Cette thèse aborde la formation et l'accompagnement des acteurs de l'Education Populaire. L'enjeu est de stabiliser la qualité des services des associations, malgré les rapides évolutions de l’environnement. Le postulat d'une nécessaire continuité entre le projet associatif, la démarche éducative et la formation interne, nous a orientés vers une démarche de recherche-action. La récursivité des analyses, a conduit à interroger les conditions d'utilisation du modèle de l'apprenance (Carré 2005), inspiré par le capitalisme cognitif. Il en ressort un cadre éthique qui a orienté le développement d'un modèle d'association apprenante, intégrant un outil de gestion de la fonction « apprendre » inspiré des ingénieries de formation à visée autonomisante (Poisson 2009). Cette thèse propose en outre une réflexion épistémologique et la méthodologique sur la recherche-action qui conduit à établir des liens entre ses conditions de pratique et l'émergence de l'association apprenante. / This dissertation deals with the training and support of personnel in a not-for-profit association involved in education. At stake is the stabilization of the quality of their activities in order to perpetuate both their projects and their on-going operation. The author postulates a necessary continuity between the culture of the association – marked by its approach to education – and its in-house training. This continuity has led to the adoption of an action-research approach. The recursive analysis of the activities have led to a transposition of Carré’s (2005) “learning” model and produced an ethical framework which guided the design of a multidisciplinary learning model for associations. This model includes a tool adapted from instructional design, aimed at learner empowerment (Poisson 2009). The epistemological and methodological reflection aims at shedding light on action research and links its conditions for success to the emergence of associations as learning organizations.

One of the major priorities for community colleges is to focus on the pedagogical tools that will allow students to achieve excellence and quality in curriculum and instruction to meet the changing societal needs (Shearon & Tollefson, 1989). Rapid demographic, social, and technological changes demand that community colleges produce self-directed lifelong learners (Closson, 1996). The study of student learning preferences for more teacher-directed or more self-directed learning is one of the concepts that is important in enhancing teaching and learning practices. The purpose of this study was to examine students' teacher-directed versus self-directed learning preferences in specific courses. The possible relationships among age, gender, and academic majors and the learning preferences (teacher-directed or self-directed) were also explored. The revised version of Learning Style Preference Questionnaire (LSPQ) originally designed by Hinkle (1990) was administered to 563 students at five selected community colleges in the southeast. The majority of the participants were female traditional students majoring in the natural sciences. The sample showed a preference for teacher-directed orientation in specific courses. Statistically significant differences were observed in the magnitude of the teacher-directed orientation between the mean scores of male and female students with male students scoring significantly higher than the female students. Traditional students obtained significantly higher mean scores on the items addressing the delivery of instruction than the nontraditional students. Nontraditional students obtained significantly higher mean scores on the items addressing the testing of learning. Gender had an impact on the magnitude of the teacher-directed learning preferences for evaluation and testing of learning. Academic majors had an impact on the magnitude of the teacher-directed learning preferences for evaluation of learning. Students in this study preferred a teacher-directed approach to learning. Follow-up research using a variety of instruments may investigate how this preference contributes to or affects academic achievement. It is recommended that the methods and procedures adopted in this study be replicated in other community colleges across the nation. Learning preference concepts and methods should be developed at the community college level to include professional development of instructors so that they may better provide learning opportunities for their students. Such studies may also be conducted in other parts of the world to determine how cultural differences may impact on learning preferences.

The increasingly ubiquitous nature of mobile devices among K-12 students has led many to argue for and against the inclusion of mobile devices in K-12 classrooms. Some have conjectured that access to mobile devices may enable student self-directed learning. This research used a mixed-method approach to explore the relationships between mobile devices and student achievement and self-directed learning during a Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics (STEM) activity in a middle school Technology and Engineering Education classroom. In this study, 706 students from 18 classes worked in groups of 2-3 to complete an open-ended engineering design challenge. Students completed design portfolios and constructed prototypes. Classes were randomly divided with some receiving access to mobile devices during the study while others did not. Additionally, randomly assigned classes completed the design portfolio electronically while others completed the portfolio on paper. Final student portfolios and products were assessed using adaptive comparative judgment (ACJ). In ACJ, judges view two artifacts (portfolios or products) electronically and choose the better of the two. Repeating this process, a number of times produced a rank-order for the artifacts. The rank order for student portfolios and products represented student achievement. Statistical analyses of student access, portfolio type, student self-directed learning, and student achievement were conducted. Thirty student interviews and five teacher interviews were conducted and interviewees were asked questions regarding mobile devices, self-directed learning, and their experience during the study. Responses from the interviews were transcribed and coded using causation and thematic coding techniques. The resulting themes from the interviews helped clarify the quantitative findings. Findings from both the quantitative and qualitative analyses showed that student access to mobile devices was significantly correlated with higher scores on student design portfolios while student achievement on design products was independent of mobile device access. This suggests that mobile devices may improve student achievement in certain types of scenarios but not in others. Student self-directed learning was independent of mobile device access. Students and teachers both commented that mobile devices may be effective at increasing student self-directed learning or achievement but only through proper instruction and demonstration.

Most Kenyan high school dropouts do not have a school reentry option, and without a high school diploma, they lack access to tertiary or higher education institutions for training and career development. This case study was an investigation of how an adult learning center in Kenya educated high school dropouts and helped them to gain access to vocational training or higher education. The research questions addressed the pedagogy, learning experiences, and curriculum of the Baraka Adult Learning Center (BALC) and also focused on how the BALC met students' aspirations, needs, and goals based on the perceptions of teachers and adult learners. The conceptual framework was based on liberatory education theory, transformative learning theory, and andragogy. Data collected from classroom observation s, curriculum review, and interviews with 9 current students, 3 former students, 5 teachers, and the principal were analyzed inductively by sorting and coding to generate emergent themes. The results of the study indicated that instructors followed the regular high school curriculum with little adaptation and lacked training about teaching adult learners and self-directed learning approaches. The adult learners perceived returning to school as getting a second chance. A professional development project for BALC instructors was developed to address some of the needs identified in the study. This training could have an impact on the adult learners by better assisting them to gain access to vocational training and higher education.

Leadership theories have evolved since their inception and leadership development should also evolve in response to the changing needs of their organizations. There is a gap in the literature on the functionality of the various 360-feedback platforms that are mentioned in literature which makes it difficult to understand what reporting functionality is available in existing systems. The goal of this study was to examine participants' views of a newly developed Adaptive Learning 360-feedback (AL360) treatment platform for leadership development with a focus on self-directed learning for improved accountability. Participants were asked to share their learning development experience in the areas of person, process, and context with suggestions for improvement and how did this development compare to any other leadership development that they had experienced in the past. The AL360 platform was built by applying the research findings of scholars in the areas of leadership, 360-feedback leadership development and educational technologies. The treatment was applied in a business setting for all levels of leadership development. The case study identified creation of leadership of self-awareness and accountability for development without significant intervention of an executive coach. The research findings also list improvement opportunities, limitations, and future considerations.

This study explores the application of wireless local area network (WLAN) in mobile learning. Although still in its infancy, Taiwan¡¦s government has devoted much resource on mobile learning as the extention of e-Taiwan project. National museums are among the key projects where the effectiveness of mobile learning can be soundly demonstrated. Taking national museums as observing objects, this study examines whether museum visitors appreciate WLAN environment within which personal digital assistants (PDA) operate as mobile educational tools. It further explores the key success factors that leads to successful deployment of mobile learning system. The researcher conducted a two-wave survey, firstly on museum visiters then on museum and e-learning experts for data gathering. Using analytical hierarchy process (AHP) as the research method, this study filters out the priority setting of those six categories as follows according to their significance: learning content, network connection, interface design, mareking and promotion, and business model. It also shows that the priority setting might change as a matter of time. As far as implication for education is concerned, the study suggests that, in the learning space of museum, PDA equipped with WLAN proves to be an appropriate mobile learning tool, notably useful in conducting blending learning and self-directed learning. Such finding should contribute to the understanding and further deployment of mobile learning activities in the context of museums. Keywords: wireless local area network (WLAN), mobile learning, blending learning, self-directed learning, personal digital assistant (PDA), fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP), key success factors, museum

Many post-secondary schools across the country offer adult working students an opportunity to obtain at least partial credit for work and life experiences in their curriculum through portfolios. The primary goal of this project was to design, develop and evaluate a portfolio course for adult students at a small independent university. Design emphasized adult learning theory and incorporated instructional design best practices throughout. Also significant to the design was the implementation of the Quality Matters ™ Rubric. The project focus was to intertwine the six assumptions of adult learning theory while implementing best practices and effective instructional strategies, and to conduct formative and summative evaluations. The study incorporated a pre-test - post test instrument and satisfaction questionnaire for quantitative data collection. The results of this project are positive based on the evaluation data collected during this project.

Most Kenyan high school dropouts do not have a school reentry option, and without a high school diploma, they lack access to tertiary or higher education institutions for training and career development. This case study was an investigation of how an adult learning center in Kenya educated high school dropouts and helped them to gain access to vocational training or higher education. The research questions addressed the pedagogy, learning experiences, and curriculum of the Baraka Adult Learning Center (BALC) and also focused on how the BALC met students' aspirations, needs, and goals based on the perceptions of teachers and adult learners. The conceptual framework was based on liberatory education theory, transformative learning theory, and andragogy. Data collected from classroom observation s, curriculum review, and interviews with 9 current students, 3 former students, 5 teachers, and the principal were analyzed inductively by sorting and coding to generate emergent themes. The results of the study indicated that instructors followed the regular high school curriculum with little adaptation and lacked training about teaching adult learners and self-directed learning approaches. The adult learners perceived returning to school as getting a second chance. A professional development project for BALC instructors was developed to address some of the needs identified in the study. This training could have an impact on the adult learners by better assisting them to gain access to vocational training and higher education.

The principal theory in the field of public relations, grounded in the landmark Excellence Study headed by J.E. Grunig (1992), has moved from viewing activist groups as posing a threat to organizational effectiveness, to recognizing their positive influence on the development of Excellent public relations practices, to incorporating the activist perspective into the main research agenda. The public relations practices of activist groups are similar to those of their target organizations, and research has demonstrated that both parties are more likely to achieve their respective goals if both use symmetrical strategies. Factors that have been found to be critical to the success of activist groups include their ability to maintain the viability and legitimacy of the organization and the issue(s) it pursues, and their ability to build relationships of trust with its members, complementary organizations, legislative bodies, and the press. Since web-based communication has become a principal source of counterbalancing their disadvantage in resources vis-à-vis the targeted institution(s), the ability to take advantage of the potential of online media has also become critical to the success of activist groups. Another important source for counterweighing the “deep pockets” of their corporate or governmental adversaries, and thus a critical factor for success, is the “motivation and fervor” of the members of activist groups. Whereas the public relations behavior of corporations and governments is primarily cued by highly rational and regulated guidelines at the organizational (meso) level, activist public relations behavior is often grounded in highly emotional considerations at the personal (micro) level. This raises the question: how can the public relations practices of an activist group affect its members at the personal level? Bandura’s model of self-directed change (1990) offers a promising framework for addressing this question, as it facilitates the evaluation of an activist group’s public relations campaign in terms of its effectiveness in reinforcing the motivation, social and self-regulatory skills, and self-efficacy of individual members. The model suggests that effective activist public relations practices are not only successful in preserving viability and legitimacy at the meso level, but also enhance empowerment at the micro level. / text

Five cases of ‘non-musicians’ learning how to make music were used to explore the information practice of users in the domain of music to support the design of music information systems and platforms. In all five cases, the use of online music knowledge was situated within a larger process of self-directed learning, as well as the larger socio-musical world of the non-musicians. Effective access to and use of available resources is paradoxically predicated on a non-musician’s ability to articulate their information needs using terms with which they are not yet familiar. The findings articulate the information practice of non-musicians as being characterized by the emergent nature of their information needs and the exploratory nature of their information practice. In particular, the user’s socio-musical world, learning or knowledge trajectories, as well as their modes of learning offer an innovative approach to understanding and anticipating music information needs.