This dissertation shares findings from a descriptive case study that examined an experienced teacher’s facilitation of a collaborative story writing project using Google Docs in a culturally and linguistically diverse Grade 11 English class. An expanding body of research supports the use of web-based writing tools and peer collaboration for promoting writing skills development, yet there is little research examining how these practices are integrated within the broader teaching and learning process. In the present study, sociocultural theory provided a guiding framework for exploring the complexities inherent in the teaching and learning process as students worked in pairs (and one triad) to write a story about “the future” to be shared with an audience of upper level elementary students. Data sources included field notes taken during 16 class observations, pre- and post- project interviews with the teacher, on-going reflections written by the teacher, focus group interviews with the students, and the students’ collaborative projects stored in Google Docs. The findings cohered around five key themes that describe the teacher’s facilitation of the project: (1) incorporating procedural facilitators, including mentor texts and web-based writing applications; (2) adopting a socio-cognitive apprenticeship model to guide students toward higher levels of proficiency with narrative writing; (3) building a community of practice through peer collaboration, peer sharing, and peer editing; (4) enabling a positive and productive learning environment; and (5) transitioning to a new curriculum. The findings from this study also shed light on the affordances and constraints associated with the pedagogical supports, the collaborative context, and the use of Google Docs as integral components of the project. The dissertation concludes with recommendations for educators who are interested in integrating collaborative story writing projects or web-based writing tools within their classroom contexts. / Graduate

Young children who display disruptive behaviors are at risk for negative outcomes in later development such as school dropout, early pregnancy, and unemployment (Bradshaw, Schaeffer, Petras, & Ialongo, 2010). For this reason, it is imperative parents of children with disruptive behaviors seek early intervention to reduce problem behaviors and prevent negative effects (Breitenstein, Hill, & Gross, 2009). Parent behavioral training interventions are effective for reducing problem behaviors in young children. Attrition from parent training interventions, however, is a common problem that reduces positive outcomes for children with challenging behaviors (Kazdin, Holland, & Crowley, 1997; Prinz & Miller, 1994). Barriers to treatment, such as negative perceptions toward treatment, can influence parents’ attendance (Kazdin et al., 1997) and behavioral outcomes for children (Brestan, Jacobs, Rayfield, & Eyberg, 1999). This study (N = 139) examined relationships of parents’ attendance and perceptions of a behavioral parent training intervention, the empirically supported Helping Our Toddlers Developing Our Children’s Skills, or HOT DOCS (Armstrong, Lilly, & Curtiss, 2006). Regression analyses were conducted to test relationships between parent perceptions of treatment effectiveness, attendance, and child behavior ratings, and whether attendance mediated the relationship between parent perceptions of treatment and ratings of child behavior. No significant relationships were found between these variables, and no mediating relationship of attendance between parent perceptions and child behavior ratings was found. Results for this study may indicate factors other than parent perceptions are important to predict attendance or change in behavior ratings. Ethical considerations and limitations of this study are also discussed.

Collaborative writing technologies such as Google Docs is believed to be a helpful tool in supporting the development of constructivist learning environments. However, not much research has been done among special populations outside the United States. This dissertation examines how using google docs can enhance collaborative learning among non-native English-speaking students at a university in Oman. A total of 52 students participated in this study, where they completed a collaborative writing activity using Google Docs. This exploratory study yielded quantitative as well as qualitative data. Interviewees shared their experience of using Google Docs for the collaborative writing activity. The research shows that Google Docs promoted collaborative interactions among students, such as learning from each other and communicating with the teacher. Interestingly, the data indicate that students used alternate social media such as WhatsApp to communicate with their group mates regarding the collaborative writing activity. Overall, the results obtained here confirm that the Google Docs can be used to enhance collaborative learning among non-native English-speaking students.

This thesis addresses the use of computers in the preparation, creation and evaluation of tests and questionnaires. Acquainted with different ways of using computer technology in completing questionnaires or forms of test and evaluation. The whole issue is assessed with regard to the application in education. The output is a comparison of different methods.

Almeida, Ana Paula Silva de. A444 Diário no Google Docs: possibilidades de reflexão sobre a prática de estágio curricular/Ana Paula Silva de Almeida.- Jequié, UESB, 2013. 218 f: il.; 30cm. (Anexos) Dissertação (Programa de pós-graduação Educação Científica e Formação de Professores )-Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia, 2013. Orientador: Prof. Dr. Claudinei de Camargo Sant’Ana. 1. Estágio supervisionado – Licenciatura em Matemática 2. Diário no Google Docs e prática pedagógica – Estágio supervisionado do curso de Licenciatura e Matemática 3. Tecnologia de Informação e Comunicação – Diário de campo no Google Docs e o estágio supervisionado do curso de Licenciatura e Matemática I. Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia II. Título. CDD – 570.07 / Submitted by Cintia Schneider null (cintia.schneider@posgrad.ufsc.br) on 2016-05-11T19:23:26Z No. of bitstreams: 1 ANA PAULA ALMEIDA.pdf: 2860072 bytes, checksum: d0a62da75bdfbd7a1aa9d0121ee0a802 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-05-11T19:23:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ANA PAULA ALMEIDA.pdf: 2860072 bytes, checksum: d0a62da75bdfbd7a1aa9d0121ee0a802 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Esta pesquisa foi realizada na disciplina de Estágio Supervisionado II na turma do 7º semestre do curso de Licenciatura em Matemática na Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia (UESB), campus de Vitória da Conquista, tendo como participantes da pesquisa dois orientadores de estágio (o pesquisador e o professor titular da disciplina), dez estagiários e oito regentes. Trata-se de um estudo com características da pesquisa-ação, que tomou como base o ciclo da investigação-ação, de forma sistemática e fundamentada. O objetivo principal da pesquisa foi investigar se a inserção de um diário de campo, construído no Google Docs, pode proporcionar ao estagiário discussões reflexivas sobre a sua prática pedagógica durante o período de estágio, favorecendo uma maior interação com o orientador. Como instrumentos para coleta de dados, utilizamos o diário, a observação de aulas, memoriais, relatórios, gravações de aulas e de reuniões, questionários e entrevistas. A base teórica da pesquisa foi a teoria sociointeracionista de Vygotsky e estudos sobre Diários, Tecnologias da Informação e Comunicação e Estágio Supervisionado na Formação Inicial. Observamos que a inserção do diário como ambiente de discussão, reflexão e interação contribui positivamente e produtivamente para análise e intervenção na ação pedagógica do estagiário, estimulando-o a uma participação mais ativa, criativa e a intensificar o diálogo e a construção coletiva do conhecimento.

Educators must meet the demand to produce a workforce better educated with using 21st-century technology tools. The purpose of this case study was to explore the usefulness of Google Docs as one of those tools by examining 2 main questions. Those questions were how high school students perceive Google Docs could benefit them and how career and technical (CTE) teachers use it to support collaborative learning as a strong part of the learning process. The conceptual framework used included Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, which focuses on collaborative learning. Participants were 2 teachers and 8 students from 2 urban school districts in the Eastern part of the United States. Data sources were interviews with teachers and student focus group discussions. Data were coded using open coding, and themes and patterns were identified. Results indicated that Google Docs supports student learning by increasing opportunities for collaboration and helping students be more efficient while also preparing them for careers. Students indicated that they saw Google Docs as a learning tool and that they were more engaged while working collaboratively with their peers via the platform. Findings may help CTE teachers and students learn more about how to use web-based technologies to learn via collaboration and may assist students in becoming more successful in their CTE courses and careers.

This study investigates the effectiveness of Google Docs (GD) as a tool when students peer-review writing tasks. It also explorers different strategies for the teacher to use to fully utilize GD for peer-reviewing. Therefore, the research will specify in what ways can GD facilitate better student peer review for writing, both individually and collaboratively and what strategies can teachers employ to fully utilize GD for effective and timely student feedback within writing tasks. By collecting secondary empirical studies, we explore and provide an overview of the possible outcomes when using GD as a digital tool for peer-reviewing and the best strategies for teachers to use. Overall, the empirical researchers all agree that using GD improved students' implication through writing when having these peer-reviewing tasks. The researchers also pointed out that if the students are not trained and instructed the students will not develop a deeper understanding of structure and content when revising, which will lead to students not developing their critical thinking and writing ability when peer-reviewing. Therefore, it is vital for our future position as teachers to acknowledge the importance of using the right teacher strategies for the students to develop their knowledge and understanding of peer-reviewing.

The way digital news are being created today is very different from traditional printed methods. The digital news format has possibilities that printed versions do not have. For example, they can use animations, video, audio, and interactivity, referred to with a collective name as rich content in this study. The problem is that there is little knowledge about rich content, how it is being used and the reasons for using it. By interviewing journalists and content creators, this study aims to answer the following questions: How can rich content help convey a digital news story to the reader in a more engaging way than traditional methods? How can rich content help widen the audience of digital news stories? Through semi-structured interviews, the author explored how rich content is used, and how people think when creating it. Ten employees at the media house Schibsted, all working at different Norwegian newspapers, participated to this study. The results indicate that rich content in digital news articles can help convey a news story’s main points by delivering complex things in an easy and understandable way. As a result, rich content seems to encourage more readers to finish the whole article. This study has also found that rich content can be used to widen the audience, since it can make the promotion of an article more interesting and make more people eager to share the article on their own social media accounts. Furthermore, targeting news articles towards different user groups could help widen the audience even further. Strengths and weaknesses are discussed, and the future work section show potential in further investigating how different user groups are affected by rich content, and what types of articles can benefit the most by using rich content. / Det sätt som digitala nyhetsartiklar skapas på idag skiljer sig mycket från traditionella tryckta metoder. Det digitala nyhets formatet har möjligheter som tryckta versioner inte har. Till exempel, användning av animationer, video, ljud och interaktivitet, som med ett kollektivt namn kallas för rich content i denna studie. Problemet är att det finns begränsad kunskap om rich content, hur det används och anledningarna till användning av det. Genom intervjuer med journalister och innehållsskapare har denna studies mål varit att besvara följande frågeställningar: Hur kan rich content hjälpa till att förmedla digitala nyheter till läsaren på ett mer engagerande sätt än traditionella metoder? Hur kan rich content hjälpa till med att bredda publiken av digitala nyheter? Genom semistrukturerade intervjuer undersökte författaren hur rich content används och hur de anställda tänker under skapandet av rich content. Tio anställda på mediehuset Schibsted, som alla arbetar vid olika norska tidningar, deltog till denna studie. Resultaten indikerar att rich content i digitala nyhetsartiklar kan hjälpa att förmedla en nyhets huvudbudskap genom att leverera komplexa saker på ett enkelt och mer förståeligt sätt. Resultaten visar på att rich content verkar uppmuntra fler läsare till att läsa klart hela artikeln. Denna studies resultat visar även att rich content kan användas till att bredda publiken, eftersom det kan göra marknadsföringen av en artikeln mer intressant och får fler människor att vilja dela artikeln på sina egna sociala medier. Vidare kan riktade nyhetsartiklar mot olika användargrupper hjälpa till att bredda publiken ytterligare. Eventuella styrkor och svagheter diskuteras och stycket framtida arbete visar potentiell vidare undersökning gällande hur olika användargrupper påverkas av rich content och vad för typ av artiklar som kan dra störst fördel av användning av rich content.

The thesis deals with a concept of corporate culture as an important supposition of business ethics. In the first theoretical part, based on existing body of literature and research, the issue of corporate culture and its significant impacts on functioning and effectiveness of a particular organization is described. In the empirical part, the corporate culture of a specific organization is analyzed and described using the data obtained from The Denison Organizational Culture Survey (by Denison and Neal). Based on the research results, measures leading to the change of existing corporate culture are suggested.

Submitted by Automa??o e Estat?stica (sst@bczm.ufrn.br) on 2016-03-02T22:26:31Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DiegoCesarLeandro_DISSERT.pdf: 2837747 bytes, checksum: 4424a133858de71d987d66fcde92addf (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Arlan Eloi Leite Silva (eloihistoriador@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-03-03T22:12:40Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DiegoCesarLeandro_DISSERT.pdf: 2837747 bytes, checksum: 4424a133858de71d987d66fcde92addf (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-03T22:12:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DiegoCesarLeandro_DISSERT.pdf: 2837747 bytes, checksum: 4424a133858de71d987d66fcde92addf (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-12-04 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior - CAPES / O Google Docs (GD) ? um editor online de textos por meio do qual m?ltiplos autores podem trabalhar s?ncrona ou assincronamente em um mesmo documento, o que pode auxiliar no desenvolvimento da habilidade de escrita em ingl?s (WEISSHEIMER; SOARES, 2012). Ao escrever colaborativamente, os aprendizes t?m mais oportunidades para perceber as lacunas na sua produ??o escrita, visto que s?o expostos a mais insumo lingu?stico por parte dos colegas coautores (WEISSHEIMER; BERGSLEITHNER; LEANDRO, 2012), e priorizam o processo de (re)constru??o textual, em detrimento da preocupa??o com o produto final (i.e., o texto pronto) (LEANDRO; WEISSHEIMER; COOPER, 2013). Ademais, no processo de aprendizagem de uma segunda l?ngua (L2), a produ??o de linguagem propicia a consolida??o de conhecimentos existentes e a cria??o de novos conhecimentos (SWAIN, 1985; 1993). Levando isto em considera??o, o presente estudo, de natureza quasi-experimental (NUNAN, 1992) e abordagem mista (D?RNYEI, 2007), objetiva investigar o impacto da escrita colaborativa mediada pela ferramenta GD no desenvolvimento da habilidade de escrita em L?ngua Inglesa (LI) e na percep??o de erros sint?ticos ou noticing (SCHMIDT, 1990). Trinta e quatro licenciandos em Letras/Ingl?s integraram o estudo, sendo 25 no grupo experimental e nove no grupo controle. Ambos os grupos passaram por um pr?-teste e por um p?s-teste para que pud?ssemos medir o noticing de estruturas sint?ticas. Os participantes do grupo experimental foram expostos a uma experi?ncia de aprendizagem h?brida, a qual consistiu em aulas presenciais de leitura e produ??o escrita em LI e na escrita colaborativa de tr?s narrativas completas contadas em 100 palavras, denominadas flash fiction (FF), fora de sala de aula, online por meio do GD, durante 11 semanas. O grupo controle teve igualmente aulas presenciais de leitura e produ??o escrita em LI, por?m n?o praticou nenhum tipo de escrita colaborativa. Analisamos a primeira e a ?ltima narrativa produzida pelos participantes do grupo experimental a fim de medir a acur?cia gramatical, operacionalizada como a quantidade de erros gramaticais a cada 100 palavras (SOUSA, 2014) e a densidade lexical, operacionalizada como a rela??o entre o n?mero de palavras produzidas com propriedades lexicais e o n?mero de palavras produzidas com propriedades gramaticais (WEISSHEIMER, 2007; MEHNERT, 1998). Adicionalmente, os participantes do grupo experimental responderam a um question?rio online sobre a experi?ncia h?brida a qual foram expostos. Os resultados quantitativos mostram que os participantes passaram a produzir textos com mais densidade lexical ap?s 11 semanas de interven??o pedag?gica. J? os resultados quantitativos do noticing e da acur?cia gramatical foram contr?rios ao esperado, por?m nos fornecem insights sobre o modelo de teste, no caso do noticing, e sobre a atitude ? positiva ? dos participantes em rela??o ? escrita colaborativa de FF. Os resultados qualitativos evidenciam a utilidade da escrita colaborativa mediada por tecnologia no processo de aprendizagem de L2. / Google Docs (GD) is an online word processor with which multiple authors can work on the same document, in a synchronous or asynchronous manner, which can help develop the ability of writing in English (WEISSHEIMER; SOARES, 2012). As they write collaboratively, learners find more opportunities to notice the gaps in their written production, since they are exposed to more input from the fellow co-authors (WEISSHEIMER; BERGSLEITHNER; LEANDRO, 2012) and prioritize the process of text (re)construction instead of the concern with the final product, i.e., the final version of the text (LEANDRO; WEISSHEIMER; COOPER, 2013). Moreover, when it comes to second language (L2) learning, producing language enables the consolidation of existing knowledge as well as the internalization of new knowledge (SWAIN, 1985; 1993). Taking this into consideration, this mixed-method (D?RNYEI, 2007) quasi-experimental (NUNAN, 1999) study aims at investigating the impact of collaborative writing through GD on the development of the writing skill in English and on the noticing of syntactic structures (SCHMIDT, 1990). Thirtyfour university students of English integrated the cohort of the study: twenty-five were assigned to the experimental group and nine were assigned to the control group. All learners went through a pre-test and a post-test so that we could measure their noticing of syntactic structures. Learners in the experimental group were exposed to a blended learning experience, in which they took reading and writing classes at the university and collaboratively wrote three pieces of flash fiction (a complete story told in a hundred words), outside the classroom, online through GD, during eleven weeks. Learners in the control group took reading and writing classes at the university but did not practice collaborative writing. The first and last stories produced by the learners in the experimental group were analysed in terms of grammatical accuracy, operationalized as the number of grammar errors per hundred words (SOUSA, 2014), and lexical density, which refers to the relationship between the number of words produced with lexical properties and the number of words produced with grammatical properties (WEISSHEIMER, 2007; MEHNERT, 1998). Additionally, learners in the experimental group answered an online questionnaire on the blended learning experience they were exposed to. The quantitative results showed that the collaborative task led to the production of more lexically dense texts over the 11 weeks. The noticing and grammatical accuracy results were different from what we expected; however, they provide us with insights on measurement issues, in the case of noticing, and on the participants? positive attitude towards collaborative writing with flash fiction. The qualitative results also shed light on the usefulness of computer-mediated collaborative writing in L2 learning.