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This thesis describes three studies designed to help students learn physics better and instructors teach physics more effectively in local circumstances. The first study investigated the effects of teaching approaches consisting of interactive engagement activities in two institutions. The teaching elements in the experimental classes were reading quizzes, interactive lecture demonstrations and student discussions. The control classes were taught in traditional style dominated by an instructor lecturing on concepts and problem solving examples. The cognitive improvement was measured by a standardized test and exam grades. The students in the experimental classes showed significant improvement in conceptual understanding and problem solving skills compared to the students in the control classes. While the experimental groups welcomed the modified instruction, they still held the view that the lecturer should play the dominant role of presenting the material. In the second study interviews with lecturers, teaching assistants and students revealed their perceptions of the utility of real-life materials in instruction. The students asserted that activities using real-life materials were interesting and useful. However, they still considered that elements of traditional instruction were very important in good teaching. The lack of knowledge of innovative teaching approaches may explain why the instructors were sceptical about the effectiveness of real-life materials in improving their students' understanding. To raise the instructors' awareness of issues in learning physics and to improve their knowledge of effective instruction, the third study discussed a department-based professional development course. The course incorporated interactive engagement activities and made connections to teaching and learning experiences. The course evaluation suggested that the participants became more open to new ideas and intended to implement what they had learned in the present and future academic career. The studies in this thesis have impacted on first year courses and raised the instructors' awareness of physics education issues. The emphasis of educational enterprises should be shifted from classroom changes to educating the instructors. Instead of simply modifying teaching practice, instructors should also undergo a transformation in beliefs and knowledge in pedagogy. It is only when all instructors are willing to undergo such a transformation that a significant achievement in teaching and learning will be realized.

This research utilized a structural analysis of final judgment and a process-tracing method to examine the effects of situational involvement and task complexity on information acquisition and the decision-making process. In addition, the predictive accuracy of the linear model in predicting drug choice across decision situations was assessed. A contingency model for the selection of decision strategies based on a cost/benefit principle was used as a framework in the study. A randomized mixed model factorial design was conducted in which a sample of forty-eight physicians, recruited from the University Medical Center at the University of Arizona, indicated their preferences and choices for hypothetical anti-infective drugs. Subjects were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Subjects in the experimental group were told via the written scenario to assume that his/her decision would be reviewed and evaluated by peers and (s)he would be asked to justify drug choice. No mention of peer review was made in the scenario used by the control group. Subjects in both groups were required to perform the two choice tasks and conjoint ranking task. The number of drug alternatives in a choice set was varied between three and six alternatives. The Mouselab program was used to monitor physicians' information acquisition behavior. The measures concerning the amount of information searched, order, duration, direction of search, and the chosen alternative were observed. The conjoint LINMAP program was used to estimate drug attribute importance weights. Results of the study provide support that the information acquisition and decision-making process is contingent on the characteristics of decision tasks. A significant number of subjects shifted from using compensatory to noncompensatory decision-making processes when task complexity increased. The study did not find support for the effects of situational involvement on the decision-making process. However, subjects in the two groups were found to differ in choice outcomes and the attention given to specific drug attribute information. Finally, the study found support for the robustness of the linear models in predicting drug choice across contexts.

The purpose of this study was to establish a staff development model that would assist teachers to: (1) develop a deeper understanding of their diverse student population; (2) develop a deeper awareness and understanding of their perceptions of the teaching/learning process; and (3) help teachers use their enriched knowledge and skills to promote instructional techniques that enhance all students' linguistic, academic and cognitive development. Guiding this process were three research projects: Langer and Applebee's (1987) work on teaching and learning; Goldenberg's (1991) instructional conversation (IC) Rating Scale and; Au's (1990) interpretations of Vygotsky's (1962; 1978) work on mediation in practice. Underlying these works, and also incorporated into this study, were Vygotsky's ideas on mediated assistance within one's zone of proximal development. Seven data sources were collected and analyzed for this study. These included: pre-post surveys and interviews, teachers' scripted lessons, individual discussion sessions, whole group in-services, IC Rating Scale, and ethnographic notes. Four formats were used to analyze these data: IC scoring, graphs, charts and triangulation of various data sources. Results of these procedures afforded the following findings: (1) there were substantial changes in both the quantity as well as the quality of teachers' instructional practices based on teachers' central or main concerns for their students; (2) teachers gained deeper understanding of their instructional practice through mediation and discussion; and (3) teachers noted that changes in their instructional practices enhanced learning for their diverse student population.

This dissertation argues that using rhetorical approaches to outré literature gleaned from popular culture within the context of first-year composition helps students become critical readers, thinkers, and writers. I suggest that if instructors privilege texts their students are likely to be familiar with in English 101, then they can more readily introduce unfamiliar concepts like rhetorical analysis; by the time students arrive in English 102, they can apply the now familiar concept of rhetorical analysis to new texts such as academic discourse. Thus, in designing this curriculum I draw on the Harry Potter novels, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Star Wars graphic novels to present nine rhetorical strategies that can be used not only for literary texts such as these, but can also be transferred to a variety of novel situations students are likely to encounter in college and in the everyday world. In the end, the dissertation makes arguments not only for using literature to teach composition, but also for using rhetorical analysis as a means to teach reading, thinking, and writing, and also for keeping first-year composition as a required part of the curriculum.

This case study explored the negotiation of identities of American-born Mexican descent high school students in a US-Mexico border region. These students resided mostly with their parents and families on the Mexican side, and having legal American status, crossed the border daily to attend high school on the U.S. side. This qualitative study was informed by social and historical perspectives, and emphasized the identity of border crossers, examining the question of how they positioned themselves when faced with Americanization on the U.S. side and Mexicanization on the Mexican side. The study included a total of 19 participants: 3 students of primary focus, and 16 secondary participants (6 other high school students, 6 educators and 4 parents.) This sample of convenience was recruited at Isler High School, the researcher's place of work. Interviews were conducted with each participant, and the three focus students kept a month-long journal. Finally, some students in the secondary group provided valuable information through focus group discussion. Using Gee's (2001) theoretical framework that proposes four perspectives for viewing identity (Nature, Institution, Discourse and Affinity), the researcher found that the focus participants, each one bilingual, considered English an instrument to become American and be recognized as such. However, each "confessed" to code-switching, but preferred to avoid it. The three focus students self-identified as either Mexican or Mexican and American. One strongly rejected the possibility of being ascribed the identity of a Chicano. The study showed that student border crossers are perfectly fluent in both English and Spanish, contrary to commonly held belief, and that they identify with Mexico, but also with the United States.

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