This portfolio of research aimed to examine the integration of Information and Communication Technology ( ICT ) into computer-based classroom learning environments in Thailand. The study was exploratory, investigating to what extent schools in the Thai ICT schools pilot project had classroom learning environments which were related to two student outcomes ( critical thinking skills and attitudes to ICT ) ; and to what extent the classroom learning environments were associated with certain teacher characteristics. The portfolio is presented in three parts. Part 1 reviewed the research literature related to the importance of ICT in education ; the ICT classroom learning environments ; student attitudes to ICT ; students' critical thinking skills ; and the role of the teacher in the ICT classroom. From this review, a theoretical research model was developed, based on teacher characteristics, student characteristics and student perceptions of ICT classroom learning environments as predictors of the two student outcomes. Four specific research propositions were formulated from the model to guide the investigation. Part 2 of the research portfolio reports the quantitative investigation of the ICT schools pilot project in Thailand. Data were collected by means of questionnaires from 150 students in eight of the ICT pilot project schools in relation to students' background characteristics, their perceptions of actual and preferred classroom learning environments, students' critical thinking skills and attitudes to ICT. In addition, questionnaire data on teachers' background characteristics were collected from 16 teachers involved in the project. The associations among the teacher, student and classroom environment predictor variables in relation to the two student outcomes were analysed using SPSS and HLM software programs. The results, discussed in relation to the four research propositions, generally supported the research model. A complementary qualitative investigation of the Thai ICT schools pilot project is reported in part 3 of the portfolio. This involved an analysis of school based documents, which had been collected officially in the course of the project, in order to identify school level outcomes. In addition, 30 students and five teachers from 10 schools in the ICT pilot project were interviewed to ascertain their views on the advantages, the limitations and the future of the project. The interview transcripts, translated into English, were analysed thematically. The researcher was also able to observe ICT integrated into various subject lessons in 22 classrooms, from each of the schools in the ICT project, and to evaluate them according to Bloom's Taxonomy of learning outcomes. The qualitative results provided important insights into the quantitative study in Part 2. In the conclusion to the portfolio, the results of the quantitative and qualitative studies are synthesised in a discussion of the four research propositions. Importantly, the findings led directly to useful recommendations on how computer-based learning environments can be improved. The findings of this study have major implications for the role of teachers in ICT classrooms and for school management in providing the necessary equipment and support. / Thesis (D.Ed.)--School of Education, 2007.

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The decision sequences used for troubleshooting of complex electro-mechanical systems are often ad hoc and less than optimal. This research investigated Decision Analysis and Bayesian Networks for generating an optimal decision sequence for troubleshooting. The model that was used in this research was the bleed air control system of the Boeing 737 aircraft. The focus of this research, therefore is two-fold. First the construction of behavioral models and multistage decision-making models in Bayesian networks was proposed. Secondly, an efficient, easy-to-implement algorithm was developed to obtain a near optimal decision sequence. This algorithm can be readily adopted by the maintenance personnel for effective troubleshooting. / Graduation date: 2004

This study was undertaken in the Johannesburg South district (D11). Primary school language teachers in this district (D11) were invited to participate in this study by means of a questionnaire. This study investigated which kind of teaching methods teachers are currently using to develop and enhance critical thinking skills of ESL learners in language classrooms. Teachers' knowledge of Blooms' Taxonomy of cognitive objectives and how to use this taxonomy to develop ESL learners' critical thinking skills were also scrutinized. Since many ESL learners' language proficiency in English is also limited the responses of the teachers indicated that this could have a negative influence on their critical thinking development. This study accentuates the need for the use of a variety of teaching methods to enhance ESL learners' critical thinking skills in language in the Johannesburg South District (D11). / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.

The current study was an extension of research reported by Krohn (2010), which showed that daily credit for self-reported participation in designated credit units tended to balance participation across students (i.e., fewer non-participants, more credit-level participants, and fewer dominant participants). The purpose of the current study was to determine if similar results would be achieved by randomly selecting half of the discussion days in designated credit units for participation credit. The study was done in 3 large sections of an undergraduate class (approximately 54 students per class). Students self-recorded their in-class comments each day on specially designed record cards. At the end of each pre-selected unit, instructors randomly selected discussion days and awarded credit based on the number of comments made on the days randomly selected. Three credit points were given for each student’s first comment and two additional points for a second comment. The findings of the current study differed in several ways from those of Krohn’s (2010) comparison study. The differences mainly related to baseline percentages of different levels of participation. Compared to the current study, Krohn’s study had a higher percentage of non-participants, fewer credit-level participants, fewer frequent participants, and more dominant participants. The disparities between the baseline levels of Krohn’s study and the current study made treatment effects more difficult to achieve in the latter study. Nonetheless, there were fewer non-participants and more credit-level and frequent participants during credit units than in non-credit units. Secondarily, a survey was given at the beginning of the course to analyze student beliefs regarding participation. Using the same survey, Krohn (2010) extracted three primary factors: 1) Personal Benefits of Participation, 2) Expectation for Discussion in College Classes, and 3) Personal History and Confidence Regarding Participation. The same three factors were also examined separately and in combination in the current study. Results showed the three-factor model to predict student participation levels better than the total survey. In addition, students were given the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal at the onset of the course. A logistic regression indicated that exam and critical thinking scores, in combination, significantly predicted student participation levels.

Some researchers suggest that quality is preserved when students are rewarded for quantity of class participation (Boniecki & Moore, 2003; Bruss, 2009; Mainkar, 2007; Zaremba & Dunn, 2004); however, few studies have targeted the systematic assessment of participation quality. The primary purpose of the study was to develop a reliable system for rating quality of student participation, investigate whether quality of participation is preserved when students are given credit for the amount of class participation, and examine the relationship between participation quality and important course variables. The researcher in the current study developed a rating system to evaluate the quality of student participation in 2 small sections of an undergraduate class at a large Southeastern university. The primary observer rated the quality of each student comment and recorded the number of comments each student contributed each discussion day. In order to assess the reliability of the coding scheme, a secondary observer rated the participation quality and quantity on the third day in each unit. As outlined in the syllabus, instructors awarded credit for the amount of participation on randomly drawn days at the conclusion of select units. The average inter-observer agreement was 90% for the number of productive comments contributed by each student and 49% for the number of non-productive comments contributed by each student. The percent of productive comments that each student contributed each day was the primary dependent variable. Visual inspection and proportion analyses of the percent of productive comments revealed that quality of participation was generally preserved during units in which credit was awarded for the frequency of participation. On average, students who participated frequently were significantly more productive than those who participated infrequently. Additionally, a student’s frequency of course participation and critical thinking at the onset of the course significantly predicted classification into high- and low-quality responders. Future research suggestions include the following: expanding the definition of the quality of student participation into 3 overall qualitative categories rather than 2, increasing the criteria for participation credit in small course sections, and providing credit for the quality of participation.

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While the challenge of improving young North Americans’ civic engagement seems to lie in the hands of schools, studying alternative ways of teaching citizenship education could benefit the current educational system. In this context, free schools (i.e., schools run democratically by students and teachers), guided by a philosophy that aims at engaging students civically through the democratic activities that they support, offer a relatively unexplored ground for research. The present inquiry is a case study using tools of ethnography and drawing upon some principles of complexity thinking. It aims at understanding students’ citizenship education experiences during democratic activities in a Canadian free school. It describes many experiences that can arise from these activities. They occurred within a school that operated democratically based on a consensus-model. More precisely, they took place during two kinds of democratic activities: class meetings, which regulated the social life of the school, and judicial committees, whose function was to solve conflicts at the school. During these activities, students mostly experienced a combination of feelings of appreciation, concernment and empowerment. While experiencing these feelings, they predominantly engaged in decision-making and conflict resolution processes. During these processes, students modified their conflict resolutions skills, various conceptions, and their participation in democratic activities and in the school. Based on these findings, the study concludes that students can develop certain skills and attitude associated to citizenship education during these activities and become active from a citizenship perspective. Hence, these democratic activities represent alternative strategies that can assist educators in teaching about citizenship.

The impact of Internet technology on critical thinking is of growing interest among researchers. However, there still remains much to explore in terms of how critical thinking can be fostered through online environments for higher education. Ten years ago, Garrison, Anderson, and Archer (2000) published an article describing the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework which provided an outline of three core elements that were able to describe and measure a collaborative and positive educational experience in an online learning environment, namely teaching presence (design, facilitation, and direct instruction), social presence (the ability of learners to project themselves socially and emotionally), and cognitive presence (the extent to which learners are able to construct and confirm meaning through sustained reflection and discourse). This dissertation extends the body of research surrounding the CoI framework and also the literature on developing critical thinking in online environments by examining and exploring the extent to which teaching and social presence contribute to cognitive presence. The researcher was able to do this by offering 189 learners enrolled in 10 research methods courses and educational research courses an opportunity to use an innovative online resource (Research Design Learning Resource – RDLR) to assist them in learning about educational research and developing research proposals. By exploring how participants used this resource the researcher was able to gain insight into what factors contributed to a successful online learning experience and fostered cognitive presence. Quantitative and qualitative research approaches (mixed methods) were used in this study. The quantitative results indicated that both social and teaching presence had a strong positive relationship with cognitive presence and that learners generally perceived to have a positive learning experience using the RDLR. The qualitative findings helped elaborate the significant quantitative results and were organised into the following themes: making connections, multiple perspectives, resource design, being a self-directed learner, learning strategies, learning preferences, and barriers to cognitive presence. Future directions for critical thinking in online environments are discussed.

In the 21st century employers put a higher value than ever before on the interpersonal and thinking competencies of employees such as skills of teamwork, problem solving, and communi-cation, and the capability of creativity as the most important abilities (A. Herrington & J. Her-rington, 2006; Ramsden, 2003). Based on some of these learning theories, J. Herrington and Oliver (2000) further developed an authentic learning framework (p. 30). In this study, I re-ferred to their framework to build a rationale for my research design. The elements of critical thinking, problem solving, and collaboration, expressed in this authentic learning framework, are the core concepts in my study.<p> My past teaching experiences in China sparked my interest in the study because I wit-nessed an inconsistency between teaching practices in higher education and the needs of students in schools and workplaces. Further, my learning experiences in Canada as a full-time student deepened my research interest. Thus, I devised the purpose of my study to probe the perceptions of professors in the University of Saskatchewan about their philosophies and practices with re-spect to their undergraduate teaching. I wanted to examine the perceptions of their teaching re-garding the authentic learning process in terms of critical thinking, problem solving, and collabo-ration. My study was a qualitative case study and I used semi-structured interviews to collect the data from six participants with diverse backgrounds from three different disciplines.<p> I organized the findings of the data in the following categories: Understanding of Authentic Learning (which provides the introduction to understanding the authentic learning process); themes of Context, Diversity of Perspectives, and Relationship; and the special theme of Dinas Belief Construction. There were similarities and variations emerging from the data. The varied backgrounds of participants such as their discipline, class size, teaching level, and administrative position appeared to exert influence on the participants perceptions of their teaching. Most of the differences occurred within themes of context and relationship. Apart from the pre-existent features, personal belief was another factor that might be seen to have led to some different perceptions.<p> The data findings provided a foundation to address the level of consistency between the findings and the literature. The discrepancy between my research findings and literature primarily consisted of the conflicting perceptions of teaching practices in relation to collaboration and problem solving. Collaboration was an important area in the literature but the participants per-ceptions of their teaching practices concerning collaboration varied. The adoption of technology in the teaching of my participants (e.g., the use of the Internet and video) was an unexpected finding in my study. Most participants described that the blending of technology in their teaching practices reinforced the cultivation of critical thinking, problem solving, and collaboration.<p> Some implications rendered from the discussions are noteworthy for future research. In the belief construction, Dina (2007) described how implicit and explicit beliefs steered students thinking, transformed their behaviors, and eventually enhanced students abilities in critical thinking, problem solving, and collaboration. From the constructivist perspective, Dina and Mary (2007) viewed learning as a process of constructing the understanding of diverse contexts in a community. Some teaching practices described by the participants were the special features of a particular discipline. Technology was a new focus in much of the literature of the past 10 years, which was closely linked with real life and collaboration nowadays. In addition, I found that each component of authentic learning (i.e., critical thinking, problem solving, and collabora-tion) deserved further exploration in the future. Although some deficiencies existed, I learned how to design a qualitative case study and these research experiences will become valuable ref-erences for my future research.