This qualitative case study examined the impact of an arts integrated international collaboration on elementary school students’ creativity when the students were communicating and creating exclusively through a technological third space. Two organizations, one in the U.S. and one in Mexico, served as the sites for the case study. Five findings emerged from the study relating to the nature of creativity and two findings related to the impact on students’ creativity when engaged in arts-integrated international collaboration. The findings for the first question were: 1. Students and teaching artists view creativity as a process that is reflexive and engaging, 2. When reflecting on their work, students and teaching artists see creativity as an interplay of ideas and are open to and capable of modifying their ideas to achieve creative results, 3. Creative work is relative to the individual and is directly correlated to both originality and effort, 4. Students and teaching artists value creativity as a means for both self-expression and communication, 5. A collaborative environment sets the stage for creative behavior in terms of inviting feedback, providing constructive criticism, and sharing ideas. For the second question relating to impact, the two findings were: 1. Teaching and learning in the third space becomes a recursive process, and 2. Students work in new modes of communication in order to bridge cultures. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2014. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

李小玲撰. / 據稿本複印. / Thesis (M.A.)--香港中文大學. / Ju gao ben fu yin. / Li Xiaoling zhuan. / Thesis (M.A.)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue. / 表一至卅六的目錄　　　　　 --- p.V / 圖一至三的目錄　　　　　　 --- p.X / 附錄一至四的目錄　　　　　 --- p.XI / 鳴謝 --- p.XII / Chapter 第一章 --- 引言 / Chapter 一、一 --- 青少年心態 --- p.1 / Chapter 一、二 --- 教育署的行動 --- p.4 / Chapter 一、三 --- 各界對「學校德育指引」的回應 --- p.5 / Chapter 一、四 --- 傳播中心的錄影帶製作 --- p.7 / Chapter 第二章 --- 擴散的理論與研究 / Chapter 二、一 --- 擴散的定義　　　　　 --- p.9 / Chapter 二、二 --- 擴散研究面對的批評　 --- p.11 / Chapter 二、三 --- 擴散理論的再思　　　 --- p.20 / Chapter 二、四 --- 從過往研究看新事物的界定 --- p.24 / Chapter 二、五 --- 從過往研究看新事物的分類 --- p.28 / Chapter 二、六 --- 新事物的（認知）屬性 --- p.32 / Chapter 第三章 --- 研究目的及方法 / Chapter 三、一 --- 宗教德育錄影帶節目這新事物 --- p.35 / Chapter 三、二 --- 進行這項研究的原因　　 --- p.39 / Chapter 三、三 --- 研究方法　 --- p.44 / Chapter 三、三、一 --- 實地觀察 --- p.45 / Chapter 三、三、二 --- 調查 --- p.55 / Chapter 第四章 --- 研究假設及結果 / Chapter 四、一 --- 一般性資料 --- p.60 / Chapter 四、二 --- 租用者決定租用錄影帶節目所經過的階段 --- p.62 / Chapter 四、三 --- 租用者租用錄影帶節目的原因 --- p.69 / Chapter 四、四 --- 不租用者不租用錄影帶節目的原因 --- p.73 / Chapter 四、五 --- 影響教師會否租用錄影帶節目的因素 --- p.76 / Chapter 四、六 --- 本研究所受到的限制　　 --- p.96 / Chapter 第五章 --- 結論 --- p.102 / 註釋 --- p.109 / 表一至卅六 --- p.132 / 圖一至三 --- p.150 / 附錄一至四 --- p.153 / 參考書目 --- p.179

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

This is a qualitative study of one student’s use of assistive technology in the public school system from preschool to fourth grade. The data collected for this case study include interviews, participant observation, field and diary notes, video tapes, and other documents including school records and a teacher memoir. Throughout the study, the goals were to stay open to and reflect emerging patterns rather than to fit data into previously determined categories. The report describes how Michael--with cerebral palsy that affects his speech and prevents his standing or holding a pencil--used computers, augmentative communication devices, and other electronic technology. On one level the report becomes the story of a student who moves from a separate special education facility into an elementary school where he is integrated fulltime into a fourth grade class. Discussion and conclusions explore (1) types of support he required, (2) barriers to technology use as well as problems of "abandonment" of technology acquired, (3) the effect of integration into general education on his use of technology, and (4) how providing assistive technology influences and changes teachers’ roles. / Ed. D.

While research on peer feedback in L2 writing has proliferated over the past two decades, not much is known about how EFL writers, driven by their motives and situated within their social, cultural and historical contexts, participate in group peer feedback of L2 writing. To fill such an important void, the present study investigates six Chinese EFL university students’ participation in group peer feedback activities of L2 writing from a sociocultural and activity theory perspective. Based on sociocultural theory and activity theory in particular, the present study proposes a tentative group peer feedback activity system model and explores Chinese EFL writers’ motives for participating in group peer feedback, how their motives influence group interaction and text revisions, and how they employ mediating strategies to facilitate group interaction and realize their motives during group peer feedback activities. / The study adopts a case study approach with a multiple-case design and collects multiple sources of data including video recordings of peer feedback sessions, semi-structured interviews, stimulated recalls, and drafts of student texts. Six Chinese EFL university students were selected through purposive sampling to participate in the study. Data analyses indicate that EFL students’ group peer feedback activities are driven and defined by their motives and mediated by their social, cultural and historical contexts. The findings revealed four major types of student motives for group peer feedback activities in the writing classroom: (1) feedback-giving and the learning process; (2) feedback-receiving and the learning product; (3) fixing errors in writing; and (4) getting the job done, which were shaped by a myriad of individual and sociocultural factors such as students’ personal belief systems, their secondary education experiences and the exam-oriented learning culture and education system. The study also found that student motives for peer feedback have great influences on students’ stances for group peer feedback and the patterns of group interaction, as well as the text revisions. Driven by different motives, the students were involved in different peer feedback systems in which they took different stances for peer feed-back and interacted differently with their group members, even though some of them were working in the same group and of similar English proficiency level. The study also reveals four major types of mediating strategies in peer feedback activities of L2 writing: artefact-mediated, rule-mediated, community-mediated, and division of labour-mediated strategies. The six students made use of these mediating strategies at different levels to realize their motives in the peer feedback activities. / Informed by the peer feedback activity system and the major findings of the present study, a tentative model to conceptualize the effective peer feedback activity in the EFL writing classroom has been proposed, which serves as a tentative conceptual and pedagogical model for research and practice in peer feedback of L2 writing. This study contributes new knowledge to the field by relating students’ motives to other key elements in peer feedback such as mediating strategies, peer stances, group interaction and student revisions of L2 writing, yielding a deepened understanding of students’ participation in and engagement with peer feedback in EFL writing. / 儘管在二語寫作領域有大量研究關注同伴回饋，但鮮有研究者探討外語寫作學習者如何在其動機的驅使下和社會文化環境的影響下參與小組同伴回饋活動。鑒於此，本研究在社會文化理論和活動理論的基礎上，構建了外語寫作小組同伴回饋活動系統，並以該活動系統為概念框架探究六位中國外語寫作學習者的小組同伴回饋動機，分析其與小組交互和文本修改的關係。本研究還探討外語寫作學習者如何採取仲介策略輔助小組交互和實現回饋動機。 / 本研究採用多案例個案研究的範式，通過目的性抽樣原則，從中國大陸某大學選取六位英語寫作學習者作為被試，收集了多種形式的資料，包括同伴回饋錄影、半結構性訪談、刺激性回憶和寫作文本資料。資料分析顯示外語寫作學習者的小組同伴回饋活動由學生的動機驅使，並受到學生所處的社會文化環境影響。研究發現四種類型的同伴回饋動機：（1）回饋給予與學習過程型；（2）回饋接收與學習結果型；（3）修改文本錯誤型；和（4）完成任務型。這四類同伴回饋動機是在學習者個體因素（如學生的信念、中學學習經歷等）和社會文化因素（如考試取向的教育環境等）的交互影響下形成的。本研究還發現回饋動機對學習者的回饋立場、小組交互模式及其文本修改都會有一定的影響。在不同類型動機的驅使下，即使學習者來自同一小組或英語水準相當，他們也嵌套于不同的同伴回饋系統中，其回饋立場和交互模式也會有所不同。研究還揭示出學生在小組同伴回饋中採用四種仲介策略實現其回饋動機：人工製品仲介策略、規則仲介策略、社群仲介策略和任務分工仲介策略。 / Yu, Shulin. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2014. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 255-275). / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on 21, December, 2016). / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only.

Continuing education advances society. For every student, our educational system should provide a seamless transition from one level to the next until a degree or certificate is earned that reflects a mastery of skills needed to secure employment. This helps prepare each individual for a successful life after exiting the educational system and greatly benefit our society. Today, however, many students graduating from high schools are not ready for a postsecondary education. Transitioning students from high school to college is a complex process that requires many different approaches. Students making this transition are finding it more difficult to enter and succeed at a higher level of education because of the complexity of this process. Preparing students for postsecondary options is critical for every student. Students from low-income families and some ethnic and racial minority groups are most dependent on the ability of their high school to prepare them properly for college success (Conley, 2010). In what ways can schools better prepare students for postsecondary success? This study focuses on the creation of a Postsecondary Readiness Guidebook (PRG) which provides a comprehensive approach to help educational leaders prepare students for postsecondary success. The guidebook uses a problem-based learning design and follows the research and development process. The guidebook was field tested by educational leaders in a K-12 public school though a workshop using a qualitative methodology. During the field-testing of the guidebook, data were collected through assessments, interviews with educators, and questionnaires completed by educational leaders at the school. Data were analyzed using inductive coding, facesheet coding, enumeration, and typology. The findings of the study reveal that using a guidebook with a comprehensive approach to postsecondary preparedness can help school leaders prepare students for postsecondary success. Educational leaders in the school collectively focused on best practices and programs aimed at preparing students for postsecondary options through the use and interaction of the PRG. The guidebook gave them a compass for which to navigate the complex process of preparing students for postsecondary success.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education