The purpose of my study was to explore what and how university students learned from their experiences working as peer educators. In my study, I was only interested in investigating peer educators working in formal peer education programs within the post-secondary setting. I defined learning as “a comprehensive, holistic, transformative activity that integrates academic learning and student development” (italics in original, ACPA & NASPA, 2004, p. 2). I used a modified version of the CAS 2009 learning outcomes framework to understand what peer educators learned. Those six CAS learning outcomes are: knowledge acquisition, construction, integration, and application; cognitive complexity; intrapersonal development; interpersonal competence; humanitarianism and civic engagement; and practical competence. I adopted a qualitative, descriptive, exploratory approach to the study of the content and context of peer educators’ learning. I selected participants for my study from a pool of peer educators of a student affairs’ learning assistance peer education program at a mid-sized Ontario university. I conducted face-to-face, in-depth interviews with seven peer educators. My research revealed what peer educators in a single peer education program learned; it also provided insight into their experience of learning within the peer education program, i.e., how they learned. This study offers some insight into the potential for learning, as well as potential facilitators of learning, in the university peer educator role. The findings of my research indicate that the peer educators whom I studied learned in each of the six CAS learning outcomes. The facilitators of learning that these peer educators described in their interviews include learning from experience, interactions with others, reflection, and training. The findings of my study suggest that further research could be conducted, at various institutions as well as within and across peer education programs. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2012-10-15 11:35:06.19

The purpose of my dissertation study is to better understand the educational experiences of undergraduate engineering students within non-curricular learning environments, specifically in the form of extracurricular engineering groups or programs. I first conducted a content analysis of engineering education literature to identify where engineering design learning occurs, and to synthesize the implications of studies regarding engineering design learning. Aiming to fill a gap in the literature regarding non-curricular learning contexts, this study investigated what extracurricular groups and programs can educationally provide undergraduate engineering students by observing and interviewing students engaging in these environments. This study also aimed to identify if and how engineering students find navigational flexibility within engineering curricula, and how non-curricular learning environments might provide navigational flexibility. With regard to where engineering design learning occurs, the literature points to various educational contexts that effectively deliver engineering design education. Strategies that involve authentic and longer-term engineering design experiences tend to be the most impactful in terms of student outcomes and perceptions, however those experiences are not always implementable at larger scale. More traditional educational approaches to engineering design learning, though less impactful, are still effective delivery methods for introducing key aspects of engineering design education (e.g. modeling, global/societal/economic/environmental factors, communication skills). However, there was limited literature regarding more non-curricular learning experiences, such as learning in designed settings, outreach learning, learning media, and everyday informal learning. This literature review is one of the first attempts towards synthesizing where and how engineering design learning occurs, and has identified a significant gap in the literature regarding non-curricular educational settings. Addressing the identified gap in engineering education literature regarding non-curricular learning experiences, this dissertation study investigated five non-curricular engineering learning sites for undergraduate engineering students at a large research-driven state institution. Informed by the preliminary findings of a pilot study, I first investigated the salient features of engineering-related non-curricular activities from the students' perspectives using a self-directed learner autonomy framework to guide the study. Students participating in extracurricular engineering environments exhibited strong attributes of self-directed learners, particularly a willingness and ability to be challenged and to learn. The educational environments of the extracurricular opportunities cultivated these self-directed learning attributes by providing students a space to be exposed to an engineering community, authentic engineering work, and accessible resources. Findings from this portion of the dissertation indicated necessary modifications to the self-directed learner autonomy framework used to guide this study. The modified framework contributes a possible approach towards future assessment or research pursuits regarding non-curricular learning experiences in engineering. I also investigated the role non-curricular activities play in providing engineering students navigational flexibility through engineering curricula. Extracurricular engineering environments afford navigational flexibility by offering students opportunities to work on motivating challenges with and among supportive communities. By providing a space for students to express their engineering selves in primarily self-directed ways, extracurricular engineering experiences cultivate students' drive to find and pursue personally meaningful curricular and non-curricular educational experiences. However, institutional barriers, particularly time constraints and institutionally recognized achievements, stifle students' flexibility and willingness to pursue personally meaningful experiences. The findings of this study have helped uncover the various affordances non-curricular learning experiences provide engineering students, but more importantly, have identified the institutional barriers that prevent students from taking full advantage of non-curricular learning experiences. Based on these findings, I recommend that university and program level structures be reevaluated to encourage and provide students with more flexibility to find personalized learning experiences in and out of the classroom. / Ph. D.

La présente étude s’intéresse particulièrement aux différents concepts physiques relatifs à l’électricité et à l’enseignement de ces concepts au collège en Syrie. Ces concepts étant souvent difficiles à comprendre par les élèves, et à enseigner par les enseignants, ils sont introduits formellement dès la classe de 5ème = CM2 au collège en Syrie. L’objectif de cette recherche a été, dans un premier temps, l’étude des différentes modes de présentation des notions de l’électricité dans le savoir de référence. Pour ce faire, nous avons choisi trois ouvrages universitaires de l’électricité. Puis nous sommes partie regarder les choix pris par les institutions pour enseigner ces notions ; nous précisons que nous intéressons aux choix des contenus et également des méthodes dans le programme de l’enseignement pré-universitaire en Syrie. Par la suite nous sommes parties regarder également ces derniers choix dans les manuels scolaires des classes de 5ème, 6ème, 8ème, 9ème en Syrie qui sont équivalentes à CM2, 6ème, 4ème et 3ème en France. Dans un deuxième temps, l’objectif de cette recherche fut de savoir une idée sur le point de vu des enseignants comme acteurs principaux de cette rénovation. Pour cela, un échantillon de 30 enseignants de physique chimie au niveau collège en Syrie, ont répondu à un questionnaire écrit portant sur l’enseignement des différentes notions de l’électricité. Le but est d’étudier les conceptions et les représentations sur l’électricité chez leurs élèves et les difficultés rencontrée en enseignant tel notions, en particulier à l’égard des différents concepts didactiques recommandés pour enseigner ces notions au collège. Enfin, notre étude permet de constater que malgré le grand appui dans le programme et les manuels scolaire sur l’importance d’aborder les notions électricité avec une méthode expérimentale, le recours expérimentale et analogique dans l’enseignement de collège en Syrie reste minoré. Afin de connaître les conceptions pédagogiques et épistémologiques des enseignants sur leur manière d’aborder l’enseignement de l’électricité, nous avons construit les données au moyen d’une enquête par questionnaire auprès de 30 enseignants. Les réponses à ce questionnaire ont été analysées suivant deux perspectives, pédagogique et didactique. Pour l’analyse à caractère pédagogique, une grille a été construite autour des modes de représentation privilégiés par les maîtres et autour des rôles respectivement réservés au maître et à l’élève. En parallèle, nous avons vérifié leur niveau maîtrise des différents concepts en didactique des sciences. Pour introduire les concepts de l’électricité, les enseignants affirment qu’ils laissent une large place aux activités expérimentales quand les circonstances sont pertinentes. L’analyse effectuée sur les manuels scolaires a été faite à l’aide d’une grille d’analyse, les résultats d’analyse de ces manuels montrent que les propositions de mise en œuvre d’une démarche expérimentale avec un recours modélisé restent minorées dans ces derniers. De plus, il ressort de l’étude du questionnaire destiné aux enseignants que ce processus expérimentale en lien avec une démarche d’investigation en électricité a du mal à vivre dans les pratiques des enseignants. En rajoute que, la volonté de programme de développer la notion de la pensée scientifique en électricité en lien avec l’expérimentation et la modélisation n’ait été que peu prise en compte dans les manuels, et soit difficilement stable dans les pratique des enseignants. Le manque des outils de laboratoire et les classes surchargées pourraient être un argument pour supprimer les activités expérimentales dans la majorité des cours en électricité. / The current studies are interested in different physics concepts which are related to the electricity and teaching these concepts at schools in Syria. Sometimes, these concepts are difficult to understand by the students, moreover, to the teachers to teach. These concepts are formally being taught to fifth class at Syrian schools. In the beginning, the goal of this research was to study the different ways to present the notions of electricity in the knowledge of reference. Therefore, we have chosen three university works of the electricity for this research. Then we have examined the choice which was taken by the institution to teach this notion. We specify that we are interested in the content of choices and also in the methods of their teaching suggested in the program of pre-university education in Syria. Afterwards, we also have viewed the choices which are existed in textbooks of the 5th,6th, 7th, 8th,and 9th class in Syria which are equivalent to the 6th , 4th, 3th, and CM2 class in France. Moreover, the aim of this research is to figure out an idea about the opinions of teachers who are considered the key players in this renovation. For this, a sample of 30 physics teachers at schools in Syria have answered a written questionnaire about the teaching of different concepts of the electricity. The goal is to study the conceptions and the representations on the electricity for their students. Besides, the difficulties encountered such concept especially with regard to various didactic notions recommended to teach these concepts at schools. Finally, our study shows that despite the big support in the programs and the textbooks on the importance of addressing the concepts of electricity with an experimental method, the use of experimental and analogue in the teaching at schools remain minus in Syria. Thus, in order to know pedagogical and epistemological concepts of teachers in their approaches while teaching electricity, we have constructed the data by a questionnaire of 30 teachers. The answers to this questionnaire were analyzed by two perspectives, the pedagogic and didactics perspectives. As for the pedagogical feature analysis, a grid was built around privileged methods of representation by the masters and around the roles reserved for the teachers and the students. In parallel, we have checked their mastering level of the concepts in science education. So the teachers have said that to introduce the concepts of electricity they had specialized ample room for experimental activities when the circumstances are appropriate. The analysis carried on the textbooks was made by using analytical framework, the results of analysis of these manuals show that the implementation of proposals for an experimental approach with a modeled recourse remained under valuable in the latter. Moreover, the study of this questionnaire tells us that for teachers this experimental process in connection with an electricity investigative approach is hard to be applied in teacher practice. The program will develop the concept of scientific thought in electrical connection with experimentation and modeling have been a little consideration in textbooks and are hardly stable in teachers 'practice. There is no room for discussion that the lack of laboratory tools and the overcrowded classrooms could be an argument to weaken experimental activities in the majority of current electricity.

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