<p> This dissertation research was conducted to explore means to better enable listening, learning, and collaboration among those who think differently. Working to understand and address complex social-ecological challenges requires the engagement of stakeholders who experience and think about the issues differently; however, listening to, and productively interacting with those who have diverse perspectives can be profoundly difficult. When our views are challenged, self-protective responses block the flow of information, and inhibit learning and collaboration. Using a participatory methodology called cooperative inquiry, this study was initiated to investigate the role of mindfulness in supporting David Bohm&rsquo;s notion of suspension in multi-stakeholder dialogue about a contentious social-ecological issue; to discover the challenges and opportunities associated with bringing a mindful approach to suspension to those who are new to it; and to examine the relationship between a mindful approach to suspension and learning. Mindfulness practice was found to be useful in supporting various aspects of suspension and self-compassion played an unexpected role in several of the steps of the process. One of the central contributions of this study is the articulation of linked steps or aspects of the mindful approach to suspension that offers a practice pathway for listening to those who think differently. This research could have use for individuals and groups of all kinds in situations where diverse perspectives are encountered. As a means to build the capacity to notice and manage internal responses in the face of different ways of seeing and understanding phenomena, and allow for critical reflection, a mindful approach to suspension has value in supporting learning at both the individual and collective levels. Participants experienced several transformative benefits from this project including an increased willingness and improved ability to engage with those who think differently. In the current climate of political divisiveness and intolerance, this has clear value. From a resilience perspective, the willingness and ability to engage with those who have different views has potential in terms of enabling tight feedbacks within a system, which builds general resilience and/or transformability and supports sustainability. </p><p>

<p> Two questions drove this case study. 1) To what extent does playing the online computer game Minecraft at home in a multiplayer environment impact a player's media literacy skills of analysis, evaluation, and access? 2) To what extent does playing the online computer game Minecraft at home in a multiplayer environment impact a player's 21^st century skills of critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration? The study employed quantitative and qualitative research methods (pre and posttest, survey, and interview) using a case study design, enabling an opportunity for in-depth data gathering in a naturalistic environment.</p><p> Using pre and posttest, the researcher assessed whether participants' 21^st century skills changed over the course of a 24 week period. Participants&rsquo; media literacy skills were assessed at the beginning and end of the study, using a pretest/posttest method adapted for use with younger children from the Arke and Primack Media Literacy Measure (2009). In addition, media literacy skills and the Four Cs skills were assessed using a combination of survey, reflective questioning, and interview methods. Analysis of the data shows that participants' media literacy skills did improve at the end of six months of gameplay, and playing Minecraft multiplayer did provide opportunities for participants to practice 21^st century skills.</p>

<p> For the past decade, the profession of journalism has been under intense pressure to adapt to changing business models, technology, and forms of communication. Likewise, journalism education has been under intense scrutiny for failing to keep pace with the industry and inadequately preparing students for a rapidly changing professional environment. Social media has become a nexus for the pressures being experienced by both the profession and academia. This study uses Wenger&rsquo;s (1998) model of Communities of Practice to consider how a student newsroom functions and how student journalists adapt within a newsroom and on social media. This study used a quantitative self-reported survey (<i>N</i>=334) design to understand the relationship of students&rsquo; social media use and newsroom participation, social media use and digital skills, and the differences relationships between demographic variables and the use of social media. Items in the survey were in one of four categories: newsroom participation, social media use, digital skills, and demographics. Results demonstrated that as students take on more responsibilities in a newsroom, the more likely they are to have relationships in the newsroom, to have a voice (in both editorial content and newsroom policy), to share their experiences with newer staff members, and to see the importance of social media use in their newsroom experience. Findings also related to meaning, identity, and practice within Wenger&rsquo;s (1998) notions of Communities of Practice. Significant correlations among items measuring digital skills are related to length of time on staff, use of social media (e.g. watch breaking news and find story ideas), holding a digital position, frequency of use of social media, and critical knowledge of digital skills (including high-level relationships among libel, audience analytics, and multi-media content). Analysis showed that participants who held primarily digital positions demonstrated patterns of the more sophisticated digital skills.</p>

<p> This study used in-depth, individual interviews to engage seven doctoral students and a paired member of their dissertation committee in discussions about qualitative research transparency and the use of NVivo, a Qualitative Data Analysis Software (QDAS), in pursuing it. The study also used artifacts (an exemplary qualitative research article of the participant's choice and the student's written dissertation) to examine specific researcher practices within particular contexts. The design and analysis were based on weak social constructionist (Schwandt, 2007), boundary object (Star, 1989; Star &amp; Griesemer, 1989) and boundary-work (Gieryn, 1983, 1999) perspectives to facilitate a focus on: 1) The way transparency was used to coordinate activity in the absence of consensus. 2) The discursive strategies participants employed to describe various camps (e.g., qualitative and quantitative researchers) and to simultaneously stake claims to their understanding of transparency. </p><p> The analysis produced four key findings. First, the personal experiences of handling their qualitative data during analysis influenced the students' pursuit of transparency, long before any consideration of being transparent in the presentation of findings. Next, the students faced unpredictable issues when pursuing transparency, to which they responded <i>in situ,</i> considering a wide range of contextual factors. This was true even when informed by ideal types (Star &amp; Griesemer, 1989) such as the American Educational Research Association (2006) guidelines that provided a framework for pursuing the principle of transparency. Thirdly, the QDAS-enabled visualizations students used while working with NVivo to interpret the data were described as a helpful (and sometimes indispensable) aspect of pursuing transparency. Finally, this situational use of visualizations to pursue transparency was positioned to re-examine, verify, and sometimes challenge their interpretations of their data over time as a form of self-interrogation, with less emphasis on showing their results to an audience. Together, these findings lead to a new conceptualization of <i>transparency in motion,</i> a process of tacking back and forth between situated practice of transparency and transparency as an ideal type. The findings also conclude with several proposals for advancing a <i>transparency pedagogy.</i> These proposals are provided to help qualitative researchers move beyond the often implicit, static, and post-hoc invocations of transparency in their work.</p>

<p> Clear and effective communication is essential in today's society (Smith &amp; Cotten, 1980; Smith &amp; Land, 1981). Nonverbal communication specifically has a vital role in communication. There is inconsistent data on the effect of nonverbal communication used by instructors and the impact on student learning within the higher education environment. This research study sought to find distinct correlations between instructors' nonverbal communication and a variety of elements related to student learning. </p><p> This study examined (1) the relationship between standardized measurements of student learning and instructors' nonverbal communication, (2) the relationship between students' perceptions of their learning and instructors' nonverbal communication, (3) the relationship between students' perceptions of instructor credibility based on the instructors' nonverbal communication, and (4) the relationship between students' gender and instructors' nonverbal communication. </p><p> Based on quantitative and qualitative data, college students (N=85) from a midsize Midwestern university reported distinct findings that progressed the study of nonverbal communication. Students attended class with one of two variable instructorlecturing types: utilizing effective nonverbal communication (good eye contact, arm movement, facial expression, voice fluctuation, and position in the classroom), or poor nonverbal communication (poor eye contact, arm movement, facial expression, voice fluctuation, and position in the classroom). The instructors lectured the exact same material from a script. Students provided data through tests, surveys, and focus groups that delivered substantial evidence of the relationship between instructors' nonverbal communication and student learning. </p><p> Findings in the research study suggest that instructors' nonverbal communication is beneficial to students' academic success. This study outlined which elements of nonverbal communication an instructor could use to benefit student learning. Using the results of this study, university administrators, faculty, and professional development officials could find beneficial information for the success of higher education instruction.</p>

Thesis (MTech (Radiography))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 186-202). Also available online.

<p> <b>Purpose:</b> The purpose of this phenomenological research study was to describe the behaviors that exemplary educational services assistant superintendents practice to lead their organizations through conversation as depicted by Groysberg and Slind&rsquo;s (2012b) 4 elements of conversational leadership: intimacy, interactivity, inclusion, and intentionality. </p><p> <b>Methodology:</b> A qualitative, phenomenological approach was used in this study in order to describe the lived experiences and behaviors of exemplary leaders. The target population was educational services assistant superintendents in Southern California. Participants were selected using a purposeful, nonprobability, convenience sampling. Data gathering took the form of semistructured, in-depth interviews, observations, and artifact collection. Interviews were conducted using a protocol designed by the team of collaborative peer researchers in order to gain insight into leaders&rsquo; perceptions of their conversational leadership experiences. Triangulation with observational notes and artifacts served to increase the validity of interview data. All data were entered into NVivo software to assist in analyzing patterns and predicting themes for coding. </p><p> <b>Findings:</b> Close analysis of interview notes and transcripts, observations, and artifacts resulted in total of 25 themes and 447 frequencies among the 4 elements of conversational leadership. Ten key findings were identified across the areas of intimacy, interactivity, inclusion, and intentionality. </p><p> <b>Conclusions:</b> The study supported the 4 elements of conversational leadership proposed by Groysberg and Slind (2012b) and identified specific behaviors that exemplary leaders practice within each. Four conclusions were drawn based on the data and findings. Educational services assistant superintendents who want to become transformational conversational leaders should (a) practice careful listening to create an environment of trust and support intimate communication structures within their organizations, (b)&nbsp;facilitate a variety of collaborative groups using a process for the exchange of ideas to establish dynamically interactive organizations, (c) invite shared leadership opportunities to nurture a climate of inclusivity, and (d) continually focus conversation of the organization&rsquo;s purpose to ensure collective understanding and clarity of direction. </p><p> <b>Recommendations:</b> Further research of private sector leaders and assistant superintendents in regions outside of Southern California should be conducted. In addition, the element of intimacy in the workplace requires more attention in the field of conversational leadership. </p><p>

<p> Negative public school perception is a problem for all stakeholders. Negative public school perception leads to lack of support, which leads to lack of funding. Research shows that people outside of the school community are the most critical. Mass media, political leaders, and education reformist have perpetuated the problem. School leaders are not doing enough to combat the negative stereotype of the failing school. This exploratory mixed methods study on the impact of school websites on perception of public schools was an exploration of how websites design can affect perception and addresses one way that the negative perception can be changed. Three school websites were chosen based on their level of information communication technology (ICT) integration. The principals and webmasters of each school were interviewed and the data were coded and analyzed to create a survey instrument which was distributed to a purposive sample of 58 parents of school-aged children. The results of the analysis and comparison of the data collected from the principals, webmasters, and parents revealed that school websites have an effect on the perception that parents form about the school. The data also show that information or lack of information on the website was the number one reason for the ratings given to each statement on the parents&rsquo; survey. In addition, the signals sent through the website, whether intentional or not, had an effect on the parents&rsquo; perception.</p><p>

RESUMÉ The dissertation aims to create an overview of the topic of communication education and a composition in many ways. It comes from a style of teaching of communication education and composition in the past to a characteristics of currant style of teaching of composition. There are some model assistant sheets for Czech language and composition lessosns as a certain manual included. To find out an up- to-date state of the communication education a questionaire has been analysed. The final chapter is dedicated to changes and developmental tendencies of the textbooks for Czech language and composition on a basis of a comparative analyse.

<p> The community college serves a diverse student population with numerous programs and degrees designed to complete general education requirements and prepare students for job placement. As these students enter their anticipated occupation, most are unprepared for the oral skill requirements of their new job. They lack confidence to navigate any number of scenarios demanding interpersonal poise, teamwork, conflict resolution, presentation skills, and other occupation-specific speaking tasks. Since many of these degrees and certificates are offered partially or completely online, this Project presents a practical means of introducing speaking skills into the coursework of the growing online learning environment. The research examined the ethos of the community college and the impact of oral proficiency on the academic, personal, and occupational lives of students. Expanding on the core required speaking course, the study and resultant project informed by a genre study, presented genre-specific oral skill activities in online coursework integrating the application of multimedia tools. Constructivist learning theory was foundational to the experiential and dialogical instructional design. Interviews and ethnographic studies in online and live courses informed the teaching and assessment rubrics integrated into the Project. Reducing perceived transactional distance in online learning is critical to student success and a relational approach to teaching engenders favorable student responses.</p>