In STEM domains, robust learning includes not only fluency with procedures, but also recognition and application of the conceptual principles that underlie them. Grounded feedback is one instructional approach proposed to help students integrate conceptual knowledge into their learning of procedures. Grounded feedback functions primarily by having students take an action in the target domain (often symbolic) and receiving feedback in a representation that is easier to reason with. This thesis defines grounded feedback and evaluates its effectiveness. I define grounded feedback with four characteristics: (1) The feedback reflects students’ inputs according to rules that are inherent to the topic of study. For example, an inputted equation with two variables may be shown as a graph. (2) The feedback facilitates selfevaluation - by examining the feedback, students can evaluate for themselves if their answers are correct or not. (3) Students do not directly manipulate the feedback representation. Instead, the inputs are in a format that matches the domain learning goals. (4) The feedback conveys information about the nature of errors, not just that a particular action was incorrect. For example, the feedback may indicate the direction or magnitude of the error. Some prior experiments on systems with the four characteristics of grounded feedback found greater learning of target procedures (Nathan 1998) and greater transfer (Mathan & Koedinger 20015), relative to robust controls. Over four studies with 4th and 5th graders, this thesis explores three tutor designs for fraction addition that incorporate visualizations of magnitude, including grounded feedback. Two studies of grounded feedback show effects of robust learning relative to correctness feedback, including greater future learning (in study 2) and transfer (in study 3). Another study found little difference between grounded feedback with and without correctness. In the last study, relative to correctness feedback, two implementations of dynamically linked concrete representations (variations on grounded feedback) showed greater robust learning (pre-test to delayed test). The correctness feedback tutor, used in three of these studies, is a high-bar control, including immediate step-level correctness feedback and adaptive on-demand hints. Indications of more robust learning with the grounded feedback tutor are promising, though not conclusive. Grounded feedback is intended to leverage concrete representations to elicit students’ prior knowledge of relevant concepts. Over two Difficulty Factor Assessments, 5th graders demonstrated difficulty incorporating magnitude information when evaluating fraction addition equations. In particular, students could generally evaluate an equation correctly when it was represented with fraction bars. However, including symbols with the bars interfered with students’ evaluations by triggering incorrect transfer from whole-number addition. Students also did not fully grasp that when two positive fractions are added, the resulting sum is bigger than each addend alone. These findings may help explain why the benefits of grounded feedback are not as strong as proponents of concrete representations might hope. Namely, the target population may not be able to take full advantage of the magnitude visualization because they lack pre-requisite knowledge of how fraction addition involves magnitude.

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Statement of the problem. Appalachian community colleges are dealing with a dynamic transfer policy environment and implementing practices that either foster or impede transfer student success. The problem in this dissertation is to discern how Appalachian community colleges are making sense of transfer policy changes and conducting practices to address student transfer success. Although individual factors must be considered by community colleges, they often are out of the control of the institution. This study focused on the institutional factors, including the ways that organizational structures and transfer policies contribute to the success of a community college’s transfer program. Design. This companion study was conducted by a four-member research team. In order to describe the transfer population and institutional characteristics, a quantitative analysis was conducted for the student population, which included 338 spring and summer 2009 Associate in Arts and/or Associate in Science (AA/AS) graduates from four Appalachian community colleges. This analysis indicated that individual student characteristics did not explain the differences in institutional transfer rates. Two of the institutions were identified as statistically significant institutions promoting transfer success. Students from these high-impact community colleges were found to be at least two times more likely to transfer than students attending the low-impact institutions. Each member of the research team looked at a different aspect of the transfer experiences of the cohort. Two components explored institutional perspectives by interviewing 27 faculty, staff, and leaders from the four community colleges. The other two components examined student perceptions of their community college transfer experiences. Major conclusions. My individual component of the companion study examined transfer perceptions of 27 community college faculty, staff, and college leaders from four Appalachian community colleges. Negative and positive transfer practices were discovered in response to how community colleges make sense of the college mission with regards to Appalachian student desires and economic opportunities. Findings indicated that negative practices were the norm as Appalachian community colleges viewed most students as being better served socially and economically through nontransfer programs or transfer programs housed on community college campuses.

<p>Abstract</p><p>Title: Organization is communication. Communication is organization. - A case study of the communication between the management and the employees at Save the Children Sweden. (Organisation är kommunikation. Kommunikation är organisation. - En studie av kommunikationen mellan chef och medarbetare på Rädda Barnen)</p><p>Number of pages: 37, without enclosures</p><p>Author: Anna Lilius</p><p>Course: Media and Communication Studies C</p><p>Period: Spring 2008</p><p>University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala University</p><p>Purpose/Aim: The aim of the study is to analyze and evaluate the communication between the management and the employees in the organization today and compare it with the organization's new strategy for internal communication. The questions asked are: 1) How is the communication between management and employees perceived by respective parties today and 2) What, if any, are the differences between the situation today as described in question 1 and the strategy for internal communication.</p><p>Material/Method: Qualitative research method. By interviewing four members of lower management and four employees, an analysis was made of how the communication between management and employees is perceived today. The results from the interviews were analyzed with the help of current theories within organizational communication, and the compared with the new strategy for internal communication.</p><p>Main results: While the results from the interviews had some similarities in relation to the importance of information of the organization's goals, they varied between the groups in respect to the degree of dialogue that was experienced. There were also differing results as to the communicational responsibilities of the employees; while the management saw that the employees had a crucial and very important communicational role, the employees themselves did not acknowledge it in any largersense.</p><p>Keywords: Organizational communication, Internal communication, Dialogue, Sense making</p>

Psicólogo / El siguiente artículo propone una aproximación teórica al fenómeno de los autocortes desde una perspectiva sistémico relacional. En primer lugar, se presenta una revisión de las investigaciones existentes en torno a autocortes y con ello se sitúa este artículo y su contribución. En segundo lugar, se plantea cómo los modelos sistémico-relacionales han tenido dificultades para otorgar un status ontológico al individuo y su corporalidad. Tercero, se introduce el concepto de mente corporizada como propuesta teórica que permite considerar al cuerpo como campo de sentido. En cuarto lugar, se plantea el concepto de lo no dicho como asedio al sentido que elicita la continuidad de la identidad. Por último, se plantea la hipótesis de este trabajo y se presenta una viñeta clínica revisada a la luz de la propuesta teórica. The following article propose a theoretical approximation to the phenomenon of self-cut from a systemic-relational perspective. In first place, a revision of the investigations present around self-cut is showed and with that this article is located and its contribution. In second place, it arises as the systemic-relational models have had difficulties to give an ontological status to the individual and his corporality. Third, it is introduced the concept of Embodied Mind as a theoretical proposal that can considerate the body as a sense-making field. In fourth place, it arises the concept of the unsaid as siege to the sense-making that arouse the continuity of the identity. To finish, the hypothesis of this work is raised and a clinical vignette is presented under the light of the theoretical proposal

This study is a case study of an institutional transformational change effort in an urban research university. The study's focus is on the impact of The Milwaukee Idea on faculty and students as the soul of the university. Literature on transformational change in higher education focuses on the processes for launching this type of change and the role of formal change leaders. Less is known about the impact of transformational change on faculty and students. Relevant literature on change and institutional culture informed this study, including Kotter (1996), Wilber (1998), Cutright (2001), Peterson and Spencer (2000), Kezar and Eckel(2000), and Astin (2001). National projects sponsored by ACE and the Kellogg Foundation are also reviewed. Sense-making emerges as a critical construct in understanding the culture and values of students and faculty.Findings reveal that the change agenda brought cultural values around civic engagement, interdisciplinary work, and collaboration to the forefront of the institutional agenda. Faculty has engaged in new and enhanced work as a result of The Milwaukee Idea initiatives, while traditional university structures, including the faculty reward system, have been maintained. Students were recipients of the change agenda, but not active in its development. Community members have new expectations for their involvement in the university and the university's ability to contribute to the public good. There is an understanding in the community and at the university that their two fates are linked.The aggregate of faculty and student participants do not report a deep, pervasive impact on their culture and experiences. The Milwaukee Idea brought change to the university in new programs and centers, but it was not transformational. What The Milwaukee Idea did do is bring forward values within the culture and establish the university as a more visible presence and force in the local community.

Esta pesquisa se norteou pelo questionamento acerca do papel e da relevância da revista mensal piauí, criada em 2006 e que parece trafegar na contramão de uma tendência jornalística atual, a dos textos mais curtos e de notícias instantâneas. A revista retoma uma tradição de longas narrativas, as chamadas grandes reportagens, valorizando a história, os personagens e, por que não dizer, o talento do jornalista, ao invés de centrar forças na técnica e no texto conciso. Dessa forma, piauí exige uma outra percepção de seu leitor, uma outra formação, além de requerer dele uma outra disposição para apreender as informações contidas em suas narrativas, dedicando um tempo maior à leitura e assimilação do lido. Mas há outro ponto a ser levantado: diferentemente de outras revistas de informação, piauí não se pauta pela explicação, análise e interpretação dos \"grandes temas\" da sociedade ligados ao agendamento, e sim vai trabalhar a sua produção de sentido e mediação a partir de personagens, histórias de vida bem contadas, a curiosidade, o personagem-tipo (e típico) - além de se pautar no texto bem-humorado e, por muitas vezes, irônico. Ela procura trazer aspectos inusitados de um determinado fato, além de oferecer a seus leitores outras maneiras de se informar ou de adquirir conhecimento. Nesse caso se inserem os contos, poemas, quadrinhos e textos abertamente fictícios (apesar de alguns procurarem, num tom divertido, parecer \"factuais\") que a revista publica ao lado de perfis, grandes reportagens e notícias inusitadas. Por isso entendemos que piauí encontra forte identificação com três publicações: as brasileiras Senhor (1959-1964) e Realidade (1966-1976) e a americana The New Yorker (fundada em 1925), que também serão analisadas e comparadas nesta pesquisa. Para levarmos adiante este trabalho, definimos nosso campo de pesquisa nas primeiras 24 edições de piauí - ou seja, nos seus dois primeiros anos de existência, posto que normalmente este é o período necessário para uma nova publicação se estruturar (ou não), criar seu público leitor e estabelecer e fundamentar seus critérios editoriais. São analisadas suas principais seções e suas grandes reportagens, a fim de se estudar como se dá sua produção de sentido. A revista não é estudada aqui como formadora de opinião, mas principalmente como informadora de uma parcela específica da sociedade. / The present research is interested in the role and relevance of the monthly magazine piauí, released in the year 2006, apparently taking the opposite direction when compared to the mainstream journalism current tendency: shorter texts and instant newsflashes. The related magazine draws back to the tradition of long stories, the so called long-form reporting, privileging the narrative, its characters and, why not say, the journalist\'s individual talent instead of focusing on the technique and on producing a more concise text. Thus, piauí demands from the reader another perception and another background. It also sets on him another disposition to learn the information present on its narratives, implying a longer period of time to its reading and assimilation. But there is still another matter to be raised about the magazine: apart from other informative magazines, piauí is not guided by the intent of explaining, analyzing and interpreting the \"big social issues\" related the agenda-setting. It develops its sense-making and its mediation through characters, well told life stories, curiosity, character types (and typical) - besides being driven towards a well-humored and, sometimes, even ironic text. It usually presents unexpected perspectives on a given fact, besides providing its readers with different ways of acquiring information or gaining knowledge. In this sense, we understand the inclusion of tales, poems, comics and other openly fictional texts (although, in a funny way, some of them try to seem \"factual\") published by the magazine right by the side of profiles, long stories and some unusual news. That is why we find that piauí can be identified to three other media publications: the Brazilian Senhor (Sir) (1959-1964), Realidade (Reality) (1966-1976) and the American The New Yorker (founded in 1925), which will also be analyzed and contrasted against each other on this research. We have drawn the first 24 editions of piauí as our field of study in the development - its first two years of existence, considering such period as just the right amount of time necessary for a new publication to be established (or not), to relate to a reading audience and to establish and consolidate its editorial criteria. We analyze the main sections of the magazine and its long stories in the search for its sense-making process. The magazine is not taken here as an opinion maker, but mainly as an information provider to a specific sector of society.

Thesis advisor: Rebecca Lowenhaupt / This single case study examines how stakeholders of a local education agency (LEA) understand and implement state turnaround policy for its chronically underperforming schools. While there is ample research on how to improve chronically underperforming schools, that research becomes limited when looking at turnaround implementation actions that are in response to policy mandates. This qualitative study uses the theory frame of policy sense-making to identify how implementers come to understand turnaround policy and to explore how that sense-making impacts their implementation decisions. Focusing on school leaders as turnaround policy implementers, this research considers how school leaders come to understand their work of turning around a chronically underperforming school in the context of responding to policy mandates. Research findings, which emerged from Interviews, observations, and policy analysis, reveal that school leaders in this LEA are engaged in sense-making of turnaround policy and practice, which informs their decisions about how to implement turnaround. School leaders begin by asking questions about the policy requirements which center on decisions about how to organize staff and utilize resources. Yet, findings show that their sense-making goes beyond policy requirements to other areas of turnaround work. Namely, they also make sense of the data, which plays a prevalent role in turnaround in that it informs how school leaders diagnose the school's strengths and weaknesses. School leaders then consider the leadership practices that would effectively raise achievement in the school. Findings also show that how school leaders make sense of these areas is influenced by their communication with other stakeholders, their background knowledge and experience in turnaround, and the context of the school. These findings lead to the recommendations to increase communication that focuses on facilitation of sense-making, to communicate a transparent process about how decisions about resource distribution are made across the LEA, to build capacity around data analysis throughout the LEA, and to communicate a vision of turnaround leadership for the LEA. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

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For the past twenty years, drawing on the Industrial Network Approach, Industrial Marketing and Purchasing Group researchers have been trying to get a better understanding of organisational networks related issues. Researchers frequently highlight that whatever the researched phenomena, it is important to consider actors’ subjective views of the world. The concept of Network Pictures as introduced in the IMP (Industrial Marketing and Purchasing) body of literature by Ford et al. (2002b), refers to those subjective views and despite its recognised importance no in-depth research had been conducted so far on the concept which has thus remained blurred. Ford et al. (2002b) brought in this concept to emphasise that the network is in fact a varying thing depending on what people see. The question is whether this can be translated into a research device, so that researchers may see in a structured and analytical way what an actor’s picture is. This is what this research project is about. The concept’s theoretical foundations are uncovered by reviewing some principles from Sense-Making Theory. This review results most importantly in the identification of a close association between actors’ views of the world and the outcome of those actors’ sense making processes or frameworks. The relevance of actors’ views to obtain a clearer understanding of organisational networks is highlighted when the relation that is believed to exist between those views and action in organisational networks is addressed. With the aim of developing Network Pictures as research tool a two-stage method is put forward and carried out. The method consisted of operationalising the construct of Network Pictures and then testing it in two different network contexts to see if it was usable and useful for carrying out research in organisational networks. The results point to the usability and usefulness of the developed device: not only does it allow for capturing what is believed to be individuals’ views of the world in a rich and comprehensive way, as it also shows diversity between individuals in different contexts. Also and interestingly, some of the identified ‘practitioner theories’ were found to be not coherent with some IMP theoretical cornerstones.