The aims of this study were to investigate tertiary English language teachers’ needs, experiences, and expectations for PD in oral English discussion strategies, to develop a transformative model of professional development using a CoP framework, and to consider how teachers transformed their learning through completing this PD program. To achieve these aims, a case study was designed that used both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods to collect data from multiple sources. Data were collected from: (1) a questionnaire of 30 EFL teachers in the English department of a Chinese university; and (2) interviews with four teachers who volunteered to participate in the CoP; and (3) audio transcriptions of ten professional development meetings, blogs and follow-up electronic interviews six months later. These data were analysed using quantitative and qualitative techniques. The key findings from the analysis of the teacher PD questionnaires and preliminary interview responses showed that although the English teachers in the research site lacked PD experience, they had positive perceptions and expectations for PD activities. However, it was found that PD activities that the respondents had previous attended had been mainly trainer-centred and not relevant to their actual classroom teaching. The teachers reported a need for more opportunities to work with their peers in groups, and for professional development more closely aligned with their needs that considered their other professional commitments and workloads. Based on these findings, a PD program using a Communities of Practice framework was designed to assist teachers to develop new strategies for teaching English oral language skills. Analysis of the transcripts from the PD meetings, post-PD interviews, and electronic interviews revealed that the process of PD implementation was more complex than the initial framework had suggested. First, the outcomes after the implementation of the model varied more than anticipated. The teachers negotiated meanings to enable them to introduce new practices, persisted with their old practice, and adapted, rather than directly adopting, activities. Second, the teachers’ change in practice was smaller than anticipated. Third, the teacher change related to thinking as well as practice. The PD model using a CoP framework was then refined and extended based on these findings. The study also reported an individual case study of one participant’s (Yang’s) learning in the PD program. It was found that Yang went through a significant evolution in her learning. She came to the program as an “outsider” and a listener who was willing to learn new practice from the other teachers. She experienced various cycles during which she implemented what she learned in the meetings and achieved transformation, which included both adaptation and adoption of new strategies in her teaching. The findings revealed that the process of teacher transformative learning in a CoP was complex, cyclical and requires further facilitation and extended participation in face-to-face group activities. Implications were drawn from these findings about directions for future research including: further research in the Chinese context for deeper understanding of teacher transformative learning in PD, and further research on implementing the model in other contexts to explore teachers transformative PD and to investigate the possibility of extending this model to a larger context. This study is an example of how a professional development model using a Community of Practice framework could be implemented for EFL teacher transformative learning in one Chinese university. The study proposed a model, then refined and extended this model which might be applied to other research contexts.

The aims of this study were to investigate tertiary English language teachers’ needs, experiences, and expectations for PD in oral English discussion strategies, to develop a transformative model of professional development using a CoP framework, and to consider how teachers transformed their learning through completing this PD program. To achieve these aims, a case study was designed that used both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods to collect data from multiple sources. Data were collected from: (1) a questionnaire of 30 EFL teachers in the English department of a Chinese university; and (2) interviews with four teachers who volunteered to participate in the CoP; and (3) audio transcriptions of ten professional development meetings, blogs and follow-up electronic interviews six months later. These data were analysed using quantitative and qualitative techniques. The key findings from the analysis of the teacher PD questionnaires and preliminary interview responses showed that although the English teachers in the research site lacked PD experience, they had positive perceptions and expectations for PD activities. However, it was found that PD activities that the respondents had previous attended had been mainly trainer-centred and not relevant to their actual classroom teaching. The teachers reported a need for more opportunities to work with their peers in groups, and for professional development more closely aligned with their needs that considered their other professional commitments and workloads. Based on these findings, a PD program using a Communities of Practice framework was designed to assist teachers to develop new strategies for teaching English oral language skills. Analysis of the transcripts from the PD meetings, post-PD interviews, and electronic interviews revealed that the process of PD implementation was more complex than the initial framework had suggested. First, the outcomes after the implementation of the model varied more than anticipated. The teachers negotiated meanings to enable them to introduce new practices, persisted with their old practice, and adapted, rather than directly adopting, activities. Second, the teachers’ change in practice was smaller than anticipated. Third, the teacher change related to thinking as well as practice. The PD model using a CoP framework was then refined and extended based on these findings. The study also reported an individual case study of one participant’s (Yang’s) learning in the PD program. It was found that Yang went through a significant evolution in her learning. She came to the program as an “outsider” and a listener who was willing to learn new practice from the other teachers. She experienced various cycles during which she implemented what she learned in the meetings and achieved transformation, which included both adaptation and adoption of new strategies in her teaching. The findings revealed that the process of teacher transformative learning in a CoP was complex, cyclical and requires further facilitation and extended participation in face-to-face group activities. Implications were drawn from these findings about directions for future research including: further research in the Chinese context for deeper understanding of teacher transformative learning in PD, and further research on implementing the model in other contexts to explore teachers transformative PD and to investigate the possibility of extending this model to a larger context. This study is an example of how a professional development model using a Community of Practice framework could be implemented for EFL teacher transformative learning in one Chinese university. The study proposed a model, then refined and extended this model which might be applied to other research contexts.

The aims of this study were to investigate tertiary English language teachers’ needs, experiences, and expectations for PD in oral English discussion strategies, to develop a transformative model of professional development using a CoP framework, and to consider how teachers transformed their learning through completing this PD program. To achieve these aims, a case study was designed that used both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods to collect data from multiple sources. Data were collected from: (1) a questionnaire of 30 EFL teachers in the English department of a Chinese university; and (2) interviews with four teachers who volunteered to participate in the CoP; and (3) audio transcriptions of ten professional development meetings, blogs and follow-up electronic interviews six months later. These data were analysed using quantitative and qualitative techniques. The key findings from the analysis of the teacher PD questionnaires and preliminary interview responses showed that although the English teachers in the research site lacked PD experience, they had positive perceptions and expectations for PD activities. However, it was found that PD activities that the respondents had previous attended had been mainly trainer-centred and not relevant to their actual classroom teaching. The teachers reported a need for more opportunities to work with their peers in groups, and for professional development more closely aligned with their needs that considered their other professional commitments and workloads. Based on these findings, a PD program using a Communities of Practice framework was designed to assist teachers to develop new strategies for teaching English oral language skills. Analysis of the transcripts from the PD meetings, post-PD interviews, and electronic interviews revealed that the process of PD implementation was more complex than the initial framework had suggested. First, the outcomes after the implementation of the model varied more than anticipated. The teachers negotiated meanings to enable them to introduce new practices, persisted with their old practice, and adapted, rather than directly adopting, activities. Second, the teachers’ change in practice was smaller than anticipated. Third, the teacher change related to thinking as well as practice. The PD model using a CoP framework was then refined and extended based on these findings. The study also reported an individual case study of one participant’s (Yang’s) learning in the PD program. It was found that Yang went through a significant evolution in her learning. She came to the program as an “outsider” and a listener who was willing to learn new practice from the other teachers. She experienced various cycles during which she implemented what she learned in the meetings and achieved transformation, which included both adaptation and adoption of new strategies in her teaching. The findings revealed that the process of teacher transformative learning in a CoP was complex, cyclical and requires further facilitation and extended participation in face-to-face group activities. Implications were drawn from these findings about directions for future research including: further research in the Chinese context for deeper understanding of teacher transformative learning in PD, and further research on implementing the model in other contexts to explore teachers transformative PD and to investigate the possibility of extending this model to a larger context. This study is an example of how a professional development model using a Community of Practice framework could be implemented for EFL teacher transformative learning in one Chinese university. The study proposed a model, then refined and extended this model which might be applied to other research contexts.

This study was undertaken in conjunction with the Successful Integration of Learning Technologies (SILT) Project in Victorian state schools, and its purpose was to identify the forms of teachers’ professional practice that enhance knowledge building, in order to inform teacher development policy and pre-service education. Knowledge building is based on a constructivist approach to learning and teaching, and this, in conjunction with the spread of learning technologies, is said to have greatly changed the role of the teacher in the classroom: from the expert dispensing knowledge to the facilitator of student learning. (For complete abstract open document)

Thesis (M.A.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 1993. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 90-92).

The proliferation of open-source software development platforms has given rise to various online social communities where developers can seamlessly collaborate, showcase their projects, and exchange knowledge and ideas. GitHub stands out as a preeminent platform within this ecosystem. It offers developers a space to host and disseminate their code, participate in collaborative ventures, and engage in meaningful dialogues with fellow community members. This dissertation embarks on a comprehensive exploration of various facets of software development communities on GitHub, with a specific focus on innovation diffusion, repository popularity dynamics, code quality enhancement, and user commenting behaviors. This dissertation introduces a popularity-based model that elucidates the diffusion of innovation on GitHub. We scrutinize the influence of a repository's popularity on the transfer of knowledge and the adoption of innovative practices, relying on a dataset encompassing GitHub fork events. Through a meticulous analysis of developers' collaborative coding efforts, this dissertation furnishes valuable insights into the impact of social factors, particularly popularity, on the diffusion of innovation. Furthermore, we introduce a novel approach to computing a weight-based popularity score, denoted as the Weighted Trend Popularity Score (WTPS), derived from the historical trajectory of repository popularity indicators, such as fork and star counts. The accuracy of WTPS as a comprehensive repository popularity indicator is assessed, and the significance of having a singular metric to represent repository popularity is underscored. We delve into the realm of code quality on GitHub by examining it from the perspective of code reviews. Our analysis centers on understanding the code review process and presents an approach rooted in regularity to foster superior code quality by enforcing coding standards. In the concluding phase of our research, we investigate the intricacies of communication within technology-related online communities. Our attention is drawn to the impact of user popularity on communication, as elucidated through an examination of comment timelines and commenting communities. To contextualize our findings, we compare the behavioral patterns of GitHub developers and users on other platforms, such as Reddit and Stack Overflow.

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Als Triumph der Open Source Bewegung wurde im vergangenen Jahr das Urteil des Landgerichts München I1 gefeiert, das als weltweit erste Gerichtsentscheidung der General Public Licence (GPL) rechtliche Verbindlichkeit zusprach und einem Sofwarehersteller die kommerzielle Verwertung eines unter der GPL stehenden Computerprogramms ohne Quellcodeweitergabe untersagte.

This research investigates what rural villagers perceive as important and develops recommendations for improved electrification project implementation centring on user-perceived values (UPVs). UPVs capture more than the basic definition of value in the sense that they include benefits, concerns, feelings and underlying drivers that vary in importance and act as the main motivators in the lives of project beneficiaries as perceived at a given time. Low access to energy continues in rural sub-Saharan Africa despite significant investment by the development community. One fundamental reason is that energy infrastructure adoption remains low, as evidenced by the lack of project sustainability. To counter this, the challenge for energy project developers is to achieve sustainable long-term interventions through the creation of value for beneficiaries, rather than the traditional approach of focusing on short-term project outputs. The question of what is valuable to people in rural communities has historically not played into the design and diffusion of energy infrastructure development projects. This research drew on design and marketing approaches from the commercial sector to investigate the UPVs of rural Ugandans. To better understand the UPVs of rural villagers a new method, consisting of a UPV game and UPV framework, was developed. This method is suitable for capturing, understanding and mapping what rural populations perceive as important. Case study analyses were carried out in seven villages across rural Uganda. The case studies included the UPV game supplemented by non-energy-specific and energy-specific interviews with villagers. Additionally, interviews with experts were conducted to verify the UPV framework and to identify the gap between experts’ opinion and villagers’ perception of what is important. The research demonstrates the effectiveness of the UPV game in deducing the values of rural villagers. The findings demonstrate a disconnect in the ability to accurately capture and design projects which resonate with and respond to the UPVs of recipients of rural electrification projects. A comparison between the villagers’ statements and experts’ opinion regarding what is most valuable to rural communities reveals striking differences that point to a fundamental misunderstanding of rural community UPVs which are likely to be contributing to widespread electrification project failure.

No description available.