abstract: Statistics is taught at every level of education, yet teachers often have to assume their students have no knowledge of statistics and start from scratch each time they set out to teach statistics. The motivation for this experimental study comes from interest in exploring educational applications of augmented reality (AR) delivered via mobile technology that could potentially provide rich, contextualized learning for understanding concepts related to statistics education. This study examined the effects of AR experiences for learning basic statistical concepts. Using a 3 x 2 research design, this study compared learning gains of 252 undergraduate and graduate students from a pre- and posttest given before and after interacting with one of three types of augmented reality experiences, a high AR experience (interacting with three dimensional images coupled with movement through a physical space), a low AR experience (interacting with three dimensional images without movement), or no AR experience (two dimensional images without movement). Two levels of collaboration (pairs and no pairs) were also included. Additionally, student perceptions toward collaboration opportunities and engagement were compared across the six treatment conditions. Other demographic information collected included the students' previous statistics experience, as well as their comfort level in using mobile devices. The moderating variables included prior knowledge (high, average, and low) as measured by the student's pretest score. Taking into account prior knowledge, students with low prior knowledge assigned to either high or low AR experience had statistically significant higher learning gains than those assigned to a no AR experience. On the other hand, the results showed no statistical significance between students assigned to work individually versus in pairs. Students assigned to both high and low AR experience perceived a statistically significant higher level of engagement than their no AR counterparts. Students with low prior knowledge benefited the most from the high AR condition in learning gains. Overall, the AR application did well for providing a hands-on experience working with statistical data. Further research on AR and its relationship to spatial cognition, situated learning, high order skill development, performance support, and other classroom applications for learning is still needed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Educational Technology 2013

A investigação apresentada nesta tese consiste em um esforço por lançar um olhar antropológico acerca do tema do ensino de Sociologia na escola básica. Esta questão ganhou maior atenção acadêmica no contexto do retorno da obrigatoriedade da presença da disciplina nos currículos do Ensino Médio, por meio do Parecer CNE/CEB 38/2006 e pela Lei 11.684/2008. Nesta pesquisa, busca-se tomar um desvio da perspectiva pedagógica e normativa que vem animando boa parte dos trabalhos sobre o tema, comprometida em justificar e delinear parâmetros para o ensino da Sociologia na escola. Diferentemente, parte-se de um entendimento antropológico sobre o processo de aprendizagem e o conhecimento científico, especialmente ancorando-se nas perspectivas da “aprendizagem situada” de Jean Lave e da “educação da atenção” de Tim Ingold. Entende-se que os professores e estudantes de licenciatura em Ciências Sociais são permanentes aprendizes da prática da docência da Sociologia e, com isso, procura-se identificar quais os espaços privilegiados de participação em práticas de aprendizagem da docência durante a formação universitária e como ela ocorre. Para isso, foi realizada pesquisa etnográfica junto a escolas de educação básica, ao Programa de Bolsas de Iniciação à Docência (PIBID) das Ciências Sociais e junto à disciplina de Estágio de Docência do curso de licenciatura em Ciências Sociais, ambos da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). Busca-se menos identificar ou definir as especificidades da docência da Sociologia na escola e mais atentar para os modos pelos quais ela “vaza”, seguindo em um movimento de correspondência com o mundo. / The research presented in this thesis consists in an effort to launch an anthropological approach on Sociology teaching in basic education. This issue has gained more academic attention in the context of the return of the mandatory presence of the subject in high school curricula, through 38/2006 CNE/CEB appraisal and the federal law 11.684/2008. In this research, I try to take a detour from pedagogical and normative perspective which grounds much of the recent research on the subject, committed to justify and outline parameters for Sociology teaching in school. In contrast, I start from an anthropological understanding of learning process and scientific knowledge, especially based on the perspectives of Jean Lave’s “situated learning" and Tim Ingold’s "education of attention". It is understood that teachers and undergraduate students in Social Sciences are permanent learners of teaching Sociology practice and, therefore, we seek to identify which are the privileged spaces of participation in teaching learning practices during university education and how it occurs. For this, ethnographic research was conducted among basic education schools, the Federal Program for Introduction to Teaching (PIBID) of the Social Sciences and the Teaching Internship of Social Sciences degree course, both from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). I attempted less to identify or define the specific features of Sociology teaching at school and more to attend to the ways in which it "leaks", following in a correspondence movement with the world.

Magister Educationis - MEd / In this research paper, guided by Prof Z Groener, I explore the learning barriers experienced by deaf learners in the structured workplace component of a learnership programme. I focus on the learning barriers of deaf learners at work on an Information Technology learnership where the learning environment shapes and are shaped by deaf learners. Twenty deaf learners have entered during 2005 into an Information Technology: Technical Support NQF4 learnership, funded by the Information Systems (IT), Electronics and Telecommunications Technologies Sector Education Training Authority (ISETT Seta). I have determined how deaf learners are faring with work and learning in a technological environment that has experienced rapid and extensive restructuring during the past ten years. The specific difficulties which they experience during their structured workplace component of the learnerships have also been defined. I argue that when deaf learners form part of a community of practice, consisting of both deaf learners and hearing colleagues and who operate in the same area of knowledge and activity, they fare better than those who did not form part of such a community. I conclude this research paper with a link to the situated learning theory where I explain why the learner’s situation contributed to their ability to learn. / South Africa

Syftet med den här studien är få kunskap om yrkeselevers syn på arbetsplatsförlagt lärande (APL) Genom kvalitativa intervjuerna synliggjordes vad yrkeselever lär sig under APL-perioderna, utifrån elevernas perspektiv och deras uppfattningar. Frågeställningarna besvarade även hur de kunskaper de har omvandlades till lärande samt vikten att ta hjälp från andra för att få stöttning i sin utveckling inom det yrke de kommer att lära sig under sin utbildning. Den teoretiska utgångspunkten är situerat lärande med det sociokulturella perspektivet som utgångspunkt.  Resultatet visar på yrkeselevers upplevelser av vad, hur och med vilket stöd de lär sig om sitt blivande yrke under sitt arbetsplatsförlagda lärande. Det är tydligt att yrkeskunnandet och anställningsbarheten är viktiga områden att utveckla under det arbetsplatsförlagda lärandet. Det framkommer att eleverna har mycket kunskap med sig från skolan. På arbetsplatserna lär de sig att fråga om hjälp, öva upp sin snabbhet inom yrket och lära sig av sina misstag.  Erfarenheten hos andra yrkesutövare, till exempel handledaren, blir central och eleverna får möjligheten att tydligt se yrket som en helhet.  Interaktionen mellan elev och andra på arbetsplatsen behövs för att eleven ska kunna ta sig framåt i sin kunskapsutveckling. Här blir praktikgemenskapen viktig då den blir ett stöd för elevens fortsatta lärande. / The purpose of this study is to gain knowledge about the students' views on workplace-based learning (WBL). Based on the students' perspectives and their perceptions, their learning during the WBL was made visible, through qualitative interviews. The questions also answered how they have transformed their knowledge into learning, as well as the importance of getting help from others to get support in their development in the profession they will learn during their education. The theoretical perspective is situated learning with a socio-cultural perspective as the starting point. The result shows students' experiences of what, how and with which support they learn about their future profession during their workplace-based learning. It is clear that professional knowledge and employability are important areas to develop during workplace-based learning. It appears that the students have a lot of knowledge with them from school, but in the workplaces, they learn to ask for help, practice their speed in the profession and learn from their mistakes. The experience of other co-workers, such as the supervisor, becomes central and the students have the opportunity to obtain a clear view of the profession as a whole. The interaction between the student and others in the workplace is necessary for the student to be able to progress in its knowledge development. Here, the community of practice becomes important, as it becomes a support for the student's continued learning.

This master thesis focuses on an exploration of digital technologies and systems used for learning interaction, specifically learning of foreign languages (FLA) and second languages acquisition (SLA) and investigates the use of autonomy-based virtual environment systems for knowledge acquisition. The study describes an enhancement of multimodal language learning practices and deployment of teaching material in an autonomous setup operated by language students. The master thesis project culminated with the creation of a language learning virtual reality system called "VR wor(l)ds" supporting oral training and vocabulary acquisition in a contextual learning environment. The VR system is intended to compensate for the loss of equal opportunities among students interacting in the traditional classroom setup. Furthermore, this concept aims to explore new opportunities for knowledge acquisition and opens up an argument for using virtual reality systems for encouraging students to actively engage with oral training and vocabulary acquisition in their language learning process. Last but not least, this project aims to open up a cross discussion between the field of interaction design (IxD) and language learning for possible collaboration on solutions to create playful environments for learning and improve learning outcomes.

The purpose of this descriptive and exploratory study was to obtain insight into collaborative partnership trends between educational psychology researchers and teachers, in order to inform participatory theory and practice in future methodology studies. The Community of Practice Framework theoretically framed the study, describing professional communities and the way in which meanings, beliefs and understandings are negotiated and reflected in communal practices. Five symposium and two reflection session presentations were purposefully selected and transcribed for qualitative content analysis in terms of a trend analysis. Findings indicate that collaborative partnerships between educational psychology researchers and teachers differ from other partnerships in that collaborative partnerships between teachers and educational psychology researchers appear to be directed by an overarching philosophy of “care”. Also, collaborative partnership studies between teachers and educational psychology researchers favour methodologies encouraging participation in identifying and addressing school-community issues. In this way, knowledge exchange and the co-creation of knowledge is promoted. These partnerships focus on how education, as well as teacher and learner experiences can be enhanced and be meaningful, rewarding, enabling and supportive. Finally, benefits and challenges in collaborative partnerships between teachers and educational psychology researchers are similar to those experienced by other professionals participating in collaborative partnerships. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Educational Psychology / unrestricted

No description available.

Integration of immigrants has become a major focus of the EU policy agenda in recent years with Sweden being one of the first EU countries to address the need for immigrant integration. However, in recent times integration outcomes in Sweden have become unfavourable. Malmö Sweden has a unique context of immigrant integration being Sweden’s third largest city and having the highest percentage of immigrants within Sweden. The city transitioned from being an “industrial” city to a “professional” city in the 1970’s with a large percentage of jobs requiring a college degree. This job gap for workers with “limited skills” led to an employment shortage for immigrants, with a disproportionate impact on women.  This study explores how social sector organizations in Malmö are fostering learning and knowledge sharing through communities of practice (CoP) among immigrant women in Malmö with limited skills in order to integrate into the Swedish system and reach economic & social integration. The study covered four social sector organizations’ program facilitators and participants that participate in communities of practice programs. The study’s primary source of data collection was Semi-structured interviews conducted at four social sector organizations that work with integrating immigrant women in Malmö, Sweden and analyzed through thematic analysis. The learning programs were not publicized as communities of programs. When examined, learning programs at the four social organizations followed the classification of CoPs based on the individual learning program’s domain, community, and practice. Through the analysis of the interviews, the learning programs at the four organizations were uncovered to be “hidden” communities of practice. The study also found a unique municipal-non-profit partnership that existed in every learning program studied, allowing more resources and opportunities to the women within the CoP for better integration. Each woman in the CoP had a Shared Goal or Joint Enterprise of socially, culturally, and economically integrating into Sweden. The "safe space" and average age attracted by the program created mutual engagement or collaboration through relationship building. The shared native language and Swedish language between the women became communal tools or their “shared repertoire” that the women developed and used together to improve their Swedish as well as their professional skills These communal tools enhance the immigrant women’s ability to learn and open opportunities needed to integrate into Sweden such as employment or further education.

The aim of this study is to better understand the Swedish concept of“förebyggande socialt arbete”, preventive social work. I have conducted elevenqualitative interviews with different key persons and skaters, together withparticipant observation. During the process of analyzing the material I have usedRandall Collins´ concepts of interaction ritual chains together with Jean Laves andEtienne Wengers concept of situated learning. The answers could be split up inthree areas, first those who regard prevention work as building good things for thefuture. The second group to prevent something bad to happen and the third groupregard preventive social work to be repairing what was broken. The first group,mostly architects, included all three levels of the urban system, the social culturecontext, the human interaction and the urban design. The second and third group,mostly participant from the social work area, focused on the individual level.Although social work should be involved in social policy and development areincluded in the Swedish Social Serves Act. The findings is that Swedish definitionof social work need to be wider in order to include the urban design as a part ofsocial prevention work.

No description available.