This study begins with a perceived crisis of confidence in professional knowledge. The traditional, positivist, "theory into practice" approach to the development of a professional knowledge base has been found to be unable to satisfactorily explain expert action—especially in situations of complexity and ambiguity such as those routinely found in teaching. Much recent literature, however, has taken the approach that professional knowledge must be constucted by the practitioner In the context of the practice. In this view, theory is developed from practice by reflecting on one's action-related knowledge. Unfortunately, because they tend to be Intellectually isolated and routinely having to deal with many clients at once, teachers have few opportunities to use this approach. The problem addressed in this study is how to provide a professional development experience which fosters reflective activity and the personal construction of knowledge by teachers within the context of their classroom practice. The primary theoretical perspectives which underpin this study are those of "constructivism", in which learning is viewed as an active process of constructing concepts by connecting new information with prior knowledge, and "reflection as reconstruction of experience" in which reflective activity is seen as a way of reconstructing understandings within the context of practice. These perspectives, together with a brief review of related literature regarding reflection within the teaching profession, provide the theoretical framework of the study. The study consists of a case analysis of a professional development activity which was designed to promote the reflective activity of teachers. The activity gave two participant teachers an opportunity to observe and discuss videotaped recordings of each other's practice over a period of several months. The resultant discussions were audiotaped by the Investigator and transcribed for analysis. Informal examination of transcripts and analysis of metaphor were used to identify elements of teacher knowledge. Instances of reflective activity were identified using a "clue structure" or set of criteria. The study concludes that elements of teacher knowledge can be identified in a such a discussion of teaching practice, that instances of reflective activity were evident during the time period of the study, and that the professional development activity was perceived by the teachers as being of personal benefit. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

This work presents an analysis of federal election voting choices in an industrial community. The voting choices were reported by a sample of gainfully employed residents of the community. A segment of the sample, those in unionized jobs in the industrial enterprises of the major employer, is submitted to quantitative analysis. A discussion of the significance of interest group formation and operation provides us with a theoretical basis. As industrial workers are less economically secure, are clustered into a relatively undifferentiated range of jobs, and are more isolated from the broad middle class, they will be more prone to form economic and political interest groups. One aspect of such formation is a high level of support for a worker-oriented and socialistic political party. The member of parliament for the constituency was the candidate of a party that appears to be both socialistic and worker oriented, the New Democratic Party (or NDP). Voting choices in favor of this candidate are understood in terms of our theory. They are studied by dividing our respondents by social characteristics. These social characteristics are of three kinds: general vital characteristics, (age, length of community residence, and place of birth), off-work characteristics (religious group membership and participation), and work-defined characteristics, (type of enterprise, union, and skill level). The general social characteristics are assumed to indicate access to community worker political culture. Off-work characteristics are important because they might supply individuals with social identities which override such a culture. At-work characteristics may provide issues that are quickly transformed into social identities influencing voting, given rationality, local worker culture, and the lack of overriding identities. When general and work-defined characteristics are used to study voting choices, a well-defined pattern is found. High rates of NDP support are associated with general vital characteristics that indicate higher access to community and regional political culture, and work-related characteristics that indicate "typical industrial workers" of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. When the characteristics are studied in combination, complex patterns are found. / Arts, Faculty of / Sociology, Department of / Graduate

This study evaluated the ability of nursing home staff to implement communication strategies as a result of inservice education. Seventeen subjects, from two occupational groups (patient care aides, and rehabilitation staff), were observed twice each during routine interactions with the nursing home residents. The measurement tool consisted of 11 communication behaviours, which were scored according to degree of use. There were two categories of strategies: those that could be used in all situations, and those that were appropriate only for some situations. Results were mixed: the experimental group (N=5), who attended the inservice, showed an increase in the use of latter category of communication strategies, while the control group (N=12) decreased their use of the same strategies. In the former category of strategies, no difference was found between the experimental and control groups. The discussion focused on possible sources of confound, and recommendations for further research. / Medicine, Faculty of / Audiology and Speech Sciences, School of / Graduate

As the use of computers in engineering becomes more significant and widespread, there is a growing need for interactive computer programs which can be used with a minimum of user preparation. This thesis presents and demonstrates a system for writing interactive engineering programs in APL, a programming language. A good interactive program is sensitive to the needs of the user, and generally includes help features, default options, escape features and check features. To include all of these features in a conventionally organized program is complicated and tedious, especially for longer programs with many interaction events between the program and the user. The system presented here makes it fairly simple to include all of the above features, and provides two additional benefits: 1. The logic of the program becomes more prominent, hence easier to follow and check. 2. The program tends to be highly modular in form, making it more readable and easier to test and debug. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Civil Engineering, Department of / Graduate

This study is an existential-phenomenological investigation into the experience of marital satisfaction. It sought to understand the meaning of marital satisfaction as lived. Five married individuals, three females and two males, who had been married for ten years or longer were interviewed. They were selected on the basis that they were experiencing satisfaction in their marriage by their own reckoning. They were located through personal referrals from friends and colleagues. Each person (co-researcher) was asked to tell the story of satisfaction in their marriage. The in-depth interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed and analyzed using an existential-phenomenological approach as outlined by Colaizzi (1978). The protocol analysis resulted in the explication of fifteen themes. The themes (or constituents) were described and then woven into an exhaustive phenomenological description of the experience of marital satisfaction. Finally a concise description of the experience was formulated. The results of the study show that there is a consensus of the experience and meaning of marital satisfaction by those (the co-researchers) living the experience. The study makes suggestions for future research and points out applications of the results in pre-marital and couples counselling. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

A descriptive study was conducted to investigate the adoption experience within the family. Adoptive families who participated in this study were assumed to be a relatively heterogeneous sample of the target population - families with at least one adopted child who had been adopted early in life, and who was presently 14-18 years of age. Thirteen adoptive families participated in the study. Qualitative data regarding each individual's perception of the adoption experience was obtained through semi-structured interviews. Each participant also completed the Family Environment Scale (Moos, 1974), which was used as a descriptive measure only. Data from the interviews underwent a qualitative data analysis to arrive at the themes and patterns that described the adoptee's and the adoptive parents' experiences. Parent-child perceptual discrepancies were also analysed to assess the similarities and the differences in family perceptions regarding the adoption experience. Conclusions that can be drawn based on the results of the qualitative analysis is that adoptive families appear to be vulnerable to problems during the adolescent stage of the family life cycle because of the adoptee's emerging curiosity and the problems of openly communicating these concerns within the family. Results from this study also point to the need for adopting couples to receive education regarding the role of adoptive parenthood, and counsellors who work with adoptive families should be aware of when the factors of adoption can contribute to family difficulties and dysfunction / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

This thesis identifies the causes of disputes between scientists who are involved in environmental impact assessment and management (EIAM), and suggests some critical elements of scientific dispute resolution processes, particularly peer review. It does this within the context of a case study, the environmental assessment, monitoring, and management of the Island Copper Mine marine tailings discharge into Rupert Inlet, B.C. The events of this case are analysed, drawing on literature on the scientist's role in impact assessment and management, and on the philosophy and sociology of science literature. The case study and literature review indicate that the causes of such scientific disputes are complex. The complexity and uncertainty of the physical and biological processes of a fjord system are one cause. Logistical failings in integrating scientists into the process are another: poor timing of scientists' efforts; failures of communication; and lack of accountability are examples. Poor methodology and inadequate research design also caused disputes. The transdisciplinary nature of the scientific problems common to EIAM causes disagreements of a different nature-- over the relevance of various disciplines' research foci to the problem at hand, and over what constitutes acceptable scientific practice. Value and interest conflicts between scientists, which influence both the trajectory of research and the interpretation of its results, complete the typology of the causes of disputes. The thesis recommends the elements of peer review processes necessary to resolve these disputes. Peer review should be pre-emptive, by focussing on research design where possible, and should be representative of the range of relevant scientific disciplines, and should facilitate constructive solutions rather than the defense of positions. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

This study investigated what judges looked for in an experimental science fair project and how the judges conducted a judging conversation. Audio-recordings of three judges' conversations with the same student and an in depth interview with each judge provided the data base for this study. This data base provided insight into the judging task and revealed aspects that these judges felt were important in evaluating a science fair project. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

To identify the relationships between particular characteristics of archivists and their perceptions of users and reference service, data was collected from two surveys distributed to two survey populations of archivists. One survey asked archivists' own perceptions of reference service, the other asked archivists' perceptions of their colleagues' perceptions of reference service. Five hypotheses were developed, drawing upon models of reference process from the literature of library science and upon ideas expressed by authors of archival reference service literature. These hypotheses are that archivists' perceptions of reference service relate to 1) the type of repository with which archivists are most familiar, 2) the functions (e.g. arrangement and description) with which archivists are most familiar, 3) the forms of records (such as government records) with which archivists are most familiar, 4) the amount of time archivists have spent in reference service, and 5) the education level of archivists. The results suggest that the type of repository with which the archivist is most familiar relates to his or her perceptions of reference service. While the other categories also exhibited significant relationships, the overall analysis of the results of the other categories was less interesting than the results obtained from the category regarding the type of repository. Determining the existence of such relationships was the preliminary investigation upon which to base further research. The results of this study suggest that likely areas for further examination of this topic are the methods of reference service used in particular repositories. / Arts, Faculty of / Library, Archival and Information Studies (SLAIS), School of / Graduate

My study examined whether and how the relationship between parent and teacher corresponds to the socioeconomic status (SES) of the family or to the achievement level of their child in reading and writing. Relationship was defined in terms of communication, perceptions of mutual support and reported levels of satisfaction. The constructs were assessed through questionnaires and interviews with seven parent-teacher dyads. Each dyad represented a unique profile of student achievement (high or low), SES of the family (high or low), and parental involvement (high or minimal). Successful relationships were characterized as having clear communication, perceptions of helpful mutual support, and high levels of success. No clear patterns in the success of the relationships emerged from examination of the SES or achievement of the children; however, successful relationships were aligned with the teachers' ratings of parental involvement. Teachers included newsletters and log book messages in their methods of communicating with parents, while parents considered only two-way interactions as communicating with their child's teacher. Teachers in higher SES schools reported giving suggestions to parents to assist their children but the parents did not report hearing the suggestions; however, teachers in lower SES schools did not report giving suggestions to parents but parents reported hearing the suggestions. Home literacy activities varied across families in high versus low SES schools. Parents in higher SES schools reported a broader range of activities in their home that supported their children's literacy acquisition than their lower SES counterparts. Activities reported by low SES families were more task oriented while activities reported by higher SES families were more entertainment oriented and corresponded better with school activities. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate