunna skadar sig själva eller någon i sin omgivning på grund av ouppmärksamhet eller vårdslöshet. Alla ombord borde ha sin egen uppgift för att harmonin ”Happy Ship” (”glatt skepp”) ska infinna sig.</p><p>Studien om alkolåsmodulen innefattar enkäter och intervjuer med användare för att få en så oberoende syn på både design och funktion som möjligt. Till vår hjälp hade vi ett teoretiskt ramverk som kallas Aktivitetsteori (AT).</p><p>Resultatet blev ett designförslag på ett alkolås kombinerat med förarintyg. Förarintyget sätts i alkolåsmodulens kortläsare och ska sitta där under hela resans gång. Detta designförslag kan ge bättre förutsättningar för en säkrare sjöfart då föraren måste blåsa i alkolåset, samt inneha ett giltigt förarintyg för att få klartecken att starta båten. Har föraren alkohol i utandingen kommer farten regleras med hänsyn till vilken promillehalt föraren hade. Försäkringspremien kan också komma att antingen sänkas, om inloggningarna varit utan alkohol, eller höjas om inloggningar visar att alkohol funnits i utandningen eller ej. Denna premieåtgärd gjordes för att båten vid extrema väderförhållanden eller vid eventuell olycka, måste kunna flyttas. Till alkolåsmodulen gavs också ett förslag på hur inloggningen kom att fungera med sina olika rutor i administrationen.</p> / <p>In this report we address a problem at sea, namely alcohol. The limit at sea measured in ‰ (permille) is at 1,0 ‰ but in a car the limit is 0,2 ‰. This topic is relevant and it has also been brought up in a TV-show that showed people under the influence of alcohol being taken care of by the coastguard (www.kanal5.se). With this in mind we're presenting a design proposal of an alcolock module to install in pleasure boats. The module should be simple to use and not to be seen as a burden. The purpose of this alcolock is to prevent people under the influence of alcohol from hurting themselves or others in their environment due to inattention or recklessness. Everyone onboard should have their own assignments to create the harmony of “Happy Ship”.</p><p>The study of the alcolock module consists of surveys and interviews with the users to get as close to an independent view as possible regarding design and function, without our influence. To aid us, we used a theoretic framework called Activity Theory (AT).</p><p>The result was a design proposal of an alcolock combined with a drivers license. The drivers license is inserted in the card reader of the alcolock module and will remain there for the duration of the trip.</p><p>This design proposal might result in a safer environment at sea, since the operator has to breathe in the alcolock, and possess a valid drivers licence to be able to start the boat. If the operator has alcohol on his/her breath the speed will be reduced with consideration of the amount of alcohol. The insurance policy might also either be reduced or increased, depending on if there were alcohol on the operators breath or not. The reason for this is that the boat has to be movable in case of bad weather or an accident. There was also a suggestion to how the log on process would work with the different administrational pages.</p>

abstract: Accounts in the media often demonize teachers and misrepresent what is happening in schools. Meanwhile, teachers' voices are largely absent from the national and international debates on school reform. This dissertation privileges the voices of nine participating Kindergarten through second grade teachers from a variety of public schools, including affluent schools and schools receiving full and partial Title I funding. Through observations and interviews teachers shared their narratives of classroom joys and challenges while also describing how policy has affected these experiences. A preliminary discourse analysis of these narratives was performed, identifying narratives related to nodes of the activity system of schooling. Further discourse analysis of these identified narratives revealed how these teachers' classroom experiences position them within an activity system strongly influenced by tensions between maternal relationships and the patriarchal project of schooling. A critical feminist theoretical perspective is utilized to respond to these tensions and to describe possibilities for future studies in education and the future of education in general. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Curriculum and Instruction 2011

The purpose of this study was to examine students' experiences and perceptions of multiple interaction activities (self-directed, peer, and teacher feedback) implemented in a large multilevel EFL writing class in one private technological university in the southern part of Taiwan. Large size writing classes, quite common in private institutions of higher education in Taiwan, cannot be effectively operated to meet individual students' needs in improving their writing performance. Low achievers have difficulties in keeping up with competent writers in learning writing skills while advanced students complain of their learning too little from the class. This research, based on the activity system model proposed by Engestrom (1987), was a case study in which interviewing student participants, observing classroom activities, audiotaping peer response sessions, and examining students' drafts and feedback sheets were the methods to collect data. The qualitative software, ATLAS.ti, was employed to analyze interview and peer response data according to the code lists developed for this purpose. A rubric was developed to examine the changes students made after having incorporated the three types of feedback into their drafts. Major findings indicated that intermediate and low achievers, though making more efforts in conducting self-directed feedback, felt unsatisfied with this activity while high achievers, investing less energy and time, gave more positive opinions to this activity. However, intermediate and low achievers gave a higher percentage of satisfaction to peer response activities than high achievers because the former could obtain more constructive peer feedback than the latter. In addition, all students were in favor of modified teacher feedback but gave negative opinions to traditional teacher feedback. On the whole, intermediate and low achievers, based on their preference, ranked teacher feedback the most important, then peer feedback and finally self-directed feedback whereas high achievers placed teacher feedback first, self-directed feedback second, and peer feedback last. Student writers' responses to each type of feedback were closely related to the amount of constructive comments they received. The more helpful suggestions they obtained, the more positive opinions they gave to a certain type of feedback. In the end of the study, recommendations were made for curriculum designers, classroom practitioners, and further studies.

This essay analyses eight different individuals perspectives on diversity in order to find knowledge about how a positive diversity work can be done. To achieve this purpose, the following question will be answered: What promotes diversity work according to informants with special expertise in the field? What tools are there that can promote and make use of diversity in different areas? The study is a qualitative study based on interviews where a deductive analysis approach, inspired from the Thematic analysis model created by Braun and Clarke was adopted. A theoretical analysis tool was created based on the third generation of Activity theory - which is based on the theories of Vygotsky, Leontyev and Engeström, as well as the Zone of proximal development and the theory of Expansive Learning. The result of the analysis of the interviewees interviews stories where placed in Engeströms third generation Activity theory. In the analysis of the result we found that there were a variety of factors that could be used to promote diversity work and that there were many tools used to promote diversity. In the interviews we found factors and tools in the form of: anonymization, competence-based recruitment, norm criticism, diversity analysis, intersectionality, separatism, representation, inclusion analysis and transparency. In addition to the above, a parallel learning process emerged: the embryo of a fourth generation Activity theory - the zone of expansive development. / Denna uppsats analyserar åtta individers perspektiv på mångfald med syfte att finna kunskaper om hur ett positivt mångfaldsarbete kan bedrivas. För att uppnå detta syfte kommer följande frågeställning att besvaras: Vad främjar mångfaldsarbete enligt informanter med särskild sakkunskap av mångfald? Vilka redskap kan främja och tillvarata mångfalden inom olika områden? Studien är en kvalitativ studie, baserad på intervjuer där en deduktiv analysansats med inspiration från Braun och Clarkes tematiska analysmodell, antogs. Ett teoretiskt analysverktyg skapades utifrån tre generationers verksamhetsteori. Dessa tre generationer av verksamhetsteorin tar sin grund i Vygotskijs, Leontyevs och Engeströms teorier samt i idéerna om den proximala utvecklingszonen och det expansiva lärandet. Resultatet från analysen av informanternas intervjuer placeras in i Engeströms tredje generations verksamhetsteori. Vi fann vid analysen av resultatet att en mängd olika faktorer används för att främja mångfaldsarbete samt att många redskap används för att främja mångfalden. Följande faktorer och redskap var centrala: anonymisering, kompetensbaserade rekryteringar, normkritik, mångfaldsanalys, kunskap kring intersektionalitet, separatism, representation, inkluderingsanalys och transparens. Utöver nämnda resultat framkom en parallell lärandeprocess: embryot av en fjärde generationens verksamhetsteori – den expansiva utvecklingszonen.

M-learning (mobile learning) é o campo de pesquisa que investiga como os dispositivos móveis podem contribuir para a aprendizagem. Na presente tese é proposto o M-learnMat, um modelo pedagógico para atividades de m-learning em Matemática. O mesmo tem por objetivo orientar práticas educativas que envolvam o uso (não exclusivo) de dispositivos móveis no Ensino Superior e é fundamentado na Teoria da Atividade. Nessa teoria, o foco está nas atividades que os indivíduos desenvolvem e nas relações diversas que decorrem destas. Assim, o modelo tem seu diferencial no fato de relacionar m-learning, Matemática do Ensino Superior e Teoria da Atividade, visando contribuir para a organização, desenvolvimento e análise de atividades pedagógicas. Para a elaboração do M-learnMat, além da revisão bibliográfica, foi realizada uma pesquisa exploratória e um estudo de caso piloto. Essas ações forneceram dados que permitiram compreender melhor algumas questões relacionadas ao uso educacional de celulares. Para a experimentação do modelo foram organizados dois estudos de caso com alunos do Ensino Superior. Os mesmos ocorreram durante o primeiro semestre letivo de 2011, na disciplina de Cálculo I, com utilização dos celulares dos próprios alunos. Para a coleta e análise dos dados foi promovida uma pesquisa mista, envolvendo abordagens qualitativas e quantitativas, em função das características dos dados. A experimentação sinalizou que o M-learnMat tem potencial para orientar as atividades a que se destina, colaborando para que as mesmas sejam desenvolvidas segundo estratégias definidas. / M-learning (mobile learning) is a field of research that investigates how mobile devices can contribute to learning. This thesis presents M-learnMat, a pedagogical model for m-learning Math activities. This model, developed with support of the Activity Theory, aims at orienting educational practices that involve the use (non-exclusive) of mobile devices in graduation courses. The Activity Theory focuses on the activities developed by individuals and in the various relationships resulting from them. Thus, the model is distinctive as it comprises m-learning, Mathematics and the Activity Theory with the purpose of contributing to the organization, development and analysis of pedagogical activities. Besides the literature review, the development of M-learnMat included exploratory research and a pilot case study. These actions provided data that allowed for a better understanding of some issues related to the educational use of cell phones. For model experimentation, two case studies were carried with college level students. These took place in the first semester of 2011, in Calculus I, in which students used their cell phones. For data collection, a mixed methods research (quantitative and qualitative) was used due to the characteristics of the data. The experimentation indicated that M-learnMat has the potential to guide activities, and collaborate for their application according to defined strategies.

Esta tese teve como objetivo compreender a formação de parcerias sociais entre empresas e ONGs para a construção de projetos de desenvolvimento social de cooperativas e associações no setor da reciclagem. Para tanto, foram investigados dois casos de parcerias entre ONGs e Empresas que buscaram desenvolver projetos para a melhoria das condições de trabalho dos recicladores. Devido à natureza conflitante destes atores, a parceria social foi entendida é entendida como uma rede de atividades interconectadas, construídas coletivamente, em um espaço de tensão e contradição. Essa construção coletiva é compreendida como uma elaboração conjunta de um projeto de desenvolvimento social, em que os parceiros discutem, aprendem e negociam sentidos e significados visando a construção de um coletivo. Este entendimento remete a utilização de uma abordagem que possibilite a compreensão das tensões e contradições imersas nas atividades dos atores e, neste sentido, a teoria da atividade histórico cultural foi utilizada como lente teórico metodológica, principalmente em sua articulação com o campo de estudos negócios e sociedade. Diante deste contexto, desenvolveu-se uma pesquisa qualitativa, descritiva, por meio de dois estudos de caso. O primeiro caso refere-se ao projeto desenvolvido entre a ONG e a Gerdau, a partir do interesse da empresa em qualificar o seu fornecedor de sucata, bem como usar tal ação de qualificação como uma iniciativa de responsabilidade social em sua cadeia de suprimentos. Os principais mediadores deste processo foram o conhecimento da ONG, seus educadores sociais, o conhecimento gerencial da empresa, seus recursos financeiros, bem como artefatos de identificação. O segundo caso estudado relata o relacionamento ONG e Braskem. Este relacionamento emerge da necessidade da empresa em obter uma licença de operação na sociedade em que esta inserida. Assim a intenção da empresa é legitimar a sua presença e existência na sociedade e isto é realizado através do reforço da utilidade do seu produto. Os instrumentos que são utilizados na parceria buscam assim a melhoria da imagem do produto, bem como da sua imagem como uma empresa ―local‖: artefatos de identificação e discursivos. E tendo como norte esta necessidade latente, o diálogo entre empresa e ONGs se torna um dos principais mediadores do processo, bem como uma divisão do trabalho que reflita esta parceria e proximidade. Ainda, a fim de compreender a dinâmica subjacente ao processo de desenvolvimento destes projetos, este estudo lançou o olhar para os desafios de aprendizagem vivenciados pelos atores. No primeiro caso, foram evidenciados como desafios de aprendizagem (i) necessidade de mudança em direção a uma maior organização do trabalho (ii) ressignificação do trabalho e; (iii) necessidade de desenvolver um instrumento de trabalho que fosse condizente à realidade dos cooperados. Por outro lado, os desafios de aprendizagem relacionados ao segundo caso referem-se ao (i) relacionamento ONG-Empresa e na sua forma de operacionalização; (ii) escolha dos projetos devem ser apoiados, ou, em outras palavras, quais os stakeholders que irão ser considerados na comunidade. É importante notar que o fato dos desafios de aprendizagem e, consequentemente, das transformações obtidas mediante as consecução destes, terem residido, no Caso A, na cooperativa e, no Caso B, no relacionamento, reflete as características idiossincráticas destas organizações e o que ambas buscavam com a parceria. / How to construct fruitful relations with different stakeholders represents a challenge for organizations and a gap in the academic literature. One way to do this is through partnership establishment, especially in between companies and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO). Through partnerships, organizations could develop their own CSR‘s practices. On the other hand, NGOs could exercise their social role, in order to help community development. This study aims to understand how cross sectorial social partnerships for social development projects, whose purpose is to improve the working conditions and business structure of recycling warehouses, are constructed in the recycling sector, in the South Region of Brazil. In order to do so, two business-NGOs partnership cases were investigated. Given the actors contradictory nature, social partnerships were understood as a network of interconnected activity systems, in a social space of tension, contradiction and negotiation among actors in relation with each other and to the world, immersed in a historical and cultural context, from a culturally mediated relationship. The argument put forward is that the Cultural Historical Activity Theory can serve as a theoretical framework and provide a suitable model to analyse cross-sector social partnerships construction. Supported by the theoretical perspectives outlined above, we rely on a qualitative, descriptive research, by using a case study method. We carry on two case studies, in order to understand the projects development by a single NGO with two company leaders in each sector. The first case analyses Gerdau S.A. and its trajectory in the recycling sector. Gerdau S.A. seeks to engage with the NGO aiming to qualify recycling warehouses, as they are one of the suppliers, and to comply with their CSR agenda. The main artifacts used by the actors are NGO‘s knowledge and expertise, company managerial knowledge, and Identity Artifacts (company logo). The second case refers to NGO-Braskem relationship, which emerges from the company‘s need to get social license to operate in the region. So, the company intends to legitimate its existence in the society through gains in their product‘s image. Most of the artifacts are used by the actors to achieve this goal, such as Identity Artifacts (company and NGO logo), and Discursive Artifacts, in order to embody ―local identity‖ to the company. Given this context, the dialogue between Braskem and the NGO is one of these artifacts, as well as labor division, which reflects the relationship and proximity. In order to understand the dynamics that underlies the project construction, this study also investigated the learning challenges experienced by the NGO and the companies. The main learning challenges experienced by the partnership NGO-Gerdau are: (i) change through better work organization and structuration; (ii) work meaning ressignification; (iii) development of a work tool that fits to the warehouses reality. On the other hand, the learning challenges experienced by the partnership NGO-Braskem are: (i) the partnership between the actors and its operationalization; (ii) the choice between warehouses that will be supported, or, in other words, which stakeholders will be included in the community.

The aim of this research study was to critically appraise the innovation model in relation to teacher development for ICT use in classroom practice associated with the Strengthening Innovative Practice in Secondary Education (SIPSE) project conducted in Kenya secondary schools. The model integrated an ICT Competency Framework for Teachers (ICT-CFT) and a Technology Pedagogy and Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework into a phased modular approach for teacher professional development. The research addressed key questions related to: the object of ICT use as perceived by head teachers and teachers; and the characteristics of teacher design for ICT use in STEM teaching and learning as evidenced in classroom activities at different stages of their professional learning journey. The study used a qualitative design based research (DBR) methodology that was enhanced with the use of a ‘TPACKtivity’ lens combining TPACK and Activity Theory (AT) to explore, explicate and communicate the findings. The study was conducted with a purposive sample of twenty-four teachers, four head teachers and four schools drawn from the wider SIPSE programme intervention. The qualitative research methods included interviews and focus group discussions. Data were also drawn from documentation of lesson plans and peer-to-peer lesson observations. The findings presented participant accounts of tensions and dissonances with the introduction of technology into their school and classroom practices that reflected similar issues in the literature. However, the findings elucidated some unexpected teacher design narratives for technology use to support and innovate STEM teaching and learning. They further revealed the importance of classroom processes as the centre stage for fostering teacher collective design conversations for ICT use solutions. In this the research contributes to the current discourse by offering a TPACKtivity framework centred on authentic classroom settings as a basis for developing and appraising models of professional development for ICT use that can inform practice, policy and research.

This study aims to create an understanding of how assisting nurses within the Elderly care perceive their fundamental conditions for learning during their job execution. More specifically the ambition of the study is, based upon the activity theorys´ stance, to reveal further knowledge of how these employees perceive their opportunities and barriers for learning in their everyday work. Two questions was formed in order to investigate this purpose further; “What obstacles do assisting nurses within the Elderly care perceive hinders them from learning in their everyday work ? and “What supporting functions do assisting nurses within the Elderly care perceive support their learning in everyday work?”. The study is based on a qualitative method, using eight semi-structured interviews with assisting nurses working at six different senior care departments at three retirement homes. By the use of the activity theory the collected empirical data has been interpreted and analyzed. The results showed that assisting nurses learning conditions is shaped as result of various interacting and multidimensional variables, which parallelly can act as hinders as well as supporting functions for learning. Based upon the results given we argue that the most important variables can be summarized as communication and close work with colleagues. These variables may contribute to further learnings, as long as the college in question possesses the relevant communicative tools, education and experience. Under these conditions the colleague can act as an supporting function to the assisting nurses´further learning. However if the colleague does not possess the relevant education, experience or communicative tools the learning becomes inhibited and acts as a barrier for further learning. Based upon the results given it also became clear that these conditions were related to and seems to be a result of all the activities within the activity system - the workplace.