Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Spatial ways of thinking'
To see the other types of publications on this topic, follow the link: Spatial ways of thinking.
Create a spot-on reference in APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and other styles
Consult the top 50 dissertations / theses for your research on the topic 'Spatial ways of thinking.'
Next to every source in the list of references, there is an 'Add to bibliography' button. Press on it, and we will generate automatically the bibliographic reference to the chosen work in the citation style you need: APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago, Vancouver, etc.
You can also download the full text of the academic publication as pdf and read online its abstract whenever available in the metadata.
Browse dissertations / theses on a wide variety of disciplines and organise your bibliography correctly.
1
Storsten, Emelie. "Traditional ways of strategic thinking – the only truth?" Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Företagsekonomiska institutionen, 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-155619.
Full textAbstract:
The classical approach to strategy defines strategy as a process of planned calculation and analysis to design long-term advantages. The Structure-Conduct-Performance (SCP) model argues that firms perform and develop strategies based on market structures. These approaches have been seen as the “norm” but are today criticised as outdated since they do not fully suit new emerging markets. The aim of the study is to investigate whether these approaches need modifications for emerging markets and if unique factors need to be emphasized when developing sale strategies for the Chinese market. The empirical findings are based on two Scandinavian firms with long experience in China. A qualitative exploratory research design is conducted trough the study. As a conclusion a guideline of vital factors for the Chinese market is provided: market knowledge, political and social system, relationships and branding. The knowledge of these factors can help other companies to master the complex environment of the Chinese market.
2
Clarke, H. H. P. "Ways of thinking : an essay on referential coordination." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2016. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1521086/.
Full textAbstract:
Referential coordination occurs when a thinker is rational in treating her thoughts as being about the same thing. This is manifested primarily in the thinker's dispositions to make inferences, paradigmatically the disposition to infer an existential generalisation conjoining two or more properties without recourse to an additional premise concerning an identity. It therefore presents an indispensable way for identity to figure in thought. This topic is often addressed in the form of discussions of so-called Frege cases, identity judgements, or coreference de jure. I argue that referential coordination should be treated as an independent and prior explanatory problem. The problem referential coordination presents is to explain the rationality of the paradigmatic inferential dispositions. I discuss three prominent theories of thought in relation to this problem: the appeal to propositional contents akin to Frege's notion of sense; the appeal to mental representations that can be typed in some way; and the appeal to mental files and their functional properties. Representatives of these theories fail to provide an explanation that is at once non-circular, psychologically realistic, and sufficiently general. I propose an alternative coordination functions explanation. This uses an amended version of mental file theory that distinguishes between mental files and file predications, and combines this with an apparatus of defaults and defeaters familiar from entitlement epistemology. File predications, the associations of files with bits of information, serve as the basis of the paradigmatic inferential dispositions, and so have normative functional properties that provide a default indication of sameness of reference open to defeat by conflicting information. This relatively deflationary explanation is distinctive in dispensing with any explanatory notion of a concept. It can be extended to providing a similarly deflationary account of the rational role of identity judgements and thoughts about oneself and one's immediate environment.
3
Leung, Hai-ka Elaine, and 梁凱嘉. "Critical thinking and knowledge in liberal studies: ways of seeing." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2010. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B48364915.
Full textAbstract:
The study explores perceptions of critical thinking and knowledge by New Senior Secondary Liberal Studies teachers in Hong Kong. The insights in this study have implications for the curriculum development and pedagogy, particularly regarding how we can improve the teachers training of critical thinking.
Seven Liberal Studies teachers (with various levels of teaching experience and differing backgrounds) were invited to in-depth interviews about their experience teaching Liberal Studies, and particularly regarding critical thinking and knowledge, as well as their pedagogies and views of this subject.
Factors such as work experience, personality, school training, and cultural identity affect ways of seeing ‘critical thinking’ and ‘knowledge’. Also, these interviews provide insights into a better pedagogy in high order thinking. We can gain understanding of the difficulties and constraints of teaching critical thinking in Liberal Studies. The research is also a critical thinking process, which is explored in conversations with participants. The study asked them to reflect on what they thought and had experienced. The participants gave useful insights and suggestions.published_or_final_version
Education
Master
Master of Education
4
Abad, Carla. "The Development of Early Spatial Thinking." FIU Digital Commons, 2018. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/3574.
Full textAbstract:
The different spatial experiences in the lives of young boys and girls may partly explain sex differences in spatial skills (Baenninger & Newcombe, 1995; Nazareth et al., 2013; Newcombe, Bandura & Taylor, 1983). While several studies have examined the influence of spatial activities on the development of spatial skills (e.g., Nazareth et al., 2013) there currently exists no widely used comprehensive measure to assess children’s concurrent participation in spatial activities and engagement with spatial toys. Study 1 of the current dissertation filled this gap in the field of spatial research through the creation of the Spatial Activity Questionnaire, a comprehensive survey designed to assess children’s involvement in spatial activities and engagement with spatial toys of diverse gender-typed content. The toys and activities 295 children were reported to have access to and engage with were explored to assess patterns of play with spatial and gender-stereotyped toys and activities. A sample of 76 children between 4 and 6 years of age and their primary caregivers participated in studies 2, 3, and 4 to explore the toys and activities young children have access to and play with (study 2), the link between play and mental rotation (study 3), and the relation between play, gender stereotypes, and mental rotation skills (study 4). Findings reveal great variability in the toys and activities children have access to and play with, with sex difference suggesting girls play with low-spatial and stereotypically feminine toys and activities more than boys while boys play with highly-spatial and stereotypically masculine toys and activities more than girls. Adding to the exiting literature suggesting the inconsistency of sex differences in early mental rotation skills, our results suggest no sex differences in children’s mental rotation ability. Furthermore, no relations were discovered between children’s play, gender stereotypes, and mental rotation ability. These findings point to the need to further explore the influence of play on when and how sex differences in mental rotation ability develop in order to promote fun and easy ways to support spatial learning in young boys and girls.
5
Turakhia, Dishita Girish. "Thirteen ways of looking : a theoretical inquiry in computational creative thinking." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/113918.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture, 2017.Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2017.
This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.
Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 97-99).
The vision of this research is to propose a novel computational framework to study Creative Thinking. If we are to embed machines with creative thinking abilities, then we first need to study the evanescent nature of human creative thinking. Creative thinking is neither entirely random nor strictly logical, making it difficult to t its computation into structured logical models of thinking. Given this conundrum, how can we computationally study the process of thinking creatively? In this research, I first present the current scientific definitions of creative thinking. Through literary survey of cognitive, computational and design thinking frameworks, I identify the missing links between human creativity and AI models of creative thinking. I assert that creative thinking is result of two features of human intelligence, cognitive diversity and social interaction. Cognitive diversity or the ability to parse knowledge in dierent ways is a crucial aspect of creative thinking. Furthermore, social interaction between cognitively diverse individuals results in restructuring of thoughts leading to creativity and epiphanies (the aha moments). I posit that Shape Grammar, with its ability to fluidly restructure computation, can be used to study and demonstrate cognitive diversity and interaction. If we conceive thoughts as shapes and ideas as configurations of those shapes, then cognitive diversity can be described as rule-based computation on shapes to generate those configurations; and interaction as the exchange of rules between cognitive diverse entities (humans or machines). The contributions of this research are threefold. First, I present a literature review of current frameworks, and identify the two gaps between machine and human creativity. Secondly, I demonstrate how shape grammar can ll those gaps of cognitive diversity and interaction. Thirdly, I propose thought-shape framework that adapts principles of shape grammar for computational creative thinking.
by Dishita Girish Turakhia.
S.M.
6
Macdonald, Murdo James Stewart. "Birth order, art and science : a study of ways of thinking." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 1986. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/19069.
Full text
7
Serig, Daniel. "Visual metaphor and the contemporary artist ways of thinking and making." Saarbrücken VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, 2005. http://d-nb.info/989351890/04.
Full text
8
Liu, Jie. "Exploring Ways of Identifying Outliers in Spatial Point Patterns." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2015. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/2528.
Full textAbstract:
This work discusses alternative methods to detect outliers in spatial point patterns.
Outliers are defined based on location only and also with respect to associated variables. Throughout the thesis we discuss five case studies, three of them come from experiments with spiders and bees, and the other two are data from earthquakes in a certain region. One of the main conclusions is that when detecting outliers from the point of view of location we need to take into consideration both the degree of clustering of the events and the context of the study. When detecting outliers from the point of view of an associated variable, outliers can be identified from a global or local perspective. For global outliers, one of the main questions addressed is whether the outliers tend to be clustered or randomly distributed in the region. All the work was done using the R programming language.
9
Sybert, Darlene. "Two ways of knowing and the romantic poets /." free to MU campus, to others for purchase, 2002. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/mo/fullcit?p3052219.
Full text
10
McFadzean, Elspeth. "New ways of thinking : an evaluation of K-groupware and creative problem-solving." Thesis, Henley Business School, 1996. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.295195.
Full text
11
Jo, Injeong. "Aspects of spatial thinking in geography textbook questions." [College Station, Tex. : Texas A&M University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/ETD-TAMU-1516.
Full text
12
Baxter, Natalie Sue. "The Progymnasmata: New/Old Ways to Teach Reading, Writing, and Thinking in Secondary Schools." Diss., CLICK HERE for online access, 2008. http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/ETD/image/etd2576.pdf.
Full text
13
Kim, Min Young. "Theorizing Languaging Thinking as Ways of Reading: A Microethnographic Study in an English Language Arts Classroom." The Ohio State University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1531489010543586.
Full text
14
Ekmekci, Onur. "Neoliberal Urbanization in the case of Istanbul : Spatial Manifestations and Ways of Contesting It." Thesis, KTH, Stadsbyggnad, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-104831.
Full text
15
Fusté, Lleixà Anna. "Hypercubes : learning computational thinking through embodied spatial programming in augmented reality." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/120690.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2018.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 116-120).
Computational thinking has been described as a basic skill that should be included in the educational curriculum. Several online screen-based platforms for learning computational thinking have been developed during the past decades. In this thesis we propose the concept of Embodied Spatial Programming as a new and potentially improved programming paradigm for learning computational thinking in space. We have developed HyperCubes, an example Augmented Reality authoring platform that makes use of this paradigm. With a set of qualitative user studies we have assessed the engagement levels and the potential learning outcomes of the application. Through space, the physical environment, creativity and play the user is able to tinker with basic programming concepts that can lead to a better adoption of computational thinking skills.
by Anna Fusté Lleixà.
S.M.
16
Kim, Jin Eui. "The ways in which surface marks and tone may manipulate perception of three-dimensional ceramic artworks." Thesis, Cardiff Metropolitan University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10369/6501.
Full text
17
Webster, Megan L. "GIS in AP Human Geography: a Means of Developing Students’ Spatial Thinking?" Thesis, University of North Texas, 2015. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc801894/.
Full textAbstract:
Geography education is undergoing change in K-12 education due in part to the introduction of geospatial technologies, including geographic information systems (GIS). Although active engagement in GIS mapping would seem to enhance students’ spatial thinking, little is known about the mapping strategies that students employ or about changes in their geographic knowledge that would result. This study, set in a high school Advanced Placement human geography class, sought to contribute to these areas of inquiry. Participants performed a web-based GIS task focused on global population and migration. Attention in the study was on (a) the strategies students employed when investigating geographic phenomena using GIS, (b) changes in their cognitive maps, as assessed through sketch maps, resulting from the activity, (c) the relationship between GIS maps and sketch maps, and (d) the ways in which a subset of students serving as case studies explained the nature of their mapping. The study employed screen-captures, video-recordings, observations, pre- and post-study sketch maps, and interviews. Analyses of the GIS process revealed that, in creating their maps, the students used a number of strategies, which included searching, layering, removing layers of data, adjusting transparency, editing, and noting. Although searching and layering were employed by all students, there was variability across students in use of the other strategies. With respect to changes in their spatial thinking, analyses of the sketch maps showed increases in elaboration and accuracy in terms of migration patterns. When GIS maps were compared to sketch maps, analyses showed relations for many students. The six students who served as case studies revealed major connections between personal interests and the reasoning employed in mapping. They also described their entry points into the process. The study shows how real-time data collection, including screen captures, as well as more static measures, specifically sketch maps, can provide insights into the spatial thinking of students while using GIS. It provides some support to educational approaches to geography in which students become creators of maps, not simply users of maps, and suggests that, through their own mapping process, students expand their cognitive maps and enhance their spatial thinking.
18
Moorhouse, Sara. "The ways in which arrangements of colour interact and manipulate spatial perception of three-dimensional ceramic forms." Thesis, Cardiff Metropolitan University, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10369/6502.
Full text
19
Mahoney, Jill D. "The effect of instruction of visual/spatial thinking skills on learning physics concepts." Montana State University, 2012. http://etd.lib.montana.edu/etd/2012/mahoney/MahoneyJ0812.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
Students with weak visual/spatial thinking skills often perform poorly in mathematics and science. The high school juniors I teach who had low scores on a test of visual/spatial ability also had low scores on their physics assessments. The treatment in this action research project was to provide instruction in visual/spatial thinking by using a tangible object (in particular cardboard vectors) that the student could manipulate at first then guide the students to use their "mind's eye" to manipulate the images without the manipulatives. A large majority of the students have shown significant improvement in both their visual/spatial skills and their understanding of basic physics.
20
Owens, Kay Dianne, and mikewood@deakin edu au. "Spatial thinking processes employed by primary school students engaged in mathematical problem solving." Deakin University, 1993. http://tux.lib.deakin.edu.au./adt-VDU/public/adt-VDU20050826.100440.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis describes changes in the spatial thinking of Year 2 and Year 4 students who participated in a six-week long spatio-mathematical program. The main investigation, which contained quantitative and qualitative components, was designed to answer questions which were identified in a comprehensive review of pertinent literatures dealing with (a) young children's development of spatial concepts and skills, (b) how students solve problems and learn in different types of classrooms, and (c) the special roles of visual imagery, equipment, and classroom discourse in spatial problem solving.
The quantitative investigation into the effects of a two-dimensional spatial program used a matched-group experimental design. Parallel forms of a specially developed spatio-mathematical group test were administered on three occasionsbefore, immediately after, and six to eight weeks after the spatial program. The test contained items requiring spatial thinking about two-dimensional space and other items requiring transfer to thinking about three-dimensional space. The results of the experimental group were compared with those of a control group who were involved in number problem-solving activities. The investigation took into account gender and year at school. In addition, the effects of different classroom organisations on spatial thinking were investigated~one group worked mainly individually and the other group in small cooperative groups.
The study found that improvements in scores on the delayed posttest of two-dimensional spatial thinking by students who were engaged in the spatial learning experiences were statistically significantly greater than those of the control group when pretest scores were used as covariates. Gender was the only variable to show an effect on the three-dimensional delayed posttest.
The study also attempted to explain how improvements in, spatial thinking occurred. The qualitative component of the study involved students in different contexts. Students were video-taped as they worked, and much observational and interview data were obtained and analysed to develop categories which were described and inter-related in a model of children's responsiveness to spatial problem-solving experiences. The model and the details of children's thinking were related to literatures on visual imagery, selective attention, representation, and concept construction.
21
Hudson, David. "Re-thinking 'global' financial markets : towards a socio-spatial account of financial value." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2004. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.409066.
Full text
22
Harold, Jordan. "Thinking with data visualisations : cognitive processing and spatial inferences when communicating climate change." Thesis, University of East Anglia, 2017. https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/67669/.
Full textAbstract:
Data visualisations can be effective for communicating scientific data, but only if they are understood. Such visualisations (i.e. scientific figures) are used within assessment reports produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). However, IPCC figures have been criticised for being inaccessible to non-experts. This thesis presents a thematic analysis of interviews with IPCC authors, finding that a requirement to uphold scientific accuracy results in complex figures that are difficult for non-experts to comprehend, and which therefore require expert explanation. Evidence is subsequently presented showing that figures with greater visual complexity are associated with greater perceived comprehension difficulty among non-experts. Comprehension of complex data visualisations may require readers to make spatial inferences. When interpreting a time-series graph of climate data, it was found that non-experts did not always readily identify the long-term trend. Two experiments then show that linguistic information in the form of warnings can support spatial representations for trends in memory by directing visual attention during encoding (measured using eyetracking). This thesis also considers spatial inferences when forming expectations about future data, finding that expectations were sensitive to patterns in past data. Further, features that act on bottom-up perceptual processes were largely ineffective in supporting spatial inferences. Conversely, replacing spatial inferences by explicitly representing information moderated future expectations. However, replacing spatial inferences might not always be desirable in real-world contexts. The evidence indicates that when information is not explicitly represented in a data visualisation, providing top-down knowledge may be more effective in supporting spatial inferences than providing visual cues acting on bottom-up perceptual processes. This thesis further provides evidence-based guidelines drawn from the cognitive and psychological sciences to support climate change researchers in enhancing the ease of comprehension of their data visualisations, and so enable future IPCC outputs to be more accessible.
23
Kristiansson, Torbjörn. "Det rumsliga tänkandet : Gymnasieelevers geospatiala förmåga i relation till geografiämnets styrdokument." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Kulturgeografiska institutionen, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-298124.
Full textAbstract:
The geography subject in Swedish upper secondary school is in a marginalized position with just two national programs having it as a mandatory subject. No mention of the skill of spatial thinking is made in the regulation documents from the Swedish National Agency for Education. To investigate the spatial thinking in the Swedish upper secondary school, I constructed a test that 140 students conducted. From the results it was possible to deduct that the students performed well in areas of spatial thinking that deals with geographical features like points, lines and polygons, but not so well when faced with tasks concerning several spatial facts, overlay, and mentally visualizing 3-D images from 2-D information. Males generally scored higher than females in the test, especially if only answers that the students felt confident of were counted. Students from the Natural Science Programme outperformed the students from the Social Science Programme, even though the former didn’t have any formal education in geography from the upper secondary school. The thesis argues that a larger focus on spatial thinking in the geography subject could benefit the development of both a stronger stance for the subject in the education system, and the abilities and knowledge tied to spatial thinking of the students, especially those that are lacking formal education in other subjects that train the spatial thinking, mostly mathematics and physics.
24
Barrett, G. "Learning in the schooling process : Ways of thinking, learning and knowing in classroom interactions of pupils from 4 to 16." Thesis, University of East Anglia, 1986. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.372213.
Full text
25
Stephenson, Valerie. "Equal to the challenge : reconstructing ways of thinking, knowing and doing, Re: the schooling of young black women in Metro - Montreal." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1999. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape8/PQDD_0004/MQ43598.pdf.
Full text
26
Garcia, Diana Bertuol. "The science-practice interface in Ecology and Conservation: a conceptual framework and shared ways of thinking among scientists and decision-makers." Universidade de São Paulo, 2017. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/41/41134/tde-17102017-165730/.
Full textAbstract:
Many current debates in Ecology and Conservation Science center on how to navigate the interface between science, policy and practice with the aim of using science to support viable, effective solutions to environmental problems. This dissertation has the general aim of contributing to devise ways to navigate the science-practice interface by taking an interdisciplinary approach to identify (1) how the academic debate on this subject has been framed, and (2) how scientists and decision-makers have been thinking about the relationship between science and practice. In chapter 1, I present a literature review, based on 1563 sentences describing causes of the science-practice gap extracted from 122 articles published in Ecology and Biodiversity Conservation journals. I use text analysis techniques to organize these causes into a process-based conceptual framework that describes three perspectives on the important processes, knowledges and actors in the science-practice interface. I then evaluate the predominance of these perspectives over time and across journals, and assess them in light of disciplines studying the role of science in decision-making, such as Political Science. The unchanged predominance over time of the perspective centered on a linear, unidirectional flow of scientific knowledge from science to practice suggests debates in Ecology and Conservation lag behind trends in other disciplines towards perspectives focusing on a bidirectional, integrative flow of knowledges between science and practice. In Ecology and Conservation, the integrative perspective seems primarily restricted to research traditions historically isolated from mainstream Conservation Biology, which in turn has been dominated by \"evidence-based conservation\" approaches. All identified perspectives represent superficial views of decision-making by not accounting for limits to human rationality, complexity of decision-making contexts, fuzzy science-practice boundaries, ambiguity brought about by science, and different types of knowledge use. Nonetheless, the integrative perspective emphasizing collaborative work between scientists and decision-makers may potentially allow for more democratic decision-making processes and explicit discussions of values. In chapter 2, I focus on scientists and decision-makers from Brazil, a tropical developing nation with a growing science and rich biodiversity, but currently facing several drawbacks in environmental policies. I used the three perspectives of the conceptual framework of chapter 1 to create a list of 48 statements describing how the science-practice interface should ideally be. Using Q-methodology from psychology, I asked 22 ecologists and environmental federal analysts to rank their agreement with these statements. Principal component analysis revealed three groups of participants with similar rankings of statements, thus holding shared ways of thinking about the science-practice interface. All ways of thinking assigned great importance to actors and knowledges from both science and practice, but differed on the roles assigned to science, scientists or decision-makers, indicating the need to openly debate expected roles for each actor in science-practice partnerships. Moreover, such partnerships seem to be hindered by a lack of organizational incentive rather than by cultural differences between scientists and decision-makers. In the final session of the dissertation, I integrate the conclusions from both chapters, highlighting the most important implications for a better understanding of the science-practice interface and for fostering productive science-practice linkages in Ecology and ConservationA interface ciência-prática em Ecologia e Conservação: um esquema conceitual e modos de pensaDiversos debates atuais em Ecologia e Ciência da Conservação estão centrados em como navegar na interface entre ciência e prática com o objetivo de usar a ciência para apoiar soluções efetivas e viáveis para os problemas ambientais. Esta dissertação tem como objetivo geral contribuir com caminhos para navegar na interface ciência-prática ao identificar, através de uma abordagem interdisciplinar, (1) como o debate acadêmico sobre este assunto tem sido feito e (2) como a relação entre ciência e prática é percebida por cientistas e tomadores de decisão. No capítulo 1, apresento uma revisão da literatura, conduzida a partir de 1563 frases sobre as causas da lacuna ciência-prática extraídas de 122 artigos publicados em periódicos de Ecologia e Conservação da Biodiversidade. Uso técnicas de análise de texto para organizar essas causas em um esquema conceitual que descreve três perspectivas sobre os processos, conhecimentos e atores importantes na interface ciência-prática. A seguir, averiguo a predominância dessas perspectivas ao longo do tempo e em diferentes periódicos, para depois avaliar as perspectivas à luz de disciplinas que estudam o papel da ciência na tomada de decisão, como a Ciência Política. A predominância ao longo do tempo da perspectiva centrada em um fluxo unidirecional de conhecimento da ciência para a prática sugere que o debate em Ecologia e Conservação não seguiu a tendência observada em outras disciplinas na direção de perspectivas enfatizando um fluxo bidirecional e integrativo de conhecimentos entre a ciência e a prática. Em Ecologia e Conservação, a perspectiva integrativa parece estar restrita a tradições de pesquisa historicamente isoladas da Biologia da Conservação, que, por sua vez, é dominada por abordagens de \"conservação baseada em evidência\". Todas as perspectivas constatadas representam visões superficiais da tomada de decisão ao desconsiderarem limites à racionalidade humana, a complexidade da tomada de decisão, fronteiras difusas entre ciência e prática, a ambiguidade trazida pela ciência e diferentes tipos de uso de conhecimento. Por outro lado, a perspectiva integrativa que enfatiza o trabalho colaborativo entre cientistas e tomadores de decisão permite potencialmente processos de tomada de decisão mais democráticos e discussões explícitas de valores. No capítulo 2, eu me volto para cientistas e tomadores de decisão do Brasil, um país tropical em desenvolvimento com uma ciência crescente e uma rica biodiversidade, mas cujas políticas ambientais vem sofrendo diversas ameaças. A partir das três perspectivas do esquema conceitual do capítulo 1, elaborei uma lista de 48 frases descrevendo como a interface entre ciência e prática deveria ser. Usando a metodologia Q advinda da Psicologia, pedi para 22 ecólogos e analistas ambientais do IBAMA ranquearem suas concordâncias com essas frases. Uma análise de componentes principais revelou três grupos de participantes com ranqueamentos similares, apresentando, portanto, modos de pensar compartilhados sobre a interface ciência-prática. Todas as formas de pensar conferiram grande importância para atores e conhecimentos da ciência e da prática, mas houve divergência nos papéis atribuídos à ciência, aos cientistas e aos tomadores de decisão, indicando a necessidade de debater abertamente os papéis que se espera que cada ator assuma nas parcerias entre ciência e prática. Além disso, a falta de estímulo organizacional parece ser um entrave maior para essas parcerias do que diferenças culturais entre cientistas e tomadores de decisão. Na última sessão da dissertação, eu integro as conclusões dos dois capítulos, ressaltando as implicações mais importantes para uma melhor compreensão da interface ciência-prática e para o fomento de parcerias produtivas entre ciência e prática em Ecologia e Conservaçãor compartilhados entre cientistas e tomadores de decisão
27
Spencer, Peta. "Teaching and Learning Spatial Thinking with Young Students: the Use and Influence of External Representations." Thesis, Australian Catholic University, 2017. https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/download/feacc37d2defb575a4b4c0987ac27bca82948c0121962fd4f79d431c25914a7d/42812090/SPENCER_Peta_2017_Teaching_and_learning_spatial_thinking_with_young_students.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
Previous research suggests spatial thinking is fundamental to mathematics learning (Bronowski, 1947; Clements & Sarama, 2007, 2011), and acts as a predictor for future mathematical achievement levels (Battista, 1990; Gunderson et al., 2012). However, research with regard to spatial thinking is almost non-existent in early years mathematics classrooms (Bruce, Moss, & Ross, 2012; Clements & Sarama, 2011; Newcombe & Frick, 2010; Sarama & Clements, 2009, 2011; Stipek, 2013), and how to teach it in these contexts has received little attention. Fewer studies again have focused on the use of virtual manipulatives in influencing young students’ spatial thinking (Highfield & Mulligan, 2007; Ng & Sinclair, 2015). Despite a recent surge in studies exploring the influence of virtual manipulatives in mathematics classrooms, little is known about how these manipulatives compare to physical manipulatives, especially in regard to the changes that occur in the social interactions between teacher and students during the learning process. To date, there has been no comparative study conducted that explores the influence of different external representations (e.g., physical manipulatives and virtual manipulatives) on both the teaching and the learning aspects within mathematics classrooms. The purpose of this research is to explore the use of external representations (i.e., physical manipulatives as compared to virtual manipulatives) in the mathematics classroom and how these representations support young, disadvantaged students’ spatial thinking. The use of manipulatives is a common starting point for the teaching and learning of spatial thinking.
Previous research on manipulative use (both physical and virtual) in mathematics education has yielded positive results with regard to student learning (Clements, 1999; Heddens, 1997; Highfield & Mulligan, 2007; Riconscente, 2013; Siemon et al., 2011; Warren, 2006; Warren & Miller, 2013). Recent studies indicate that these newer digital technologies promote interactions between visual and kinaesthetic learning, which have been shown to support the teaching and learning of spatial thinking (Battista, 2008; Bruce, McPherson, Sabeti, & Flynn, 2011; Clements & Sarama, 2011; Highfield & Mulligan, 2007; Jorgensen & Lowrie, 2012; Sinclair, de Freitas, & Ferrara, 2013; Sinclair & Moss, 2012). However, results from comparative studies between physical manipulatives and virtual manipulatives have been varied (e.g., Brown, 2007; Olkum, 2003; Suh, 2005). It is proposed that different types of manipulatives influence the teaching and learning of spatial thinking in different ways. By viewing the learning of spatial thinking through a sociocultural perspective, aspects of the teaching and learning of spatial learning in mathematics classrooms can be scrutinised.
A review of the literature generated two research questions that informed the research design of this study. These were:
1. What influence do different external representations (e.g., physical manipulatives and virtual manipulatives) have on young students’ learning of spatial thinking?
2. What changes occur in the teaching and learning of spatial thinking when using different external representations (e.g., physical manipulatives and virtual manipulatives)?
Given that the study focused on exploring students’ spatial thinking as they construct their knowledge from the interactions they experience with external representations, an interpretive paradigm was an appropriate epistemological, ontological and methodological stance adopted for the research. Vygotsky’s (1978) sociocultural theory provided a lens to interpret the interaction between teacher and students. Practical application of this theory permitted a narrowing lens to pinpoint particular aspects of the teaching of spatial thinking and students’ learning of spatial thinking. Within this study, these practical applications included the use of Anghileri’s “hierarchy of scaffolding practices” (2006) and Sfard’s “commognitive approach” (2008). The methodology for the study included teaching experiments. Data collection methods incorporated the use of pre-test, post-test and post post-testing using spatial testing material and observations of lessons from a teaching experiment (n = 68) comprising six lessons (three based on spatial orientation concepts and three based on spatial visualisation concepts).
Findings from this study provide further insights into the teaching and learning of spatial thinking. First, the use of manipulatives (either physical or virtual) appears to be important to students’ learning of spatial thinking. Furthermore, the use of virtual manipulatives increases the communicative functions used by students, thus benefiting their spatial thinking. Second, teachers need to be able to instantaneously access deep content and pedagogical knowledge in order to maintain their role as “more knowledgeable other” and continually contribute to the teaching and learning of spatial thinking. Finally, teaching and learning appears to be positively influenced when both the teacher and students are major contributors to the classroom discourse.
This study contributes to the understanding of how different external representations influence the teaching and learning of spatial thinking. Theoretical contributions to new knowledge include a hypothesised theory on the interaction between teacher, student and manipulatives type. Implications for future classroom practice include placing importance on the use of manipulatives and communication in mathematics classrooms. Furthermore, teachers need to be aware that their ability to instantaneously access deep levels of content and pedagogical knowledge to further develop students’ spatial thinking is essential and that for optimum learning to occur, both the teacher and students need to be major contributors to the teaching and learning process.
28
Suhie, Michele M. "Time to retire old ways of thinking a validation of the transtheoretical model in a new application to psycho-social retirement planning /." Columbus, Ohio : Ohio State University, 2006. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc%5Fnum=osu1147267423.
Full text
29
Guyot, Amelie M. L. "Spaces for enchantment and the unknown : fairy tales, complexity thinking and a search for new ways of dreaming : children-centred sustainable development." Thesis, Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/2523.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (MPhil (Sustainable Development Planning and Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009.This research explores spaces for enchantment and the unknown, exploring our relationship to fairy-tales and alternative ways of dreaming that break from a modern worldview, using complexity thinking as lens. I conducted extra-mural group work with two groups of adolescents from disadvantaged backgrounds. I considered the world young people receive at a metaphysical level; the world they dream of, connect to and enact. My thesis is based on the premise that we must act towards a ‘sustainable unknown development’ that goes beyond modern deadly homogenisation. The research objectives were as follows: Firstly, to explore the relationship between dreams (about the future) and a sustainable future. Secondly, to reflect, based on the group’s holding-space, on our relationship to dreams. Thirdly, to reflect on possible alternative ways of approaching the unknown and enacting enchantment to create change. Fourthly, to explore the importance of imagination and creativity with regards to the above. I review literature pertaining to the affects of the modern paradigm, specifically in its fairy tale blueprinting form, on our world. I argue that this paradigm is currently dangerous to the earth as a living system; causing the oppression and abandonment of nature, the feminine, children and our imagination. Alternative ways such as states of ‘interbeing’, polycentric thinking, and the experience of thresholds and heterotopian spaces where differences meet, are considered. The importance of personal experience and imagination in building resilience and meaning in the unknown are emphasised. My research uses a practical design of ‘enchantment methodology’. Methodologically it tries to tackle some ontological questions, considering different approaches in which negotiation is possible at a metaphysical level. My findings were that although alternative approaches do exist they cannot be generalised in a modern thinking way. Beyond the modern numbness and the tantrums of breaking away from its devastating divides, is the potential of inner wisdom found in our own hearts. Recommendations are that more holding spaces are created to promote an alternative relationship to the unknown to nurture a sense of enchantment.
30
Baca, Joaquín Javier. "Integrating spatial thinking into the curriculum through geographic information systems and the Santa Ana River watershed." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2007. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/3203.
Full textAbstract:
Lesson plans were developed in order to address the inter-disciplinary nature inherent in environmental education by drawing on place-based learning approaches and relating natural and human made aspects of watershed dynamics.
31
Kline, Keith Alan. "The effects of visualizations and spatial ability on learning from static multimedia instructions." Diss., Georgia Institute of Technology, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/44702.
Full textAbstract:
Successful learning about physical systems is thought to depend on the development of a mental representation of the system's dynamic behavior, which constitutes a mental model, rather than only its static structure (e.g., Schnotz, 2005). Because dynamic mental models must be generated by learners from static diagrams, learning might be promoted by encouraging learners to visualize motion in static diagrams. However, mental models represent dynamic spatial information that might be difficult to construct for learners with lower spatial ability; they might benefit from instructional designs that support spatial reasoning, such as phase diagrams and depictive arrows. In Experiment 1, participants learned about air pumps, carburetors, and toilet tanks from single phase diagrams, multiphase diagrams, or multiphase diagrams followed by a prediction activity in which they predicted system behavior in novel situations. This prediction activity was expected to implicitly prompt mental visualization of motion. Learning in the latter condition (i.e., with the prediction activity) was significantly better than learning in the single phase condition. In the prediction condition, the enhancing effect of spatial ability on learning outcome was partially mediated by performance in the prediction activity. The mediation suggested that high spatial ability helped participants to accurately visualize the systems as they made predictions, which contributed to better performance on the learning assessment. Experiment 1 assessed visualizations during the prediction activity, whereas Experiment 2 assessed visualizations during the lessons. In two conditions in Experiment 2, participants were explicitly prompted to visualize motion in the system while viewing the lessons. Because learners with lower spatial ability were expected to have difficulty visualizing motion, arrows depicting motion were added in one condition. A baseline condition excluded the arrows and the prompt to visualize motion. In all three conditions, participants viewed multiphase diagrams followed by the prediction activity. Learning outcomes among the three conditions did not differ significantly: Depictive arrows and prompts to visualize motion were not significantly effective. Also, spatial ability did not interact with instructional condition. However, both spatial ability and subjective ratings of attempts to visualize motion were predictive of learning outcome. Overall, results from the two experiments indicated that participants with higher spatial ability were better able than participants with lower spatial ability to generate dynamic mental models from static instructions, particularly when they were implicitly prompted to reason about the system as they made predictions. Learners with lower spatial ability might need other forms of assistance for mental model generation, such as animated instructions.
32
Sundler, Sofie Inger. "Ecosystem Services in Spatial Planning : Towards Sustainable Development in the Swedish Physical Planning Process." Thesis, Mittuniversitetet, Avdelningen för ekoteknik och hållbart byggande, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:miun:diva-19823.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis aims at defining the connection between the increasingly popular ecosystem services theory and its practical implications for sustainable development in Swedish physical spatial planning. A literature study was made to summarize the ecosystem services and resilience thinking concepts (with an emphasis on ecosystem services), their definitions and potential uses in physical spatial planning. This overview was then applied in choosing a concept framework to be tested in a case-study: the possible changes in ecosystem services and their values in a land-use trade off situation. To gather insight into the benefits of the ecosystem services concept, compared to environmental integration into physical spatial planning on a municipal level today, the literature study was extended to encompass a short overview of environmental management in the Swedish planning system. Finally, the case study was introduced to municipal employees with strong ties to the planning process, in order to gage their opinions on the ecosystem services concept and its usefulness in planning for sustainability and increased human wellbeing. The results of these interviews showed a generally positive attitude towards the concept as a way to gather and communicate ecological and socio-cultural information to decision makers. The economic valuation was deemed less important as the method is fraught with such difficulties. Overall, the ecosystem services and resilience thinking concepts have great potential to gather the discontinuous environmental management methods toward sustainable (ecologic) development, but in order for this to happen, the municipalities need to be given the right resources, and incentives, for implementation.
33
Brittell, Megen. "Neuro-imaging Support for the Use of Audio to Represent Geospatial Location in Cartographic Design." Thesis, University of Oregon, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/1794/24538.
Full textAbstract:
Audio has the capacity to display geospatial data. As auditory display design grapples with the challenge of aligning the spatial dimensions of the data with the dimensions of the display, this dissertation investigates the role of time in auditory geographic maps. Three auditory map types translate geospatial data into collections of musical notes, and arrangement of those notes in time vary across three map types: sequential, augmented-sequential, and concurrent. Behavioral and neuroimaging methods assess the auditory symbology. A behavioral task establishes geographic context, and neuroimaging provides a quantitative measure of brain responses to the behavioral task under recall and active listening response conditions.
In both behavioral and neuroimaging data, two paired contrasts measure differences between the sequential and augmented-sequential map types, and between the augmented- sequential and concurrent map types. Behavioral data reveal differences in both response time and accuracy. Response times for the augmented-sequential map type are substantially longer in both contrasts under the active response condition. Accuracy is lower for concurrent maps than for augmented-sequential maps; response condition influences direction of differences in accuracy between the sequential and augmented-sequential map types. Neuroimaging data from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) show significant differences in blood-oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) response during map listening. The BOLD response is significantly stronger in the left auditory cortex and planum temporale for the concurrent map type in contrast to the augmented- sequential map type. And the response in the right auditory cortex and bilaterally in the visual cortex is significantly stronger for augmented-sequential maps in contrast to sequential maps. Results from this research provide empirical evidence to inform choices in the design of auditory cartographic displays, enriching the diversity of geographic map artifacts.
Four supplemental files and two data sets are available online. Three audio files demonstrate the three map types: sequential (Supplementary Files, Audio 1), augmented- sequential (Supplementary Files, Audio 2), and concurrent (Supplementary Files, Audio 3). Associated data are available through OpenNeuro (https://openneuro.org/ datasets/ds001415).
34
Allen, Dianne. "Contributing to learning to change developing an action learning peer support group of professionals to investigate ways of improving their own professional practice /." Access electronically, 2004. http://www.library.uow.edu.au/adt-NWU/public/adt-NWU20050901.105532/index.html.
Full text
35
Finkel, Kelsey Jo. "Exploring the writer's toolbox : a study of how writers and their use of writing implements and surfaces relate to their ways of thinking for writing." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2015. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:daaae0e7-10f0-4c9f-bbe3-8157c2fa47df.
Full textAbstract:
The state of writing abilities throughout the United States presents an urgent issue. Low student achievement in English Language Arts (ELA) exams and standardized English assessments persist (National Center for Education Statistics, 2012), while businesses spend billions of dollars on remedial writing instruction (Dillon, 2008). Technology is increasingly cited as a potential solution to these issues. Evidence for this is limited, as is existing research into the basis of the issues that technology might address. On account of that context, this thesis turns to a basic distinction between digital and non-digital writing: the writing surface and implement, or pen and paper - screen and keyboard. Conceptualizing such artefacts through a view of writing as a way of thinking raises the following question, which is this study's guiding inquiry. Might we use digital implements and surfaces to support the ways of thinking involved in composing written works of semantic cohesion? Building on research into writing as thinking, the study presented in this document analyses how uses of writing surfaces and implements relate to ways of thinking while writing, and which contextual factors influence those relationships. Drawing on a neuro-anthropological approach, the study focuses on the writer's mind as the driver and source of the lived experience of writing. Expert writers, therefore, are considered to be those who exhibit the ways of thinking while writing to which other writers aspire. To examine a range of uses of writing surfaces and implements with reference to expert writers' ways of thinking, the study was conducted in two parts. Part 1involved a content analysis of published interviews with professional writers. This generated a framework through which to conduct in-depth qualitative research with college student writers - part 2. This thesis is as much about thinking while writing as it is about the different tools available for writing. As such, the study refutes the hyperbolic and deterministic claims about technology and writing, and finds that technology is not leading to new ways of thinking while writing. Instead, surfaces and implements available allow writers to change how they practise their ways of thinking while writing. By considering this distinction and developing understandings of the dynamics involved and their implications, writers may begin to realize the potential of technology for writing. Ultimately, this thesis contributes to existing theories on writing through an informed discussion of how to think about implements and surfaces in ways that support writerly thinking, and by offering fresh ways to think about the lived practice of writing.
36
Valeri, Alishia Adele. "Educating About/for Food Security Through Environmental Education: A Qualitative Study of Teacher Education Programs in Ontario." Thesis, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/40719.
Full textAbstract:
Food insecurity is on the rise worldwide and within Canada due to a myriad of factors such as climatic instability, rising food prices and unsustainable food production practices. In this context, educational systems (e.g. schools and universities) can contribute to developing knowledge and awareness of food insecurity as well as fostering new ways of thinking and engaging with food premised on just and sustainable food systems. This study is situated within the field of environmental education where there is a growing body of research at the intersections of food and the environment. Likewise, it was guided by the theoretical framing of EcoJustice Education, which offers a way of teaching and learning premised on the belief that our thoughts and actions can foster and enhance more social and ecologically equitable connections between food and the environment. By engaging in semi-structured interviews with teacher educators in select teacher education programs in Ontario and conducting document reviews, I investigated how the integration of the topic of food security is taking place—or not—in the initial training of future teachers in the province. The results showed that integration is not consistent across the different organizational levels of the programs investigated (i.e. whole-program level and classroom level). Moreover, the interviews with teacher educators revealed that any practices aiming at the integration of food security topics in BEd programs were primarily guided by a sustainable cultures perspective, which sees the world as having interconnected relationships amongst all living things. This view is supported by the data analysis of interviews with teacher educators, the Ontario Ministry of Education curriculum documents, and select course syllabi. On the other hand, the school curriculum documents contained conflicting views on the topic, including an understanding of the world as being based on hierarchized relationships. This research advances the field of environmental education by further adding to the limited scholarship on the topic of food security in the context of EE, as well as contributing to an account of food security education and EE with a focus on teacher education in Ontario.
37
Bektasli, Behzat. "The relationships between spatial ability, logical thinking, mathematics performance and kinematics graph interpretation skills of 12th grade physics students." Columbus, Ohio : Ohio State University, 2006. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc%5Fnum=osu1149269242.
Full text
38
Borsoi, Caroline. "GeoGebra 3D no Ensino Médio : uma possibilidade para a aprendizagem da geometria espacial." reponame:Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações da UFRGS, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10183/148179.
Full textAbstract:
No ensino da Geometria Espacial é notável a dificuldade de nossos alunos em atividades que necessitam a mobilização de habilidades espaciais e nas quais é exigida a compreensão da representação bidimensional de objetos tridimensionais. Este estudo apresenta uma sequência didática que explora conceitos da Geometria Espacial através da utilização do software de geometria dinâmica GeoGebra. A proposta tem como objetivo provocar o desenvolvimento do pensamento geométrico espacial, nisso tirando-se proveito dos recursos de representação que se tem no software, especialmente aquele que diz respeito a interação dinâmica entre as representações do objeto tridimensional e diferentes planos de corte. São dez atividades, em crescente nível de dificuldade e envolvendo diferentes conceitos da Geometria Espacial. A análise da produção dos alunos é feita a luz das teorias de Van Hiele, Duval e Gutiérrez. A metodologia de pesquisa é inspirada na Engenharia Didática e foi possível sinalizar, a partir do confronto entre análises a priori e a posteriori, o progresso dos alunos quanto ao desenvolvimento de habilidades para visualização espacial.In teaching the Spatial Geometry is remarkable the students difficulty in activities that require spatial skills and the understand of the two-dimensional representation of three-dimensional objects. This study presents a didactic sequence that explores concepts of Spatial Geometry using the software GeoGebra. The aim is to provoke the development of spatial geometric thinking, taking advantage of dynamic representations available in the software, especially the one concerning the interaction between the representations of three-dimensional object and intersecting planes. Ten activities in increasing level of difficulty and involving different concepts of spatial geometry were applied in the experiment. The analysis of the students’ production is based on Van Hiele, Duval and Gutiérrez theories and the research methodology takes as reference the Didactic Engineering. From confrontation between the priori and posteriori analysis, it was possible to observe the progress of students and especially the development of skills related to spatial visualization.
39
Connelly, Heather. "Speaking through the voice of another : how can art practice be used to provoke new ways of thinking about the transformations and transitions that happen in linguistic translation?" Thesis, Loughborough University, 2015. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/17999.
Full textAbstract:
Speaking through the voice of another is a practice-based PhD that employs art practice to interrogate translation (as a textual and verbal practice). It uses linguistic translation as both the subject and the method to make multimedia artworks (text, sound, performance and events) that examine and analyse the translation process itself. The research has been conducted from my own subjective position, as an artist and monolingual speaker (a translation user rather than translation professional), investigating translation as a dialogic, subjective, embodied and performative phenomena. It adopts a self-reflexive methodology that places equal value in theoretical and experiential knowledge and proposes that an artist-led inquiry challenges assumptions, translation protocols, conventions and normative behaviour. The artists and artworks discussed in the thesis examine the translators /translation s agency and its linguistic performativity; exploiting it s creative potential as an artistic process/medium and amplifying its pivotal role within the expanding global art world. This transdisciplinary approach has resulted in the creation of translation zones - works and events devised to engage monolingual and multilingual individuals, professional translators, practitioners and public(s) in the process of translation - that offer an alternative perspective on translation (to research carried out within Translation Studies). Consequently, generating new knowledge that contributes to our understanding of translation and art and beyond both disciplines, creating a new transdisciplinary genre of art-and-translation. The artworks are an integral part of the thesis submission; samples and documentation of these are accessible within the full interactive PDF ersion. The layout of the thesis has been specifically designed to ease communication of the research, it uses various visual cues to distinguish between different types of information and to demonstrate my research praxis; the continual movement between theory and practice.
40
Gravel, Jenna W. "A disciplined application of Universal Design for Learning (UDL): Supporting teachers to apply UDL in ways that promote disciplinary thinking in English Language Arts (ELA) among diverse learners." Thesis, Harvard University, 2017. http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:33051610.
Full textAbstract:
This qualitative study used design-based research to explore how teachers can be supported to apply Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in ways that promote disciplinary thinking in English Language Arts (ELA) among diverse learners. Using a purposive sampling strategy, I recruited three upper-elementary teachers who were interested in exploring the intersection of UDL and disciplinary thinking in ELA. This study occurred over eleven months and included three phases: 1) establishing a baseline for each teacher in terms of current practice and current understandings of UDL and disciplinary thinking; 2) collaboratively designing, implementing, and refining an individualized intervention with each teacher; and 3) reflecting on our collaboration. Data were collected throughout these phases via classroom observation, collection of instructional materials and student work, teacher interviews, and regular meetings. The analytical framework for this study joins CAST’s UDL Guidelines and common themes of disciplinary thinking in ELA distilled from the literature and piloted in my qualifying paper. Data were analyzed to determine how teachers’ practice, understandings, and beliefs evolved; how students’ disciplinary thinking evolved; and which aspects of the interventions were useful in developing teachers’ practice, understandings, and beliefs. A case study approach was used to dive deeply into each teacher’s journey, and a cross-case analytic approach was used to uncover common and divergent themes. The findings underscore the potential synergy between UDL and disciplinary thinking and reveal the rich student thinking that is possible when UDL is leveraged for disciplinary aims. Further, the findings contribute to existing conversations on teacher change by exploring the influence of teachers’ preexisting practices and beliefs on their learning trajectories and by identifying the factors and conditions of the interventions that facilitated teacher growth: developing the lenses to “see” evidence of student thinking, leveraging tools for specific aims, and attending to the affective nature of the learning process. Together, these findings have potential to inform leaders in schools, districts, and organizations who seek to support teachers to apply UDL to encourage all learners to engage in disciplinary thinking in ELA—and who seek to support teacher learning at a broader level as well.
41
Kayhan, Emine Banu. "Investigation Of High School Students'." Master's thesis, METU, 2005. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12605771/index.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
The purposes of the study wereto investigate the effect of type of high school on spatial ability, to investigate the relationships between students&rsquo
mathematics achievements, logical thinking abilities and their spatial abilities and to investigate the effect of technical drawing course on the development of students&rsquo
spatial abilities. The study was conducted in Ankara with 251 9th-grade students who enrolled to general, Anatolian, foreign language, commercial vocational and industrial vocational high schools. Two measuring instruments were utilized: Spatial Ability Tests and Group Test of Logical Thinking. Spatial Ability Tests, which were developed by Ekstrom, consist of card rotation, cube comparison tests measuring the spatial orientation ability and paper folding and surface development tests measuring the spatial visualization ability. The tests were translated in to Turkish by Delialioglu, (1996). Group Test of Logical Thinking was developed by Roadrangka, Yeany, and Padilla and a Turkish version of GALT was developed by Aksu, Beberoglu and Paykoç
(1990). In order to analyze the obtained data, one way ANOVA, correlation analysis and t-test were used. The results of the study indicated that
there is no significant effect of type of high school on students&rsquo
spatial abilities
there is a significant positive relationship between spatial ability and mathematics achievement
there is a significant positive relationship between spatial ability and logical thinking ability
there is a significant positive relationship between spatial ability and technical drawing achievement
and there is a significant development in the students&rsquo
spatial abilities of the students in the technical drawing course.
42
Backhaus, Vincent Stuart. "Situating the countried existence of critical indigenous pedagogies & Aborginal and Torres Strait Islander student's ways of learning." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2019. https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/288428.
Full textAbstract:
The Countried experience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples of (Australia), ground a resilience and strength in sovereign thinking through the Stories we share laterally with family and inter-ancestrally through our connections to the Dreaming. The stories we share develop a sense of inalienability we have that is connected to the Countries of origin we share and identify with across the continental scape of Land, Water and Sky Country. As a formative philosophical assumption, the Countried existence that this dissertation develops, illuminates the significance of this research thinking to contribute to the continued development of Indigenous education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students attending secondary high schools across (Australia). By attending to the ways Elders as significant Indigenous leaders describe and develop their storied lives through lived experience, this Countried philosophy emerges through the Storied knowing of Country. By examining the approaches to learning Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students adopt, further evidence can be contributed to the research surrounding Indigenous thinking and cognitive approaches to thinking through education learning tasks. By examining the perceptions and beliefs of non-indigenous teachers, this dissertation aims to contribute evidence to Indigenous pedagogies that teachers can deploy in the delivery of meaningful Indigenous Knowledge curricula content. Summatively, this thesis found that when deep engagements are made into the notion of inalienability of Countried experience, salient avenues of thinking and learning and teaching emerge surrounding the ways education can continue to elaborate and relate meaningfully to the First Peoples of Australia.
43
Baek, Juyeon. "A Piece of Space : Exploring photographic space as a visualized form of spatial experience and thinking about how a designer can position it in reality." Thesis, Konstfack, Inredningsarkitektur & Möbeldesign, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:konstfack:diva-7274.
Full textAbstract:
This project recognizes photographic space as a visualized form of spatial experience and tries to read unspecified spatial information in photos shared in social media. By exploring a photograph, I research how photography, which is a framing activity, has affected spatial experience and cognition. I try to re-build a space with photographs and compare the different characters of original space and photographic space by juxtaposition. The combination of original space and photographic space through a mechanism tool makes designers understand people’s experiential space over spatial hierarchy planned by designers. The project shows three-dimensional space made with photos using a photogrammetry method. It places original space and photographic space within a tool that mechanized the principle of Filippo Brunelleschi’s linear perspective. It highlights the multiple identities of space and visual form of photographic space. Also, by applying Henri Lefebvre’s theory to two different spaces and spatial practices, it gives a clue how designers can understand a photograph as a social product of spatial identity, an independent element from real space. A piece of space is an experiment spatial tool that draws people into multiple experienced spaces. It is tightly connected with spatial contexts; original space, photographic space and spatial practice by people. The whole process in the project consists of experiments that can explore the meaning of photographic space and how it can be positioned in reality.Some images have been removed for copyright reason.
44
Marshall, Smith Shannon. "A comparison of computer-based and robotic programming instruction: Impact of Scratch versus Cozmoon middle school students' computational thinking, spatial skills, competency beliefs, and engagement." Kent State University / OhioLINK, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1563504114667862.
Full text
45
Juliasz, Paula Cristiane Strina. "O pensamento espacial na educação infantil: uma relação entre geografia e cartografia." Universidade de São Paulo, 2017. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/48/48134/tde-14072017-162631/.
Full textAbstract:
O pensamento espacial é uma atividade cognitiva desenvolvida no cotidiano e pode ser sistematizado pelas mais diversas disciplinas escolares, principalmente pela Geografia. Os conceitos, as representações e habilidades espaciais são componentes dessa forma de pensamento. A compreensão do conceito de pensamento espacial e a investigação de como pode ser desenvolvido de forma sistematizada na escola torna-se ponto central na contemporaneidade, composta pelas mais diversas linguagens que representam o espaço. Reconhecendo tal importância, constatamos a ausência de referenciais para o seu desenvolvimento por crianças em atividades escolares, com o enfoque geográfico, na Educação Infantil. Como objetivo principal, destaca-se a proposição de referenciais teóricometodológicos para o conhecimento espacial de crianças de quatro a seis anos. Parte-se da seguinte pergunta de pesquisa: quais habilidades e conceitos espaciais podem ser abordados em atividades para o desenvolvimento do pensamento espacial de crianças de 4 a 6 anos? Para respondê-la e alcançarmos o objetivo principal, os objetivos específicos constituem pauta de trabalho para o desenvolvimento da investigação: sondar e analisar a pertinência, as possibilidades e a abordagem das noções espaciais na Educação Infantil; desenvolver situações de ensino, com base nas teorias norteadoras sobre pensamento espacial, desenho infantil e construção de conceito sob a perspectiva histórico-cultural; compreender os padrões estabelecidos nas representações gráficas realizadas pelas crianças; compreender os diálogos entre as crianças. As sequências de atividades são instrumentos da investigação, cada uma apresenta seus objetivos próprios, com base na representação, no conceito e nas habilidades do pensamento espacial. As três sequências de atividades têm como conceito central a Localização. A primeira trata especificamente do espaço próximo, aquele de vivência, enquanto as outras duas mobilizam o conhecimento geográfico a partir de aspectos distantes de suas vivências imediatas. Para analisarmos a expressão do pensamento espacial, narramos os acontecimentos principais da atividade, transcrevemos as vídeo-gravações e mapeamos os registros de acordo com o nosso interesse: verificar os conceitos e habilidades espaciais. Compreendemos que o desenho consiste em uma linguagem que concretiza e reflete o raciocínio espacial, envolvendo importantes princípios da cartografia e da geografia. A concepção assumida é a da infância enquanto categoria social e a criança enquanto sujeito de direito ao conhecimento e, neste caso, espacial. A criança é pensada nesta pesquisa como ser capaz de aprender, refletir, criar, trocar, dialogar e ensinar sobre o espaço. Ao longo da análise dos dados de pesquisa, concluímos que as palavras são elementos fundamentais que concretizam o modo de pensar, no caso, a habilidade do pensamento espacial, e o desenho é parte da iniciação cartográfica. Afirmamos nesta tese a relação direta da Geografia no desenvolvimento do pensamento espacial, tendo em vista a própria natureza desta ciência, e também da Cartografia enquanto linguagem que materializa essa forma de pensar. Defendese, assim,o conhecimento geográfico na Educação Infantil, por meio do pensamento espacial, pois as crianças podem ampliar seus conhecimentos espaciais.Spatial thinking, comprised of concepts, representations and spatial abilities, is a cognitive activity developed in everyday living, and can be systematized through different school disciplines, mainly Geography. The comprehension of this concept and the investigation of how it can be developed and systematized in schools are critical points, involving different languages that represent the space. Considering this, we noticed the absence of references in geography-focused school activities for the development of spatial thinking. Our main objective is to propose theoretical and methodological references for the spatial knowledge of children aged between 4 and 6 years old. The research is based on the following question: Which spatial abilities and concepts can be addressed in activities aimed at developing spatial thinking in children aged 4 to 6 years old? To answer this question and achieve the main objective, the specific objectives were: a) to investigate and analyze the pertinence, possibilities and approaches regarding the spatial notions in childrens education; b) develop teaching situations based on guiding theories about spatial thinking, childrens drawing and the concept construction under a historical and cultural perspective; c) understand the patterns in childrens graphic representations; and d) analyze the childrens dialogues. Three series of activities with distinct objectives were proposed and analyzed as investigation instruments, based on the spatial thinking representation, concept, and abilities. All the activities addressed the central concept of Location. The first activity series deals specifically with the space nearby, the existence space, while the two other series are related to the geographic knowledge regarding distant aspects. In order to analyze spatial thinking expression, we narrated the main outcomes of the activities, transcribed the video recordings, and mapped the resulting data according to our interests; i.e., verify the spatial concepts and abilities. Drawing consists in a language that concretizes and reflects spatial reasoning, involving important principles of Cartography and Geography. The present research adopted the conception of childhood as a social category, and the child is the subject of the right to acquire knowledge, in this case, spatial knowledge. In this research, children are considered capable of learning, reflecting, creating, exchanging experiences, dialoguing, and teaching about the space. The analysis of the research data allowed us to conclude that drawing is part of the cartographic initiation, and words are fundamental elements that concretize the way of thinking, in this case, spatial thinking ability. In this thesis, we reaffirm the direct relationship between Geography and the development of spatial thinking, considering the very nature of this Science, and Cartography as the language used to materialize this way of thinking. The present thesis defends the development of spatial thinking in childrens education as a way to broaden the spatial knowledge and the construction of spatial concepts by the children.
46
Graham, Charlotte. "The relationship between inhibitory control and System 1 and System 2 processes in deductive and spatial reasoning." Thesis, University of Canterbury. Psychology, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/1370.
Full textAbstract:
Dual Processing theory proposes that the ability to over ride associative (System 1) in favour of analytical (System 2) processed in deductive reasoning may depend on inhibitory control. The present study applies this association to a spatial reasoning task by adapting a mental rotation task to a multichoice format including System 1 (mirror) and System 2 (rotated image) responses. Fifty undergraduate volunteers from the University of Canterbury responded to a Stroop task as a measure of inhibitory control that was compared with System 1 and System 2 responding from a spatial and a deductive reasoning task. It was expected that people with weaker inhibitory potential would make more System 1 and fewer System 2 responses in both deductive and visual-spatial reasoning tasks. Contrary to expectation System 2 responding dominated for both tasks and correlations between both reasoning tasks and measures of inhibitory control were non-significant. The differing idiosyncratic demands of each task may have obscured any common variables associated with inhibitory control. This research initiated a test for the presence of System 1 and System 2 in spatial reasoning.
47
Duarte, Ronaldo Goulart. "Educação geográfica, cartografia escolar e pensamento espacial no segundo segmento do Ensino Fundamental." Universidade de São Paulo, 2016. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/8/8136/tde-10112016-135000/.
Full textAbstract:
O autor deste trabalho parte pressupõe que a articulação entre a Educação Geográfica e a Cartografia Escolar possui grande relevância para o desenvolvimento do pensamento espacial dos estudantes da escola básica. Essa dimensão da inteligência é essencial para a cidadania consciente e para o exercício das mais diversas atividades profissionais e cotidianas. Considerando esse cenário, o objetivo central desta pesquisa é avaliar qual é o nível de contribuição da Educação Geográfica e da Cartografia Escolar no segmento do 6º ao 9º anos do ensino fundamental para que os alunos sejam capazes de ampliar sua capacidade de pensar espacialmente em situações que envolvem representações espaciais, sobretudo as cartográficas, aplicadas a contextos geográficos. Para isso, recorremos ao campo de pesquisas do pensamento espacial (spatial thinking), desenvolvido principalmente nos Estados Unidos no decorrer das últimas décadas. Dessa forma, adotamos como definição do pensamento espacial a que foi apresentada no relatório do National Research Council (2006) e que tornou-se a referência nessa seara de investigação: Pensamento espacial um tipo de pensamento é baseado na amálgama de três elementos: conceitos espaciais, instrumentos de representação e processos de raciocínio (NRC, 2006, ix). Nossa metodologia envolveu dois caminhos distintos, mas articulados. Realizamos a análise das três coleções de livros didáticos de Geografia mais adotadas no segmento de 6º ao 9º anos do ensino fundamental brasileiro, com a finalidade de avaliar em que medida os exercícios e atividades presentes nessas obras contribuem para o desenvolvimento do pensamento espacial discente. A título de parâmetro comparativo, fizemos o mesmo com uma coleção de didáticos franceses destinados à mesma faixa de escolaridade. Para realizar essa avaliação das atividades utilizamos a Taxonomia do Pensamento Espacial de Jo e Bednarz (2009), criada exatamente para essa finalidade e replicada por Scholz et al. (2014). O levantamento identificou não apenas a proporção de questões demandantes do pensamento espacial, mas o nível dos processos de raciocínio envolvidos e o tipo de representação espacial utilizado. O segundo caminho metodológico foi a aplicação do Teste de Aptidão do Pensamento Espacial (STAT, em inglês), desenvolvido por Lee e Bednarz (2012), a 268 alunos brasileiros do 9º ano do ensino fundamental, em seis escolas diferentes. Após a tabulação dos dados realizamos uma análise comparativa entre os resultados dos alunos brasileiros e os números resultantes das aplicações do mesmo teste em dois contextos internacionais: uma escola estadunidense (LEE e BEDNARZ, 2012) e os de três escolas em Ruanda (TOMASZEWSKI et al., 2014). A análise incluiu tanto os resultados globais do teste quanto os resultados dos alunos de cada instituição em cada um dos oito grupos de modalidades do pensamento espacial considerados pelos elaboradores do STAT. Nossas conclusões finais resultaram do cotejo das informações obtidas a partir dessas duas linhas metodológicas.The author of this thesis believes that Geography Education and School Cartography have both great importance for the development of spatial thinking among students in K-12. This dimension of intelligence is crucial for citizenship and for the practice of many professional and daily activities. Considering such a framework, the main goal of this research is to assess the contribution of Geography Education and School Cartography in Brazilian middle school to enhance students capacity to think spatially in situations that encompass spatial representations, specially cartographic ones, in geographical contexts. To answer this question we decided to betake the field research known as spatial thinking, developed mostly in the U.S. during the last two decades. As a consequence we adopted the definition of spatial thinking that was presented in the report of the National Research Council (2006), which has become the main reference in the field: Spatial thinkingone form of thinking is based on a constructive amalgam of three elements: concepts of space, tools of representation, and processes of reasoning (NRC, 2006, ix). Our methodology was based on two interconnected paths. We analyzed the three most adopted Geography textbooks collections for the four years of Brazilian middle school (6th to 9th grades) with the purpose of assessing in which extent the exercises in those books are capable of fostering students spatial thinking. In order to stablish a comparison with Brazilian textbooks we also assessed a French textbook collection destined to the same grade levels. To perform such an assessment, we used the Taxonomy of Spatial Thinking (Jo and Bednarz, 2009) designed for this particular purpose and replied by Scholz et al. (2014). The study identified not only the ratio of questions demanding spatial thinking but also the processes of reasoning involved. The second methodological path was based on the use of the Spatial Thinking Ability Test (STAT), designed by Lee and Bednarz (2012). We have administered the STAT to 268 students of six different Brazilian schools, all of them in the end of the 9th grade. After organizing all the data, we compared the Brazilian results with those of two international studies where the same test was administered: one school in the United States (LEE and BEDNARZ, 2012) and three schools in Ruanda (TOMASZEWSKI et al., 2014). Our analysis included both the global results of students overall performance in the test and their accomplishments regarding the eight modes of thinking spatially defined by the authors of the STAT. Our final conclusions were the results of the comparison between the outcomes obtained from our two methodological paths.
48
Santos, Leovan Alves dos. "Ensinar geografia pela pesquisa: possibilidades de construção do pensamento espacial pelos alunos." Universidade Federal de Goiás, 2015. http://repositorio.bc.ufg.br/tede/handle/tede/4752.
Full textAbstract:
Submitted by Cássia Santos (cassia.bcufg@gmail.com) on 2015-10-23T12:50:00Z
No. of bitstreams: 2
Dissertação - Leovan Alves dos Santos - 2015.pdf: 847118 bytes, checksum: 9be773f7bde2dda9e8f7ec3881bbc738 (MD5)
license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5)Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2015-10-23T13:33:39Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Leovan Alves dos Santos - 2015.pdf: 847118 bytes, checksum: 9be773f7bde2dda9e8f7ec3881bbc738 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5)
Made available in DSpace on 2015-10-23T13:33:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Leovan Alves dos Santos - 2015.pdf: 847118 bytes, checksum: 9be773f7bde2dda9e8f7ec3881bbc738 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-04-16
Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Goiás - FAPEG
This research analyzes, through a teaching experience, teaching Geography in the survey with the aim of building a spatial thinking by students. For this, it has been an object of research a Didactic sequence (SD) in Geography teaching for elementary school, planned, implemented and evaluated by two teachers, in order to understand how the teaching of Geography from the research can collaborate for the student to meet their everyday spatial practices, and their place of experience as a reference to analyze the geographic space. To make feasible what was proposed, methodologically, this research was based on action research assumptions, with elements of ethnographic research. Many questions permeate the intention and the development of this research, such as research can make a methodological approach to the teaching of school geography? How the teaching of Geography from research can contribute to the development of spatial concepts by students? To what extent the local student can contribute to be an analysis of the scale of the research Geography teaching? Thus, we sought to initially conduct a literature review of the theoretical basis for teaching Geography from pesqusia the papers presented at the National Meeting of Geography Teaching Practice (Enpeg) and Core forums Teaching and Research in Geographical Education (Nepeg) . Were analyzed, then theses and dissertations of the last decade that address the theme of research in school geographical education. Later, it was made a semi-structured interview with the teacher and I were observed their practices. Was also examined the expression of perceptions of teacher II from the questions asked Professor I. At the end, we proceeded to the analysis of some documents, such as the National Curriculum Parameters (PCN), the National Curricular Guidelines (DCN) the pedagogical projects of the main courses that form Geography teachers in Goiás and the Pedagogical Political Project (PPP) of schooling field of research. Teaching Sequence started from a dialectical conception of education, focusing on the questioning, organization and synthesis of knowledge. The activities were aimed at students, while researching his subjects, could question the content from its initial social practice and could count on the teacher in mediating the geographic content and the orientation of their research. Finally, the activities sought to promote a return to the initial social practice of these students, in which the initial notion of them were already processed and forwarded to the formation of a spatial thinking and a geographic look. There was the intention on the part of teachers I and II, that students could build their spatial concepts according to the specific contents of Geography, when making a significant offer to students and act in their classrooms to develop and create potential, not just limited to expect the capabilities necessary for the understanding of a particular concept ever to develop.
presente investigação analisa, por meio de uma experiência pedagógica, o ensino de Geografia pela pesquisa com o objetivo de construção de um pensamento espacial pelos alunos. Para isso, tem-se como objeto de investigação uma Sequência Didática (SD) em ensino de Geografia para o ensino fundamental, planejada, aplicada e avaliada por dois professores, com a finalidade de compreender de que forma o ensino de Geografia pela pesquisa pode colaborar para que o aluno possa conhecer suas práticas espaciais cotidianas, tendo seu local de vivência como referência para analisar o espaço geográfico. Para tornar viável o que fora proposto, metodologicamente, esta pesquisa foi baseada nos pressupostos da pesquisa-ação, com elementos da pesquisa etnográfica. Muitos questionamentos perpassam a intenção e o desenvolvimento desta investigação, como: a pesquisa pode compor uma abordagem metodológica para o ensino da Geografia escolar? De que forma o ensino de Geografia pela pesquisa pode contribuir para o desenvolvimento de noções espaciais pelos alunos? Em que medida o local do aluno pode contribuir para ser uma escala de análise do ensino de Geografia pela pesquisa? Assim, buscou-se inicialmente realizar um levantamento bibliográfico das bases teóricas para o ensino de Geografia pela pesqusia nos trabalhos apresentados nos Encontros Nacionais de Práticas de Ensino de Geografia (Enpeg) e nos fóruns do Núcleo de Ensino e Pesquisa em Educação Geográfica (Nepeg). Analisaram-se, em seguida, teses e dissertações da última década que tratam a temática da pesquisa na educação geográfica escolar. Posteriormente, foi feita uma entrevista semiestruturada com o professor I e observaram-se suas práticas. Examinou-se também a expressão das percepções do professor II a partir das perguntas feitas ao professor I, tais percepções foram registradas logo após a entrevista com este professor. Ao final, procedeu-se à análise de alguns documentos, tais como os Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais (PCN), as Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais (DCN), os projetos pedagógicos dos principais cursos que formam professores de Geografia em Goiás e o Projeto Político Pedagógico (PPP) da escola-campo da pesquisa. A Sequência Didática partiu de uma concepção dialética de ensino, tendo como foco a problematização, sistematização e síntese do conhecimento. As atividades estiveram voltadas para que os alunos, ao pesquisarem seus temas, pudessem problematizar o conteúdo a partir de sua prática social inicial e pudessem contar com o professor na mediação dos conteúdos geográficos e também na orientação de suas pesquisas. Por fim, as atividades desenvolvidas buscaram promover um retorno à prática social inicial desses estudantes, em que a noção inicial deles estivesse transformada e já encaminhada para a formação de um pensamento espacial e de um olhar geográfico. Houve a intencionalidade, por parte dos professores I e II, de que os alunos pudessem construir suas noções espaciais de acordo com os conteúdos específicos da Geografia, ao apresentarem uma proposta significativa aos discentes e atuarem em suas respectivas salas de aula no sentido de desenvolver e criar potencialidades, e não somente se limitar a esperar que as capacidades necessárias à compreensão de um determinado conceito algum dia se desenvolvessem.
49
Kuznetcova, Irina. "Video Games as Deweyan Worlds: A Desktop/Mobile VR Game-based Intervention to Improve Visuospatial Self-efficacy in Middle School Students." The Ohio State University, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1588244345618764.
Full text
50
Eckerdal, Anna. "Novice Programming Students' Learning of Concepts and Practise." Doctoral thesis, Uppsala universitet, Avdelningen för teknisk databehandling, 2009. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-9551.
Full textAbstract:
Computer programming is a core area in computer science education that involves practical as well as conceptual learning goals. The literature in programming education reports however that novice students have great problems in their learning. These problems apply to concepts as well as to practise. The empirically based research presented in this thesis contributes to the body of knowledge on students' learning by investigating the relationship between conceptual and practical learning in novice student learning of programming. Previous research in programming education has focused either on students' practical or conceptual learning. The present research indicates however that students' problems with learning to program partly depend on a complex relationship and mutual dependence between the two. The most significant finding is that practise, in terms of activities at different levels of proficiency, and qualitatively different conceptual understandings, have dimensions of variation in common. An analytical model is suggested where the dimensions of variation relate both to concepts and activities. The implications of the model are several. With the dimensions of variation at the center of learning this implies that when students discern a dimension of variation, related conceptual understandings and the meaning embedded in related practises can be discerned. Activities as well as concepts can relate to more than one dimension. Activities at a higher level of proficiency, as well as qualitatively richer understandings of concepts, relate to more dimensions of variation. Concrete examples are given on how variation theory and patterns of variation can be applied in teaching programming. The results can be used by educators to help students discern dimensions of variation, and thus facilitate practical as well as conceptual learning.