The integration of technology into classrooms, the education of gifted learners, and the challenge this presents to classroom relationships as a result of engaging with computer technology are significant issues for teachers in this decade. The evolving paradigm of technology use, the deep learning of computer skills that students will require for future employment and how this can be incorporated into appropriate pedagogies for gifted learners also poses challenges for teachers. This thesis reports on a unique mentoring program that was developed to utilise desktop videoconferencing (DVC) technology and designed to specifically address these challenges. The study was undertaken in a large independent school (K-12) in New South Wales, Australia and involved six students and six teachers, none of whom had any previous experience of DVC or mentoring. The aim of the study was to investigate learning outcomes for teachers and gifted students. This study employed DVC as a didactic strategy over a 10-week period. The mentoring sessions of the cohorts and their post-mentoring interviews were evaluated using grounded theory methods of data gathering and analysis over a 2-year period. The findings demonstrated that the nature of learning during DVC could be constructed as an emergent theory, based on the teaching philosophies of the teachers and their goals for their students. Technical support, relational mentors and motivational tasks created supportive environments for DVC. Perseverance, enthusiasm and resilience enhanced the uniqueness of mentoring program. Several recommendations are also posited for further research.

This paper offers a new theoretical framework for studying the problem of generations and social change in contemporary Iran. It offers a model which is called „articulation of cultural modes“. The paper agrees with Ronald Inglehart that ‘culture’ is now playing a more dominant role in the social formation of current societies, as ‘technology’ once did in the modern era. But it goes one step further by arguing that culture cannot be approached as a holistic concept building on a comprehensive theoretical framework.

Despite widespread health promotion and nutrition education efforts, gaps between official healthy eating messages and people’s actual eating practices persist. There is increasing recognition that emphasizing individual responsibility for eating may have limited applicability in improving people’s health. Many experts advocate that future research on healthy eating should involve exploration of how food practices are shaped by social structures (or determinants) and individual agency. The purpose of this study was to explore the ways in which people engage with food structures to construct everyday notions of healthy eating. ‘Food structures’ draws on the concept of ‘structure,’ described by the social theorist Anthony Giddens, to refer to the range of food rules and resources people draw on. The research was conducted as part of a qualitative study on family food decision-making that included 144 participants from 13 African Nova Scotian, 10 European Nova Scotian, 12 Punjabi British Columbian and 11 European British Columbian families. These groups were chosen for their potential differences in perspectives based on place, ethnocultural background and histories of immigration to Canada. Data collection consisted of individual interviews with three or more family members aged 13 and older, and, with each family, observation of a grocery shopping trip and a family meal. Analysis followed common qualitative procedures including coding, memoing and thematic analysis. Together, the analyses support views that the gaps between official healthy eating messages and people’s eating practices may not be closed by further education about how to eat. Drawing on the theoretical concepts of Anthony Giddens and Michael Foucault, the findings suggest that one way to understand why people eat the way they do and how changes in eating habits occur is to think about the constant exposure to change through everyday, taken-for-granted practices. The findings also suggest that further healthy eating discourses may require more reflection with respect to the roles of nutrition educators and the social roles/autonomy of people in goals for health and well-being. Dietary goals for the population cannot be considered as isolated scientific objectives without taking into consideration how healthy eating discourses provide social standards beyond messages about healthy eating.

The distribution question of the land is a distribution question of the social wealth at the same time,but because will produce the antithesis of the position to assign naturally, so a successful land reform is to need accepting by society and cooperating. Republic of Taiwan in 38 years onwards to promote land reform,by most scholars, is praised as a model of successful reform.The achievement is considered to be effective at easing or solving the land problem, and because of narrowing the wealth gap, reduce the contradiction of the society,thus stable at the time of Taiwan society,later, more to promote economic development miracle. Taiwan's land reform as a starting point,enhance the tenant farmer economic, social status,improving rural life,adequate stable social environment, in fact, the social level, is also a successful social reforms. Lorenz von Stein, is a national scholar, is also a pioneer in sociology, administrative science and history scholars,jurists, Its academic contribution to the integration of the four areas of the national science, economic theory, social theory, administrative theory and financial theory,advocated the philosophy of man and state the purpose of considering and development, countries with independent ability to promote "national organism," said,the individual must be set free only in groups,the purpose of groups in the protection of individual freedom,the problem for society, social order and social change, and other social issues and more insights. This article by Lorenz von Stein social theory perspective,to observe Taiwan's land reform process,and bring about social reform its evolution, and to explore the social changes in, the interaction between state and society, And the idea of control Society, it is not the social inequality, But society does not flow,and countries in social class inequalities caused by the flow of the class should not play a role.So that the task of the State to break the social classes in the defense and on special interests dominated,and integration of the interests of all social classes, to avoid special interests above the national class of cases. Therefore, Taiwan's current social problems,state if the integration by the interests of all social classes, uphold the principle of priority of public interest, although the social problems will continue to occur,but society still more to upgrade because of reform.

Harmonious Society's concept is the social life¡¦ picture that numerous bosom political ideal¡¦ philosopher have been expected together. passed over 2000 years, Human society¡¦ civilization had been many different social development stage and social types, whether the ideal harmonious social life can be clear? or still was not well-known state which likes a stone dropped into the sea? This paper attempted to base on stein¡¦ State Theory that can outline Harmonious Society' cognitive picture and possible way to realize. Stein¡¦ thought background establish in the theory framework of the historical observation, dialectical philosophy, spirit-material dualism and organism ontology philosophy mutually. This paper integrate namely human being, society and state three concepts into Social-Theory and State-Theory which has eternal essence, under the fore-mentioned to research how to construct Harmonious Society. Human being and society has separately conditions or agencies that make state become an organism which has mechanisms to overtake interests of personals and social groups. However, any sort of social-theory practice sides must get concrete practice ways and procedures by value theory(methodology) and real society¡¦ condition, harmonious society's construction way concerns with all real society has variation Because of time and space, hence it¡¦s an analysis of ¡utheory/ practice¡vrelation. But due to limited contexts and the length limits, this text only discuss how to construct Harmonious Society by approach to between¡umaterial/social structure¡vand¡uspirit/agency¡v, and it drew multi-dimensional conclusions of harmonious society's construction way. Finally, this article except continues Stein¡¦ thought to extend, hoped that can inherit and broaden theory's explanatory ability and analysis scope, by have more widespread being suitable. On the other hand, also carries on the empirical analysis by Taiwan 1949-2008 period's cases, analyzes its important national policy for several items of developing process, Does which have positive or negative of Taiwan¡¦ harmonious society's construction?

Upon identifying the multifaceted and disparate array of ever-changing environmental informants to architectural discourse, one is confronted with how to unite this dialogue in meaningful ways to current modes of thought and action. The question gains more significance as our knowledge of the greater environmental domain becomes more systemic and complexly heterogenic, while at the same time, approaches to the issues have proved to be progressively more reductivist, disconnected, overtly abstracted or theorized, and universally globalized in regard to multifaceted and content-rich human particularities in situ. This research focuses on the implications and applications of Critical Environmentalism (CE) to propose a corresponding epistemological framework to wide-ranging socio-environmental complexities occurring across architectural endeavors, primarily within urban and community developments as comprising the greatest number of intersections between human constructions and the greater environmental domain. CE addresses environmental issues reciprocally emerging across numerous disciplines and theoretical stances and fosters critical and systemically collective approaches to knowledge integration, amalgamating multiple stakeholder perspectives within an interconnective and operational goal of creative communal development and betterment of the human condition in relation to environmental concerns. Situating the environment (Umwelt) as an interconnecting catalyst between divergent points-of-views, CE promotes a multi-methodological, co-enabling framework intended to foster increased ethical and participatory dynamics, communal vitality, co-invested attention, and productive interchanges of knowledge that cultivate an overall quality of knowing and being within the intricacies of the greater domain. As such, it engages broader definitions for architecture within its social community, significantly embodied and epistemologically co-substantiating within a shared, environmental life-place. Fundamentally a hermeneutic standpoint, this investigation elucidates conceptual connections and mutual grounds, objectives, and modes-of-operation across knowledge domains, initiating an essential, socio-environmentally oriented framework for architectural endeavors. In this, it brings together common threads within critical social theory and environmentalist discourse to subsequently promote distinct interconnective components within a framework of socio-environmental thought for architecture. The research then provides case examples and recommendations toward stimulating progressive environmental initiatives and thus increased capacity to improve existing epistemic conditions for architecture, urban design, and community development within the broader scope of Critical Environmentalism.

The purpose of this thesis is to offer an exposition of Anthony Giddens¡¦ thoughts on modernity. The terms ¡¥modern¡¦ and ¡¥modernity¡¦ are probably among the most frequently used yet rarely discussed with regards to meaning and connotation. In contemporary social theories, the term modernity is frequently taken as either obsolete or true by definition. In this thesis, I try to interpret Giddens¡¦ ideas on modernity to offer a better purchase on current ideas within the field. In the first chapter, I explain why I think the research on modernity is critical to contemporary social science. Moreover, to explicate Giddens¡¦ thinking, I also discuss Giddens¡¦ academic life and the contemporary academic study in Taiwan of Giddens¡¦ writings. In the second chapter, I briefly describe Giddens¡¦ most widely discussed theory, the Structuration theory, for I think it is the theoretical basis of the thoughts on modernity. I also refer to two important contemporary thinkers¡¦ to trace Giddens¡¦ theoretical background, namely Roy Bhaskar and Jürgen Habermas. In following two chapters, I detail Giddens¡¦ theory of modernity, focusing on its fundamental characteristics, consequences and implications for the study of an increasingly globalized world. In the fifth chapter, I review the criticisms on Giddens¡¦ theory of modernity and try to defend some of those criticisms. In the conclusion chapter, I briefly go through the major points of this thesis and assess Giddens¡¦ insights to the study of modernity.

This dissertation translates an essay by Mario Untersteiner "Le origini sociali della sofistica" ("The Social Origins of Sophistry") unpublished in English, and explores its significance in terms of classical and contemporary rhetorical theory, as well as the composition classroom. In the process, I attempt to contribute to reestablishing sophistry and rhetoric within our contemporary cultural milieu. More specifically, the dissertation is organized into five main parts: The first chapter offers an introduction to and thorough background of the sophists in ancient and classical Greece; the second chapter reviews the scholarship about the sophists, as well as that on Mario Untersteiner and his "Le origini," exploring the commonly known difficulties of translation. Chapter three provides my translation of the complete essay, while chapter four presents my interpretation of the most salient issues in the essay and their importance to classical rhetorical theory. The concluding chapter presents my conclusions and relates my findings to the composition classroom, the university, and society at large, arguing for the reintegration of certain sophistical rhetorical theories and practices.

This paper argues for the application of Risk Society (Ulrich Beck & Anthony Giddens) and Social Resilience (Fikret Berkes & Carl Folke) theories in the social impact assessment (SIA) of proposed marine protected areas (MPAs). The former theory is the most cited social theory in Europe and has been found to explain worldwide human responses to proposed projects. The latter theory brings to the SIA of MPAs proven notions from human ecology. This paper is based on an on-going assessment of proposed MPA effects in the Bahamas and the growing literature on MPAs.

Despite widespread health promotion and nutrition education efforts, gaps between official healthy eating messages and people’s actual eating practices persist. There is increasing recognition that emphasizing individual responsibility for eating may have limited applicability in improving people’s health. Many experts advocate that future research on healthy eating should involve exploration of how food practices are shaped by social structures (or determinants) and individual agency. The purpose of this study was to explore the ways in which people engage with food structures to construct everyday notions of healthy eating. ‘Food structures’ draws on the concept of ‘structure,’ described by the social theorist Anthony Giddens, to refer to the range of food rules and resources people draw on. The research was conducted as part of a qualitative study on family food decision-making that included 144 participants from 13 African Nova Scotian, 10 European Nova Scotian, 12 Punjabi British Columbian and 11 European British Columbian families. These groups were chosen for their potential differences in perspectives based on place, ethnocultural background and histories of immigration to Canada. Data collection consisted of individual interviews with three or more family members aged 13 and older, and, with each family, observation of a grocery shopping trip and a family meal. Analysis followed common qualitative procedures including coding, memoing and thematic analysis. Together, the analyses support views that the gaps between official healthy eating messages and people’s eating practices may not be closed by further education about how to eat. Drawing on the theoretical concepts of Anthony Giddens and Michael Foucault, the findings suggest that one way to understand why people eat the way they do and how changes in eating habits occur is to think about the constant exposure to change through everyday, taken-for-granted practices. The findings also suggest that further healthy eating discourses may require more reflection with respect to the roles of nutrition educators and the social roles/autonomy of people in goals for health and well-being. Dietary goals for the population cannot be considered as isolated scientific objectives without taking into consideration how healthy eating discourses provide social standards beyond messages about healthy eating.