Sustainable Built Environments Senior Capstone / This case study examined the potential of creating collaborative co-working spaces at the University of Arizona. Through qualitative research on the effectiveness of co-working spaces already in place at three different universities across the nation, this study identified key features that could successfully be implemented at the University of Arizona. These features were a co-working space built around a student organization centered on collaboration and innovation. The latest in technological resources to aid in project execution and learning. Lastly, a partnership with a local makerspace providing students of all backgrounds and interests to collaboratively work on building physical items in a space they might not have had previous access to. While research was limited to university affiliated websites and articles on co-working spaces, scholarly articles on this specific subject where not found to further back conclusive findings and recommendations.

The simplicity and flexibility of tagging allows users to collaboratively create large, loosely structured repositories of Web resources. One of its main drawbacks is the need for manual formulation of tags for each posted resource. This task can be eased by a tag recommendation system, the objective of which is to propose a set of tags for a given resource, user pair. Tag recommendation is an interesting and well-defined practical problem. Its main features are constant interaction with users and availability of large amounts of tagged data. Given the opportunities (e.g., rich user feedback) and limitations (e.g., real-time response) of the tag recommendation setting, we defined six requirements for a practically useful tag recommendation system. We present a conceptual design and system architecture of a hybrid tag recommendation system, which meets all these requirements. The system utilizes the strengths of various tag sources (e.g., resource content and user profiles) and the relations between concepts captured in tag co-occurrence graphs mined from collaborative actions of users. The architecture of the proposed system is based on a text indexing engine, which allows the system to deal with large datasets in real time, while constantly adapting its models to newly added posts. The effectiveness and efficiency of the system was evaluated for six datasets representing a broad range of collaborative tagging systems. The experiments confirmed the high quality of results and practical usability of the system. In a comparative study the system outperformed a state-of-the-art algorithm based on tensor factorization for the most representative datasets applicable to both methods. The experiments on the characteristics of tagging data and the performance of the system allowed us to find answers to important research questions adapted from the general area of recommender systems. We confirmed the importance of infrequently used tags in the recommendation process and proposed solutions to overcome the cold start problem in tag recommendation. We demonstrated that a parameter tuning approach makes a hybrid tag recommendation system adaptable to various datasets. We also revealed the importance of the utilization of a feedback loop in the tag recommendation process.

Growing development pressure in Ontario’s Far North has prompted northern First Nation communities, who have recognized these potential outcomes, to initiate community-based land-use planning. In 2009 the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR) announced Bill 191, An Act with Respect to Land-Use Planning and Protection in the Far North, to guide the planning process and promote a balance between conservation and development. The way the legislation develops and advances will be a determining factor in the degree of benefit to local communities. This manuscript thesis explores the issues related to land-use planning in Ontario’s Far North, specifically the James Bay lowland region, through two articles. Information collected through participant observation, an extensive multi-disciplinary literature review, interviews with key policy actors and review of transcripts from Standing Committee hearings was combined to inform the development of both articles. The first article explores the landscape to highlight the abiotic, biotic and cultural features of the region. This article provides a scoping exercise to begin to describe features that should contribute to the creation of the community-based land-use plans. The second article critically examines the development of Bill 191 to guide land-use planning through policy, organizational and operational institutional levels from a First Nations perspective. Themes of power, social justice and participation in the planning process are central to the consideration of the emerging planning process. This review reveals a process that, instead of initiating a new relationship between the government of Ontario and First Nations, has contributed to increasingly acrimonious relations between the two. / Thesis (Master, Environmental Studies) -- Queen's University, 2010-10-25 12:37:47.676

Socio-cultural activity theory (SCAT) was used to examine the nature of collaborative working in a case study of school-based occupational therapy (SBOT) in Ontario. Collaborative consultation has been widely adopted in SBOT practice. However, we know little about the impact of collaboration for students and lack understanding about how the organization of SBOT service contributes to collaborative working among educators and occupational therapists. Grounded in theoretical understanding about the distributed nature of group learning, SCAT was used as a conceptual and analytical tool in this study to describe SBOT collaborative consultation from multiple stakeholder perspectives. The research took place in two phases. Phase One involved case study research to describe SBOT for three students with disabilities from multiple stakeholder perspectives. Data were gathered using a combination of observation, document analysis, and interviews involving participants directly involved in the delivery of SBOT with each focal participant. SCAT provided a framework for describing the nature of joint effort. Dilemmas emerging from incongruence between elements in the activity system were identified and described. Common characteristics in two cases enabled cross-case analysis to also identify features of collaborative working that facilitated educational programming and outcomes for students with developmental disability. In Phase Two, program administrators participated alongside service recipients and service providers in a series of focused discussion workshops to reflect on case study findings and prioritize areas for program improvement. Developmental Work Research (Engeström, 2000) and Appreciative Inquiry (Cooperrider, Whitney, & Stavros, 2003) methods were used within a participatory action research approach to facilitate organizational learning among stakeholders. Engagement of stakeholders supported program administrators in critically examining decision-making for the delivery of SBOT service in the region studied. Combining practice-driven dilemmas with conceptual tools of analysis enabled a multiple-perspective understanding about the social, cultural, and historical work practices that have influenced collaborative interactions in SBOT practice and led to the development of principles for improving how work is shared. Program administrators used their shared understanding to propose a new model for delivering SBOT services. / Thesis (Ph.D, Education) -- Queen's University, 2011-09-28 21:31:58.308

This thesis describes a research study that examined how collaborative reflective practice with three staff members in a middle years school affected their psychological constructs of what constitutes a good school. Using an action research design, the study made use of personal construct psychology and the methodology of repertory grid technique. Repertory grid results were analyzed using methods developed from personal construct theory (cluster analysis, principal components analysis and messy change grid analysis). This permitted insight into the nature and processes of changes that occurred. These processes were examined in light of Leithwood’s work on teacher development and Fullan’s thoughts on educational change. Using these models as an analytical framework, an evaluation was made of the potential uses and value of repertory grid technique in middle schools. The technique aligns well with the Leithwood and Fullan models and has notable benefits and advantages to offer the field of educational leadership.

This study explored collaborative inquiry as a professional learning model for five elementary teachers at an inner-city school in Western Canada. Collaborative inquiry – a branch of action research – was the process used to support teachers’ professional learning in the use of technology in their arts education programs. The research questions were: (a) in what ways has the collaborative inquiry approach to professional learning had an impact on teachers’ learning and thinking about the use of ICT in arts education? (b) in what ways has the collaborative inquiry approach to professional learning had an impact on participants’ changed practice? and (c) how do collaboration and dialogue foster the construction of knowledge related to teachers’ integration of ICT to support their arts education program? The findings suggest that collaborative inquiry was an effective strategy for professional learning and impacted teachers’ learning and thinking about the use of technology in their arts education program in several ways. There were indications that the collaborative inquiry group afforded social-emotional support, a forum for dialogue and collaboration, as well as an avenue to explore alternative perspectives and new ideas. It was also evident that new habits of mind were beginning to emerge. Teachers felt increased confidence and efficacy which led to risk-taking and exploration of new technologies, an increased capacity for evaluating ICT with pedagogical intent, as well as a strengthened ability to think reflectively about their practice. Furthermore, changes in practice were evident in the following areas: subject matter and materials, organizational structures, roles and behaviors, knowledge and understanding, and value internalization. And finally, the findings reveal that dialogue and collaboration are important factors in helping teachers foster their construction of ICT knowledge. These processes helped advance understanding as participants challenged one another, pushing each other to a higher level of pedagogical and divergent thinking. Dialogue sessions offered participants a powerful forum for idea generation, idea sharing, and cooperative problem solving.

As governments increasingly support a collaborative management approach to address complex watershed issues, there is a growing interest in understanding how successfully these processes operate. A cornerstone of collaborative management is the inclusion of public input in the decision-making process. Exactly how and to what extent the public is included in decision making is often left to planning authorities. This study set out to determine if collaborative approaches to watershed management planning have incorporated effective public engagement. The components of effective public engagement processes as identified in public engagement literature were utilized as a diagnostic tool to assess public participation in the development of two watershed management plans in Manitoba, Canada. Recommendations for improving the effectiveness of public engagement and addressing barriers to broad public participation in watershed management are presented and discussed.

During the last few decades peer collaboration has been commonly practised in Second Language (L2) writing classrooms. Despite the conceptual shift towards process, student-centred orientation to writing pedagogy, there are still many L2 composition courses around the world which consider writing as a finished product and assign a central role to writing instructors. This qualitative case study research is one of the first attempts which have been set out to probe the interactional dynamics, revision behaviours, writing performance, and perceptions of Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students engaged in peer review and collaborative revision activities in two genres, process and argumentation, in light of sociocultural perspective of learning. The participants were 5 lower intermediate to intermediate English translation student dyads enrolled in a semester long essay writing course. Drawing on the data collected from audio-recordings, observations, written texts, and interviews, the study investigated how this group of L2 learners approached these two distinct tasks, how they reacted to the feedback they received either from their partners or teacher, how they used the comments to improve their writing performance, and how they viewed each of the tasks they were involved in. Analysis of audio-recorded data revealed that students stayed on task for most of the allocated time and employed three distinct dyadic negotiations; evaluative, social, and procedural with both partners being capable of pooling ideas and providing each other scaffolded help regardless of their level of L2 writing proficiency. However, the majority of conversations and scaffolding concentrated on surface level features of compositions. Further, examination of written texts produced by students during writing cycles demonstrated that they incorporated higher number of teacher‟s comments into their subsequent drafts than their peers‟ feedback and collaborative revision contributed to greater degree of improvement in the quality of the essays they developed compared to peer reviewing. Retrospective interviews also indicated that collaborative tasks were generally perceived as useful, yet the participants expressed scepticism about the validity of peer comments and did not feel competent enough to address their partners‟ papers. Nevertheless, they showed more favourable reactions towards collaborative revision activity than peer reviewing. The researcher concludes that collaborative revision can be used as an interim activity for the move from the traditional, product-based, teacher fronted L2 writing pedagogy to a more theoretically sound, process-based, student fronted approach to writing instruction in EFL contexts.

Watershed planning and management relies on a diverse range of stakeholders. Collabora-tive planning can provide an opportunity for those stakeholders to equitably share their knowledge and learn from other participants, but such an outcome cannot be assumed. This re-search explores the potential for improved knowledge integration in watershed planning through research of a community-based watershed planning initiative in rural Saskatchewan, Canada. Us-ing semi-structured interviews and document review, this research identifies different knowledge types involved in watershed planning, explains how that knowledge is integrated through the planning process, and derives lessons for future watershed planning initiatives. Four general knowledge types identified in the analysis—bureaucratic, administrative, local, and scientific—were also evident in the literature. Specifically, this research affirms local knowledge characteris-tics—that it is spatially constrained, heterogeneous, generated through a relationship with place, and accrued over time—described in the literature. Results also reinforce claims that clearly de-fining boundaries between knowledge types is difficult and even undesirable. Differing from the descriptions in the literature of bureaucratic knowledge as including aspects of administrative knowledge, this research proposes that a greater delineation between the two is advantageous to ensure adequate knowledge is present to support the planning process. Two broad themes of how different types of knowledge influenced the planning initiative are presented: cooperation for long-term planning—highly influenced by administrative and bureaucratic knowledge; and set-ting and achieving goals—dominated by scientific knowledge as an ecological narrative through-out the process. These themes echo the collaborative planning literature on the importance of in-cluding as many knowledge types as possible throughout the process, while also revealing the necessity of ensuring that all participants are engaged in deliberations in order to contribute their knowledge. To meet this need, context-appropriate planning activities must be selected to sup-port collaborative planning; amendments to the planning process used in the community-based planning initiative are proposed to meet these needs.

Given the proliferation of new-generation internet capable devices in our society, they are now commonly used for a variety of purposes and by a variety of ages, including young children. The vast amount of new media content, available through these devices, cause parents to worry about what their children have access to. In this thesis we investigated how parents and children can work together towards the goal of content control and filtering. One problem to the current content control filtering tools and approaches is that they do not involve children in the filtering process, thus missing an opportunity of educating children about content appropriateness. Therefore, we propose a kid-in-the-loop approach to content control and filtering where parents and children collaboratively configure restrictions and filters, an approach that focuses on education rather than simple rule setting. We conducted an exploratory qualitative study with results highlighting the importance that parents place on avoiding inappropriate content. Building on these findings, we designed an initial kid-in-the-loop prototype which allows parents to work with their children to select appropriate applications, providing parents with the opportunity to educate their children on what they consider to be appropriate or inappropriate. We further validate our proposed approach by conducting a qualitative study with sets of parents and children in the six to eight year-old age group, which revealed an overwhelmingly favorable response to this approach. We conclude this thesis with a comprehensive analysis of our approach, which can be leveraged in designing content control systems targeting both parents and children.