Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2003. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xv, 294 p.; also includes graphics (some col.). Includes abstract and vita. Co-advisors: Christopher Andersen and Michael E. Beeth, College of Education. Includes bibliographical references (p. 256-262).

Based on a retrospective survey of science and engineering (S&E) PhDs from a UK research-based university with 7-10 years job histories and the design-based non-parametric analysing methods, this thesis drew on theories on careers, organisational knowledge and learning and labour markets to explore the interrelationship between knowledge flow and careers of science and engineering PhDs. The results showed that employment outside the conventional technical occupations is the main destination for the survey respondents. This labour market segment is not only successful at retaining its members, but is also the destination of the other career types. Furthermore, S&E PhDs in the conventional technical occupations draw quite a lot of knowledge from S&E doctoral training in their jobs, even from the subject-specific dimension of it. By contrast, members in employment outside the conventional technical occupations are less likely to perceive knowledge and skills from doctoral training to be useful in their jobs, and when they do, the emphasis is more on general analytical skills and problem solving capabilities.The results also revealed the distinctive labour market features of different S&E PhD labour market segments: the sharp contrast of the core and peripheral workers in academic/public research, the highly hybrid labour market form in employment outside the conventional technical occupations and the relatively more structured labour market features in technical positions in private sector manufacturing. Regardless of the differences, nonetheless, as a whole, organisational life is still a prominent feature of the S&E PhD labour markets. Furthermore, the extent to which fluid job mobility contributes to S&E PhDs' individual knowledge flow depends on the types of knowledge under discussion. The emerging occupations associated with the knowledge economy are characterised by high inter-organisational mobility and by an emphasis of sector-specific and general knowledge. However, even for sector-specific and general knowledge, we have demonstrated that to a certain extent, these types of knowledge and skills are sticky to organisations. Hence, S&E PhD experts and knowledge workers' careers and individual knowledge flow are not really boundaryless but moderately localised within organisations.

This study used qualitative (interviews) and quantitative methods (questionnaires) to investigate and describe (a) Papua New Guinea (PNG) village elders' traditional ideas and beliefs on natural phenomena, (b) PNG secondary school student's traditional science beliefs, (c) the sources of PNG secondary school students' explanations of natural phenomena, (d) the types of explanations PNG secondary school students provide to describe natural phenomena, and the views of science teachers and curriculum officers on the inclusion of traditional knowledge in the science curriculum.. Analysis of data included interviews with eight village elders and completed questionnaires from approximately 200 secondary school students in one rural provincial high school in the Gulf Province. Village elders' beliefs were analysed and categorised into (a) spirits, magic spells and sorcery, (b) Christianity, (c) personal experience, and (d) modern science. Secondary school students' sources of explanations were based on what they have heard at (a) home, (b) in the family and village, (c) in church and (d) from school. Approximately half of the secondary school students strongly hold on to traditional beliefs while learning formal school science and these were related to spirits, magic spells and sorcery that were similar to those of the village elders. Students also used scientific explanations of natural phenomena based on their learning in school and from their own personal experiences and interactions with the physical world. / Interviews with science teachers and curriculum officers supported the need to include traditional knowledge in the science curricula. The study identified students holding both traditional and scientific explanations of natural phenomena. There is both a need and value for traditional knowledge being incorporated in science education programs that harmonise with school science. The thesis concludes with six recommendations to bring these ideas to fruition.

The main aim of this thesis is to introduce Husserl's theory of knowledge. The whole work is prefaced by the interpretation of Husserl's idea of the failure of modern science and its societal consequences. The following is an explanation specifying the problem of knowledge as a problem of the transcendence of consciousness towards the cognized object. In the summary of Husserl's critique of the origin and development of modern science and philosophy is the focus laid on the motives that prove the impossibility of solving the problem of knowledge using objectivistic respectively naturalistic concepts. On the other hand, Husserl's answer to the problem of knowledge is the analysis of the constitution of subjectivity in the field of transcendental consciousness. In the final chapter, Patočka's critique of several key concepts of Husserl's phenomenology is outlined.

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This thesis addresses a problem in the literature on technology transfer of understanding the local appropriation of knowledge. Based on interpretive and analytic traditions developed in Science and Technology Studies (STS) and ethnomethodology, I conceptualise technology transfer as involving communication between discursive communities. I develop the idea of 'performance of community' to argue that explanations of research and technology, and readings of those explanations, are sites for the elaboration of the identity of a discursive community. I explore this approach through a case study in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). I focus on what I call 'explanatory practices', that is practices of describing, identifying and explaining Al, and trace the differences in these practices, according to location, context and audience. The novelty of my thesis is to show the pervasiveness of performance of community within these explanatory practices, through showing the differences in the claimed identity and significance of Al, associated with different locations, contexts and audiences. I draw out some of the implications of my approach by counterposing it to a theory of technology transfer as the passing of neutral units of information, which I argue is implicit in a complaint made by Al vendors that the Al marketplace had been damaged by overselling or hype. In particular, I show that disclaimers of hype (more than the perpetration of it) had always been associated with the marketing of Al. More generally, my claim is that it is politically important to understand that neutral information is not available even as an ultimate standard, and that the local appropriation of knowledge is not an aberration to be controlled, but a component of both successful and unsuccessful communication between discursive communities.

The purpose of this study was to examine topic-specific nature of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). Two experienced chemistry teachers&rsquo / PCK was examined in electrochemistry and radioactivity. To capture participants&rsquo / PCK, all PCK components were studied. To get deep and rich answers to research questions asked, qualitative methodology was used. Participants were selected through purposeful sampling. Data were gathered through card-sorting activity, Content Representation (CoRe), semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and field notes. Results revealed that participants had two types of PCK, namely, PCK A for teaching electrochemistry and PCK B for teaching radioactivity. PCK A included content-based and teacher-centered instruction, many links to other topics in chemistry and in physics. The assessment was coherent which included different types of assessment strategies used at the beginning, during, and at the end of teaching. In PCK B, it was less teacher-centered. The link to other topics was limited. Additionally, teachers used fragmented assessment and were less knowledgeable about learners&rsquo / difficulties and misconceptions in radioactivity than they were in electrochemistry. Differences between PCK A and B may be related to nature of the topics. Learners need to have much pre-requisite knowledge both from chemistry and physics to learn electrochemistry. Also, there are more concepts in electrochemistry than there are in radioactivity. It seems that when teachers have to focus on more concepts to teach, they may have a tendency to teach more-teacher centered to save time. Teacher education programs should focus on topic-specific nature of PCK and provide topic-specific training to teachers.