Dissertation (Ph.D.)--The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2009. / Directed by Glenn Hudak; submitted to the Dept. of Educational Leadership and Cultural Foundations. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed May 10, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 173-185).

Dan Simmons's far-future science fiction epic Hyperion Cantos, in which seven disparate individuals become enmeshed in a convoluted plot to enslave humanity, provides extensive support for British theologian John Hick's theory of transcendental pluralism. Using the central figures of the Shrike, a mysterious killing machine, and the Technocore, a collective of autonomous artificial intelligences, Simmons demonstrates Hick's postulation that all major Western religions actually focus on the same divine being (God) by creating a negative divine being, akin to Satan, to which characters of various religions react in similar ways. Simmons's pilgrims each represent a particular spiritual outlook, from specific organized religions to less-defined positions such as secularism and agnosticism, but each pilgrim's tale contributes to the evidence of transcendental pluralism. This thesis explores each characters' experiences as they relate to the Shrike, the Technocore, and, ultimately the theory of transcendental pluralism. / by Zachary Stewart. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

This thesis is a study of inquiry. Drawing upon the work of American pragmatist John Dewey, this work seeks to contribute to our understanding of the construction of knowledge within the social system of communities of inquiry. The process of inquiry that is traced in this work is one effected in the course of architectural designing. An ethnographically informed study of an architectural masterplan project is used to illustrate Dewey's ideas and how they are played out in design practice. This thesis is understood to correspond with the growing interest of the students of organisational learning and knowledge management in knowledge creation and the underlying social processes. It is further seen as a response to the claim that the key processes of knowledge creation remain largely an enigma. Agreement has been established with Dewey that knowledge is not just an end in itself but a form of action, a medium of change and social transformation. The formation of knowledge, however, within the operation of inquiry is not a matter that “naturally” runs its course. The process of inquiry as studied both in theory and practice has shown just how much its results, which by definition constitute knowledge, are shaped by the institution and control of a problem. A problem is a social construct and the product of the purposeful selection and arrangement of pieces of information. Inquiry is therefore considered a process of controlled knowledge formation. That which counts as knowledge in the realm of social phenomena has been shown to be a matter not so much of agreement between actions and their consequences but agreement in terms of intellectual acceptance. What “satisfies” as a solution (such as the final masterplan) has therefore been shown to be not necessarily a question of its logical status.

This qualitative case study examined how middle school science teachers conducted collaborative inquiry and reflection about students’ conceptual understanding, and how individual teachers in the middle school science group acted and made reflections in response to their collaborative inquiry. It also examined external influences that affected the teachers’ ability to engage in collaborative inquiry. Observational, written, and interview data were collected from observations of teachers’ face-to-face meetings and reflections, individual interviews, a focus group interview, and online reflections. The results of this study revealed that collaborative inquiry is a form of professional development that includes answering curricular questions through observation, communication, action, and reflection. This approach was developed and implemented by middle school science teachers. The premise of an inquiry is based on a need with students. Middle school science teachers came to consensus about actions to affect students’ conceptual understanding, took action as stated, and shared their reflections of the actions taken with consideration to current and upcoming school activities. Activities involved teachers brainstorming and sharing with one another, talking about how the variables were merged into their curriculum, and how they impacted students’ conceptual understanding. Teachers valued talking with one another about science content and pedagogy, but did find the inquiry portion of the approach to require more development. The greatest challenge to conducting collaborative inquiry and reflection was embedding teacher inquiry within a prescribed inquiry that was already being conducted by the Sundown School District. Collaborative inquiry should be structured so that it meets the needs of teachers in order to attend to the needs of students. A conducive atmosphere for collaborative inquiry and reflection is one in which administrators make the process mandatory and facilitate the process by removing an existing inquiry. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

The ability to interpret and apply experiences, or cases (Kolodner, 1993; 1997) is a skill (Anderson, et. al, 1981; Anderson, 2000) that is key to successful learning that can be transferred (Bransford, Brown and Cocking, 1999) to new learning situations. For middle-schoolers in a project-based inquiry science classroom, interpreting and applying the experiences of experts to inform their design solutions is not always easy (Owensby and Kolodner, 2002). Interpreting and applying an expert case and then assessing the solution that results from that application are the components of a process I call case use. This work seeks to answer three questions: 1. How do small-group case use capabilities develop over time? 2. How well are students able to apply case use skills in new situations over time? 3. What difficulties do learners have as they learn case use skills and as they apply case use skills in new situations? What do these difficulties suggest about how software might further support cognitive skill development using a cognitive apprenticeship (Collins, Brown and Newman, 1989) framework? I argue that if learners in project based inquiry classrooms are able to understand, engage in, and carry out the processes involved in interpreting and applying expert cases effectively, then they will be able to do several things. They will learn those process and be able to read an expert case for understanding, glean the lessons they can learn from it, and apply those lessons to their question or challenge. Furthermore, I argue that they may also be able to transfer interpretation, application, and assessment skills to other learning situations where application of cases is appropriate.