Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Reflective tasks'

High cognitive demand (HCD) tasks can help students develop a deeper understanding of mathematics. Teachers need interventions that encourage students to engage in HCD activities. Small-group discourse provides HCD opportunities for students while solving mathematics problems. Discourse can take place after students solve problems individually (reflective) or in groups as students solve problems (exploratory). This study looks at the relationship between these two types of small-group discourse and student-enacted cognitive demand. This study looks at how students engage with tasks that were designed at four different cognitive demand levels using Webb’s depth of knowledge (DOK) framework. Ninety-seven grade 5 students from four different classrooms were grouped in small groups of two or three students to solve two sets of mathematics problems on operations with fractions and decimals. Each class engaged in Reflective Discourse after solving one set and engage in Exploratory Discourse while solving the other set. To help understand any order effects, half the classes used Reflective Discourse with Set 1 while the other half used Exploratory Discourse with Set 1. Then, they switched for Set 2, so that whoever used Reflective Discourse with Set 1 used Exploratory Discourse with Set 2 and vice versa. The researcher analyzed whether there were patterns in levels of cognitive demand and quality of the discussion when students engaged in each type of discourse for math problems at four different levels. First, the researcher looked at any numerical differences between the intended cognitive demand of the problems and how students engaged with the problems using frequency tables, heat maps, and statistical analyses. Next, the researcher looked at differences in student actions and the way they talked about the math problems. Findings showed that both Reflective and Exploratory Discourse can be used by teachers to promote high student-enacted levels of cognitive demand. Results also showed that a supportive environment, such as the environment created by Reflective Discourse, can help support typically struggling students. Finally, this research reinforced the importance of dissonance in prompting students to engage with the tasks at higher levels of cognitive demand.

How to manage a dynamic environment and how to provide task partitioning are two key concerns when developing distributed computing applications. The emergence of Grid computing environments extends these problems. Conventional resource management systems are based on a relatively static resource model and a centralized scheduler that assigns computing resources to users. Distributed management introduces resource heterogeneity: not only the set of available resources, but even the set of resource types is constantly changing. Obviously this is unsuitable for the present Grid. In addition, the Grid provides users with the physical infrastructure to run parallel programs. Because of this increasing availability, there are more requirements for parallelization technologies. Therefore, based on problems outlined above, this thesis provides a novel scheduler which not only enables dynamic management but also provides skeleton library to support the task partition. Dynamic management is derived from the concept of reflectiveness, which allows the Grid to perform like an efficient market with some limited government controls. To supplement the reflective mechanism, this thesis integrates a statistical forecasting approach to predict the environment of the Grid in the next period. The task partitioning support is extended from the skeleton library in the parallel computing and cluster computing areas. The thesis shows how this idea can be applied in the Grid environment to simplify the user’s programming works. Later in this PhD thesis, a Petri-net based simulation methodology is introduced to examine the performance of the reflective scheduler. Moreover, a real testing environment is set up by using a reflective scheduler to run a geometry optimization application. In summary, by combining knowledge from economics, statistics, mathematics and computer science, this newly invented scheduler not only provides a convenient and efficient way to parallelize users’ tasks, but also significantly improves the performance of the Grid.

This study explores junior secondary students’ schemata on a line reflection construction task, the research of which was conducted in a secondary school in Hong Kong. The theories drawn on in this study come from the literature on theories of schemata and the corresponding knowledge embedded within, namely conceptual knowledge, manipulation and procedural knowledge. The research built on existing theories on schemata and attempted to categorize the different kinds of schemata as well as investigating the relationship between them among four junior secondary students in the construction of a line reflection task. The study also tried to find out how and why students manipulated in a line reflection construction task and the extent to which manipulation could lead learners to successfully tackle the task. This study researched on four junior secondary students, drawing mainly on qualitative data used in the analysis, including task-based interview with the employment of think aloud method in a designed line reflection construction task, as well as study of students’ drawings. The data analysis mainly focused on three areas. First, the analysis of each of the four cases was conducted by looking into the different kinds of schemata possessed by the student informants. Second, analysis of the different knowledge (conceptual knowledge, manipulation and procedural knowledge) embedded in the schema possessed by the student informants was done. Third, synthesis was drawn upon the analysis made in an attempt to answer the research questions posed in this study. Findings from the study confirmed the core role conceptual knowledge plays in the establishment of a learner’s schemata. Findings also revealed that different learners may possess different schemata towards the same concept such as the concept of same distance. When investigating the manipulative actions employed by student informants, it was found that there is a reciprocal relationship between a learner’s conceptual knowledge and his manipulation. This is also apparent in cases where there was a misconception in the learner’s schemata. The research also found that students exercised manipulation very differently and these manipulative actions were largely informed by their corresponding conceptual knowledge. With regard to why they manipulated, the research revealed reasons including manipulation for exploration, manipulation for representation and manipulation for verification. Based on the observation and analysis done in the four cases, it was found that manipulation helped students in the completion of the task to different extents. Learners with weaker conceptual knowledge in line reflection benefited more from the manipulation done in the construction task. These findings have implications for the teaching and learning of line reflection. Teachers are suggested to consider introducing using manipulative tools when approaching the teaching of line reflection, especially when they are dealing with students without rich conceptual knowledge in the area. The effectiveness of having hands-on experience implies that simply teaching definition and inviting learners to rote-learn does not necessarily lead to effective acquisition of knowledge in the Mathematics topic of line reflection.
published_or_final_version
Education
Doctoral
Doctor of Education

Many older adults desire to maintain their quality of life by living and aging independently in their own homes. However, it is difficult for older adults to notice and track the subtle changes in their own abilities because these abilities can change gradually over a long period of time. Technology in the form of ubiquitous sensors embedded in objects in the home can play a role in keeping track of the functional abilities of individuals unobtrusively, objectively, and continuously over a long period of time. This work introduces a sensing technique called “task-based embedded assessment” that monitors how well specific tasks important for independence are carried out using everyday objects found in the home with which individuals regularly interact. Following formative studies on the information needs of older adults and their caregivers, a sensing system called “dwellSense” that can monitor, assess, and provide feedback about how well individuals complete tasks, such as taking medications, using the phone, and making coffee, was designed, built, and evaluated. Multiple longterm (over 10 months) field deployments of dwellSense were used to investigate how the data collected from the system could support greater self-awareness of abilities and intentions to improve in task performance. Presenting and reflecting on data from ubiquitous sensing systems such as dwellSense is challenging because it is both highly dimensional as well as large in volume, particularly if it is collected over a long period of time. Thus, this work also investigates the time dimension of reflection and has identified that real-time feedback is particularly useful for supporting behavior change, and longer-term trended feedback is useful for greater awareness of abilities. Traditional forms of assessing the functional abilities of individuals tend to be either biased, lacking ecological validity, infrequent, or expensive to conduct. An automated sensor-based approach for assessment is compared to traditional performance testing by a trained clinician and found to match well with clinician-generated ratings that are objective, frequent, and ecologically valid. The contributions from this thesis not only advance the state of the art for maintaining quality of life and care for older adults, but also provide the foundations for designing personal sensing systems that aim to assess an individual’s abilities and support behaviors through the feedback of objective, timely sensed information.

This study employed the theoretical framework of Albert Bandura???s social cognitive theory, to investigate how differing levels of self-efficacy impact on both the type and degree of self-regulatory behaviour employed by the students when composing music in a high school music program. The literature review revealed an abundance of related research suggesting a strong relationship between self-efficacy and self-regulated behaviour in the ???core??? academic domains of education. In contrast, there was no specific research found that had examined self-efficacy and self-regulation in the context of students composing music. An independent school in Sydney served as the research site, with sixty-eight students of varied year levels and musical experience participating in the study. Students used stand alone computers, the software ???Cubase??? and MIDI keyboards as they completed a task that involved creating an original piece of music in a genre of their own choice, over a series of four composition sessions. A mixed methodology was employed to determine if the influence of the students??? self-efficacy beliefs upon their self-regulation in a creative activity were consistent with existing research. Data were collected using a mixture of weekly measures and self-report scales, combined with a variety of questionnaires, logs, tally sheets and interviews. Eight variables, including the self-regulatory sub-processes of goal setting-strategic planning, intrinsic motivation, goal orientation, task expectation, time on task, task completion, monitoring were analysed together with an additional variable, defined as creative ability, to determine if evidence could be found of a relationship between self-efficacy and these specific behaviours while composing. The results suggest that the pre-task (Week 1) measure of self-efficacy was closely associated with the students??? use of the eight self-regulatory dimensions as well as their perceived level of creative ability. Weekly self-efficacy measures also suggested that students??? employ self-regulated sub-processes proportionally to their respective levels of self-efficacy. Importantly, the more efficacious students employed a wider and more sophisticated repertoire of self-regulated behaviour when composing in contrast to the less efficacious students. Self-efficacy was also identified as a key factor amongst students who were initially identified as being naive self-regulators, but who through the duration of the task, modified their behaviour to become more skilful self-regulators. Throughout the study, the consistent level of interaction between self-efficacy and the use of self-regulated behaviours were aligned with findings in the core ???academic??? disciplines of education.

Este trabalho busca principalmente reconhecer o que considera ser a dimensão sistemática do pensamento de Paul Ricoeur, fundada, como se acredita, na concepção da consciência como tarefa. Procura outrossim compreender os pressupostos ontológicos e metodológicos de seu pensamento. Pretende mostrar também que, ao perseguir uma simbólica dos sentidos múltiplos, a reflexão concreta de Ricoeur integra, a partir do que ele chama dom da linguagem, o logos filosófico, a episteme que virou ciência e a riqueza pré-filosófica do símbolo. Sua hermenêutica filosófica busca a compreensão do si, da reflexão sobre si mesmo, através da interpretação aplicada sobre os signos e símbolos de uma consciência que não se sabe no princípio, mas ao cabo do desvio de suas obras e de seus atos. A reflexão é a reapropriação daquilo que se é a partir do que é dito a si mesmo pelos signos e símbolos da cultura e das tradições. Paul Ricoeur é apresentado ainda como crítico da consciência imediata e narcísica. Ele constrói seu percurso intelectual de sorte a arbitrar o conflito das diversas interpretações que versam sobre o simbolismo humano. Este trabalho procura mostrar finalmente que o filósofo propõe de fato um novo percurso para a reflexão, através de uma démarche em dois tempos, em que o pensamento reflexivo se desapossa do imediatismo da consciência falsa e comum, para posteriormente se reapropriar das significações mais profundas manifestadas em nosso esforço para existir e nutridas pelo nosso desejo de ser. Eis a trajetória histórica e exemplar que esta dissertação busca evidenciar.
The main purpose of this study is to recognize what it considers to be the systematic dimension of Paul Ricoeurs thought based, as believed, on the conception of consciousness as a task. Likewise, it aims to understand the ontological and methodological assumptions of his thought. It also intends to demonstrate that pursuing a symbolism of multiple meanings, Ricoeurs concrete reflection integrates, from what he calls the gift of language, the philosophical logos, the episteme that was turned into science and the pre-philosophical richness of the symbol. His philosophical hermeneutics seeks the comprehension of ones self, of the reflection of ones self, through the interpretation applied to the signs and symbols of a consciousness that is not known from the beginning, but after the detour of its works and its actions. The reflection is the re-appropriation of what one becomes from what is said to us by the signs and symbols of culture and traditions. Paul Ricoeur is still presented as a critic of the immediate and narcissistic consciousness. He builds his intellectual journey in order to arbitrate the conflict of different interpretations that deal with the human symbolism. Finally, this work seeks to demonstrate that the philosopher proposes in fact a new route for reflection, through a démarche in two stages, in which the reflexive thought deprives itself of the immediacy of the false and common conscience, to reclaim later the deeper meanings expressed in our effort to exist and that are nourished by our desire of being. This is the historic and exemplary trajectory that this dissertation seeks to demonstrate.

The chief aim of my thesis is to study and analyse how the multiculturalism of schools is reflected in research and reports in Sweden and in the way in which teachers talk about multicultural issues at school. Part of the work is done in the form of reflecting talks with two groups of teachers in two different schools on issues and situations taken from their own everyday experience. The talks are conducted over two years. One partial aim is therefore to study whether this working method can help teachers to develop their strategies with regard to multicultural issues at school. I describe how the talks develop over two years in an ethnically heterogeneous group of teachers in one of the schools, some areas related to multicultural issues in the school that the teachers find problematic, and how the talks to some extent influence the teachers’ choice of strategies in the school’s practice. Part of the work is an analysis of a talk from each group of teachers and their conceptions of “the immigrant pupil” and her/his parents are focused on. The analytical tool of interpretive repertoires is used to visualise patterns of common points of departure and values in the talks. Also part of the work is an analysis of how research and reports reflect the discourse on multicultural issues from 1980 to 2005. I emphasise some themes and how these change over time. Through the study, parts of the content of the discourse about the multicultural Swedish education are made visible. The discourse contains expressions of a focus on shortcomings and problems that are regarded as linked to pupils, parents and to some extent to teachers with foreign backgrounds. The discourse also contains expressions of seeing differences, chiefly between groups of pupils with foreign and ethnic Swedish backgrounds respectively. By focusing on differences and shortcomings a boundary is at the same time set up between “us” and “them”. The composition of teachers in Swedish schools is relatively homogeneous as regards ethnicity. When, in addition, it is many times teachers that have the responsibility and power to define what are seen as problems and to find solutions in schools’ practice, the problems and solutions are often defined from a majority perspective. It is also from a majority perspective that decisions are made about to what extent, to what degree and in what way minority perspectives should be represented in these contexts. It is a matter of who has the power to define themselves and the others and the others’ shortcomings.

La volonté précontractuelle est le socle de la formation contractuelle. Au cours des négociations, les parties formulent leurs exigences et perfectionnent leurs volitions. Les manifestations de volonté à l’origine du contrat sont donc le fruit d’un processus volitif propre à chaque contractant. En dépit des apparences, le droit n’ignore pas le vouloir des parties au stade des négociations. Il s’intéresse aux mécanismes d’élaboration de cette volonté. La perception de la volonté précontractuelle est alors un enjeu essentiel dans la compréhension de l’acte qui en résulte. Il s’intéresse également aux manifestations de volonté. Celles-ci fixent ponctuellement le vouloir de leur auteur. Elles rassurent alors par leur perceptibilité. Toutefois, ces manifestations n’ont pas toujours la clarté attendue. En effet, le doute innerve la période précontractuelle et plus particulièrement les manifestations de volonté qui s’y développent. Confronté à cette difficulté, le droit doit s’adapter. Il entreprend donc de réagir en tentant d’adapter le résultat de ces manifestations. Ainsi, le contrat ne sera en définitive qu’une résurgence partielle des manifestations de volonté à son origine. Il peut par conséquent être appréhendé comme l’expression imparfaite des volontés précontractuelles à sa source. En somme, la frontière entre le précontractuel et le contractuel est ténue. L’analyse de la volonté précontractuelle et de ses manifestations va révéler les liens existant entre ces deux notions
The pre-contractual willingness is the basis of contractual training. During the negotiation, the parties draw up their requirements and develop their volitions. The demonstrations of willingness at the initiation of the contract are therefore the outcome of a volitional process for each contracting party. In spite of appearances, the legal entitlement does not ignore the will of contracting parties at the negotiating phase. It is interested in the mechanisms of elaboration of this willingness. The perception of the pre-contractual willingness is the essential stake throughout the apprehension stage of the final deed. It is highly concerned by the demonstration’s ways of a willingness. These delineate punctually the willingness of their originator. It reassures by their perceptibility. However, these manifestations are not always unambiguous like expected. Indeed, the doubt innervate the pre-contractual stage and more particularly the manifestation phase of a willingness which emerges here. Confronted with this challenge, the legal entitlement must adapts. It engages to react by trying to adapt the outcome of these manifestations. In this way, the contract will ultimately become a partial resurgence of the manifestation of veritable willingness. It can therefore be comprehended as the imperfect expression of pre-contractual willingness at its source. In essence, the border between the pre-contractual and the contractual is tenuous. The analysis of the pre-contractual willingness and its manifestations reveals the existing links between these two notions

Within the educational psychology literature there is an abundance of research in the field of metacognition. The concentration of this research however has been in primary and secondary school contexts with little attention given to tertiary students' understanding or use of metacognition; there has been even less attention to whether age is a factor in tertiary students' perceptions of their metacognitive processes. The primary purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of two distinct groups of first year university students, towards their understanding and usage of metacognitive processes and strategies. The two groups defined were traditional school leavers and mature age students. The findings from the exploration of these perceptions were compared to ascertain the similarities and differences in metacognitive processes between the two cohorts. The data collected for this study were obtained through a process of individual face-to-face in- depth interviews. The choice of this methodology was deliberate in order to gather rich data about the students' perceptions and experiences rather than attempt to measure their levels of metacognition against some predetermined standard. Data were collected and analyzed on the two constructs of metacognition which were identified in the literature search. These were metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive control. A range of affective variables such as self efficacy, motivation and expectancy of success, which impact on students' metacognitive abilities and processes, were also considered in the data collection and analysis. The findings indicated that age was a factor in determining some differences and similarities in students' perceptions of their own and others metacognitive processes. In certain cases the traditional school leavers' recency of experience with formal study was deemed an advantage; in others the life experience of the mature age students was perceived an advantage. In some instances the age of the student had no discernable impact on their understanding of, and ability to, utilize metacognitive strategies. These findings assist to broaden the understanding of student perceptions of metacognition in the tertiary context. The findings also make it imperative that tertiary institutions make fewer assumptions about the skills and abilities of their commencing students based on the criterion of age and offer more opportunities to assist students to understand the value of developing and improving their metacognitive processes.

Within the educational psychology literature there is an abundance of research in the field of metacognition. The concentration of this research however has been in primary and secondary school contexts with little attention given to tertiary students' understanding or use of metacognition; there has been even less attention to whether age is a factor in tertiary students' perceptions of their metacognitive processes. The primary purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of two distinct groups of first year university students, towards their understanding and usage of metacognitive processes and strategies. The two groups defined were traditional school leavers and mature age students. The findings from the exploration of these perceptions were compared to ascertain the similarities and differences in metacognitive processes between the two cohorts. The data collected for this study were obtained through a process of individual face-to-face in- depth interviews. The choice of this methodology was deliberate in order to gather rich data about the students' perceptions and experiences rather than attempt to measure their levels of metacognition against some predetermined standard. Data were collected and analyzed on the two constructs of metacognition which were identified in the literature search. These were metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive control. A range of affective variables such as self efficacy, motivation and expectancy of success, which impact on students' metacognitive abilities and processes, were also considered in the data collection and analysis. The findings indicated that age was a factor in determining some differences and similarities in students' perceptions of their own and others metacognitive processes. In certain cases the traditional school leavers' recency of experience with formal study was deemed an advantage; in others the life experience of the mature age students was perceived an advantage. In some instances the age of the student had no discernable impact on their understanding of, and ability to, utilize metacognitive strategies. These findings assist to broaden the understanding of student perceptions of metacognition in the tertiary context. The findings also make it imperative that tertiary institutions make fewer assumptions about the skills and abilities of their commencing students based on the criterion of age and offer more opportunities to assist students to understand the value of developing and improving their metacognitive processes.

Powszechna komunikacja globalna, możliwa dzięki Internetowi, upowszechniająca kontakty międzykulturowe, wpłynęła znacząco na zmianę w priorytetowych celach kształcenia językowego, szczególnie w odniesieniu do języka angielskiego. Osiągnięcie wysokiego poziomu komunikacyjnej kompetencji interkulturowej (Byram 1997) stało się równie ważne jak wykształcenie kompetencji językowej. Niniejsza praca dotyczy krytycznej świadomości kulturowej (KŚK) - jednego z kluczowych elementów modelu Byrama (1997), stanowiącego istotną umiejętność nie tylko w radzeniu sobie w sytuacjach interkulturowych, ale również niezbędną w rozumieniu własnej tożsamości kulturowej oraz promowaniu postawy obywatelskiej. Głównym celem badań podjętych w ramach opisanego tu projektu empirycznego była analiza procesu zmiany KŚK na podstawie: (1) diagnozy poziomu KŚK przed i po interwencji dydaktycznej, (2) zbadania skuteczności serii zadań ukierunkowanych na rozwijanie KŚK wraz z (częściowo sterowaną) refleksją, polegającą na prowadzeniu dzienniczków przez uczniów, (3) pogłębionej oceny KŚK przez diagnozę zdolności meta-świadomościowych i postaw interkulturowych wybranych studentów na podstawie wywiadów. W oparciu o ogólną definicję KŚK zaproponowaną przez Byrama (1997) i po dogłębnej analizie czynników warunkujących KŚK, wyodrębniono jej pięć zasadniczych komponentów: (1) tożsamość kulturowa, (2) umiejętności decentrowania (ang.: decentring skills), (3) meta-świadomość i refleksyjność, (4) rozumienie pojęcia kultury oraz (5) postawę otwartości i empatii wobec swojej i obcych kultur. W badaniu wykorzystane zostały następujące narzędzia: (a) kwestionariusz krytycznej świadomości kulturowej studenta, stworzony w oparciu o wyodrębnione komponenty KŚK i ich wskaźniki, (b) seria ośmiu zadań dydaktycznych mających na celu rozwijanie poszczególnych aspektów KŚK, (c) dzienniczek refleksji, w którym badani dokonywali intro- i retrospekcji i notowali swoje przemyślenia, obserwacje i komentarze związane z różnymi zagadnieniami interkulturowości, (d) arkusz oceny zadań, ich atrakcyjności oraz wartości edukacyjnej, jak i zalet oraz problemów w prowadzeniu dzienniczka, wypełniony przez studentów biorących udział w badaniu, oraz (e) wywiady z wybranymi studentami. Badanie objęło 148 studentów filologii angielskiej i miało charakter badania w działaniu. Wieloaspektowe analizy jakościowe przeprowadzone na zebranych danych pozwoliły na wgląd w skomplikowany proces rozwijania KŚK. Seria zadań dydaktycznych wykorzystanych podczas zajęć ma dodatkową wartość praktyczną: mogą być one włączone do kursu języka angielskiego, ale stanowią też inspirację dla nauczycieli pragnących rozwijać komunikacyjną kompetencję interkulturową na lekcji języka obcego. Rozprawa składa się z dwóch części: części teoretycznej (rozdziały 1-3) oraz części empirycznej (rozdział 4 i 5). Pierwszy rozdział dotyczy istotnej zmiany paradygmatów w edukacji językowej - od zdekonstruowanej i fragmentarycznej rzeczywistości postmodernistycznej w kierunku dynamicznego, płynnego i wrażliwego na kontekst paradygmatu transmodernistycznego. Rozdział drugi poświęcony jest krytycznej świadomości kulturowej, która stanowi centralny element modelu Byrama (1997). W pierwszej kolejności model ów jest omówiony wraz ze wskazaniem jego mocnych stron, jak i pewnych ograniczeń. Następnie nacisk położony jest na zagadnienia teoretyczne, które korespondują z ideą KŚK, tj. Pedagogika Krytyczna, edukacja obywatelska i krytyczna świadomość językowa. Rozdział kończy przegląd metod i technik wykorzystywanych w rozwijaniu KŚK. W trzecim rozdziale omawiana jest istota transformacji w rozbudzaniu KŚK z perspektywy psychologii kultury oraz filozofii, z naciskiem położonym na relację Ja-Inny/Obcy. Następnie omówione są cztery modele komunikacji interkulturowej (Ting-Toomey 1999; Bennett 1986, 1993, 2004; Deardorff 2006; Shaules 2007), uwypuklające w swoich konceptualizacjach proces zmiany. Najważniejsza zmiana dotyczy transformacji podejścia etnocentrycznego w kierunku mediacji interkulturowej, reprezentowanej przez tzw. etnorelatywizm. Podejście to nawiązuje do teorii transformatywnego uczenia się, która przedstawiona jest na końcu rozdziału. Rozdział czwarty obejmuje opis metodologii badania empirycznego, przeprowadzonego dla celów owej pracy. Przedstawione są w nim: główne cele i założenia badawcze, pytania badawcze, uczestnicy oraz kontekst badania, poszczególne etapy procesu zbierania danych, narzędzia badawcze oraz narzędzia analizy. Ostatni rozdział poświęcony jest wynikom badania, którego głównym celem było zbadanie dynamiki procesu zmiany KŚK w badanej populacji. Omówione są również pewne ograniczenia i problemy, które wyniknęły w trakcie zbierania i analizy danych. Rozprawa kończy się syntetycznym podsumowaniem zawierającym wnioski końcowe.
Global communication involving intercultural encounters, made possible by the Internet, has significantly changed the major objectives of language education, especially in relatio1to teaching and learning English. Achieving a high level of intercultural communicative competence (Byram 1997) has become as important as developing language competence. The present dissertation focuses on Critical Cultural Awareness (CCA), one of the key components of Byram's (1997) model, embracing abilities not only crucial for success in intercultural encounters, but also indispensable to acquiring a better understanding of one's own cultural identity and important for becoming an engaged citizen. The main purpose of the research undertaken as part of the empirical project described in the present thesis was to analyse the process of change in CCA on the basis of: (1) the comparison of the results of pre- and post-treatment questionnaire, used to diagnose the students' CCA, (2) students' feedback on the in-class CCA-oriented tasks and journal writing, (3) a deeper insight into CCA, the students' meta-awareness and intercultural attitudes as explored in semi-structured interviews conducted with several participants. Based on the general definition of CCA, as originally proposed by Byram (1997), and after an in-depth analysis of the factors affecting it, five major CCA components were identified: (1) cultural identity, (2) decentring skills, (3) reflectiveness and meta-awareness, (4) cultural understanding, and (5) attitudes of empathy and openness towards the Other. The following tools were designed for and used to collect relevant data: (a) pre- and post-treatment questionnaires, which aimed at establishing the students' initial level of CCA and tracking possible development of particular indicators; (b) a set of reflective tasks that were designed to raise the students' CCA; (c) reflective journals, which encouraged the students' intro- and retrospective reflection; (d) course evaluation form, which aimed at getting feedback from the students; and (e) semi-structured interviews, which were designed to gain a deeper insight into the students' perspective on the process of developing CCA. There were 148 participants in the study; they were all English philology students. The multifaceted qualitative analyses afforded a considerable insight into the complex process of raising L2 learners' CCA and provided a valuable feedback on the didactic aims of the study (including the use of reflective tasks and journals as didactic aids). The thesis comprises two major parts: theoretical (chapters 1 to 3) and empirical (chapters 4 and 5). Chapter 1 focuses on the paradigm shift in language pedagogy marked by a transformation from the deconstructed and fragmented postmodern reality towards a more dynamic, fluid and context-dependent transmodern paradigm. The second chapter is devoted to the key notion investigated in the dissertation, i.e. critical cultural awareness. First, Byram's (1997) model of Intercultural Communicative Competence is presented and briefly discussed, and the pivotal role of CCA in ICC is highlighted. Apart from the strengths of the model, its limitations are also recognised and addressed. The emphasis is also placed on the theoretical underpinnings of CCA, namely three interrelated theoretical perspectives: Critical Pedagogy, education for citizenship and critical language awareness. The chapter ends with a brief overview of selected methods and tasks that can be incorporated in L2 pedagogy in order to embrace CCA in language teaching and learning. Chapter 3 revolves around the importance of change in the process of raising L2 users' critical cultural awareness. The chapter draws from the accomplishments of both cultural psychologists and philosophers, focusing on the process of acculturation and the dynamic relationship between the Self and the Other. Next, four models (Ting-Toomey 1999; Bennett 1986, 1993, 2004; Deardorff 2006; Shaules 2007) which emphasise change and transformation in conceptualising intercultural competence are presented. The significance of adequately recognising and challenging ethnocentric patterns is discussed. The ability to mediate between cultural identities is the key feature of the transformative learning theory, and its role in educating an autonomous, critical and independent L2 learner is discussed in the final section of the theoretical part of this thesis. Chapter 4 begins the empirical part. It is devoted to the methodology of the empirical research project central to the present dissertation. First, the rationale for conducting this research together with the main assumptions and research questions are presented. Then, the participants and the research context are described, followed by the research design with a description of the particular stages of the project. Next, the research tools used in the study are introduced. Finally, a brief description of the data analysis is provided. The final chapter presents the results and findings of the empirical research study and emphasises the students' voices that emerged in the process of the data analysis. The major limitations of the project are also addressed. The answers to the research questions are discussed and the final conclusions are drawn. The thesis ends with concluding remarks, followed by a list of cited works, a set of six appendices, and two summaries (in English and in Polish).

Universities are increasingly adopting a neoliberal framework for education—one that is centred on employability, graduate outcomes and skills. Within this framework, teaching, assessments and subjects must adhere to the laws of the market; this prepares students for their roles in private or corporate firms and instils suitable kinds of skills for graduate employment. However, minimal attention is paid to the needs of students as holistic people, citizens, public advocates or members of their local communities, nor is attention paid to their contribution to democratic society. Specifically, subjects in the humanities and social sciences are designated as functionally useless, impractical and irrelevant. The neoliberal style of education has recently come to dominate Australian law schools. Presently, law schools focus heavily on skills, and they avoid deep training in the liberal arts or training students to think for themselves and critique the law they learn. Various academics have addressed this crisis in legal education. They have proposed, on the one hand, a return to a classical and liberal arts style of education in which law is conceptualised in its political, social and economic context. Conversely, they have also proposed a focus on critical theory and critical perspectives of law. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the adoption of a liberal arts approach to legal education through the research and proposal of a new law school curriculum in Australia. This includes proposing new teaching methods, assessments and subjects. This proposed broad liberal arts education in law aims to teach students to think for themselves and to develop their critical and analytical skills, sense of justice and injustice, their ability to comprehend and critique the law and their hard and soft transferable skills that are necessary for the broad range of jobs they will accept after graduation (beyond private and corporate practice). Specifically, this thesis aims to consider how and why law can be taught as part of a wider study of politics, history, civics, psychology and philosophy, and how it can consequently prepare students to become well-rounded citizens in their future jobs.
Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Law School, 2021

The main goal of this dissertation was to create and verify own multicomponent tasks of interdisciplinary character based on analysis of types of tasks occured in international research. Newly created multicomponent learning tasks were classified by task type, solution form, cognitive demands and task variety. Tasks of the same form were ordered to pairs, their difficultness, vulnerability and rate of success were verified. Multicomponent learning tasks were assigned verbally or nonverbally (charts, tables or pictures). Closed jobs (ordering items, matching items, multiple choice questions, true/false questions) and open jobs (wide-answer items, short-answer items) were used in complex of tasks. Rate of success of individual tasks was processed by non-parmetric statistical Wilcoxon test based on form, gender and type of study. Research survey was complemented by pupils' self- reflection questionnaires and teachers'questionnaires about testing process. Key words Multicomponent learning task, taxonomy of learning task, scientific literacy, reading literacy, self-reflective questionnaire.

This small scale action research explored the use of guided written reflection as a means to assist learners to gain self-awareness of their social and affective strategic behaviours during classroom speaking tasks, to improve collaboration, and to increase oral output. Four research questions addressed: (1) the social and affective strategies learners use to complete classroom speaking tasks, (2) the changes in social and affective strategies that learners demonstrate in written reflections over four weeks, (3) whether there is a difference in the amount of oral output produced by the experimental group (EG) and the comparison group (CG), and (4) the EG group members’ perceptions of the reflection process. Two groups of English as an additional language (EAL) learners completed eight dyadic classroom speaking tasks. Immediately after completing each task, five EG participants responded in writing to questions in a reflection journal addressing emotions, vocabulary, interactions with interlocutors, and strategic goals; the six CG participants were not provided with the same opportunity to reflect. In the EG, over four weeks, the strategy justifying performance decreased, while complimenting increased. Although EG participants’ oral production did not increase, part E of Oxford’s (1989) SILL showed a significant increase in I encourage myself to speak. Of fourteen participants who completed a final anonymous questionnaire, 64% felt that the reflection process helped them to speak more, and 93% felt that it helped them to work effectively with their classmates.
Graduate
290
525
633

碩士
臺中師範學院
國民教育研究所
89
The Effects of Teaching Reflection upon Mathematical Problem Solving on Task Performance Li-Hui Chen ABSTRACT The objectives of this study were to investigate both the immediate effects and the long-term effects of the instruction by teaching fifth graders to reflect on their mathematical problem solving, and to explore students’ viewpoints of the instruction related to reflection. The instruction of reflecting on mathematical problem solving in this study employed Polya’s four—step process for solving problems. It asked students to collaborate on mathematical problem solving, then each individual student reflected on the process for problem solving with writing down on the reflection sheet. There were two levels of experimental treatment in the study: (a) students collaborated on mathematical problem solving only (the control group); (b) students collaborated on mathematical problem solving and reflected on the process for problem solving (the experimental group). Sixty-four fifth graders in two classes were selected as subjects from an elementary school in Taipei Wen-Shan district, and were randomly assigned to the two different groups. The experiment was conducted over seven-week periods, for 80 minutes each week. A single factorial design was employed. The dependent variables were (a) scores of “the reasonableness and correctness of mathematical problem solving” and (b) scores of “the creativity of mathematical problem solving” on both “the immediate-test” and “the long-term-test.” Students’ scores of “the reasonableness and correctness of mathematical problem solving” and “the creativity of mathematical problem solving” on “the immediate-test” and “the long-term-test” were analyzed individually with a multivariate analysis of covariance. Results indicated that:(a) there were no immediate effects of teaching reflection on the reasonableness and correctness of mathematical problem solving and the creativity of mathematical problem solving; (b) there were long-term effects of teaching reflection on the reasonableness and correctness of mathematical problem solving and the creativity of mathematical problem solving; (c) there were positive effects on the attitudes of mathematical problem-solving learning among students in the experimental group. Finally, some suggestions for educational implications future research are made based on the findings and the limitations of the study.

碩士
樹德科技大學
資訊管理系碩士班
98
The purpose of this study is to test the relationship between intrinsic motivation and critically reflective working behavior, particularly critical opinion-sharing dimension among individuals from a broad cross-section of job types among public employees with the objectives of contributing to self-determination theory and assisting public management practice and research. To obtain these purposes, the self- determination theory is considered as the basic one to propose the theoretical framework for this study. Therefore, in order to increase our knowledge of the quality of self-determination theory as a work motivation theory, an empirical study using self-administered survey questionnaire and statistical tools will be conducted to validate the proposed framework. The results demonstrates that three factors-job autonomy, supervisor support, job interdependence have positive impact critical reflective working behavior is mediated by intrinsic motivation. As a result, implications of the findings for managerial perspectives; and directions for future research are discussed.

碩士
靜宜大學
創新與創業管理碩士學位學程
105
The objects of this study aims to examine whether skewed task conflict will influence reflective when a team members execute a creative task together. However, this study is also concerned about whether reflective communication may influence team creativity. Second, examined the moderator effect of conformity pressure on the relationship between skewed task conflict and reflective communication. On the basis of purpose and literature review, this study established the research construction and proposed three research hypotheses. Using randomized-groups design of true experimental design, and divided conformity pressure into two levels. The subject were 46 teams includes 266 students who took the same course in a university. Each team has to accomplish all the task and self-administered questionnaires from our researcher to collect the needed data by the research variables setting. To prevent the problem of common method variance in self-reported survey, the standard of team creativity are available by three experts. Finally, the major findings were as follows: 1. When team members execute a task, skewed task conflict is significantly positively related to reflective communication. 2. When team members execute a task, conformity pressure is significantly moderate the positive relationship between skewed task conflict and reflective communication such that the positive relationship will be decreased when conformity pressure is high. 3. When team members execute a task, reflective communication is significantly positively related to team creativity.

This thesis examinesthe link between a brief mindfulness induction and cognitive reflection. It hypothesizesthat a brief mindfulness induction increases task engagement, assessed by self-reported task focus and time takenon tasks.It further hypothesizesthata brief mindfulness induction increasesperformance on cognitive reflection tasksand thattask engagement mediatesthatrelationship. Results show no significant link between mindfulness and task engagement and no significant mediating effects. However, findingssuggesta negative correlation between mindfulness and cognitive reflection task performance, which disconfirmsthe hypothesis. This contributes to the literature on the negative effects of mindfulness.

Este estudo incide na diferenciação em Matemática para trabalhar o cálculo mental e foi realizado em contexto de estágio curricular entre março e maio de 2018 numa turma de 4.º ano com 19 alunos. O objetivo da investigação é analisar e interpretar de modo reflexivo a minha prática pedagógica centrada nas potencialidades das tarefas paralelas enquanto estratégia diferenciadora na área da matemática. A investigação segue uma abordagem qualitativa em que para a recolha de dados os principais métodos foram a observação participante e a recolha documental. As formas de registo utilizadas foram a gravação de vídeo, transcrições integrais das gravações, notas de campo e produções dos alunos. A análise incide na interpretação dos dados recolhidos durante as discussões coletivas e nas estratégias utilizadas na atribuição das tarefas paralelas. As conclusões do estudo evidenciam várias potencialidades da exploração das tarefas paralelas focadas numa mesma ideia-chave, nomeadamente i) a compreensão da ideia-chave a ser trabalhada, ii) permite que as crianças realizem tarefas mais desafiantes para o seu “nível” de conhecimento, iii) permite que o professor partilhe com os alunos a explicação de estratégias de cálculo mental. Os resultados do estudo indicam que a atribuição e a progressão do nível de tarefa a realizar por cada um dos alunos não é um processo linear e que deve ser reajustado sempre que necessário, de acordo com as dificuldades das crianças.
The study focuses on the differentiation in mathematics to work the mental calculus and was carried out in the context of the curricular stage between March and May 2018 in a class of 4th year with 19 students. The objective of the research is to analyze and interpret in a reflective way my pedagogical practice, centered on the potentialities of parallel tasks as a differentiating strategy in the area of mathematics. The research follows a qualitative approach in which the main methods for collecting data were participant observation and documentary collection. The forms of recording used were video recording, full transcripts of recordings, field notes and student productions. The analysis focuses on the interpretation of the data gathered during the collective discussions and on the strategies used in the attribution of the parallel tasks. The conclusions of the study show several potentialities of exploring parallel tasks focused on the same key idea, namely i) understanding the key idea to be worked on, ii) allowing children to perform tasks more challenging for their "level" of knowledge , iii) allows the sharing with the students of the explanation of mental calculation strategies. The results of the study indicate that the assignment and progression of the level of task to be performed by each of the students is not a linear process and should be adjusted whenever necessary, according to the difficulties of the children.

he use of student-centered instructional strategies is a common practice in engineering classes. However, understanding which instructional strategies have a more profound effect on students’ performance and motivation is fundamental in course design. Such comparisons would allow instructors to design and plan their courses with better learning activities, which could lead to better student engagement and learning. In this three-paper dissertation, I explored the relative effectiveness of two instructional strategies 1) reflective thinking, and 2) teamwork participation by primarily using quantitative methods. Self-regulated learning theory and the Interactive-Constructive-Active-Passive (ICAP) framework guided the selection of these two strategies.

The first study investigated the relationship of an instructional strategy and a motivational construct through the following research questions: 1) Do students with high academic self-efficacy generate high-quality reflections? 2) To what degree do students’ self-efficacy beliefs and reflection quality scores predict their learning outcomes? Bivariate Pearson product-moment correlation and multiple linear regression were used to analyze the relationships.

In the second study, I focused on studying the relative effectiveness of two instructional strategies on a motivational construct in a larger engineering class. More specifically, the second study focused on understanding change in students’ participation in two instructional strategies (i.e., reflective thinking and teamwork) and students’ achievement goals. Further, the study investigated the unique contribution of instructional strategies on students’ academic performance and changes in achievement goals. I used stepwise hierarchical regression, simultaneous regression, and repeated measures ANOVA to analyze the data.

The third study focused on investigating the role of the same two instructional strategies on students’ academic performance and multiple motivational constructs (i.e., self-efficacy, task value, and engagement). I used structural equation modeling, and repeated measures ANOVA to analyze the data.

Dissertação de mestrado em Espanhol como Língua Segunda / Língua Estrangeira
La participación en las actividades de producción oral es uno de los mayores problemas a los que se enfrenta el profesor de español. El estudio de los factores afectivos envueltos en esta problemática es relativamente reciente en lo que se refiere a la enseñanza-aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera, pero ya ha mostrado que la ansiedad ante su estudio y la motivación, así como la forma en que ambas se relacionan, se encuentran en la base de la misma. La investigación nos muestra que los factores grupales y la figura del profesor juegan un importante papel a la hora de manejar estos dos factores afectivos en el aula, ayudándonos a aumentar la motivación y disminuir la ansiedad. Este informe de prácticas pretende arrojar luz sobre el tipo de técnicas y estrategias que se pueden llevar a cabo en la clase de ELE para fomentar los factores grupales y mejorar la actuación del profesor en el aula, de forma que consigamos disminuir la ansiedad y promover la motivación para que los alumnos participen más en clase. Para ello, la presente investigación se encuadra dentro de una Investigación-Acción, con la consecuente reflexión sobre la práctica educativa que esta conlleva, utilizando como base metodológica el Enfoque Comunicativo Mediante Tareas. La intervención fue realizada en un centro de lenguas en dos cursos diferentes con alumnos portugueses adultos. Los resultados fueron positivos y fueron extraídos de dos fuentes diferentes: el diario de la profesora y un cuestionario respondido por los alumnos a través del cual se pretendió saber si creían que participaban con menos ansiedad en las actividades de producción oral propuestas en el aula al final de los cursos y qué tipo de actividades y estrategias consideraban que habían sido de más ayuda.
One of the largest challenges faced by a spanish teacher is getting students to engage in activities of oral production. The study of affective factors involved in these kind of issues is relatively recent, in what regards to the teaching-learning of a foreign language, but has already shown that anxiety towards its study and motivation, as well as their inter-relation, are at the basis of these challenges. Investigation reveals that group factors and the teacher's stance both play an important role when it comes to handling these two affective factors in class, helping increase motivation and reduce anxiety. This report intends to throw some light over the kind of techniques and strategies that can be used in a Spanish-Foreign-Language class to nurture the group factors and improve the performance of the teacher, in a way as to reduce anxiety and promote motivation so that students take a more active role in class. The present investigation is thus framed within Investigation-Action, with the resulting reflexion on educative practice, using Task-based Language Learning as base methology. The intervention was undertaken in a language center, in two different courses, with adult portuguese students. The results were positive and extracted from two different sources: the teacher's journal and a questionnaire administered to the students, with the intention of assessing whether they believed to be participating with less anxiety in the proposed oral production activities, and what kind of activities and strategies they considered to have been the most helpful.

Text in Afrikaans
Summaries in Afrikaans and English
This study aims to investigate and explain how the L2 -facilitator can effectively employ the various facilitation skills of language teaching in Afrikaans Second Language within the Outcomes Based Education framework in the learner-centred classroom. The facilitator is critical in providing an opportunity for multicultural learners to develop the necessary language learning skills to enjoy Afrikaans Second Language/Additional Language learning as an interesting learning experience within a positive learning milieu. In the learner-centred U -classroom, learners too must accept responsibility for their own and their peers' learning within the co-operative learning group. This study reveals how the L2 -facilitator can develop the necessary knowledge and skills concerning groupwork, such as the strategies enhancing L 2 -learning, effective group facilitation skills, learner attitudes towards the facilitator, problem-solving skills, co-operative learning as a control technique, communication, learners' behaviour and the advantages of groupwork. Furthermore, elements of classroom negotiation and the facilitator's methods of working in this negotiated partnership are also discussed. Since language learning is integral to lifelong learning, multicultural learners must be motivated to learn Afrikaans Second/ Additional language with greater enthusiasm. This necessitates the L2 -facilitator creating an interesting, challenging and authentic language learning environment where mutual respect and trust are emphasised. This study reveals how the L2 -facilitator could develop his/her knowledge of task-based L2 -teaching and use it with the effective techniques of facilitation and negotiation skills in the taskorientated second language classroom to lead learners to effective Afrikaans L2 -learning. The new National Language Standardisation Policy 200112002 necessitates the facilitator of Afrikaans L 2 -teaching/learning within the Outcomes Based Education framework and the revised Curriculum 2005 to be aufait with assessment and his/her role in assessment. Being knowledgeable on the various criteria and strategies regarding assessment is therefore imperative. Finally, chapter five illustrates practically how the facilitator could plan, organise, base, integrate and present authentic Afrikaans L 2 -lessons/work based on the theoretical knowledge and aspects of facilitation skills, group-work, task-based learning and assessment discussed in chapters two to four.
Daar word in die studie gepoog om te ondersoek en te verduidelik hoe die T2-fasiliteerder die verskillende fasiliteringsvaardighede ten opsigte van T2 -Afrikaansonderrig binne die UGO -raamwerk in die leerdergesentreerde T2-klaskamer effektief kan gebruik. Die fasiliteerder behoort sy multikulturele leerders die geleentheid te gun om die nodige taalleervaardighede te ontwikkel sodat hulle Afrikaans Tweedetaalleer/ Addisionele Taalleer as 'n interessante leerervaring binne 'n positiewe leerklimaat kan geniet. In die leerdergesentreerde T2 -klaskamer moet die leerders ook die verantwoordelikheid vir bulle eie leer, en vir die leer van ander leerders binne kooperatiewe leergroepe kan aanvaar. Die wyse waarop die fasiliteerder van T2-leer die nodige kennis en vaardighede ten opsigte van groepwerk kan ontwikkel, word deur die studie aan die lig gebring. Die verskillende strategiee wat die aanleer van die tweedetaal binne groepwerk bevorder, effektiewe groepsfasiliteringsvaardighede, leerders se gesindhede teenoor die fasiliteerder, die probleemoplossingsvaardighede, kooperatiewe leer as beheertegniek, kommunikasie, leerdergedragswyses en die voordele van groepwerk kom aan bod. Elemente van klaskameronderhandeling en die fasiliteerder se werkswyse in die onderhandelingsvennootskap word ook bespreek. Aangesien taalleer 'n integrale faset van lewenslange leer vorm, moet multikulturele leerders gemotiveer word om Afrikaans Tweedetaal/ Addisionele Taal op 'n meer entoesiastiese wyse te kan leer. Die T2 -fasiliteerder moet 'n interessante, uitdagende, outentieke taalleeromgewing skep waarin wedersydse respek en vertroue beklemtoon word. Die studie toon die wyse aan waarop die T2 -fasiliteerder sylhaar kennis in verband met taakgerigte T2 -onderrig kan ontwikkel en dit met die effektiewe fasiliteringstegnieke en onderhandelingsvaardighede in die taakgeorienteerde T2-klaskamer kan kombineer en gebruik om leerders tot effektiewe T2 -Afrikaansleer/ Addisionele Taalleer te kan lei. Die nuwe Nasionale Taalstandaardiseringsbeleid 2001/2002 vereis dat die fasiliteerder van T2-Afrikaansonderrig/-leer binne die UGO -raamwerk en die hersiene Kurrikulum 2005 deeglike kennis moet dra van assessering en sylhaar rol in assessering. Deeglike kennis ten opsigte van die verskillende assesseringskriteria en assesseringstegnieke is dus noodsaaklik. Daar word in hoofstuk vyf aangetoon op watter wyse die fasiliteerder outentieke praktiese T2-Afrikaanslesse/-werk, kan beplan, organiseer en dit op die teoretiese kennis en aspekte ten opsigte van fasiliteringsvaardighede, groepwerk, taakgerigte leer en assessering wat in hoofstukke twee tot vier bespreek word, kan toepas en geintegreerd kan aanbied.
Afrikaans and Theory of Literature
D.Litt. et Phil. (Afrikaans)