The goal of this project completed for the Greater Northfield Sustainability Collaborative (GNSC) was to understand how Northfield, Minnesota citizens are experiencing climate change. Thirty individuals were interviewed to find out what they know about climate change, what actions they are taking, what they think the solutions are to the problems, and what barriers they have to more fully engaging with climate change issues. The interview results are intended to promote and advance the community's discussion on climate change via social learning and community engagement activities such as town hall forums and community surveys. These activities encourage citizens in the community to have direct input into the development of the community's climate action plan (CAP). Analysis of the interviews showed that the interviewees are witnessing climate change, that most are taking at least some action such as recycling or lowering thermostats, that they can name barriers to their own inaction, that they say communication about climate change remains confusing and is not widespread in Northfield, and that they are able to provide numerous suggestions for what the local and broader leadership should be doing. The analysis also showed wide individual variation within the group. Interviewees who were less knowledgeable about climate were less likely to be taking action and do not participate in social groups where climate change is discussed. Conclusions are that the whole group would like more and better communication and education from our leaders, that they also expect our leaders to be part of creating solutions to climate change, and that the solutions the interviewees suggested provide a very thorough initial list of mitigation and adaptation strategies for the city's future CAP.

Menschen unterscheiden sich von anderen Tieren insbesondere dadurch, dass ihr Alltag durch vielfältige kulturelle Praktiken bestimmt wird. Diese erlaubten es dem Menschen, fast alle terrestrischen Habitate auf der Erde in hoher Dichte zu besiedeln. Kulturelle Merkmale werden nicht genetisch vererbt, sondern durch soziales Lernen zwischen Menschen übertragen -- niemand könnte ohne den vorhandenen Wissensbeitrag anderer ein funktionstüchtiges Kanu bauen. Daraus zu schließen, kulturelle und genetische Evolution seien komplett getrennt zu behandeln, wäre allerdings falsch. Genetische Evolution hat es überhaupt erst erlaubt, von anderen in adaptiver Weise zu lernen. Kulturelle und genetische Evolution müssen zusammen betrachtet werden, um die Einzigartigkeit des Menschen zu verstehen. Der offensichtlich vorhandene adaptive Nutzen sozialen Lernens konnte in theoretischen Arbeiten allerdings nicht repliziert werden. Das deutet darauf hin, dass das Verständnis über die Funktionsweise sozialen Lernens noch unvollständig ist. Zwar haben einige Wissenschaftler mögliche Lösungen für dieses Paradox vorgeschlagen, aber unser Modell zeigt, dass diese unzureichend sind. Stattdessen hält sich der Widerspruch hartnäckiger als geglaubt. Wir analysieren zwar neue soziale Lernstrategien, die den Widerspruch lösen könnten, doch das erfolgt nur unter sehr beschränkten Bedingungen. Außerdem treten wir für eine neue Sicht auf soziales Lernen ein und damit einhergehend für einen Modellierungsansatz, der Lernformen in realistischerer Weise berücksichtigt. Die Untersuchung des evolutionären Ursprungs sozialen Lernens sollte den gleichen Stellenwert haben wie jene des evolutionären Ursprungs kooperativen Verhaltens. Dass dies sinnvoll wäre, belegen wir, indem wir zeigen, welchen Einfluss soziales Lernen sogar auf moderne Gesellschaften und Volkswirtschaften hat und wie es beispielsweise hilft, Finanzkrisen besser zu verstehen. / Humans differ most from other animals in that their lives are shaped by many cultural practices. Having cultural traits allowed human populations to grow considerably in a short time and to conquer almost all terrestrial habitats on Earth. Cultural traits are not inborn but are instead transmitted between humans through social learning -- no individual could build a fully functional kayak without learning from others. Concluding that cultural evolution is thus a separate process from genetic evolution would, however, be rash. The latter has endowed humans with the possibility to learn from others in the first place, and prepared learning to make it especially adaptive. To find out what makes humans unique, cultural and genetic evolution, therefore, have to be studied in concert. Although nobody doubts that evolution gave rise to social learning and that the resulting cultural practices serve an adaptive purpose, theoretical works have shown that simple forms of social learning do not improve human adaptedness. This finding contradicts the observations and thus implies that our understanding of social learning is incomplete. Several authors have proposed solutions to this paradox but, as our model results will show, the solutions are unsatisfying. Instead, we find the paradox to be more resilient than is believed and propose forms of social learning that could solve it, albeit only under very narrow circumstances. Furthermore, we argue for a new perspective on social learning and, consequently, for a different framework that allows for more realistic learning models. We suggest that the study of the evolutionary origin of social learning should be given equal weight as the study of the evolutionary origin of cooperation, and illustrate this by elaborating on the impact of social learning on modern societies and market behaviors in general, and on financial crises specifically.

Current faculty onboarding practices are being discussed in peer-reviewed literature across different disciplines describing a plethora of practices and outcomes. A comprehensive review of the empirical research of higher education faculty onboarding allows effective fundamentals to be incorporated into practice. This integrative literature review utilized Cooper's (1998) 5-step process: problem formulation, data collection, evaluation of data points, data analysis and interpretation, and presentation of results as well as further clarification on data collection and analysis as proposed by Callahan's (2010) six-step guide and Whittmore's (2005) four steps. The primary aim of this integrative literature review was to gather empirical evidence with regard to elements of effective faculty onboarding practices as the front-end analysis to inform initial research-based instructional design guidance for future faculty onboarding program creation and implementation. This research confirms that faculty onboarding program design and development is well served by considering the core IDT principles of systematic design, social learning, and instructional strategies. Following these principles, undergirded by IDT guidance, will support the outcome wherein participants acknowledge the value of their onboarding experiences; a success seen in the literature. / Doctor of Philosophy / Current faculty onboarding practices are being discussed in peer-reviewed literature across different disciplines describing a plethora of practices and outcomes. A comprehensive review of the empirical research of higher education faculty onboarding allows effective fundamentals to be incorporated into practice. The primary aim of this integrative literature review was to gather empirical evidence with regard to elements of effective faculty onboarding practices as the front-end analysis to inform initial research-based instructional design guidance for future faculty onboarding program creation and implementation. This research confirms that faculty onboarding program design and development is well served by considering the core IDT principles of systematic design, social learning, and instructional strategies. Following these principles, undergirded by IDT guidance, will support the outcome wherein participants acknowledge the value of their onboarding experiences; a success seen in the literature.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work / W. Richard Goe / This study examined three of the prominent theories of juvenile delinquency to determine principle juvenile firearm carrying behaviors. The theories investigated were Differential Association/Social Learning, Social Control, and Anomie/Strain. The data set used for this research was the “National Survey of Weapons-Related Experiences, Behaviors, and Concerns of High School Youth in the United States, 1996” from the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research at the University of Michigan. This national-level survey of youth was conducted by Joseph F. Sheley and James D. Wright to assemble detailed behavioral and attitudinal data concerning weapons and violence, and was completed by 733 10th and 11th grade male high school students. Comparison logistic regression model analyses were utilized to examine the study’s hypotheses. Findings indicated that juvenile firearms carrying is most influenced by delinquent peers, delinquent friends, and gang membership within the theoretical framework of Differential Association/Social Learning. Social Control Theory has the least explanatory power, while the analysis of Anomie/Strain suggests that vicarious strains (those strains experienced by people close to the juvenile) have even more influence on juvenile firearms carrying than experienced strain. Theoretical integration is recommended for future research attempting to provide greater explanatory and predictive power for serious forms of delinquency like juvenile firearms carrying.

Text in Afrikaans / The aim of this study was to determine the effect of labeling on a person's being from an educational-psychological perspective. The focus was therefore placed mainly on the following: § Labeling as a phenomenon, with specific reference to what labeling is and its effect on a person's being. § The use of the Edu-Psychological Relation Theory as a theoretical basis for determining the effect of labeling on a person's being. § The compilation of a diagnostic questionnaire within the framework of the Edu-Psychological Relation Theory that was used in the empirical study. It was found that the consequences of labeling are generally permanent and irreversible, and that they result in isolation of the individual. A diagnostic questionnaire was operationalised in terms of the Edu-Psychological Relation Theory, and was used to determine the effect of labeling. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Guidance)

This thesis is a user study within library and information science on participatory practices of a professional group in work activity. This has been investigated only to a minor extent in previous library and information science research. The qualitative empirical focus alternates between physicians‟ engagements in work practice and workplace learning within patient care. The overall research problem was to learn how people in workplaces interacted with information that was embedded, intricately intertwined, and tightly bound to the ongoing routines of their everyday work. This thesis aims at understanding information practices of professionals in occupational settings as exemplified by a team of physicians in a Nigerian teaching hospital. In this thesis, the focus was on the collective work activity, and the specific goals identified include how physicians interact and make meaning in the context of the social activities in the workplace, how professionals individually or collectively gather, understand, produce, share and use information, and how workplace learning influences information practices. Information practices are viewed as sociocultural practices that occur inside other practices. The thesis focuses on a nuanced, contextualized understanding of the interplay between the participating actors in activity, the activity per se, and the intermediary role of tools and artefacts. The epistemological point of departure is the sociocultural perspective that emphasizes the dynamic interdependence of the individual with the social and collective development focusing on mediation through tools and artefacts in cultural, institutional, and historical situations. I have chosen cultural-historical activity theory and the practice theories to analyse the dynamic processes in the context of patient care. Their underlying principles guided the empirical study, facilitating extrapolations and illustrations in the analysis. The cultural-historical activity theory was used to understand contextual issues that influence information practices in work activity: the object and subject of activity, division of labour, rules and norms, community, tools and artefacts, as well as the activity system itself and the hierarchical structure of the activity. Theories and concepts employed from a practice perspective on learning were considered useful for understanding the participatory modes in workplace and the influence of social learning communities on diverse information processes. In so doing, the study strives to provide a holistic understanding of information practices, workplace learning, and the relationships between them.The empirical data was gathered through a qualitative case study that lasted over a period of two years. Direct observation was the dominant data collection technique 5 used throughout the preliminary and main empirical studies to capture physicians‟ information practices and experiences. The observation focused on the Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (CPT) team‟s encounters with patients; the interactions they had amongst themselves, and events and situations surrounding patient care. During the main study, other data collection techniques were employed alongside the observation method. In-depth open-ended interviews were conducted with 17 physicians and 9 non-physicians who were selected to provide rich and varied descriptions of the phenomena under study. The interview time totalled at 1,535 minutes. Physical artefacts were another data collection technique employed: 30 patients‟ medical records were assessed during the empirical study. Finally, informal interactions in the research setting were an additional data collection technique used continuously throughout the two empirical periods. The results were analyzed through a combination of inductive and deductive methods of analysis. There are four parts to the empirical results in this thesis. In the first, contextual elements that showed how work environment can be an influencing factor in the information practices of a professional group are described from the perspective of cultural historical activity theory. In the second part, the nature of information access in the real-world information environment was portrayed. It was found that information sources and strategies contributed to the overarching goal of restoring patient health to normalcy. The information sources and strategies were also found useful for mediating the information environment both subjectively and intersubjectively. An equally important result concerns the authority issues related to information sources and strategies. In the third part, available tools and artefacts were presented as useful information aids that also played a mediating role. Tools were categorised into physical tools and language. Language was categorized according to the social situations or classes of speakers. The case notes were seen as useful artefact and occupied a central niche in the studied work activity. These tools and artefacts enabled affordances around which social practices were built on in the work activities. In the last part of the results, various information practices that mirror the participatory practices rather than those of isolated individuals are highlighted. Six dimensions made up and covered the most vital spectrum of the information processing: information gathering, meaning making, information sharing, information use, reading, and documentation. Furthermore, the study revealed that learning took place simultaneously with the work activity and that it influenced information practices at the same time. / <p>Academic dissertation for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Library and Information Science at the University of Borås to be publicly defended on Friday 19 October 2012 at 13.00 in lecture room D 211, University of Borås, Allégatan 1, Borås.</p>

This interpretive research study examines peer leadership in a distributed online MBA community of practice at New States University (NSU pseudonym, based in USA). It explores ways in which faculty members in a global business course, NMBA616 (pseudonym), negotiate relationships, meaning and identity in their efforts to be effective teachers and address their own needs for professional growth and development. The research participants provide insights about community formation and function in a virtual domain where they work together at a distance without meeting face-to-face. The study appears to be a new application of culture code methodology, symbolic interactionism and social learning theory as they conjoin on social, psychological and organizational levels. To my knowledge it is the first study of an MBA virtual community of practice. Research interviews were conducted primarily by distance using web-based technology, teleconferences and email, as well as some face to face discussion. The central questions are: 1) To what extent does a distributed faculty team in an online global business management course constitute a community of practice? 2) What is the nature of faculty relationships in the online global business management course? and 3) What are the leadership issues in a virtual practice setting? Findings reveal that online community practitioners are resourceful in creating peer leadership that is embedded within the group and its relationships. The study is motivated by my personal interests and professional experience, as well as by the quest of online colleagues for ways to assess, support and improve themselves and their practice. Building on personal experience as an online business communications instructor, the thesis presents an example of peer leadership in a virtual global business community of practice and in its completion stands as a case study.

The Online Student Connectedness Survey (OSCS) was introduced to the academic community in 2012 as an instrument designed to measure feelings of connectedness between students participating in online degree and certification programs. The purpose of this study was to examine data from the instrument for initial evidence of validity and reliability and to establish a nomological network between the OSCS and similar instruments utilized in the field. The study utilized sequential exploratory factor analysis- confirmatory factor analysis (EFA-CFA) and correlational analysis to assess results of the data. Students enrolled in online courses at higher education institutions located in the United States served as the sample for this study. Three instruments were used during the study. The OSCS was administered first so that the factor structure could be examined for factor validity. Once confirmed, the Classroom Community Scale (CCS) and the Community of Inquiry Scale (COI) served as the instruments to examine nomological validity through correlational analysis of data.This study provided evidence of factor validity and reliability for data from the OSCS. After the initial EFA-CFA, the four-factor structure held, and 16 of the 25 original items remained for nomological testing. Statistically significant correlations were demonstrated between factors contained in the OSCS, CCS, and COI, providing further evidence of construct validity. These results indicate that for the sample used in this study, the OSCS provides data that are valid and reliable for assessing feelings of connection between participants in online courses at institutions of higher learning.

This study examines the patterns of involvement in terrorist activities for the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) and Turkish Hezbollah members. The study is based on the assumption that terrorists differ in terms of their involvement in terrorist activities. In this sense, there are full-time and part-time terrorists. Full-time terrorists act professionally and do the assignments given by their commanders. Part-time terrorists, on the other hand, act on a non-professional basis and have their own motivations to participate in terrorist activities. For part-timers, there are various factors that may have an effect on their degree of involvement in terrorist activities. Their decisions regarding whether to participate in a specific terrorist act can be influenced by individual factors as well as the instructions and assignments given to them. In this study, these factors are categorized under four different headings; demographic, relative deprivation, frustration, and social learning. Data regarding the involvement in terrorist activities (as measured by arrest records) and demographics (age, gender, marital status, social class), relative deprivation (education, work status), frustration (school dropout, loss of a loved one in a counter-terrorism operation, family arrest), and social learning (family association to a terrorist group and recruitment method) was collected from terrorists’ autobiographies. Research hypotheses were tested using bivariate and multivariate statistical analyses. The findings indicated that relative deprivation, frustration, and social learning models can explain the differences in the degree of involvement in terrorism for DHKP/C members, but not for Turkish Hezbollah members (controlling for demographic variables). The results showed that these three models may account for some of the differences in involvement in terrorist activities.

Ce travail de recherche se situe dans le cadre de la théorie de l'activité et dans celui de l'apprentissage social. Il porte sur les pratiques des internautes qui investissent du temps et du travail dans la mise en oeuvre et l'amélioration de la plate-forme d'enseignement en ligne « Moodle ». Même si leur objectif principal n'est pas l'apprentissage en tant que tel, leur activité nécessite de créer, de diffuser et d'acquérir certains types de savoirs et ainsi de se développer professionnellement. Alors que des informations circulent au sein des communautés virtuelles sur Internet, l'enquête ethnographique proposée considère l'activité « Moodle » comme une activité sociale située génératrice d'apprentissages. Elle repose d'une part sur un questionnaire sur les pratiques des intéressés (les Moodleurs) et d'autre part, s'appuie sur l'analyse des traces écrites qu'ils produisent sur le Web social. Les résultats permettent de mieux cerner qui sont ces « Moodleurs » et quelles sont leurs activités. Ils montrent aussi que si des apprentissages sont en jeu, ils concernent avant tout des savoir-faire. Il apparaît également qu'un développement professionnel est repérable dans cette dynamique collective interactionnelle qui ne s'effectue pas dans un cadre institutionnel classique. / The research is based on the framework of Activity Theory and the Social Learning Theory. This thesis addresses the practices of the Internet users who invest work and time in the improvement and the design of "Moodle", the platform for online education.Even if their main objective is not developing their knowledge, their activity requires creating, diffusing and acquiring certain types of knowledge and consequently developing their professional skills. Since information circulates within the virtual communities on the Internet, the selected ethnographic method considers "Moodle" activity as a situated and social activity generating learning process. It is based on both a questionnaire on the practices of the involved people (the Moodlers) and an analysis of the written traces that they produce on the social Web. The outcomes, on the one hand, show how the "Moodlers" manage their activities to learn mainly in a know-how perspective. On the other hand, it appears that the professional development depends on a collective and an interactional dynamics which is not determined by the institutional framework.