This research set out to explore cognitive processes involved in learning among help desk consultants, both apprentices and experts.

This research set out to explore cognitive processes involved in learning among help desk consultants, both apprentices and experts.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Michigan State University. Dept. of Kinesiology, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (Mar. 30, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p.172-174). Also issued in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Michigan State University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 172-174).

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / This research set out to explore cognitive processes involved in learning among help desk consultants, both apprentices and experts. / South Africa

This study examined how middle school students planned to obtain future STEM college majors and careers through a possible selves curriculum in a 13-week, in-school cognitive apprenticeship model. STEM undergraduates mentored STEM-interested middle school mentees (N= 21) from six under-served middle schools. Through possible selves activities, mentees worked on strategies to avoid becoming their feared possible self and become their hoped-for possible self. In the middle of the semester, mentee self-reported competency in STEM fields, motivation, administrator-reported STEM course grades, and STEM attendance were collected. On average, mentees felt 10.67% more motivated to pursue STEM than they felt competent in STEM. Mentees who reported higher competency tended to have higher course grades, and mentees who reported higher motivation tended to have higher attendance, although attendance was high overall, indicating insufficient sample size or variance to demonstrate significance. Mentees who attended class more tended to have a higher course grade but the same statistical issue occurred in that there may not have been a significant correlation due to sampling and self- selection biases. The majority of mentees identified unrelated possible selves, defined concrete self-improvement and abstract self-maintenance strategies, identified self-discipline as a requirement in middle school, described intellectual independence and teacher harmony strategies to solve everyday problems in middle school, identified instructivist college requirements, described responsibility as a transferable strategy, and dependence on an expert as a nontransferable strategy to solve long-term problems in college to obtain their STEM possible self.

Despite years of attention, gender inequity persists in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Female STEM faculty, positive social interactions, and enrollment in advanced STEM secondary coursework are supportive factors in promoting female students' persistence in STEM fields. To address the gap in understanding these factors, this study employed a sequential mixed method design using a framework of social cognitive theory. Research questions focused on how levels of self-efficacy and perception of personal and social factors among female secondary students related to their enrollment in advanced STEM coursework and extracurricular activities in a rural New England school where gender parity exists. All 18-year-old female students (N = 82) were invited to complete the self-efficacy subsection of the Science Motivation Questionnaire II (SMQII). Self-efficacy and enrollment in advanced STEM courses and extracurricular activities were analyzed using a Pearson correlation (N=35). Self-efficacy levels did not correlate with the participants' enrollment in advanced STEM courses and extracurricular activities. In addition, a purposeful sample of participants (N = 7) who completed the SMQII was used to conduct individual interviews investigating how the community of practice contributed to female students' decisions to pursue advanced STEM coursework. Two themes emerged: the roles of the personal landscape (e.g., resilient mindset) and the social landscape (e.g., peer interactions). Professional development materials to support staff in implementing a cognitive apprenticeship were created in response to the emergent themes. In addressing the lack of understanding of female secondary students' engagement in advanced STEM coursework, positive social change may be achieved by supporting a greater percentage of women who can pursue STEM career opportunities.

This exploratory research used a mixed-methods design to compare the effectiveness of a telepresence-enabled cognitive apprenticeship model of teacher professional development (TEAM-PD) to that of a traditional workshop model by examining outcomes in teacher pedagogy and student achievement. Measures of the lll degree to which teachers in both groups enacted mathematics pedagogy provided mixed results. Both groups demonstrated similar patterns of behavior and cognition, indicating modest levels of pedagogy implementation. Although the experimental group demonstrated higher levels of enactment of the mathematics pedagogy, the comparison group demonstrated a faster rate of growth. Student outcome data were clear: students of teachers in the experimental group scored substantially higher on a test of relevant mathematics content than students of teachers in the comparison group. Collectively the results suggest that TEAM-PD has potential to be an effective model of teacher professional development.

The dual problem space model of writing (Scardamalia, Bereiter and Steinbach, 1984) shows how writers develop their knowledge and understanding of the world by reflecting on problems of substance and problems of presentation in planning a composition. Reflective thought is attributed to a two-way communication between a content problem space and a rhetorical problem space. The content space involves the development of ideas, while the rhetorical space is concerned with achieving various purposes in composition. This thesis reports an instructional experiment comparing alternative approaches to teaching the self-regulatory strategies required for the two-way process of reflection. The experiment compared the dialogue approach of current practice, which relies on the teacher to provide the linking operations between the two problem spaces, with two experimental approaches which promote development of self-regulatory strategies of reflection, so that students are able to sustain such a two-way process independently. The experimental approaches are described as a guided discovery approach proposed by Evans (1991) and an approach described as cognitive apprenticeship developed by Scardamalia, Bereiter and Steinbach (1984). Three instructional programs were prepared by the author to represent the three alternative approaches examined in the present study. The control program utilised the dialogue approach of current practice in which the dialectical process is carried on between teacher and student. The two experimental programs focused on promoting processes of self-questioning rather than questioning by an external agent such as a teacher. The guided discovery program consisted of activities which prompted self-questioning processes. The cognitive apprenticeship program employed scaffolding in the form of procedural facilitation cues to stimulate the self-questioning process. A pre-test and post-test control group design was used involving three groups, two experimental (guided discovery and cognitive apprenticeship) and one control (dialogue), with instructional method as the independent variable and rated reflectiveness of writing as the dependent variable. Instruction was concentrated on teaching the two-way problem formulating and problem solving strategies of the reflective process for opinion essays and factual exposition essays. The experiment compared the effectiveness of programs by measuring changes in overall reflectiveness of writing. Significant improvements were obtained for the experimental teaching methods withrespect to opinion essays. This research provided some support for the hypothesis that instruction which fosters self-regulation of the planning process through processes of reflection results in more reflective writing than instruction in which such regulation is prompted by the teacher.

The purpose of the study was to describe the nature of the architectural apprenticeship experience from a curricular, instructional, social, and transformative perspective to help interns move from novice status to entry-level expertise in architectural practice. The study examined the apprenticeship experience from a holistic perspective to develop a better understanding of the architectural internship program. To meet the study purpose and inquiry, a case study research design was used to explore and describe the nature of the apprenticeship experience from the perspectives of three stakeholder groups: the interns, the mentors, and the members of the community of practice (CoP). Overall, as evidenced by the perspectives of the Interns, the Firm serving as the case study emphasized all-aspects of architectural practice as the basis for the development of a holistic apprenticeship experience. That is, the Interns participated in the whole of the Firm’s architectural practice. Additionally, the Firm used work- and project-based learning as the vehicle for the apprenticeship curriculum and instruction. As a result, the Interns were grounded in authentic learning and work contexts requiring the application of architectural knowledge and skills. Further, because of the all-accepts of architectural practice and the grounding of work- based and project-based learning, the interns purposefully progressed in expertise through increased participation in architectural projects requiring enhanced demands in terms of knowledge and skills. Study findings highlighted the role of a holistic approach to the apprenticeship experience, the value of immersion in all aspects of architectural practice, and the firm’s commitment to be engaged in a process of shared transformation. As such, related findings should be helpful in the conceptualization and implementation of the architectural apprenticeship experience in the field.