Conscientious Discourse is an engagement where participants express their ideas truthfully, but also simultaneously focus on listening and responding to others. Facilitating and participating in conscientious classroom discourse is challenging. We present an approach — reinfrastructuring classroom discourse — by offering students and instructors more information in the initial moments of discourse through a system we developed, ThoughtSwap. This approach emphasizes focused, punctuated moments of attention to one's own and other people's ideas. 49%-100% of students participated in the initial entry of ideas over the course of the semester in 25 classes with nine instructors. The study showed that ThoughtSwap had operational success in that, on the average, instructors used ThoughtSwap once every other week during the semester. Furthermore, student participation rate ranged from 49% to 100%. This work further presents 1) the ways instructors adapted and adopted ThoughtSwap, and 2) the pedagogical goals and challenges they report using the tool. / Doctor of Philosophy / Facilitating and participating in classroom discourse is difficult. The process becomes even more challenging with the goal of inviting what we call Conscientious Discourse, where the participants not only share their ideas but also engage in both self-examination and reflection of other people's ideas. We present an approach — reinfrastructuring classroom discourse — by offering students and instructors more information in the initial moments of discourse through using a system we developed, ThoughtSwap. ThoughtSwap is not the mechanism by which discussion takes place, but instead changes the informational conditions under which synchronous discussions are held. In response to an instructor prompt, students contribute initial written thoughts under conditions of ``contained anonymity". Additionally, instructors may ask students to represent and respond to ``swapped" thoughts, contributed by other people present in the class. These actions created moments of focused encounter in which class members can contemplate their own ideas in relationship to other peoples' ideas as they begin actual discussion. ThoughtSwap use was studied in the context of university instruction by 9 instructors in 25 classes over the course of 6 semesters, to further their teaching goals. The study showed that ThoughtSwap seemed to have operational success in that, on the average, instructors used ThoughtSwap once every other week during the semester that did not contain guest speakers, tests, or holidays. Furthermore, student participation rate ranged from 49% to 100%. Instructors participated in focus groups and articulated their plans, goals, concerns and experiences. In this work I further present and discuss 1) the ways instructors adapted and adopted ThoughtSwap, and 2) the pedagogical goals and challenges they report using the tool. Secondary kinds of results that may also inform future work relate to student-level demographic and attitudinal data, and the design and creation of a system variant that attempted to respond to Covid. Most importantly, ThoughtSwap offers instructors and students an opportunity to deepen the chances for learning in the instructional environment.

This study examined the use of group counseling and group discussion as a method of demonstrating changes on selected personality variables of first-year theology students. It was hypothesized that the subjects would become less dogmatic (more open-minded), motivated from a more internal locus of control, feel less anxious, and demonstrate greater creativity and self-concept following their participation in either group counseling or group discussion. Group counseling was hypothesized to be the best method for effecting changes. The subjects were first-year theology students at a southwestern theological seminary. These participants planned to work in some phase of ministry; several planning to be ordained as priests or to enter the deaconate. This study was based upon the premise that ministers often assume a counseling role and they therefore, need training in counseling skills and an opportunity to enhance their personal development. Group counseling and group discussion were explored as possible means to achieve these ends. Each of the five personality variables was measured on a pretest-posttest design. The subjects were tested prior to meeting in one of the two formats and tested again after fifteen hours of participation in one of the groups. A control group was also tested at these same times to allow for a comparison to be made as to which method was most effective. Chapter I presents a review of related literature on the five variables and the need for training of ministers in counseling skills and for providing an opportunity for self-growth. Chapter II states the procedures and includes definitions, the method of the study and a discussion of the instrumentation. Chapter III presents the results of the study and a discussion of the implications. Although the findings indicated some changes in the variables as predicted by the hypotheses, none of the changes was statistically significant. Therefore, it was concluded that these changes may have been occurred by chance. The positive trends, however, were seen to be indicative of the possible beneficial nature of group counseling and it was recommended that the seminary provide an opportunity for such an experience.

by Lai Fei Loi. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [53-55]). / Abstract and questionnaire in English and Chinese. / List of tables / Acknowledgements / INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.10 / RESEARCH METHODOLOGY --- p.25 / DATA ANALYSES AND DISCUSSIONS --- p.33 / References / Appendix

This study presents an overview of how community managers, a title encompassing all moderators of online discussion, handle their position in the discussion areas of a news website, whether that is embedded comments connected to stories or on message boards. The primary evidence, gathered through a structured interview, suggests that community managers are spending the majority of their time dealing with spam, off-topic comments, and harmful comments, typically either inappropriate language or personal attacks on other users. The prevalence of community managers as a position was found through the use of a survey to high-ranking members of newspapers across the United States. The survey showed that while most news organizations have sections that allow users to have their voice be heard, many of the sections are not being moderated for content. Many times, comments sections can turn inappropriate if left unchecked. The thesis contains some suggestions that community moderators should consider as they look to develop the most effective, open, and welcoming forum for user-generated content. / Department of Journalism

Les points de vente de la presse écrite, encore appelés kiosques à journaux, sont le théâtre d’activités humaines au quotidien. Le passant qui traverse les grands carrefours de Yaoundé ou de Douala est attiré par les nombreuses personnes attroupées devant les kiosques à journaux où elles tiennent des discussions « interminables ». Pour les populations urbaines, il s’agit d’un passe-temps pour ceux qui s’y adonnent. Pourtant, la pratique est renouvelée au quotidien devant ces espaces de commerce. La présence de personnes devant les kiosques à journaux à longueur de journée traduit-elle une certaine oisiveté de leur part ou alors l’expression d’un réel intérêt pour les journaux ? Cette thèse analyse les logiques qui structurent le phénomène d’attroupement devant les kiosques à journaux et interroge la place des discussions qui y émergent. Les pratiques observées, ainsi que les entretiens menés au cours de l’enquête, montrent que la recherche des informations contenues dans la presse écrite est fondamentalement l’objet d’attraction des populations vers ces points d’approvisionnement. Les différents acteurs déploient des stratégies variées pour accéder à l’information. En effet, la vente directe des journaux comme seule source de revenus des kiosquiers relèverait d’une utopie. Face à la conjoncture qui sévit dans le secteur de la presse, les commerçants de journaux ne sont pas épargnés. La chute des ventes suscite le besoin de réajustements, dont le but est de combler le manque à gagner. Dans un contexte global dominé par la précarité, le consommateur n’est pas en reste. Désormais, parcourir les titres de journaux suffit pour se faire une idée de l’actualité. De cette exploration approximative émergent de manière instantanée des débats sur les sujets relayés dans les médias. Pour les protagonistes de ces échanges, la possibilité d’exprimer leur point de vue représente une forme de liberté d’expression, symbole de la démocratie, laquelle apparaît comme un élément structurant majeur dans la construction de l’espace public. / The newspaper stall constitutes an environment for daily human interactions. As one passes by the Yaounde and Douala major crossroads, it’s impressive to see the crowds gathered around the newspaper stalls. For many people, it has become a daily appointment for endless debates.The question is: Why do people spend so much of their time around those newspaper stalls? Is it because they are idlers? Or is it because they are truly interested in newspapers?Our thesis dissertation is aimed at analyzing the logics that structure the phenomenon of crowds around the newspaper stalls, and questioning the nature and content of the discussions resulting from peoples’ interactions in those places.From our observations on the field, and from the interviews carried out, it appears that the main reason why people gather around the newspapers stall is their search for information. Because of the economic crisis many people can’t afford to buy a newspaper. Therefore, they are often contempted with reading the titles on the front pages and when possible, gathering supplementary information from those who may have had the privilege to read the articles. Within this framework, spontaneous discussions and debates merge, which give the protagonists the opportunity to say their mind, and thus feel as if they are expressing their right to free speech, which symbolizes democracy and as such stands as a fundamental element in the public space.

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published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Master / Master of Philosophy

Software systems form an essential part of Western society,serving as tools to uphold institutions, processes andservices. It is understandable, therefore, that the mostfundamental aspects of programs are their function and utility.But they are not, however, the only things programmers areconcerned with when writing them. On the contrary, programmers also discuss about many otheraspects of software, including the beauty of code. Theydistinguish between different programming styles and expresstheir personal preferences, often by way of admiring andvilifying other people's code. Programmers' identification withaesthetic preferences may give rise to vanity, to disagreementsso entrenched that they deserve the name of 'holy wars' and toother similar phenomena. This thesis describes and analyses these phenomena, whichultimately originate in the human faculty to create andappreciate nuances, to become attached to them and to engage indisputes because of them - even infields as standardised ascomputer programming. Its aim is to expose the aesthetics ofcode, and in doing so, to discuss the symbolic aspects ofinstrumental action at large. Keywords:aesthetics, code, instrumental action,internet discussion fora, programming, symbolic action / <p>NR 20140805</p>