Organisations are increasingly finding themselves operating in environments that are characterised by higher levels of ambiguity, uncertainty and complexity, as well as environmental and internal changes that are beyond their control (Reeves, 2015). This context is affecting the way in which projects are executed, as project managers are expected to conceive, manage and successfully implement projects within such an environment. An important question to ask is: Are intrinsically unpredictable environments becoming more dominant leading to increase in the complexity of projects? We are now living in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world; project management as a field has to overcome significant barriers to change and develop the capacity for more subjective, interactive, and interpretive innovations that appear to be more effective in these settings. The primary question addressed in this study is how the design of exploration projects may be carried out to bring clarity to project objectives and enablers. Design thinking, which is said to embody practices, mind-sets and processes that empower teams to co-create innovative solutions to wicked problems (Rittel and Webber, 1973) has been adopted in this study. Its design principles together with the creative problem-solving principles are combined to create a framework that facilitates design of exploration projects. This study uses design-based research (DBR) to apply the emerging framework to educational sandpit projects. These projects inherit the characteristics of exploration projects which are highly ambiguous toward more innovative, context-relevant, targeted solutions developed by diverse project teams. The study adopted a qualitative, interpretivist approach in order to enhance the design principles emerging from this study through authentic interventions in educational sandpits using DBR as a methodology. The outcome of the study, namely, a project artistry framework, emerged from the iterative process which was undertaken. The framework's value proposition is that it (the framework) had been proven to enable diverse teams to shift the participants' orientation from significant ambiguity and uncertainty to the ability to plan action by co-creating project visions with clear objectives and goals. The project artistry framework reflects the construction of a house and a more holistic framework, which consists of a roof (design process), the pillars required to hold up the roof (design pillars) and the foundational bricks. The design pillars include reflection, creative language, applied imagination, diverging and converging while the foundational bricks include empathy, empowerment, engagement, emergence, experimentation, environment, exploration and exploitation. In addition, an ambiguity acceptance journey is proposed to encourage a tolerance of ambiguity that leads to questioning and inquiry in projects that cultivates fresh insights and innovation in projects. New approaches to project leadership and design are essential to transform the world we live in. Although no panacea, project artistry provides project leaders with a new dimension to understanding the changing conditions that surround their project and envisioning better, innovative solutions to some of the most troublesome challenges facing our projects. It brings together the power of analysis and intuition to synthesize real solutions that not only work but meet the needs of the people. This fresh approach also brings enlightenment and transformation to those engaged in such projects and cultivates creative confidence and fosters collaboration.

Calls for more creative teaching and learning in classrooms are often matched by increasingly stringent accountability measures. Negotiating the creativity/accountability paradox is difficult for teachers, who are often isolated as they interpret, design, and deliver curriculum in their classrooms. This dissertation introduces and refines a 7-stage process called the Community Creative Collective (3-C) designed to generate solutions to three problems that derive from this paradox. First, narrowing of curriculum inhibits the ability of teachers to generate creative teaching and learning. Second, factors, including time constraints and teacher training, limit teachers' ability to develop the creative habit. Third, inclusion of family and community members as co-creators of curriculum provides a potential source of creative curriculum development. Three research questions guide the exploration of the process: 1. How does the 3-C process allow teachers and community members to collaboratively generate creative teaching and learning opportunities for their students? 2. What are the distinguishing features of this collaborative curricular process? 3. How does such a process impact teachers' interpretations of their role as interpreters, designers and deliverers of curriculum? Using a Design Based approach, these questions investigate the process as it was implemented in a 5th-grade classroom. The first question uses a case study methodology to trace the development of the 3-C process as it was developed and implemented. Findings demonstrated that communication at multiple stages impacted the generation of creative ideas. The second question uses qualitative data from documents, interviews, audio and video recordings and observations to extrapolate some of the distinguishing feature of the process. Key features included the Ideational Speed Dating (ISD) process for idea-generation, the 3-C process as a peak flow experience and the impact of parent and community expertise to generate creative classroom content. The third question uses interviews with the participating teacher to examine the impact of the 3-C process on her interpretation of her role in the classroom. The process influenced her view on family and community involvement, providing space through which tensions can be resolved and creative engagement can flourish. Finally refinements for future iterations are discussed in addition to implications for future research.

Magister Educationis - MEd / This research investigated how grade 7 learners dealt with introductory aspects of integers when they are introduced through a temperature model. In particular, the study analysed the effect of an intentional teaching strategy on learners’ engagement with integers. The idea of combining an intentional teaching strategy with the introduction of integers in grade 7 learners using a temperature model is what makes this study unique. A qualitative study was adopted. Data was collected by means of audio and video and also by means of learners’ completed worksheets. The results of the study indicate that the majority of learners could recognise, compare and order integers. It is recommended that the application of intentional teaching with a temperature model is a viable strategy to introduce grade 7 learners to integers.

The main purpose of this qualitative research was to discover the effects of problem-based learning on a fifth grade language arts classroom. The secondary purpose was to examine how receptive fifth grade students were to a new way of learning. In this descriptive study, a group of nine students created an alternate reality game as part of a problem-based learning module. The instructional design of the study included three weeks for students to design and construct their games and one week to play, receive feedback and revise based on feedback. Through reflective blogs, semi-structured interviews, video recordings, and observations, data was collected to analyze. Over a period of five months, the data was coded and arranged into categories. The categories merged into themes. The results and findings revealed the impact collaborative groups have on design and enjoyment. Self-regulation skills were found to be lacking in most of the students, intrinsic motivation increased for some students while others developed positive outcomes beyond the scope of this study.

The purpose of this study is to find solutions on how to improve secondary school students’ persuasive argumentative English essay writing. The participants of this study are groups of ESL students aged 13 and 17 who live and study in a sub-urban area in Malaysia. All students and teachers converse amongst themselves using the Malay language on a daily basis while English language is merely used during classroom interaction time. Not only do they have very little opportunity to communicate using English language in their daily lives and for academic purposes, they also have limited opportunity to learn how to argue persuasively in their English classroom. Thus, they have difficulties in writing two-sided argumentative essays in English. The teaching-to-the-test culture has taken its toll on students’ writing performance when writing argumentative essays. In order to help students to score well in examination, teachers often overlook the need to teach critical thinking skills for the English subject. They focus solely on writing narrative essays as these essays require less critical thinking skill from the students. The Design-Based Research is employed to solve this problem of writing persuasive argumentative essays. Based on the pre-intervention essays written by the participants, it is believed that their difficulties are because of two major factors; insufficient English language skills and no exposure to persuasive argumentation skills. The initial design framework asserts that students should improve their persuasive argumentative essay writing if they are initially exposed to face-to-face group argumentation. However, the findings from the exploratory study revealed that face-to-face group argumentation is unmanageable in the context studied. Hence, an online learning intervention was considered to support secondary school students to improve their written argument. It was developed underpinned by design principles based on Exploratory Talk to achieve persuasive argumentation. The prototype online intervention was tested and developed through a series of iterations. Findings from Iteration 1 show that only a small number of students manage to write two-sided essays because most of them have an extreme attitude when writing about an issue and display a lack of positive transfer from group to individual argumentation. Prior to Iteration 2, the prototype intervention was adapted to tackle the extreme attitude and negative transfer issues by highlighting five elements: face-to-face classroom practice, focus more on three main ground rules, argument game, role of teachers during group argumentation and the use of argument map during the post-intervention essay writing. The findings demonstrate that all students in the second iteration wrote argumentative essays which are more persuasive. The final design framework developed in this study suggests a design framework that could be used by future researchers and ESL teachers at secondary school level who are interested in improving students’ persuasive argumentative essays.

The growing field of mobile learning (m-learning) research concerning the use and effectiveness of mobile assisted language learning (MALL) in second and foreign language (L2) education reflects the possibilities of smart mobile technological devices to facilitate students’ control over their own learning. This research aims to find the pedagogical affordances of mobile learning in combination with Web 2.0 tools with a particular focus on the use of smartphone and Facebook as tools to enhance teaching and learning of English for English as a Second Language learners. Using Design Based Research (DBR) as an approach to conduct this study, the initial design framework was developed from the literature and the exploratory phase. It was tested and developed through a series of iterations and the impacts of each iteration were evaluated using interviews and qualitative data analysis. 37 participants were involved in this study; 12 in the Exploratory Study, 17 in Iteration 1 and 8 in Iteration 2. One of the most important findings reported in the first iteration is the impact of a sense of social obligation whereby participants felt under pressure from their peers to post and to participate. This social obligation effect can have both positive and negative consequences for learning and was further explored in the second iteration. Based on the findings from both iterations, this study suggested a design framework to be used by future research that explored ways in which pedagogical designs for m-learning with social networking can take this social obligation effect into account in order to avoid its negative consequences and make best use of its positive consequences.

abstract: In this study, the current literature regarding student engagement and student voice were reviewed to explore the connection between these two classroom elements. Currently, frequently incorporating student voice in order to increase student engagement most commonly takes place at the high school and university levels. Thus, utilizing Finn’s (1989) participation-identification theory, this study set out to implement a practical design intervention in an elementary classroom to increase student engagement through the incorporation of student voice. Using Design-Based Research, I implemented a collaborative reflection process which allowed students, teacher/researcher, and co-educators to provide feedback on classroom task and participant structures. The feedback was then considered for further iterations of the task and participant structures. This was a pilot study of the collaborative reflection process and was implemented in a fourth-grade math classroom with 26 participants. Along with participating in the collaborative reflection process, the student participants also took a 26 question Learner Empowerment Measure to survey their feelings of identity with the classroom before and after the design intervention. After analyzing audio data gathered during the classroom tasks, as well as student feedback, it was found that student participation did increase due to the design intervention. However, there was no measurable difference in students’ feelings of identity with the classroom due to the collaborative reflection process. Future studies should consider implementing the collaborative reflection process in multiple classrooms across diverse activities during the school year. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Learning, Literacies and Technologies 2019

This design-based research study explored whether Sense of Community was maintained while flexibility in the course was increased through an adoption of a unique blended learning model. Data collected in this study show a significant drop in the sense of connectedness score from a mean of 50.8 out of 66 to a mean of 39.68 in the first iteration. The score then began to gradually increase, reaching 50.65 in the third iteration. Results indicate that transitioning to a blended learning environment may be a suitable option to increase flexibility while maintaining a Sense of Community in a project-based course. Future research into specific aspects of course design such as maturity of design, age-level of participants, and context would further develop understanding in this area.

Föreliggande studies syfte är att undersöka hur tre svensklärare som undervisar i årskurs 2 och 3 stöttar elevernas stavningsutveckling. För att samla in studiens data används metoden Design-based Research (Anderson & Shattuck, 2012) där observationer visar hur de deltagande lärarna genomför stavningsundervisning samtidigt som intervjuer används för att se hur studiens deltagare säger sig planera och utvärdera sin stavningsundervisning. Med hjälp av observationer och semistrukturerade intervjuer har relevant data för studiens syfte samlats in. Studiens teoretiska ram grundar sig i det sociokulturella perspektivet med utgångspunkt i begreppet stöttning. Vidare analyseras studiens insamlade data med hjälp av fem stöttningskomponenter: ägarskap, lämplighet, struktur, samarbete och internalisering (Langer & Applebee, 1986). Observationerna visar att studiens deltagare genomför sin stavningsundervisning med en liknande struktur. Däremot framkommer det av intervjuerna att endast en av tre deltagare kontinuerligt undervisar om stavningsregler. Samma deltagare väljer också att rätta alla uppkomna stavfel, medan de andra deltagarna väljer att göra olika beroende på situation. Dessa två deltagare är rädda att för hård stavningsrättning hämmar elevernas skrivlust. Trots att deltagarna har olika syn på effektiv stavningsundervisning och väljer att arbeta på olika sätt kan vi urskilja de fem komponenterna av stöttning hos samtliga deltagare.

Enhanced innovative learning through the purposeful development of effective blended teaching and learning environments supported by a variety of interfaces is a strategic focus of the NWU and specifically the Faculty of Educational Science. There are several emerging models to ensure effective online and blended learning but the prominent model that has attracted attention is the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework developed by Garrison, Anderson and Archer in 2000. The CoI framework is conceptually grounded in theories of teaching and learning in higher education and is consistent with John Dewey’s work on community of inquiry. CoI is deeply rooted into pragmatism as is evident in Dewey’s argument where he explains the idea of extracting meaning from experience. The focused of this study was on blended learning in a graduate teacher training course in Technology Education. The content of Technology as a subject is derived from other disciplines such as science, engineering and design. Due to the unique features of Technology as a subject, it was of great value, within this applied discipline, to investigate the unique patterns and relationships occurring among CoI presences in such a module of a teacher training graduate course. The purpose of the study was to:  develop an understanding of how the three presences (teaching presence, social presence and cognitive presence) in CoI enhance online learning;  investigate the extent of CoI in a blended mode of delivery within a TE graduate course; and  develop, implement and evaluate a module for a graduate course in Technology teacher training for a blended mode of delivery, based on requirements for the development of CoI. A design-based research methodology approach was followed for this study and included qualitative and quantitative methods in a multi-strand design. Design-based research is intrinsically linked to, and developmentally nourished by, multiple design and research methodologies, which utilises many data collection and analysis methods and which makes it suitable for a mixed method research. Findings from the literature review on the value of CoI for the effectiveness of online learning indicated that blended learning is dependent on the ability to facilitate a CoI. It is through the application of the principles for CoI that a successful transition from a face-to-face to a blended mode of delivery for the applied subject TE was possible. Findings with regard to the extent to which CoI manifested itself in this Technology graduate course indicated that teaching presence manifested itself to a good extent in the TE undergraduate course. The main findings that were of concern with regard to teaching presence included: insufficient clear instructions and communication, feelings of isolations and disconnectedness, lack of immediacy and the inability to connect online feedback to lecturer expertise. Although social presence did manifest itself to some extent in the TE undergraduate course, it was the hardest to establish out of the three presences. The main issues arising from the manifestation and existence of social presence included: insufficient sense of belonging in the online environment, students didn’t feel comfortable expressing themselves affectively as well as uneasiness to communicate, interact and participate online with other module participants. Finally, cognitive presence did manifest itself to a satisfying extent in the TE undergraduate course. Findings suggest that there was a not sufficient structured triggering events to create a sense of puzzlement which suggests that more activities must be included that will encourage reflection and therefore will improve the movement through the cognitive inquiry process. Other findings from the study indicated that students experienced time management and the coordination and management of group activities as challenging. These challenges experienced by students reflect a lack of self-regulation skills in learning presence. Other challenges included that students experienced in the online environment of blended learning included: accessibility, lack of technology skills and the newness of blended learning. Design principles for the manifestation and existence of CoI for effective learning within a TE graduate module were establish for teaching presence, social presence and cognitive presence. The research contributed to the field by reporting on the process of how CoI can be enhanced in a blended learning environment for a complex subject such as Technology, and by providing evidence based guidelines for the design and implementation of blended learning with CoI principles as guidelines. / PhD (Curriculum Development Innovation and Evaluation), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014