Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 74-79).

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 154-163).

Communication in all its various forms has one common goal: expressing and deciphering ideas. Education in recent years has taken a move towards more global approaches to learning/teaching. Within this context, more innovative and inclusive methods of communication need to be created. This study investigated the meaning-form connections in a modern dance experiment. Based on a poem, a dance was created and then performed for various audiences. Responses were recorded through survey and focus group interviews; and analyzed based on grounded theory (Strauss and Corbin, 1998; Charmaz, 2006). GT analysis coupled with hermeneutic constructivism offered an instructive and inclusive means of looking at the data. The results of the analysis along with inductive reasoning led to the result of six categories through which modern dance produces meaning and audiences decipher meaning from modern dance: Conflict Resolution, Personal Experience/Trait, Linguistic Structures, Abstract Concepts, Compatibility, and Technical Ability. The last stage of the study looked at a constructivist communication model “ecology of meanings model”, utilized its basic concept to build a communication for modern dance, and configured the newly found categories within it. My aim in this thesis project is to shed light on the manner in which a non-verbal means of communication, namely dance, is used to convey a message. The end result is a prototype of a possible communication model for modern dance which could afford choreographers/dancers/dance educators/dance spectators the ability to understand not only what modern dance means but also how. By illuminating this process, I hope that dance and communication experts will be able to enhance their educational procedures.

No description available.

This thesis examined the contextual factors involved in teaching six students on the autistic spectrum (AS) in a regular primary school in Aotearoa/New Zealand. The research looked at the work of five teachers, including myself as a participant researcher. Through classroom observations and in depth conversations this research aimed to uncover how the teachers tried to meet the needs of their students on the AS and what affordances and/or constraints they encountered in their journeys. A social constructionist approach framed the research approach, together with a constructivist understanding of teaching and learning and these were used in conjunction with a philosophical activity theory base to explore mediators within the complex teaching and learning contexts. The contrast between teachers viewing the AS as a disability or a difference was found to be important to the way the teachers constructed their student’s value in the class or their willingness to try and meet the student’s needs. This is in line with findings that teachers’ attitudes towards disability are a key factor in the inclusiveness of teaching (Macartney & Morton, 2011; Tait & Purdie, 2000). The role of support professionals in developing inclusive teaching was found to be complex, being both affording and/or constraining for the classroom teacher. The complexity of teaching and the myriad of mediators (Lampert, 1985) involved in teaching students on the AS was analysed to uncover a number of key mediators. One of the key mediators was found to be teacher construction of the student on the AS as competent which was linked to the construction of teacher as competent (Morton, 2011). Key affordances to viewing the student on the AS as competent were the teacher having a belief in the value and worth of the student as a person and a learner and having an understanding of what it means to be a student on the AS. Teacher willingness to be student focused was found to be an important affording mediator, where there was a perceived conflict between student need and school or national policies.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of how ubiquitous computing would affect an elementary teacher's ability to more fully operationalize her existing constructivist teaching philosophy.Research on computing technologies in K-12 schools has documented that there are numerous important barriers to technology integration in the classroom, one of which is access to computer technologies. In addition, the research documents that new technologies can act as a catalyst toward teacher change of instructional practices over time when using such technologies for teaching and learning. The literature also suggests that a teacher's use of computing technologies may contribute to a shift toward more constructivist teaching practices. Ubiquitous computing technologies are becoming more and more prevalent in K-12 schools and are removing the barriers of sufficient access and related issues of infrastructure, making it increasingly feasible to study the impact of computer-saturated environments on teaching and learning.This qualitative single case study investigated the impact of full-time in school computer ubiquity via wireless laptops for every student and the teacher in a fifth grade classroom during the 2002-2003 school year. Qualitative methods were used in the gathering and analysis of multiple forms of data.Findings1.Key enabling conditions of ubiquitous technology-supported constructivist practices were (i) peer support and collaboration, (ii) ubiquitous access to information, curriculum, and tools, (iii) time to plan, implement, and assess inquiry-based instruction, (iv) technical support, technical knowledge, and reliable hardware, and (v) software to support student construction of knowledge and projects.2. This teacher's preexisting pedagogical beliefs positively impacted her ability to implement and sustain a shift toward more constructivist teaching practices.3.Computing ubiquity facilitated this teacher's (i) planning for inquiry-based learning activities, (ii) ability to remain flexible and spontaneous, (iii) desire and motivation to pursue her own professional inquiry, (iv) it reduced the amount of risk required to make and sustain changes of pedagogy coupled with high technology use, and (v) it accelerated the time required to assume ownership of a technological innovation.This study concludes with the suggestion for a new model of ubiquitouscomputing based upon the findings of this study. / Department of Elementary Education

The study was prompted by the lack of existing research with regard to what people locally think and believe about dreams. The study aimed to uncover, explore, and describe current, local dream related beliefs, discourses, and practices (in the Vaal-Triangle area of South-Africa), using a postmodern, social constructivist, as well as a generally sociological approach. In support of this aim, a literature review of various religious, cultural, and psychological dream related discourses was executed. Semi-structured, qualitative interviews were conducted with twenty respondents who were purposively selected from the administrative database of a Vaal-Triangle University on the basis of culture and gender. The interviews were recorded and the edited transcriptions thus derived served as basis for a thematic qualitative analysis of the respondents' dream related beliefs and practices. The findings were also examined with regard to cultural and gender related patterns, as well as in relation to existing dream discourses. Findings included that dreams were accorded differing degrees of importance by the respondents, that dreams were believed to originate both from internal factors such as an individual's mental and emotional state and neurological processes, as well as from external factors such as daily events and experiences, deceased relatives, and God. Furthermore, dreams were believed to serve several different functions such as mental processing, releasing pent-up emotions, expressing fears or desires, predicting the future, or providing warnings and solutions to problems. Dreams also often served as basis for decisions and actions, most often in order to avoid a negative outcome, or actualize a positive scenario shown by a dream. Several types of unusual dream experiences were reported, including precognitive dreams, dreams that provided contact with a deceased relative or ancestor, spiritual experiences in dreams, as well as sleep paralysis. The most significant sociological findings included that dreams often influence the nature and content of social interaction between individuals, frequently serving as a source of humour and entertainment; that the mother often serves as the "keeper" of knowledge about dreams, and that local dream discourses and practices might in part be transmitted matrilineally. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Sociology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2005

In this arts-based thesis for a Masters degree in art education, I explored the meaning of my artwork through a constructivist investigation. During the process of artist research and making artwork, I was able to push boundaries for my art and myself and I was able to discover what kind of artist I was and what meaning was behind my artwork. This process of research,questioning, reflective documentation, and discovery has provided new tools and styles for teaching my students how to find their own personal voice in their artwork.

This qualitative study answers the call to include students’ voices in research on learning by listening to students’ perspectives about their learning experiences. Student voice inquiries into learning typically explore students’ perspectives of their learning experiences in school for enhancing teaching practice. The present study explores students’ perspectives of their learning experiences both in and out of school and elicits students’ voices through written narrative, in combination with more common approaches to student voice inquiry. The purpose of which is to inform teaching practice that better supports and facilitates students’ learning. The two research questions that guide this inquiry are: What do senior high school students’ written narratives, focus group discussion, and related written comments about their most memorable learning experiences reveal about their learning? And what do these students’ voices reveal about what they have in common in their learning? The common themes across the 24 student participants are presented as a supportive framework for classroom discussion about most memorable learning experiences. Practical implications are discussed for teaching practice and research with participant co-researchers.