Digital Commons Network^™

Leadership Learning: Building On Grounded Theory To Explore The Role Of Critical Reflection In Leadership Learning, George K. Kriflik, Lynda S. Kriflik

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

A study of eight senior managers from different organisations has combined Critical Theory and Grounded Theory approaches. This study builds on the findings of a previous substantive study (Kriflik 2002) which identified the most successful leadership strategies, as perceived by participants. The most successful strategies are those in which leaders focussed on their own behaviours, attitudes and actions. Building on these findings this study explores leadership competencies and the mechanisms which enhance, or enable, leaders’ ability to learn such competencies. Interviews were conducted and transcribed, then analysed, and became the basis for the choice of subsequent participants. The study identified …

Learning In Minimalism-Based Language Modeling, Deryle W. Lonsdale

Faculty Publications

The natural language version of the Soar cognitive modeling system (Newell, 1990) has enabled a number of language modeling applications from on-line parsing behavior (Lewis, 1993) to simultaneous interpretation (Lonsdale, 1997, 1998) to robotic control (Benjamin, Lonsdale, & Lyons, 2004). The system supports an integrated approach to incremental comprehension and generation. Learning mechanisms account for processes in language performance from deliberate, explicit reasoning to automatic, recognitional expertise.

Syntactic processing in prior versions of the system followed the Principles and Parameters approach to syntax.

Clarifying The Role Of Self-Efficacy And Metacognition As Indicators Of Learning: Construct Development And Test, Trevor T. Moores, Jerry Cha-Jan Chang, Deborah K. Smith

Management, Entrepreneurship and Technology Faculty Publications

We propose extending our understanding of self-efficacy by comparing self-efficacy with a related construct called metacognition. Metacognition involves the monitoring and control of one's thought processes and is often related, as is self-efficacy, to performance on a task. We develop an instrument that attempts to measure both self-efficacy and metacognition with respect to one's performance on a test covering declarative and procedural knowledge (knowing that, and knowing how) of DFDs and ERDs. With data collected from a sample of 124 students, we use partial least squares (PLS) to show that self-efficacy and metacognition are distinct yet related constructs. While self-efficacy …

Dewey's Epistemology: An Argument For Warranted Assertions, Knowing, And Meaningful Classroom Practice, Deron R. Boyles

Educational Policy Studies Faculty Publications

In an effort to navigate the treacherous path between professionalism and social relevancy, this essay takes up an area of professional philosophy - epistemology - with the intention of reclaiming the integrative role John Dewey held for philosophy and classroom practice. Deron Boyles asserts that epistemology can and should represent an area of inquiry that is relevant and useful for philosophy of education, especially as it develops classroom practices that foster inquiry. He specifically seeks to revive Dewey’s conception of warranted assertibility in an effort to show the value of fallibilist epistemology in practical and social teaching and learning contexts. …

The Forward Premium In A Model With Heterogeneous Prior Beliefs, Eric O'N. Fisher

Economics

This paper explores a model of bond prices where agents have diverse prior beliefs about domestic and foreign inflation. In the long run, the foreign exchange forward premium reflects expected differences in inflation, but in the short run, it depends upon the diversity of prior beliefs. If some people have diffuse priors about a country's inflation process, then its currency commands a forward premium that is eventually dissipated. Using data on the dollar–mark premium from the 1980s, it shows that this kind of diversity really matters. Thus models with a single representative agent give an inadequate description of the data.

Students’ Race And Participation In Classroom Discussion In Introductory Sociology: A Preliminary Investigation, Jay R. Howard, Aimee Zoeller, Yale Pratt

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

This study utilizes observation, survey and interview methodologies to investigate the impact of student race on participation in discussion in introductory sociology courses at a large Midwestern US university with a minority enrollment of approximately 15 percent. While results are mixed there is some evidence that white students participated at a higher rate than minority students. However, in certain circumstances (e.g., discussion of racism), minority students became the “experts” during particular class sessions and participated at a greater rate than did white students. Key Words: Discussion, College Students, Race, Learning, Interaction

Learning Across Communities Of Practice: How Postgraduate Students Cope With Returning To Higher Education In An International Setting, L. Smith

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper is an exploratory case study into the way postgraduate students cope with the transition from the workplace to university in an international environment. It looks at how students move successfully between these two communities of practice, and the kind of learning that is involved in this process. As well as personal motivation, key factors found in boundary-crossing between the communities are multi-membership of communities and the use of identity as a bridge. Learning is found to involve a collateral transfer, or reconstruction, of knowledge in both directions. The study is intended to inform the development of a learning …

Conflict, Learning, And Frustration: A Dynamic Model Of Conflict Over Time, Matthew A. Cronin, Katerina Bezrukova

Psychology

A continuing question in the study of conflict and conflict management is, "When is conflict helpful, and when is it harmful?" Though many have offered explanations for this (Jehn, Northcraft, & Neale, 1999), data in support of these notions have been less forthcoming, especially in relation to the helpfulness of conflict (De Dreu & Weingart, 2003). In this paper we 2 present a dynamic model of conflict that we hope will both explain and clarify the confusion by conceptualizing conflict as simultaneously containing helpful (learning related) and harmful (negative sentiment related) components. We argue how both learning and negative emotion …

Developing Familiarity With Learning Design Tools Through Subject Analysis, Christine A. Brown

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

The application of quality processes to tertiary teaching can result in a more team-based approach to course curriculum planning, the instructional design of individual subjects or units, the learning support associated with subject implementation and subsequent evaluation. The "art" of teaching requires more explicit communication within and across different teams that may be involved in each stage. Learning designs provide tools for design teams to map out learning environment attributes such as resources, tasks, people and interactions. Experienced teaching academics, unfamiliar with such tools, require orientation to them to achieve their communication potential. One way to introduce learning design models …

Students' Preference For Teaching Strategies That Strengthen The Learning Of Economics In Middle Eastern Universities, Mokhtar M. Metwally, Nelson Perera

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

A survey, covering a random sample of 139 students, was conducted at the University of Wollongong in Dubai during the months of September-November 2004, to gather opinions of students about their attitudes towards strategies that promote the teaching and learning of economics The technique of factor analysis was used to model the preference of students for various strategies. Multiple discriminant analysis was used to find out whether there are any significant differences in the attitudes of students at different stages :"students learning introductory economic subjects", "students learning intermediate economic subjects" and "students learning advanced and applied economic subjects" Factor scores …

Structuring The Project Environment For Learning, Andrew J. Sense

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper argues that project learning and the learning competency development of project practitioners are most appropriately pursued through the creation and maintenance of supportive situated learning environments within projects. Drawing on participative action research into learning practices within a case study project involving organizational change, this paper introduces a model of project situated learning behaviour and identifies and explains five sociological elements (barriers or enablers) that are primal in shaping the learning behaviours of project team participants. This framework facilitates practitioners’ systematic and communal reflection on their learning practices and helps develop their skills in ‘learning how to learn’.

An Interactive Learning Environment For Teaching Statistics, Trevor Spedding, Xuesong Chi

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper outlines the development and use of a web based virtual factory simulator for teaching industrial statistics and process improvement techniques. Students can manage the factory for either a period of one month, or the length specified by lecturers, with the factory running in real time. The main objective is to reduce quality problems and continuously improve the quality over a substantial period of time. Techniques such as control charts, process capability, experimental design and response surface methodology and their underlying statistics are explored. This immersive simulation creates a problem-based learning approach with relevant academic underpinning. It provides the …