This thesis concerns a longitudinal study of the practice of Live Peer Assessment on two University courses in Computer Science. By Live Peer Assessment I mean a practice of whole-class collective marking using electronic devices of student artefacts demonstrated in a class or lecture theatre with instantaneous aggregated results displayed on screen immediately after each grading decision. This is radically different from historical peer-assessment in universities which has primarily been asynchronous process of marking of students' work by small subsets of the cohort (e.g. 1 student artefact is marked by < 3 fellow students). Live Peer Assessment takes place in public, is marked by (as far as practically possible) the whole cohort, and results are instantaneous. This study observes this practice, first on a level 4 course in E-Media Design where students' main assignment is a multimedia CV (or resume) and secondly on a level 7 course in Multimedia Specification Design and Production where students produce a multimedia information artefact in both prototype and final versions. In both cases, students learned about these assignments from reviewing works done by previous students in Live Peer Evaluation events where they were asked to collectively publicly mark those works according to the same rubrics that the tutors would be using. In this level 4 course, this was used to help students get a better understanding of the marks criteria. In the level 7 course, this goal was also pursued, but was also used for the peer marking of students' own work. Among the major findings of this study are: • In the level 4 course student attainment in the final assessment improved on average by 13% over 4 iterations of the course, with very marked increase among students in the lower percentiles • The effectiveness of Live Peer Assessment in improving student work comes from o Raising the profile of the marking rubric o Establishing a repertoire of example work o Modelling the 'noticing' of salient features (of quality or defect) enabling students to self-monitor more effectively • In the major accepted measure of peer-assessment reliability (correlation between student awarded marks and tutor awarded marks) Live Peer Assessment is superior to traditional peer assessment. That is to say, students mark more like tutors when using Live Peer Assessment • In the second major measure (effect-size) which calculates if students are more strict or generous than tutors, (where the ideal would be no difference), Live Peer Assessment is broadly comparable with traditional peer assessment but this is susceptible to the conditions under which it takes place • The reason for the better greater alignment of student and tutor marks comes from the training sessions but also from the public nature of the marking where individuals can compare their marking practice with that of the rest of the class on a criterion by criterion basis • New measures proposed in this thesis to measure the health of peer assessment events comprise: Krippendorf's Alpha, Magin's Reciprocity Matrix, the median pairwise tutor student marks correlation, the Skewness and Kurtosis of the distribution of pairwise tutor student marking correlations • Recommendations for practice comprise that: o summative peer assessment should not take place under conditions of anonymity but that very light conditions of marking competence should be enforced on student markers (e.g. > 0.2 correlation between individual student marking and that of tutors) o That rubrics can be more suggestive and colloquial in the conditions of Live Peer Assessment because the marking criteria can be instantiated in specific examples of student attainment and therefore the criteria may be less legalistically drafted because a more holistic understanding of quality can be communicated.

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2016-10-20T17:23:00Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Cristiane Boneto.pdf: 1281011 bytes, checksum: 6dfb7328930d1eb93e156d5f143741c5 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-10-20T17:23:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Cristiane Boneto.pdf: 1281011 bytes, checksum: 6dfb7328930d1eb93e156d5f143741c5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-08-08 / This paper aimed to identify evidence of social representations concerning the Community of Practice (CoP) as Continuing Education Space unveiled in the core of PUC / SP, participant in the Observatory Program of Education (OBEDUC / CAPES) consisting of Academy members, Basic Education teachers and undergraduate students. In our theoretical perspectives we have used: the concept of the Social Representation Theory (SRT) of Moscovici (2003), Gomez’s ideas (2002) regarding affection and affective domain in teaching Mathematics; Passos’s researches et al (2006) about the continuing Education Groups; Bourdieu habitus concept (1987) and Wenger identity concept (2001). As a tool for the data collection we have used: audio transcriptions of the recorded meetings, the narratives and memorials written by the participants and the footages of the activities carried out inside and outside the group (public schools in São Paulo). In order to support our studies, remarks and reflections we have used the quali-quantitative research and the Discourse of the Collective Subject Methodology (LEFEVRE, 2011) along with the use of the Software DSCSoft. This research was organized and written in multipaper format (articles compilation). In this path we have realized that, for every observed period, the evidence of social representations regarding the Community as continuing education space has changed. The need for mutual participation in the group constitution was legitimized and validated by its members, as well as the construction of an environment that valued and respected the expression of affection; and this construction was marked by tensions and conflicts. Our analysis results also pointed to the importance of a cultural diverse environment, where there is the doing it together and the reframing of the habitus and yet, the creation of a potentially positive environment, in which the individual and collective learning become the main goal to be achieved. We have considered the Communities of Practice as an important continuing Education space in which allows, not only the education, but also the personal and collective transformation of the teachers who have participated / Este trabalho buscou identificar indícios de representações sociais acerca da Comunidade de Prática (CoP) enquanto espaço de formação continuada desvelados no núcleo da PUC/SP, participante do Programa Observatório da Educação (OBEDUC/CAPES), constituído por membros da academia, professores da Educação Básica e licenciandos. Em nossas perspectivas teóricas utilizamos: o conceito da Teoria das Representações Sociais (TRS) de Moscovici (2003), as ideias de Gómez (2002) acerca da afetividade e do domínio afetivo no ensino da matemática; as pesquisas de Passos et al (2006) acerca dos Grupos de Formação continuada; o conceito de habitus de Bourdieu (1987) e de identidade de Wenger (2001). Como instrumento para a coleta de dados foram utilizadas: as transcrições das gravações em áudio dos encontros, as narrativas e memoriais elaborados pelos participantes e as filmagens de atividades realizadas dentro e fora do grupo (escolas da rede pública de São Paulo). Para alicerçar nossos estudos, observações e reflexões utilizamos a pesquisa qualiquantitativa e a metodologia do Discurso do Sujeito Coletivo (LEFEVRE, 2011) juntamente com o uso doSoftware DSCSoft. Esta pesquisa foi organizada e redigida em formato multipaper (compilação de artigos). Nesse percurso percebemos que, a cada período observado, os indícios de representações sociais acerca da Comunidade enquanto espaço de formação continuada foram se alterando. A necessidade da participação mútua na constituição do grupo foi legitimada e validade por seus integrantes, bem como, a construção de um ambiente que valorizasse e respeitasse a expressão da afetividade; e esta construção foi marcada por tensões e conflitos. Os resultados de nossa análise também apontaram para a importância de um ambiente culturalmente diverso onde haja o fazer conjunto e a ressignificação do habitus e ainda a constituição de um ambiente potencialmente positivo no qual a aprendizagem, individual e coletiva, se torne o principal objetivo a ser alcançado. Consideramos as Comunidades de Prática como um importante espaço de formação continuada que permite, além da formação, a transformação pessoal e coletiva dos professores que dela participam

A presente tese tem como objetivo conhecer o perfil dos participantes de uma comunidade de prática na perspectiva da educação inclusiva e compreender os discursos e as práticas que podem ser tecidas por eles. Esta investigação surge ao observar que o cenário educacional brasileiro sofreu recentes modificações ao implementar a Política Nacional de Educação Especial na Perspectiva da Educação Inclusiva, o qual passou a situar alunos com deficiência também como público a ser abarcado pelo sistema regular de ensino. Dessa forma, tornou-se imperativo que os professores atuantes na rede educacional sejam capazes de contemplar a diversidade humana em suas práticas pedagógicas. Para que isso ocorra, a legislação vigente prevê a oferta de cursos de formação que capacitem os docentes frente à temática inclusiva. No entanto, ao observar-se a latente impossibilidade de as ações formais atenderem as demandas geradas por todo um coletivo de professores oriundos de diferentes regiões do país, passou-se a buscar alternativas que pudessem apoiar a construção de conhecimentos de tais docentes. Nessa procura, encontrou-se nas comunidades virtuais de prática um importante conceito a ser investigado. Baseadas em ferramentas originadas sob a lógica da participação e colaboração geradas a partir da efetivação da WEB 2.0, tais comunidades promovem a reunião virtual de pessoas que compartilham interesses mútuos, podendo, assim, revelar-se como um espaço que fomente a troca de recursos e experiências entre pares. Da identificação de suas potencialidades, instituiu-se a comunidade virtual de prática Inclusão na Educação - CPIE, ambiente implementado a partir da solução Ning Mode Midia 3.0, que angariou mais de 320 membros oriundos de todo o país. Os dados obtidos, observados a partir da metodologia de análise textual discursiva, demonstraram que o perfil do professor que aceita fazer parte de uma iniciativa como a que foi proposta, é aquele que já detém certos conhecimentos sobre o domínio delimitado e que, reconhecendo a sua importância, passa a buscar novas oportunidades de construir conhecimentos acerca do tema. Os resultados ainda indicam que iniciativas como a CPIE, podem adquirir uma conotação mais ligada à suplementação da formação docente, onde práticas desencadeadas a partir dos eixos de comunicação ou de resolução de problemas contribuem para que professores notadamente experientes sigam em contato, colaborando uns com os outros na busca pela construção de conhecimentos que subsidiem suas ações pedagógicas. / This thesis aims to know the profile of participants in a community of practice, in the context of inclusive education, and understand the discourses and uses that can be forged by them. This research emerged from the observation that Brazilian educational scenario has undergone recent changes to implement the National Policy for Special Education in the Perspective of Inclusive Education, which has situated students with disabilities as a public to be placed in the regular education system. Thus, it has become imperative that teachers working in the educational network are able to contemplate human diversity in their teaching practices. For this to occur, the current legislation states the provision of training courses that enable teachers to address inclusive education topics. However, observing the potential impossibility that formal actions can meet the demands generated by the collective of teachers from different regions of the country, we have started to look for alternatives that could support the construction of knowledge for those teachers. In this search, we have found in virtual communities of practice an important concept to be investigated. Based on tools originated under the logic of participation and collaboration, arising from development of Web 2.0, these communities promote the gathering of people who share the same interests and they can act as environments that foster the exchange of resources and experiences among peers. Identifying their potential, we have developed a virtual community of practice called Inclusion in Education - SCRS, implemented with Ning Mode Media 3.0 solution, which has congregated more than 320 members from all over the country. The data obtained, evaluated under the methodology of discourse textual analysis, have shown that teachers that accept to take part in initiatives as the one we have proposed, already have some knowledge about the delimited area, recognize its importance and seek for new opportunities to build knowledge on the subject. The results also indicated that initiatives such as SCRS can act as a supplement to teacher education, where practices triggered from communication axes or problem solving contribute to keep trained and experienced teachers in contact, collaborating with each other in the quest for knowledge that can support their educational activities.

For many preservice elementary and secondary teachers, the first time they encounter the notion that mathematics can be taught in ways other than what they experienced is in their teacher preparation program. Therefore, the potential impact of the mathematics teacher educator on the understanding and development of preservice teachers is immense, especially as that impact is considered in connection to the various reform efforts related to mathematics education that have spread across the country for the past three decades. Given the scarcity of systematic research focused on mathematics teacher educators, the author sought to understand defining characteristics of that role. He looked specifically for beliefs that mathematics teacher educators have in common as well as shared ways of enacting their craft by interviewing 16 university professors from around the United States who support the learning and development of preservice and inservice mathematics teachers. The beliefs that emerged from this study related to mathematics teaching, the learning of mathematics teaching, and the teaching of mathematics teaching. Potential communities of practice were also identified, through which the enactment of mathematics teacher educators' craft could be better understood. The specific beliefs and ways of interacting are discussed in terms of how they can support development and reflection among current and prospective mathematics teacher educators, as well as how they can support continued systematic research of mathematics teacher education.

abstract: The purpose of this action research was to work with Brazilian trained educators in a Community of Practice (CoP) to explore how teachers collectively define and talk about critical thinking (CT). The research also examined how past teaching experiences shaped their attitudes toward emphasizing CT in teaching. In addition, the research studied how participation in a CoP focused on CT changed classroom planning. The study is grounded in Community of Practice and Social Constructivism. As an international school, this study examined related research conducted in Jordan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Pakistan. This qualitative action research was 12 weeks in length with six participants who were all from Brazil and worked at a private bilingual international secondary school. Participants completed an initial interview and final interview. They also completed online journals, which were assembled weekly for 45 minutes, and maximized their efforts constructing a unit plan utilizing the Understanding by Design method. The results of the study describe the teachers’ definition of critical thinking, and also present an understanding of how the CoP shaped their attitudes. This, in turn, resulted in members’ updated classroom planning, which was due to participation in the cohort. Further issues and credibility, contextualization, and transferability as well as researcher positionality were discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Leadership and Innovation 2019

abstract: The purpose of this action research study was to examine how membership within a virtual community of practice impacted individual professional development, knowledge exchange practices, and self-efficacy. The G-3/5/7 virtual community of practice (VCoP) website was created to provide members with access to a wide range of career-related content, while also bestowing them with the level of volition needed to be completely in control of when and how they consume content. Feedback from early cycles of research suggested the pilot version of the VCoP wasn’t perceived as user-friendly and didn’t provide a broad range of professional development-related content. Thus, the layout of the VCoP was completely redesigned, and content offerings in the content repository and on website pages were broadened. This action research study is grounded in social cognitive theory, social cognitive career theory, and the community of practice framework. Reviewed literature includes studies pertaining to mutual engagement within social learning environments, facilitating professional development, sustaining communities of practice, and implementing virtual communities of practice. Participants in this study included a combination of Department of the Army civilian and military employees. Over the course of 14 weeks, these employees were invited to voluntarily join the G-3/5/7 VCoP and freely access and use the site for any reason they deemed necessary. At the end of the 14-week period, participants completed a questionnaire and participated in semi-structured interviews. The result of the study revealed members generally found the G-3/5/7 VCoP website to be user-friendly. They also believed the website could help them accomplish professional development goals, exchange knowledge with peers, and produce higher quality work more efficiently. The analysis of results includes discussion on the triangulation of quantitative and qualitative data and connects results to the literature that influenced this study. Also, lessons learned, study limitations, implications for practice, and recommendations for future action research are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Leadership and Innovation 2019

If not ignored completely, the body has been under theorized in literacy research. However, recent research in cultural studies, linguistics, philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, education, and the arts suggests that the body is implicated in thinking and knowing as well as doing. In this dissertation I examine high school technical theater. In this robustly embodied activity students build sets, rig lights, and paint backdrops in preparation for a theatrical production, as well as run sound and lighting and perform scene changes during the production. I use data from high school technical theater to explore the body in literacy, embodied learning, collaboration, composition processes, and experiential learning. I gathered data primarily during out of school work sessions over the multi-week production cycles of six plays produced at one high school over two school years. As an experienced theater technician, I used participant observation as the primary method of data collection, supplemented with semi-structured interviews with the technical director, artistic director, and four students. I collected data and analyzed data through iterative processes in which analysis began during data collection, emerging analyses influenced data collection, and constant comparisons to new data influenced emerging analyses. Observations of student work revealed that student theater technicians employed literacy skills including speaking, reading, writing, drawing, calculating, and interpreting the written text of plays as necessary elements of the normal course of technical theater work. Observations of teaching and learning showed that little explicit instruction was used but that mini-lessons, individual and collective problem solving, and multiple configurations of collaboration among more and less experienced technicians led to the development of critical thinking and physical skills, as well as proficiency in the creation of props through the evaluation and application of building techniques and materials. I used theories from art making and multimodal literacy to examine technical theater building projects as examples of composition. My findings show that the design of technical theater texts - e.g. props, scenery, lighting - emerges through a recursive process of creation and interpretation and is mediated by the technicians' knowledge of building techniques and materials. Situated learning and activity theory were used to analyze learning in the technical theater community. Results demonstrate that the structure of the community allows for learning through experience, apprenticeship, and collaboration as well as through the creation of texts that balance personal expression with collaborative enterprise.

Physical therapy as an emerging profession is committed to establishing its identity and solidifying its role as a leader in health care. With expertise in human movement, wellness, and disease prevention, physical therapists possess invaluable knowledge and skill to influence public health and enhance patient recovery without increasing cost. Physical therapists have the opportunity to transform the delivery of public health services to meet current and future needs. A major challenge, however, is a dearth of leadership development in preparation programs. Because most physical therapists have not received formal education or explicit training in leadership, a problem of practice exists. This dissertation is a report of a mixed-methods action-research study that explores leadership development among aspiring and practicing physical therapists. It describes a series of professional development (PD) activities designed to foster transformational leadership and a community of practice among a group of clinicians in a privately-owned clinic in north Florida. Qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis indicate positive changes were made in understanding transformational leadership, engagement in community service, relationship building among coworkers, communication, and community of practice after participation in the PD activities. Analysis of results also identified the need for continued relationship development, conflict resolution, and building strong teams. Because a paucity of literature related to leadership development in physical therapy exists, findings from this study may prove useful to the field. The results describe a feasible method of leadership development and sustainability of a community of practice to inspire transformative practitioners who lead in the clinic and the community.

University personnel offering online doctoral degrees struggle to address high attrition of students in the dissertation phase; these students can feel isolated, disconnected, and unmotivated. The purpose of this study was to explore ways online doctoral students in the dissertation phase used social networking sites (SNS) to overcome isolation and to increase persistence. The conceptual framework was situated in communities of practice (CoP) and the theory on self-determination. Research questions explored participants' experiences with using SNS to remain connected and persistent. Data were collected from in-depth interviews with 7 online doctoral students, who met the criteria of being in the dissertation phase for a minimum of 2 quarters and using at least 1 social networking site; the participants were from 4 online institutions in the United States. An interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to examine themes and interpret the lived experiences of participants. Findings revealed that online doctoral students in the dissertation phase valued working with peers and with doctoral graduates from other institutions as a strategy to remain persistent in completing their dissertations. They focused on learning and on sharing with others for social and emotional support in a safe environment. Other elements included being held accountable and being challenged to keep moving. The results could influence instructional design for online doctoral candidates emphasizing the use of SNS for support from a CoP. Implications for positive social change include higher education personnel supporting unmonitored SNS interactions and increasing trust within school-created SNS spaces for students in the dissertation phase.

The roles and responsibilities of teacher leaders change as schools, districts, and states adopt new policies, procedures, and initiatives. However, little qualitative research has been conducted about how teachers develop leadership skills, particularly during preservice preparation programs. The purpose of this single case study was to explore how a community of practice prepared college graduates to be teacher leaders. The conceptual framework was based on the concepts of situated learning, communities of practice and legitimate peripheral participation. Four graduates from a state teaching program were purposefully selected as participants. Data were collected from multiple sources, including initial and follow-up interviews with program graduates, observations of their leadership activities in public schools, archival data, and program documents. Analysis consisted of multilevel coding, category construction, and determination of emergent themes and discrepant data to inform key findings. Findings suggested that the Southern State Teaching Program prepared its graduates to serve as teacher leaders through situated learning opportunities and the development, practice, and refinement of skills necessary for leading others. The program also offered peripheral participation in the program and the teaching profession. Implications for positive social change include the potential for including teacher leader development programs at the preservice level, which may ultimately improve teacher retention and student achievement.