The thesis consists of the critical essay and the creative project. The critical essay is an investigation into the nature of narrative suspense, its operation, and the techniques by which an author can develop it. Narrative suspense requires that readers care for characters and feel uncertain about events. An author can use a number of story-telling techniques to make the most of this emotion and uncertainty. Readers may embark on a variety of activities including imagining outcomes and piecing together clues, and these too can be utilised by the author to build suspense. Following the examination of the subject, I explore the development of the drafts of Frantic with particular emphasis on how my research into suspense changed my approach to characterisation, structure, and the process of writing. The creative project is the manuscript Frantic, a crime thriller set in present-day Sydney. When Paramedic Sophie Phillips’ husband Chris is shot and their baby kidnapped, Detective Ella Marconi struggles to solve the case. Evidence suggests the act may be revenge by a bereaved father for Sophie’s failure to save a mother and her newborn, and equally that senior constable Chris may have been involved in the police corruption that increasingly appears rife. Distraught Sophie knows what she believes, and when the police fail to find her son she takes matters into her own hands.

This dissertation investigates the internal and external barriers and successes in career preparation of a small group of immigrant doctoral students. Through three cycles of a four-year action research investigation that integrates interviews, surveys, participant reflections and autoethnography, the data was interpreted through the lenses of critical pedagogy, socio-cultural theory, ecological theory and dialectic theory. The study reveals some of the intercultural transformations that take place in order to reconstruct professional autonomy and perceptions of empowerment during the process of breaking downing internal and external barriers. In order for immigrant doctoral students to achieve professional integration the study presents recommendations to university leaders, graduate supervisors and graduate students themselves. The primary goals are to deepen the understanding of various barriers experienced by professional immigrant Ph.D. students and to identify the changes that occurred in reconstructing their professional autonomy and in their perception of empowerment during the process of breaking downing various external and internal barriers towards professional integration. This study should provide new understandings of what Canadian doctoral education means to professional immigrants, where gaps exist in universities programs of studies and their implementation, and between students career preparation needs and the services provided through university career support. In light of Canadas aggressive immigration policy, the findings point to the need to build an integrated career support system for immigrant doctoral students academic career transition success and encourage Canadian universities to reflect upon the humanistic and democratic values and approaches embedded in the internationalization of education. In addition, immigrant doctoral students may feel empowered by the stories being told and inspired by the insights and strategies revealed.

This investigation examined the impact on student achievement of teachers who participated in a professional development program using industry partnerships. One treatment and one non-treatment school in a large urban school district served as the sites for this inquiry with teacher participation in a professional development program and the achievement data of their science students being collected during the 2001-2002 school period. The impact of a teacher professional development program with industry partnerships such as Education for the Energy Industry (EEI) on student achievement in science was determined. National and state standardized tests were analyzed using extant data obtained from administering the fourth through the eighth grade Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) test and the eighth grade Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) test. The differential influence of a professional development program for teachers on the achievement of students of diversity was determined by the TAAS scores and ITBS scores, which were partitioned by treatment condition and student ethnicity. Findings from this quantitative investigation suggest enhanced student achievement in science if teachers participated in a professional development program involving industry partnerships.

This thesis explores teaching practice as a function of years of experience with Knowledge Building pedagogy, emphasizing teachers’ continual improvement of practice while they foster continual improvement of students’ ideas. Knowledge Building practice places students’ ideas at the centre of the classroom enterprise, with the principal challenge being enabling students to take effective responsibility for improvement of ideas. Building on a variety of models of teacher thinking and development, a problem space model is developed specifically geared to the development of Knowledge Building practices. This model is used to guide the investigation and provide a theoretically- and empirically-based description of shifts teachers undergo as they gain skill in Knowledge Building pedagogy. The model also serves to convey how Knowledge Building teachers differ from other skillful teachers. The principal shift is from a centrist to relational (or systemic) perspective. This perspectival shift is examined in five problem spaces: Curriculum/Standards, Social Interaction, Student Capability, Classroom Structures and Constraints, and Technology. Underlying the centrist perspective is a belief in established procedures and goals typically understood to characterize effective teaching. Underlying the relational perspective is a belief in the capacity of students to develop and improve their own ideas, and a belief that in doing so students will not only mature as knowledge-builders, but will also excel in the achievement of traditional knowledge goals. The research uses multiple data sources (teacher meetings, journals, interviews and classroom observations) to analyze the work of 13 teachers over a full school year, with three embedded case studies. Results show that Knowledge Building teachers construct and explore the same problem spaces as other teachers. What distinguishes them, and places them on a different trajectory, is the relational approach that brings ideas to the centre in each problem space. The work of teachers with different levels of experience is analyzed to characterize the centrist to relational shift, which corresponds to three embedded shifts (a) surface to deep interpretation of problem and processing of information, (b) routine to adaptive approach to classroom activities and student engagement, and (c) procedure-based to principle-based reflective action.

This thesis explores teaching practice as a function of years of experience with Knowledge Building pedagogy, emphasizing teachers’ continual improvement of practice while they foster continual improvement of students’ ideas. Knowledge Building practice places students’ ideas at the centre of the classroom enterprise, with the principal challenge being enabling students to take effective responsibility for improvement of ideas. Building on a variety of models of teacher thinking and development, a problem space model is developed specifically geared to the development of Knowledge Building practices. This model is used to guide the investigation and provide a theoretically- and empirically-based description of shifts teachers undergo as they gain skill in Knowledge Building pedagogy. The model also serves to convey how Knowledge Building teachers differ from other skillful teachers. The principal shift is from a centrist to relational (or systemic) perspective. This perspectival shift is examined in five problem spaces: Curriculum/Standards, Social Interaction, Student Capability, Classroom Structures and Constraints, and Technology. Underlying the centrist perspective is a belief in established procedures and goals typically understood to characterize effective teaching. Underlying the relational perspective is a belief in the capacity of students to develop and improve their own ideas, and a belief that in doing so students will not only mature as knowledge-builders, but will also excel in the achievement of traditional knowledge goals. The research uses multiple data sources (teacher meetings, journals, interviews and classroom observations) to analyze the work of 13 teachers over a full school year, with three embedded case studies. Results show that Knowledge Building teachers construct and explore the same problem spaces as other teachers. What distinguishes them, and places them on a different trajectory, is the relational approach that brings ideas to the centre in each problem space. The work of teachers with different levels of experience is analyzed to characterize the centrist to relational shift, which corresponds to three embedded shifts (a) surface to deep interpretation of problem and processing of information, (b) routine to adaptive approach to classroom activities and student engagement, and (c) procedure-based to principle-based reflective action.

A survey of graduates who participated in Project TEAM (School Psychology, Social Work, and Speech/Language Pathology) and Project PREP (Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education) is presented. Graduates completed coursework, seminars and practica that emphasized knowledge and skills related to working with children in the birth through 5 age group and their families. The survey determined in which competencies graduates indicated they were best and least prepared by the program and which competencies were most and least applicable to their present careers. The survey also determined what teaming models the graduates are currently using and would prefer to use in their careers. Results indicated a general trend towards the interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary teaming models as those that graduates would prefer to use. The survey also looked at the process of the programs (i.e., participating in seminars with various disciplines, participating in the practica as a team, taking courses with other disciplines, etc.) to determine whether or not participants benefited from the program's overall organization. Results indicated that graduates agreed with the program process.

A survey was conducted to examine current training practices of NASP accredited specialist programs. Information was gathered through a mailed survey to NASP accredited school psychology Ed.S. training programs across the United States. Of the 97 training programs to whom surveys were sent, 56 surveys were returned and 51 were considered usable (53% return rate). The survey respondents were divided into groups according to self-reported program emphasis. Thirty-one programs reported emphasizing traditional assessment (Traditional Programs), while 20 programs reported other areas of emphasis (Other Programs). An independent t-test indicated that Traditional Programs offer significantly higher amounts of training in traditional assessment than Other Programs. A Chi-square analysis revealed that approximately half of the Traditional Programs have not changed training in assessment; however, the remaining Traditional Programs showed shifts by an equal number of them increasing and decreasing the amount of training in assessment as compared to 5 years ago. Several differences in level of preparation of program graduates were indicated by a descriptive discriminant analysis. These differences are consistent with program emphasis.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is being increasingly identified in children, yet there are only a minimal number of studies examining the use of research-based intervention strategies in a classroom educational setting. This present study examined the use of Discrete Trial Training, Picture Exchange Communication System, Social Stories, Structured Teaching, and Video Self-Modeling by special education teachers with students with ASD. A questionnaire was completed by 91 special education teachers from the Green River Region Educational Cooperative, which encompasses 17 different school districts in the area of western and south central Kentucky. They answered questions about their level of training, knowledge and current use of the five strategies. A correlational analysis was performed to assess whether the years of teaching experience was related to the level of the teacher's training, knowledge and current use of the ASD instructional methods, and whether special teachers who taught a greater number of students with ASD had greater levels of training, knowledge, and current use of the five methods. The study revealed correlations between the numbers of students taught with ASD and some of the levels of training, knowledge, and current use of the interventions.

The Federal Government is dedicated to improving student achievement through technology. This dedication is most apparent in the area of federal spending. One explanation for the lack of results in student achievement is that teachers need appropriate training to effectively teach with technology. This study integrates the interactive whiteboard and professional development in order to develop middle school mathematics teachers' Technological Pedagogical Content knowledge (TPACK) in an urban school. Teacher TPACK is measured on a modified version of Survey of Teacher Knowledge to Teach with Technology. Student achievement is measured on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS), a standardized mathematics assessment. Teachers in this study receive three weeks of professional development during their team planning periods to help them integrate the Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) into their mathematics instruction. Mean difference effect sizes are used to measure teacher gain in TPACK. Student achievement scores before and after the professional development are analyzed by Multi-way ANOVA after propensity scores are used to match participant students to a separate group of control students for comparison. The results indicate that the professional development increased teacher TPACK and that student achievement is differentiated across ethnicities. Implications for the technology professional development design and IWB integration in urban settings are provided.

El treball d'investigació que presentem és un estudi de cas en el que es plantegen dos objectius generals, primerament analitzar la formació als cicles formatius de formació professional des de la perspectiva del professorat del centre educatiu, dels tutors al centre de treball i de l'alumnat que ha finalitzat la formació, en segon lloc i en base a l'anàlisi, es vol formular propostes concretes per a la formació de professionals de l'àmbit socioeducatiu. L'estructura de l'estudi inclou dos grans blocs. La primera part constituïda pel marc teòric i contextual de referència i tracta sobre: L'estructura i el disseny de la formació professional, on es posa de manifest l'organització de la formació professional espec'fica en l'àmbit del sistema educatiu; s'analitza el context normatiu, els camps professionals generadors del curr'culum formatiu, el paper de les diferents administracions educatives i els agents implicats en la formació. Es fa un recorregut per diferents visions conceptuals sobre el currículum i, per acabar, es descriu el model i el desenvolupament curricular proposat per a la formació professional específica. Les competències en la formació professional, que aborda diferents concepcions, característiques i tipologies de competència professional. Es presenta una reflexió sobre l'enfocament formatiu basat en les competències i, per últim es descriuen les competències en el propi estudi. El formador de formació professional inicial, desenvolupant diferents perspectives de la figura del formador, els rols, les funcions, les tasques i les competències que li són pròpies, i s'aborda la tipologia diferencial dels formadors en la formació professional inicial, destacant la importància dels aspectes comuns i la relació com a estratègia. La segona part comprèn el marc aplicat en el que per una banda es descriu el disseny i el desenvolupament de la investigació i es sintetitzen els resultats, i per altra banda s'elaboren les conclusions i les propostes, finalment s'apunten límits de l'estudi i noves línies d'investigació. El disseny i el desenvolupament de la investigació explicita l'opció metodològica que es concreta en un estudi de cas. Es fa un recorregut pels diferents elements que s'han considerat en la investigació, des de la caracterització del cas fins als instruments utilitzats en la recollida d'informació, concretant el qüestionari i el guió d'entrevista. Els resultats es presenten diferenciats en funció dels dos cicles formatius de formació professional sotmesos a estudi. Es segueix l'estructura de les variables plantejades en el qüestionari: variables d'identificació, variables relacionades amb els continguts formatius i variables relacionades amb les funcions dels formadors; aquestes dades quantitatives es complementen amb les dades qualitatives obtingudes a través de l'entrevista tant en la primera part on s'analitzen els resultats de forma global -tots els informants-, com en la segona part on els resultats es presenten i analitzen en funció dels diferents tipus d'informants. En una tercera part es descriuen i analitzen les dades, obtingudes en l'entrevista, que no tenen una correspondència directa amb les obtingudes en el qüestionari. Les conclusions de la investigació són conseqüència dels resultats obtinguts, en la presentació es segueix la mateixa estructura i ordre que en la descripció dels resultats: primerament trobem les conclusions sobre les competències i capacitats clau; a continuació, sobre les funcions del formador i, seguidament, sobre aspectes generals de la formació, la relació teoria-pràctica i la valoració de la formació professional, entre altres. A continuació trobem les propostes estructurades en tres àmbits: les dirigides al plantejament formatiu general, les dirigides al plantejament formatiu al centre educatiu i les dirigides al plantejament formatiu als centres de treball. Finalment es a consideren algunes limitacions i aspectes d'aquest estudi i per acabar s'apunten noves línies per a investigacions futures. / The research that we present is a study of case in that two general objectives are considered. Firstly, to analyze the training at training cycles of professional training from the perspective of the teaching staff of the educative centre, of the company tutors as well as the learners that has finalized the training. Secondly, it is wanted to formulate concrete proposals for the professionals training of the socio-educative area. The structure of the study includes two great blocks. The first part constituted by the theoretical and contextual frame, it's about: The structure and the design of the professional training, showing the organization of the specific professional training at the educative system field; analyzing the normative context, the generating professional fields of the training curriculum, the paper of the different educative administrations and the agents implied in the training. A route by different conceptual visions about the curriculum is made and, to finish, we describes the model and the proposed curricular development for the specific professional training. The professional training competences, starting from different conceptions, characteristics and types of professional competences. We presents a reflection about the training approach based on competences and, finally we describes the competences of the own study. The initial trainer of professional training, developing different perspective of the trainers figure, the roles, the functions, the tasks and the own competences, and it is approach the trainers differential types at the initial professional training, emphasizing the importance of the common aspects and the relation as a strategy. The second part includes the applied frame in which on the one hand is described the design and the development of the research and the results are synthesized, and on the other hand the conclusions and the proposals are elaborated, finally we present the limits of the study and new research lines. The design and development of the research shows the methodological option that is concretised on a study of cases. We present a route by the different elements that have been considered in the research, from the characterization of the case to the instruments used for obtain the information, concretely the questionnaire and the interview script. The results appear differentiated based on the two training cycles of professional training submissive study. The structure of the questionnaire variables raised is followed: identification variables, variables related to the training contents and variable related to the trainers functions; these quantitative data are complemented as much with the collected qualitative data obtained through the interview, both in the first part where the global results are analyzed -all the informants-, as well as in the second part where the results appear and analyze based on the different informants types. In one third part the data are described and analyzed, obtained through the interview, that do not have a direct correspondence with the obtained ones in the questionnaire. The research conclusions are consequence of the obtained results, in the presentation we follow the same structure and order that in the description of the results: firstly we found the conclusions on the competences and key capacities, next, on the trainer functions and, next, on general training aspects, the relation theory-practice and the valuation of the professional training, among others. Next we found the proposals structured in three fields: the directed ones to general training exposition, those directed to the training exposition to the educative centre and those directed to the training exposition to the work centres. Finally we consider some limitations and aspects of this study and to finish new future research lines are proposed. / El trabajo de investigación que presentamos es un estudio de caso en el que se plantean dos objetivos generales, primeramente analizar la formación en los ciclos formativos de formación profesional desde la perspectiva del profesorado del centro educativo, de los tutores en el centro de trabajo y del alumnado que ha finalizado la formación, en segundo lugar y en base al análisis, se quiere formular propuestas concretas para la formación de profesionales del ámbito socioeducativo. La estructura del estudio incluye dos grandes bloques. La primera parte constituida por el marco teórico y contextual de referencia, trata sobre: La estructura y el diseño de la formación profesional, poniendo de manifiesto la organización de la formación profesional específica en el ámbito del sistema educativo; analizando el contexto normativo, los campos profesionales generadores del currículum formativo, el papel de las diferentes administraciones educativas y los agentes implicados en la formación. Se hace un recorrido por diferentes visiones conceptuales sobre el currículum y, para acabar, se describe el modelo y el desarrollo curricular propuesto para la formación profesional específica. Las competencias en la formación profesional, abordando diferentes concepciones, características y tipologías de competencia profesional. Se presenta una reflexión sobre el enfoque formativo basado en las competencias y, por último se describen las competencias en el propio estudio. El formador de formación profesional inicial, desarrollando diferentes perspectivas de la figura del formador, los roles, las funciones, las tareas y las competencias que le son propias, y se aborda la tipología diferencial de los formadores en la formación profesional inicial, destacando la importancia de los aspectos comunes y la relación como estrategia. La segunda parte comprende el marco aplicado en el que por una parte se describe el diseño y el desarrollo de la investigación y se sintetizan los resultados, y por otra parte se elaboran las conclusiones y las propuestas, finalmente se apuntan límites del estudio y nuevas líneas de investigación El diseño y el desarrollo de la investigación manifiesta la opción metodológica que se concreta en un estudio de caso. Se hace un recorrido por los diferentes elementos que se han considerado en la investigación, desde la caracterización del caso hasta los instrumentos utilizados en la obtención de la información, concretando el cuestionario y el guión de entrevista. Los resultados se presentan diferenciados en función de los dos ciclos formativos de formación profesional sometidos a estudio. Se sigue la estructura de las variables planteadas en el cuestionario: variables de identificación, variables relacionadas con los contenidos formativos y variables relacionadas con las funciones de los formadores; estos datos cuantitativos se complementan con los datos cualitativos obtenidos a través de la entrevista tanto en la primera parte donde se analizan los resultados de forma global -todos los informantes-, como en la segunda parte donde los resultados se presentan y analizan en función de los diferentes tipos de informantes. En una tercera parte se describen y analizan los datos, obtenidos en la entrevista, que no tienen una correspondencia directa con los obtenidos en el cuestionario. Las conclusiones de la investigación son consecuencia de los resultados obtenidos, en la presentación se sigue la misma estructura y orden que en la descripción de los resultados: primeramente encontramos las conclusiones sobre las competencias y capacidades clave, a continuación, sobre las funciones del formador y, seguidamente, sobre aspectos generales de la formación, la relación teoría-práctica y la valoración de la formación profesional, entre otras. A continuación encontramos las propuestas estructuradas en tres ámbitos: las dirigidas al planteamiento formativo general, las dirigidas al planteamiento formativo al centro educativo y las dirigidas al planteamiento formativo a los centros de trabajo. Finalmente se a consideran algunas limitaciones y aspectos de este estudio y para acabar se apuntan nuevas líneas para investigaciones futuras.