No description available.

African American women compose a critical proportion of the potential science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce of the future, yet are disproportionately represented and largely underutilized. While various programs and initiatives have been designed and implemented to target women and underrepresented minorities, the voices and experiences of African American women have been insufficiently heard or studied. This study investigates the experiences of four African American female students who participated in a 10-week undergraduate research experience (URE) program designed for the recruitment and retention of women and underrepresented minorities in STEM disciplines. Through autobiographical narratives and interviews participants shared how and in what ways the URE program influenced their career development (namely academic/career interests and choices), what they learned about their interests and choices, and what it means to them to be African American women pursuing science-related careers. Using a qualitative case study analysis, this study focuses on the unique stories of young African-American women participating in their own career development. Seven major themes emerged from the analysis of the data. Each of the participants initially entered the URE with an established interest in science, with an expressed desire for research experience, and with an interest in exploring career options in science. Through their involvement in the URE program, participants experienced a significant increase in self-knowledge and confidence, recognized the existence of social and/or science communities, and either discovered or clarified career interests and possibilities. All participants recognized value in their participation and expressed gratitude for having had the opportunity. Overall, the URE program provided a vital opportunity for participants to play an active role in their own career development. The results of this study emphasize the importance of and need to expand the URE as an avenue for career development and exploration in order to address the lack of such programming for African American women in STEM disciplines.

No description available.

No description available.

<p>This study investigated the effect of an Argumentation Instructional Model (AIM) on the preservice teachers&lsquo / ability to implement a Science-IK Curriculum in selected South African schools. I examined what instructional practices the pre-service teachers engage in when they introduce scientific explanation and whether those practices influence learners&lsquo / ability to construct scientific explanations during a natural science unit of a South African school curriculum. My study began with a pilot study of 16 pre-service science teachers who completed a B.Ed university module, Science for Teaching, which included an IK component. Data collection for main study took place from 2010 to 2011, and used questionnaires, face-to-face and reflective interview protocols, case studies, lesson plans and classroom observation schedules. I took videos and audios of each of the pre-service teacher&lsquo / s enactment of the focal lesson on argumentation and then coded the videotape for different instructional practices. The study investigated firstly, what currently informed teachers&lsquo / thinking, knowledge and action of IK. Secondly, the research questioned how teachers interpreted and implemented IK in the science classroom. A sample of the three pre-service teachers were followed into their classrooms to investigate how they specifically implemented Learning Outcome Three using argumentation instruction as a mode of instruction and what approaches relevant to the inclusion of IK were developed. The study found that the three pre-service teachers used three very different approaches through which IK was brought in the science curriculum. An assimilationist approach, that brings IK into science by seeking how best IK fits into science. A segregationist approach that holds IK side-by-side with scientific knowledge. Lastly, an integrationist approach makes connections between IK and science. The approaches developed by the pre-service teachers were found to be informed by their biographies, values, cultural backgrounds and worldviews. Meticulously, the study explored how shifts were being made from a theoretical phase at the university where the pre-service teachers engaged IK to an actual phase of implementation in their school science classrooms. Finally, I attempted to explain why the pre-service teachers interpreted and implemented IK in the way they did.</p>

<p>This study investigated the effect of an Argumentation Instructional Model (AIM) on the preservice teachers&lsquo / ability to implement a Science-IK Curriculum in selected South African schools. I examined what instructional practices the pre-service teachers engage in when they introduce scientific explanation and whether those practices influence learners&lsquo / ability to construct scientific explanations during a natural science unit of a South African school curriculum. My study began with a pilot study of 16 pre-service science teachers who completed a B.Ed university module, Science for Teaching, which included an IK component. Data collection for main study took place from 2010 to 2011, and used questionnaires, face-to-face and reflective interview protocols, case studies, lesson plans and classroom observation schedules. I took videos and audios of each of the pre-service teacher&lsquo / s enactment of the focal lesson on argumentation and then coded the videotape for different instructional practices. The study investigated firstly, what currently informed teachers&lsquo / thinking, knowledge and action of IK. Secondly, the research questioned how teachers interpreted and implemented IK in the science classroom. A sample of the three pre-service teachers were followed into their classrooms to investigate how they specifically implemented Learning Outcome Three using argumentation instruction as a mode of instruction and what approaches relevant to the inclusion of IK were developed. The study found that the three pre-service teachers used three very different approaches through which IK was brought in the science curriculum. An assimilationist approach, that brings IK into science by seeking how best IK fits into science. A segregationist approach that holds IK side-by-side with scientific knowledge. Lastly, an integrationist approach makes connections between IK and science. The approaches developed by the pre-service teachers were found to be informed by their biographies, values, cultural backgrounds and worldviews. Meticulously, the study explored how shifts were being made from a theoretical phase at the university where the pre-service teachers engaged IK to an actual phase of implementation in their school science classrooms. Finally, I attempted to explain why the pre-service teachers interpreted and implemented IK in the way they did.</p>

A tese apresenta o estudo de natureza exploratória do processo de produção partilhada de saberes e apropriação de dispositivo de informação desenvolvido com mestres e aprendizes da cultura de tradição oral. A travessia pelas -veredas da informação? neste território simbólico diferenciado foi delineada com base em três pilares: a) construção de trama conceitual, que contempla o desenvolvimento diacrônico dos processos mnemotécnicos, desde os primórdios até a contemporaneidade, demonstrando como determinados autores ao longo da história participam do jogo de forças sociais, disputando formas, possibilidades, arranjos e ordenamento do conhecimento; b) apresentação do contexto social de pesquisa e respectivo universo simbólico-cultural dos mestres Griôs da tradição oral, por meio de abordagem epistêmica que perpassa pelo reconhecimento ontológico das bibliotecas vivas; c) criação de rede sociotécnica para gestão de dispositivo, com base no conceito operacional de -produção partilhada de saberes? para solução de demandas por apropriação e circulação social de informações. A obra resulta de um diálogo na fronteira entre o legado das culturas de tradição oral e as novas tecnologias da escrita, em que experimentamos uma relação com o saber, voluntária e coletiva, da ciência como artesanato. A materialização da produção partilhada de saberes se deu no fazer prático (savoir-faire) por meio do qual os sujeitos do saber aprenderam a conhecer e a fazer juntos. Descreve o método empregado no processo de criação de um -dispositivo antropotécnico?, entendido como prótese virtual das bibliotecas vivas, lugar de memória, empoderamento e protagonismo social dos mestres e aprendizes da tradição oral, configurado de forma integrada e colaborativa, com abertura para a inovação social estratégica e as trocas simbólicas com os atores de outros pontos de cultura/memória, do Brasil e do mundo. / The thesis presents the exploratory study of the process of shared production of knowledge and appropriation of information device developed with masters and apprentices (teachers and learners) of the culture of oral tradition. The crossing of the -information paths? in this differentiated symbolic territory was based on three pillars: a) construction of a conceptual framework, which contemplates the diachronic development of mnemonic processes, from the earliest times to the present time, demonstrating how certain authors throughout (along) the history participate in the game of social forces, disputing forms, possibilities, arrangements and ordering of knowledge; b) presentation of the social context of research and the respective symbolic-cultural universe of the masters Griôs of oral tradition, through an epistemic approach that permeates the ontological recognition of living libraries; c) creation of a sociotechnical network for device management, based on the operational concept of -shared production of knowledge? to solve demands for appropriation and social circulation of information. The work results from a dialogue at the border between the legacy of cultures of oral tradition and the new technologies of writing, in which we experience a relationship with the voluntary and collective knowledge, of the science as craft. The materialization of the shared production of knowledge took place in the practical way (savoir-faire) through which the subjects of knowledge learned to know and to do together. Describes the method used in the process of creating an -anthropotechnical device?, understood as virtual prosthesis of living libraries, place of memory, empowerment and social protagonists, the masters and learners of oral tradition, configured in an integrated and collaborative\'s way, with openness to innovation social and symbolic exchanges with the actors of other points of culture / memory, of Brazil and of the world.

A tese apresenta o estudo de natureza exploratória do processo de produção partilhada de saberes e apropriação de dispositivo de informação desenvolvido com mestres e aprendizes da cultura de tradição oral. A travessia pelas -veredas da informação? neste território simbólico diferenciado foi delineada com base em três pilares: a) construção de trama conceitual, que contempla o desenvolvimento diacrônico dos processos mnemotécnicos, desde os primórdios até a contemporaneidade, demonstrando como determinados autores ao longo da história participam do jogo de forças sociais, disputando formas, possibilidades, arranjos e ordenamento do conhecimento; b) apresentação do contexto social de pesquisa e respectivo universo simbólico-cultural dos mestres Griôs da tradição oral, por meio de abordagem epistêmica que perpassa pelo reconhecimento ontológico das bibliotecas vivas; c) criação de rede sociotécnica para gestão de dispositivo, com base no conceito operacional de -produção partilhada de saberes? para solução de demandas por apropriação e circulação social de informações. A obra resulta de um diálogo na fronteira entre o legado das culturas de tradição oral e as novas tecnologias da escrita, em que experimentamos uma relação com o saber, voluntária e coletiva, da ciência como artesanato. A materialização da produção partilhada de saberes se deu no fazer prático (savoir-faire) por meio do qual os sujeitos do saber aprenderam a conhecer e a fazer juntos. Descreve o método empregado no processo de criação de um -dispositivo antropotécnico?, entendido como prótese virtual das bibliotecas vivas, lugar de memória, empoderamento e protagonismo social dos mestres e aprendizes da tradição oral, configurado de forma integrada e colaborativa, com abertura para a inovação social estratégica e as trocas simbólicas com os atores de outros pontos de cultura/memória, do Brasil e do mundo. / The thesis presents the exploratory study of the process of shared production of knowledge and appropriation of information device developed with masters and apprentices (teachers and learners) of the culture of oral tradition. The crossing of the -information paths? in this differentiated symbolic territory was based on three pillars: a) construction of a conceptual framework, which contemplates the diachronic development of mnemonic processes, from the earliest times to the present time, demonstrating how certain authors throughout (along) the history participate in the game of social forces, disputing forms, possibilities, arrangements and ordering of knowledge; b) presentation of the social context of research and the respective symbolic-cultural universe of the masters Griôs of oral tradition, through an epistemic approach that permeates the ontological recognition of living libraries; c) creation of a sociotechnical network for device management, based on the operational concept of -shared production of knowledge? to solve demands for appropriation and social circulation of information. The work results from a dialogue at the border between the legacy of cultures of oral tradition and the new technologies of writing, in which we experience a relationship with the voluntary and collective knowledge, of the science as craft. The materialization of the shared production of knowledge took place in the practical way (savoir-faire) through which the subjects of knowledge learned to know and to do together. Describes the method used in the process of creating an -anthropotechnical device?, understood as virtual prosthesis of living libraries, place of memory, empowerment and social protagonists, the masters and learners of oral tradition, configured in an integrated and collaborative\'s way, with openness to innovation social and symbolic exchanges with the actors of other points of culture / memory, of Brazil and of the world.