This thesis is based on experiences with innovative agriculture curricula during the 1980's and 1990's. Predictions at the time of the research indicated a need for different instructional roles and educational settings within university undergarduate curricula. The ideas for a New University in the USA and a need for improved agriculture curricula in Australia were compatible with the approach of the Hawkesbury experiential agriculture curricula developed in 1978. The research demonstrated the key competency development aspects of the original experiential curriculum could be maintained in the 1995 university curriculum, within fragmented subjects. There was some evidence the curriculum outcomes were narrower in terms of career awareness. Personality type influenced student perceptions of the difficulty and value of the experiential components of their curriculum. The correlation between experiential curricula and personality type suggets that new curricula content should include the concept of personality and also should be used in designing curricula. New courses in Human Resource Development in Rural Communities were suggested. Other opportunities for using experiential curricula including personality typology were University of Western Sydney majors, summer schools for international students and in-service training courses for governemnt organisations and private enterprises. Several research opportunities were identified. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This study involves listening to illness narratives embedded in in-depth life review processes. The method of multiple interview and multi-modal analysis and reflective responding utilised in the study aims to add to the existing field of research by expanding the understanding of what it is like to be heard or not heard, for people who are either patients, or family members. The study also aims to demonstrate how self-aware ,compassionate and reflective listening, particularly in healthcare relationships, can allow meaning to emerge from within the illness experience, thus enriching the wellbeing of patients, family members and their various healthcare professionals. / Stories of disruption arising within healthcare settings often confronted me during more than forty years of nursing experience and also resonated within my personal experiences. These stories express a gulf between patients, family members, or residents in healthcare institutions, and the healthcare organization and its staff. A recurring theme was that these people felt that they had not been listened to by those they trusted to give them care, with a lasting sense of disruption to their wellbeing. In focusing on the dimensions of reflective listening and intersubjective responding, the implications of being heard on the well being of both narrator and listener can be elucidated. An objective of the research became to articulate the attributes and values of compassionate, reflective listening and elucidate the complex nature of the narrating and listening relationship. (For complete abstract open document)

This study involves listening to illness narratives embedded in in-depth life review processes. The method of multiple interview and multi-modal analysis and reflective responding utilised in the study aims to add to the existing field of research by expanding the understanding of what it is like to be heard or not heard, for people who are either patients, or family members. The study also aims to demonstrate how self-aware ,compassionate and reflective listening, particularly in healthcare relationships, can allow meaning to emerge from within the illness experience, thus enriching the wellbeing of patients, family members and their various healthcare professionals. / Stories of disruption arising within healthcare settings often confronted me during more than forty years of nursing experience and also resonated within my personal experiences. These stories express a gulf between patients, family members, or residents in healthcare institutions, and the healthcare organization and its staff. A recurring theme was that these people felt that they had not been listened to by those they trusted to give them care, with a lasting sense of disruption to their wellbeing. In focusing on the dimensions of reflective listening and intersubjective responding, the implications of being heard on the well being of both narrator and listener can be elucidated. An objective of the research became to articulate the attributes and values of compassionate, reflective listening and elucidate the complex nature of the narrating and listening relationship. (For complete abstract open document)

<p><strong>Abstract</strong><strong></strong></p><p>    In global arena there exists a trend to engage in strategic alliances.  The alliances are assumed to be addressing the existing resource gaps that various organizations have. Not only for-profit organizations have a need to fill in the gap, but also non-profit organizations. Various types of alliances are formed to satisfy various needs. One particular form of alliances will be discussed in this thesis is the learning alliance, which is organized in a way to facilitate the knowledge transfer between the partners involved. More specifically, the learning alliance between the university and service companies will be discussed. Even though there has been done studies examining university – industry cooperations, yet they have focused on Natural Science faculties and industry cooperations, while Business Schools did not receive much attention from the researchers. Thus, this thesis will attempt to fill in this research gap by conducting a research on Umeå School of Business and service companies to be able to produce a model for a successful learning alliance</p><p> </p><p>   In order to pursue the targeted aim, a qualitative study with semi-structured interviews was conducted. Moreover, a mix of deductive and inductive approach was adopted to facilitate the research.</p><p> </p><p>   The analysis indicated that in order to facilitate a successful learning alliance between the Umeå School of Business and service companies, certain requirements should be fulfilled. In particular, the rationale for alliance engagement should be knowledge sharing and knowledge types should create a collective strength. Moreover, the structure of the actual co-operations should satisfy the needs of all the actors involved and there should be adopted practices or experiential and organizational learning to benefit from the learning alliance. In addition, it was identified that the alliance organizers should consider the problems as well, which might affect the performance of the alliance. Finally, the result of the study is presented in the model designed by the authors based on prior theories and the analysis of the respondent’s comments.</p>

<p>This thesis is about information technology for learning and acquiring of work knowledge among production workers in a manufacturing company. Focus is on production or factory workers in workplaces where the job workers do have a routine character. The thesis builds upon a research project aiming at developing an information system for learning and acquiring of work knowledge among production workers. The system manages manufacturing related operational disturbances and production workers use the system to learn from operational disturbances in such a way that workers do the job grounded on knowledge of prior disturbances. The thesis covers intervention measures aiming at integrating learning and work by developing an information system. The thesis presents and elaborates on the process and outcome of such a development. The empirical work in this thesis is based on an action case study research approach.</p><p>The thesis proposes three interrelated aspects concerning use of information technology for learning and acquiring work knowledge among production workers. Such aspects are the (a)work practice, (b)learning and acquiring of work knowledge and (c)information systems.</p><p>These aspects must be considered as a coherent whole to seek to integrate learning and work (i.e. to create a learning environment). The work practice sets the scope for workplace learning (to what extent learning takes place at work). The scope for learning is related to for example, machinery and equipment, management and the organizing principle of work. Learning and acquiring of work knowledge is related to in what ways workers learn about the job. Information systems must be in alignment with the practice and the ways workers learn and acquire work knowledge.</p>

<p>The purpose of the study was to investigate how teaching for transfer of learning was built into a month-long outdoor experiential education course within a semester long study abroad program and to address the extent to which student perception of learning gains could be transferred for use in future courses and for later in life. From a program planning and evaluation perspective it was also important to determine what types of activities and experiences within the course were instrumental in helping students to develop concepts and skills that could be transferred to life after the course. This research quantifies the frequency and consistency of teaching for transfer events using a tool based on research by a social psychologist (Haskell, 2001) and an outdoor experiential educator. (Gass, 1990) Student perception of learning gains were measured at the end of the course with the SALG assessment tool. (Seymour, Wiese, Hunter, & Daffinrud, 2000)</p><p>This research is an ethnographic case study of an expedition field course (EFC) entitled Human Rights and the Environment: Rivers, Dams and Local Struggles at the Institute for Sustainable Development Studies (ISDSI) based in Chiang Mai, Thailand, which included intensive language instruction, expedition field studies, and leadership opportunities to enable students to study the relationship between culture and ecology. Students studied problems of a global scale by learning about local issues with the intent that the program at ISDSI aims to “develop committed leaders for a sustainable future”. (Ritchie, 2006, p. 1) It is a response to the call for educational programs in the field of outdoor and experiential learning to examine the benefits and outcomes of course offerings. (Ewert, 1996; Hattie, Marsh, Neill and Richards, 1997; Holman and McAvoy, 2005)</p><p>Through a qualitative look at observation data, recommendations were made to increase the capacity for this ISDSI course to promote the transfer of learning. Some suggestions include expanding the use of systems thinking and examples of individuals who are masters of transfer thinking into course design, heightening culture and ecology connections through increased use of guided facilitation, integrating individual goal setting, and expanding internal assessment and staff development possibilities.</p>

<p>Syftet med detta arbete var att utreda ”om” och ”i vilken utsträckning” som Experiential Learning (EL) går i linje med dagens svenska skola. Med avgränsning till gymnasieskolan var syftet därför att relatera Experiential Learning gentemot de dokument som ligger till grund för dagens svenska gymnasieskola, nämligen: ’Skollagen’, ’Läroplanen för de frivilliga skolformerna’ (Lpf 94) och Läroplanskommitténs betänkande ’Skola för bildning’ (SOU 1992:94). Utgångspunkten för denna hermeneutiska jämförelse var ett kritiskt förhållningssätt (läs. ’granskande’) utifrån de för modern svensk pedagogisk forskning centrala teoretiska perspektiven eller ”synerna”; kunskap, lärande, elev och lärare. Förutom denna textanalys innefattar arbetet även en enkätundersökning som med delat kvantitativa och kvalitativa frågor undersökt vilken kännedom om och syn på Experiential Learning som finns hos ett antal läraraspiranter vid Lärarhögskolan i Stockholm. Undersökningen insinuerade att få överhuvudtaget hört talas om konceptet, men att de tycker att det verkar vara aktuellt för såväl sin framtida undervisning som den svenska skolan i allmänhet. Arbetets slutgiltiga analys visade på stor samstämmighet mellan EL och den svenska skolan i både undervisnings- och människosyn – även om det läggs olika stor emfas vid olika saker. Utmärkande var här synen på ett aktivt lärande, tillsammans med tanken om individen i centrum. Förutom de dokument som ligger till grund för den svenska skolan, var ett fåtal källor kring EL tongivande. Urvalet styrdes i hög utsträckning av rådande utbud, varvid en rad Internetreferenser också blev aktuella. Tankarna bakom EL uppkom på 20-talet i det forna Tjeckoslovakien och har utvecklats till en form av alternativ pedagogik med ett aktivt inlärningssätt och en holistisk lärosyn. Konceptet kan sägas vara en syntes mellan utomhusaktiviteter och drama. Det situationella lärandet står därvid i centrum för undervisningen, som söker inkludera såväl teoretisk och praktisk, som emotionell och social utveckling. Synen på kunskap kan utifrån detta definieras som progressiv och alla former av personliga kompetenser bejakas och eftersträvas i undervisningen. Undervisningen bedrivs huvudsakligen i gruppform, men utgår från individen i det att denne ges möjlighet att själv välja det sätt som denne vill närma sig det aktuella undervisningsmaterialet. Metodiken relaterar således i hög grad till begreppet lärstil och dess strävan är att inkludera så många sinnen som möjligt i undervisningen. Konceptets utbildningsteoretiska grund är i mångt och mycket gemensam med den ideologi som styr dagens svenska skola – där återfinns teorier och tankar från bland annat; John Dewey, Jean Piaget och L.S. Vygotskij.</p>

<p>This thesis focuses on knowledge as one of the most critical competitive factors and the capability of the internationalizing firm. It contributes to internationalization research by connecting the view of embedded networks as knowledge generators to the view of experiential knowledge acquisition in the internationalization process of firms. The thesis identifies a specific form of experiential knowledge: “network experiential knowledge” defined as the experiential knowledge a firm accumulates in its network of embedded business relationships. The internationalization process implies use of knowledge, and also that not all knowledge is perceived as equally useful by firms. There was therefore reason to study network experiential knowledge and its usefulness.<b> </b>Thus, the general purpose of this thesis is to study the usefulness of network experiential knowledge in the internationalization process of firms. </p><p>The thesis shows, through qualitative and quantitative research, that network experiential knowledge is perceived as useful to firms, in their development of ongoing international business, and that this knowledge is embedded in networks of business relationships. It might be in the whole network but it can also be in a part of the network. The thesis shows that the perceived usefulness of network experiential knowledge is affected by variation in country markets and international experience. The effects of need of knowledge, market variation, cost, product standardization, and involvement on the usefulness of knowledge from client’s network is investigated and shown. The thesis also demonstrates that perceived usefulness of network experiential knowledge has an effect on firm performance.</p>

Thesis (M.A. (Recreation Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Full text release at OhioLINK's ETD Center delayed at author's request