Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Small group talk'

Knowledge construction in educational discourse continues to interest practitioners and researchers due to the conceptually “natural” connection between knowledge and learning for professional development. Frames have conceptual and practical advantages over other units of inquiry concerning meaning negotiation for knowledge construction. They are relatively stable data-structures representing prototypical situations retrieved from real world experiences, cover larger units of meaning beyond the immediate sequential mechanism at interaction, and have been inherently placed at the semantic-pragmatic interface for empirical observation. Framing in a particular context – university small group talk has been an under-researched field, while the relationship between talk and knowledge through collaborative work has been identified below/at the Higher Educational level. Involving higher level cognitive activities and distinct interactional patterns, university small group talk is worth close examination and systematic investigation. This study applies Corpus Linguistics and Interactional Linguistics approaches to examine a subset of a one-million-word corpus of university small group talk at a UK university. Specifically, it provides a detailed examination of the participants’ framing behaviours for knowledge construction through their talk of disciplinary lexical concepts. Analysis reveals how the participants draw upon schematized knowledge structures evoked by particular lexical choices and how they invoke expanded scenarios via pragmatic mappings in the ongoing interaction. Additionally, it is demonstrated how the framing moves are related to the structural uniqueness of university small group talk, the contextualized speaker roles and the institutional procedures and routines. This study deepens the understanding of the relationship between linguistically constructed knowledge and the way interlocutors conceptualize the world through institutionalized collaboration, building upon the existing research on human reliance upon structures to interpret reality at both the conceptual and the action levels. The study also addresses interaction research in Higher Educational settings, by discussing how the cognitive-communicative duality of framing is sensitive to various contextual resources, distinct discourse structures and task procedures through the group dynamics.

Have you ever listened to a speech, seriously attempted to discern the speaker’s message, then realize you have forgotten most of, if not, the entire message moments after the speech is finished? Far too often audiences sit through a presentation focusing as best as they can, only to have the speaker craft a message in a way that is nearly impossible for the audience to remember. The best speakers not only deliver a memorable message, but also one that inspires their audience to action or change of mindset. Speakers at Ted Conferences are faced with a difficult challenge: they are given roughly 20 minutes to deliver a speech that is both unforgettable and inspiring. This thesis will examine how to craft speeches that are both memorable and inspiring.

This study explores the experiences of people who have lost loved ones due to socially stigmatized deaths. Drawing from eight individual interviews, the author argues that the stigma associated with death due to drug overdose, suicide, substance abuse, or murder can cause traumatic or prolonged grief and can complicate the way the bereaved talk about grief as a part of their healing process. With the mortality rate in the U.S. rising, there is an epidemic of disenfranchised grief affecting millions of bereaved individuals. Using Coordinated Management of Meaning and Communication Privacy Management theories, the author uncovers strategies the traumatically bereaved employ to manage interactions and relationships with others. A qualitative analysis of participant interviews revealed that social stigma, whether experienced or anticipated, affects the way the bereaved communicate and can cause self-silencing. Findings indicate a need for safe, supportive, and non-judgmental spaces for the traumatically bereaved to share their stories.

The use of teams and work groups in organizations has become increasingly more popular in the last decade. Within each of these groups, a leadership role must be filled in order for the team to achieve its task. This study posited that the method by which the leader comes into this role may have a direct impact on the group's performance and its perceptions of the group's interpersonal processes and efficiency, satisfaction with the group, satisfaction with the group output, and support for the leader. In addition, the influence of leader assignment was expected to change based on the level of interdependence required by the task. One hundred forty-eight subjects were assigned to one of four conditions in a 2X2 design (appointed vs. elected leaders X high vs. low interdependence task), and were asked to fill out a questionnaire upon completion of their task. Results found that the higher level of interdependence was significantly related to more favorable ratings of Perceived Group Efficiency ( F =6.89, p <.05) and Satisfaction with Group Output ( F =7.69, p <.05). Possible limitations and future research opportunities are addressed.
Master of Science

This thesis investigates EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners’ classroom interactional competence (CIC) by tracking their orientation to a specific role assigned by the teacher, the group leader, and its effect on L2 learning through small group task interactions. In formal English instructional settings, especially in Asia, English is often taught through dyad or small group task interactions to involve the most students in large classes. While learner-learner task interaction has gained great interest from Second Language Acquisition (SLA), most of which focuses on dyadic talks or the relationships between task types and interactional patterns, little has described in detail how students lead and participate in small group discussions to accomplish a task. Drawing on Conversation Analysis (CA) perspective of identity and language expertise, CA-SLA studies of task interaction, the notions of L2 interactional competence (IC) (Hall et al, 2011), and classroom interactional competence (CIC) (Walsh, 2006), this thesis highlights L2 learners’ CIC in EFL small group task interaction and suggests using an SEST (Self Evaluation of Student Talk) framework to enhance learners’ CIC and task performance. This study applies CA to the examination of audio- and video recordings of learner-learner group interactions in a Taiwanese technological university. The findings show the assigned group leaders take on a teacher’s role by performing different pedagogical practices. They allocate turns, give instructions, highlight the pedagogical focus, repair and initiate repairs, provide scaffolded feedback, and explain word meanings. Other group members respond to nominations, make contributions, request clarification, and seek language assistance. Through this co-orientation to ‘doing being a group leader’, L2 learners demonstrate learner CIC in group discussions led by a peer participant. The findings of this thesis have implications for language learning through task interaction, CA research into task interaction and classroom interactional competence.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Kent State University, 2005.
Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Sept. 12, 2006). Advisor: Rebecca R. Rubin. Keywords: temporary groups; swift trust; trust; organizational task groups. Includes survey instruments. Includes bibliographical references (p. 113-121).

Cette thèse a pour objet de décrire l’argumentation des élèves dans dix « cafés scientifiques » sur l’eau potable ayant eu lieu en 2011-2012 dans quatre écoles au Mexique, aux USA et en France. Il s’agit d’environnements éducatifs semi-formels (activité organisée à l’école mais extracurriculaire). Cette démarche est détaillée dans une première partie, avec la présentation des divers ancrages théoriques qui l’ont inspirée, issus de la linguistique interactionnelle, des études de l’argumentation, et de plusieurs traditions de recherches en éducation ; puis la définition des principales questions de recherche ; et enfin une présentation détaillée du corpus d’analyse.Au niveau mésoscopique, est proposée dans la partie II une analyse de la qualité des interactions lors du travail en petits groupes d’élèves, inspirée de la typologie des types de discours de Mercer (1996). Le discours d’exploration est appréhendé à partir de 5 indicateurs adaptés à la situation pédagogique, et attesté dans les trois pays. Ses frontières avec le discours d’accumulation et le discours de dispute sont précisées. Enfin, l’ensemble de la typologie est questionnée et affinée, à l’aune de cas problématiques interrogeant les unités d’analyse pertinentes et l’alternance entre les différents types de discours. La partie III analyse plutôt le travail de construction des arguments par les élèves, à l’échelle microscopique, à partir de trois grands types de ressources : savoirs, principes généraux incluant lois, normes et valeurs, et émotions. Un relevé exhaustif des éléments de savoir-croyance et des principes généraux utilisés par les élèves est réalisé. Est ensuite proposé un modèle du recours à ces principes dans l’interaction argumentative, inspiré de celui de la structure conversationnelle de l’argumentation de Muntigl et Turnbull (1998). Enfin, trois études de cas donnent à voir le fonctionnement discursif de la mobilisation des émotions à des fins argumentatives, à partir d’outils proposés par Plantin (2011). Dans la partie IV, à l’échelle macroscopique, les dix débats réalisés sur les différents terrains sont comparés. Le cadrage du débat est caractérisé sur le plan de l’orientation thématique vers des domaines de savoir et celui de la préférence pour certains modèles cognitifs de l’eau. Est également étudiée la façon dont les élèves construisent l’objet de discours « eau » et le présentent préférentiellement sous certains éclairages (Grize, 1990, 1996), phénomène analysé à l’aide d’outils textométriques. Les résultats des votes d’opinion individuels et par groupe réalisés tout au long des débats sont enfin présentés. L’ensemble de ces éléments (11-14) convergent pour décrire le travail discursif des élèves comme l’activation et le renforcement de scenarios d’affrontement entre argumentaires typiques. Ainsi, chaque sous-corpus national se caractérise par un scenario argumentatif propre, qui domine les débats, même si d’autres scenarios, minoritaires, cohabitent avec lui.Finalement, ce travail offre un modèle cohérent de l’argumentation des élèves, qui permet de caractériser à différents niveaux ces scenarios argumentatifs
This thesis aims at describing students’ argumentation in ten « scientific cafés » about drinking water organized in 2011-2012 in Mexico, the USA and France. These events can be characterized as a semi-formal educational context (at school but an extra-curricular activity). Part I begins with a literature review of theoretical backgrounds in interactional linguistics, argumentation studies, and education research. The main research questions and the empirical data used in the study are then presented.Part II reports an analysis of the quality of students’ interactions at the mesoscopic level, while they are working in small groups, based on Mercer’s talk typology (1996). Exploratory talk is evidenced in each of the three countries, and is analyzed with 5 indicators taking into account the specificities of the pedagogical situation. The boundaries between exploratory talk, cumulative talk and disputational talk are discussed. The whole typology is refined, with the presentation of problematic atypical cases, raising the issues of the relevant unit of analysis and the alternation between different types of talk. Part III consists of an analysis of students’ work of building up their arguments at the microscopic level. To do so, they use 3 types of resources: knowledge, general principles (including laws, norms and values), and emotions. An inventory of the knowledge-belief elements and general principles used by the students is presented. An interactional model of the argumentative use of these general principles is then proposed, based on Muntigl and Turnbull’s model of the conversational structure of argumentation (1998). Finally, three case studies describe the role of emotions in students’ argumentation, using Plantin’s conceptual and methodological tools (2011).In the last chapter, Part IV, the ten debates are analyzed and compared at the macroscopic level. They are characterized by their tendency for orientation of the discourse towards disciplinary knowledge fields and their preference for certain cognitive models of water over others. There is also an analysis of how the students build « water » as a discourse object (“objet de discours”), and present it in specific lights (“éclairage”) (Grize, 1990, 1996). This analysis depends notably on the use of textometric tools. Results of individual and group opinion votes during the cafés are also presented. These three sets of results converge to give a global picture of students’ discursive work as the activation and strengthening of typical scenarios of opposing arguments. Each national sub-corpus has a specific, preferred argumentative scenario, which dominates the debates, even though there are alternative minority scenarios coexisting with the dominant scheme.In summary, this thesis offers a coherent model of students’ argumentation, and permits the characterization of such argumentative scenarios at different levels

In the digital domain, virtual teams within organizations and corporations are becoming common. Restructuring an organization or corporation is vital because competition and globalization are increasing. In this era of globalization, distributed working groups need to develop a competitive advantage in these ever-changing environments. Historically, teams had experienced problems stemming from geographical and temporal limitations. With the increase of technology in telecommunications, organizations are increasingly forming virtual teams, which have become critical to the survival of nearly any corporate entity. Virtual teams have some of the same problems that regular teams have. One of the key challenges is the method of forming teams, while such challenge is exacerbated in digital environments. Despite the difficulties, the digital environment has made successful team development all the more challenging. The variation in people's skills makes the formation of teams even more difficult. This is why organizations cannot determine in advance if a virtual team will be a success. To evaluate the success of team formation in a virtual setting, this research study assessed the role of different computer-mediated communications (CMC) levels employed (no-CMC/face-to-face, online learning system, online learning system + social networking site) on the success of team formation measured by the level of task performance (TP), team cohesiveness (TC), computer skills (CS) and social bond (SB), while assessing the differences on such relationships when controlled for demographic information such as gender, age, education level, academic major, as well as academic year. Empirical data was collected from students at the Medical Sciences Campus in the University of Puerto Rico with 140 usable records. Using three teams and 140 participants, the results indicated that there is a statistically significance difference in the role of CMC levels employed (no-CMC/face-to-face, online learning system, online learning system + social networking site) on the level of perception of CS in team formation. Significant differences were also found in the role of CMC levels employed on the levels of TP, when controlled for gender. In addition, there is a significance difference in the role of CMC levels employed (no-CMC/face-to-face, online learning system, online learning system + social networking site) on the levels of CS, when controlled for education, academic major and academic year. The outcomes of the study contributed to the body of knowledge for both practice and research, to help organizations identify ways to support effective team formations in virtual environments.

An experiment was conducted investigating the utility of teamwork exercises and problem structure for promoting technological problem solving in a student team context. The teamwork exercises were designed for participants to experience a high level of psychomotor coordination and cooperation with their teammates. The problem structure treatment was designed based on small group research findings on brainstorming, information processing, and problem formulation. First-year college engineering students (N = 294) were randomly assigned to three levels of team size (2, 3, or 4 members) and two treatment conditions: teamwork exercises and problem structure (N = 99 teams). In addition, the study included three non-manipulated, independent variables: team gender, team temperament, and team teamwork orientation. Teams were measured on technological problem solving through two conceptually related technological tasks or engineering design activities: a computer bridge task and a truss model task. The computer bridge score and the number of computer bridge design iterations, both within subjects factors (time), were recorded in pairs over four 30-minute intervals. For the last two intervals with the computer bridge, teams started construction of the truss model task, which created low and high task load conditions for the computer bridge: another within subjects factor. A repeated measures ANOVA was used to analyze time (computer bridge) by factor interactions. No significant time by teamwork exercises or time by problem structure interactions on computer bridge scores were found [F(2.31, 198.46) = 0.10, p = .928; F(2.31, 198.46) = 0.03, p = .984]. There was a significant interaction between the factors of time and team size [F(4.62, 198.46) = 2.75, p = .023]. An ANOVA was conducted with the between subject factors on the truss model task. A significant main effect was found for teamwork exercises [F(1, 86) = 2.84, p = .048, one-tailed], but not for problem structure or team size. Post hoc analyses were conducted for team size on computer bridge and iteration scores over time, as well as teamwork exercises effects for each team size. Findings and their implications were reported, along with suggestions for future research on technological problem solving in a team context.
Ph. D.

Organizational support for cooperative work has been shifted from using Face-to-Face (FTF) communication in collocated groups to using Communication-Mediated-Communication (CMC) in dispersed groups. This new and growing form of communication has stimulated scholars to study the differences of group performance between FTF and CMC. Task categorization has been the methodology chosen for several empirical research studies. These studies conclude that the effectiveness of a communication medium for a given task depends on the degree to which there is a fit between the richness of information that can be transmitted via a system’s technology and the information richness requirements of that task. However, there are numerous problems associated with using task categorization in such studies. One of these limitations is that categorization forces the researcher to enclose a task situation into a general predetermined category that may not describe the real nature of the activity. For instance, task categorization does not capture the dynamic interaction of groups performing tasks that involve variation. This thesis discusses the weakness and limitations of this approach and, using conclusions drawn from experimental results, propose the adoption of a more systematic approach based on the concept of Ashby’s law of requisite variety. Findings on the differences in performance of FTF groups versus CMC groups of 39 three-person groups of engineering undergraduate students revealed that the group performance was not affected by the communication medium but rather by variation in the task (low and high complexity).

碩士
國立中正大學
外國文學所
94
The purpose of the study is to explore the effectiveness of concept mapping in promoting students' reading comprehension in a EFL classroom in senior high school. In the study, one female teacher and thirty-six students in 12th grade were selected as the participants. In the study, the multiple sources of data collection include group interviews, concept mapping worksheets, and summary writing. The procedures of collecting data included three phases, including phase 1 (before instruction), phase 2 (during the instruction), and phase 3 (after instruction). In phase 1, the researcher schedule a concept mapping activity without applying any instruction, in which CM1 (the first concept map worksheet) and SW1 (the first summary writing) are made. Then, in phase 2, the researcher divide this phase into two steps: the teacher’s demonstrations and the small group discussion. In teacher’s demonstrations, the teacher demonstrate to the students how to draw a concept map. Therefore, two demonstrations are led by the teacher. After the teacher’s demonstrations, the researcher schedule two group discussion tasks. During the small group discussion, students are required to construct concept maps collaborately. Therefore, CM2 and CM3 are accomplished. In phase 3, the researcher schedule last concept mapping activity, in which students have to construct their concept map individually. CM4 and SW4 are addressed. Data analysis of the study is implemented to answer the research questions. The Concept Maps Scoring Method is the major coding scheme for decoding the concepts. Additionally, summary writing data were decoded according to Dr. Chi’s (1998) topic units, which comprise the theme-based characteristics. The results are presented with three patterns of concept mapping as simple pattern, mixed pattern and non-conventional pattern. The arrangements of simple pattern is from “one-to-all” type to “one-to-all” type; the mixed pattern are from “one-to-all” type to “all-in-one” type; the non-conventional pattern is presented with a pictorial interpretation to the reading text. As to the reading comprehension, all the students’ reading comprehension was enhanced by their progress of topic units in SW1 and SW4. Furthermore, two types of relations between concept mapping and summary writing are observed as relevant enhancement and irrelevant enhancement. The relevant enhancement reveals the factor that students’ reading comprehension is promoted by the application to concept mapping. The results shows that students’ reading comprehension are mostly enhanced (83%). The irrelevant enhancement reveals some particular factors that some students’ reading comprehension is not actually promoted because of their English writing ability and personally involvements when they participate in the concept mapping activities. The study concludes that concept mapping could be used as a reading strategy. This visual strategy could be carried out as an instruction for EFL teachers in English reading class. Concept mapping could be provided as small group tasks with opportunities to effectively elicit students’ interaction.

The nature and function of Task Complexity, in the context of senior secondary mathematics, has been identified through: a search of the research literature; interviews with experts that focused on the nature of task complexity; expert use of the Williams/Clarke Framework of Complexity (1997) as a tool to categorise the complexity of a task, and observation and analysis of the responses of senior secondary mathematics students as they worked in collaborative groups to solve an unfamiliar challenging problem. Although frequently used in the literature to describe tasks, ‘complexity’ has often lacked definition. Expert opinion about the nature of mathematical complexity was ascertained by seeking the opinions of experts in the areas of mathematics, mathematics education, and gifted education. Expert opinion about task complexity was stimulated by questions about the relative complexity of two tasks. The experts then categorised the complexities within each of these tasks using the Williams/Clarke Framework of Complexity. This framework identifies the dimensions of task complexity and was found by experts to be both useful and adequate for this purpose. A theoretical framework was developed to assess student ability to solve challenging problems. This theoretical framework was used to design a test to assess student ability to solve challenging problems. The information this test provided about the problem solving ability of the students in this study informed my analysis of student response to complexity.

abstract: Chi and Wylie’s (2014) Interactive Constructive Active Passive Framework (ICAP) was used as the foundation of a teacher led intervention using small group instruction with manipulatives during mathematics instruction to provide developmentally appropriate instruction to kindergarten students in a rigorous academic program. This action research mixed-methods study was conducted in a full-day self-contained kindergarten classroom to ascertain the effects of this mathematics instruction method on students’ levels of engagement and attitudes. Over the course of six months, twenty mathematics lessons were recorded to gather data for the study. Quantitative data included measuring time-on-task, teacher behaviors ICAP level, student behaviors ICAP level, as well as a Student Attitude Survey that was conducted at the conclusion of the study. The Student Attitude Survey was presented in a modified Likert Scale format due to the age and reading ability of the participants. Qualitative data was gathered in the form of lesson transcripts. Twenty-two students and one classroom teacher participated in the study. Students ranged in age from five to six years old, and eleven participants (50%) were male. The results of the study showed that the use of small group hands-on instruction in mathematics had a positive effect on student engagement based on students’ time-on-task during the activity, as well as positive student attitudes toward mathematics as indicated on the Student Attitude Survey. Lesson transcripts and both teacher and student ICAP rubrics provided further support for the innovation.
Dissertation/Thesis
Doctoral Dissertation Leadership and Innovation 2019