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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Community of inquiry'
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1
Jones, Carmen Rose. "Examination of Online Community College Students| Community of Inquiry Theoretical Model." Thesis, McKendree University, 2017. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10279238.
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The purpose of this study was to examine online community college student completion and the effectiveness of student learning in online courses, which was measured through the anticipated final online course grade using the Community of Inquiry (CoI) theoretical framework. The researcher collected completion rate data for both online and face-to-face courses from the 10-day roster to the end of the semester. Surveys consisting of questions from the CoI survey, demographic questions, and the student’s anticipated final course grade were administered by the Illinois Easter Community College (IECC) district to online students near the end of spring semester. The first research question examined the difference in completion rates for online and face-to-face courses. There was a statistically significant difference with students less likely to complete an online course in comparison to a face-to-face course. Three research questions assessed the relationship between the three components of CoI and a student’s anticipated final course grade. There was no statistically significant correlation between social presence and the student’s anticipated final online course grade. Cognitive presence and teaching presence both had a positive statistically significant relationship with the student’s anticipated final course grade. The final three research questions that guided this study used multiple regression to examine a predictive relationship between the social, cognitive, and teaching presence and a student’s anticipated final course grade. Cognitive presence was the only component of the CoI model that had a statistically significant predictive value on the student’s final course grade. Based on the findings from this study, the IECC district and other community colleges should focus more attention on completion efforts on online courses compared to face-to-face courses and develop and teach online courses that enhance the cognitive presence and teaching presence in an online course.
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Robertson, Prudence Jane. "Research and teaching in a community of inquiry." Thesis, University of Canterbury. School of Educational Studies and Human Development, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/2937.
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The interweaving of two strands of inquiry forms the backbone of this thesis. In the first
strand (the 'what' of the thesis) I explore the qualitatively different ways in which
academic staff at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand experience the relation
between research and teaching and investigate the pedagogical implications of this
variation. In the second strand (the 'how' of the thesis) I focus on the process of coming
to know and to talk within the field of higher education. Here I chart my journey as a
learner through the writing of the thesis. The two strands are linked through their mutual
focus on learning, inquiry and the social construction of knowledge in which both
academics and students in higher education engage.
Theoretically I position myself variously within a hermeneutic and postmodern
framework, using the tension between these perspectives to both advance and interrogate
my work. I argue that this methodological tension mirrors the dilemma of the
contemporary university, caught as it is between traditional unities and postmodern
fragmentation. Ultimately I argue a case for a productive space at the intersection of the
hermeneutic and the postmodern - a space where the university and educational research
might flourish.
I locate my empirical study within a historical and contemporary, international and local
higher education context. In doing so I highlight the contemporary tension between a
traditional, scholarly, higher education culture and a market driven, performative culture.
This tension is evident both in the paradoxical nature of recent research and in the results
of my empirical study.
In terms of empirical work, previous quantitative research in the area of the
research/teaching 'nexus' has focused primarily on the co-relation between research
productivity and student evaluations of teaching and indicates little or no relation between the two. In contrast qualitative studies, which have focused on academics' experiences of
the relation, suggest a close connection between research and teaching with discipline and
level of teaching being the principal determinants of variation. I argue that the complexity
of research, teaching and the research/teaching relation has been ignored in institutional
discourses and in the co-relational research and under-appreciated in qualitative studies.
In order to reveal this complexity I explore the individual's experience as a coherent
whole or multi-phenomenal field, which embraces knowledge, research, teaching and
learning and their inter-relation. My analysis reveals significant variation in experience
of the research/teaching relation at undergraduate level from a weak relation to a total
integration of the two phenomena.
I open up the discourse of the relation at a detailed level through an exploration of the
metaphors academics use to describe their experiences of research, teaching, learning and
knowledge and of the research/teaching relation. Those academics experiencing a weak
relation use orientational metaphors which emphasise its hierarchical nature (research is
divorced from or at best informs teaching). Those experiencing an integrated relation use
metaphors emphasising the shared (teacher and student) construction of knowledge.
These outcomes raise important questions about structures of knowledge and the nature of
disciplinary inquiry, about networks of power and about the nature of the pedagogical
relationship which determines students' participation in a community of inquiry. There is
a direct relation between academics' experiences of knowledge (which are embedded in a
disciplinary context) and their approaches to research, teaching and learning. These
experiences may also be instrumental in shaping pedagogical relations of power.
In conclusion I advocate a higher education community based on the notion of shared
(academic/student) inquiry within disciplines and increasingly, at disciplinary
intersections. My study suggests that, to survive in the twenty-first century, the university
needs to harness its fragmentation productively by seeking not agreement but robust interdisciplinary
dialogue that might enable us to live beside and understand one other while
benefiting from our heterogeneity. I argue that such dialogue must enable us to use the
perspective of the other to reflect critically on our own positions and practices.
3
Wray, K. Brad. "The role of community in inquiry, a philosophical study." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1997. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp03/NQ28530.pdf.
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Cassidy, Claire. "The concept of child and community of philosophical inquiry." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2003. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.433271.
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Sprod, Tim. "Philosophical discussion in moral education the community of ethical inquiry /." London : Routledge, 2001. http://www.myilibrary.com?id=7101.
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Hunter, Jodie Margaret Roberta. "Developing early algebraic reasoning in a mathematical community of inquiry." Thesis, University of Plymouth, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/2921.
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This study explores the development of early algebraic reasoning in mathematical communities of inquiry. Under consideration is the different pathways teachers take as they develop their own understanding of early algebra and then enact changes in their classroom to facilitate algebraic reasoning opportunities. Teachers participated in a professional development intervention which focused on understanding of early algebraic concepts, task development, modification, and enactment, and classroom and mathematical practices. Design research was employed to investigate both teaching and learning in the naturalistic setting of the schools and classrooms. The design approach supported the development of a model of professional development and the framework of teacher actions to facilitate algebraic reasoning. Data collection over the school year included participant observations, video recorded observations, documents, teacher interviews, and photo elicitation interviews with students. Retrospective data analysis drew the results together to be presented as cases of two teachers, their classrooms, and students. The findings show that the integration of algebraic reasoning into classroom mathematical activity is a gradual process. It requires teachers to develop their own understanding of algebraic concepts which includes understanding of student reasoning, progression, and potential misconceptions. Task implementation and design, shifts in pedagogical actions, and the facilitation of new classroom and mathematical practices were also key elements of change. The important role which students have in the development of classrooms where algebraic reasoning is a focus was also highlighted. These findings have significant implications for how teachers can be supported to develop their understanding of early algebra and use this understanding in their own classrooms to facilitate early algebraic reasoning.
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Litchfield, John. "Care, play and art: Beginning a social inquiry into community." Thesis, Litchfield, John (1999) Care, play and art: Beginning a social inquiry into community. PhD thesis, Murdoch University, 1999. https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/50273/.
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This dissertation focuses on the scope for social theories (and their research methodologies) in questioning how particular forms of art can furnish a beginning for social inquiry into community. It asks what constitutes an adequate foundation for the application and development of social theory and method. The dissertation places these issues clearly within the traditions of phenomenology and hermeneutics.
A Husserlian phenomenological approach is crucial in the early stages of the discussion because of its focus on modern rational ways of understanding, creating and destroying the idea of community and various expressions of community's everydayness. Rationalism cannot, it would seem, relate to either the idea of community or its expressions as anything other than a passive and subjective entity. I argue rationalism's conception of community is not at all adequate.
Using hermeneutic philosophy I argue, by contrast to orthodox rationality, that the land carries the meanings of community in both a historical and contemporary context, and as such, the land - not subjectivity - generates knowledge of community.
In developing this hermeneutic argument in relation to the land I suggest that the knowledge the land generates is made available to the social inquirer in the work of art. The argument works through the character of the relationship between the inquirer and the work of art. This 'work' enhances the social inquirer's understanding of community when their own art of interpretation and the land's particular forms and markings (including non-discursive inscriptions) are 'fused'. The site of the fusing brings a particular perspective to the well known phenomenological and hermeneutic idea of 'the horizon for inquiry'.
The dissertation shows how it is possible for social inquirers to actually make the sort of movements that will locate them at a suitable horizon for inquiry. This hermeneutic approach in social inquiry recognises its strength is in carrying forward an attitude of care, by conducting itself in the spirit of play. Care and play are, I argue, the basic pre-requisites for beginning an inquiry - being neither objective nor subjective in their characters. Through examples taken from the City of Fremantle, I examine how, through care, inscriptions on the land can provide an ongoing foundation for beginning an inquiry into community.
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McWhinnie, Susan B. "Using knowledge building to inspire community inquiry in an IB classroom." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2010. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B5017695X.
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This study examines a five‐month process in which students from an International Baccalaureate (IB) school were introduced to Knowledge Building. The study occurred throughout three of the six Units of Inquiry that students cover over one year in the IB program. The transition from independent inquiry in the IB system to collective inquiry using knowledge building was aided by the Knowledge Forum software. The participants were 26 students from an international school in Hong Kong. Findings indicate that students responded positively to the knowledge building process, and showed significant of gains in knowledge in two units. Contributions to the knowledge building wall and Knowledge Forum showed evidence of some of the principles of knowledge building. Results also indicate more could have been done on the part of the teacher to promote the program. A number of recommendations for future implementations have been made.published_or_final_version
Education
Master
Master of Education
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White, Ariane. "Transformative School-Community-Based Restorative Justice| An Inquiry into Practitioners' Experiences." Thesis, Loyola Marymount University, 2019. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=13860772.
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As restorative justice gained popularity in schools as a potential strategy for helping to reverse the deleterious effects of zero-tolerance policies, numerous misunderstandings and misapplications have emerged. This study focused on the experiences of school-based restorative justice practitioners and sought to foreground their voices and perspectives to highlight what is necessary for restorative justice work in schools to be effective. Critical narratives were used to elucidate participants’ perspectives and to allow their voices to serve as the focal point for the study. Findings were as follows: (a) the depth and ongoing nature of preparation practitioners undertake to sustain restorative justice work must be emphasized; (b) rather than a program or set of steps, restorative justice must be experienced as a set of principles or a philosophy grounded in genuine care and concern for individual people; (c) a cultural, political, and social shift is required for restorative justice to be implemented with integrity; and (d) restorative justice is a project of humanization and re-establishing democratic ideals. As such, educators in the field are encouraged to embrace the depth and complexity of the philosophical underpinnings of restorative justice and to acknowledge the personal, internal work that must be undertaken to serve a transformative function in school communities.
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Harvey, Jenna Ann Draud. "Deepening democratic capacity through collective inquiry : community-led research at PalmasLab." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/105067.
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Thesis: M.C.P., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 2016.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 111-116).
In 2015, research and innovation group PalmasLab developed their inaugural research project: a "wealth and poverty map" meant to provide a multi-dimensional picture of community development. PalmasLab is located in, and serves Conjunto Palmeiras, a neighborhood on the periphery of Fortaleza, Brazil that is often stigmatized as being poor, marginal and violent. The team at PalmasLab, made up primarily of young people from the community, seek to use research as a means to push back on these toxic narratives and as a tool for affecting change in the neighborhood. This thesis recounts the development of the research project, which transpired through a participatory action research (PAR) process between the MIT Community Innovators Lab (CoLab) and PalmasLab. Having engaged in observation, reflection and discussion as an active participant in the process, I describe how a research concept and survey methodology were created through a process of collective inquiry grounded in territorial lived experience. Subsequently, I recount how the PalmasLab team led a group of 35 local youth in the implementation of their survey in the community, a process that led to the articulation of trajectories for future action. Borrowing from Emirbayer and Mische's (1998) concept of projective agency, I argue that through the process, the PalmasLab team both exercised and strengthened their collective capacity to reflectively distance themselves from the constraints of the present in a way that enabled the development of future aspirational projects. Furthermore, drawing from the perspectives of John Dewey, Paulo Freire and Arjun Appadurai, I argue that projective agency should be understood as a democratic capacity that cannot be transferred from "capacity-builder" to "recipient," but rather that it is strengthened through collective social inquiry. Based on my experience in this process, I argue that PAR has the potential to contribute to a new culture of practice within fields such as international development and planning where "problem-definition" has historically been the purview of "experts."
by Jenna Ann Draud Harvey.
M.C.P.
11
Stermer, Laura Louise Duncan. "The community of inquiry framework and academic advising: online student perceptions." Diss., Kansas State University, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/38804.
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Doctor of PhilosophyDepartment of Educational Leadership
Sarah Jane Fishback
Perceptions of online undergraduate students on academic advising experiences were informed by the community of inquiry (COI) theoretical framework and categorized by a modified COI survey. The COI framework focused on students’ perceptions of their online learning environment, and acknowledged both the organizational (structural), transactional (collaborative view of teaching and learning), and social (isolation versus connected) challenges within online education. Indicators of COI included a decision-making process, open communication, shared personal meaning, and focused discussion. Thirty-four Likert-style survey items were used to measure student perceptions of three constructs within the COI framework: teaching presence, social presence, and cognitive presence. Cognitive presence included several stages: a sense of puzzlement, information exchange, connecting ideas, and resolution. Surveys were completed by online degree-seeking undergraduate students (N = 374, n = 87, response rate 23.3%) enrolled in spring one 2018 at a research one, land-grant institution. The analysis explored if COI was perceived in academic advising experiences. Perception of COI was categorized through self-reported preference of communication technologies (phone/TDD and web conferencing), demographic factors, and importance ranks on each COI item. Participants reported COI items as important, with variances between somewhat important and very important. Participants confirmed their perception of COI within academic advising with survey and open-ended comments. Analysis of data was conducted using a comparison of descriptive statistics, non-parametric tests, and qualitative coding of open-ended comments. Results of the data analysis revealed no significant differences (desirable) between advising technology (phone and web conferencing) and perception of COI. Descriptive characteristics revealed an increase in social presence with increased time with advisor and increased experience in completed online courses. This academic advising COI study found social presence was the highest perceived presence. Analysis of comments revealed themes confirming the rank of presence in the following order: social presence, teaching presence, and cognitive. The discussion of results focused on connections to current literature, as well as implications for future research and practice. Also, the new academic advising COI instrument (modified from original) offered a valid assessment tool for online advising, with the potential for use with a variety of advisor types, models, and institutions. Keywords: community of inquiry (COI), academic advising, higher education, online, assessment, web conferencing, social presence, teaching presence, cognitive presence, technology, online learning, student success, retention, and importance.
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Peacock, Susi. "A constructive, conceptual analytical review of the Community of Inquiry Framework." Thesis, University of Stirling, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/1893/22319.
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This thesis comprises a critical review and suggestions for enhancement of the Community of Inquiry Framework (CoIF), the frequently cited model of collaborative community-based online learning. It combines a systematic engagement of relevant literature and research, with the application of the CoIF thinking to six of my peer-reviewed publications. Although not initially conceived as forming part of a doctorate submission, these publications are drawn upon throughout this narrative, to assist my interrogation of the CoIF. They are also used to provide evidence of my continuing journey as an education researcher. This thesis is therefore not an exegesis – a traditional meta-narrative encompassing this candidate’s publications. It moves beyond my findings in the publications to create and present supplementary concepts, and develop pointed guidance about using the Framework in supporting online learning in tertiary education. My review first critically interrogates the three constituent elements or Presences of the CoIF. Social presence emerges as a highly complex and multi-faceted construct, in which the de-emphasising of the affective in the CoIF seems at variance with current research reporting the strong student emotional response to working online, and particularly in collaborative, community-based groupings. Then, in Cognitive presence, there has been little consideration of, and specificity about, reflection in the CoIF. My critique proposes that reflection and critical thinking are distinct but inter-related concepts; both of which need to be addressed. Teaching presence is renamed ‘Tutoring presence’ informed by my review based upon my emergent understandings of student-centred learning. Two enhancements to the CoIF are then proposed, together with the rationale for establishment of a Tutors’ Network. The first enhancement, referred to as 'the Influences,’ unites and enriches the individual Presences. The second argues for the existence and use of a personal learning retreat at the heart of a community of inquiry, addressing a perceived omission in the CoIF. This learner ‘space’ provides a ‘quiet, safe place’ for the private (internal) world of the learner, as a foil to the shared collaborative space in the CoIF (the external world). Finally, a Tutors’ Network is outlined as a vehicle for advancing their understandings and knowledge of online, collaborative, community-based learning in general, and in particular of communities of inquiry. This should develop the abilities of online tutors, improve their learners’ educational experiences and encourage research and scholarship into the CoIF.
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Welte, Leah G. "Orchestrating Classrooms: A Collaborative Inquiry Study of Novice Teacher Community Building." DigitalCommons@USU, 2011. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/862.
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Creating a community of learners with and among students in a collaborativeclassroom environment provides the keystone for developing the skills necessary forsuccess in the 21st century. Some preservice teachers envision that community building can enhance the learning experience for them and their students and want to learn and employ the necessary strategies. This study examined whether such a desirous group of novice teachers could identify the key factors they believed comprise community building and could successfully establish a community of learners during their first full year of teaching, supported by participation in a collaborative inquiry group.
Four novice teachers met monthly throughout their first year for two-hoursessions during which they discussed and examined various aspects involved inestablishing their classroom communities. They created and shared artifacts designed to promote a caring, respectful relationship between them and their students as well as among the students themselves. These novice teachers discussed the challenges inherent in helping students with differing sociocultural, language, and behavioral needs bond with one another. They also supported each other in dealing with the myriad of necessities and constraints involved in implementing a start-up classroom. During the final session, group members synthesized what they believed constituted the essence of community building. They also elaborated regarding the areas of success they had achieved during their initial year of teaching. Finally, the members identified that participation in a collaborative inquiry group had supported their first-year experience. The group judged their overall experience as productive and successful.
The researcher’s perspective was somewhat different from the other groupmembers. Difficulties identified in the process were using collaborative inquiry as themethod to gather data for a dissertation while endeavoring to act as an equal groupmember, requiring in-depth analysis of novice teachers who had not previouslyparticipated in action research and were still in the early stages of developing theirpractice as well as the tendency of novice teachers who had experienced the samepreservice program to employ groupthink rather than to challenge one another’sstatements. Further research should study collaborative inquiry as a method employed throughout preservice programs.
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Marchart, Oliver. "Politics and the political : an inquiry into post-foundational political thought." Thesis, University of Essex, 2003. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.272571.
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Horsfall, Debbie. "The subalterns speak : a collaborative inquiry into community participation in health care /." View thesis, 1997. http://library.uws.edu.au/adt-NUWS/public/adt-NUWS20031126.150235/index.html.
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Horsfall, Debbie, of Western Sydney Hawkesbury University, Faculty of Social Inquiry, and School of Social Ecology. "The subalterns speak: a collaborative inquiry into community participation in health care." THESIS_FSI_SEL_Horsall_D.xml, 1997. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/636.
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This thesis is about change, community and the health system. It is about women. It is about challenging the status quo and advocating for and with the less powerful. It is about fore grounding previously silenced voices, valuing the subjugated knowledge of people other than those who make the decisions. Many voices are woven together, including those of the author, community health workers, non-government agency workers, people who use community health services, and members of the public. This is a narrative of a group of people researching the issue of community participating in community health, concentrating on the Blue Mountains district of NSW. The inquiry centred on the premise that community participating is both desirable and achievable. The group spoke to over 100 people, and the conclusion was reached that, while community participation is promoted by the NSW Health Department, at present it is an idea that has not been thought through, is ill defined, and lacks support in practice. Debates about health and illness take place within a medical discourse, and there must be a reorientation to viewing health as a social phenomenon if community participation in decision making is to occurDoctor of Philosophy (PhD)
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Hauman, Kerri Elise. "Community-Sponsored Literate Activity and Technofeminism: Ethnographic Inquiry of Feministing." Bowling Green State University / OhioLINK, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1370279476.
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Besendorfer, Angela. "Building professional learning community in a rural school district an evaluative inquiry /." Diss., Columbia, Mo. : University of Missouri-Columbia, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10355/5508.
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Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2008.The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on June 2, 2009). Vita. Includes bibliographical references.
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Jones, Willie J. III. "EXAMINING THE EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES OF COMMUNITY DAY SCHOOL GRADUATES: A NARRATIVE INQUIRY." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2019. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd/958.
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Community day school graduates enter society with decisions about college, career, and work. Community day schools operate as a non-traditional education system that provides a separate and often unique education to many disenfranchised students, with lessened accountability protocols to assess whether these systems prepare graduates for life after high school. The number of community day schools and enrollment is declining, due in part to excessive changes within the law and stricter guidelines required to be met.
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Lazor, Susan. "Collaboration and Collective Inquiry Goals in an Elementary School Professional Learning Community." ScholarWorks, 2019. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/7817.
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K-12 schools in the United States face challenges to close the achievement gap, improve student learning and teacher instruction, and increase students' and educators' accountability. A professional learning community (PLC) was implemented to improve instruction and student learning at a K-5 elementary school located in the Western region of the United States. A bounded qualitative case study was used to conduct a modified formative objectives-oriented program evaluation to determine whether the collaboration and collective inquiry goals were met. This study was guided by DuFour's PLC framework. Research questions focused on how PLC team members developed and maintained the PLC goals to improve student achievement. Data were collected using document review and semistructured interviews from 10 teachers, 1 learning coach, and 2 administrators who participated in the PLC implementation for the 2015/16 school year. Thematic analysis using a priori, open, and axial codes were used to analyze the data and were related to the conceptual framework. Findings indicated that PLC teams used collaborative conversations/reflective dialogue to research and share strategies and used data-driven decisions to improve instruction and improve student achievement. PLC teams need to establish and monitor team goals and use vertical and horizontal planning. The project deliverable was a program evaluation report that provided recommendations to improve the PLC goals. Positive social change could occur if PLC teams partner with all teams, reflect on teaching practices, and use student data to improve teacher and student learning to close the achievement gap among students.
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Horsfall, Debbie. "The subalterns speak: a collaborative inquiry into community participation in health care." Thesis, View thesis, 1997. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/636.
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This thesis is about change, community and the health system. It is about women. It is about challenging the status quo and advocating for and with the less powerful. It is about fore grounding previously silenced voices, valuing the subjugated knowledge of people other than those who make the decisions. Many voices are woven together, including those of the author, community health workers, non-government agency workers, people who use community health services, and members of the public. This is a narrative of a group of people researching the issue of community participating in community health, concentrating on the Blue Mountains district of NSW. The inquiry centred on the premise that community participating is both desirable and achievable. The group spoke to over 100 people, and the conclusion was reached that, while community participation is promoted by the NSW Health Department, at present it is an idea that has not been thought through, is ill defined, and lacks support in practice. Debates about health and illness take place within a medical discourse, and there must be a reorientation to viewing health as a social phenomenon if community participation in decision making is to occur
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Barnette, Kara, and Kara Barnette. "Necessary Error: Josiah Royce, Communal Inquiry, and Feminist Epistemology." Thesis, University of Oregon, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/1794/12323.
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Feminist epistemologists have often argued that our relationships with structures of power shape the content, expression, and social force of what we know. While feminist standpoint theorists have often maintained that experiences on the margins of social power can lead to better understandings of the roles of systems of oppression in society, more recent writings on epistemologies of ignorance examine the reverse, how experiences from positions of social power limit our understandings. In this project, I draw on the concept of epistemic privilege as it has been formulated by feminist standpoint theorists, criticisms of objectivity and fixed, transcendent truths, and analyses of the relationships between structures of power and concepts of knowing. By considering the works of Sandra Harding, Lorraine Code, and Patricia Hill Collins, among others, I argue that knowledge is situational and contingent and that some individuals possess privileged understandings due to their positions on the margins of power structures. However, I also argue that, in order for feminist epistemology to utilize the concept of epistemic privilege successfully, it must incorporate a concept of error into its considerations of constructions of knowledge.
Thus, throughout this dissertation, I examine how a concept of error could bolster efforts to subvert the dominant approaches to knowledge that have upheld male privilege and undermine the patriarchal power structures that rely on them. I propose a form of feminist inquiry that incorporates a method of error sensitivity, which will enable inquirers to recognize when institutions of power, individual limitations, and cultural myths are restricting knowing subjects' perspectives and leading them to commit errors. This concept of error, and the related approach to error-sensitive inquiry, relies upon a commitment to continuous and ever-expanding inquiry by a community, rather than an isolated individual. Thus, I derive much of my conceptual framework from the work of Josiah Royce and his concepts of the Beloved Community, loyalty to loyalty, and communities of interpretation.
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Harrison, Malou Chantal. "A Narrative Inquiry of Successful Black Male College Students." ScholarWorks, 2014. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/145.
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Despite a growing enrollment of Black males in colleges and universities in the U.S., the nationwide college degree completion rate for Black males remains at disproportionately low numbers as compared to other ethnicities and to that of Black females. The purpose of this narrative inquiry study was to evoke and promote the voices of successful Black male students and to understand their perspectives on factors that contributed to their college success. Findings from this research provide insight into college experiences and interventions that have positive implications for Black male college student success. Valencia's (2010) work on educational attainment served as the anti-deficit conceptual framework for this study, which used a qualitative approach of criterion-based, purposeful sampling. A total of 14 Black male college students from a community college in the Southeast served as study participants. Eight participants were interviewed, and 6 participated in a focus group. Open-ended interview and focus group protocols were used to engage study participants. The data analysis consisted of open and axial coding to identify recurring themes. The analysis revealed the college experiences to which successful Black male college students were exposed. These experiences included student organization membership, community service, advising, and mentorship engagement. Intrinsic motivation and ethnicity were also emergent themes that appeared to contribute to the students' college success. The study findings are insightful as to how institutions might better support Black male college success and completion. Increased Black male college completion has positive implications for a better quality of life for this population and their families as well as greater socio-economic contributions to society.
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Smith, Charles Raymond. "Continuous professional learning community of mathematics teachers in the Western Cape: developing a professional learning community through a school-university partnership." University of the Western Cape, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/4943.
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Philosophiae Doctor - PhDWays of enacting effective professional development (PD) and professional learning (PL) of teachers are diverse and often contested and therefore needs sustained inquiry (Schuck, Aubussona, Kearney, & Burden, 2013). The “quick fix” mentality that is endemic to most including those aimed at educational systems leads to very superficial implementation of improvement strategies, including teacher development. These strategies are usually bureaucratically mandated and superficially implemented in a top-down manner. One of the critical drawbacks of such superficial implementation of top-down improvement strategies is that it fails to appeal to teachers because of their historical experiences of such short term and intermittent improvement interventions. This study focussed on the development of a Professional Learning Community (PLC) as a possible continuous professional teacher development (CPTD) model with a promise to deliver effective CPTD. Literature in this regard indicates this model of CPTD as highly effective to support sustained teacher development. The efficacy a PLC is predicated on a collaborative and relational approach to teacher development and professional learning underpinned by a microclimate of commonality. The initiation of PLCs is a complex task. It requires a deep understanding of the processes involved in orientating teachers to processes that involve reflective dialogue and collaborative inquiry. Hence this study sought to investigate experiences of teachers in a PLC established through an alliance involving teachers, didacticians and education officials. This study found that the PLC signifier conveys significant meaning for teachers in terms of their engagement in the PLC. Moreover, teachers’ experiences of the PLC model confirmed the generally accepted features of a PLC. The importance of having a common vision, norms and standards was shown to be an important dimension of the PLC. Besides the fact that the active promotion of this shared vision by the PLC leadership and other education administrators was highlighted, teachers in general accepted the importance of being reflective practitioners. Despite this belief in the value of collaborative reflection, this study found that it does not take place as often as one would expect. This is, to some extent, due to the timetabling arrangements at most schools in the sample. Findings of this investigation provided evidence that it is possible in a PLC to effect a shift from professional development to professional learning. This is consistent with literature in this regard, for example, Benken & Brown (2010) support this argument by indicating that CPTD should be viewed as professional learning that is sustained over time. However, the issue of sustainability is an important challenge. This study revealed that teachers see sustainability as a function of three important variables, namely, recognition by school leadership and administrators, support from the organised teacher movements and subject organisations, and teacher commitment. Important affordances of a PLC identified through this study are relational agency, epistemic agency and a micro-climate of commonality. These affordances are viewed as important enablers of collaborative inquiry and reflective dialogue and underscores the community aspect of a PLC.
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Kovalainen, M. (Minna). "The social construction of learning and teaching in a classroom community of inquiry." Doctoral thesis, Oulun yliopisto, 2013. http://urn.fi/urn:isbn:9789526202020.
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Abstract This thesis concentrates on investigating the social construction of learning and teaching in a classroom that was encultured into working and acting as a community of inquiry across the curriculum. The theoretical and methodological premises of the study draw on sociocultural and sociolinguistic views on learning and instruction. Through this framework, the study aims at investigating the development, implementation and evaluation of the processes and conditions for communal inquiry across different pedagogical situations and across the curriculum in the case study classroom. In addition, the study aims at creating a pedagogical rationale for supporting meaningful, student-centred and problem-based learning in classroom. The research project was realised as a series of qualitative case studies. The subjects of the study were seventeen third-grade students from a Finnish elementary school and their teacher. The empirical data corpus consists of nine hours of videotaped classroom sessions gathered from the domains of philosophy, science and mathematics. Detailed, micro- and multilevel analyses were completed on the transcribed video recordings of whole classroom interaction. The results of the research project indicate that social interactions in the case study classroom were quite dominantly characterized by multilateral interactions amongst classroom members. Instead of mere information exchange, the nature of knowledge in this classroom was largely based upon sharing and defining views as well as negotiating evidence. In general, the students in this classroom clearly took charge of the cognitive work whereas the teacher’s responsibility was more directed towards managing the interactional practices during the joint discussions. However, there were occasions when the teacher stepped in as an analytic authority. The teacher scaffolding was grounded in the on-going interactions and varied in both quantity and quality whilst engaging in dialogue with individual students demonstrating different participation modes. Overall, the results of the study indicate that teacher scaffolding in this classroom supported communal inquiry from both the cognitive, social and socio-emotional perspectivesTiivistelmä Väitöstutkimus tarkastelee oppimisen ja opetuksen sosiaalista rakentumista luokassa, jonka toimintakulttuuri rakentuu tutkivan yhteisön periaatteille yli oppiainerajojen. Tutkimuksen teoreettinen viitekehys perustuu sosiokulttuurisille ja sosiolingvistisille oppimis- ja opetuskäsityksille. Tästä teoriataustasta käsin tutkimuksen tavoitteena on tarkastella tutkivan yhteisön periaatteille rakentuvan toimintakulttuurin prosesseja ja ehtoja tapaustutkimusluokassa. Lisäksi tutkimuksen pedagogisena tavoitteena on kehittää suuntaviivoja merkitykselliselle, oppilaskeskeiselle ja ongelmalähtöiselle oppimiselle. Tutkimusprojekti toteutettiin laadullisten tapaustutkimusten sarjana. Tutkimuskohteena ovat seitsemäntoista suomalaisen alakoulun 3. luokan oppilasta ja heidän opettajansa. Tutkimusaineisto koostuu yhdeksästä tunnista videoituja oppituntitilanteita filosofian, luonnontiedon ja matematiikan oppiaineissa. Koko luokan vuorovaikutustilanteita sisältävät litteroidut videotallenteet analysoitiin yksityiskohtaisin, mikro- ja monitasoisin analyysimenetelmin. Tutkimustulokset osoittavat, että tapaustutkimusluokan sosiaaliset vuorovaikutustilanteet rakentuivat vahvasti jäsenten väliselle, monenkeskiselle vuorovaikutukselle. Pelkän informaation vaihdon sijaan tiedon luonne tutkimuskohteena olleessa luokassa perustui yhteiselle näkökulmien jakamiselle, tarkentamiselle ja perustelemiselle. Luokan oppilaat ottivat vastuuta tiedollisista neuvotteluista, kun taas opettajan vastuu kohdentui enemmänkin vuorovaikutuksen ohjaamiseen yhteisten keskustelujen aikana. Kuitenkin opettaja astui esiin luokan vuorovaikutustilanteissa välillä myös analyyttisenä asiantuntijana. Opettajan tuki määrittyi luokan vuorovaikutustilanteiden kautta, ja se vaihteli määrältään ja laadultaan opettajan ollessa vuorovaikutuksessa osallistumiseltaan erilaisten oppilaiden kanssa. Kaiken kaikkiaan tutkimustulokset osoittavat, että opettajan ohjaus luokkayhteisössä tuki tutkivan yhteisön rakentumista niin tiedollisesta, sosiaalisesta kuin sosioemotionaalisesta näkökulmasta
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Stickley, Theodore. "Promoting mental health through an inner city community arts programme : a narrative inquiry." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2008. http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/10542/.
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The focus of this study is a community arts programme, Art in Mind, which is based in an inner-city area of an East Midlands city in the UK and was funded by the government's New Deal for the Communities. The aim of the qualitative research study was to gain understanding of the human processes involved in setting up such a project and to ascertain the subsequent benefits to participants. The research was conducted in two stages: stage one involved semi-structured interviews with seven of the original Art in Mind Steering Group members and stage two comprised interviews with eleven participants who were interviewed up to three times over a one-year period. Sixteen people were interviewed in total. The findings from participants are presented as a case-series. Interviewees included those who subsequently became members of the 'Lost Artists Club', one of the community-based activities that originated within the project and those who engaged with an 'Arts on Prescription' programme. In both stages, a total of 35 qualitative interviews were conducted. The concept of mental health promotion through the arts is examined in the context of national developments to promote social inclusion. The methodological framework for the research is a narrative inquiry and emphasis is given to the stories that are individually and collectively constructed and recounted by the participants. All the data were subject to a narrative analysis, incorporating thematic, event and relational analysis. Individual and collective narratives are presented. Findings from stage one of the research identify the personal motivations of Steering Group members to develop the programme. Findings from stage two of the research reveal that the project facilitated new personal, social and occupational opportunities for participants. Identity claims are strong, as people have re-constructed themselves as artists. Participants enjoy a sense of belonging and social identity with like-minded people.
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Townsend, Beth Ann. "Perceptions of the Community of Inquiry in an Online RN to BSN Program." Thesis, Walden University, 2015. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3730576.
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Basic nursing education is no longer sufficient to meet the escalating demands of today’s complex healthcare environment. Recognizing the need for the advanced cognitive skills incurred by these demands, increasing numbers of registered nurses (RNs) have been enrolling in online Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) programs. The problem identified in the RN to BSN degree completion program at a large Midwestern university was the lack of information as to how online teaching and learning strategies were experienced by students. Research has demonstrated that the online community of inquiry (CoI) model facilitates higher order thinking through collaborative learning strategies and the interaction of teaching, social, and cognitive presence. The purpose of this sequential explanatory mixed methods study was to investigate the perceptions of RNs enrolled in the program about a recently completed course utilizing a 34-item CoI survey and semi-structured interviews. The data from 109 completed survey responses were analyzed via descriptive statistics and indicated that student perceptions of social and teaching presence were lower than perceptions of cognitive presence, meaning that the perceived establishment of online relationships and instructor engagement were not as high as were the perceived experiences of higher order thinking. Interviews with 15 purposefully selected students were analyzed for emergent themes and suggested limited online collaboration, which is considered to be fundamental to higher order learning. Based on these findings, a faculty development workshop was designed using the CoI model to encourage collaboration. A potential increase in RN proficiency in higher order thinking fostered by the CoI model will optimize the quality of patient-related decisions, minimize medical errors, and provide the impetus to challenge the status quo in health care.
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Vignare, Karen Kraus. "An Investigation of Traditionally-Aged College Students' Perceptions of the Community of Inquiry." NSUWorks, 2012. http://nsuworks.nova.edu/gscis_etd/330.
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Online learning courses are taken by nearly 31% of college students (Allen & Seaman, 2011). The majority of those enrolled in online learning are graduate and non-traditional undergraduate students. Survey data from multiple sources show a growing number of traditional students enrolling in online courses or online only universities. There is a lack of information about younger college students enrolling in online courses and those attending online only institutions. Without more research on the perceptions of this population, it is difficult to design an effective online learning environment. The Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework has been used as a process model that defines, describes and measures the tasks supporting online learning. The core elements are the three overlapping presences of teaching, social and cognitive and the interrelationships among those presences. Through more than a decade of work on the framework, a methodology and survey instrument emerged for studying the potential and effectiveness of online learning. Will younger college students enrolling today perceive the CoI framework and the presences from the model, the same way that non-traditional students have in the last decade?
Most CoI studies sample non-traditional adults aged 25 and older. American Public University System (APUS) is a for-profit online only institution which publishes research studies that contribute to the growing number of CoI studies available. In the last four years APUS has provided large samples to validate the CoI model and investigate how CoI relates to retention and course design. The limited purpose of the research is to determine whether the CoI framework and its current results, is applicable to a select group of traditional students aged 21 and under who enroll in only online courses APUS.
Through an exploratory study using statistical tests including a factorial analysis, the first sample population (n=2,019) consisted of students', 21 and under, responses to the CoI questionnaire and the second sample (n=125,039) was the responses of students older than 21. The samples were compared to determine if there was any significant difference between the perceptions of non-traditional and younger college students on the CoI model. Results indicated that the comparative means of the two populations are highly correlated at .924 but the p value is .000 at the 95% confidence interval. The two populations are different. A factor analysis showed that both samples perceived a three factor solution. The total variance explained was very similar for both samples. For the students who were 21 and under, the three factors accounted for 77.16% of the total and for the older students, three factors accounted for 74.17% of the total. The factor analysis results from the younger students also show that each item from the questionnaire is associated with the appropriate factor. The factor analysis results correspond to previous validated research conducted on the CoI model.
The results continue to support the validity of the CoI model, but the differences in the populations are significant. The significance tests are useful but may not be as meaningful as the factor analysis due to the size of the samples. This research adds to the body of knowledge on the CoI model, a dominant theory that describes what learners perceive in an online environment. The results inform the understanding of the CoI model as it applies to younger college learners' perceptions of an effective online learning environment.
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Johnson, Timothy Lee. "The downtown Austin planning process as a community of inquiry : an exploratory study /." View online version, 2008. http://ecommons.txstate.edu/arp/276.
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Kirkwood, Robert D. T. "Exploring participatory inquiry with young people to inform community-based occupational therapy practice." Thesis, University of Brighton, 2013. https://research.brighton.ac.uk/en/studentTheses/316fcaf7-4c4b-4294-8ace-359ecb6ebea3.
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Murrill, Leslie D. III. "Evolution Toward Democratic Community: A Teacher's Journey." Diss., Virginia Tech, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/30437.
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This qualitative study followed the classroom practices of a second grade teacher
across the course of a school year. Data collection methods used included interviews,
fieldnotes, observations, various site artifacts and photographs. Informants were the
classroom teacher, thirteen second grade students, the building principal, and several
colleagues, family members and friends identified by the teacher.
The study used literature in the fields of critical pedagogy and democratic
educational practice to interpret the teacher's work. Analysis suggested that the second
grade class group evolved toward a sense of democratic community as the teacher: 1)
provided the foundations of relationship, high expectations and belief in her students; 2)
created classroom structures that supported the growth of moral intelligence amongst
class members; and 3) extended opportunities for students to regularly contribute to and
actively participate in class experiences.
Findings suggest that a sense of democratic community can not be quickly or
easily realized. As this teacher sought to foster its development through building
foundations, creating support structures and extending opportunities to her students, she
experienced unpredictability, risk and struggle. Significantly, however, she perceived her
daily struggles as opportunities to reflectively reconsider her teaching practices. As she
continually assessed and refined her practices, she and her students grew as a mutually
supportive community.Ph. D.
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Hulkko, Annelie, and Malin Jansson. "Education through instant messaging : A content analysis in an online coaching project." Thesis, KTH, Skolan för teknikvetenskap (SCI), 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-126944.
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In this master’s thesis a model for transcription analysis for a one-to-one Relationship ofInquiry were constructed and presented. The model was modified from the model fortranscript analysis in Community of Inquiry. The original three presences from Community ofInquiry, teaching, cognitive and social presence, were chosen to be adapted to Relationship ofInquiry together with a fourth presence, emotional presence. In this study the online coachingproject Math coach were used for the construction and testing of the model.A total of 60 conversations ranging over more than 3000 message units were in this thesisanalysed to test the model. From the data collected it was seen that the coaches and thecoachees had an almost 50-50 share of the message units. Furthermore the presences in thedata collected where distributed so that the most units where coded to cognitive presence, thenin descending order: teaching, emotional, and social presence. In this master’s thesis themodel for transcript analysis is presented and the results are discussed.I denna examinationsrapport konstrueras och presenteras en modell för transkriptionsanalysför en-till-en samtal i ”Relationship of Inquiry”. Modellen modifierades från den existerandemodellen för transkriptionsanalys i ”Community of Inquiry”. De tre ursprungliga elementenfrån ”Community of Inquiry”, lärarelementet, kognitiva elementet och sociala elementet,anpassades till ”Relationship of Inquiry” tillsammans med ett fjärde element, emotionellaelementet. I denna studie användes projektet Mattecoach på Nätet för konstruktion ochtestning av modellen.Totalt var det 60 konversationer på mer än 3000 meddelanden som analyserades för att testamodellen. Från de data som insamlades kunde det ses att coacherna och eleverna hade ennästan 50-50 fördelning av meddelanden mellan sig. Vidare var elementen fördelade så att deflesta meddelanden som kodades tillhörde det kognitiva elementet, sen följde de i sjunkandeordning: lärarelementet, emotionella elementet och sociala elementet. I detta arbete såkommer modellen för transkriberings analys att presenteras och resultaten att diskuteras.
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Buck, Janet. "Using Appreciative Inquiry to Improve RN Retention in a Clinical Float Pool." ScholarWorks, 2015. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/1254.
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In an Idaho-based hospital, the registered nurse (RN) turnover rate in the float pool was excessively high. The purpose of this project was to examine the effect of Appreciative Inquiry (AI) on a RN's sense of community (SOC) in a float pool and an RN's intent to stay employed after attending an AI event. Although much had been written about nursing retention, AI, and SOC separately, there was nothing on how AI could be used to increase a RN's SOC or intent to stay employed. AI is a change management framework that has been used to engage employees in a meaningful way. The goal of this project was to engage RN float staff in a 6-hour AI workshop to generate ideas on improving the work environment. The SOC theory by McMillan and Chavis provided the context for measuring RN perception. It was anticipated that participation would lead to an increased SOC and an increased likelihood of staying employed in the float pool. The Sense of Community Index 2 survey was administered pre and postworkshop to a convenience sample of RNs (n = 22) recruited from the float pool. Additionally, RNs were asked before and after the workshop how likely they were to leave their current position in the next 12 months. Data analysis was a paired t test based on a 1-group pretest and posttest design. Demographic data were collected to describe the sample population. The results, although not statistically significant, showed both an increased SOC and an increased intent to leave following the AI workshop. The findings show that AI may be useful for increasing SOC. However, as a tool for nursing retention, both AI and SOC require better understanding. It is hoped this study will provide leaders with a starting point for further investigation into how AI and SOC can be used to improve the nursing work experience.
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Spiro, Deborah. "Examining Instructor and Student Perspectives of Online Interaction Through the Community of Inquiry Model." NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY, 2012. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3492391.
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Willatt, Alice Matilda. "An inquiry into the ethics, politics and practices of care in a community kitchen." Thesis, University of Bristol, 2017. https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.752804.
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Bober, Delia A. Bober. "Singled Out for Success: A Narrative Inquiry of Single Mothers in the Community College." Kent State University / OhioLINK, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1499273274581437.
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Day, St John. "Managing water locally : an inquiry into community-based water resources management in fragile states." Thesis, Cranfield University, 2016. http://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/9849.
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Water resources in many parts of the world, but particularly in Africa, face multiple pressures. These growing pressures, along with rainfall variability, pose significant risks to water resources and livelihoods. Over the past two decades the concept of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) has been presented as a panacea, but subscription to this model has not delivered the results expected. Despite a massive endeavour there is extensive evidence that IWRM remains difficult to implement, particularly in fragile states. In contrast, at local level the responsibility of communities to manage water supply systems forms a central component of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector policy. But WASH programmes are focused primarily on the supply of services, and not enough on water resources. Consequently, remarkably little has been written about the role of communities in monitoring and managing water resources. Also, few studies have examined the transitions fragile government institutions need to undertake to move from one (inferior) situation, to a much better one. This study used Action Research (AR) to investigate the role community-based institutions can play in monitoring water resources, alongside government authorities. Initial field research was conducted in Darfur and Niger before further work in Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone. It found that communities could monitor water resources with high degrees of success; however, continued external support is also required from responsible government institutions. Community-Based Water Resources Management (CBWRM) is considered a realistic and plausible approach for strengthening the water component in WASH programmes. This research argues that in fragile states there is greater potential to develop national water security plans from local- level initiatives. Adopting a “localised” approach is particularly important for countries that face the pervasive obstacles of short rainfall seasons: negligible hydrometeorological monitoring, limited water infrastructure and weak institutions. CBWRM warrants greater attention from the WASH sector and further research is needed to identify how effectively communities can manage water resources and scale up this approach once Water Resource Assessments (WRAs) have been conducted.
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Ostrogorsky, Tanya Leigh. "An Exploratory Inquiry into Community Policing Using Focus Groups: Perspectives from Social Service Providers." PDXScholar, 1996. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/5151.
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The purpose of this study was to evaluate Portland, Oregon's community policing policy by using focus groups to discuss the development and effectiveness over one year, Spring 1994 to Spring 1995. The group discussed included management level social service providers and was one piece of a large scale program evaluation. The collected data developed into six major categories: 1) personnel policies and institutional memory; 2) training; 3) consistency; 4) community involvement and responsibility; 5) partnerships or relationships, and 6) change over time. The most highly discussed issue was the discrepancy between the philosophy of the Bureau, community policing, and the way in which the Bureau moves personnel. Data analysis suggested that the level of confidence and support felt by social service providers has increased dramatically over one year. Although, the group participants still have many issues they would like to see resolved, all recognize this is a process that takes time. Generally, community policing has rooted itself and established a footing with the social service providers who are committed to assisting in the molding and development of community policing as well as providing resources to assist in that Journey.
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Singleton, Krista Kirby. "Reimagining the Community of Inquiry Model for a Workplace Learning Setting: A Program Evaluation." Scholar Commons, 2019. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/7944.
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The purpose of this study was to conduct an evaluation on a workplace training program using the Community of Inquiry (COI) model as a guide for course construction. Given that online and blended learning programs have gained popularity in the past two decades, companies have struggled with how to prepare trainers in the areas of online teaching methods and instructional technology usage to create an effective and engaging learning environment. In this study, I utilized the COI model, created for use in higher ed settings, in a workplace setting as a curriculum framework to revamp an unsuccessful online learning program. The new curriculum and course logistics framed three presences contained in the COI model—cognitive, social, and teaching. The researcher conducted evaluations by surveying the learners, the training team, and by direct observations of the instructional designers. Results suggested that the COI model was a good foundation for building an online learning course in a workplace setting with slight variations. A recommendation for future use in this new setting was to divide the teaching presence into two presences and create a new design presence, which makes a clear delineation between instructional design and content delivery functions.
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Jones, Nathan B. "Discovering perceptions of the essence of college-level writing| Transcendental phenomenological inquiry in a Midwestern community college." Thesis, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 2016. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10141526.
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The perceptions of six community college faculty members about the qualities of college-level writing were explored in a series of guided interviews conducted at Prairie Community College (a pseudonym) located in the central time zone of the United States. The study examined the perceptions of the six faculty members with regard to important characteristics of college-level writing, acceptable multiple discourses within college-level writing, and perceptions of faculty members from different academic disciplines about college-level writing. Interview data were analyzed through the lens of transcendental phenomenology.
The results showed that the six community college faculty members differed greatly by academic discipline about what they perceived college-level writing to be. The English faculty members believed that college-level writing consists of grammatically correct sentences presented within essay structures. However, faculty members of biology, economics, and mathematics were much more open in their perceptions about what could be accepted as college-level writing.
The results of the study suggest a need for dialogue among faculty members of different disciplines within community colleges about the characteristics of college-level writing and what community college students need to learn to become successful college-level writers.
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D'Adamo-Damery, Philip Carl. "Ontological Possibilities: Rhizoanalytic Explorations of Community Food Work in Central Appalachia." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/51247.
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In the United States, the community food movement has been put forward as a potential solution for a global food system that fails to provide just and equitable access to nutritious food. This claim has been subject to the criticism of a variety of scholars and activists, some of whom contend that the alternative food movement is complicit in the re-production of neoliberalism and is therefore implicated in the making of the unjust system. In this dissertation I use theories of Deleuze (and Guatarri) and science and technology scholars to enter the middle of this dichotomy. I argue that both readings of community food work, as just and unjust, rely on realist epistemologies that posit knowledge as representative of an existing reality. I alternatively view knowledge as much more contingent and plural, resulting in a multiplicity of realities that are much less fixed. The idea that reality is a product of knowledge, rather than the inverse, raises the question of how reality might be made differently, or of ontological politics. This is the question I set out to interrogate: how might the realities of community food work be read and made differently, and how this reading might open new possibilities for transformation? To explore this question, I conducted interviews with 18 individuals working for three different non-profit community food organizations in central Appalachia. I used and appreciative inquiry approach to capture stories that affected these individuals' stories about their work captured their visions and hope for food system change. I then used a (non)method, rhizoanalysis, to code the data affectively, reading for the interesting, curious, and remarkable, rather than attempting to trace a strong theory like neoliberalism onto the data. Drawing on Delueze and Guattari, I mapped excerpts from the data into four large narrative cartographies. In each cartography, the narrative excerpts are positioned to vibrate against one another; my hope is that these resonances might open lines of flight within the reader and space for new ontological possibilities. For adult and community educators, I posit this rhizoanalysis as a poststructuralist contribution to Freire's concept of the generative theme and of use to broader project of agonistic pluralism.Ph. D.
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Howard-Watkins, Demetria. "The African-American Quality of Life Initiative as a community of inquiry : an exploratory study /." View online, 2006. http://ecommons.txstate.edu/arp/115/.
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Yang, Weijia, and 楊維嘉. "Understanding scholarship of teaching and learning : a narrative inquiry into a community of university teachers." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10722/211123.
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This thesis inquires narratively into the practice of scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) and teachers’ personal practical knowing process in a self-initiated community of university teachers in China. Following a conception by Boyer (1990) that research should be incorporated into teaching as the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL), Huber & Hutchings (2005) theorize SoTL in a four-core-practice framework of a linear process of individual expression for research and publication. However, not much attention has been given to the important dynamics of collaborative learning. Adopting a social theory of learning and Wenger’s “communities of practice” (1998, 2002), this thesis extends the framework by Huber & Hutchings to investigate the integrated form of individual and collaborative SoTL practice. “Personal practical knowledge” by Connelly, Clandinin & He (1997) is considered in the light of Palmer’s “community of truth” (1998), which is aimed at developing an integrated perspective for understanding teachers’ evolving personal practical knowledge in the SoTL community.
This study involves four university academics who are ready to cultivate a SoTL community. They become learning associates for one another, as they went beyond merely sharing concerns and practices about teaching to reach collaborative inquiry into their perceived problems. In response to new circumstances, the SoTL community evolves from an initial grouping of four to increased membership in the formal structure of the system.
Narrative inquiry is adopted as the basis for research methodology. Data are collected via ethnographic observation of community meetings, writing correspondence and documentation. The study is naturalistic, collaborative and developmental by nature, enacted within Clandinin & Connelly’s narrative inquiry space along three dimensions (2000). The richness of the narrative experiences and the salient details of the community learning are organized into four narrative profiles, and each carries consistently three progressive steps, followed by the summary of narrative analysis, and concluded with an overview.
From teachers’ lived experience in the SoTL community, the adapted framework by Huber & Hutchings is validated, showing that (1) inquiry evidence is multiplied through sharing dynamics; (2) teaching problems are re-defined from diverse resources through collaborative inquiry; (3) changes in teaching as a SoTL initiative are experimented; and (4) learning relationship is woven for further development in the community of inquiry. The study extends understanding of “personal practical knowledge” (Connelly, Clandinin, & He 1997) from moral and intellectual dimensions to shed light on the development of teachers’ personal practical knowledge in the SoTL community. Morally engaged, teachers not only fasten their commitment to teaching improvement, but also become aware of ethical dilemmas with readiness to tackle them. On a moral ground, teachers are empowered to make intellectual progress. They are capable of cultivating an authentic, critical, moral self to withstand the external pressure. They acquire growing competence to address the complexities of teaching and learning, from which to harvest context-specific knowledge. In conclusion, the study presents an alternative paradigm of SoTL for teachers to strengthen their capacity and learn together for professional development.published_or_final_version
Education
Doctoral
Doctor of Philosophy
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Tolu, Aylin Tekiner. "An Exploration of Synchronous Communication in an Online Preservice ESOL Course: Community of Inquiry Perspective." Scholar Commons, 2010. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/3707.
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Based on a collaborative and socio-constructivist approach to online education, the Community of Inquiry (CoI) model emphasizes creating an effective learning environment where students feel a connection with other learners and the instructor and engage in well-designed collaborative learning activities.
Following a naturalistic methodology, this qualitative case study investigated the use of synchronous communication for creating a community of inquiry and student satisfaction in an online ESOL (English Speakers of Other Languages) endorsement course for preservice teachers. Elluminate Live was used for class meetings while an instant messenger, Gmail Chat served the needs for impromptu interactions between a student and the teacher.
The study was guided by the CoI framework. Data sources included online recordings of live meetings, student written reflections, surveys, interviews, and teacher/researcher journal.
The findings indicate that synchronous communication enhances building and sustaining an online community of inquiry. Gmail Chat provided increase in teacher availability, social presence, and student satisfaction, however it did not contribute much
to creating cognitive presence simply because it was not planned to be used for content delivery. Moreover, Elluminate Live contributed effectively to the community of inquiry by enabling manifestations and interactions of its 3 elements; social, teaching, and cognitive presence. Participants perceived that live class meetings promoted their learning and helped them feel the instructor and other students in a more real sense. Class meetings via Elluminate Live promoted cognitive presence by affording the students opportunities for listening to the presentations by the teacher and other students, watching a teacher demonstration through a webcam, interacting actively through Whiteboard tools, text-based chat, microphone, and emoticons, and working with their groups in their private breakout rooms. Instant and audio communication among students created a sense of social presence with trust, comfort, and belonging, and enhanced group work efficiency.
The study highlights the critical role of synchronous communications to create effective online learning communities, however it also underlines that the implementation of synchronous communication tools requires robust pedagogical planning to enhance student learning.
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Nwankwo, Chidebe. "Legitimation of the economic community of West African states (ECOWAS) : a normative and institutional inquiry." Thesis, Brunel University, 2014. http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/9387.
Full textAbstract:
This study is an attempt at determining the normative legitimacy of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). At its core, it scrutinizes the current mandate of the organization following the layering of economic integration objectives with human rights protection, sustenance of democracy, and the rule of law. The study discusses the elements of legitimacy across disciplines mainly, international law, international relations and political science. Legitimacy is eventually split along two divides, the normative and descriptive/sociological aspects. The study traces the normative content (shared/common values) underlying integration in Africa, concluding that integration has been born on new ideals such as human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Expectedly, Regional Economic Communities (RECs) as building blocks of the prospective African Economic Community (AEC) under the African Union (AU) regime are mandated to play a vital role in moving the continent forward upon these values. The inquiry is extended to the institutions of ECOWAS to determine their capacity to effectively implement the new mandate of the organization and operate supranationally. In the process, key legal and institutional shortcomings are discussed, particularly in relation to national institutions. It is argued that while human rights protection enhances the normative legitimacy of ECOWAS, it must not be pursued in isolation. Economic integration and protection of citizens’ rights are co-terminus and mutually reinforcing. Hence, community institutions must reflect this link if they are to be effective. The study concludes on the note that, while ECOWAS possesses layers of legitimacy, and have carried out legitimation steps, it cannot be considered a legitimate organization if Member States continue to be non-compliant with community objectives and if key legal questions remain unaddressed. It is submitted that ECOWAS is merely undergoing legitimation, whether it can eventually be considered a legitimate organization is dependent on addressing the identified challenges.
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Choi, Ming-Fai. "Students' perceptions of, and performance in, online learning : an examination of the community inquiry model." Thesis, Durham University, 2007. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/1303/.
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Maritz, Gerrit Ulrich. "An appreciative inquiry approach to community theatre on HIV and AIDS education for young people." Diss., University of Pretoria, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/26490.
Full textAbstract:
This dissertation positions Community Theatre as an agency for development and education based on the educational principles of Freire and Boal’s Theatre for Development. The dissertation argues that Appreciative Inquiry can enrich the practice of Community Theatre by approaching HIV and AIDS education through an asset-based, participatory, inclusive, learner-centred approach. The dissertation further hypothesises that the infusion of the 4-D process of Appreciative Inquiry into Community Theatre processes aimed at HIV and AIDS education will enhance young people’s agency as active participants and agents of change in their communities beyond the didactic notions inherent in ABC education approaches to HIV prevention. This approach can encourage meaningful participation and critical consciousness amongst young people in the HIV prevention response.Dissertation (MA (Drama))--University of Pretoria, 2011.
Drama
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Fillers, Bethany. "Sensemaking in the Process of Inquiry: A Qualitative Case Study of a Networked Improvement Community." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2019. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/3598.
Full textAbstract:
There are persistent and pervasive issues plaguing American education, and almost seventy years of educational reform efforts have failed to adequately improve educational outcomes for many of America’s children. Networked improvement communities (or NICs) are a type of social organization created to address such problems and are proposed as an effective and efficient way to organize improvement efforts. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the sensemaking experience of a newly-formed networked improvement community as members engaged in inquiry around a chosen problem of practice. During network initiation, NIC members engage in experiences to collaboratively identify and collectively articulate a central problem of practice, and these intentional inquiry processes are a critical step for newly-formed networks. The study was designed to answer the following questions about this research case: What initial understandings emerged about the networked improvement community's chosen problem of practice? How did members of a newly-formed networked improvement community begin to make sense of their organizational problem of practice through inquiry? What cues triggered member sensemaking? What actions propelled member sensemaking forward?
Data collection methods included the selection of naturally occurring network inquiry documents originating from member-generated student and teacher journey map experiences and corresponding member reflections and discussion via a network blog (or discussion forum). The data were analyzed utilizing both deductive and inductive strategies across multiple phases of analysis. Likewise, the data were reviewed against the study’s conceptual framework, which was based on current research on networked improvement communities and the sensemaking process. Measures of rigor were achieved through multiple strategies, including triangulation, disconfirming evidence, rich descriptions, theory-based sampling strategy, and peer debriefing/expert review. The data revealed not only a rich understanding of the network’s problem of practice but also provided a window into what types of cues triggered member sensemaking in this social structure and what actions propelled member sensemaking forward in this ongoing process.
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Casciola, Vanessa. "Preservice Teachers Engaged in Professional Learning Community to Explore Critical Literacy." Scholar Commons, 2016. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/6202.
Full textAbstract:
As demographics change, our school populations are ever changing. Preservice teachers (PSTs) need to be aware of how to meet the needs of all of their future students. Teacher education programs have been charged with the duty of preparing these PSTs for the diverse school population they will encounter. This qualitative multiple case study focused on the influence of specific work with PSTs in the inquiry process within a learning community to make sense of critical literacy. The following research questions guided this study: (1) How do elementary PSTs engaged in practitioner inquiry make meaning of critical literacy instruction within a facilitated learning community? (2) How do PSTs enact critical literacy instruction in the field experience elementary classroom while engaged in practitioner inquiry in a facilitated learning community? (a) What facilitates PSTs as they enact critical literacy instruction in the elementary field experience classroom? (b) What inhibits PSTs as they enact critical literacy instruction in the elementary field experience classroom?
Participants included six PSTs from a cohort in a two-day a week field experience. A sample of three cases was selected to analyze in more detail and for a cross-case analysis. Data sources included transcriptions of learning community meetings, PST written reflections at the end of each learning community meeting, two interviews with each participant, a researcher’s journal, video-recorded literacy lesson and lesson plan, critical literacy concept maps, literacy belief platforms, and plans for learning community sessions.
The findings for each case are detailed in chapters four, five, and six. These findings were analyzed to develop assertions in a cross-case analysis. These assertions included: (1) The three preservice teachers’ sensemaking and/or enactment of critical literacy was impacted as they “saw” examples of critical literacy, (2) Making meaning of critical literacy and critical literacy enactment are an interwoven process that inform each other, (3) As these PSTs engaged in the PLC, their sensemaking and enactment of critical literacy evolved, (4) All PSTs faced similar inhibitors to critical literacy enactment, however, Jodi and Tira were able to negotiate many of these inhibitors to enact critical literacy.
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Landis, Rebecca Danielle. "Community Food Work as Critical Practice: A Faith-based Perspective." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/56581.
Full textAbstract:
Historically, many faith-based hunger relief efforts address food insecurity through the emergency food system, but they often do not challenge the systemic causes of the need, which according to some, are poverty and inequality. As a promising alternative, community food work is a radical approach to food system change that imbues values of justice, sustainability, and equity into the food system to reduce the pervasiveness of poverty and inequality in society.
I used narrative inquiry as methodology in a faith-based context to explore the role of criticality in community food work. Additionally, I explored the treatment of hegemony in these practitioners' critically reflective practice. I engaged six practitioners in narrative-based interviews and subsequently asked them to read and analyze their own interview. I then gathered all participants for a collective reflection session where we reflected on excerpts from the interviews and used them as a foundation for further dialogue and reflection.
Each practitioner used their faith to varying degrees in the performance of their work. I found significant notions of feeling called to serve, and bringing God's kingdom to earth, but an avoidance to use this work to evangelize. The narratives reflected community food work as a community development effort and extended beyond the context of food. Affirming, trusting relationships serve as a foundation to how this group of practitioners approach their work, and provide the space to interact with their work in radical ways and raise critical consciousness.Master of Science in Life Sciences