Student motivation has long been a concern of mathematics educators. Here, I characterize motivation, defined as an individual's desire to act in particular ways, through analysis of students' extended, collaborative problem solving efforts. Grounded in a longitudinal research project in calculus learning and teaching, Contextualized Motivation Theory (CMT) offers a means for understanding the complexities of student motivations in mathematics learning. Students in this study chose to act upon various intellectual-mathematical motivations and social-personal motivations, existing simultaneously, within a supporting "web" of motivations. Students exhibited intellectual passion in persisting beyond obtaining correct answers to build understandings of mathematical ideas. CMT positions personal agency as the active power in intellectual passion, foregrounds mathematical need as a kernel of students' problem solving industry, characterizes the social nature of motivation, and encompasses conceptually driven conditions that foster student engagement in mathematics learning.

Handheld device users want to work collaboratively on large wall-sized displays with other handheld device users. However, no software frameworks exist to support this type of collaborative activity. This thesis introduces a collaborative application framework that allows users to collaborate with each other across handheld devices and large wall displays. The framework is comprised of a data storage system and a set of generic interactive techniques that can be utilized by applications. The data synchronization system allows data to be synchronized across multiple handheld devices and wall displays. The interactive techniques enable users to create data items and to form relationships between those data items. The framework is evaluated by creating two sample applications and by conducting a set of user study interactive tasks. The data recorded from these evaluations shows that the framework is easy to extend, and that with minimal training, the generic interactive techniques are easy to learn and effective.

With the increasing ubiquity of smartphones, tablets, and large pixel-rich displays, there are many exciting new possibilities for using these devices for collaborative work. While there already exist hardware and software that support communication and interaction between mobile devices and shared displays, application sharing in these scenarios is still limited and inflexible. We present a new method of application sharing which allows collaborators to download clips or snapshots of each other's applications. These snapshots can be used to re-launch and resume the shared application back to the state it was in when it was shared. We have built a system that supports sharing, annotating, organizing, and downloading these applications to and from a LearnSpace server. We have built an application framework which allows Android applications to be built for this system while only requiring minimal changes to the program. We also describe solutions for extending our solution to new types of collaborative displays and to other application platforms.

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A lot of time in school consists of verbal communication. That may result in stress and loneliness for students who stutter. Many schools neither have staff with knowledge about stuttering nor about how to meet the needs of these students. Without this knowledge teachers do not know how to create a good learning environment in relation to stuttering. We need to find out about the hinders that both students and teachers might encounter, as well as the possibilities, in order to find out about what a suitable pedagogy might look like when it comes to stuttering.The aim of the study is to reach knowledge about how schools proactively can offer a learning environment that makes it easier for students who stutter, both educationally and socially.To get a picture of the problem area the following questions were asked:1) What experiences do students and teachers have about possibilities and hinders that students who stutter meet in school?2) What do students and teachers think a suitable learning environment in relation to stuttering would look like?The theories used in the study consists of relational perspectives between the individual and the surrounding environment. Focus is set on relations with other people, but also on relations between the individual and the surrounding environment itself. Interpersonal treatment, collaboration and communication are included in the study, as well as theories about stuttering.The study is a mixed methods study and was carried out using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Interviews and questionnaires were used and data were collected from two different groups; students and teachers.The data of the experiences and thoughts of the students and teachers show both hinders and possibilities. One student might prefer one way which another student may reject. It becomes clear that there is no solution that fits all. The same goes forteachers. In some areas they agree, in others not. Communication and collaboration between students and teachers are needed in order to create a good pedagogy in relation to stuttering. The needs and thoughts of the student should show the path. To be able to offer a suitable pedagogy, the emphasis need to be set on personal relations and adjustments in the surrounding environment, but also on knowledge about stuttering.Through this study schools might find support in how to offer suitable possibilities for students who stutter. The study focuses on what might be important for teachers to think about when trying to meet the needs of these students. It also focuses on different adjustments that might be suitable. In relation to stuttering, the Swedish Education Act is discussed. Furthermore the study focuses on the risks of loneliness and bullying of students who stutter and how schools could work proactively against that.Implications within Special Education: Educators need to gain more knowledge about stuttering. They also need knowledge about the different strategies that students might use to avoid speaking in front of others. Teachers in special education could play a vital role when it comes to offering more possibilities for students who stutter. First the teachers in special education need to gain knowledge about stuttering and one solution is that they get that possibility during their education. If universities and teacher training colleges offer education about stuttering, the teachers in special education could in turn train the teachers in schools. Collaboration between teachers in special education and speech and language therapists is another possible way of improving teachers´ knowledge about stuttering.

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No description available.

The role of a software engineer is often misconceived as an isolated task, needing nointerpersonal communication skills. Contrary to this perception there is a growingrecognition of the importance of soft skills in the field, with a lot of research, includingthis paper, pointing at the importance of the human factors.This thesis aims to highlight the significance of soft skills, specifically social skillssuch as communication, in the field of software engineering. It continues exploringthe impact on factors such as team performance and productivity.The research was conducted in two parts, with an initial literature study in orderto enhance the following parts. A survey distributed to industry professionals andvarious social media sites. The survey was then supplemented by five semi-structuredinterviews with both developers and managers in the field, allowing for more nuancedand detailed answers.The study shows the necessity of human factors, such as social skills and respectin successful software engineering practices. In software engineering teamwork isinherent, thus having qualities contributing to good team work is key. Notably, thestudy’s results indicate the importance of effective communication and a positivework environment for successful team work. However, the findings do not show acorrelation between a team’s social dynamics and its productivity, provided thatessential work communication is maintained in both high and low social interactionteams.The findings of this research can benefit both individuals striving to improveas software engineers, as well as companies seeking to improve team performance.A deeper understanding of the importance of soft skills can enable the formation ofmore effective, cohesive teams. More significantly, it could contribute to an improvedquality of life for software engineers, as interpersonal relations and communicationskills are key focal points in while working as a software engineer.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Nanotechnology has captured the attention of governments and corporations around the globe. It has become the subject and context for numerous conferences, media articles, websites and scientific research papers. Nano enthusiasts and government officials claim that it is an area that promises new understandings of nature, and use of that understanding to build technologies that might change our lives. Despite the growing hype surrounding this new science, what appears to be lacking is scholarly literature that examines its growth and expansion from a social science perspective. This study addressed this limitation through a sociological analysis of the network of actors, events, rhetorical strategies, practices and instrumentation that went into the construction and growth of nanotechnology. Relying heavily on actor-network theory (ANT), this study focused on a small part of the total network referred to as the knowledge education production process, which involved the enrollment of high school teachers into the nanotechnology network through a series of collaborative workshops -- the Nanotechnology Curriculum Development Project (NCDP) -- with Virginia Polytechnic and State University (Virginia Tech) scientists over a period of two years. By investigating how the nanotechnology network was constructed and maintained, this case study examined the relevance of ANT as nanotechnology moved beyond the laboratory into the public domain of high school education. It looked at the intermediary role of high school science and math teachers and revealed the function of conflict, power, authority, hierarchy, interests, motivations, gender and race in the construction and expansion of scientific networks. / Ph. D.