The purpose of the study is to elaborate the Wizard-of-Oz (WOz) technique by using it at a distance for design and elicitation of requirements and requests as part of a Participatory Design process (i.e. remotely - where the wizard and participant are located in different geographical locations). This study aims at evaluating what the salient traits in the participatory discussions are by using the WOz technique at a distance, what similarities there are in function or expression between non-verbal expressions in GUI-ii and ordinary physical interviews, and how WOz at a distance fit into the current state of the Participatory design field. In an early design phase of a project, ten experimental WOz-at-a-distance sessions and five face-to-face interviews were held. The experimental sessions’ focus was on the codesign of early drafts of the interaction design for a digital tool for the planning of crisis management exercises. The interaction design was developed with a WOz system. The sessions offered co-design between a designer and a co-designer by having joint access to a graphical user interface (GUI), and to verbally communicate with each other. These sessions had a twofold approach where the focus could shift seamlessly between design and walkthrough. The results from this study show that WOz at a distance, as used in this study, offers an approach for a seamless switch between design-phase and evaluation-phase in the form of walkthroughs. Having the GUI present as a boundary object whilst discussing the GUI and its interaction design enables a natural way of designing and evaluating the functions and interaction design of the upcoming system. The results also show that even if the participatory discussion lacks the face-to-face meeting between the interlocutors there are some similarities between those discussions and the face-to-face interviews in function and use of non-verbal expressions. Participatory discussions, when using WOz technique at a distance is a method where the participatory mindset is prominent and is a flexible approach that fits well with the overarching views on Participatory design.

Au Québec, l'importance d'une pédagogie axée sur la compréhension devient préoccupante dans le contexte de l'implantation du nouveau programme de formation. L'investigation collective d'une problématique par la voie de l'écrit est une pratique pédagogique émergente suscitant un intérêt grandissant. Partant de l'idée que certaines productions discursives traduisent la compréhension et que l'acte d'expliquer, pour soi-même ou pour autrui, constitue une occasion de développer cette compréhension, ce mémoire analyse le discours d'investigation collective d'une problématique sociale produit sur un forum de discussion électronique - Knowledge Forum- par des élèves de troisième secondaire inscrits dans des écoles participant à l'initiative École Éloignée en Réseau. Nous nous intéressons à l'explication et à sa progression dans le discours. Nos résultats démontrent notamment une progression non singulière de l'explication. Les auteurs participants de l'enfilade, les niveaux d'élaboration des «idées-explications» (note et enfilade), les liens entre les unités de sens composant l'«enfilade explicative» et la présence plus ou moins grande de certains principes de coélaboration de connaissances dans le discours différencient les «enfilades explicatives». / Tn Québec, the importance of a pedagogy centred on deep understanding is gaining momentum with the implementation of the new curriculum. Collaborative inquiry supported by online tools is an emergent teaching practice. This study is on discursive productions and the level of understanding that can be reached. Explanation as an individual or a collaborative act was analyzed in the online discourse produced on Knowledge Forum regarding their collective investigation of social problems by Québec ninth graders registered to a school part of the Remote Networked School initiative. Our results identify distinct ways in which students' explanations progressed. The key variations observed were the following ones: the participating authors of specific threads, the levels of development of "idea-explanations" (note and thread), the bonds between the units of meaning composing the «explanatory thread», and the more or less manifestations of the large application of knowledge building principles in "explanatory threads".

Denna studies syfte är att sammanställa vad aktuell forskning säger om hur givande diskussioner kan skapas i matematikundervisningen. Under arbetet har en systematisk litteraturstudie genomförts för att sammanställa och analysera aktuell forskning inom området. Resultatet visar att givande diskussioner till stor del påverkar elevernas kunskapsutveckling i matematik positivt. Givande matematiska diskussioner grundar sig i en lärares kunskaper i att skapa och orkestrera dessa diskussioner. Dessa diskussioner kan antingen genomföras i helklass eller i grupp. Dessa diskussioner ter sig olika baserat på om diskussionerna har ett lärarcentrerat fokus eller elevcentrerat fokus. Resultatet visar att diskussioner i matematikundervisningen kan se väldigt olika ut och på så vis har olika förutsättningar för elevers deltagande och lärande / The purpose of this study is to compile what current research says about how rich discussions can be created in mathematics education. During the research, a systematic literature study was carried out to compile and analyze current research in the field. The results show that rich discussions largely affect students' knowledge development in mathematics in a positive way.Effective mathematical discussions are based on a teacher's skills in creating and orchestrating these discussions. These discussions can either be carried out as a whole class or in groups. These discussions look different based on whether the discussions have a teacher-centered focus or a student-centered focus. The results show that discussions in mathematics education can look very different and thus can have different conditions for students' participation and learning

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Marjorie Hancock / With the inception of No Child Left Behind, educators are required to ensure proficiency for all students in reading and math, but provide no incentive for developing the talents of gifted students (Gentry, 2006b). Implementing differentiation into the classroom can assist educators in providing appropriate instruction for all students and maximizing the potential of gifted learners. Differentiation modifies curriculum and instruction to meet the diverse needs of students in the classroom (Tomlinson, 1999, 2001, 2003). The purpose of this study was to document how differentiation influenced the gifted readers’ ability to think more critically and the fifth grade teacher’s perceptions of differentiation as it was implemented into the reading curriculum for all readers in her classroom. This qualitative research study was conducted in a fifth grade classroom in a rural mid-western community from October 24, 2008 to February 4, 2009. Data collection included response journals of the gifted readers, audio recordings of literature circle discussions, observations/field notes, digital voice recording of interviews with the gifted readers and the classroom teacher, teacher reflective journal, and weekly meetings. Data analysis revealed three levels of critical thinking within ten categories as outlined in the Written Response Hierarchy of Journal Critical Thinking. Advanced Level Critical Thinking included the categories of Synthesis, Character Affinity, Character Scrutiny, and Evaluative Inquiry. Intermediate Level Critical Thinking was evidenced by the categories of Inference, Image Construction, Author’s Writing Technique, and Prediction. Basic Level Critical Thinking was represented by responses in the Ambiguity and Engagement categories. The Oral Response Hierarchy of Literature Circle Critical Thinking revealed four critical thinking levels of oral response. Analytical and Probe represented Advanced Level Critical Thinking, Conjecture demonstrated Intermediate Level Critical Thinking, and Engagement provided evidence of Basic Level Critical Thinking. Advanced Level Critical Thinking was evidenced in both written and oral responses across the three stages of the study. Data analysis further revealed the teacher’s perceptions of differentiated instruction. Benefits included increase in students’ motivation, active involvement and leadership, exceeding expectations, quality of literature circle discussions, confidence in implementing differentiation with continuous support of a mentor, flexibility, and empowerment to solve problems.

During the last decade, issues concerning ethics and values have been given much attention in debates on education as well as in society in general. The problems surrounding such issues are tied to current societal trends towards growing differentiation, individualisation, and increasingly fragmented value systems. Consequently, the core values of pre-schools and schools are currently stressed also as a basic ethical and democratic responsibility of teachers and other pedagogical personnel. The aim of this dissertation is to analytically reconstruct pedagogic discourses on issues related to core values and ethics. The research perspective includes a social-philosophical point of departure with a focus on Habermas’s theories of communicative action and discourse ethics. The methodology builds on critical discourse analysis. The results shed light on the ways in which teaching teams in pre-schools and schools at different levels discuss and attempt to reach agreement concerning a local document focussed on professional ethics. There are striking differences as to how ethically relevant concepts such as "starting from the childrens' / pupils' own capabilities," "sense of security," "responsibility," "respect," and "active participation" are talked about. In the theoretical reconstruction that follows, it is argued that the discussions can be understood as communication about and within particular types of contextual discourses. The five types of discourses formulated in the study are the following: "efficiency-oriented discourse," "normative tradition-oriented discourse," "care-oriented discourse," "communication-oriented discourse," and individual-oriented discourse," all of which are mutually related to each other. When the conversations are analysed from the perspective of critical discourse theory, a deeper understanding emerges of how childrens' learning about ethics and morals takes place in relation to the types of pedagogic discourse they encounter. Efficiency-oriented, normative tradition-oriented and individual-oriented discourse may lead to learning that counteracts the aims of schools as meeting-places for democracy. However, care-oriented discourse and communicative-oriented discourse both embody qualities that may increase the opportunities to work towards overarching educational goals such as democracy and solidarity. The results of the study show that the lofty ideals presented in educational directives and policy documents risk giving rise to exhaustion and feelings of guilt among pedagogues trying to live up to them when adequate resources are not available. The ability to make sound moral judgements may deteriorate due to increasingly stressful work situations where demands are not in line with the actual resources of everyday pedagogic contexts.

La présente étude vise à décrire les représentations sociales que des jeunes francophones en santé au Nouveau-Brunswick ont à l’égard du diabète. Cette étude découle d’un partenariat, initié entre l’Université de Moncton et divers organismes et collèges communautaires du Nouveau-Brunswick, qui ont identifié l’importance d’intervenir auprès des jeunes francophones en milieu scolaire pour prévenir le diabète. La théorie des représentations sociales est le cadre théorique utilisé pour décrire la vision que les jeunes ont du diabète, de son origine et des facteurs associés à sa prévention. À notre connaissance, cette étude est la première à examiner le concept du diabète chez des adolescents non atteints de diabète. Hypothèse principale: étant donné que l’expérience que les adolescents ont du diabète est limitée à leur environnement social et qu’ils ont de la difficulté à définir les concepts de santé et de maladie, ils ne seront pas capables de décrire le diabète en profondeur. Pour ce faire, des groupes de discussion, incluant une technique d’association libre, ont été réalisés, entre novembre et décembre 2005, auprès d’adolescents de 5e, 8e et 10e année recrutés dans quatre écoles francophones du Nouveau-Brunswick (Districts 1 et 11). Les réponses des élèves aux groupes de discussion et à l’association libre ont été classées dans des catégories et sous-catégories (analyse de contenu), et des tests de Khi-deux et de «Fisher» ont permis de déterminer les différences entre les sexes et les niveaux scolaires. Cent-trente adolescents (70 filles et 60 garçons) de 5e (n=44), 8e (n=46) et 10e année (n=40) ont participé à 19 groupes de discussion. Lors de l’activité d’association libre, les catégories les plus fréquemment mentionnées étaient : sucre (cité par 66% des participants), traitement (48%), nature du diabète (45%), nutrition (41%), sang (38%), complications (18%), manifestations physiologiques (11%), obésité (6%) et activité physique (6%). Aucune différence significative n’a été observée entre les sexes mais les élèves de 10e année ont cité plus fréquemment les catégories «traitement», «sang» et «obésité». Lors des groupes de discussion, les adolescents ont décrit le diabète comme une maladie (13/19 groupes) reliée au sucre (15/19 groupes) et au sang (13/19 groupes). Cependant, seulement quelques groupes ont discuté en profondeur de la nature du diabète (ex.: rôle de l’insuline et pancréas), des types de diabète (types 1 et 2) et des symptômes et des complications. Ils ont aussi cité ce que les gens atteints de diabète devaient faire pour traiter leur diabète (ex.: manger bien: 18 groupes; se piquer: 17 groupes; prendre des pilules: 5 groupes; et faire de l’activité physique: 5 groupes), mais ils n’ont pas discuté des stratégies à entreprendre pour y arriver. Les représentations de l’origine du diabète incluaient l’hérédité et l’âge (13/19 groupes), l’obésité et l’alimentation (12/19 groupes) et l’activité physique (13/19 groupes). Dans la moitié des groupes, les adolescents ont mentionné se sentir à risque de diabète; les filles plus que les garçons. Treize groupes ont fait référence aux comportements observés chez des diabétiques connus, ce qui démontre l’importance de l’environnement social sur les représentations. Les résultats de cette étude appuient l’hypothèse que les adolescents sont limités dans leur description du diabète en matière de définitions, origines et prévention du diabète. Ces résultats fournissent des pistes de réflexion aux professionnels de la santé pour identifier le contenu et les stratégies que devraient contenir les programmes éducatifs en matière de prévention du diabète chez les jeunes. / The purpose of this study is to describe healthy francophone adolescents’ social representations of diabetes. This study stems from a partnership, initiated between the University of Moncton and various college and community organizations in New Brunswick, which identified the importance of intervening among young francophone students to prevent diabetes. The theory of social representations is the conceptual framework used to describe adolescents’ vision about diabetes, its origin and factors associated with its prevention. To our knowledge, this study is the first to examine the concept of diabetes among adolescents without diabetes. Principal hypothesis: given that the experience adolescents have with diabetes is limited to their social environment and given that they have difficulty in defining the concepts of health and disease, they will not be able to describe diabetes in an in depth fashion. Focus groups, which included an activity using the Free Association technique, were conducted, between November and December 2005, with adolescents in grade 5, 8 and 10, recruited in four francophone schools in New Brunswick (Districts 1 and 11). Students’ responses, obtained during the focus groups and the Free Association activity, were classified into categories and sub-categories (content analysis); Chi-square and Fisher Exact tests were used to determine differences between sex and grade levels. One hundred and thirty adolescents (70 girls and 60 boys) in grade 5 (n=44), 8 (n=46) and 10 (n=40) participated in 19 focus group discussions. During the Free Association activity, the categories most frequently mentioned were: sugar (cited by 66% of participants), treatment (48%), nature of diabetes (45%), nutrition (41%), blood (38%), complications (18%), physiological manifestations (11%), obesity (6%), and physical activity (6%). No significant differences were observed between boys and girls but students in grade 10 were more likely to cite the categories of ‘treatment’, ‘blood’ and ‘obesity’. During the focus group discussions, adolescents described diabetes as a disease (13/19 groups) related to sugar (15/19 groups) and blood (13/19 groups). However, only a few groups discussed, in detail, the nature of diabetes (e.g.: role of insulin and pancreas), the types of diabetes (type 1 and 2), and the symptoms and complications of diabetes. They also cited what individuals with diabetes should do to treat their disease (e.g.: eat well: 18 groups; have injections: 17 groups; take pills: 5 groups; and be physically active: 5 groups), but they did not discuss the strategies to manage these behaviours. Representations of diabetes related to the origin of the disease included heredity and age (13/19 groups), obesity and nutrition (12/19 groups) and physical activity (13/19 groups). In half of the groups, adolescents mentioned feeling at risk for diabetes; girls more likely than boys. Thirteen groups referred to behaviours which they had observed among diabetics they knew, demonstrating the importance of the social environment in their representations. The results of this study support the hypothesis that adolescents are limited in their description of diabetes with respect to its definition, origins and prevention. These results provide direction for health professionals in identifying the content and strategies that should be included in diabetes prevention programs for youth.

Functional programming (FP) has progressively become more prevalent and techniques from the FP paradigm has been implemented in many different Imperative object-oriented programming (OOP) languages. However, there is no indication that OOP is going out of style. Nevertheless the increased popularity in FP has sparked new discussions across the Internet between the FP and OOP communities regarding a multitude of related aspects. These discussions could provide insights into the questions and challenges faced by programmers today. This thesis investigates these online discussions in a small and contemporary scale in order to identify the most discussed aspect of FP and OOP. Once identified the statements and claims made by various discussion participants were selected and compared to literature relating to the aspects and the theory behind the paradigms in order to determine whether there was any discrepancies between practitioners and theory. It was done in order to investigate whether the practitioners had different ideas in the form of best practices that could influence theories. The most discussed aspect within FP and OOP was ​immutability and state​ relating primarily to the aspects of ​concurrency ​ and ​performance​ . This thesis presents a selection of representative quotes that illustrate the different points of view held by groups in the community and then addresses those claims by investigating what is said in literature. It was shown that there were no direct discrepancies between the practitioners and the theory.

No description available.

The aim of this study is to provide knowledge about how preschoolers discuss about carbon dioxide bubbles and its buoyancy. To answer the study´s questions, three focus groups with a total of twelve children and six group interviews with a total of eight children, have been used as a method. In the implementation of the focus groups and the group interviews, the experiment dancing raisins was used. The experiment was used as a concrete material to make the carbonic acid visible to the children. A social constructivist perspective has been used during the analyzes of the data. From the keywords that emerged during the analysis, nine categories have been identified and divided to answer the questions of the study. The result shows that when the children were to describe the carbonic acid, they used the words bubbles and bubble water. Only one child said the word gas, but none of the children used the word carbonic acid. The result also shows that the children in the study have previous experiences that the appearance and characteristics of objects affect whether they float or sink. The result shows that the children mainly used everyday concepts and lack scientific concepts when describing the phenomenon. The result of the study can contribute to a developed chemistry teaching in the preschool, by letting preschool teachers know what words children use to describe a phenomenon and thus adapt the chemistry content of the preschool.

University instructors can improve how they promote critical thinking in the classroom by fostering reflective writing habits with students. Midwest University requires all undergraduate students to complete 2 capstone courses, which are framed around a critical thinking curriculum. The skills of analyzing and reflecting on experiences are important components of critical thinking. Despite this acknowledged importance of critical thinking, there is currently no structured training for instructors of the capstone course on how to develop critical thinking abilities among adult students. The purpose of this case study was to examine the perceptions of the instructors of the capstone courses and their approaches to promoting critical thinking. Literature on critical thinking and reflective writing provided the framework for this study. Participants included 5 instructors with experience teaching one of the capstone courses. Data collection included semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and reflective journals. Analysis was inductive using open coding and constant comparison to identify emergent themes. Findings indicated that a common practice to promote critical thinking was through probing questions and deep discussions, that a challenge to promoting a critical thinking curriculum was student engagement, and that more importance should be placed on assessing critical thinking in the grading rubrics. Results prompted the creation of a professional development workshop to offer training to instructors that included the experience of progressing through reflective activities and deep discussion to better guide their students through the same process in an effort to strengthen critical thinking development. University instructors may glean best practices from this study to guide students in developing the capacity to think from a more critical and global perspective.